"I think so. I hope so. This is important context because - because I think I am not very okay, actually, and will not be okay until we have him back. I am not worried about my ability to do war planning or god-related thinking. I am going to avoid having opinions on Maitimo-related precautions because I have proven that my judgement be trusted there. But - math is math whether or not I am insane on the topic of Maitimo specifically." 

"If we notice any problems with the math we'll tell you. And - I think probably we'll get him back, if we don't lose the war, and I bet he'll be more annoyed with himself about the deliberately torturing his husband than with you about the optics of the marriage. Probably he will just revise history about those until people are telling their children they were at the party even though it had to be a very small one, because of Nelyafinwë's Sauron-related indisposition and the war."

Sigh. "I wish he would stop deliberately torturing me, it is very distracting and I am tired of being woken up every hour all night. Some of my people know sleep songs but they are not as good at it as Quendi. Maitimo must be ruining his own sleep even more but I suppose he does not care." 

"I feel like it would be very reasonable to tell him to stop deliberately torturing you! I guess it might not work, but surely it's not a very satisfactory solution for him either. I guess if you are trying to avoid going anywhere near him for your own safety that makes it harder."

"Maybe Vanyel will say something to him. ...He is so competent . The dam, I mean, deliberately torturing me is not exactly a sneaky plot. I wish my mind would stop doing this, but - every time he does something skillful and evil, I notice the skillful part first and I - miss him..." 

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it." He sounds proud. "We will just have to outsmart him."

"Yes." Telumë ducks his head. "I should go back to Velgarth before his next round of torturing himself on purpose, the distance between worlds at least attenuates it. But..." He tries to think of the right words and fails. "Thank you." 

"Good skill."

Sixteen hours later, most of it in the dark and napping on and off in the saddle, Vanyel reaches the town where it happened. He has Yfandes check ahead - minds? Valar? What seems to be going on? 

Aulë is there. He's speaking to Maitimo. People are gathered around, listening. 

"I swear to you, I have never been to that town and I have not spoken, in these months I have spent here recovering from the war, to anyone in it. I do not know of any relationship I have with anyone who lives there. I do not think I have ever met anyone who is there now. Could I give my life to bring back any one of them, I would, but I deny any part in this.

I - dislike sharing intimate matters, but it's better that they be clarified, when it comes to something like this - I have a habit I learned from Sauron. When I am overwhelmed or distracted or poorly grounded in the world, I hurt myself until I think of nothing else. I can show you. That is what I was doing last night, at the hour you have asked of. - I know that eventually I will need to seek Lórien's aid in breaking the habit, but I beg of you the forbearance I'd have enjoyed if I hadn't told you of it. I'll go to him when the war is over and no one need fear the consequences of my proximity to Tirion. 

Velgarth magic could do such a thing, easily. It could even have been an accident. Mages who are powerful and inexperienced can start fires unintentionally, when startled or frightened, and Jisa came to her powers through unnatural means, with my father's aid, for the sake of the war effort. I hope if it was an accident then in time it can be forgiven, and if it was intentional that you are not deflected from your investigation by an accusation of my involvement. 

I will testify to all of this before the full court of the Valar, with your permission; after a tragedy of this magnitude there must be a complete accounting."

Honestly this should not be surprising at all. Vanyel dismounts from Yfandes before they come into view. Walks in. "Aulë. I have some testimony of my own to offer, but I would speak to you in private." 

:Yfandes, can you boost to reach Rolan?: 

:No, he's got to be back in Vinyamar by now: 

:I'll use the artifact to contact Jisa in a minute, then. I think we'll need him to testify in front of Aulë, if we want him to believe us here: 

Vanyel clasps his hands behind his back, eyes fixed politely on Aulë, and waits. 

CERTAINLY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TESTIMONY, NELYAFINWE. WE WILL ARRANGE FOR YOU TO GIVE IT AGAIN BEFORE THE COURT OF THE VALAR.

Vanyel does not acknowledge Maitimo in any way. He waits until Maitimo is not nearby and the crowd is dispersed. 

“May I cast a privacy barrier? I wish to speak of something that is very sensitive and relates to the war effort - not a weapon,” he adds quickly.

YOU MAY DO THIS.

Vanyel does so. "I have a story which is rather different from the one Maitimo told, and concrete evidence it is true, though the source of said evidence is not here yet and also must remain secret. Humans cannot swear oaths, but - do you know of our Velgarth truth magic? I would cast it on myself before I speak to you, so that you know I am being honest." 

(It's weird that the Truth Spell even works in Arda, really, it hints that the air-elementals must have a much easier time than humans do hearing a summoning from that distance and navigating their way there.) 

WHEN EVERYONE TESTIFIES TO THIS MATTER BEFORE THE FULL COURT OF THE VALAR WE CAN HAVE OUR OWN TRUTH EFFECT IN PLACE. YOU CAN USE YOURS NOW IF YOU PREFER BUT OTHERWISE I WILL JUST KEEP IN MIND YOUR WILLINGNESS TO REPEAT YOUR TESTIMONY THEN.

"Of course. Though if there will be Quendi witnesses at the full Court of the Valar, I will have to consider whether to elide some of the testimony or reveal who is testifying, which is itself a state secret." 

And Vanyel describes everything, in detail. The rumours. The trip. Rolan's Thoughtsensing - "he's almost more like a Maia than a human, really". Maitimo concentrating very hard on birds to start the fire; that's their most conclusive single bit of evidence, and Rolan is the one who can confirm it, Vanyel himself only has a blurry sense-impression passed to him via Yfandes when the two Companions were several hundred miles apart. But it's feasible to orchestrate the required logistics via osanwë, with people who weren't aware Maitimo is evil now, and Maitimo's staff plus Stef's network have been assigned to hunting down the individuals involved. 

"Rolan is on his way here now," Vanyel finishes. "He can share his impressions directly with you." 

I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT.

Well, it's going to be another ten or twelve hours, so unless his help would be useful putting the destroyed town back together, if it's okay Vanyel is going to find somewhere he can safely get some sleep. 

They haven't decided yet where and whether to rebuild so he can go get some sleep.

Vanyel finds a place to camp, puts up kind of an absurd number of wards and protections around him, and sleeps for nine of the ten hours. Yfandes wakes him gently when Rolan is approaching. 

And they can meet with Aulë again, cast the privacy-barrier, and Rolan can directly share his memory of the moment Maitimo noticed the barrier and put all his attention onto convincing some birds to start a fire. The writing on the boxes is visible through the birds' eyes. There's another earlier, brief fragment of a person sketching by the same lantern's light, and and a memory of Maitimo interrupting them with some excuse. They're all crystal clear; Rolan is a Groveborn, after all, even if he's missing a significant chunk of himself now that Valdemar and the Web and most of the other Companions are gone.