:I would appreciate that, yes, thank you:

:...I should actually have something here, just a minute - I was researching something that involved looking at a list of past Heralds...: 

He stands up, trying to conceal a grunt of pain and not quite succeeding, and goes to his bookshelf, which has a few books on it and quite a lot of mess. 

:Here you go: he offers a few minutes later, passing Janos a handwritten list of names. 

... Wow, that's really useful. :Thank you very much, Herald Vanyel:

He considers, scanning it rapidly. :Arven? Arjen? Callin or Cavil? Something short and practical would be best:

:- Any of those sound good to me. Callin sounds like a name from the southern region, to me. Arjen is a little more obscure, if you want to claim to be from somewhere out-of-the-way to explain your accent: 

:Sounds like an advantage, then. Arjan if that sounds better; anything that helps explain why I have an accent is a useful tool under the circumstances:

:You could say you're from the far northwest. That region was Pelagirs not long ago, and only recently became part of Valdemar. Most people in Haven will know very little about it:

For a moment there's a dark, distant, pained look in Vanyel's eyes, and then he shakes his head and it's gone. 

He's a lot more inclined to trust Vanyel than anyone else, and if Vanyel has specialist information, that's all to the good. :From the far northwest, went off seeking my fortune in Hardorn, served as a mercenary in petty eastern wars, came back home when I heard my country needed me armed with lots of useful experience?: He thinks he can pass for that, if nobody inquires in too much detail about his past.

:I think that should work. You may need a reason why you went as far as Hardorn, but - hmm, if anyone asks you could say you didn't have anyone to give you a referral or character reference to be a caravan escort or join the Guard. Valdemar generally asks for that, Hardorn doesn't: 

Vanyel still seems more distant and preoccupied than before. 

:That could work, certainly; I could have been too young. Or I could have been a caravan guard on a caravan to Hardorn, who didn't come back because there was better pay there. Any of these would do, I expect:

He pauses. :Is there anything wrong, Vanyel? Anything that I can help with?:

Vanyel looks blankly at him for a moment, before shaking his head. :Er, no, nothing you can help with: 

... So, actually helping people through their psychological problems is not one of his specialist skills, but it's useful enough for making loyal minions that he's got the absolute bare-minimum basics of it! The relevant bit is 'don't push, let Vanyel open up if he wants, and try to be sufficiently nonthreatening that he won't mind coming to you'. This is not Janos's specialty, but he can wait a moment in companionable silence and let Vanyel say the next thing.

Vanyel has no interest whatsoever in talking to Janos about his stupid psychological problems, actually! 

He takes a deep breath, and (effortfully) pulls himself back to the moment. :Right. Er, I can check in with Jaysen about the status on getting you language tutoring, but - in the meantime, I don't have anything planned - I could translate some of Seldasen on ethics for you, or another book if you've got something more pressing: 

WHY does Vanyel have nothing planned! He is CENTRAL TO THE GOVERNMENT.

... Oh, right, because he got stabbed in the chest and needs to rest. Does translating count as 'light duty?' He'd ask Vanyel, but, Um.

... Well, it's an excuse to try to build rapport with the only sensible least unreasonable person here.

"If you don't think it would tire you unduly, I would appreciate that."

(Vanyel is, in fact, still officially 'off duty', at the Healers' and also Savil's insistence. It's admittedly true that walking just the length of the Heralds' wing leaves him exhausted, but his mind is working fine, and he's already feeling a bit stir-crazy.) 

He gets a little ways into reading Seldasen's treatise on ethics to Janos 'out loud' in Mindspeech, which gets him as far as the introduction.

Herald Seldasen wants to present the overall framing that 'ethics', as usually considered, is not a concept that can exist in isolation. One frame to consider is that 'ethics' is a set of decision-making criteria for making plans, which focuses on 'what the correct goals are' rather than 'how best to execute on a plan that attains a given goal'. Another is that ethics is the study of how things ought to be, in the world, and what outcomes are considered good, as opposed to the study of how things are and what actions will have what outcomes. 

