"Hey, are there a lot of Demonsbanes running around?"

Leareth glances up. "No, I would not imagine so. Certainly not among the Tayledras. Was he at k'Treva Vale?" 

"Yes but he prefers 'Woodlark'. He gave me a letter for you." She hands it over.

"Hmm." Leareth takes the letter, but examines it closely for a full minute before breaking the wax seal and unfolding the paper to read. 

She flutters off to work on the flowers a bit more and make sure they're surviving the transfer all right, and then ducks into her tree to avoid the downpour.

And Leareth reads the letter. 

Leareth,

I'm not sure if you deliberately planned to have me run into your compatriot in k'Treva, but either way, this mostly leaves me with even more questions. I'm prepared to consider that you might actually be telling the truth about calling off the invasion, since a fairy with magic from another world showing up does seem like a big deal, but I don't understand what's going on here nearly enough to feel reassured just yet. 

If you're willing, I would like to meet in person so that I can learn some things under Truth Spell. I can understand why you might be reluctant, but you did offer to give me a costly sign of good faith. 

Sincerely, Woodlark (you know who) 

Leareth stares at the paper for a long time. 

Eventually, when it's very thoroughly committed to memory, he burns the paper with a flick of magic, and goes back to practicing sorcery. He'll sleep on it, he thinks, and talk to Promise in the morning. 

If he knocks on her tree she will open a window in its surface. "Yes?"

"I would like to ask you for help with something, if it turns out to be a kind of help you can provide," Leareth says. "Woodlark wishes to meet with me face to face, apparently, so he can confirm under Truth Spell that I no longer intend to invade. The trouble is that he is a far more powerful mage than I am, and could kill me if he wished by calling a Final Strike. I wanted to find out if you have any ideas on using sorcery to make such a meeting safe." 

"Sorcery's not very defensively-oriented, I don't think I have a way better than 'learn his name and stand next to you'."

"Hmm. That does seem that it would add safety, however, I am not sure if he will endorse the risk of telling you his name. - I know it, but telling you myself feels like a rather hostile move, in this situation, so I ought leave it up to him. Did Woodlark say anything about using the message-point I specified to him the last time we spoke?" 

"No, that didn't come up."

"Did you speak privately, or in front of the Tayledras? It seems plausible to me that he has told them of the Foresight dream but not the lucid-dream conversations, in which case he would be evasive in front of others." 

"There were Tayledras there and also a white animal or possibly just oddly shaped person."

"- That would be his Companion, I suspect. They are god-created creatures, in the form of horses, that soulbond to Valdemaran youngsters and choose them to be trained as government officials, more or less." 

"That's creepy."

"It would not be my preferred system for running a country! Just about all of the Gifted children are snapped up this way, and I have never found the system particularly consensual, though the Heralds are prestigious enough that most children are happy to be Chosen." Sigh. "I will leave a reply for him at the message-drop, and if he does not answer, I suppose I will speak with him in the next dream. Thank you for conveying the message." 

"You're welcome."

Leareth drafts a letter in reply, asking 'Woodlark' if he's willing to consent to the plan where he reveals his name to Promise, or gives Leareth permission to do so, and then they can meet face to face without Leareth needing to worry that it's a trick Vanyel is plotting in order to get an opportunity to Final Strike him. 

He has it sent to the message-drop location and left there. No reply arrives that day, which isn't very surprising, even if Vanyel Woodlark is watching it. (Leareth thinks he'd better start getting in the habit of thinking of him by the nickname so he doesn't slip accidentally.) And, of course, he has no guarantee Woodlark is paying the spot any attention. 

He keeps working on sorcery, practicing it and teaching it. 

...

And two nights later, the dream comes again. 

"Leareth." Vanyel, expression neutral, starts walking in his direction. "Did you get my message?" 

"Yes." Leareth meets him in the middle, starts building a barrier against the wind. "Did you see my reply?" 

"No, how– oh, right, the message location. Er, I haven't checked it, since I was in k'Treva, I just got back to Valdemar today." 

"Hmm. You were in a Vale... I wonder if the Star-Eyed wished to delay us speaking again."