Nights are better away from court. They can explore pretty far, if they know where the local fairies are, and they need to spend lots of their time getting food, which is a good way to spend time. 

She's also going to spend a bunch of her night copying books, but this isn't a terrible way to spend time, either. By morning she has nine of them copied over.

"That'll really help."

"Good. Not quite there, but hopefully enough of the way to reassure people that we'll get there eventually."

"Yeah. They like you, you know, they're just - in the habit of being very cautious and hearing dramatic stories about what happened to people who weren't."

"Huh. I think I assumed they sort of hated me. Or - not your father, obviously, and not the people who just listen to the stories, but - "

" - why would they hate you?"

"...because I'm very expensive and demanding and as a consequence keep getting you hurt?"

"But I could just not do that, if I didn't want to."

"Well, yes, but just because you do want to doesn't mean they necessarily think that's... good."

"I had this conversation with my brother, sort of - the night you wanted Dyre's life - I said we wanted to take him north with us and he might be useful, and he said that clearly wasn't my real motive and I said I didn't want him to be mad at you and he said - that he wasn't mad at you, that he'd do the same thing in your place, but that I shouldn't let you. I don't know if that makes any sense. Maybe it's a fairy sort of opinion."

Nod. "I think - I'd sort of expect a human to feel like that. But to blame me for convincing you. Or, uh, assume that I've convinced you to prioritize things that aren't really good for you, and that if I wasn't here you'd be a lot better off, and therefore want me gone."

"I mean I think if I were your slave and everything else happened the same way he'd really dislike you?"

"I think that sort of implies a bunch of other things about the situation being different. But - I guess that would make sense."

"And so - being mad at you in this situation - is kind of not having any confidence in me. If that makes sense."

"Well, yeah. But - I guess put that way it does seem like a much less polite thing to assume about them."

"I just don't think it would've occurred to them. If I'm making stupid decisions that's on me, you can't have made me - you literally visibly can't have made me - 

- and also I'm happy. So I don't think they're worried about me, except with respect to the debt."

"...okay. I'm really glad you're happy."

"Everything's really nice."

"'m glad I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"Now we just gotta - keep it that way."

"Yeah. 

"I was thinking - if you're going to slow me and see if your father comes up with anything, it probably makes more sense to slow me first and then see if the emperor reappears and then kill him off when you speed me up again, if that still needs doing. Before you make me a fairy. If that turns out to be possible. Which, you know, it probably isn't, but - if it is."

"Mmhmmm. Do you want us to slow you down this upcoming night?"

"Probably want to give your father as much time as possible to work on it. I assume slowing's expensive - "

"Yeah." Sigh.