Demesne 112 - Into the Night Shift (Patreon)

Lori managed to resist the urge to plunge the Dungeon into darkness again. She didn't need any more darkwisps, after all.

The militia and assorted people Rian had scheduled kept watch over the air slits, occasionally killing the few dragonborn abominations that now managed to make their way in. They seemed to be flying bug-derivatives of some sort, and hot golden dragonborn blood and greenish bug blood intermixed before Lori pushed them out.

With defenses and necessities secured and handled, Lori made sure people were staying out of trouble. She wasn't Rian, able to get people to settle down with that stupid smile and a few words. She settled for walking around with a glare of disapproval and Riz at her back. Fortunately, people seemed to be staying put. Many people had been drafted to spin thread for the weavers, but they all seemed to be enthusiastic or at least relaxed about it, seeming almost idle except for their fingers, which were moving deftly as they used distaff and spindle to turn the ropeweed into something usable.

The second level was also tidy, save around the carpenters, who were busy working with some of the few piece of wood they'd brought in the day before. To keep themselves occupied, they were building the water wheel for the lathe that she'd promised them. There was an almost relaxed air to the work as they worked with more care. To her eye, however, they were moving only slightly slower than they had been when building the other water wheel.

"A bigger lathe is nice," one said to the other carpenters nearby as he carefully chiseled out joints where the wood was going to slide together, "but we already have one. Do you think we can try building a saw of some kind instead, to make cutting easier? A waterwheel can power one too, if we make the gears right."

"We'd have to get the saw made first, you know that," another said. He was carefully chiseled out holes in a round piece of wood. "Unless you have some of those stashed away?"

"Maybe this dragon will drop so much iron that her Bindership will let us have one made?" another said wistfully. He was gently marking pieced of wood with a small chisel, making shapes that would be carved out later.

"I'll consider it," Lori said as she passed, ignoring how they jerked in surprise. Fortunately, no one was injured. Really, they should be more aware of their surroundings, they were working with sharp objects!

She checked the corner where the stone pots where the seeds were planted under constantly shining lightwisps. The hairy blueball seeds had budded, little shoots of green poking out of the mix of dirt, sawdust and rotten leaves. The pink ladies, however, were still just lying there. Argh, what had Rian done wrong? This had been his idea, right? Next to the pots was a pile of what looked like uprooted crops from the field, dirt still caking the roots. It was a small fraction of what had been planted, but she was glad someone had thought to try and save it. While it wouldn't be enough to feed anyone, it might be enough to start a proper crop again. She was fairly confident that with the darkness, their crops wouldn't be twisted by the dragon, but if a scales fell on them… or if dragonborn abominations demolished them…

She might have to start that underground planting area after all.

"They need cold, Great Binder."

Lori blinked, realized someone was talking to her. She looked sideways at Riz. "What?"

Riz swallowed. "The pink ladies," she pointed. "They need cold before they can bud."

Lori frowned. She'd stored them in her private cold room. "How cold?"

"They need to be buried and cold for at least two months, Great Binder, though three months is better," Riz explained. "They need to think they were buried in the ground over the winter to finally bud and grow."

Ah. So Rian HAD been doing it wrong!

Distantly, she heard the brat call the time. That would be the… seventh, right? Dinner would be soon, then.

"How cold does it need to be?" she asked.

"It's winter, Great Binder," Riz said as if explaining something obvious. "Cold enough for ice and snow."

She might have to build a cold room for this… well, later. Being in a pot probably wasn't hurting it right now.

Lori continued her rounds. Fortunately, no one was bathing anymore, so she was able to clear away the stagnant pools of water into the drain and try to level the floor a little to keep it from happening again. At least the floor of the bath was lower than the rest of the floor, so she didn't have to worry about too much about the water spilling out. Then she emptied the water basin—"Riz, tell people to be more careful while bathing so they don't get soap in the water everyone is using!"—before refilling it again from the reservoir and heating it to a suitable temperature.

The water they had stored in the reservoir was holding. At the current rate, they might be able to last for a week. Hopefully it wouldn't take that long. They had enough food, right? They could access the winter stores if needed, since that cold room was in the Dungeon, but hopefully that wouldn't be needed, the kitchen stores should be enough.

Perhaps it would be best to gather more food after the dragon passed. They needed more surplus and a buffer against dragons and other emergencies…

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Lori was in the middle of dinner when the brat called the final eighth of the day.

"Riz, would you go and wake up Rian, presuming he hasn't been disobeying orders and awake already?" Lori said. "He should have been sleeping in the hallway leading to my room, up the stairs. "

"Yes, Great Binder," Riz said across from her, picking up her bowl and spoon and eating as she walked away. The woman looked a bit less tired than Lori, since she'd been having little naps through the day while Lori had been changing the bath water and checking the dome. Still, she was clearly sleepy.

