" - huh. I have no idea, I assume we can't just set up demiplanes linking the two worlds because they're too far apart?"

"It would have to be a very long demiplane! But...hmm. We can travel between them, through the Void; so can Mhalir's ship. It - feels as though it ought to be possible in principle to open a Gate - the Velgarth kind, I mean, like we figured out between my Velgarth and here. Except that it is much much further than that, even routing through many different planes would be an intractable power requirement for a mage...but Mhalir's ship has a very remarkable power supply, maybe that could somehow be used..." 

"Huh. Well, I have no idea, but I'll think about it."

"Mmm. Thank you." 

And Leareth snuggles up against him. "I think now what I want is to stay here with you and fall asleep."

This will, inevitably, probably hurt Carissa's feelings, but...he can worry about that later. 

"Mmmmm. Good plan."

And Leareth falls asleep next to him, and has uneasy dreams of cities melted from high above and ships fighting in the emptiness between stars. 

Thanks to his Ring of Sustenance, he nonetheless wakes up a couple of hours later, reasonably well-rested. 

He has prayed to Abadar and come up with a couple more questions about Mhalir's technology, and then - well, they can hide from their responsibilities a bit longer, can't they?

Leareth prays for his usual spells as well, and then, sure, maybe just a little bit longer. Mhalir is away, and here-and-now he feel comfortable and safe and okay. 

And he wants to bask in that feeling forever, but after unfairly way less than forever, he excuses himself. "I had better go do my normal King duties, at least." 

"I'll let you know if I think of anything else that might be helpful."

Leareth hugs Khemet goodbye. :I love you. See you later:

 And he heads out across the permanent Gate terminus back to the palace in Egorian, and to their suite, stretching out his Thoughtsensing to see if Carissa - if either Carissa - is there right now. 

Mhalir's Carissa is in her room enchanting a shirt like the one she usually wears, which is currently draped on the table to use as a reference. 

His Carissa is in a meeting with the archduchess of Ravounel.

Leareth leaves a note for her in the suite, apologizing for being out so long, and then heads to his office to catch up on messages and mail.

He also sends a note over to Vanyel asking if he would be available to join them for supper tonight. 

He would be! 

(Vanyel is very curious what's going on; he got something of a report on their findings from Urtho, but Urtho...is not the best person in the entire world at giving coherent briefings.) 

Well, he should come a bit early, then, and Leareth will make sure to be around and can catch him up. 

Leareth waits for a moment when his Carissa is interruptible and then Mindtouches her to let her know that he's invited Vanyel over, and maybe if there's a good opportunity for it, they can try to get him to talk to the sad Carissa? 

:Oh, good idea. Carissa hasn't left her room. I don't want to scold her to go get some fresh air, like she's twelve and I'm her mother, but I was considering it.:

Leareth can't help chuckling. :Indeed. Anyway, I will be back at the suite soon: 

He misses her, which is kind of ridiculous, he was away for, what, twelve hours. 

:Did Khemet have any ideas?:

:...Not as much as I might have hoped. He reiterated your worry about an inevitable war with Evil having various downsides, here - he nagged me to take better care of myself... Oh, he did suggest some questions I should ask Aroden. About his experiences searching for other worlds, millennia ago: 

:Huh. I guess it can't hurt.:

:I think I will put it on the list to bring up with him when the others are all here - I try not to bother him too often, it is less costly for him to speak with me than with most people, but still not free, and he is very busy: 

"That makes sense. 

I guess it's not surprising that there's no magic solution to other Carissa."

:I was not really expecting one. Also I suppose I was not incredibly organized about asking for his advice, mostly I was - having feelings at him... He was less optimistic that you two just talking to each other would help, relative to if it were two of me, or of him. He did suggest that I ought try to understand your feelings better, as a start: 

A hint of apology in his mindvoice. :Which, really, it seems something of a failing as a husband that I do not already, but...: 

:Most of my feelings are stupid, Iomedae as much as told me so when we talked. I'm - happy to try to get into it more, if you think it might help with the other Carissa.:

:It might. And... I want to be able to help you get through this, too. Even if, as I hope, it goes better here, it is going to be very stressful for a long time, and - we need each other: