Weekly Digest Sexy - (#212 - #214) (Patreon)

In Case of Pregnancy

At breakfast the next day, Lori was trying to find the connection between bound tools, glass and how bound tools function—all the bound tools she'd ever encountered had glass parts with wires from the bead receptacle leading into them—when Rian sat down in front of her and immediately said, "We have a slight emergency."

Lori sighed, her flow of thought interrupted. "Who died and who did it?"

"No one's died yet, but potential for death is very high."

"What is it then?"

"I talked to our doctors and medics, and they tell me that one of the pregnant women is likely to give birth soon. Sometime this week, at the very least. A week and a half, at most."

Lori considered that. "You want to try and re-establish contact with River's Fork," she said.

"I don't want to lose one of our people and her baby," Rian said as Mikon sat down next to him, greeting him with a smile and wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned against him. Rian absently shifted his balance to lean back against her as well. "Re-establishing contact with River's Fork and finding a way to ask Shana to come here and assist with the birth and any healing needed is the simplest way of doing so." He sighed. "I wish we'd been able to do this sooner, but the storm happened. I was hoping to try and buy our way back to her good graces after that little audit. As it is, if we do manage to manage to reach River's Fork, I might have to do some begging and giving them some resources for them to agree."

"Oh? You made all those decisions about our resources so freely, did you?"

"Nothing without your approval, of course, but let's be realistic. The last time we saw each other it was over an audit. Even if it was justified and a lesson, it was still an audit," Rian shrugged the shoulder away from the weaver. "And it wouldn't have been much. Just some of the salt we've stockpiled to sell come spring and maybe a little of the honey. The salt is relatively easy to get more of once the river melts and we can get to the ocean again, and given how much River's Fork needs it, it's a good trade for them. I don't know if they have any sweetbugs, so if we give the jar to her directly, it might be sufficient apology and… well, hiring fee? To get Shana to come back with us to help during the childbirth."

Lori raised an eyebrow at him. "You intend to offer a young girl sweets so you can convince her to return home with you?"

"Please don't phrase it like that, you're making me sound like a terrible person again."

Lori shrugged. "Do we really need her for this?"

"Again, death at childbirth is a common theme for a reason," Rian said. "So yes, we need her. So please let me try and convince her to come? Otherwise the alternative is trying to bring a pregnant woman to them, and then having to support that woman and her child in River's Fork for a few week or even months until the infant is well enough to travel. Since we have more than one woman due to give birth this winter…"

Lori frowned, but had to admit that she had already made a decision on this matter a long time ago. "There is still the issue of transport," she said. "While transferring Binder Shanalorre with the air jet sled is doable, provided it is only herself and maybe one other, the sled as it presently exists will not be sufficient for transporting the goods that will be used to pay her fee. And given it is unlikely she will agree to be transported without sufficient escort, which the current incarnation of the sled cannot carry…"

"Maybe they'll have their own sled?" Rian suggested as Riz and Umu finally arrived, the other weaver sitting on Rian's free side, while Riz sat down next to Mikon. The pink-haired pulled back from her lord for a moment to peck Riz's cheek in greeting, which was accepted with an almost resigned air. "We'll have to see what she's willing to agree to. Regardless though, the first step is taking the sled and going back there, and asking her if she's at least willing to heal for us. If she is, then we'll have the problem of either finding a way to bring her here or bringing someone to her. Hopefully she's willing to come to us. Bringing someone to her will be a nightmare, and might just kill them if we do it too late and they're already in the middle of childbirth when we do it."

Lori sighed. "Very well. We shall go down to River's Fork after breakfast with a jar of honey and as much salt as we can carry. Hopefully she will be amenable."

Rian paused. "'We'? You're going?"

"As much as I'd rather leave such matters to you, if we are going to be trying to convince her to leave her demesne, than I should handle the negotiations," Lori said. "This should probably be a conversation between equals, and I will need to be present to offer her my guarantee of her safety."

"I don't think she needs it?" Rian said. "After all, we've already dealt with the one man in our demesne who wanted to kill her."

