"I don't know what your Fetchers are usually doing, so I don't know if that makes sense or not."

"I'd need to ask Savil for details - or, well, actually whoever's in charge of Herald deployments because she's probably too busy to have any idea. A lot of Heralds have Fetching, I think it's third most common after Mindspeech and Farsight. Having it strong enough for what we'd need is rarer but the strong Fetchers are likelier to be deployed on the border anyway. Also I think this is actually pretty important? And worth redirecting some resources to." 

"I really appreciate all your help with this."

"I think it's important! This is - hmm. I mean, until now, Leareth was the most important problem in my life. Figuring out what his real aims are and what to do about him. And I think this is both more important than that and also - solves that problem, maybe? If it gives him a way to achieve his goals without invading my kingdom or murdering anyone." He fidgets with his sleeve. "And...I think his goals are reasonable, actually? Assuming he's being sincere about any of it, of course, but...I really strongly suspect he is. And, I mean, you said the same thing right away. That the way things are in our world right now isn't really acceptable and should be changed." 

"...well, yeah, people are dying and stuff. I'm going to need therapy when I get home just for standing near too much of all this probably."

...Vanyel should probably say something reassuring but now his mind is on the topic of people dying, actually one specific person, and how that, of all the problems, isn't even one that Sing could in theory solve. 

"Do you want a hug?"

Vanyel thinks about it for fifteen seconds and eventually nods. 

Tarinda's a good hugger.

Aww. Hug! It does, actually, kind of help. 

Oh good.

"I'm really glad you ended up here," Vanyel says quietly. "Really, really glad. Even if I - wish it'd been sooner... Now is better than not." 

"I wish it had been someone better suited but I'm glad somebody got here, at least!"

"You seem to be doing pretty well to me so far."

And they can go back to their routine. 

Another few days later, Savil finds Tarinda and asks how she's getting along and whether she needs any other materials or could use an assistant or anything. 

"I could probably get some use out of an assistant, why?"

"Just, Vanyel said he thought it was going to take a while to get anywhere, with Leareth, and - what you're doing is important and we want to help you do it faster, if we can."

The Heralds have discussed this back and forth a lot and they're both impressed with Tarinda as a person and, as they have time to get used to the weirdness of it all, increasingly on board with helping her with her plan. (It's not that much weirder than the entire Leareth thing, after all, and it is a lot less horrible.) 

"I'm mostly being slowed down by not knowing where I'll be in a month. I shouldn't bother with a water wheel if Leareth will be inviting me somewhere."

"Oh, right, that makes sense. Well, maybe we can help you with any setup that'd end up being portable in that case, at least." 

"Yeah, that's what I'm working on, and I could use an assistant to run errands and hold things still for me and stuff if you have one spare!"

Savil can definitely arrange that! 

Tarinda gets underway on various preliminary tools that she will use to get farther from "rocks" on the rocks -> computers spectrum.

Another few days pass with no word from Leareth, though Vanyel thinks he must have the documents by now. 

One afternoon they're both in the workshop Sandra has set up for them, Tarinda at her workbench and Sandra working to isolate more materials for her, carrying a pot of some mixture over to the fire (it's easier for her to leave things there to heat once she's done the initial mage-work steps).

- and she slips on an unnoticed puddle of water from an earlier minor spill, tries to catch herself with one hand on the wall, and in the process loses her grip on the pot and dumps its entire contents into the fire. 

She shrieks in surprise - the room is suddenly full of hot caustic smoke -

- Tarinda grabs Sandra by the arm, hauls her over her shoulder, and makes for the door, slamming it behind her once they're out and calling mentally for all the Mindspeaker-Healers she's ever met in case they can hear, plus Yfandes.

None of the other Healers seem to hear her (she doesn't actually have projective Mindspeech), but Yfandes makes a habit to listening for deliberately-shouted surface thoughts. 

:On our way - I'm letting the Healers know - what's wrong?: