It took them an entire day to reach the eastern edge of the Crimson Wood. They spent the evening right at the edge, a good deal north of the town Sallowain had mentioned for his relations, where there was room for Jarnvaror to curl up to sleep. The dragon had seemed rather nervous about letting them go after Peter’s description of how close they’d come to being locked up.

  As eager as he was to interview Sheil’s relations, Andrew was glad there was a bit of a break beforehand. Anna had been sulking since they left the clearing. He hadn’t realized how close she’d gotten to another vision with the Wisps. But then, they’d been at least as close to getting recaptured. Andrew guessed from her reaction that fact was more frustrating than comforting to Anna though.

  So they spent the evening in relative silence, with little more sound than the fire crackling between them and Jarnvaror’s sighs as the dragon slept behind them. Peter volunteered to stay up and keep watch incase the Lord Sallowain had been able to send word out about their escape already. Andrew thanked him, but had trouble getting to sleep himself. His whole body still felt tense, as if he expected to be caught again at any moment.

  He did, eventually, manage to get some sleep before taking a turn at the watch himself.

  Andrew distributed some jerky for their breakfast once the others woke up. They seemed better rested than him. He felt better himself after drinking some water. “Well, are we ready to go?” he asked the others.

  “I think so,” Anna said.

  “What exactly is the plan for today?” Peter asked.

  “I think we go in to try and talk with Lady Sheil’s parents,” Andrew said. “They’re nobility. I imagine they live in the manor house.”

  “How do we avoid being thrown in jail this time, though?” Peter asked. “I’m not sure we want to just walk up the way we did before.” The dragon rumbled something, to which Peter replied. “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. We don’t want to do that again.”

  Andrew nodded. That question was a good deal of what had kept him up the night before, and he thought he had an answer ready. “You’re right. We don’t want to just walk up and request a meeting. But I don’t like the idea of using force or coercion to get them to talk. Even setting aside that it puts a bad taste in my mouth, I think making a spectacle of ourselves whenever we need something is a stupid move while we’re wanted.”

  “Right,” Peter said, nodding. “But then, what should we do?”

  “Write a letter,” Andrew said.

  Peter blinked. “A letter? Why a letter?”

  Andrew thought for a moment. His mind was still a little foggy from not sleeping as much, and his tongue didn’t seem able to keep up with his mind. “I think there are a few reasons to try it,” Andrew said. “We’re still dealing with nobles. And we’re not trying to offend them. To that end, formality seems like a good idea. It also should give us some control. We can just tell them the meeting place, because they won’t be able to send a letter back. We can communicate to them, and set the terms for them communicating with us.”

  “What if they just chuck the letter?” Peter asked.

  “I think we can do something to make it too interesting for that,” Andrew said. He turned to Anna. “How close do you have to be to control an object with magic?”

  Anna frowned. “Theoretically, you can be any distance. Most spells weaken with distance, others remain stable. Line of sight is often more important for active spells.” She blinked. “Wait, are you suggesting I send the letter magically?”

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  Andrew nodded. “If a floating letter shows up outside a door or window, they’ll make sure to read it. Can you do it?”

  “I’ll need some practice,” Anna said. “It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I’d probably need to maintain the spell for a while before they see the letter.”

  Andrew nodded. “We can take a bit of time for that,” Andrew said.

  “I don’t know,” Peter said. He crossed his arms. “Would you just do whatever a floating letter told you to do?”

  Andrew shrugged. “We can send another if they don’t respond after taking the first,” he replied. “If they keep ignoring it… I don’t know. Maybe we’ll have to try something flashier. Or maybe I’ll think of something else.”

  “How long do we have?” Anna asked.

  Andrew thought for a moment. “It would probably be a bad idea to stay here longer than a week. Even that might be too long.”

  Anna nodded. “I suppose we should give it a shot.” She offered him her notebook. “Here, you get started on the letter, and I’ll practice holding something Out away from me for a while. Maybe I could use Jarnvaror as a measuring stick?” she added with a smile for Peter.

  “What do I do in the meantime?” Peter asked after putting Anna’s suggestion to a rather confused dragon. “I assume you’re just going to stand by his tail and see if you can make the paper hover by his nose, right?” Anna nodded. “It’s not like you need me for that.”

  “Have you got something in mind?” Andrew asked.

  Peter thought for a moment. “I could go spy out by the manor. See if there’s a good place for Anna’s spell.”

  Andrew frowned. “Sneaking isn’t any of our strong suits, remember?” Andrew said.

  “We’ll have to do it at some point,” Peter replied. “At least so Anna can see where she’s sending the letter. And I think I can manage if no one’s looking for me.”

  “Fine, but be careful,” Andrew said. The image of Peter running back to them with more Elves in pursuit came to him. He hoped it wouldn’t come true. Peter grinned in response and told the dragon.

  “Don’t you start,” Peter said when Jarnvaror growled his reply. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry. I won’t make any noise. I’ll just sneak up through the tree line so we know what we’re looking at, and I’ll be able to lead Anna to a good spot next time. Perfectly simple.”

  Peter vanished through the trees. The dragon seemed a little more anxious while he was gone. But he still let Anna stand by his tail while she practiced hovering a page from her notebook a meter or so over the tip of his snout. Andrew found the site rather distracting as he worked out the letter he planned to leave with Sheil’s parents.

  What he landed on felt too short and too wordy all at once. But he had to put it to the page so they could deliver it by the evening. So he wrote it down as carefully as he could to make sure it would still be legible:

  To the Parents of Lady Sheil, Greetings.

  We are the Wisp Seekers, working with the King and Queen of Grealand to solve issues related to the Wisps and their activities throughout the nation. In the course of our work, we have in countered your daughter on several occasions. We believe she is working with an organization that has attempted a Coup De Tat. We understand that this may be very concerning for you, but there is no need for alarm. We wish to discuss the matter with you. Please, meet with us by noon tomorrow at the edge of the forest five kilometers north of the city. With your aide, we may be able to stop the war.

  Andrew shook his head, looking over the letter he’d written. He couldn’t think what else to say, but it felt incomplete. He looked over at Anna, who was still practicing with the magic. “How long are you able to hold it?” he asked.

  Anna grinned at him. “It’s easier than I thought it would be. I just need to weave the net correctly and I can hold it for ages.”

  “Great,” Andrew said. “Then could you look this over for me?”

  Anna came over and took the letter. She read it over and frowned. “It’s kind of blunt, isn’t it? And maybe a bit wordy.”

  “I know, but I can’t think of what else to say,” Andrew said.

  “Maybe try keeping it simpler. We can tell them a lot of this,” she waved the letter around, “when we’re talking to them. I think a sentence or two should be enough.”

  Andrew thought about it himself. He flipped the paper around and wrote a few more sentences. “What about these,” he asked. Then he read aloud what he’d written. “To the Parents of Lady Sheil. We are the Wisp Seekers. We need to discuss something about your daughter with you. Meet us by noon tomorrow at the edge of the forest five kilometers north of the city.”

  Anna nodded. “Better,” she agreed. “The first one feels like it’s not enough because you include so many extra details, and all of those feel like they need their own explanation. This should work just fine.”

  “Good,” Andrew replied. He looked up and saw Peter coming back through the woods. Thankfully, it was at a walk, rather than a run. “It looks like it may be about time to deliver the letter.”