Exhausted. Trying not to think and trying not to not-think too obviously and scaredscaredscared, mostly that Leareth will leave once he has his answers and then he will be alone forever. It is the sort of torture that Heralds will probably be entirely fine with, you don't have to look at it too closely. Maybe once everyone has left he can pace out the rooms and determine how long until he dies in them. 

And eventually, a growing note of relief which he is trying very very very hard to keep quiet in his mind, because Leareth has not yet asked the question he cared about not answering.

:I'm not sure what it is that he's trying to hide: Melody, who has not missed the relief although she can't trace down its cause, confesses.

Telumë has a guess. "What is Sauron's game plan, here?" he says finally. "I cannot imagine that he truly shares goals with Vkandis. Tell me what you understand their respective goals to be, here, and where they differ." Maitimo will have been paying a lot of attention to that part. It's sort of his whole thing. 

- note of panic - 

"Torture everyone in the universe, I suppose. He works on long timescales, even compared to the Velgarth gods. He knows - there'll be another Cataclysm eventually." 

:That's close to something - he's nervous...: 

"What are you trying to hide from me," Telumë says coldly. "Tell me." 

"Lots of things," he snaps back, and fishes around desperately for one - the most distracting one - "Sauron thought it was entertaining that I loved you so I still do."

"You say that as though it is something I would not be perfectly able to guess myself. I did meet Sauron, remember." Calm. Snapping back at him is not going to help. "How does Sauron want to use the Cataclysm-echo in his plans?" 

"We didn't discuss specifically anything that involved betraying Vkandis because He could notice but I think he plans to eventually and he's perfectly willing to wait for the right moment if it's a long time from now." That was an even narrower miss. 

Ugh. Maitimo is, unsurprisingly, very good at this. "Do you have a guess at any more active or near term plans than 'wait for the second Cataclysm'?" 

- aaaaaaaaaaaaa -

" - yes."

"Tell me your guess." 

Well he can have several guesses if he wants to even if he's generating some on the fly now -

"Alliance might fall apart anyway without me, sooner than that, they don't see eye-to-eye on lots of things, Sauron moves faster. Wanted to break the fault line in Lineas. Vkandis was opposed. I talked Sauron down to a feint, and it worked, and they were both pleased, and I don't think it was at the breaking point right there but five things like that which Sauron mishandles and it might be. It's why he wasn't able to win the Star-Eyed over in the first place, she thought he was ultimately as disruptive a force as Arda or as you and I think she was right." This is not something he wanted to share but it's not the thing and now he's hoping he can keep expanding on it, filibuster a little -

:That wasn't it - it's true but it's not what he's hiding: 

"Stop," Telumë says. "I know you had a different answer and you are very cleverly avoiding saying it, but you are going to tell us sooner or later once we narrow it down enough, and we might as well not draw it out. What is the thing that you are trying so hard not to tell me?" 

"He can get Melkor back." Everything hurts so much.

"How." 

"You know, approximately, you were looking into it for Olórin. You would've found the power problem intractable, if you'd had more time to look into it. Not - not as bad as your original plan, but far too much to save one Maia. Half a million, maybe."

"Oh." That's all he can manage for a moment. "Is the power requirement the same for a Maia or a Vala?" 

"Don't know. It's not off by an order of magnitude."

"What else does Sauron need before he can accomplish this." Because they have to win this before that, or else winning becomes - he's not going to say impossible, but a lot harder. 

"The plan was to do it once you invaded. Use the war for cover, with the bonus that whoever won - of you or Iftel - would be much weakened by the end of it."

"How will losing you, now, change Sauron's plans?"

"I don't know."

"You are very clever and very good at understanding and predicting how people will behave and you clearly understand Sauron in particular very very well. You must have guesses. Tell me your guesses."