"I meant that the safety of the sled she might have to ride if she agrees."

"Oh… right…" Rian nodded. "Yes, I suppose when she sees it's good enough for you, it might be good enough for her. If we can get her to agree, we'll have until Keyyara starts going into labor to find a solution to the problem of transport."

"Who?"

Rian sighed. "That's the name of the woman who's closest to giving birth, but don't worry, you don't have to remember her name."

"I never worry about silly things like that."

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Thankfully, there was nothing that needed her attention, so after breakfast, Rian made preparations for the trip, which involved finding a way to transport salt on the sled without it spilling everywhere should they have some sort of bump. A sack was found, and after being checked scrupulously for tears, was carefully filled with salt, after which it was secured and then put into anothersack, which hadn't passed the scrupulous inspection for tears but was still fairly sturdy. The honey was put in a wooden jar about two thirds the size of the jars they used to carry rations of stew. It that had apparently been shaped a long time ago on the carpenter's lathe, because it was already polished and seasoned, with a well-fitted wooden stopper to seal it shut.

"Why do we have a wooden jar of this quality?" Lori said, glaring accusingly at Rian.

"I've been planning this months, of course I had this prepared in advance. Besides, it looks much nicer than the jars we use to carry rations while, and this is very important, holding far less."

Lori blinked and gave the little wooden jar a second look. Honey had enough water in it that she was able to get a sense of how much was inside the sealed vessel which… wasn't very much. The sides of the vessel were innocuously thick. In addition, there was some amount of air between the honey and the stopper…

"Ah. It looks pretty, but doesn't contain very much," Lori said, nodding in approval.

"The small size will also hopefully encourage her to keep it for herself instead of adding it to their communal food stores," Rian said. "If she actually enjoyed it for herself, she's more likely to think well of us."

Rian's ability to manipulate people was a truly disturbing thing. He explained it so casually and simply, and the way he said it made Lori almost think people could actually be understood, rather than being the illogical, self-destructive idiots that she knew they actually were.

Lori, for her part, did her own preparations, making sure that the bone tubes connected to the sled were intact and double checking the structural integrity of the surfaces. After that, she imbued the binding of airwisps anchored inside the tubes.

She also had to choose her clothes with care. While she'd gotten better at dressing herself for the winter since she went outside of her demesne's borders to make beads in the morning after breakfast, she had no illusions that travelling to River's Fork would be worse. Far, far worse. The last time she went there, it was on the Coldhold. She'd had her own room in the Coldhold, which, among other things, blocked out the wind and was a perfect insulator, so a little binding for warmth as all she needed.

The sled wouldn't have that. She'd be exposed to the wind and the cold, and it would be for at least an hour, possibly two… twice. She'd be freezing, and sitting in a pose that was already uncomfortable for the brief amount of time she needed to get from her Dungeon to the edge of her demesne. She wouldn't be able to wear her hat, since it would be blown off, and the hood of her raincoat would as well, unless it acted as a scoop to gather the cold air around her head to freeze her ears.

And so, measures had to be taken. She wore three shirts, because she needed insulation. She wore two sets trousers, one over the other, and while it felt a bit constricting, she would be able to sit on the sled and it would be warmer than just one set of trousers. She carefully put on her winter robe, and used some cord—that she had to ask Rian to get from the ropemakers—to secure the sleeves shut so they would hold in her body heat better.

There was nothing to be done with her hands, since she had no gloves or knitted mittens. Those had to be wrapped in bindings of airwisps and firewisps to stay warm. The same with her head, especially her face and ears.

The rest of her was kept warm with firewisps anchored to wide, flat, rounded stones that she had to make and then hurriedly smooth so it wouldn't tear people's clothes… most importantly, her own. The warm rocks fit between her layers, though she needed to be careful lest they fall off, since clothes weren't really meant to be used as pockets for rocks shaped like already-used soap. she had to secure them in place with some of her chest binders so they wouldn't slip off, making her glad she'd had time to do her laundry recently.