- at this point, they are interrupted by a knock on the door, and the reappearance of Healer Andrel. 

"Van? You're supposed to be resting today." 

Ah, a problem he can solve for his new friend.

"I'm sorry, Healer Andrel, it was completely my fault. I wanted to speak to Herald-Mage Vanyel, and I'm afraid I've been keeping him up." He stands, smiles to Vanyel. "I'm sorry about this. Another time, then, when you're feeling more rested." And then he can be carted off to his room and Vanyel can get back to resting.

(Seldasen's introduction is perfectly reasonable; it reminds him of some of the things he read at home, which is not all that surprising.)

He's welcome to take Vanyel's copy back with him, if he wants to keep working on it later once he has someone to help with the translation? 

Sure, if Vanyel isn't going to want to read it! He likes Seldasen. The man seems very reasonable from what he's read.

:Oh, don't worry, I've read this about five times. I practically have it memorized by now. Anyway, I'll send a note next time I'm available to talk: 

Andrel ushers Janos out. "Do you need someone to walk you back to the guest wing?" 

:Thank you, Herald Vanyel. I look forwards to it:

"No, I'll manage on my own." Valdemar is really very understaffed. It'd be refreshing if it wasn't so horrible.

The rest of the afternoon is uneventful. Lunch arrives on schedule; a few candlemarks later, another page brings over a note from Herald Jaysen, with a scheduled time for him to meet his language tutor tomorrow morning, and an attached detailed map of Haven, which 'Herald Vanyel said he might want.' Also, he was requesting a Gate to Horn from Herald-Mage Savil? She thinks she can do it tomorrow, probably, though it'll depend on whether any major Web-alarms come up before then. 

Janos spends his time trying not to scream, because these people have no idea how to conduct a war, and trying to puzzle out Seldasen, and prizing clues to the nature of Valdemar or Karse or anything out of his tiny number of Hardornen texts and his map, and regretting every godsdamned candlemark that passes while the Heralds of Valdemar completely waste their most valuable - second-most-valuable? military asset on sitting and resting, instead of instantly sorting out the question of his ability to contribute via offering truths-under-truth-spell the way they bloody obviously can and then having him talk to all their generals. Their understaffed nature has gone from being 'refreshing' to 'disturbing', and he's practically crawling up the walls when a map arrives.

He appreciates the map. The map is useful, and he adds 'study map' and 'begin designing Haven new aqueducts' to the list of tasks to occupy him all afternoon. It's going to be a long day.

(He also appreciates the language tutor thing and Savil's offer to Gate him to Horn, hopefully that comes with an 'and back', but if not he can get back on his own. He wants to be able to do things.)

Savil is aware that the Heralds should probably be doing things about their new visitor. Either making use of his capabilities, or at least verifying them and gauging how far they can trust him. 

The problem is that she's pretty sure this will lead to a number of very uncomfortable conversations, the sort that only Vanyel is equipped to handle, and Andrel just told her off for letting him work. Actually, Andrel also told her off for "making" their visitor leave his room, and was unimpressed by her attempts to explain that actually Vanyel seems to have arranged that all on his own. Apparently she should have been keeping a closer eye on him, or something. 

It's additionally hard to concentrate on anything for long because, with Vanyel out of commission, she's picking up twice as many Web-alarms, and disproportionately the kind that take much longer to investigate and deal with given the Gifts she actually has, which do not include Farsight. She does, however, manage to put together a list of who Janos should talk to tomorrow morning when she Gates him to Horn. Captain Lissa, of course, and maybe some of the very recent Karsite refugees; there's a handful of them still being treated at the House of Healing in Horn. They'll want to keep his visit there very discreet, so she works on a cover story to explain her urgent Gate and why she needs Lissa to be available tomorrow morning. 

She swings by Vanyel's quarters in the evening, but he's apparently already asleep.