Weekly Digest 24 - (#72 - #74) (Patreon)

The Proposal

It was only in the morning that Lori realized she should have taken steps to protect against Rian while she was unconscious… but immediately dismissed the thought. He was completely blind to those two, and now the third one, staring at his posterior for months. He either preferred men as the rumors said, or his libido was completely non-functional.

Speaking of her lord, she looked at him in bemusement as he lay face-down on the other wooden bed, one leg twitching. Why…?

Shaking her head, Lori got out of the bed, sighing happily as she did so without the pains of sleeping only a layer of laundry above wood. Ah, she'd miss this when she had to give Rian back his bed roll. It was a nice bedroll, with some kind of cushioning froth material.

Shaking her head to clear out the possessive thoughts, she carefully folded over the bedroll and stretched. Then she went out to find a latrine.

She was back very soon, as a latrine had apparently been dug in sight of the house sometime during the night. Actual digging was involved, as there was a pile of dirt and small stone next to the hastily moved outhouse that stood over the hole. Whoever had done it must have been working in the dark. It hadn't been there when Lori had brought out the plates from last night's dinner to be taken care of.

Digging through the bag, Lori pulled out a jar of rations for Rian, putting the firewisps she'd managed to gather from a ray of sunlight to warm it as she waited for the negotiated breakfast.

Shanalorre had better give her proposal soon so she could go home.

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It was midmorning before Shanalorre had time for her. Lori and Rian were taken to the younger Binder's office under escort. It was a bit too late, since the attack had already happened, but she supposed it was a sign that River's Fork was developing functional government. After all, how often had her mother complained about measures being put into place AFTER what they were supposed to prevent had already happened?

Actually, did River's Fork even have codified laws? She couldn't see anything like the list of walls she'd put up near the Dungeon's entrance…

It was just the four of them in the office this time. Lori and Rian faced Binder Shanalorre and… what was his name… Yllian! They faced Binder Shanalorre and Lord Yllian over the table room's table. The two men were warily watching each other and the Binder opposite them. At least, Lord Yllian was. Rian had his usual friendly, cheerful smile and gave the impression he was merely listening attentively, while Lord Yllian looked ready to kick the table over at the slightest move towards his Binder. Notably, the table was bare but for a few cut planks of wood.

"Binder Lolilyuri," Shanalorre nodded. "Good morning. I shall not take up more of your time, so I shall go straight to my proposal. I want to borrow Lorian Demesne's manpower. River's Fork is currently suffering a labor shortage, and while we have just enough people to allow us to survive, we do not have enough people to do more than that."

"I have no intension of telling my people to come back here, Binder Shanalorre," Lori said. "They are mine."

"I am not asking you to, Binder Lolilyuri," Shanalorre said. "I am asking for Lorian Demesne to enter in a partnership with River's Fork for a mutually enriching venture." She glanced at Rian momentarily for some reason. "You might be unaware, but River's Fork is in possession of a mine. Indeed, this site was originally specifically chosen because we identified signs of ores in the water and some of the nearby hills."

Lori turned to stare at Rian.

"Yes, I knew they had a mine," Rian said. "I just never brought it up because it was never relevant."

Lori let her stare linger, before turning back to Shanalorre. "What is this venture?"

"We have a mine, but not enough people to work it," Shanalorre said simply. "You have people. We would like to request you send some of your people to work the mine until at least the first snows. In return, we shall house, feed and provide for them. Those are our investments in the venture. In return, any copper that is extracted during that period, we divide between us. Four in ten parts for you, six in ten parts for us, measured by weight. We can renew the arrangement again after the thaw, provided both parties find it has been acceptable."

Lori stared at Shanalorre.

Metal. They had metal. No, wait…

"Is there actually metal there?" Lori said. "You said you had a mine, but in the time you were operating it, did it actually produce in useful amounts?"

"It did, actually," Shanalorre said. "This specific a mine was excavated because there was an exposed copper ore seam. Operations only shut down because of the aftermath of the dragon. I've inspected the site myself. The copper ore is still there. With workers, we can resume operation even with hand tools."

"I will require my own visual confirmation," Lori said. "I want Rian to be shown the alleged copper."