She didn't know how Riz and Rian secured the rocks she gave them, but given how stupidly happy Rian looked, he found a way.

With all the preparations, it wasn't until well past mid-morning before they were ready to go—or at least, try to go—to River's Fork.

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Lori stared at the sled. She'd expected the big sack with all the salt, which was tied to both the bed and the headboard of the sled, but they bed of the sled also contained what were recognizably folded tent canvas, some spears, a bow with no string and some arrows, rope, snow pads, and another pack. "Rian, what is all this?"

"In case of emergencies," Rian said as he and Riz checked the ropes tying things in place. "Or if we have to stay overnight in River's Fork for some reason, like a sudden storm. You, uh, might want to grab your bedroll and blanket, so we can pack it all in and distribute the load properly."

Lori sighed. "Is this truly necessary?"

"It's for emergencies, which we hope don't happen but need to be ready for in case they do. And I really don't want to have to sleep without a bedroll and blanket."

"I would have thought you'd be sharing with Riz if that were the case?"

Rian twitched as Riz smirked.

"If you think that, do you really want to be using my bedroll?"

It was Lori's turn to twitch. She turned and headed back to her room to get her bedroll and blanket.

Once her bedroll, blanket and staff had been packed along with everything else—and she tried not to think of it being in the same pack as Rian's bedroll—it was time to get on board the sled. This time Lori had to sit directly behind Rian, her arms around his waist as she leaned back against the sack of salt and their bedrolls. "Why do I have to sit here?" she sighed. "Can't I stand in the back?"

"Do you know how to throw the braking anchor properly?" Rian said as they both tried to be comfortable… or at least, secure enough not to fall off. "Are you used to standing on a sled and holding on for dear life for hours on end?" He tested the rope that raised and lowered the flaps of the air jets.

Lori had to concede that.

The sled started to move, people wearing snow pads pushing them to get them moving, they picked up speed, and Lori activated the air jets on either side of the sled. There was a roar of wind and a blast of snow as they started accelerating, the people who'd been pushing them falling behind as Rian turned the sled to follow the river. Once they were properly on course, Lori increased the force of the air jets, and the proceeded to slowly accelerate.

Lori continued to imbue the air jets all the way until they reached the edge of her demesne. In a wave of biting cold, they had moved beyond, into the mostly white, vaguely glittering winter snows, following the path of the river towards River's Fork.

She hated all this already. Argh, why did she keep thinking it was a good idea to leave her demesne? The only consolation was that if they were successful, at least it would be Shanalorre coming to them. Lori didn't know what they'd have to negotiate to get the other Dungeon Binder to agree to leave the safety of her demesne, but it would probably be more than simply some salt and honey.

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Interest

Because of her preparations, riding the sled to River's Fork wasn't as bad a she feared. While she would have liked to be holding on to Riz's waist instead of Rian's—because if she were holding onto Riz, it would mean her hand would be between the militiawoman's front and Rian's back, protected from the wind—the stone with the bindings of firewisps was some help keeping her back and legs warm.

Thankfully, there were no attempts at conversation, despite the bindings of air wisps she used to muffle the sound of the air jets. Rian was concentrating on steering the sled, and Riz should have been keeping an eye out for any beasts around them, in case one decided they were some sort of edible prey.

It was still a long, chillingly cold journey, and for once she actually wished she'd done what Rian had done and wrapped her towel around her face to keep warm. Or had gloves of some sort to where on her hands. Riz had gloves, and while Lori didn't know the insulating value of old, worn leather, they looked like at least kept the wind off.

Was there anyone in her demesne who could make gloves for her? She'd seen people with gloves, but she wasn't exactly a judge at being able to tell how old leather was…

These and other thoughts occupied Lori as they rode on the sled, following the contours of the river. On either side of them, trees flash by, Iridescence growing in the shadows under the branches were the snow didn't gather. The snow beneath the seemed to glitter more than other places. Iridescence fallen on the snow, perhaps, dislodged by the wind? It was all strangely desolate compared to the riverbanks she remembered when she'd passed this way before by boat, the snow a deceptive blanket veiling the deadly colors almost, but not quite, completely.

