"They're trying to overstretch us. We go in and kill them."

"- they're not even attacking you -"

"I know. But how long are those going to be their orders? And the kids, they'll teach them to swear, too -"

"- go in and cut out their voiceboxes and they can't do that."

" - I suppose there's that. They can still be ordered to attack us at any time -"

"Whereupon you will kill the ones old enough to hold swords but not the babies."

"I don't even know how to render someone incapable of speech without causing other lasting damage."

"I do."

"Okay. Though I can't commit to doing it indefinitely if the Enemy keeps this up."

Nod. "- if their orders allow it can my sisters and brother just go live with them -"

"Don't see why not. They'd have to lose the ability to speak, too - and they can't even osanwë one another -"

"I can bounce stuff for them. - there's hand signals but nothing complicated enough to swear in."

"I suppose we can at least ask what they prefer."

"Yeah."

It turns out that the siblings cannot in fact move into the village and be let go there; they're still under orders to attack. Between how thoroughly they'd have to be restrained to prevent the village orcs from letting them go and the fact that they would then not be able to talk to their neighbors they will stay in the storage room where at least they can converse among themselves.

Beka goes close enough to the village to use osanwë and tells them she has worked out this deal with the Elves and they'd better let her do it if they want their kids to live.

They want their kids to live.

She cuts carefully. She sings healing after. Loses two patients. She will move her tent close enough to bounce things for them.

The Elves are on edge but tolerate their neighbors.

She has less time lately what with being an entire village's communication system and trying to bring her siblings all their meals so they don't have to meet Elves but she does her best not to let it spill over to the host except insofar as she is farming less now.

If there are complaints they don't reach her ears. Orcs want her to talk to their children so they don't have deficits of language-learning.

Yeah of course. She will go over and tell them stories and name objects and recite what their parents want to say to them at least until the oldest of those who couldn't talk when they arrived is speaking fluently.

And then voices in their heads can tell them what to swear to.

- and one asks the other voice in her head what the deal with that is and this voice says it is a bad idea don't do it, tells all the other kids bad idea don't do it do not do what the other voice says - and she has to tell the Elves, secondhand communication counts, so she does -

 - easy enough to check which kids have sworn to things since they will react differently to Elves -

Only if they've sworn that part, it's kind of an obvious check to make.

Did you teach them to keep their thoughts private -