"How useful. Much of the reason that humans take so long to grow up is that by default we are born knowing nothing, including how to walk or eat. It is massively inconvenient." 

"...can't you die of not eating?"

"Yes! Babies need to be fed milk at their mothers' breasts. I imagine fairies might not even have that concept." 

Promise glances down at her chest. "We do not. Fairies eat plants."

"A much better design, honestly." Leareth is trying to remember how they even got onto this topic. 

"Anyway, good luck with figuring things out with Woodlark one way or another. Let me know if you need me to stand next to you and know his name for you."

"Of course. Thank you."

Leareth goes back to his various work, and waits for Vanyel's letter. 

It doesn't arrive. 

In the very early hours of the morning, though, a Gate appears on the doorway to a supply-hut out behind the border Guard-post at the edge of Valdemar, just before where the paved road becomes a rutted gravel track, forking off to the east to the holding of Westmark.

A man in Whites with silver-streaked black hair falls through and the Gate crumples behind him. 

He lies on the ground for a couple of minutes, not moving, and then drags himself to his feet and starts weaving his way north under the moonlight. 

Leareth chose the message-drop location because he knew Vanyel had traveled nearby on his Heraldic circuits, and he has a Farseer checking it at regular intervals, and also passive wards to detect any nearby strong magic. 

The wards trigger an alarm, and someone checks the site, and five minutes later they're waking Leareth. 

Leareth sits up in an instant, as soon as he's Mindtouched, and is wide awake by the time he's reached his bedroom door seconds later. :What is it: 

They show him.

:- What:

The man in Whites doesn't quite make it as far as the spot marked on his map before collapsing on the side of the gravel road, shivering. 

Leareth doesn't understand what's happening at all, but he can't wait on that before he acts. Think. 

:Gate to the site and bring him across: he orders. :Now. Wake some Healers: 

     They're on it. 

:And send someone to wake Promise: 

Sunspring has been dragged out of bed too by now, and can sprint up the stairs to the surface and go shout outside Promise's tree to see if this works. 

Promise eventually hears her. Opens a little window. "...what."

"We need healing. For some reason Woodlark Gated out to the message-location in person and collapsed there, he is sensitive to Gates, they need to move him through a second one to bring him here and he is in very bad shape, our Healers cannot treat it very effectively..." 

Sigh. "Okay. At least it'll be quick, I got a good enough look at him before." She steps out of the tree and it closes behind her and she follows Sunspring.

By the time she gets to the small Healers' wing, they've got Woodlark through the Gate and on a bed. He's unconscious and looks very pale, his forehead beaded with sweat. 

Leareth is standing against the wall, his expression level but his shoulders a bit tense. 

"Hadn't you not been going to meet him in person," Promise says, while she heals Woodlark.

"I should leave if he is going to wake up, he was not exactly a threat like this." 

"- if you wanted me to wait to heal him you should have said, I already did it."

Woodlark hasn't actually moved or reacted in any way to the healing. His colour is better but he's still lying unmoving on the bed with his eyes closed. 

Leareth exchanges a meaningful Mindspeech-y look with Sunspring and then ducks out of the room. 

"You can go back to bed," Sunspring says to Promise, stifling a yawn. "Thank you. I am sorry to have disturbed you." And she turns back to the bed. "V– Woodlark?" 

No response.