Lori spent her time during the journey imbuing what bindings in her demesne needed imbuing, including the trapped Coldhold, since she didn't want the binding to dissolve and require having to be rebuilt later. After all, she didn't need to be physically in her demesne to have an awareness of the wisps in it, and since she had time, she did so. When she finished with that, she moved on to making a binding around her demesne and so that she had something to expand with.

Her concentration was occasionally interrupted as Rian turned the sled to avoid obstacles like trees and thick piles of snow, and she had to hold on and maintain her balance so as not to fall off the sled. Fortunately, there was usually have enough space for their small sled to maneuver, thanks to the width of the river combined with the fact that unlike with a boat they didn't have to worry about running the bottom into hidden rocks or shallow water.

Lori was almost done with the binding around her demesne she was making when she noticed the quality of the snow change, becoming pure white instead of subtly glittering, and realized they had finally reached River's Fork. At that point, she set her claiming aside and simply imbued the binding so that it would retain its form until she could attend to it later.

Not long after, she stared at the white, seemingly perfect dome of snow rising above the trees in front of them.

As they go closer, the dome became less perfect. The snow hadn't been distributed evenly, and it seemed more had piled up at the base of one side than the other. There were also holes in the dome's surface that had been hard to see at a distance, since all the snow seemed to blend together.  Up close, the little breaks of the surface were more noticeable. Smoke was rising up from several of them, and Lori wondered for a moment how much of the abandoned homes and smaller trees inside that dome had been cut for firewood.

As the got closer, the flaps on the air jets dropped, redirecting the stream of air upwards, leaving the sled moving only on its own momentum. Rian made a gesture, and few moments later the sled jerked, slowing down as the braking anchor Riz had dropped started to pull them to a stop.

Lori waited impatient for Rian to stand up—they'd established that trying to disembark in any order but front to back was impractical, as much as Lori disliked the fact she always had to get up last—before she was finally able to stand. The air jet continued to roar as Rian hurriedly untied the sack with the salt and their emergency supplies so she could get her staff. Staff finally in hand, she carefully stuck the butt into the lowered flaps of the air jet and, holding her mouth close to the her staff such that her breath was striking the wire running down its length, deactivated the binding of airwisps.

In the relative quiet that followed, Lori was finally able to undo the binding around her head that muffled the air jet's roar.

"Well, they seem like they survived…" Rian finally said. "I wonder how warm it is under there, with the snow to hold everything in?"

Lori gave him a flat look. The cold was not helping her mood. "Rian, stop talking about nonsense and get up so I can stand."

Rian sighed. "Right, right…" he muttered. "Well, since you can finally hear me… thank you for the hot rocks, they're very warm right now."

"Of course they are, that's the whole point of them." Really, did he have to state the obvious?

Rian sighed again for some reason. "So, what approach do you want us to take to try and convince Shana to give us her help? Do you want me to open with abject begging on my on cognizance and absolutely not on your behalf?"

Lori frowned as she sat back down on the now-quiet sled and accepted the snow pads that Riz handed her and began securing them onto her own boots. "No, no, do that on your own time, when it's officially not officially on my behalf," Lori said as she began doing up the ties. Despite her binding, her hands were alternating from just a bit too warm to biting cold with every breeze, making securing the snow pads a bit difficulty. "We shall have to adapt to her reaction, but I expect we will need to offer her more resources than just salt and honey to get her to agree. After all, Binder Shanalorre is unlikely to provide the only resource her demesne currently uniquely has access to for nothing."

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"Of course, I would be perfectly willing to visit your demesne to assist in making sure no one dies in childbirth," Binder Shanalorre said as they sat in her office.

Lori blinked. "What?" she said, not sure if she'd heard correctly. "You will?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"You would be in my demesne. I could kill you easily there."

