Fair enough. I don't suppose he's pretending hard enough he'd give back the things they stole with the ships?

No idea.

He's still making a point of sticking to the karma rules voluntarily, so I might be able to nudge him by emphasizing that it'd be fair.

Is he? That's weird. 

There's no way he can become a practitioner, right? Couldn't have been spying in Doriath, couldn't possibly have enough information -

It started before Doriath. I think it was originally because he was hoping I'd show him the ritual, and now, maybe just not wanting to admit that was why?

Possible.

I'm probably overestimating him if I say that if he wanted to be a practitioner he would be but it is not plausible to me that if he wanted you to show him, that's all he'd try.

He doesn't want to be one, now. By the end of that first conversation he had sworn to it.

But you think he might have resolved not to want to so he could swear to it?

Yep. Or genuinely changed his mind when he heard more, that's technically possible.

Or consulted with his father and got new orders.

If it's that one he did it without telling his father what the question was. He didn't tell Fëanáro about magic.

Did he tell his father enough his father guessed, though.

...I think I only asked him to swear he hadn't told anyone. He couldn't have known at the time I'd make that oversight?

Give someone not his father enough information that his father will guess, but that person won't - or give it to that person in a language they don't even speak - with orders to not tell anyone and a reminder that orders to keep things from the King should be disobeyed, and then he can swear to 'haven't told anyone, haven't given anyone enough information they can figure it out' - hasn't ordered anyone to tell his father anything, and if you happened to ask him to swear that he doesn't anticipate that any of his actions will cause the King to learn the truth, he can actually still ensure his father doesn't find out. 

Sorry, I should have given you a guide to Maitimo or something.

You did, I just...

Okay. He's either done that or not, can we assume if he's going to it already happened? I can just ask, and be conspicuously suspicious if he can't swear.

I think it's a safe assumption by now, yes. What do we gain from knowing whether he has?

Um, we'd have a more complete list of people it'd be catastrophic to have captured, we'd know Maitimo is taking chances to be slimy when he sees them...

Mostly it just seems like the kind of thing that of course we'd want to know.

But right now they at least have to pretend Fëanáro doesn't know anything.

If he does know, the pretense might not make things better.

Maybe he even came up with some brilliant plan given the capabilities he knows about, like Maitimo thought he would, and in that case I'd want to know about it.

Then it's probably worth asking. 

Also if Maitimo's sliding things past you it's good to at least know he's doing it.

Or maybe he isn't, that'd be good to know about too.

Even if I'd bet against it.

You're never wrong betting against the decency of my cousins.

We'll find out.

They arrive back at camp with their lovely new gravity elementals. The Elves vanish at once; they'll have been missed in a dozen places at once. I'll give the King a briefing, Findekáno says distractedly. 

And eventually, after everyone on this end is informed of recent events and likely future ones, Amber finds herself talking to Maitimo.

So, what's in your father's pile of uses for longer-lasting songs? she asks, while it could still plausibly be an irrelevancy before getting to the important things.