It's a two-day journey if you just want to cross. That's why it's called the Narrow Sea. Carthak to Corus might be ten days or so, depending on the winds. East from Corus you can find all the cold forests you want. Daine has run in those forests, and has fond memories of them. I'm not King Jonathan, but Kit thought Numair would ask him to give you a place, and he'll find somewhere. The immortals have broken up a lot of fiefs. And therefore, implicitly, he has many nobles or noble-adjacent knights looking for land and he can offer it on good terms, like putting up with a vampire's castle nearby.

Oh, two days is easy, if she drinks beforehand she wouldn't even need to worry about it on the trip itself.

Though she's a bit concerned about being dragged into... stuff? Political in-fighting, specifically, the major comparison to which is the in-fighting between vampires and their clans. Is that likely to be a thing? She does not want that to be a thing, she just wants to garden and output healing potions and other pro-social alchemy stuff and not get involved about people fighting over who sits in the big chair.

Everywhere she suggested has infighting. Everywhere she knows about has infighting. Carthak's new emperor, Kaddar over there, took power in... circumstances (Daine is slightly self-conscious about this), and not everyone is happy with that. Tortall is still roiling from the Immortal War, and the two threatening attempts to overthrow the king she knows about in the past decade are probably not alone. Scanra is unstable at the best of times, and it was just on the losing side of the Immortal War, so now is not the best of times. Galla is an even easier raid target than Tortall, and with no Dominion Jewel their nobles are even more prone to uprisings. (Also she has some bad memories in Galla.) The Copper Isles has a mad king. The Yamani Isles have wyverns roosting in their mountains. She can keep going. 

Tortall has some treaties with Immortal residents who are not to be pulled in to succession disputes or war. She negotiated some of them. Carthak might do the same. Beyond that, Iovetra will need to ask someone else who is better acquainted with the politics of other countries.

Infighting is - well, she supposes normal, it's being forcibly dragged into it that she takes issue with. Tortall has had some treaties of the leave them alone variety negotiated? That sounds promising, then. So, probably Tortall? Since it also has green and cold and was on her shortlist, anyway. Is Daine willing to help her make a treaty of some kind for 'please at least ask before dragging me into your conflicts'?

Making treaties like this is about half of what Daine spends her time doing for Tortall! She can definitely give advice on how to handle such a thing. ...Iovetra can talk with her mouth and other humans can understand her, and Daine is currently accompanying Kaddar. Her personally handling the negotiation may be difficult and she is not prepared or empowered to make that sort of deal right now, with very little available context. She can write out a standard sort of phrasing and explain it as best she can, and Iovetra can try to negotiate from there? It doesn't sound like there will be very much negotiation but a castle does need to physically be somewhere.

Or she can shift into a goose and fly back if Iovetra needs her around. That would take her two to four days, depending on the wind. She can't abandon Kaddar when they're stopping by a village —they need her talent with animals — but the desert is sparse and she sometimes has the time for that.

I don't actually speak the language, specifies Iovetra. She could learn it, granted, and has started, but learning a language takes time.

Except she could cheat via human blood drinking. She... kind of doesn't want to at all, but acknowledges that it's tactically smart. Even if it makes her feel kind of sick.

That is a problem. She can—

Numair walks up to them! He says something to Kit,

Kit tweedles up at him and tail-points to the rats (to one of the rats, maybe?),

and Daine expands and unfolds back into human shape. She speaks the same language as the other humans, but while in rat shape Iovetra finds she can still understand it perfectly well.

"So what d'you have for us? She says she wants to find a cold and foresty place for her castle and a deal like the griffins where nobody's going to pull her into any two-legger wars all of a sudden. The problem is she can't talk to people without me, and I can't just fly off whenever."

If Iovetra has anything to say directly(ish) to Numair, she suddenly has an available translator.

Please tell him thank you, again, for the sun protection amulet. What sorts of things I should do to make it last? Is there anything I should know about its upkeep?

"She says thank you for the amulet, and she wants to know how to keep it working. Did you spin her a lasting spell in a few hours? Numair, you're supposed to be resting after that wurm a few days ago! —Yes, listening is rather what I'm talking for, if it teaches you to talk on your own I won't complain one bit."

Numair's response is less comprehensible, but it contains some mention of spells and amulets. Probably. The words at least sound similar.

.... Yeaaaah she didn't get most of that. Help, please, for a translation?

"The amulet will hold for three to five days, he's not full sure. He'll need to get some books to set it solid, and it happens we're in Carthak so the best books will be about laying slave collars, Numair! And it would be hard but whatever you did to make black opals will make it fair simple, he just needs to look back at his books. If you need to keep that one up he can poke it with his Gift to refill it, or perhaps a different mage can do it if they're good, but he says good he means maybe a master at the University wouldn't mess it up trying. Don't look at me like that, you know you do."

Iovetra gives a little rat snort, because the banter is genuinely very cute, but:

Slave collars? That's a thing here???

Daine will get her HORROR AND DISGUST. Behold! She has a visceral reaction to slavery as a thing, and the visceral reaction is the desire to get the fuck out of this country as soon as physically possible, and maybe burn it down on her way out. She doesn't endorse the urge to burn it down, but she has it.

"Yes, I know, but Kaddar says it would beggar the Empire and his nobles would rebel aside. And his soldiers. He handled the Banjiku fair enough, but if you know how to get rid of slavery all at once I'd be right happy to hear it."

I don't, I got out of mine by outliving my master.

Best thing he ever did for her, forgetting her in a box somewhere and then going off and dying.

But, yes, this is in fact extremely personal for this vampire in particular, and if anyone attempts to enslave her it will go extremely poorly for them.

"Best avoid the Copper Isles then. They're much worse about it than Carthak."

But definitely no slavery in Tortall? she confirms.

"Not legally."

This is acceptable. She might be involved in a politic if someone does a slavery in front of her in a place where it is definitely illegal. In that she will be on the side of 'no slavery.' Very strongly.

Anyway moving on from ways where she is anything more than being perfectly harmless and nonthreatening to all.

So I think the thing to do is just to be a small adorable rat on your shoulder as you talk to people, and get a better feel for the local language? Does your caravan need healing potions or something? ... What are the opals going to be used for, are they just good for stopping sunlight's burn?

"Numair did you have her make you black opals without explaining anything."

Reply! Gesture to Kit! More reply!

"I suppose. Yes, black opals are power stones. They can hold a spell, or you can fill them with power and draw on it to strengthen one. Numair says he's using yours to force more power into the sunburn spell? And to set it to stay on you for a time without him needing to keep it up. Without them, he'd need longer, and much more of his Gift, to stick it stable to your amulet."