"You could kill me easily now, Binder Lolilyuri," Binder Shanalorre said as the man standing beside him—her lord, Lori thought, though she was fairly certain this was the first time she'd ever met the man—straightened and gave Lori a narrow-eyed look, "as you could have previously many times. I do not find it any more likely in this case, as it had not happened in any of the previous cases before. Besides, I will admit to curiosity. I had heard often of your demesne's warm baths, which are available for anyone to use. I was hoping to see them myself."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Rian said cheerfully from slightly behind and to one side of Lori. Riz was outside with the sled. "Though you'll unfortunately have to bring your own towel to dry off with. I'm afraid we don't have any to spare. Though we might be able to provide you with a little soap. We can spare that much, I think."

"Of course," Binder Shanalorre nodded in acknowledgment.

Lori was still trying to comprehend the abruptly strange direction this negotiation had taken. All she'd had time to do was to present the situation they found themselves expecting soon. They hadn't even had to present the salt and honey! Speaking of which… "What do you wish in exchange?" she demanded, trying to get the discussion back to more sensible negotiations.

"Well, given how long childbirth is said to sometimes take, I would wish a hot bath and a place to rest should it take several hours," Binder Shanalorre said. "And meals, of course."

"Yes, yes, of course," Lori said dismissively. That was a given. "But what do you want? What will this cost my demesne?"

"Well, since you ask, some more salt would be appreciated," Binder Shanalorre said. "One can never have too much salt when it comes to preserving our food supplies, or so I am told."

"Ah, if that's all, we can pay upfront," Rian said. "How does a large sack sound?"

"Could you perhaps provide a specific weight?"

"One sack, large, full."

"That is very imprecise. How do I know it is as you specify? Perhaps we should measure it with our own sacks, to see if it is properly full."

"Well, we only have the one sack right now, and you'd be able to tell how full it is. Our sled didn't have room to carry much else. Though if you want, I can have our tanners sew up some standardized sacks."

"We can pay one sack now, and another sack of the same size—the same sack, in fact—for you to bring back for every instance of pregnancy in which you agree to intervene," Lori intervened.

Binder Shanalorre tilted her head sideways in an almost parodic gesture of thoughtfulness. She stayed like that for some time. Finally she straightened and turned to her lord. "Well, Lord Yllian? Your thoughts on this negotiation?"

"I think it's unsafe for you to travel, Great Binder, especially in these conditions," he said. "Besides, you're not really needed. Women give birth all the time, and they have more doctors in their demesne than we do. It's an unnecessary risk for, too little gain."

"Hmm…" Binder Shanalorre turned back towards them. "Who is giving birth?"

"Does it matter?" Rian said with a smile. "After all… at least a quarter of those living in our demesne came from here. There's a one in four, perhaps a one in three chance it's someone you know."

Binder Shanalorre's lord frowned, redirecting his annoyed look at Rian.

"I will need an escort," Binder Shanalorre said. "Lord Yllian, for example. Or perhaps my aunt."

"Our sled currently has a capacity of four people at the moment, five if we push it, but that might be unsafe or slow," Rian said. "However, it's always been our intention to build a sled with a greater capacity. That being said, we cannot guarantee it will be ready by the time of the birth. If all we have is the sled we came in just now, you'll have to pack light, and we'll only be able to bring one other person with you, provided they're not too big. However, if you're willing to come as early as the moment that the water breaks—" Wait, what? Lori had thought they were talking about pregnancy? "—we should have the time to bring to of your militia ahead of you so that they're ready to protect you when we come on the second trip. We will of course provide accommodation should this require you stay overnight. Though I must ask that any militia you send not be someone who had previously left our demesne to move here. Given such a history, I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate being back."

"Is that to your satisfaction, Lord Yllian?" Binder Shanalorre said.

"It still leaves you greatly vulnerable, Great Binder," Lord whatever-the-man's-name-was said. "I wouldn't feel confident in being able to protect you with only two other people."