"Me?" Rian said, sounding surprised.

"Of course. I'm not entering a hole in the ground I didn't dig myself. That would be unsafe," Lori said. There might not be sufficient structural supports, meaning the ceiling could collapse! No, she couldn't have that.

"Lord Yllian, could you please escort Lord Rian to inspect the mine?" Shanalorre said. "I will stay and answer Binder Lolilyuri's questions further questions."

The older man glanced at his Binder than, for some reason, at Rian. From the corner of her eye, Lori saw Rian glance at her, meet the older man's gaze, shrug and start moving towards the door. A moment, and the older lord followed. Lori returned her attention to the other Binder across from her.

"Does River's Fork actually possess the tools for mining?" she inquired.

"We do," Shanalorre said. "Many of the tools were stored in the mine itself. Presumably, those who left the demesne intended to retrieve them after another demesne was found, as they were heavy and had no immediate use during the evacuation."

"What became of the ore previously mined?"

"We were able to smelt some of it, but it is now almost depleted," Shanalorre said. "That was part of my impetus to bring this proposal to you. Had you not arrived, I would have been forced to send a messenger to make the trek upriver to your demesne."

"My injury was fortuitously timed for you," Lori said blandly.

"I hope you are not accusing me of attempted assassination," Shanalorre said, equally bland. "As I understand it, the circumstances were self-inflicted."

There was a moment of silence as they just looked at each other.

"As I understand it, mining is a dangerous, potentially lethal occupation," Lori eventually said. "What sort of reparations can I expect should one of mine—" Heh. "—expire while in your care?"

"You would trade human lives for material gain?"

"You started it," Lori said.

Shanalorre tilted her head, clearly thinking. "Yes, I did, didn't I?" She twitched slightly, shaking her head and taking three deep breaths, her eyes closed. When they opened, her gaze was once more composed. "I request we postpone this discussion until such an event occurs. However, in the interest of prevention, I will station myself near the site at all times to minimize potentially fatal injury, as well as begin operations with a rigorous structural integrity check. However, in reciprocity, I will require you to render aid in securing worker safety as well."

"In what way?"

"Air will need to be circulated in the mine to prevent asphyxiation. I request your contribution be a means for insuring this air circulation. The mine had a manually-operated pump that was intended to pump air through a series of fabric hoses, which would bring fresh air down to the other end, deep in the mine. Unfortunately, this pump was damaged during the dragon, and we have been unable to repair it due to lack of technical expertise. The replacement we have managed to devise is crude, more labor intensive, less efficient, and very likely to break. Since it has been shown you are skilled enough to create a means of propulsion for your boat, perhaps you can concoct a similar means to propel fresh air."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "What would you have done had I not brought up the issue?"

"As I said, the current replacement is lacking," Shanalorre said. "A better replacement is in progress, but it requires more sealskin, and further construction. However, I have been advised that at the current depth of operations, the current replacement will suffice, and will only be a precautionary measure. I am sure a replacement pump can be procured at Covehold, which can be reached soon. Surely before winter arrives."

They both stared at each other.

"I will research a means of providing usable air circulation, though I make no promises as to anything usable," Lori eventually said. "At worst, we will provide the necessary seal skin for the improved replacement, according to how much is needed by the design proposal that will be submitted."

Shana tilted her head and nodded. "And any necessary replacement, should it need repairs."

"According to the repair proposal."

They both tilted their heads, then nodded.

"Now…" Lori said, "As to the minimum requirements of 'feeding', 'housing' and 'providing for' my people… "

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"Well, there does seem to be copper," Rian said after he returned from being shown the mine. His trousers were dusty, and his face was stained with sweat.

"Are you sure?" Lori pressed.

Rian shrugged. "How would I know? It's not like I know what it tastes like when I lick it. It looks like metal, it's orange-ish, and it's definitely a part of the wall." He held up a small stone. "This is a part of it that had fallen. I thought maybe you'd be able to tell. At worst, we can ask the smiths back home."

Lori raised an eyebrow at him. "How did you think I would be able to tell?"

"If this is really a copper compound, I figure you'd be able to tell by seeing if lightning passes through it," Rian said. "Then unless we're REALLY unlucky, that it would probably be a metal of some kind."

