To people who don't know me personally I'm objectively very scary, Bella explains. I have a lot of powers. I'm working on more. I think that the Ifteli army is directed by a person who finds me threatening, enough to blow their secret of having such a scary army and send it after me where I was working a healing shift in an allied country. If you'd rather I not return to Valdemar, that's okay with me; I don't want to attract more attention like that when Haven's been nothing but hospitable. I was not expecting the army and can't guarantee I'd see similar coming in the future. I have never been to Iftel or interacted with anyone from Iftel apart from the thing with the gryphons yesterday. Anyway, when they gated in, Vanyel was badly affected, as you might expect. I pulled him into Healers' with me so he wouldn't be collapsed out in the open. I don't have a lot of combat-applicable magic because most of my spells were developed on a paradise continent and do things like laundry and tourism and making ice skating rinks, so I didn't know what to do next, although I did suspect they might be after me, whether it was because of my general threat level or just because they saw me flying and wanted to shut down the scary flying person.

She pauses here to let Lancir digest that and to check if Leareth's awake. If he's awake she wants to ask him how much of his involvement she may describe.

Leareth is awake; he's down the hall, talking to one of his subordinates from the facility. :Bella? Is something wrong?: 

Not very. I'm talking to Lancir, the Queen's Own, and wanted to know how much I can mention about you.

:You can certainly mention my name; I am fairly sure he will know it already, due to Vanyel's Foresight vision. Might you find out how much other information he has already, and I will come join you?: 

Okay. I'm in Vanyel's room but keep it down, Shavri's still asleep.

:Noted. We could go next door, though I would understand if you wish to stay with him: 

The earcuff can't target two people at once and the next room is a little far for comfort with the painblocking.

:Ah. Where is Nayoki?: 

I'm not sure, she didn't say where she was going, but I think she was up all night so it would be reasonable if she went to bed.

:Certainly: Leareth agrees. :I will be there shortly: 

:Bella? You still there?: Lancir sounds confused and - not quite angry but definitely frustrated. :All of that makes sense, I guess. I'm more asking about the part where you kidnapped Van and then everybody else at Healers'. And I'm pretty sure you're not telling me everything about the leadup, so if there's anything there that isn't part of this 'infohazard', I want to know it: 

I'm still there, sorry, I was talking to someone on this end. Uh, Healers' was besieged and I didn't know what to do next, so I called in backup; his name is Leareth, have you heard him mentioned? I'd previously attracted his attention by being conspicuous with my various abilities.

:...I have, yes. Vanyel told us about his Foresight vision immediately when he and Savil returned to Haven. And Yfandes told Taver some background, he...was being cagey about it with us even before you brought up the infohazard, but he did mention Leareth. And passed on some background that it turns out he's known for almost eighteen months and didn't deign to share with any of us including his Chosen: Lancir is clearly offended about this. :Van was speaking with the man, in the vision?: 

That's him. We'd been corresponding and then I finished the earcuff, which lets me talk to my Elf friends from Valinor but also incidentally gives me unlimited range intraworld, so we were able to talk whenever I felt like it. He'd mentioned I could call him for help if I got into trouble, and I wasn't expecting to need that, but then there was a whole army after me, so I did. He shielded the building, and helped Melody make most of the gryphons land, and then there were few enough left that I could do for the rest - should I let those few go now or after our conversation?

:After: Lancir says immediately, brushing past it. :Why were you corresponding with Leareth of all people?: 

Leareth is interested in the potential represented by the existence of and access to other worlds. Right now, I'm it. He's willing to make himself useful for my goodwill.

:Why in all hells do you trust him? Did you not notice the part where he's going to invade our kingdom?: 

He is way, way more interested in me liking him than he is in invading your kingdom, or in doing basically anything else limited in scope to Velgarth.

:I find myself dubious: 

That's not unreasonable. But it's the belief I acted on. I called him for help, he appeared, he shielded Healers', he helped Melody get the gryphons down. They were still besieging the place, and they were after me, so I needed to get out. My transport spell doesn't work on the caster, though I expect to have that oversight corrected soon. So getting me out required a Gate, which Leareth provided, and we brought Van, since if I'd left him behind he would have been helpless in a besieged building and also in tremendous pain. Then I tapped some of Leareth's staffpeople to get enough mana to grab Shavri - I was worried that they might have enough intel to kidnap my friends as hostages, and she's also a Mindspeaker, and was able to get back in communication with Haven with the earcuff even once I was out of arts for the day. We heard they'd taken Melody, so I got Melody and healed her, and on her advice we evacuated the rest of the building. And Sayshen, who'd had the same thought I did about my friends and had been running away with Shavri and Need. I expect to be able to send people back in a less panicked fashion over the next day or so.

:I...see: Lancir is still obviously unhappy. :If you do return our people, that - will help a bit, in terms of convincing us that you really are trying to act with goodwill. Though it won't convince me your judgement is sound. Why didn't you tell anybody about this sooner? It seems extremely relevant to Valdemar's security and wellbeing: 

Tell people what? That I was pretty sure Leareth was no longer planning to invade Valdemar but had no way to prove that? The infohazard? The army I didn't see coming?

:Whether or not you had a way to prove it, I would have appreciated learning of the first thing sooner than 'last night, while an army was attacking Haven.': 

I initially learned about Leareth's existence in the course of seeing Vanyel as a patient.

:And you didn't think to advise him that he ought to tell people this highly strategically-relevant information?: