Weekly Digest 38 (#121 - #123) (Patreon)

The Better Water Jet

Slowly, things returned back to normal, the dragonborn abominations either being hunted down or dying from running out of magic to sustain their impossible physiologies. People were injured, but they'd been told to prioritize staying alive, so anyone who was hurt was just sent to River's Fork to be healed.

Lori chose not to comment on the strange meat in the stew they had for a few days. While it wasn't completely objectionable—it was actually very soft and tender, and was absolutely wonderful to chew on—it was far too sweet, like it had been filled with honey! Who had ever heard of literally sweet meat?

Work also finally started on the boat. Lori had to set up a location—Rian said it was called a dry dock, to which she just nodded along to, as did everyone else, because what did they know about building boats?—a little downriver from the laundry area, packing down the dirt on the riverbank so it would be able to support weight and not sink, as well as leveling it for stability. It was a bit far from the saw pit… and the smithy… and the carpenters… but as Rian said, they could build near those, then have to drag a completed boat next to the river, or they could build next to the river and just carry the relatively lighter things building materials to the location.

Despite this, it took some convincing for people to understand that, no, the smart thing to do was build the boat near the river.

The boat… didn't look very boat-like. As construction on it began, it looked like a shack with strange fencing around it. Granted, it was a very well-built shack, the fence-like long beams surrounding it made of cunningly slotted together lengths of wood. The lack of experience was being substituted with manpower and enthusiasm, and Lori redoubled on her desire to never leave her demesne again. Now that they were actually building one, the idea of a boat made of ice and wood didn't sound very safe to her. Better that other people use it, not her.

In addition to the construction of the new boat, Rian also had to find time to train other people on how to operate Lori's Boat, so that he wouldn't have to be the one to keep doing it.

"Finding someone to take over ferrying people might be a while," Rian sighed over dinner. It had been a five days since construction began, and he'd taken the opportunity presented by having to ferry a new batch of miners-but-probably-construction-workers to River's Fork to try training some random person on how to operate the boat's water jet. "They understand having to lift the jet out of the water to get the boat to slow down, and turning the tiller simple enough, but Vov can't seem to handle the speed."

"Perhaps if you procrastinate, you'll be able to find a solution to the problem," Lori said blandly.

"No, procrastinating is a specific solution to a specific situation," Rian said. He sounded completely serious. "In a better world, procrastinating would be the solution to every problem, but unfortunately we live in an imperfect world, where procrastinating isn't as useful as we'd want it to be."

"Oh, you saw that play too?" Lori said. She had liked that comedy about the lazy nobleman who believed happiness was measured in slothfulness, and ended up working very hard all through the play to stay slothful.

"What play?" Rian said, face completely blank but eyes sparkling.

Lori rolled her eyes. Useless thespian. "Back on topic," she said.

"You started it," he shot back. "But all right. I think I'll be able to train someone to handle ferrying, that's the relatively easy part. The problem is finding someone who will be able to handle moving at those speeds. Unless you'd be willing to slow down the waterjet to a slow rowing speed, but that would mean someone being stuck ferrying all day, maybe even two days. There aren't any rapids, but a slow rowing speed isn't going to be able to fight against the downward current very well."

"Perhaps you should train one of the miners, or someone who's ridden under the water jet's power already?"

"The miners are used to how fast it is, but there's that, and there's being used to it and feeling capable of controlling it," Rian said. "They're among the first people I asked if they wanted to learn. They… uh, refused."

Lori started counting in her head. One… two… three…

"I can learn, Rian," Riz said. Umu, Lori saw, was frantically trying to swallow a mouthful of food, since she seemed to think it to disgusting to spit it out, while Mikon… huh, she didn't bother to volunteer. Well, Lori supposed the woman knew her limits. "Teach me!"

Umu tried to say something but it came out like… well, like she had a mouthful of food in her mouth she didn't want to spit out because it would be wasteful.

"Won't you be busy being Lori's temporary lady?"

"Temporary Rian," Lori corrected.

"Why do you keep using my name like that?"

"Because it's accurate. And he's right. Find someone else."

Riz slumped. Umu did so as well, looking relieved. Mikon reached around Rian and handed the blonde a cup of water to help her swallow.

"Well, besides that, how is progress on the new boat?" Lori asked

"You can see how it's progressing."

"Yes, I can see it. I still have no idea how much it has progressed, which is why I'm asking you."

"Ah. Well, we need more wood. Fresh wood. The carpenters say the boat needs thicker support beams, and a lot of our wood has already been cut into planks. Which is good for cladding, flooring, walls, furniture and things, but not very good for being load bearing. And the trees near the building site aren't straight enough for it, so we need to do more cutting, which means you'll have to do more curing soon. So that's slowed it down right now, but we're cutting planks to form secondary reinforcement for the ice."

"I'll take your word for it," Lori nodded. "How much longer?"

Rian hesitated. "Two, three weeks? I'm still not sure how we're going to put in the water jet, or how we'll steer. It's not like we can put in chains to control the ship with a wheel. That might not be efficient with our level of inexperience. But that'll make steering complicated, since whoever's in control will have to control it from the back and take direction from someone sitting ahead who can see what's coming up."

"How problematic," Lori said blandly. "You'd better hope you can devise a way to solve the problem."

"Your faith in my competence is really, really annoying. Can't you be controlling and tell me what to do?"

"Solve this problem."

Rian sighed. "I was hoping for more specifics."

"Solve this problem quickly."

Rian slumped. Umu, Mikon and Riz and reached over to pat him on the back, looking a bit amused.

While Rian built the boat, Lori worked on the dungeon. She excavated around the reservoir, raising a waist-high wall over it as she resigned herself to making it permanent. She bound lightwisps to the bottom of the reservoir and along the sides, illuminating the water. Not at regular intervals, because it was hard to judge after a certain depth, but it let her see into the water. She'd been prepared to drain everything out and replace it if she saw anything floating, but fortunately it was clear, and a lot deeper than she thought.

Creating a pipe from the central water hub, she set it to fill the reservoir, then began to rework the piping she'd laid out recently for the baths to get their water from it. It was time-consuming, but it was needed to keep the water in the reservoir circulating and clean. She made sure to route the pipes close together so that she could easily seal them off in the event of a dragon.

Hopefully they'd have several more months again before they needed to use it.

Though given the depth of the reservoir, Lori would have to be careful excavating here, in case she accidentally dug into their water reserve or it started to leak.

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Lori raised an eyebrow as Rian dropped blocks of wood on the table at dinner.

"Ta dah!" Rian said cheerfully, gesturing at the blocks of wood.

"That explains nothing," Lori said. "You'll have to do better."

"I got the carpenters to make a better water jet!" Rian said. He gestured at the wood again.

"Slightly more understandable, but still without context."

Rian sighed, then picked up the wood. Or rather, the top of the wood. What seemed like a large, solid block of wood came apart, revealing hollows carved into the wood.

"Circulating loop," Rian said, pointing to three sets of rounded hollows. "Reversed flow, for… well, going in reverse. And a straightaway, for going forward." He lifted up a block, showing how it had three tubes going through it side by side, as well as a long rod at one end. "And this time there's room for this block to slide past all of them."

"Why three holes?" Lori had to ask.

"So it can go faster," Rian said. "Fast, faster, fastest." He put the block down. "When you slide it this way, the first tube comes unaligned from the circulating loop and lines up with the propulsion channel. Slide it further, and then two tubes align, theoretically making you go twice as fast. Then three tubes." Rian looked down at the smooth rod. "It, uh, might need some kind of markings or notches and a ratchet to latch it into place to indicate what is aligned with what."

Lori frowned, touching the blocks, pulling out another piece. "You realize this will leak, right?"

"Nothing that you can't fix," Rian said. "The carpenters have a box waiting that these can go into. We put them in the box so that their snug, you line all the insides with bone or stone to act as waterproofing, a little ice or lard to lubricate the block, and then the box holds it all in place, and we mount it to a tiller so it can point left or right." He looked smug and proud. "And before you ask, we have inlet and outlet pipes leading down into the water so that the waterjet will have something to propel. Or just have it fixed on the bottom of the boat and have a separate tiller. I think the latter works better for the large boat, but the former is the best way to do it for a small one like Lori's Boat."

