"I'll have one of the trainees walk you over, and we can have lunch sent to you there, you don't need to be hiking all over the grounds just yet. The King will send someone to collect you when he's ready." 

The trainee doesn't speak Hardornen, so the walk is quiet. The guest suite is - honestly, very very plain. And small. The bed is comfortable and the furniture is high-quality, though. There's a writing-desk with a padded chair, a wardrobe, and a small table for meals. The trainee shows him via mime how to ring for one of the servants if he needs anything, and points out where the nearest privy is. (It's indoors, at least, and seems to have running water, though the individual rooms don't.) 

"Thank you, and understood."

Hopefully the trainee will also say the Valdemaran words for these things, so he can start trying to pick up the language. He can't lead an army with Hardornen and other people's Mindspeech, after all.

Theory: "Valdemar is poor" has already been confirmed. Apparently they're treating him well for their wealth, though.

And then he can get rid of his weapons, reread a few relevant sections of the history, do a bit more checking up on Haven with Farsight, and wish he spoke the language all the books here were written in.

Lunch is brought to him by a friendly servant who also doesn't speak Hardornen. 

A candlemark after that, another Herald arrives and knocks politely on the door. His Hardornen is fine. "Janos? This is Herald Tantras. May I come in?" 

Herald, not Herald-Mage. Janos wonders what Gifts he has, if any. "Certainly, Herald. Please do."

"I'm glad to see you up and about!" Tantras says cheerfully, letting himself in. "Your recovery is going well?" 

"Very well, yes," Janos says. (There are theoretically situations where you show weakness. This is unlikely to be one of them.) "Your healers are excellent, truly gifted."

"I'm glad you think so! They certainly get enough practice with us Heralds." Tantras chuckles. "Anyway, if you're up for the walk, King Randale would like to meet with you in the core Palace wing. It's about five minutes." 

"I should be, yes."

He'll move carefully, though, partly not to overstretch himself, partly for the chance to read Herald Tantras before the meeting.

"What ceremony should I know for meeting the King of Valdemar?"

"- Er, I wouldn't worry? Just be polite. He's probably going to tell you to call him Randi and treat him like any other Herald, he hates formality." 

An unfortunate vice, for a king, though not as bad as its opposite. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

They keep walking. Herald Tantras mostly comes across as someone with a great deal on his mind, which is unsurprising given the war situation. He makes a few token attempts at small talk, pointing out features of the Palace grounds. He also keeps speeding his pace well past the point where it's comfortable for Janos to keep up, and then catching himself and looking apologetic. 

Janos is perfectly willing to make small talk, since it is a useful opportunity to gather information about Valdemar, and does his best to avoid making Herald Tantras feel too guilty about his movement speed - but he's also not going to push himself too far walking, not when he has a king to impress.

They pass a few other Heralds in the grounds, and more once they get back inside. Tantras throws him an apologetic look at one point and then pauses for a minute to talk to a sturdy, muscular blond woman in her late thirties - in Valdemaran, so Janos can't really follow it, though he's already starting to pick up the cadences of the language just from hearing it around him at the House of Healing. It does seem like it inherited a lot from the Imperial tongue, though with some significant phonetic shifts over the last 800 years. 

The stop gives him time to catch his breath, at least, and then they're moving again, down one hall and around a corner and then Tantras knocks on the doorframe of an open door. 

"Come in." 

The King of Valdemar is wearing exactly the same uniform as Tantras, and no crown or circlet. Light brown hair, brown eyes, and the face of someone who might actually be younger than Janos. Though the look in his eyes seems several decades off from his unlined features. 

"Colonel Count Janos - sorry, is that the right title? Welcome to Valdemar." 

"Thank you." He's been told King Randale doesn't stand on formality, but damn it, he'll at least bow, quickly but properly, before straightening. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Here, Janos will do." 

He's going to take a look at the other members of the Council. He's met the two Herald-Mages, and Tran, briefly, but he doesn't know any of these people.

It's not a big meeting. Sandra and Kilchas are on the Border, Vanyel is in the House of Healing, and Savil is busy handling routine mage-work. There are only two other Heralds present, neither of whom Janos has met before. 

One of them is a tall, lean man, probably in his early fifties, with pale eyes and hair more colorless than grey. He has a pile of notes in front of him. It's impossible to tell from his face what he's thinking. 

The other Herald is a very young woman, watching him with evident curiosity. 

"Well, please have a seat." King Randale smiles at him. "This is Herald Jaysen and this is Herald Katha. They were both interested in meeting with you, and may have answers to questions you have." 

Well, that's somewhat unfortunate. He was hoping Vanyel would be there; he already knows how to read the Herald-Mage.

"Thank you, your majesty." If the King of Valdemar wants him to call him Randi, he will do that after being asked. He nods to the other two Heralds. "Herald Jaysen. Herald Katha."

All right, how best to say this. "I am very grateful for your help, and desire to repay you for it." If Janos does need to flee the country, he'll have much better odds than he did when he fled to it, and that deserves repaying. "Primarily, my questions are on two topics. I would like to know more about how the war of Karse began - ideally, if it does not offend you for me to say so, the Karsite story of how the war with Valdemar began, as well as your own - and the other is information about your country that I could use to assist it; the state of its farming and mining technology, its smelting methods, and its mage-work and anything included on your census; anything you know about child mortality, average lifespan, literacy rates, average farm yields per acre..."

King Randale nods. "Of course we're not offended that you're asking that! I'm - not sure we can give you a complete story of how the Karsites see things, because they're not seeing fit to communicate it to us and our other avenues of information are quite limited. But Katha can explain what we do know. Jaysen, you're probably the best person to consult on the other questions?" 

Jaysen nods. "I don't exactly have a report prepared on all of those particular questions - give me five minutes to think about it?" 

"Sure. Katha?" 

The young woman looks up. "It would help if you could tell me what your current understanding is of the war?" 

("Not seeing fit to communicate it to us" sounds like propaganda; the invader usually gives his casus belli before attacking, both for internal propaganda purposes, and so the defender knows how to surrender. It might also be true, people do do stupid things; this does not stop it from sounding like propaganda.)

"Thank you, your majesty."