"I could use them to figure out what sorts of sounds you use in names and figure out more names."

"And is there anything you could do with the more names?"

"If there were more fairies around I could tell them the names."

"No telling other fairies any names you know. Anything else?"

"I guess I could write the names down all together instead of spread out in the books."

"No causing other fairies to have easier access to the names. If I give you my name can you use it to control me in any way? Would it interfere with any orders I give you?"

"Not if I can't enforce orders," she says.

"And is it the case that you can't enforce orders? Did the order I gave you suffice for that?"

"I think it worked, but I can't actually tell the difference between an enforced order I'm following or have no opportunity to disobey and an unenforced one under the same conditions."

"What's the difference between giving an enforced order and an unenforced one?"

"Meaning to enforce it. It's not audible or anything."

"Do not give anyone orders. Do not give any other fairies names so they can give orders; Tell me if there are other fairies trying to do that, and stop them if they do it to me." Intent might not be audible but he says it rather forcefully anyway. "Yesterday we were trying to make progress on the questions of which variants on a general demand for information I could make without harming you."

"I don't mind telling you how fairies work. It's - stuff about me personally that I don't want to talk about as much. I don't know if you're going to be trying to use me as a strategist or just a fairy, that makes a difference."

"You'd have five hundred years of situational information to catch up on to be useful as a strategist. If you find it more objectionable to be asked to think about problems for me I can -" he flinches - "just use you as a fairy. You do not have to tell me anything personal. If you want to ask compensation for telling me things or doing things for me, I can do that."

"Being under orders to think about a thing is - unpleasant. Being asked to think about a thing isn't. I don't know what I'd ask for. You don't have my tree. You don't have a gate. You're letting me have books and paper and everything."

"In that case I will ask you to think about things but not order it. You could ask for songs, if you like music, or for different varieties of food or company or so forth. I am not good company, not reliably."

"I'm not accustomed to having good company. I don't know if I like it particularly. Music's all right. I don't know what mortal foods taste least weird yet."

"It will involve telling you about a bad situation that I expect you will want to avert, and I expect you will anticipate how I might use you in the situation and I expect that'll scare and anger and -" he shrugs - "I don't know enough about your temperament."

"Well," she says, "are you going to do it anyway?"

"If I can't think of a better solution and no one can stop me, yes."

"...is someone likely to try to stop you?"

"Lots of people will certainly try to stop me, but I have better weapons than them and more experience fighting."

"If you're going to use me on something horrible anyway I would rather have warning and a chance to think of less horrible ways to do it."