"Let us not upset our hosts by utilizing lightning indoors," Lori said blandly, taking the bit of stone. It did looked metallic, and between her fingers, Lori moved a few lightningwisps from one finger and to her other finger through the stone. They passed through.

"That would be very appreciated, yes," Shanalorre agreed.

"You know what I mean," Rian said, standing beside Lori.

"I will take back this sample to check if it does in fact contain copper," Lori said.

"Of course," Shanalorre said. "And the proposal?"

"It is… agreeable," Lori said, "provided that the split be forty-five parts in a hundred for me and fifty-five in a hundred for you, of ALL metals and minerals extracted from the mine by weight, not simply copper." She held up the stone. "Copper ores usually contain either iron or brimstone, or both, either of which would be useful to me."

"Four in ten and six in ten," Shanalorre countered, "and I will provide healing at request for all members of Lorian Demesne, not simply those who would be working here."

Lori ignored the strange sound Rian made.

"Forty-five and fifty-five," Lori said, "and I include three cubic paces of ice a blue month until the first snows."

Shanalorre tilted her head. "Make it five."

"Done," Lori declared. "Conditional on this ore in fact containing copper."

"Done," Shanalorre agreed.

They both nodded.

"Shall we draft the agreement, then?" Binder Shanalorre "I believe we still have some ink and paper left in this demesne… somewhere. Yllian?"

"Yes, Great Binder."

Actual paper? Huh, she hadn't seen real paper in literally months… "Yes, that would be for the best," Lori affirmed. "An agreement must be notated, witnessed, and confirmed by both parties or else it is not official."

"Paperwork, or it didn't happen," Rian… agreed?

"That is very mistrustful," Shanalorre noted.

"Of course," Lori said. "This is commerce."

Shanalorre raised an eyebrow as both Rian and Yllian nodded in agreement.

"The reason paper is used for this purpose is that it cannot be manipulated by a Deadspeaker or Binder without there being obvious marks, Great Binder," Lord Yllian explained. "The same for why ancient agreements were written in fabric with paints. It prevented tampering, and as long as both copies agreed on the substance, then it was proof that neither had been altered after the fact."

"I see…" Shanalorre said, nodding.

"Though obviously that doesn't rule out blatant forgery and replacement of copies," Rian said. "But everyone knows that. There are stories about it. So, keep it in a box or something."

"Noted, Lord Rian," Shanalorre said.

As the paper, ink and pens—actual pens! Not just burnt bits of wood!— arrived, Lori realized something.

"Binder Shanalorre," she said slowly, "can you write?"

For a moment, the other Binder looked nervous. "Um, a little? I was learning, but…" She fell silent.

Eventually she shook her head, her face smooth once more. "I can read, and I know how it is done in theory… but I would hesitate to call it legible."

Lori sighed. They'd spoken of a LOT of things while their lords were away…

"I will draft the agreement," Lori said. She looked down at her stool, then at the tabletop. "I will need a taller seat."

"Use mine," Shanalorre said, rising and vacating the taller stool in front of her desk table. "As recompense for the work, I'll make you some bread. For the journey home."

Lori winced. Hopefully she would be able to do this quickly… then remembered they would need at least two copies, possibly four so they both had a duplicate, and then the word-by-word inspection for any possibly deception… "Thank you," she said.

She wasn't getting home until nightfall, was she?

She should have turned down the proposal!

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Home Again

They arrived home after nightfall.

As Lori had feared, drafting for copies of the agreement had been time consuming and painful. It had gone faster after the first one had been finished and she could just copy that, but remembering all the details had been difficult. So she'd just written down the details she remembered—the ones that favored her—Shanalorre had interjected with the details she remembered, and when it was all written down, both of them had been satisfied with what they read, so it had at the last been… agreeable.

It had also taken until almost midafternoon, and Shanalorre had been obliged to provide lunch as well. Lori had at least been able to tell Rian to get Lori's Boatpacked and ready to go, and to make sure the reparations from Shanalorre for yesterday's assault was on the boat. Her lord had tried to ask why she was getting six sacks of fruit, but Lori had waved him off, busy drafting the agreement, and he'd relented his inquiries to get all the people they'd brought with them together.