Lori stared at him, then at the blocks. Experimentally, she slid the block. "Well… I'm glad to see you made it easier to do. Very well. Though we won't put it on Lori's Boat just yet. We need to test it by itself."

Rian nodded.

"Also, I need to fix your oversight."

Rian stopped nodding. "Oversight?"

Oh good, he really hadn't realized. "Since this rod controls the movement of the block, it will need to be high up and accessible to the ferryman, correct?"

"Yes…?" Rian said slowly, clearly knowing it was a leading question. One that led into a trap.

"How is the waterjet going to draw water if it's above the water?"

Riant blinked. He looked at the blocks of wood, all with hollows carved through them. He opened his mouth. He closed his mouth. He groaned.

"Yes, an oversight," Lori nodded smugly. "But don't worry, I can fix it."

The wood might need a little shaving to make room for ice to lubricate the block so it would move smoother. She'd have to see how it worked with water inside it first.

"You say a larger version of this could propel the new boat?" Lori prompted.

Rian looked like he was still mentally castigating himself but nodded. "Yes. And that CAN be underwater, since it would be simpler to make the tubes where water is drawn in to be through the ice, so there aren't any protrusions to potentially catch on something and break. Still working on turning. I had an idea for that though… "

He was interrupted as five bowls of food were put on the table.

"But I'll tell you later," he said. "Thank you for the food Umu, Mikon, Riz. Please stop and let me get it myself?"

"We'll think about it," Mikon said, smiling a bright, sweet smile, one amusingly mirrored by the other two.

Lori shook her head and picked a bowl.

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The Ice Boat Floateth

Fixing Rian's adjustable water jet was easy enough. The mount for it had a thick wooden rudder that had hollow tubes in it to draw water up and thrust it down. The tubes were more wood that had been hollowed out—the carpenters were getting a lot of use from their new lathe—and she was able line the insides with bone to act as waterproofing and sealant. Correcting the problem was simple enough. Lori had a small hole drilled in the intake pipes just before the sliding block, and put in a small binding of airwisps to constantly siphon out air. When put into the river, this drew water into the tube and allowed it to reach the binding of waterwisps in the moving block, and the suction by the waterwisps would do the rest. While she was able to put blood in the binding of waterwisps, the binding of airwisps couldn't be connected to her like that, but fortunately, it was a small binding that didn't expend much magic that she could imbue the usual way.

Instead of lining the moving block with ice, they just carved out a recess on the block, lined the recess with stone and put some ball bearings on it to help it roll. Much simpler.

The resulting block of wood was far too big to be installed into Lori's Boat, but they needed a new boat for conveying miners to River's Fork anyway. So the carpenters made a wooden frame, some floor planks so that people wouldn't slip and some simple benches, and the new prototype water jet was installed into the new small ice boat. Adjustments had to be made, and an outrigger was added for stability.

They also finally found someone to learn to be a ferryman. Or ferrywoman, as the case may be. Lori didn't know her name—not important—but she apparently wasn't bothered by speed and could remember how to operate the new water jet. They'd added notches to the bar and a latch to lock the rod in place so it would stay in position and not move.

"Otherwise it's too easy to bump the rod and then you might suddenly be going in reverse," Rian explained. "We'll be able to do it better for the large boat, which is shaping up well. You'll be able to put ice on it soon."

"I can't wait," Lori said blandly. "Do we have anything to bring to trade?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Rian said cheerfully. "Well, we can try bringing some of the beast and seel skins to see what they're worth, but the scales are… probably not worthless but most likely a little devalued and the market slightly saturated if as many dropped on the other demesne as it did on us. Even River's Fork has a stockpile, they just don't have the manpower to get everything. But the prices will probably go back to normal soon, and metal products will always have worth. At the least, we can sell some knives. We probably can't spare more, since we need the fabrics we're producing for clothes and most of the leather for shoes." He sighed, looking down at his feet. "I'm really going to miss having thick soles when these eventually wear out. Hopefully we'll have access to some kind of trade by then, or at least some Deadspeakers willing to fuse together a bunch of leather into something thicker."

