They were led through the castle, and no one gave his weapons more than a second glance. Cats kept running up to greet them though, before dashing off. They were led to a good sized hall hung with banners to keep the room warm. There were two people there. A man almost as tall as Numair, and almost as skinny, with a crooked nose and hazel eyes that seemed perpetually amused.

The woman beside him was about as short as Kaylin, maybe a drop taller. She was in leather armor, a sword resting easily on one hip, a small knife on the other. The man seemed only to wear a small knife. Where the man had amused looking hazel eyes and a face that clearly more often smiled than frowned, the woman's violet eyes blazed as she scowled, her red hair pulled back into a short tail at the nape of her neck. He stood like a commoner. She... stood like a knight.

Daine grinned. "May I introduce Baron George Cooper of Pirate Swoop and his wife, Sir Alana of Barony Olau and Pirate Swoop, the Lioness."

The woman's red brows rose. "I presume there is a reason we are being so formal?" she asked.

"Maybe they're trying to sweeten your temper, my Alanna," George said.

She gave a rude snort. "That's unlikely to happen anytime soon."