So it wasn't until midafternoon that the almost overburdened former barge was underway. It had an outrigger for stability now, and three waterjets made from bone for thrust. Everyone fit, as well as all the loot—er, reparations—though Lori had to wonder how so many had managed to row using the oars now stacked on one end of the boat. There was the doctor who had come with them, the youngest and chosen because among the doctors and medics they'd had, he weighed the least. Then there'd been the six other people, all young men with large arms who had apparently rowed non-stop, and then with brief rest shifts so they could row in the night.

Now all those men were all sleeping where there was space, leaning on each other's backs so they wouldn't fall into the water as Lori powered the water jets and, once it started getting dark, the binding of lightwisps that cast light ahead of them while Rian operated the tiller. It was actually a familiar arrangement, from the month they'd spent bringing people up to Lori's Demesne to reunite with their families.

The village came into sight not that long into sunset and for the first time in a long while, Lori saw her demesne at night.

The outside dining hall, entrance to the Dungeon, and the two bathhouses glowed with light. Her lightwisps at work. This time she hadn't deactivated them, and had all been heavily imbued, so they hand't run out while she'd been… indisposed. The houses were dark, people obviously asleep, and so there was no one to greet them as Lori's Boat beached itself on the shore, and Lori deactivated the water jets.

For a moment, there was silence but for the sound of the river and the wind.

"We're home," Rian said redundantly in a quiet voice.

Ignoring his silliness, Lori reach out to the rock beneath them and created a long, jutting finger of rock behind the boat that she slowly, gently moved so it pushed them a little bit more ashore. The sound of the boat dragging on the rocks and ground beneath it roused the sleeping men, who looked around blearily.

"We're home, everyone," Rian said cheerfully. "Though I think we missed dinner. Come on, everybody off so we can all take a bath. I don't think we'll be allowed back in if we don't at least wash up. "

Blearily, in the light of the moons—all four were out tonight, making it quite bright, with multicolored shadows—the men stumbled out of the boat. They had no packs or anything of the sort, merely the clothes off their backs. The only things on the boat where Rian's bedroll, furled tightly so as not to come loose, some empty jars of rations, Rian's bags which contained the unopened jars, and Lori's sacks of reparations. They made to pull the boat further ashore, but saw it wasn't needed. For a moment, they looked around in some confusion, as if wondering why the demesne was so empty.

Rian coughed and drew their attention. "Well men,' he said with a cheer that rang hollow and silly in the empty night around them. "We made it back home, and our Binder didn't die. So I guess that's our epic quest accomplished." He began to clap his hands together in bizarre self-applause. It seemed to rouse the men however, and they all joined in, despite how absurd an image it was, eight men applauding nothing in the dark, lit only by the moons and the lightwisps that were still bound to the front of the boat. "Now we can all go to sleep and figure out what tall tales we tell everyone else tomorrow. Remember, agree with everyone else's story, but don't make it too big, we want it to be believable even if nothing happened. So, if anyone asks, we fought only threebeasts, not more, all right?"

There was sudden laughter at this, as everyone seemed to find the idea agreeable for some reason.

Rian clapped his hands once more to get everyone's attention. "Get some sleep, everyone. And if you don't feel like it, rest tomorrow. You've earned it."

There were no cheers, but there was a tone of genial agreement. And despite the fact they'd been sleeping all afternoon and part of the evening, the men moved with weariness as they walked back towards their homes. They didn't seem notice as Rian relaxed and let his shoulders slump tiredly.

"Wait."

She spoke softly, almost timidly, as if hoping she wasn't heard… but she was. Then men slowed, and then turned as if just noticing her.

Lori had remained sitting in the corner of the boat, where she could power the water jets. Now she stood and gingerly climbed down from the boat, her feet crunching on rock. They looked at her as she straightened and faced them. They didn't look at her nervously or warily, just… tiredly, as if they wondered what she wanted. Some seemed to notice the sacks on the boat and barely concealed a wince, likely expecting to be told to carry.

