:Yeah, one of the other things I'll want is a guest room, and in general enough space that if he wants to move in later we won't be cramped. Workroom, too, if we're building from scratch anyway, but I don't need it if there's something we can repurpose. The calming technique - it isn't generally used in actual combat; our powers are strengthened by emotion, so it does weaken us, but there are more effective things to do if you can overpower someone. It's more often used when a stronger Sith wants to stop two weaker ones from fighting each other without killing either of them, it's pretty effective for that. Or to reduce the risk of a fight starting in the first place, but that's less common, it runs the risk of offending someone.:

Savil's thoughts hit a stumble of surprise-confusion when Deskyl mentions Vanyel possibly moving in, but she lets it pass. 

"Hmm," she says at the end. "That's also something strong Projective Empathy is useful for, though it'd almost never end up being used on other Heralds, given that we've all got Companions to shout at us if we're being idiots." She's curious about the Sith politics, but in a nonspecific way where she doesn't have actual questions about it yet. "Anyway, we may well have to build you something special, but it's possible Jaysen can find an existing building that could just be renovated or repurposed." 

:I'll have a look at what you've got, yeah. Better to rule out anyplace your nephew might have bad associations with, though, if you can, it'll probably be a while before I have enough of your language to even start testing mind tricks.:

Savil nods. "I'll keep that in mind. Er, why do the mind tricks require knowing the language? I think the most similar magic we have here," she isn't sure whether it's Mindhealing or literal magical compulsions, "doesn't depend on verbal language that way, it's more just conceptual." 

:It's probably possible to do it via Mindspeech, but I expect I'll have to tweak the technique, and I don't have much practice with it - it might still be faster to do it that way, I won't know until I'm recovered enough to look that closely at it without exhausting myself, but it won't be very fast in any case.:

"Right, that makes sense." Savil yawns, apologetically covers her mouth. "Does my nephew seem to be doing all right over there?" 

:Yeah, I'm winding down, another minute or so. I can hang out out front if you want to go.:

"Minute or two is fine. It's been a long day, is all." 

"Mmhmm." :I'll try to give you a little more warning next time.:

"About what, Van being upset? Honestly, I've given up on expecting to get any warning for that, it just happens sometimes."

:This one would've been pretty predictable if I'd known what I was poking. And I have some advantages that way - my powers don't cost anything, I can leave things like emotion-sensing on all the time, I don't have to know there's something I want to see to start looking.:

"...Do you do that all the time? Or just if you're with Van and want to know if he's getting upset?" Savil knows there are Empaths who do leave their Gift receptive most of the time, it is quite useful as a warning that something is about to go badly, but it's also not something that everyone is comfortable with. 

:Yeah, it's just one of my senses at this point, I'd feel pretty blind without it.:

"Fair enough." It's not like she makes any effort not to use her mage-sight, and she would feel blind if she couldn't – though she also doesn't use it all the time, because it does cost her something, even if not a lot. "Do most Sith use their Force senses all the time by default?" 

:Not to this degree; I specialized in sensing. Some things are obvious even if we're not looking, though - I can tell that there aren't any other trained Force-sensitives on the planet, for example, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any untrained ones either. A big enough disaster would get my attention, too, even at planetary range.:

DZ, who's been watching her signed translations of this conversation, goes to stand by the door.

"Huh, that could be really useful – we've got the Web to warn us about big disasters, but only magical ones. Are you getting ready to head out now?" She leans forward as though to stand up, but waits. 

:Yep, all done. Have a good night.:

"Goodnight. Thank you." Savil stands up, waits for her and DZ to let themselves out. 

And back home they go. DZ spends the next day in the library, as usual, this time focused on researching Elspeth in particular and Valdemar's monarchy in general.

It's easier to find books on the monarchy in general; not many have been written yet about Elspeth specifically. 

Valdemar, compared to most, seems to be a remarkably stable country. While there has sometimes been politics around the succession, even rising to the level of drama, there has never once been a true crisis. The Companions have a lot of sway in Valdemar; if they're backing a particular candidate, that goes a long way. Also, pretty much anyone with Gifts ends up as a Herald, unless they're a Healer or Bard, and the Heralds are - well, more like a family than an organization or guild, in a lot of ways. Whether or not they're actually impossible to corrupt, as is claimed, they stand together. Plots within the Council, even the occasional coup attempt, have been known to happen, but division within the Heraldic Circle is unheard of. 

Elspeth's reign does seem to have been unusually peaceful and prosperous, though some of that might be attributed to luck. She is claimed to have put more time and effort into diplomacy than most rulers; early in her reign, she made multiple trips per year to visit neighbouring countries and schmooze with their leadership. She's said to be charismatic. The Council almost never votes against what she wants.

It's mentioned that the alliance she brokered with Iftel, Valdemar's neighbour to the northeast, involved a state marriage, but the book doesn't even give her husband's name, just mentions that he died about ten years ago. 

The overall theme of Elspeth's policies is 'boring'. She reformed some tariffs on trade across the border. Inasmuch as Valdemar has any monetary or economic policy to speak of, she seems on top of that. She took the existing census-process, which used to be run ad hoc whenever a particular ruler felt like it, and made it a standardized process once per decade, then set up a system where the data collected could be used to revise the Heraldic circuits and track placements of Healers. 

DZ reads all of this, and a few additional likely-looking books, speaking to anyone who interrupts her for only a few minutes before politely telling them that she's busy.

She reports her findings to Deskyl after lunch, and the Sith checks on Van and whether any humans are at the Companions' field before deciding what to do next.

Van is in an outlying wing of the Palace helping Savil reinforce long-term protective spells on the roof; he seems in good enough spirits. There are some trainees having a picnic and studying under a tree at the far end of the field, but no one else. 

It's good that he's doing better. She heads over to the field, avoiding the trainees.

A couple of Companion mares watch her curiously from the shade of a large oak tree, where they seem to be vaguely supervising some foals playing. 

She leans against a different tree, not really in conversational distance, far enough to not encroach if it turns out they'd rather be left alone. :Hi.: