"Talking to fairies is dangerous. We were going to stay away from court until I learned to do it right, but then we needed food so I could breastfeed the baby, or else she would starve, so we're here, and neither of us likes it, and we're going to leave as soon as the night is over, and until then I am - trying to avoid doing anything that would make me belong to anyone else. Because I don't think other people will be as good to me."

"That makes sense in a fairy court. But it seems like it'd only make it more important that you can talk to people who are not fairies and can't enslave you."

"I'm talking to you now. I'll negotiate for my children's safety when I can talk to him about it."

"I'm worried that he'll object because with them safe you have a lot more options."

"We were going to rescue them anyway."

"Would that make them belong to him too, under fairy law?"

"We have to entangle them some to speed them up. Probably he'll count anything major as a favor to me, and I'll just be really, really in his debt for it."

"Sounds like a scary situation to be in, if he ever stops being as nice or if you ever decide you want something aside from being a slave."

"I don't think he's going to stop being nice."

"Maybe fairies aren't very like humans but humans often stop being nice when circumstances change enough."

" - even if I agreed with you that he was going to hurt me, and I don't, what would you have me do about it, trade a system I mostly understand and a protector who's good to me for no one, in a strange land full of people I don't know who have a language you've said I won't speak?"

"I don't know what you should do. I wish I did."

"I like where I am. If you can help us improve on it then I want to talk it over when he's here."

Nod.

She holds the door and waits for him.

It's not that long. 

He doesn't pay Catherine much attention. Walks in, looks around at everyone else, looks back at his brother, smiles slightly.

"You can close the door."

She does that.

This looks likely to be interesting and he does not want Catherine to be in the crossfire so he will pull her away towards a corner.

Yeah that sounds good.

Well he's not stupid enough to talk to Evil Fae Maitimo.

He doesn't say anything either.

"What happened?"

"Given what I know about how fairies reportedly work, that's an interesting opening."

"You get to claim payment for answering me."