Lori did not cough. She wasn't nervous. She didn't need it. The deep breath she took was simply so she could speak, not to settle her nerves. "Thank you for helping save my life." In plays, there was usually some gesture involved. Someone bowed, sometimes knelt, but that was just theatrical flourish. There was no actual societal convention beyond bowing to the Binder as an act of submission to her power. So Lori did not bow. That was literally beneath her now, as Binder. But she might have nodded her head slowly. "May I have your names?"

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Carrying a large sack of heavy fruit as she was, since she didn't know where any of the demesne's wheeled carts were, Lori was in no mood for Rian's nonsense. Fortunately, beyond a sigh and a muttered, "Why me… oh, right," when she'd told him to stay and help her get her sacks of reparation fruit out of the boat, Rian was remaining quiet. Which was very helpful, since she was busy repeating the same seven names under her breath.

Samoth.

Royin.

Sani.

Cymbelry Mason.

Tamas.

Arto Smith.

Rafel.

She hated doing this. It was a pointless waste of memory.

Samoth.

Royin.

Sani.

Cymbelry Mason.

Tamas.

Arto Smith.

Rafel.

The Dungeon was brightly lit and empty, the floors swept and the cooking surfaces clean. Rian moved to deposit the sack on the nearest table, but Lori said, "Not there, follow me," and began climbing up the stairs to her room, the stone blocking it flowing into the floor and making it a bit thicker.

"Huh," Rian said, his voice echoing slightly in the short hallway. "So this is your secret private room. It's… nothing at all like the rumors said, and exactly what I thought it would be. Ah, I see you still have your sacrificial altar. Should I be concerned for my safety?"

"Shut up and put the sack down," Lori said grumpily, then winced as her sequence of thought was disrupted. She started repeating the names again.

Samoth.

Royin.

Sani.

Cymbelry Mason.

Tamas.

Arto Smith.

Rafel.

Was that right?

"Maybe you should write it down?" Rian suggested brightly.

"Shut up and get the next sack," she said.

He smirked for some reason and left.

When she came down, he was already coming back holding a sack. Lori made him wait, as she didn't want someone going into her room without her, and got another sack from the boat, then laboriously carried it back to where Rian had stopped to wait, and they went back to her room together. He looked around the room as if looking something, but Lori didn't indulge him. Instead, she dragged him back, and the retrieved the last of the sacks.

"Need me for anything else?" Rian asked as he put to down the sack next to the others.

"How many rations do you still have on the boat?"

Rian frowned, trying to recall. "Three, I think."

"Bring them down stairs, I need dinner, and I might as well feed you while I'm at it," Lori said.

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian said cheerfully.

He came back with his bag over his shoulder and his bedroll under his arm, putting them on another table as be brought the three jars to Lori. Rian had been very ready to bring her to River's Fork, Lori realized in hindsight. They had left seemingly as soon as possible, and yet had jars of fresh rations prepared…

"What did you eat on the way downriver?" she asked as Rian came back with utensils raided from the kitchen. They seemed clean…

"Happyfruits," Rian said as she heated the jars of stew with firewisps. "Two of us would stop rowing and eat in shifts. It was a lot of hard work getting you there without the waterjets, so it was nice you let them know you appreciated it."

Lori shrugged negligently. "As you said, it was a group effort. Who do the clothes I was wearing belong to?"

"Umu and Mikon, though I don't know who gave what. Actually, I'm not even sure it's theirs," Rian said. "I just asked them if they could find some clothes in your size because it didn't want to try mining into your room to get your own."

So it probably belonged to them, since they'd want to impress this oblivious idiot. It was quite sad, really.

"Give it to me," Lori said. "I'll return it."

Rian blinked. "Do you even know who Umu and Mikon are?"

Lori did not answer that with the punch to the face it deserved. Instead, she held out a hand. "I need to wash it," she said.

"Well… all right. If you say so."

Yes. She did indeed say so.

The rations finished warming. Lori took two for herself, and left the other for Rian as she popped it open and began to eat.

She would need the energy. She still had things to do.

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Lori finally lay in bed, very tired. The time was probably closer to sunrise than sunset. Still, she was done.

On her table, which was definitely not an altar of any sort, lay several newly made bowls, all full of fruit from her reparations. There were pink ladies, golden buds, and micans, all fruits they didn’t have in her demesne. She'd done her best to make each bowl look polished, and a different name had been carved on the rim of each bowl.

