:I think it is - going to be all right, even if Leareth is not entirely all right at the moment.: A pause. :...Leareth, what happened is that you were very badly hurt in an ambush in Seejay. Bad luck, and - the obvious culprits for it. You called for help and we were able to evacuate you north, and the Healers stabilized you, but - you were not really improving, you never woke up...: She takes a deep breath. :I think you are somewhat more disoriented than usual, based on what you told me to expect, but - I had feared it would be even worse than this. I have no reason to think that Karal is making things any harder.: 

Oh. That...would explain why he doesn't remember it. 

Karal feels an absurd moment's guilt, that he wasn't there to keep whatever it was from happening.

Which makes no sense, of course, but now he knows that next time he will be there, and the impulse is a good reminder to get ready for it.  (And it seems like it might be good for both of them, right now, to spend a little while thinking about a practical problem instead of asking any more of the questions that will inevitably bring up something else difficult to deal with.)

Unless there's something else urgent, do we want to talk about what I could do to help Leareth defend himself next time it's necessary?  He can't do magic - no, that's not true, he can learn and he probably should, but situations in which it'll make sense for him to do it are going to be very rare, since he's never going to have Leareth's thousands of years of skill.  But he can certainly do physical things - they should probably practice coordinating that, and he looks forward to it - and there's something else he was wondering about, earlier.  What exactly is a compulsion, besides what it probably sounds like, and, the important part, do they hit both of us or just one?  Is there anything else likely to affect only one of us, if the attacker doesn't know there are two?  Possibly they'll have to experiment, since he's not sure if the question ever came up before.

:I am not sure and that sounds fascinating to test! It might depend on what the compulsion was and the skill of its caster.: Nayoki shakes her head slightly. :It does seem like a good idea to figure out ways you can help Leareth defend himself, but it is not going to come up today. This is the safest place on the continent for Leareth to be right now. l think he is in much greater need of rest.: 

Leareth - isn't actually sure what "rest" would consist of, when it's maybe noon and not at all a reasonable time to sleep, but - he in fact isn't feeling incredibly up for more discussion, even about concrete strategy. ...If Karal wanted to do something physical with their body, that seems fine? 

I wasn't sure you were capable of just resting, he agrees, amused at Leareth and himself both.

But yes, something physical sounds good - he could use it anyway, and it should be about as mentally relaxing as anything gets.  I'm tempted to ask about a long hike in the tundra, but maybe I should pick something more sensible. An hour of two of sword drills, if there's a good place for that here?  Or anywhere else safe and in Gate range, he supposes.

He could also just chat with people, or for that matter find a practice partner and do both at once, but he's not sure if Leareth would find interacting with people, even at a remove, as restful as not doing that.

...Not right now, no. At another time Leareth thinks it would be fine, and - certainly it will feel much less strange once he has any idea who all the people are, instead of all this one-sided knowing, and once Karal knows them. It's - going to be good, once they get there, and getting there will require interacting with people even when it's not restful yet, but - not yet. 

(Hiking in the tundra does actually sound like it could be relaxing, he has a vague recollection that "long walks" might be one of the things he used to do when he needed to rest his brain, but - later, once he's more confident in his control of their Gift and their capabilities working together, because it's not exactly likely anything would go wrong but 'out in the tundra' is no longer the safest place on the continent he could be.) 

Nayoki can find them a good room for doing solitary sword drills, though, and - Leareth can actually find it reassuring, now, to feel on a deep level like he can rest and not do anything in particular, and still have it be the case that if something happened then Karal would defend them.