"You clearly attempted to communicate something with that oath and it's impossible to deny me suicide generically."

"We both know what I communicated, that if you said 'do this or I'll kill myself' I would be unable to do that. 'let you' is ambiguous enough that if I thought you meant it I might be stuck but I have this strange feeling once you're on the empty planet you'll reconsider."

"Where should we send the immortality, once we've got it worked out?"

"I am not planning to have a role that interfaces with you at all, so you should figure that out with whoever's in charge of the south continent colony."

He nods. "I swear that when the war's over I will let you and anyone else who'd like to leave here leave unimpeded, make no efforts to arrange that anyone else impede you or that you ever need interact with us again, and never take innocent prisoners again."

Sigh. "Thanks."

Squeeze. "Goodbye."

Cor still shudders when Maitimo touches him.

Elves evacuate.

You okay?

I've been better.

I have extra guards and I know we're short-staffed. Did something happen?

Awhile ago somebody wanted to be de-oathed.

She is now.

I really wonder why he likes good people.

It's hard to maintain an understanding that this is a form of liking.

It's - collecting interesting things, it's not an affectionate thing. But it's about - seeing value in - something that he rejects at every turn. Osanwë-sigh.

You going to be okay when I leave?

I have some political reforms I want and then I'll leave too. I don't actually like being away from him, it feels dangerous, but - in a way I'm grateful he ended up burning bridges so thoroughly, if it'd ended differently I might have stayed.

Well. That's something. He said he'd never take innocent prisoners again, too, which I suppose doesn't stop him from keeping someone who interferes with the postal service for a thousand years but it's something.

- yeah, I asked about that and he wouldn't promise. - I'd been - idly wishing we could de-oath him just in case the thing that's wrong with him is from that, but it's really not worth the risk -

As long as oaths are what makes him a relatively predictable sort of monster...

Yeah. We might get a perfectly nice, deeply horrified person out of it or we might get someone just as bad who we couldn't trust.

I'd consider it your prerogative, I'm going to run off and find something else to do.

Yeah. Good skill.