They were the same names she'd carved on the ceiling over her bed, and which she was staring at now.

Samoth.

Royin.

Sani.

Cymbelry Mason.

Tamas.

Arto Smith.

Rafel.

Umu.

Mikon.

Daising.

Tackir.

Deil.

Tomorrow, she'd have to find a way to subtly extract from Rian the names of the ones who'd carried her to the hospital. Subtly. If he realized what she was doing, he'd become annoying because of silly expectations.

For now, Lori dimmed the lights and went to sleep, her room filled with the smell of fruit, and the sound of her breathing and dripping laundry in the bathroom.

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The Morning Of A Sudden Holiday

The next morning, Lori gave her lord an unamused, intent look. She had come down from her room to have breakfast to find something so odd she hadn't been able to ignore it: several people peeling, cutting and mashing fruit into bowls before adding the resulting mash into one of the large stone-and-metal-reinforced pots that they used to make stew, all while breakfast was seemingly in progress. Weren't people supposed to be eating to prepare for the day's work, like she was about to?

"Why are we wasting precious food resources we should be holding in reserve for winter?" she demanded after pulling him next to the stairs leading to her room..

"You don't want us celebrating the fact you're not dead?" Rian said. "Besides, it's not precious food. Those fruits are just starting to go overripe since they fell from the trees. I'm having them mashed up and we'll put in the cold room to chill. Later, they'll be a sweet, fruity desert made of food we otherwise wouldn’t' have been able to eat. We'll break it out at lunch when we have whole roast beast and seel, which doesn't take from our stores because they're freshly hunted—I had some men go out this morning to get a beast, and I talked to Karina, she's sure she can get a big one—then at dinner, more of the same."

"I fail to see how any of that celebrates my survival," Lori said.

"All right, I admit, it's an excuse, but what holiday is really about what it's about? Everyone knows it's an excuse for taking a break," Rian said. "People have been working hard, and they do need a break. One day won't hurt, and it will be good for morale. The food that they normally don't get to eat and not needing to work much are all part of it. And if it's all linked to the idea that you not being dead is a good thing, then they'll be even more glad you're not dead."

That… all seemed needlessly convoluted.

"That all seems needlessly convoluted," Lori said.

Rian shrugged. "It'll work. People were worried they'd have to move to River's Fork or at least ask Shana to be the new Binder when you got sick, especially those who were from there. They know what's it's like to lose their Binder. All that worry built up and even though you survived, we need to get its effects out of them, and this is the way to do it. Don't tell me they didn't have holidays in… wherever demesne you came from?"

"I know what a holiday is," Lori said, rolling her eyes. Did he think she was ignorant? "I usually stayed at home and read." Holidays should be used to do advanced reading for school, after all, according to her mothers. Not that she did it much. The biographies of ancient Binders were more interesting. Thankfully they always assumed the ones she'd been reading were for school.

"That explains so much about you," Rian sighed. What was that supposed to mean? "Well, I don't have any books for you. And neither does anyone else, so they can't celebrate holidays that way either. Come on. You're the Binder now. Haven't you ever wished there were more holidays in a year? Trust me, as your lord in charge of dealing with people. Everyone needs this. I'd actually string it out for two days, but we'd run out of things to do, unless we made the second day just a day of rest." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Which actually wouldn't be so bad, but people might get rowdy since we'd be out of food for them to eat when we're not resting. Maybe just make tomorrow a half-day where people rest in the afternoon before going back to work the day after… "

Her look continued to be unamused.

"They really do need the break Lori," he said quietly. "If you, who's much more stable and well-balanced than they are, have been working so hard you decided riding on a rock moving at high speed was a good idea, what about them? I mean, without this, they might start doing something stupid. Or they might start making mistakes and hurting themselves. The children especially need this. I mean, they've been the ones working the hardest, doing the same thing day after day, every day… "

She groaned, waving him away. "Fine, fine, they can eat gluttonously today and laze around doing nothing tomorrow," she said. "But I expect my laws to be followed! No music at night, they use the latrines, and no public indecency."

"I'll see to it they behave," Rian said brightly. "But we're allowed music during the day, right?"

