"Or maybe somebody'll come up with a great idea to shut him down for good and then I can go to my tree any time."

"I'll at least talk it all over with my father."

"Thank you."

He does that. 

Nothing is very obvious unless of course Harmony's whole former court is entangled with her the way fairies count it, and they'd need to see her and another member in the same room to know that.

"But that's not all that implausible and might be worth checking," he tells her later.

"Mortals accumulate one debt among each other - motherdebts - and if you accumulate any, it'd be from the food and names entanglement thing."

"We don't experience - consequences for each other's behavior, or anything, though - how do you even tell if humans do this?"

"I don't think humans get misfortune among themselves. But you can see motherdebts, and mothers can offer their children to fairies and transfer the motherdebt and get something of equal value."

"Well, maybe there'd be something visible to you between us - breeders just have normal vassalization arrangements, the parents name their children."

"It seems cheap enough to check, at least."

"I don't want to get anywhere near anybody I'm vassalized with but I could find some court on the continent I have gates to. The gates are all in midair, though, so you'd fall if you went through."

"We should just need to see them."

"I suppose if your vision is much better than mine you could just stick your head through the gate but I haven't seen anyone around when I've been foraging."

"Oh, then that probably won't do. Hmm."

"Someone may come along, but in slow time, and not necessarily accompanied by a master or vassal. Plenty of fairies don't have any or aren't still with them."

"And you don't know where we'd be likelier to find a court?"

"I could find one but we'd have to wait for a new gate to settle for you to get a look at it and then there'd be a gate near the court. Not a huge deal if I'm checking it every day sped up, they probably won't notice before I close it, but a risk."

"Hmm. - probably I should ask Lohte."

"Makes sense to me."

"I told him we're doing it," he announces not that much later. "And he didn't object very much so it's probably fine."

"Is that how that works."

"Yes."

"I'll look for a court next time I go through, then."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you want a mixed court or breeders?"