Undaunted, Sparrow turns that hood invisible to his own eyes as well.

And, if necessary, the hood under that. And the one under that. Continuing until he runs out of either hoods or patience.

"That's silly." says a voice from a point in mid-air nowhere too near to Sparrow. "It doesn't count if I just find it, I've got to earn it. Otherwise I'd have got it long ago."

"... a fairy trying to get a pot of gold... shouldn't it be the other way around?" Ruan muses as he follows along.

There's a giggle from somewhere in the air, and a small object lands in Ruan's hand. It looks like a lump of gold.

Technically, it's a small stone with an illusion spell to make it look like a lump of gold.

"It turns to junk at dawn." warns Sparrow, his voice apparently emanating from Ruan's left ear. "If I just wanted gold and didn't care how I got it, I could have bought stuff with fairy gold and sold it for real gold, but what would be the point of that?"

Oh, little fairy. How innocent you are. As though the finding of something could never be a trial. As though a treasure must never be valiantly won.

The figure turns a shadowed face toward Ruan. You, druid, are far harder to read. But much could hang on you, when things have run their course.

Sunset draws closer. Make your requests and I will grant. I take more joy in the giving than you will in the receiving, for there is always a cost to magic. The ambassador pushes back her hood to reveal two beautiful blue eyes in a ravaged face: skin and bone have been cut away and replaced with ceramic pieces, painted with powerful runes, perfectly carved, turning her visage into an unmovable mask. I know well what it means to sacrifice for power.

Wait wait wait thinks Sparrow. How many hoods did she just pull back?

Aloud, he says "You deal like a leprechaun. Can you teleport people?"

Sparrow immediately asks "What would the cost be to teleport a whole lot of people, some not being here, to a school that finishes people?"

It should be clear (at least to Anthony and Ruan, probably to the telepath as well) that Sparrow's cautiously working up towards the idea of having Yala and all her guardians teleported directly to their destination. He's pretty sure that this will have a negative effect; he's just trying to work out if it's worth it.

The ambassador shakes her head. Far beyond my powers.

"Oh, okay. Then I don't think there's anything magical I want to ask you to do. But I would like to ask you to make sure nothing bad happens to Yala and her group when they come through here on their way past. That should be easy, right?"

"Are you planning to make something bad happen to them when they come by?" asks Sparrow's voice, from somewhere behind the Ambassador's head (Sparrow himself is to her right). He thickens the invisible fog, just in case she can see through invisibility.

Sparrow thinks about it for a bit, and then replies "Not immediately. I'd like to make a different request first, one easier to accomplish. I'd like to ask that neither you, nor anyone under your command, cause any harm to Yala or those with her."

Leaving out the implication of protecting Yala as she comes through; this request can therefore be accomplished by telling everyone she commands not to bother them and sitting back and watching as they go past. Should the ambassador decline this boon, then Sparrow will request the answer to the question "How may we most easily prevent you, and the soldiers under you, from doing any harm to Yala?" (Note that 'those with her' has been dropped from this question. In Sparrow's opinion, Edric and Zaljan can deal with any trouble here themselves; he hasn't forgotten being locked in a jar all night long).

Little fairy. The ambassador's eyes actually look sad. Can you fathom how many dangers lie ahead for the girl? What blades are sharpened in anticipation? Any one of which I could have named, that you might warn her of it. Instead, you put steel in the jaws of the traps. She bows in the direction of the real Sparrow. I grant your request. Not I nor anyone I command shall directly harm her or anyone who travels with her.

She turns to Anthony and Ruan, patient but expectant.