"Fine, fine," she said. "But it stops after sunset!"

"We'll probably be too busy eating by then," Rian said, "so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Yes, yes, fine, whatever," Lori said dismissively. "Now, do we have breakfast or is everyone too busy having a holiday to cook anything?"

"Don't worry, we have breakfast," Rian assured her. "It'll be a bit smaller than usual since we're using the one pot, and hopefully they'll finish washing the other pot that's already empty so we can stick that in the cold room too—oh, which reminds me—"

"Yes, yes, I'll make the cold room colder," she said. "This is supposed to be a holiday. Why does it seem like I'm being asked to work?"

"Everyone knows holiday work isn't the same as real work, so it's not as tiring and doesn't count," Rian told her as if it was obvious.

"That makes no sense whatsoever," Lori said flatly.

"It's holiday logic," Rian said, shrugging. "Normal logic doesn't apply."

Lori… couldn't really refute that. Even she had been guilty of it in her younger days. Only her younger days, of course! She was an adult now, and thus lived much more sensibly.

"Can I get you breakfast now so I can go back to organizing preparations?" Rian said.

"No," Lori said.

That actually seemed to take her lord by surprise. "No?" he repeated.

"No," Lori said. "I need you to come upstairs and help me with something."

For a moment, Rian was silent. "I'm almost completely certain that's not a euphemism for anything," he eventually said slowly, "but could you please clarify what you need help with? And will it take long? I haven't really told everyonethat it's a holiday yet, and I want to catch them before they start working so they'll know they don't need to."

"I need help bringing things down," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you're going to share your fruit loot with everyone?" Rian said hopefully.

"No, don't be silly. They're reparations to me, why would I share?"

"Generosity?" Rian said, even as he sounded like he was just being facetious.

"What did I tell you about being silly? Now come on, there's a lot to bring down."

Rian sighed, but obediently followed her back upstairs to her room, where he paused at the doorway.

"Are those… bowls of fruit?"

"Yes, obviously," Lori said, frowning.

"Are those names engraved on them? Is that gold inlay? Wait, did you do this last night?"

"Obviously. When else would I have done it?" Lori looked at all the bowls, each with some fruit from her loot—er, reparations—and shook her head. "Now come on, grab two bowls and bring them to our table."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Rian declared, looking strangely flustered. "Hold on, I'm still trying to understand what's going on… are these thank you gifts?"

Lori scowled. There it was. The expectations. The misguided belief she was following social conventions instead of doing what she wanted to do, which simply happened to coincide with those conventions. Now she'd have to destroy these just to make a point that she would not succumb to… it wasn't even peer pressure. No one here was a peer. She was the Binder, after all.

A pity. Some of them looked really nice. She'd put a lot of work into them…

Rian glanced at her. "Oh, wait, no, I'm obviously wrong, these are clearly something else," he said.

What?

"I don't know what they are, but they're probably not thank you gifts," Rian continued. "Maybe they look like them, but they're not." He seemed to think. "You're not building a harem or something, are you?"

Lori went from rolling her eyes at Rian's inability to understand the obvious—no matter how convenient it was for her—to annoyed. "Pick up the color-tainted bowls, Rian."

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian said, heading for the table and gingerly picking up a bowl. The bowls weren't very big, somewhere between a soup bowl and a serving dish, but she'd made it as thin and strong as she could. It wasn't like she didn't have a surplus of beast teeth anyway, and it gave the bowls a nice bone gloss. "So, are you handing these out yourself, or do you want me to do it for you so you don't have to talk to anyone? If you're handing these out, I mean, I could be very wrong and these are just some decorative bowls to give the dining hall a splash of color… which actually wouldn't be so bad…" Rian started to mutter.

They got some curious looks as they brought the bowls down, but everyone knew better than to interfere in her business. Still, there was a murmur of curiosity around them as they went to their usual table, which was empty. They put the bowls there carefully, and Lori pulled some darkwisps from under the table and the shadows under her clothes to cover the bowls in lieu of a sheet. No reason to let people see and give them strange ideas.

They went back upstairs to get more bowls.

"Huh, these don't have names," Rian said as he procrastinated. "Are these not finished yet?"

