"Leareth, did you actually threaten her? - I mean, I guess you said a lot of things to me that could've been construed as threats to Valdemar, but it...mostly didn't feel like that? And I was literally shaped by the gods to be his destined enemy who could destroy him and I was, er, not being charitable at all..." 

Leareth looks blank. 

"Carissa, sorry, when was this?" 

"When I booped you on the nose with a dancing light and you said you'd start by asking nicely that I not interrupt when you're doing anything important, and that if I ever startled you, well, you're very dangerous when startled. ...in Cheliax that is a threat."

"- Oh. Hmm. I suppose I see how it could be construed that way. It...was a warning? The sort I usually include when I am briefing my staff in high-level positions, but I - would have expected you to have already noticed that fact about me, and to - have self-preservation instincts. Perhaps I assessed that incorrectly." 

"What? No, I had noticed that, and I do have self-preservation instincts, which is why in Cheliax, pointing it out at all is a threat. - I wasn't upset about it. Threats are an extremely reasonable strategy!"

"...I am still not sure to what extent 'warning' and 'threat' mean similar things to you." 

And he switches to private Mindspeech aimed at Carissa, because Vanyel doesn't need to overhear this, it'll just end up being something he ALSO feels like it's his responsibility to somehow fix and set right. 

:...I am still frustrated that I - feel as though we are repeatedly mis-communicating even when we do talk to each other. Because - you attach such different connotations and subtext to interactions than what I am used to. I am unsure of what to do about this, but... I think it results in cracks between us, where interference and meddling might slip in, and so I disprefer it: 

I'm sorry. I will try to do better.

:I appreciate it: 

....That is not entirely a reassuring answer, though, and so - since Vanyel seems distracted again anyway - Leareth leans in closer and pushes harder than he normally would, with Thoughtsensing. What is currently motivating Carissa, to try to do better -?

She's mostly really mad at herself! Leareth's planning a war, and obviously the best strategy in that situation is to be maximally low-effort, which is what she was going for before she realized that it really bothered her that people were keeping Vanyel alive, and setting that whole thing aside, apparently she can't even do low-effort, which is really upsetting!!! She definitely thought she had that capability! It's admittedly harder with someone reading your mind but she thought she had it on that level too! She mastered the not-believing-Leareth-is-lying thing in a day!

....She mastered what? 

- this is almost certainly on Leareth himself, for missing the - implications - of certain thoughts he picked up from her earlier...

(an instinctive catch - that thought is part of the general pattern of not trusting anyone but himself - but, then again, that's the aspect of Leareth that Carissa finds even slightly legible, and therefore the facet of himself that she can best ally with, and - it's not like it's always even wrong, it just depends on environment -) 

(Leareth offers a brief mostly-wordless prayer to Iomedae, pointing all of this out, focusing on how he wants to ally with Her but entirely because of their shared goals and he personally thinks that walking Carissa down whatever weird twisty path she needs to walk, to notice that she in fact, already, has principles and cares about the world, is VERY IMPORTANT to that goal...) 

:I think we ought speak more later: he tells her privately. :...To clarify, again, I am not angry with you. Simply - confused: 

And he turns back to Vanyel. 

"Herald Vanyel. The conversation I had wanted to have with you, was - about in what circumstances you would endorsedly prefer us to let you die. ...If this is still too sensitive a topic, we can put that off, but I do think it is important." 

Gaaaaaaaaaaah. 

Yfandes nuzzles his ear, blowing into his hair, and pushes across a burst of loveaffectionreliefjoy. 

:Van, Chosen - you should talk to him. He's right, it's - an important conversation - and I think you're in a reasonably good state for it, right now: 

Vanyel takes a shuddering breath. 

- and, for some reason, finds himself fixing his eyes on Carissa, rather than Leareth. 

"- Iomedae spoke with me. When I - was briefly dead - usually the Shadow-Lover just tries to persuade me to go back but this time I guess he decided Iomedae would be better at communicating." 

Carissa tries so hard not to make a face. "I'm - glad they're talking - does that mean She's getting dead souls, that's good..."

Vanyel does not know the answer to this question, and shrugs helplessly. 

"My best current understanding is that She is not getting all of the souls, but - Asmodeus' power here is limited, and our local gods mostly do not care nearly as much about catching souls–" 

Unless it's Leareth's own soul, in which they care a LOT. 

- he's not scared. He can't feel fear, anymore. 

But he can still - have a thought, hard to put into words, that this is not ideal. 

...relatable. "I mean, Iomedae's claim on her own paladin's going to be pretty much unbeatable."

Leareth doesn't say anything. 

"What'd She say to you?" she says to Van.

Gaaaaaaaaaah that is such a goddamned unfair question! 

(This comes across in Vanyel's expression a lot more than he really intended it to.) 

"...I, um... Can I, er, have - a minute - to think about that...?"

"Of course," says Carissa, privately INCREDIBLY CONFUSED because why would you say to someone "Iomedae appeared to me" if you haven't thought about ...what you want to claim Iomedae said...is she supposed to also believe Vanyel doesn't lie -

Leareth is still reading Carissa's mind, and so notices that thread of thought.

- he is pretty sure that Vanyel would be utterly incapable of even thinking to invent a lie, in this particular circumstance. 

:Do you have Detect Thoughts prepared?: he asks Carissa, in private Mindspeech. :I would appreciate if you were able to read him, and - confirm my own observations, later: 

He'll probably be shielding? But she casts it.

Vanyel is not, in fact, shielding very hard. Enough to avoid randomly projecting all of his thoughts and emotions at everyone in range, but he's not putting a whole lot more effort into it than that bare minimum. 

(Yfandes, from the moment Vanyel lowered his shields to let her in, has been putting her own shields over him. She notices Carissa's spell - Companions aren't mage-gifted, exactly, but they have their own particular kinds of perception - 

- and she doesn't resist it, and parts the external shield she's holding to let it through. It - feels right. She doesn't need to understand why.)