"I'm working on it," Lori said irritably, just keeping herself from glancing at the women next to him.

"Well, maybe we can see what the going price for it in Covehold is," Rian said. He titled his head. "Do you want us to recruit more settlers while we're there, or would you rather wait on that until we're more established to your satisfaction?"

Lori's satisfaction would have been a demesne with a diameter of a hundred taums, a manifestation chamber that let her make any substance she wanted, a vault full of beads so deep she could swim in it, a functional theater district, a library, and possibly a stone giant to make war with.

"I doubt recruitment will be much of a problem at any time," Lori said, "so hold off for now."

"I promise not to recruit any wizards?"

"Hold. Off. For. Now."

"Yes, your Bindership!"

Lori nodded sharply,

"Something else occurred to me," Rian said, "but can you make a binding that evaporates water if we put water into it?"

"Easily, but why?"

"We'll be sailing over the ocean for part of this, and I figure we might as well get some salt while we're at it," he said. "The tanners need it, and it will help in preserving food. In fact, I'm thinking that having it go down the river to collect salt wouldn't be a bad use for the boat once we come back from Covehold. You can never have too much salt."

Lori frowned. Salt was a seasoning to her, something you added to food to make it taste a certain way, and had interesting interactions with earthwisps, waterwisps and lightningwisps… "If you say so," she said. Well, evaporation wassimple, though she'd need wire so she wouldn't have to add blood to water. She might need to use steam or vapor instead of liquid water anyway… "I'll see what I can build."

"You're the best Binder ever," Rian declared with a grin.

"You set the bar very low," Lori said.

"You are the best Binder ever," Rian repeated, still grinning.

She wasn't sure if this was new flattery, but she'd take it.

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Construction on the boat continued. Planks were laid on the bottom to mark the underside and bottom of the boat, meant to protect the ice from damage. It seemed slow to Lori, who had watched wood be worked quickly with shop equipment, but there was always more wood on it every day. It was like the wood was materializing around some invisible material that formed the bulk of the hull. Carpenters worked with hand tools, the progress deceptively slow but their movements quick, skilled and precise, creating parts that would slot together and be held in place with more wood. Some children would just sit near them and watch as the carpenters made the boat like they'd been making things like it their whole professional career.

With most of the demesne's physical needs met, Lori allowed herself to fall into a daily routine, imbuing everything that needed imbuing, keeping the water hot and flowing, the reservoir roofs solid ice instead of water, the water wheels turning. There was more wood curing in her days than before since they needed more of it because of the boat construction, and the thicker wood needed for the beams needed more effort to cure.

The day when she had finally had to make the ice that would seal and waterproof the boat seemed to come abruptly, even though it had been nearly three weeks in the making.

"It won't be final," Rian said told her as he finished pointing out the beams that the ice should wrap around as the carpenters did one last check to make sure all the planks were secure. "Portions of it will definitely need to be hollowed out for the water jet's tubes and things. But better we know now how well it floats." His voice dropped down slightly, for her ears only. "Besides… everyone needs to see the idea work. They've been doing it so far because… well, there's a little bit of humoring me, but some probably think it's a waste of time, even with the original ice boat prototype. They need to see that it could work."

"They should have seen that with the ice boat," Lori said.

Rian shrugged. "These men are builders. They know better than anyone that some things don't scale up in size very well." He paused. "Also, I'll be honest, I really need to see if the idea still works at this scale."

Lori gave him a glare. "This was your idea."

"I know!" He sighed. "I know. Better to be sure sooner than later."

Lori kept on glaring at him. But she supposed he had a point. And she felt like she needed to see it work too.

She reached her awareness towards the river and bound the waterwisps there, drawing it up onto the shore once the carpenters stepped back out of the way. The dirt, small rocks, sand and earthwisps, she compressed and pulled out of the water, followed by the bubbles, dissolved air and airwisps, leaving only water. Then she contracted the water together, and there was a puff of heat as the water went from liquid to solid. The air around it began to get hotter as she compressed the water more and more, until it was a cold as it was physically possible for water to be.