"Why wouldn't they not be finished?" Lori deflected.

Rian nodded. "Of course, of course," he said, lifting two of the bowls in his hands. "So, I was talking to Parndal, Konco and Daising, you know, the three medics who helped get you to the hospital?"

Lori blinked. "Who?" she said.

"Parndal, Konco and Daising, the three medics who helped you get to the hospital after you had your accident," Rian said, ignorant of the fact he was telling Lori what she needed to know. "Well, Koe, Deil, Vom, Drelyn and Baroshota Sawyer were there too, but they just helped carry you, the other three were the ones who helped treat your wounds…"

"The contents of these bowls are wrong," Lori said abruptly. "You go back to the table, I'll fix it." She turned away, muttering the new names over and over under her breath, voice barely making the sounds as she repeated them in her head. Parndal, Konco, Daising, Koe, Vom, Drelyn, Baroshota Sawyer…

"Well, all right the, I'll just bring these bowls downstairs and come back," Rian said brightly. Lori waved him off, and felt him leave. As soon as he was gone, she quickly wrote down all the names on the wall next to her bed with her finger after softening the stone. Only then did she realize that Daising was on both lists, and scowled, erasing the name so there wouldn't be any repetition. Then she quickly got to work on the bowls that were still blank. She had one bowl too many, but that was all right, she could keep that in her room, it would be nicely decorative… no, she could put the stones she used to play sunk there, even better…

Rian took a slothfully long time to put the bowls on the table and come back up. By the time he did return, Lori had managed to write the names on the rest of the bowls and inlaid the writing with some gold. Just a little. She needed it for wire, after all.

"Sorry it took so long, I was trying to get the bowls under that darkness you left without letting them be too near the edge of the table," he said brightly. "But I'm here now." He picked up two bowls, holding them carefully and taking the lead as Lori followed after him.

Together, the two of them were able to bring down all the bowls to their table, where the cover of darkwisps grew with every trip, covering the bowls under their opaque shadow. People kept glancing their way, but Lori ignored them as usual, and while Rian nodded and smiled at them in acknowledgement, at least he didn't deviate to waste time by talking to them. Soon, all the bowls were down and on their table, and Lori finally let herself sit with a sigh.

"I'll go get food," Rian said. I'll be right back.

Lori nodded, waving a hand dismissively, and he left to do just that. In the table across from her, the three turned their gazes to follow him. Idiots.

Shaking her head, Lori moved the darkwisps a little, trying to find… ah! There they were. Two bowls, one with a clean folded blouse on top, the other with a clean folded skirt. To be honest, she wasn't sure which belonged to whom, but they could just deal with it among themselves. She picked up the bowls and navigated around the table.

Riz saw her coming this time, eyes widening before she subtly tried to move away. Unfortunately, there was someone sitting next to her, and all she managed to do was to squirm right up against them as Lori finished rounding the table and reached the empty space across from where the three sat.

Umu and Mikon saw her just as she put the bowls down on the table. "Y-your Bindership!" they both exclaimed in surprised.

Lori spoke before they managed to start speaking again. "Thank you for the clothes," she said, pushing the bowls towards the two of them. Everyone at the table blinked, staring at the two bowls with the clothes on top. "Yours." With one last slow nod—Binders did not bow, peopled bowed to Binders—Lori turned and went back to her usual seat.

She did not raise the darkwisps a little so she wouldn't have to look directly at the two as they kept looking between the bowls of fruit with their names on them and then at her sitting directly opposite them. The opaque shadow cast by the darkwisps was already that high to begin with!

Not even Rian coming back and sitting in front of them stopped the two women from their ogling. They actually leaned to the side to look around Rian as he lay the bowls of breakfast in front of her. Lori picked one of them and started to eat.

"So…" Rian said brightly. "I have absolutely no idea what those bowls are about, but do you need help with them?"

Lori frowned at him. "Why would I need help? With anything?"

"Ah, so you match the face to the names on the bowl?"

Lori paused.

She sighed.

She glared at Rian. "You will do exactly as I say," she said evenly.

"As my Binder says," Rian said brightly.

This was why she hated remembering people's names. It wasn't actually just the names that you had to remember!