"I'm afraid I don't remember the specific letters. If I understand correctly, I think it's possible they'll visit someday, but I don't think they currently have the means to do so."

"Ah well." He sighs. "Once you're not quite so tangled do come back here and we can keep working on the poetry."

"I expect I will. You're sure there's nothing else useful for disentangling?"

"I can see if I think of more questions for you."

"That would be helpful."

"Shoo, then, I'll write them down if I come up with any." He looks at her a little more carefully than he has so far. "It's going to be all right. No one's mad at you, and once the debt's gone it can never happen to you again."

She doesn't nod.

"I just - I do understand why it's necessary. I'm - scared of going blind, or losing a hand. But I understand that there are many worse things that could happen to all of you if the situation isn't fixed."

"Has he kicked you out of his bed? I'll have a talk with him, that's not right, not when you need to repay him in a hurry. And you're very good to him."

"No. It's -  I don't know if fairies have any of the relevant concepts at all." She sighs. "Humans don't - it's very bad, for us, to be forced to sleep with someone not our husband. And - I'm not certain which is worse, of course, having not been blinded, but I'd rather risk blindness than risk - it would be very, very bad, I think, if after this I couldn't touch him without feeling sick. But I don't - I don't really expect it to make sense to you."

"It does not really make sense to me."

"Maybe humans and fairies are very different, this way. But - anyway. Let me know if there's anything else. And thank you again."

"Of course. I hope you find something suitable."

"Yes."

She goes home and finds Rana and hugs him.

"I told him about the other plane. And he said he'd think of questions to ask me. I don't imagine it'll be enough."

"Probably not."

"He was very confused about why I couldn't just sleep with you."

"If you were a fairy then we'd just have a nice time paying it back that way and it'd be easier. But - I never liked a single fairy I met, anyway."

Hug. " - hadn't realized, they don't - they don't even think they're asking for something difficult, do they - "

" - they know they're asking me to give up something that was really important to me? I don't think they have any idea it'll bother you much."

Nodnod.

"Love you."

"Love you."

And suddenly she's back in Elizabeth's demiplane. 

Well.

This is - she doesn't know exactly what to think of this.

- well, Cecelia is crying again. That didn't take long.

"What happened?"

" - I don't know whether I should discuss it."

" - okay. Do you want us to get Rana back? We just - I realized I could send more things home with you if we did more than one trip - "

" - I suppose you should probably discuss that with him, then."

She'll just sit here hugging herself until he appears, she thinks.