"Let's go with 'not lots, no'."

"Then I think there will probably be enough time to kill him as a precaution if it ever looks like fairies who might for some reason be interested in stealing him away millennia from now enter the picture."

"Yeah, reasonable. It's just that there's something of a difference in... tone... between 'killed as part of a coup' and 'killed as a precaution after being safely held for centuries'."

"Perhaps we'll be better equipped to deal with public opinion centuries from now."

"I'd hope so!"

"That I really can't help with."

"Yeah. Okay. So we find him, we kidnap him, we do our best to convince him to abdicate, he won't go for it but we don't lose anything trying, and then once he's dealt with in whichever way, Monument goes back to the palace to tell everybody he's in charge now and I guess you," she nods at Promise, "go home."

"Will you be able to teleport to Fairyland if you want?" Promise asks Monument.

"I haven't yet checked, but I believe so."

Nod. "Sounds like that works."

"Off I go in search of the soon to be former Emperor, then. See you soon."

Sunbeam hops off the bed and walks out of the room.

Are you really all right?

No, but I fake it pretty well, don't you think?

...thank you. For - helping. I could do all this by myself but I am very glad I don't have to.

Anytime, my prince.

"I think we should get back in the boat and find an appropriate mountaintop while she looks for my father," he says.

Promise flutters into the boat.

He gets in the boat likewise.

Blink, they're high over the city, level with the surrounding peaks - blink, they're on one of them - blink, they're on a slightly lower one a little to the south, and can no longer see any signs of civilization in any direction. Just rocky slopes and beautiful trees, and a glimpse of a gilded river.

"This will do."

Out she hops. The scenery is pretty. Pity she didn't bring any paper.

She could try asking Monument for some.

"If we're gonna be here for a while I kind of want to draw the landscape."

He creates paper and drawing utensils.

She sketches.

They're beautiful mountains. If this was Fairyland they'd be a famous landmark.

Monument has that face on again.

(He has realized that when Ruava finds his father she is going to contrive to get him alone. There are only so many ways to do that, and she is probably going to use the obvious one.)

Promise hasn't realized any such thing. Promise is drawing the pretty mountains, striking even for Fairyland - she's heard that the nature bits of the mortal world are very drab but this is somewhere else so it stands to reason it's pretty.