Peek? - not an actual peek where he would read thoughts, he's not trying to be mean here, but enough that he can get a sense of...general brightness and openness...and he'll also have mage-sight up so he can see if she's doing the normal shielding thing or, alternately, a weird alien other-world-people shielding thing. 

All of her thoughts are IN THE SCHOLOMANCE LIBRARY hidden in the stacks among the history of Mexico.

That does not look even slightly like anything he's seen anyone else do before! Weird! 

...Does her mind look less bright or more foggy or more tucked-away or any of the other sensory impressions he can get without looking directly? Also does it look like she's actually doing anything, to mage-sight? 

No, the process is not magically active, though it's - poised? - to become so if she feels anything.

He's still not going to peek - or poke - any harder before she's ready, because he still doesn't want to be rude. 

...He'll relay to Caio and Aadhya that he thinks Bella is vaguely on the right track but not - putting enough power into it? Or maybe not putting any power into it, and she should just try to do that, it really doesn't take a lot. 

Fine. A whisper of mana into the intention -

Neat! That...it's not enough to hold off a determined effort by a strong Mindspeaker, yet, but there's definitely some new opacity there. 

:Tell her to put a bit more energy in,: he sends to Bella's friends instead of Bella herself, :and then I can try to Look more closely - I think it is working at all but not enough yet -: 

Maybe if you have mana rivers just lying around you get used to being more profligate. Little more -

:Tell her I think she has enough of something up that I will not get anything if I look more directly, but I need to actually do that to be sure.: 

She takes a deep breath and says when.

He looks. 

:That is quite good! I cannot get anything on a passive read. I think it would not hold off a determined probe but if someone is trying a determined probe it seems more reasonable to bite them then.: 

"Biting them is a separate spell, I have to actually cast and hold it."

He doesn't have any idea how her weird magic works! 

:Well, I think they will not probe to read your mind at the other Vale because I can warn them first. And if you go to other places later then you can ask someone else to go and warn people first. ...If someone wants to be rude and read your mind anyway, your shields would not stop them, but most people do not want to be rude unless you are scaring them.: 

"Is it just really unthinkable for someone to react violently to mental invasion?"

:Maybe in other places people have different expectations? Here, almost everyone is trained in concert-work even as children, even if they are not themselves Gifted they can do Healing-melds.: 

:...circle casting does not involve telepathy in our magical tradition:

Shrug. :Well, your magical tradition seems to be very different! I suppose maybe you would come up with different ways of doing it if you did not have very many Mindspeakers at all.: 

"I think we're on the wrong planet," she tells Caio and Aadhya.

"Yeah, I was leaning that way."

...Well, Wingsong is as satisfied as he's going to get that Bella knows how to shield, and if she's willing to put, like, ten times that much mage-energy into it, she would even be able to block and hold off active probing rather than having to respond to it by casting a mind-biting spell or whatever it is. (Their magic is so weird.) 

Do they still want a Gate to another Vale in order to eventually make their way back to, at least, a kingdom that has cities and trade with other kingdoms? Even if they're probably on the wrong planet and he's not sure anyone else on this planet will know how to get them back to theirs. Maybe someone will, though. He thinks there are academies of magic. Not that he knows where but he thinks they probably exist. 

"I think if this isn't our planet we - at least aren't in a hurry? So staying here a little to decompress and eat decent food and stuff before going on a journey would be great but we can get a move on if you're trying to politely shoo us."

:No! Please do stay a few days, we would love to have you.: 

Frown. 

:- though I hope perhaps our Goddess will give advice. It really feels as though there is - something that ought to be done - about visitors from another world. I am just not sure what.: 

"Is your... goddess... situation... something we need to know about?"

He blinks, surprised at her surprise. :I know not everyone serves the Star-Eyed - and if you are from another planet you probably have entirely different gods - but. Do you not have people who serve particular gods?: 

"I - think if I said 'yes' I'd give you the wrong idea?"