Then she slowly, carefully made the ice flow around the beams of the ice boat.

She had to admit, it was nice more-or-less having a mold to mark out the confines of what she was binding. The bottom and side of the hull began to be filled with ice between layers of wood, and she was careful to make sure the ice didn't ripple and fold and accidentally trap bubbles of air inside it. She had to draw on more water from the river twice more before she finally filled in all the areas Rian indicated with ice.

There was surprisingly less ice than she thought there would be. For some reason, in her mind all the internal walls and surfaces were made of ice… which was, in hindsight, idiotic. Instead only the hull was made of ice, with thick beams for the ice to wrap around, wooden planks cladding it on the outside, and some more planks on top of the ice as a surface to walk on. Everything else above that, like the internal walls, was composed of wooden planks and beams.

And then Lori was raising pillars of stone out of the river to act as a sort of cage and using water to lift the boat from where it rested and into the river and…

"Huh," Rian said as he stared at the boat of wood and ice floating in the water, tilting a bit to the right. "It actually worked." There was a momentary beat as he visibly and theatrically caught himself, then 'hurriedly' said, "Ah, I mean, see everyone, I told you it would work! It's floating." He waved at the boat bobbing in the water, being kept from drifting downriver by the stone pillars, then seemed compelled to comment on the tilt. "I mean, it's tilting, but we expected that. That's what the outrigger will be for. I think we can consider it a success."

Lori had to admit, there did seem to be a general air of 'huh, I can't believe that actually worked like it was supposed to' to the carpenters, who had gathered around on the shore nearest to the ice boat and looking at it like they expected the ice to start melting. It wouldn't—the binding was keeping it solid and Lori was heavily imbuing it at that very moment—but they were clearly expecting it to.

"Well, congratulations everyone," Rian announced. "We've actually managed to make a boat that floats! I'd say this calls for a celebration, but we'd be the only ones celebrating, so why don't you all take the day off to rest? We still need to install the fittings like beds and tables and things tomorrow, but you've all earned a break."

There was a sort of relieved and relaxed cheer from the carpenters, who all began to pick up their tools and putting them away. Lori had to acknowledge their professionalism, they were cleaning up properly instead of just walking away from their work site. She continued to stand where she was, staring at the boat—and it was properly a boat now, since it was floating in the river and everything—while the carpenters slowly trickled away and Rian went among them, congratulating them individually and talking to them. From the sound of it, he was also inquiring about the larger-sized blocks that were being hollowed out for this boat's water jet.

Eventually, there was only Lori, the muted sounds of the river and the boat bumping up against the stone pillars, and Rian. He stood next to her, also staring at the boat.

"We're actually doing it," he said quietly. "We've actually got a boat to send back."

"You're not going," Lori said sharply.

"I have to," Rian protested. "You saw them. Seeing it float barely managed to convince them it works."

"Your absurd theatrics might have had something to do with that."

"You'd be surprised how much more effective levity can be," Rian said. "If I'd just said 'see, I told you so', they'd have likely remained contrary because no one wants to be proven wrong. By playing it up like that, I made it all right to show that they'd changed their mind. Now, at least, the carpenters will look confident about the boat that they built, and that confidence in it will spread among other people. Meaning we might actually be able to find volunteers to travel on this with me."

"You're not going," Lori repeated.

"Lori, do you really trust anyone but me to come back with the boat?"

Lori wanted to snap that she didn't trust him… but even to herself the impulse seemed silly and childish. "What am I supposed to do without you around?" she said instead.

"You have Erzebed to talk to people for you," he said.

"Who?"

"Riz.. You'll be fine. And I'll have us come back as quickly as I can. At the very least, we might not be able to afford the berthing fees for very long."

Lori blinked. "Berthing fees?"

"You don't think boats can just pull up to Covehold's docks for free, do you?"

She'd honestly never thought of it.

"I've honestly never thought of it," Lori said.

