"I don't really need an apology but thank you."

Leareth turns to her as well. "I hope you slept well?" 

"I slept fine, thank you. Where should I go for breakfast?"

"If you want to join the rest of my people here, the dining hall is this way. Otherwise I could have food sent to the infirmary again, if you prefer."  

"Dining hall is fine but I did appreciate supper yesterday when I was neck deep in scrolling."

"I am glad." Leareth starts walking, glances back at her. "What are your immediate plans from here?" 

"Finish learning the teleport. Keep checking in with Haven often, see if the Ifteli fuck off, if they do go back with Van and Yfandes and Sayshen because I am told I'm not being kicked out. Resume work on interplanar transit."

"Sensible enough. I expect you can anticipate my concern that the Companions are - not necessarily agents working in your favour. That being said, you have done a great deal for Valdemar and, while they are not going to help you, they may not actually be a threat." 

...Bella stifles a giggle.

"Oh, what?" 

Sayshen, Leareth just told me that Companions are not necessarily agents working in my favor and I failed to not laugh, is it okay with you if I tell him what's so funny?

:Only if you let me watch his face through your eyes, I have to see this – oh, should I check with Yfandes too?: 

That would probably be polite. Eyes and ears too so she can see his face and hear the conversation.

:Fine with me, can't see him using it against us when he already could've done whatever he wanted for the last day. Can I hop on too?: 

She can! "You are probably curious why the gods are so mad at me."

"...I am, yes. Is there a story here that you wish to share?" 

"You know what I hate? I fucking hate mind control."

"I see. Companions must have bothered you greatly, then." He frowns slightly. "Did you - announce this fact...? That alone should not have raised the ire of the gods so much. Did you do something about it?" 

"It's very brittle mind control!" she chirps.

"Is it. Fascinating. It has not appeared that way over the past eight centuries. Did you find some clever trick?" 

"I found Sayshen. She's - she used to be Lancir's -"

"And then the Groveborn Companion decided he had other plans for Lancir," Leareth finishes. "Leaving Sayshen in the lurch. I did always find that to be one of the more ill-designed parts of the entire system." 

"If you wanted to single out a specific aspect of a system that works to co-opt the magical potential of the populace in service of the state by imposing and then holding hostage deeply important relationships with magical mind controlled horses, sure, you could pick that one! Anyway, it's brittle from some angles and it was sitting on her especially hard."

"And you think that this irritated the gods? I did warn you of that. Though, in your defence, it is an understandably frustrating situation, and also, here you are, safely, and Vkandis has wasted a rather valuable resource in revealing his secret army. I doubt it is over, but I think you have won this round." 

"You warned me afterwards."