"Really? I do it for my Dungeon Binder all the time," Rian said cheerfully. "If you need help, why don't you ask your friends living in our demesne to assist you? I'm sure they have plenty of time. It's not like there's farming going on or anything."

Binder Shanalorre nodded. "Yes, you do. I believe those will be adequate preparations for such a trip, Lord Rian. While I am sure Lord Yllian would be more comfortable with being able to bring more people to accompany me, I am willing to trust in Binder Lolilyuri that such will not be necessary."

She was? "You are?" Lori said.

"Of course. You have often placed your safety in my trust, even after I failed in adequately seeing to your protection. It is only fair that I return the gesture."

"Fair warning, you might need to sleep in the Dungeon if you need to stay overnight," Rian said. "But honestly, it's much warmer there anyway, so you might actually prefer it."

"I'm sure the accommodations will be more than sufficient," Binder Shanalorre said. "I look forward to your demesne's hospitality."

"Ah, that's wonderful," Rian said. "We look forward to having you visit. With adequate escorts for your protection, of course."

"Of course."

Despite herself, Lori found herself exchanging mildly confused, frustrated looks with Binder Shanalorre's lord whatever-his-name-was. Why was Binder Shanalorre agreeing to this so easily? Shouldn't be asking for more? A sack of salt as a down payment and another sack each time she was called upon was… well, it was actually still a lot, since they didn't exactly have rooms full of salt in her demesne, but they had been able to accumulate a stockpile that… actually, where had they stored their stockpile of salt? It wasn't in the second or third levels…

"Admittedly, some of the later payments might have to be deferred if we run out of salt," Rian said. "At least until the river thaws so we can get back to the ocean."

"Completely understandable," Binder Shanalorre said. "I'm perfectly willing to wait for late payment. For a suitable interest fee, of course."

Ah, there it was. It wasn't the payment, it was the interest. That made more sense. Behind her, lord whatever-his-name-was had regained his composure, and while he seemed not completely satisfied.

Rian turned to Lori. "Will that be acceptable, your Bindership?" he said. "After all, we do still need salt for our own use."

Lori considered that. "One-twentieth interest per red moon," she said.

"Outrageous," lord whatever-his-name-was said. "A tenth on the storm moon."

Lori narrowed her eyes. Oh? Did this northern bumpkin think he could match interests rates with her? A Taniar Demesne woman? Her mother had worked for the Banking Authority, she had literally learned interest rates on her mothers' knees!

The haggling began…

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Expecting

The resulting interest rate that was agreed upon left Lori dissatisfied, but since it also left Binder Shanalorre's lord whatever-his-name-was just as dissatisfied, Rian had cheerfully declared it a perfect compromise. Lori would have pushed, but Binder Shanalorre had finally overridden her lord and declared she was prepared to accept the last one, and since Lori had been the one to propose that rate, she had acquiesced. After all, it was considered poor manners to persist when your rate had already been accepted.

The sack of salt had been presented as a down payment, while the jar of honey had, at Rian's quietly muttered suggestion since she had already agreed, been presented as a gift of a sweet treat for the winter season. Binder Shanalorre had actually smiled widely when it had been presented to her and the jar opened, making her look like the child she was before she had hastily sealed it shut and tried to offer solemn thanks. Tried, because her lips had kept twitching.

It had been early enough that they hadn't been invited to lunch, and so they had returned home after Lori had managed to reactivated the bindings of airwisps in the air jet. The whole time, she was troubled as she contemplated the meeting. Why had Binder Shanalorre agreed so quickly, even before they had managed to present their incentives? While she was the only… Lori supposed that as Dungeon Binder Shanalorre should be referred to as a wizard… that Lori was willing to have in her demesne because the little girl was so inexperienced she would not be a threat, it was still troubling that they had agreed to visit so quickly…

A thought occurred to Lori, and she frowned. Was Shanalorre simply using this as an excuse to finally accept Lori's offer? To abandon her demesne and live in Lori's? If so, Lori would have to make it clear that while the younger Dungeon Binder was welcome, it would come with conditions. She would have to cede control and authority of River's Fork to Lori, as well as revealing the location of the demesne's core…

It would be an unorthodox arrangement, but it would only last until Shanalorre was old enough to be killed. A few years of such an arrangement was no problem…

And until then, they'd have a healing savant to assistthe doctors and medics, and Lori would finally have control over the mine. Of course, the Golden Sweetwood Company might contest that and claim it belonged to them exclusively, but she'd be their Dungeon Binder, so who cared?