"Yes, there's a good chance we might even lose an absurd amount of our money just to be able to dock."

Lori could see it. Now that she knew it was a possibility, she would not be surprised if they charged by the hour.

"Relax, we probably won't need to leave for a week or two," Rian said. "There's still putting in the beds and storage spaces, the cells for the exiles, the food supplies, a cooking area, finding the volunteers to go on the boat with me, preparing the cargo… you'll have plenty of time to adjust to me being gone."

For a moment, Lori had a wild, insane urge. It filled her, completely irrational, pointless, stupid and unsafe.

She quashed it ruthlessly. After all those times vowing never to leave her demesne again, there was absolutely no reason for her to leave it just to go to Covehold, especially when she'd need to travel with two people who'd already tried to assault her.

Besides, she was used to feeling lonely. It was her entire childhood, school life and early adulthood. She'd be fine.

She'd be fine…

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A Favor

The work on the boat continued, the finishing touches that would make it livable for any length of time. A latrine. Beds, which would fold up for space. A large tiller, to be able to shift its course. And of course the large water jet to propel it.

"I'm an idiot," Rian sighed over dinner. He'd managed to get ahead of the women this time, and had presented Lori with two bowls of stew. She'd picked one.

"Yes, you are," Lori agreed, eating in a leisurely manner.

"You don't have to agree so quickly. That's just mean."

"I was merely supporting you." There seemed to be fried or grilled mushroom in the stew tonight. It chewed quite nicely.

Rian sighed again, absently stirring his bowl before taking a small spoonful, chewing and swallowing. "Anyway, on a related note, the boat needs to be slightly rebuilt. When the carpenters were carving out the blocks that would become the boat's water jet, I realized it needed to be mounted on a support beam since if we tried putting it straight on the ice, there's a good chance the ice might crack from the strain. Actually, since it's meant to reverse, the water jet block needs to have support beams on both sides to secure it to."

Lori nodded. "Sensible thinking for a self-declared idiot."

"Yes. A pity I didn't think of it when we were initially placing the beams. So, uh, can you melt the ice without letting water soak into the wood? I hear that's bad for them. We'll need to put in more beams to brace the water jet against, and distribute its thrust through the whole structure." He closed his eyes, rubbing his eyelids. "I suppose it's too much to expect that we built it right the first time. This is my fault, they were only building what I told to."

"Yes, it is."

"Your idea of what supporting me entails needs some work."

Lori shrugged.

"It was a perfectly understandable oversight, Rian," Mikon said reassuringly. She was sitting next to him tonight, with Riz on her other side. "You'd never done anything like this before. Since you realized before something broke or anyone was hurt, I think you're doing very well."

"I suppose," Rian said. He shook his head, getting his next mouthful ready on his spoon. "Well, no use dwelling on it. Anything in particular you want me to get you from Covehold, your Bindership?"

"Tool glass," Lori said instantly. "New boots. A book. ANY book. I need something to read."

Rian swallowed "What, even a…" he frowned, trailing off as he thought. "I'm trying to think of the most boring subject possible, but everything I'm thinking of seems like something you'd find interesting or possibly be too horrifying to give you."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Such as what?"

"Like a book on tax law," Rian said. The three seated next to him twitched. "I'll see what I can do about the book. I remember them not lasting well on the way here."

"That was over the ocean," Lori said. "This is a much shorter journey." She frowned, then clucked her tongue. "I've just realized that the boat needs a binding to drain water out of it. It will need to be washed at least twice a day to keep down Iridescence growth, and to ensure that water doesn't pool inside. Having water filling the insides of you boat is probably detrimental to it."

Rian slumped, and his forehead hit the table. "Ugh, I forgot all about that." He sighed. "You're right, I have to account for that. Will it make the ice more likely to melt?"

Lori shook her head. "No, it shouldn't affect the behavior of the ice, besides making it slippery—"

Rian suddenly groaned again. "Ugh, the water's going to drip through all the floors, isn't it? We're only making it from wooden planks, and we don't have much in the way of sealant for it. Keeping things dry is going to be hard…" He glanced at her. "But you don't care, because you have no intention of ever needing to travel for that far or that long, do you?"

