"We were in Tol Eressëa when he sensed that Stef was in danger. Shavri thinks they are lifebonded."

Savil goes very still and quiet and stays that way for about a minute. 

"...Really?" she says finally. 

Shavri squirms. "I mean, we obviously don't know for sure, just, he was incredibly desperate about Stef being hurt, and he knew that he was – you saw him, he ran straight for him. And Stef's been, er, interested in him for years, sounds like Van might've had some interest back that he was ignoring for all the obvious reasons. So, we should wait until we talk to him and confirm, but..." 

Savil still seems half-stunned. She licks her lips. "I mean, if he is, then - gods, I'm so happy for him. For them. It'd be so wonderful." She dabs at her eyes. "I can't believe it. But, that really does sound like a lifebond, and I cannot think of any other explanations." 

Prince Nelyafinwë's face is very neutral about all this. 

Shavri glances at him and then back down at her shoes. 

"...Well, this is a little awkward, if Van's gone and dumped you here and presumably cannot Gate back from within Valinor once he's no longer a quarter mile up," Savil says finally. "What are you planning? Er, I'm assuming you didn't bring Leareth...?" 

"I did not. Ideally I would head back to Tol Eressëa and inform Yfandes so she can go out and fetch them from Lórien but if that is inconvenient I can make arrangements in Vinyamar."

“No, no, I’ve been to Tol Eressea so I can Gate you right there. Gods, Van left Yfandes behind? He really was too panicked to stop and think for five seconds, wasn’t he. Which, well, jumping out of a goddamned Gate may not be surprising but he doesn’t usually lose his head like that, so...” Shrug. “I should check - are there going to be ramifications of the, er, incident where Stef was injured, that Randi ought to know about?”

"He crossed into Doriath and couldn't communicate with them, they noticed his singing was mind-affecting, they hit him, they hit him too hard. You would be justified in sending them an annoyed let- no, none of them can read - you would be justified in passing along through us that they were out of line but I don't think there will be further ramifications especially."

Savil nods slowly. “That makes sense. I’ll pass it on to Randi, see how he wants to handle this. Are they, er, always like that with people who turn up at their borders? Would’ve been a good thing to know.”

"We knew Elwë was touchy so we sent a diplomatic party of his grandnieces and nephews, who were received fine. - Elwë's brother is the King in Alqualondë, and the King's daughter Eärwen married the prince Arafinwë; my cousins are our main point of contact in Doriath. The general consensus was to expect Elwë to be rude to anyone else but we should inform everyone he might be considerably worse than rude."

Nod. “We don’t blame you or anything. Er, anything else we ought to discuss before you Gate out? I don’t know how much of a rush you’re in.”

"I am not particularly in a hurry. How's your tour of the continent been going otherwise -"

"Oh, well, the Dwarves were excellent, very hospitable. Dara loved them, got along great. Overall they're not exactly like humans but I feel less like an alien with them than I do with Quendi, no offence..." Savil keeps talking about their tour, drifting back in the direction of the Laiquendi settlement and tree-platforms with Shavri on her heels. 

He will be a good audience even though he's mostly lost in thought about Vanyel.

Randi meets them. Hears the news from Shavri and Savil both talking at once, looks startled about it, then shrugs and turns to Maitimo. "So everything's all right on the diplomatic side, Prince Nelyafinwë? Dara told me there was some trouble and I hear Stef's, er, back in Valinor and presumably won't be finishing the trip with us, it sounds like for multiple reasons." 

"We would be happy to convey your annoyance to Elwë, if you'd like us to, but I think otherwise all's - well. The unusual circumstances about Vanyel and Stef will cause a little bit of a ripple but - one can hardly contravene the gods about these things."

Nod. "All right. Er, how's everything back in Tol Eréssea?" 

"We're doing all right. Melody's a miracle worker, I don't know what we'd do without her."

"Isn't she quite something? And she's so - unflappable, I don't know, I imagine I'd find that reassuring in your position - I have found it very reassuring in some past, er, messy, situations. I do hope she wants to come back to Valdemar at some point, but honestly your people have a much greater need of her for at least the next few years." 

"She's so unflappable! It's been enormously helpful as the survivors recuperate. We're seeing much faster progress than we did with the survivors of Utumno, and I think she's most of the reason why. Once you need her back I think we'll be able to transition all right, though."

"Well. I'll definitely consider how long we can spare her. And of course see what she wants, she may be happy to stay in another world a year but not five, we'll see." 

And then he's probably ready for Savil to Gate him back.

Savil can do that!