She will get all her mad science and normal science in a place where it can be safely left maintained by subordinates as long as necessary.

Messages are exchanged. The Council is, as expected, being annoying about agreeing to the alternate location - as well as confused about the high level of security, though they're not even read in on all of the precautions being taken. 

King Randale has no problem with Leareth sending some people to help set up; Savil and Vanyel are going to check all of their work, of course. (Leareth is fine with this because it's not like he wants to sneak in any traps.) They'll be meeting near Delcaire, an out-of-the-way town two-thirds of the way from Haven to the northern border.

The Heralds are also happy to work with a couple of Leareth's scholars on making an artifact that will satisfy the vrondi that all these mages are supposed to be there. They want to do most of the development themselves and hand out talismans on the day of. (They'll also design it in a way that lets them render it obsolete by changing the exact setup with the vrondi later on.) Randi appreciates Leareth's offer not to wear one himself but says he doesn't mind either way. 

And Belrun gets packed. :Grass! Probably! Unless Delcaire is planted entirely with moss and potatoes or something: she tells Amshalan.

:What a mental image! Well, even if it is planted in a very silly way, at least I'll have room to really stretch my legs and run around: Amshalan can and does make occasional trips to the surface to do so, here, but someone needs to Gate her each time so it's not exactly convenient.

Belrun pats her and is ready to go on time.

The Council is persuaded. Everything seems to be in place. 

The dream does not turn up again before their departure. 

Leareth double-checks their protective artifacts. Checks in with Nayoki, who's already there, using the communication spell, and then has one of the other mages raise a Gate from that side; it's considered safer to have the destination terminus be the end that's definitely secure, since the mage raising the Gate is very vulnerable to attacks on the other end as it forms. 

Nothing goes wrong at this point, and they cross to Delcaire without incident. 

They emerge onto a lawn outside an old temple on the outskirts of town. The lawn is covered in a new spring growth of grass. 

Amshalan is delighted! 

It is rather nice to see the sky and live plants even though Belrun does not herself plan to eat any of the plants and cannot yet fly in the sky.

Leareth has mixed feelings about open sky. It's nice, and a relief in some ways, and also the thing about having open sky above you is that you are visible and there are a lot more avenues of surprise attack. 

The area is protected by a dome of mage-energies, invisible to the naked eye but very visible to mage-sight. He should have more than enough layers of precautions. Still, he's on his guard, and stays close to Belrun. 

Savil comes out to greet them. "Belrun, Leareth. Thank you for coming." The thing she's actually thinking is 'goodness, you've grown' but this seems like a weird and awkward comment to make to Leareth so she manages not to. 

"Thank you for inviting us! It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise!" A brief pause. "Er, Vanyel wants to apologize for not coming out to meet you - he's hiding in the shielded meeting-room because I was about to Gate all the others over. You might as well head down and join him." 

"Sure, lead the way."

They've taken over the town hall for their talks. There's a very long meeting-table, and a couple of side rooms for smaller groups, all thoroughly shielded. Vanyel is camped out in one of the littler rooms, and waves to them. 

"Hi Van! Gate's over with."

"Thanks for letting me know!" He stands up to greet them properly. "Think I'll stay here anyway. It has tea. And fewer people." Pause. "Did Savil tell you the, er, possibly very conveniently-timed news?" 

"No?"

"One of Randi's close relatives - well, closer than the other candidates - was just Chosen! He's, er, a second cousin - or first cousin once removed, maybe, I can never keep it straight. Randi's cousin's son. He's apparently in all ways a reasonable candidate for heir, except for the fact that he's eleven." 

"That might do? How long does Randi have?"

"No one's sure. We think probably five years." 

"Sixteen's young but not catastrophically young, if he's generally suitable."

"I think that's what we're hoping. He's getting dragged up here for the meetings." Vanyel makes a face. "Poor kid. It's not at all how I'd want to spend my second week after getting Chosen. Maybe he likes talking to people more than I do, at least."

"What's his Companion think of it, I wonder if they saw this coming."