"Mostly he loves the language and it will be hard to get him talking about anything else till he thinks he is fluent."

Vanyel chuckles. "He sounds like he has a very one-track mind. Er, I'm ready to sleep now." 

And sleep. She goes to bed herself.

The next morning, whenever Bella starts heading toward the dining hall for breakfast, Taver is there, blocking the path and aiming a piercing look at her. 

"Uh, hello?"

:We need to speak: Taver's mindvoice feels subtly different from the other Companions; brighter and steelier, somehow. :Care to talk a walk?: He gestures with his muzzle at the garden path winding off from the main one. 

"I think out here seems fine," with ambient witnesses, "if we just step off the path a bit."

Taver nods, ponderously, and paces out a few yards. He looks at her some more. :...I imagine you can guess why I wish to speak to you: he sends finally. 

"I imagine it has to do with my hanging out with Sayshen yesterday?"

Taver narrows his eyes in a disconcertingly human way. :Yes. And - before that. She would not tell me what you spoke or, or what you did to her. Which is in itself very concerning to me. Would you like to explain?: The overtones hint that he does not actually care whether she wants to explain, he intends to find out either way. 

I'm not preventing her from telling you anything, including by indirect means such as making her forget about it, and I'm willing, if you're really anxious about this, to testify to that under a truth spell.

:Whether your - intervention - involved preventing her from telling me is not actually my main concern: Taver's mindvoice hardens even further. :You altered something in her. Companions are a key part of Valdemar's functioning as a stable and peaceful kingdom. I would not have recommended interfering with that, and I am displeased: 

Noted.

His eyes bore into her. :What motivated you to seek her out at all, and to - do whatever it is that you did?: 

"I wanted to learn more about Companions and she wasn't busy."

:That would perhaps be a sufficient justification for speaking to her at all. I am not sure that modifying her mind is a necessary part of 'learning about Companions: A hint of frustration in Taver's mindvoice is quickly smoothed away. 

"I think I learned a lot."

:Do you care to explain to me what, exactly, you learned?: From the tone, Taver does not actually intend it as a polite request. 

Bella is ready to fly into the air if he twitches at her. Or if anyone seems to be coming from behind her. If Sayshen doesn't want to tell you, I think I should respect that.

Taver doesn't move, but his gaze on her is solidly in 'glare' territory now. He's silent for a long time. 

:Have you done this with any other Companions?: he asks. 

I do not think you are entitled to information from me that you cannot get from them.

:I think it is a matter that concerns me, actually. I am responsible for the Companion herd, and for Valdemar's stability as a country. You may have compromised that: 

If any Companions ask me to do anything for them which may have a compromising effect and I think they haven't considered that, I will remind them.

:Actually, I would prefer you not do this again, regardless of who may ask: Pause. :That is not a request: 

I will take your preferences about what services your conspecifics are permitted to access under advisement, as I assume will they.