Lori shook her head at the thought, and it wasn't just because snow had been building up on her eyelashes. No, no, don't suppose and stop fantasizing! Whenever she looked forward to something like this, it ended up never happening! She'd so looked forward to having all four forms of magic when she made her core and became a Dungeon Binder, fantasizing extensively of flying like a Mentalist or using Horotracting to have as much room as she wanted, and look how things had turned out!

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They arrived in her Dungeon in the middle of lunch. Fortunately, there was still some food left, even after they had to remove all the supplies that had ended up not being used from the sled first. Lori wasn't just going to leave her bedroll outside, and she wasn't going to let someone else handle it. She slept on that thing, and slept really well!

"So," Rian said as he came back with three bowls of soup. Lori took one. "Are we going to try to develop a better means of traversing the snow, or are you content with the sled as it is?"

Lori swallowed the mouthful of soup in her mouth as she waved her hand dismissively. "I see no reason why we should expend more resources on the matter. If the only reason it will be done is to provide Binder Shanalorre with a large militia force, taking two trips will suffice. Extended research into the matter will not benefit us. It's not as if we have cargo we need transported over long distances across the snow."

"We might next year," Rian pointed out as Riz started eating her soup next to him, Mikon pressed against her in the same pose she did to warm Rian.

Lori rolled her eyes. "Then we shall find a means of solving the problem next year," she said.

"Are you sure?" Rian pressed. "If we find a way to propel your boat to proper sled speeds, it would be much more convenient for you when we go to the edge."

"The use of Lori's Boat as a sled was unfeasible, remember. You were the one to propose a lighter sled."

"Yes, because the clock was dripping and we needed a faster mode of transportation as soon as possible. Now that we have that, trying to turn your boat into a properly functional sled isn't as urgent, but would still be useful."

Lori stared at him. "'The clock was dripping'?" she repeated.

Rian shrugged, smiling brightly. "Well, water clocks are what we have around here, not nice ones with springs, gears, weights or flowing sand."

"That's absurdly specific even for you," she said blandly.

"Well, you understood what the words are meant to convey, so there's no problem."

Lori sighed, shaking her head at her Rian's… Rian-ness. Merely calling it an idiosyncrasy seemed lacking. She focused on her soup for a few moments to clear her head. "What possible use would turning Lori's Boat into a sled have?"

"Well, besides transporting Shana, which you don't care about, it might be more convenient for going to the edge for you," Rian said. "We could put a tent on it, and you'd have someplace warm to sit at when doing what you do beyond the edge. So would the rest of us, for that matter."

"Oh Great Binder, yes," Riz sighed.

"'Yes' what, Erzebed?"

There was a moment's confusion. "Oh, I was just swearing, Great Binder!" Riz said. Beside her, Mikon giggled, and even Umu looked amused.

Lori sighed. "What have I told you about swearing like that around me?"

"Sorry, Great Binder."

She let her flat look linger for a moment before turning back to Rian. "While the idea appeals—" just because Rian was the most sensitive to cold in her demesne didn't mean she particularly liked it herself, "—I thought we'd established that using Lori's Boat as a sled was unfeasible?"