Lori nodded. Not cheerfully, even if it was a cheerful thought. "Why risk my death? I need to protect the demesne."

"Well, all the more reason for me to go," Rian said. "Otherwise no one will want to volunteer to go on it."

"Which reminds me, be the one to ferry miners to River's Fork next week," Lori said thoughtfully. "Find out how many guards Binder Shanalorre intends to send to accompany the prisoners. They're her prisoners, after all."

"By which you mean pointedly hint that she should send her own guards, lest you just have their throats slit and toss them into the river?" Rian said.

That… hadn't occurred to her.

It should have.

"That would be helpful to imply, yes. They will need to bring their own supplies for themselves and their prisoners, and we'll need an estimate of how much that will be so we can prepare the storage area." Lori finished her bowl, scraping it clean with her spoon. She resisted the urge to get another serving, letting her stomach settle and reminding her she still had fruit in her room.

"Not to sound lazy, but that sounds like something Riz should do," Rian said.

Riz blinked. "It is?" she said, surprised.

Rian nodded. "I'll come along, but I might be best if you do this. It'll allow you to start getting used to doing this sort of thing for her Bindership, even if it's only on a temporary basis. We can do this together and if you make any major mistakes I can step in and take over."

"Don't make the same mistake he does and just call her 'Shana'," Lori said, pushing her empty bowl aside. "She's Dungeon Binder Shanalorre. You will be representing myself when you speak to her, and as such you will show her proper respect, lest she take offense and decide to go to war with us."

"She won't," Rian told Riz, shaking her head. "She's a very reasonable person. Disturbingly reasonable."

Lori rolled her eyes. There was nothing disturbing about Shanalorre, she was a very calm, mature and reasonable person. Lori wished more people were like her.

"Actually, did you know her, when you lived there?" Rian asked.

Riz shook her head. "No. I vaguely remember Binder Koshay's daughter, but… no, I don't know her personally. I don't think we've ever exchanged words. She was always with her parents."

"Then I'll introduce you, and you can get used to talking to her in case Lori thinks of more things to extort but is too lazy to try to get personally."

Riz's eyes went wide, and she glanced at Lori.

"It's called political negotiation," Lori said blandly. "Well within Rian's duties. And as my temporary Rian when he leaves, you'll need to learn to conduct them."

A vaguely horrified look came over Riz's face. "Glittering blood," she said, and Lori noted the words, which sounded like invective, "I'm an officer."

"A temporary officer," Rian said, seeming to understand what Riz was talking about. "Temporary commanding officer, but still a temporary one. But the key word is 'temporary'. When I come back, you get demoted and go back to Um duty."

"Really?" Riz said, sounding desperate.

"Yes," Rian said. "Just don't perform exceptionally well, and you should be fine."

"Don't do well, got it," Riz nodded, clearly holding tightly to the words.

"I won't tolerate uselessness," Lori said. "I know how well you've performed until now. I expect at least that level of competence."

"See? Just be as competent as you've been until now, and you'll be fine," Rian said cheerfully.

"If there is any drop in competence, you will be punished."

Rian frowned at her.

Lori shrugged. "There have to be consequences. While her position is a temporary one, I expect her to maintain the standard she has previously set. Should your performance be unacceptable, you will be barred from this table."

Riz stiffened. So did Mikon. Umu, for her part, grinned for a moment, then had the presence of mind to suppress her expression. She continued eating dinner with a cheerful air, though.

"Are you… turning eating here into a privilege?" Rian said, sounding confused.

"I understand, Great Binder," Riz said, voice suddenly determined. "I won't fail you, provided this position is only temporary."

Lori tilted her head. "I will hold you to that."

She suddenly pointed at Umu, who paused in her eating. "Don't interfere," she said sternly.

The woman sighed, but said, "Yes, your Bindership."

Riz glared at the blonde, while Mikon began patting her on the shoulder, seemingly trying to calm her down, even as the pink-haired weaver sighed tiredly.

Rian sighed. "I'm missing something again, aren't I? Is this some kind of secret woman thing?"

