Oh good. It's convenient they have a hobby in common even if it can't be swordfighting.

Vanyel's done sparring for fun in the past! Not so much lately due to his horrible injuries the past winter, and he's not as good as Dara, but - it's nice, it's one of the only things that never got ruined by having done a lot of real fighting. (He approximately never ended up fighting with a sword in battle, as a mage you don't generally let your enemies get that close.) 

"Do you wanna try sparring, then?"

Sure! He'll need to borrow a sword, but he's sure Leareth has much weirder supplies than that easily on hand and this won't be an issue at all. 

(This turns out to be true.) 

She doesn't have her usual sword either, since getting it from Haven has not been a priority. They can have at each other with borrowed swords; she's very gentle and never scratches him.

It's fun! Her style is a relatively good match for his, 'fast and acrobatic' is what he was better at. It's a good way to get back in practice. And also just back in shape more generally. He has to stop a few times because he's so out of breath he's wheezing, which is quite embarrassing. 

"Oh no, do you have - Page doesn't have a word. Does this happen to you a lot, with your breathing -"

Oh no now she's drawing attention to how out of shape he is and he's even more embarrassed. He answers in Mindspeech so at least he won't sound so out of breath. :Not usually just from sparring! I haven't exercised enough lately, is all. It never used to happen until I had pneumonia this one time: 

:By 'had pneumonia' he means 'was an idiot who didn't take care of himself, and nearly died'. During the war: 

:'Fandes, do you have to: 

"I'm fine now," he says, forcibly cheerful. 

"Okay," she says, but she slows down next time.

Oh no this is so embarrassing. 

It's probably a good idea for him to pace himself while he's getting back to things, though, and within a few minutes he's distracted from his embarrassment and having fun again.

Oh good!

Tarinda is much peppier with regular music-and-sparring breaks.

Good! Vanyel really appreciates it too, plus the opportunity to spend the day reading next to her rather than alone in his room.

Savil, another couple of days later, contacts Vanyel with the communication spell. 

Vanyel can't actually hold his end of the spell, so he has to run and grab his artifact, and then also run and find Tarinda for code-interpretation. 

Which she can read off back to him easy as pie.

One: Rolan wants to pass on that Yfandes' message and advice to him was appreciated, he was already trying to field the Companion situation. Savil is cleared to know this because Kellan was one of the first to successfully snap his way through whatever restrictions weren't allowing him to think with her about the appalling Heartstone situation. (Savil is one of the Heralds who likes her Companion in her head all the time, so this came on especially hard.) She's fine, Kellan is fine, it went better because Rolan had some idea of what was happening and then Yfandes had actual specific advice. Sandra's Companion has also cracked it. About a third of the total other Companions in Haven are in the process. Savil thinks most of the remaining Heralds here aren't really processing it yet, it's been too sudden. 

"The Star-Eyed has to have predicted this, right?"

"I don't know what She was expecting! I don't know, maybe She thought it was worth it to - do that - if it got you to stop. And maybe she couldn't See you well enough to tell that it wouldn't even do that. I don't know if She thought it was fine to kill me, but - I was already not helping Her plans, right, I was trying as hard as I could to find a way to cooperate with Leareth instead of fight. Anyway I probably wouldn't have died, our death god always sends me back." 

"He what?"

"- Oh, have I not mentioned that?" 

"You have not!"

"Well. Um. So, the Shadow-Lover is - the avatar of a bigger god, probably, and also greets people when they die. In Valdemar, at least. There's a song about him. Anyway, I - met him, when I was sixteen and being stupid and nearly died, and he said I had a choice, whether to - go on - or go back. Because I had an important destiny, I guess. I decided to come back. Happened again another...hmm, four times?" 

"That's really good news, you realize."