"It was unfeasible at the time," Rian said, emphasizing the last three words, "but we'd come up with an idea to mitigate it, remember? At the time though, trying to solve the logistics and mechanics of it would take far longer than simply trying with a lighter sled. Now that we have a lighter sled, we at least have the option of trying to turn your boat into a sled at a more leisurely pace. Come on, think about it. A tent on a sled, with a nice warm… uh, whatever source of heat inside, the walls blocking off the wind as you sit there doing what you do. And if we build it right, you could stay inside there the whole ride to the edge…"

It was, admittedly, a tempting thought…

"Besides, when you mounted the air jets onto your boat, it wasn't at the level of output we're using on the sled now, right?" Rian said. "And it was only the two. If we put on more than two air jets and had them blowing at the strength of the ones propelling the sled, I'm sure your boat would move at a reasonable pace. Admittedly, we'd need to figure out how to steer it and a better method for controlling those flaps you designed, but that should be doable."

Lori considered that. "Then provide me a design for those two things," she said. "If I think them sufficient, you can try converting the boat into a sled."

Rian nodded. "That's fair. What about the air jets?"

"When you have met my conditions," Lori said. The air jets were relatively easy, after all.

He nodded again. "Will you need me after lunch then? I need to get to work on it."

Lori almost said no, he was free, but paused. She shook her head. "Mark out an alcove for Binder Shanalorre's use and have it prepared on the assumption she'll need to use it tomorrow," Lori said. "Unless you're relatively certain no one is about to give birth in the immediate future?"

"Yeah, I should do that first. With our luck, Keyyara will suddenly go into labor before dinner," Rian sighed. "I'll get right on it after lunch, your Bindership. We might have to set up another alcove aside for anyone giving birth as well. The hospital has fireplaces, but it might be a bit too cold for newborns. The dungeon is much warmer, especially at the second level, once the drafts have been blocked off."

Lori frowned, then reluctantly nodded. "Prioritize that, then Binder Shanalorre's accommodations," she amended.

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian nodded. "Should I put her militia in the same alcove, or put them in a separate one?"

"It would defeat the purpose of their presence to keep them apart, wouldn't it?" Lori said blandly.

"Have them sleep on the floor in front of the alcove it is," Rian said cheerfully. "Speaking of her being here, we should probably provide her with a guide. After all, we wouldn't want her to go into the wrong baths and embarrass herself, or something like that. "

Lori narrowed her eyes. "I didn't get a guide," she said pointedly.

"Technically, we had a guide, he just tried to kill Shana before we could ask him to take us anywhere specific," Rian said. "Besides, we know where to go now, and why do you think I always make sure at least one of the people who come with us when you go there used to live there? We've had guides with us, we just haven't really needed their directions yet. If and when Shana comes, it'll be for the first time. And it's not like we have signs up or anything. At least, none that aren't covered up by snow."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, give her a guide. One that knows not to let Binder Shanalorre enter the Um."

"…yeah… that's probably a good idea," Rian said. Of course it was, it was one of hers. "Well, I'll get to all that after lunch."

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Thankfully, no one decided to give birth that day, giving Rian time to make his preparations. Beds were moved from the hospital to the second level, since no one was getting injured badly enough to require sleeping in the hospital. One of the beds was moved to an alcove for Binder Shanalorre, and Lori used some stone to partially close off the alcove so that there'd be some privacy and no one would be able to just stare at her when she slept. The opening was closed off with some tent canvas to act as a curtain.

Two other beds were put in the alcove set aside for giving birth, which was also walled off to give privacy. Lori also added in some firewisps to the lightwisps that illuminated those areas, just to make them a little bit warmer. It was… well, actually about on par with her own accommodations at River's Fork when she had needed to sleep over. Probably warmer as well.

Lori also built another air jet, of the same dimensions as the ones she had built before and mounted to the sled. The binding of airwisps within it was set to the same output as the air jets on the sled as well. The only difference was that a piece of copper ingot was partially fused to the side of one bone panel, on top of which a bowl-like shape had been made.

She took this air jet outside her dungeon one morning and secured it to a large block of ice so that it would remain in place. The binding of air jets was lightly imbued. As it began to roar to life, Lori place one of her beads inside the bowl-shaped container, making sure the wisp bead was in contact with the ingot…

Eight days after their trip to River's Fork, just after the tubers in the third level had been harvested and replanted, someone started giving birth.

Or went into labor. Whatever the term was.