Okay then. "Hello. How have you been progressing?"

"Well, thank you."

"What have you been working on and how far have you gotten with it?"

They demonstrate. They've done quite well given the time they had.

Oh, good. Odette gives a few pointers as applicable, but is overall impressed. 

And eventually, when the practice ends, she asks Andreth, "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Certainly," she says, and starts walking towards the trees. 

Odette follows her. "I admit I don't quite know where to start. Um--I have bad news, good news, and an offer for everyone here."

"That order seems reasonable." She's smiling.

"Aegnor's dead. But I think that the elves' unconventional afterlife situation means I'll be able to bring him back at some point."

"All right," she says. "I take it from that you cannot bring back Men?"

"Not if they've been dead more than a few minutes, no."

She nods. "And the offer for everyone here?"

"My sister and I are founding a city. She's running it. I built it. ...She's been reading your books."

She smiles. "Good for you. Whose city, politically speaking? In whose territory, are any of the Elves committed to defending it..."

"Her city. In Nevrast. The area used to have Elves in it but they left. No one's committed to defending it except her and me."

"Are you going to be doing that full-time? Because you need to sleep, and the Enemy can exploit that."

"No one else has committed to defending it yet," she amends. "We're going to teach everyone we can magic, as well. My sister knows how to make weapons that haven't been developed here."

"We're in."

"Is it going to trigger any unpleasant memories if flight is involved again? I promise it's much more pleasant when I'm not in such a hurry."

She has very sharp eyes. "I think we'll cope."

Almost as sharp as Raikel Lehnsherr's. Gosh Odette misses her mom.

"How soon do you think it would be a good idea to leave? The buildings and walls are up, but you'd be the first people there."

"Food? Supplies? Defenses? The Elves might be tempted to let you experience not having any of them as backup, then generously offer it in exchange for fealty."

"Food yes, other supplies not so much but making things is mostly not that hard, defenses...not yet. Fealty is nnnnot going to happen, we can figure something else out."

A smile. "Unless you're parked there full time, the only real safety is in numbers."

"I can park there until I've gotten Sympathy teleportation worked out and can get back as fast as my sister can yell for me."