This was a sharp contrast to all the other militia who had collected near the air slits, which despite a lack of music and booze, and only having the same food as everyone else, had the air of a party to them. A lot of board games had found their way there, and while they didn't talk too loudly, the sound seemed to carry, making them feel loud, even if Lori could just barely hear them over the background hum of a subdued dinner crowd.

Across from her, Umu and Mikon slowed their eating, Mikon actually stopping entirely. Why were they…? Were they waiting for Rian so he could eat with them? Lori rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

The day's sleep had apparently restored Rian to his usual mood, because he immediately tried to be funny.

"You're eating?" he said. "Did you finally learn how to get your own food?"

Lori rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. My temporary Rian got it for me."

"You're still using my name as a noun?-!" He blinked, then frowned. "Or is it a title?"

"It's a temporary posting for the duration of the emergency. Go get food so I can tell you what needs to be done so I can go to sleep."

"Ah, working immediately. Fine, fine, I'll get on it your Bindership…"

Lori finished her food by the time Rian got back, and she immediately got to business as he ate. "All right. Before I go to sleep, I'll refill the water at the baths. Hopefully not many people will need to bathe tonight, so that should last you the night. The new defenses in front of the Dungeon have reduced the amount of abominations trying to get in, but if there's a sudden surge that suddenly blocks the air slits, wake me. I'll leave making arrangements for who's going to do the cooking through the night up to you, since the kitchen staff have been up all day, and if you want them to make any food for midnight, you should do so before they go to sleep. Also, Karina will need to sleep soon, so you'll need to find someone to take over time-keeping duties. Do you understand?"

"Don't take too many baths, call you if we can't breathe, deal with midnight lunch, find someone to keep time," Rian repeated.

"Also, you've been planting the pink ladies wrong," Lori added.

Rian blinked. "I have?"

"Apparently they need to be kept cold to bud. Riz can give you further details," she shrugged. Was there anything else…? "Don't forget to make sure everyone is sleeping properly so they're not causing trouble."

"Yes, your Bindership," he nodded. For a moment, he was quiet. "So, we're not in danger?"

"Of course we're in danger, there's a rainbows colored dragon above us," Lori said flatly, pointing upwards. She checked the dome of darkness again. Good, still being imbued, still subtly ahead of the wear the dragon was inflicting upon it. "At best, no one in here is doing anything that will get the rest of us killed."

Rian sighed. "Well, it's still an improvement over trying to keep you up so you can work your magic."

"A great improvement," Lori agreed.

"I suppose you found a trick to let you protect us even when you're sleeping?"

"I'm going to sleep," Lori announced, getting up. "Riz, I suggest you do the same soon, I'll need you tomorrow."

"Yes, Great Binder," Riz said, much more relaxed than she had been at the start of the day.

"And there will be no more naps for you tomorrow."

A disappointed sigh. "Understood, Great Binder."

"You can sleep on my lap again, if you want?" Mikon offered.

She couldn't help it. "Don't you need to sleep?" Lori asked flatly.

"I'm not sleeping on a schedule, your Bindership," Mikon said. "Besides, I can sleep with someone on my lap."

Riz gave her a tired, exasperated look. "Sure, why not. Don't complain to me if your legs go numb. Where are you sleeping?"

"Wherever you—"

Lori walked away, shaking her head. Fickle.

The brat was still sitting near where the militia were gathered, watching the water dripping from the water clock into the bucket beneath it intently.

"Karina," Lori said, and the brat blinked, looking up. "You can stop now, it's night time. Go eat and get some sleep, I'll need you to do this again for me tomorrow."

"I can keep working, Wiz Lori," the brat said.

"No," she said firmly. "You've already done a full day's work. Rest and come back to see me in the morning. You did well."

The brat blinked, then nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Wiz Lori."

"Rian will find someone do to this for him tonight. Wait here."

Lori walked past her, and headed up the stairs to her room. She altered the bindings of lightwisps she had there, making them glow again and just barely managing to not kick over Rian's bedroll, which along with the rest of his things had been lined up neatly along the wall so that it didn't block the way. She removed the stone blocking off her room from the hallway and stepped inside.

The brat was still there when Lori came back down. "Hold out your hands,"  she ordered.

The brat dutifully did so, and Lori put three golden buds, three micans, and two pink ladies into her hands. The fruits were still cold and beginning to be covered with condensation. "For your work today," she told the brat. Awkwardly, she patted the brat on the head. "Good night."

Lori went back to her room and sealed off the hallways behind her.

Lying down on her soft, wonderfully comfortable bed, she closed her eyes, feeling the dome above her. She began to imbue the dome, filling it faster than it could draw from her core through the wire of her staff…

Lori fell asleep as she imbued the dome, her mind buffered by the presence of the dragon above.

She had no dreams, for which she was grateful.