"No, there's nothing secret about it, you're just ignorant," Lori said blandly.

"If I don't know, you're not going to tell me?"

Lori nodded.

"But what if I need to know?"

"Then you should get better at noticing," Lori said, her tone unchanged.

Rian sighed. "Fine, don't tell me. I don't care. But if it turns out I needed to know, you'll only have yourself to blame."

"No, I won't."

Rian rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I have a favor to ask."

"Is this going to be another thing I have to build for you with Whispering?"

Rian shook his head. "No, this is a normal favor."

Lori glared at him. "And the reason you can't ask someone else…?"

"They don't have much room at their house," Rian said succinctly. "You have the entire demesne."

"I'm not going to give you land."

"I'm not asking for any! Just a small favor! You won't even have to do anything, just drop something in a corner and forget about it until I bring it up again."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening…"

"Can you store the things that I can't bring along with me to Covehold somewhere? Just throw it in a corner of one of the vaults and don't drop any scales on it. I don't want to leave it in the shelter, since someone might trip over it or something, or it might get lost," Rian asked.

"Can't you just bring it with you? You can't have brought much," Lori said irritably.

"I won't be the only one on the boat, and storage space will be precious," Rian said. "Between the choice of bringing along some of my other clothes and some more food, the food is a better choice. Please? If I don't come back in half a year, you can have it all."

Lori stood just enough to be able to reach out across the table and grab the front of his shirt. She twisted her fist just enough for the fabric to tighten around his neck.

"You are notgoing to be gone for half a year," she said through gritted teeth, her voice low and determined. "You will be back well before winter, with time to spare, healthy, safe and mentally sound, because I am not dealing with these idiots by myself, is that clear?"

"I hear you, but this is sort of sending me mixed messages…" Rian said, his throat vibrating against her knuckles, words slightly strained.

Scowling, Lori released him, and Rian patted at his shirt as if afraid she'd torn it or something. "I will store your possessions on the condition you come back for them," she said sternly.

"I'm completely willing to agree to that," Rian said.

"And you're leaving your sword here."

He blinked. "My sword?" he repeated, sounding confused.

"Yes. That's something you're certainly going to come back for."

"What if I need it to defend myself?"

She stared at him. "Don't put yourself in a situation where you need to defend yourself," she said.

"You say that like it's my choice," he muttered. "Fine, fine, I'll leave it here. Maybe I can find a nice, solid stick or something."

"Good. You'll have something to come back to."

Rian raised an eyebrow. "Are you worried I won't come back?"

"I am notdealing with these idiots by myself," Lori repeated. "And do not forget that we have an agreement." She nodded in the general direction of the list of laws and rights on the wall that hid the core, which most people seemed to ignore nowadays.

"Please tell me you're not going to repeal our agreement while I'm gone," he said.

"If you're not back by winter, I will."

Rian sighed. "It's always something with you… fine, yes, I'll come back. I promise. Otherwise I'm terrified of what you'll come up with when you finally get around to implementing money and taxes."

Lori glared at him, then nodded sharply. "Fine. I'll prepare a place to store anything you can't bring along."

"Thank you, your Bindership," Rian said. He sighed. "That's one less thing I have to worry about. I'm not afraid of anyone stealing from me, but treating my things carelessly because I'm not around is another thing entirely. I'd put it under the bed, but I expect someone else will start sleeping on that. After all, it's not like I'll be using it, someone else should get to…"

"You will come back, won't you, Rian?" Umu said, voice quavering only a little.

"Of course I'll come back. Why wouldn't I?" He shrugged. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go. This place is home now. I've done a lot of paperwork on behalf of this demesne, I'm not letting all that work go to waste."

Umu sighed quietly. Behind Rian, Mikon reached out and patted her shoulder reassuringly.

Lori stood up without a word, and headed to her room to retire.

"Good night!" Rian called after her. "See you tomorrow!"

Lori waved a negligent hand in acknowledgement, her thoughts spinning but not binding together.

He said he'd come back. He'd promised, repeatedly.

He meant it… right?