Vanyel doesn't have anything else he'd wanted to bring up today. 

Then that can be it for the day.

The next few days are uneventful again. It isn't until three days later that a Mindtouch wakes her in the middle of the night, slamming into her shields, again without bothering to 'knock'. :Bella help: 

Vanyel's mindvoice sounds...weird. Like it's not coming from the same 'place' as usual. 

She sits bolt upright in bed; her boots fly into her hands. What is it? Is there another fire or -

:Not that. Dream with Leareth: Mindspeech didn't work in the dream before, but he's been practicing lucid dreaming a lot, and he's had a few normal non-nightmare dreams in the last few nights where he could take some amount of control. Including, at one point, Mindspeaking Yfandes. It seemed worth trying this time if he could reach Bella as well. 

- are you having it right now?

:Yes: He seems distracted; his mindvoice is fading in and out a bit. 

Wow. Okay, do you need to tell me something specific or is this just a test? Yawn.

:He knows about you: 

Uh. Okay. What does he have to say about me?

:Um, he just started asking me questions about you. I think he doesn't know that much but he knows I must: 

What does he want to know?

:Where you came from, how and why you arrived here, if I know any–: the link drops out for a few seconds, :sorry it's really hard to focus on Mindspeaking. Um do you want him to know anything about you?: 

Sort of depends on what he wants to do with the information.

:How should I know? I can ask him, if you'd believe - sorry I can't keep Mindspeaking. If you come to my room and read me would you get the dream? Then I wouldn't have to relay: 

Yes, I can do that. She stuffs her feet into her boots and tromps over to his room.

Vanyel looks fast asleep in his bed, but his mind isn't. If Bella slips through his shields, she'll catch a flicker of white, then a snowy sky and walls of glassy black stone rising on either side. It's oddly un-detailed, like a painted theatre backdrop more than the full colour of reality.

A mage in a black tunic and cloak stands at the front of a still army, which again is somehow more like a sketch; only Leareth's face has the full detail of reality. He watches Vanyel. He seems to be waiting. 

I'm here, I'm watching from your perspective.

:Thank you for coming over: He sounds incredibly relieved, and Mindspeech is clearly easier for him to manage when she's right there in his mind. :Um, the last thing is that he said he had confirmed reports of a young woman who flew to a burning building, brought in water from nowhere, and coordinated with the Heralds on scene – I don't think he knows for sure I was there – to save dozens of people. He says there were rumours earlier but this one he took seriously. Then he asked me the things I said, and I told him I needed to think and I've been standing here awkwardly since then: 

I would like to know what he plans to do with the information.

She'll be able to feel how Vanyel steels himself, putting in great effort to make his emotions unreadable. "Leareth, before I can decide whether I actually want to tell you anything I know, I need to know what you want to do with that information." 

A slight nod of acknowledgement. "I see. Foremost, I will use it to make inferences about the nature of the world. Or, if my theory is correct, the nature of other worlds, since the magic that was described does not match any that I know of, and I would be very surprised if there were a school of magic in Velgarth that my studies and exploration had entirely missed. If, indeed, our world is not the only one in existence, then I wish to discover more about the methods of transit between worlds. Of course, I am already doing this based on the information that has reached me, and will continue to do so." 

"Secondly. I wish to know the how and why of her arrival in Haven so that I might understand her intentions and predict what actions she is likely to take. Whatever the source of her powers, she is someone I would rather have an an ally than an enemy, for the obvious reasons. I am trying to figure out if cooperation is at all a possible outcome here, and if so, what I would need to do to attain it. Does that answer your questions?" 

"Um, give me a minute," Vanyel says. "I...need to think." :Bella help: 

Um. You can tell him that I seem friendly, if you want, I want to know where he goes from there.

Vanyel still hesitates for a while, maybe choosing the exact wording. "So far she's seemed friendly," he says. "I mean, she did save a lot of lives in the fire."