Demesne 313 - The New Girls (Patreon)

Karina felt someone nudge her shoulder gently but insistently.

"Karina, time to wake up. I can see the boat."

She sat up, lifting her head from the tsinelas under her head. The stone of the dock has hard against her back. "…wasn't sleeping," she managed to get out as she stifled a yawn, breathing deeply through her nose as she kept her lips closed, even as her jaw opened as far as it would go. She wiped the sweat off her face with the hem of her dress

"It's fine," Shana said. Her face and pale white hair were wet, as if she'd splashed herself with river water to get the sweat off. "You should sleep while you can, since Binder Lolilyuri might not remember to dim the lights on the second level, meaning people will likely be confused about when to sleep. I'll need help keeping watch over everyone at all hours of the day if that happens."

"I wasn't sleeping," Karina assisted. She'd just been resting her eyes again. She got to her feet, trying to slap dust off her clothes from lying on the ground.

"Here, let me do it," Shana said, Karina held still to let her. The other girl started from Karina's hair, running her fingers back and forth to dislodge dust, and proceeded to work her way down. Karina felt her moving down the back of her dress, holding out the skirt so she could strike it to knock the dust off. "There, that should be enough. Be ready to grab the rope, Ateh Clowee is almost here."

They both turned back to the river. A light was moving through the dark, and they could hear the strange splashing of water of a boat moving against the current. As the sound grew closer, Shana raised up her glowing rock, waving it back and forth. Eventually, the boat floated into place next to the dock, and did something to make the boat suddenly come to a stop.

"Catch!" Ateh Clowee called, tossing a rope towards the two of them. Karina caught the rope, and began to wrap it around the post sticking out of the dock, wrapping it around the two pegs near the top the way she'd seen the ferrywoman do.

In addition to the Ateh Clowee, there were two other children in the boat.

Karina frowned. "I thought you said there were six children left in River's Fork?" she asked Shana.

Shanna sighed, then shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about it from here. Binder Lori will take care of them. Hello Yrria, Tena. Welcome to Lorian Demesne. While you're here, I'll be taking care of you."

"Ateh Shana?" Yrria said. Karina recognized her from when her family used to live in Lorian Demesne. Yrria was about two years younger than her, and was trying to get to her feet on the boat, only to sway and lose her balance as the boat shifted under her.

"Be careful," Karina said. Shana raised up the glowing rock so that they'd have more light. "Stay on your knees, it's easier to move that way. Come over to me, and Shana and I will help you up onto the duck."

Yrria and Tena both nodded nervously. They both looked scared, and kept glancing at the darkness around them.

"Don't worry," Karina assured them with a smile. "The dark is just something Wiz Lori did to protect us from the dragon. Lord Rian says if it can't see us, the dragon can't hurt us as badly. So don't worry, the dark means we're safe."

The two relaxed slightly on at hearing that, but it still took some work getting them out of the boat. Ateh Clowee eventually had to pick them up and pass them to Karina on the dock. She was strong from days spent helping Shana with her farming and her own seeling, so she was able to pull the two younger girls to the docks safely.

Yrria and Tena each had a pack. The packs had seen betters days and wasn’t very full. Each probably contained clothes, but there was also a small pillow and a bedroll each, probably from River’s Fork. The two children held their packs and pillows and bedrolls fearfully, as if they thought someone would take them, and it was lucky they didn’t drop any of them and it fell into the river.

“Do you want me to help you carry some of that?” Karina offered.

Yrria shook her head fiercely. “Inay said we should carry our own things so they don’t get lost,” the younger girls said. Tena nodded in agreement.

“All right, then. Did your Inay say anything about helping you pick it up to carry?”

As Karina helped the two pick up their things and carry them so nothing fell, Shana turned to Ateh Clowee. “Lord Rian said you should beach the boat near the laundry area,” she said. “I think he had someone waiting there, so he should know you’re back. Beach it and they’ll work on getting the boat dismantled and brought into the Dungeon.”

Ateh Clowee nodded. “I thought I saw someone there,” she said. “Will you two be find with the children, Karina?”

Karina nodded. “Yes, Shana and I will be fine.”

“Then I’ll be going then! If anyone falls into the river, yell, all right?”

Shana undid the rope around the post, and Ateh Clowee did something to the handle she was holding. The ice boat began to move backwards, away from the docks, the lights glowing at its front showing the way as it turned and headed a little downriver to the shore in front of the laundry area.

“Are they ready to move?” Shana asked.

Karina looked at the two girls each had a pack strap over thier shoulders, across their body, and were carrying their pillow and bed roll in their arms. Already the two looked they thought it was too heavy, and Tena’s pillow was slipping to the side of her bed roll, threatening to fall. She let out at gasp of alarm as Karina grabbed it, but sighed in relief as it was put back squarely on top of her bedroll.

Shana sighed. “Here, why don’t we held you with that?” she said. She stepped behind Yrria and used her hands to hold up the bedroll slightly, taking its weight from the younger girl without actually lifting it from her hands. “There, is that better?”

Yrria tried to see behind her and failed, but hesitantly nodded.

Shana glanced at Karina, then at Tena, and Karina nodded. Giving the younger girl an encouraging smile, she stepped behind her and did what Shana was doing.

It was awkward walking back to the Dungeon that way, but Karina didn’t mind, and neither did Shana. The important thing was making the two new girls feel safe, and if that meant letting them carry their own things—with some help—then that’s what they did.

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The smell of good food was starting to spread through the Dungeon as they led the two younger children down to the Alcove Shana had claimed. The girls relaxed when they saw the other children, as well as other people they knew. Yrria and Tena had used to live here, before their parents decided they didn't like living under Wiz Lori and had moved to River's Fork instead, walking along the river so they were close to water. Wiz Lori didn't let anyone use her boats to leave the demesne if they weren't coming back, no matter how much Lord Rian asked.

Their families had left last summer, after the first dragon had passed over the demesne, so didn't know about all the changes Wiz Lori had made to her dungeon. Yrria and Tena had stared at how big the dining hall was, with all the tables and benches and latrines close to the door. Karina glanced at a rack just inside the entrance out of habit, but she wasn't carrying a seeling rod today, and they'd continued back on to the third level.

"Everyone, Yrria and Tena are here," Karina announced as they reached Shana's alcove. She kept her voice down to not disturb the other alcoves, but everyone who was awake looked towards them.

"Tah! You're here, you're here!" Yoshka, Shana's younger cousin, called happily, putting down the wooden beast she'd been playing with. She got to her feet, the pale white hair she shared with her cousin an unruly mess as she rushed to Shana. The smaller girl gave her cousin a hug, and something that might have been a small smile finally appeared on Shana's face as she returned the hug before giving Yoshka a pat on the head. "Is it time to eat yet?"

"Not yet, Yoshka," Shana said as Karina directed Yrria and Tena to put their things in the niche at the far side of the alcove, where everyone's things were already being stored. "But it should be ready soon. Go wash your hair so that your clean by the time we have to eat." Shana paused. "Actually, come with me and I'll wash your hair. Karina and I have to show Yrria and Tena where everything is."

The two had glanced at their things for some reason.

"Don't worry," Shana said, looking up from her cousin. "I promise, no one is going to steal your things. You have my word. If anything is stolen, I will get it back and if that's not possible, I will personally replace it."

Karina had heard that people had been stealing in River's Fork, but Shana's promise seemed to be enough to get them to be willing to leave their bags, bedrolls and pillows in the niche along with everyone else's. Shana had sent a look towards Ateh Koyan—Ateh Kayas seemed to have fallen asleep—and the weaver nodded.

Shana took hold of one of Yoshka's hands, and lead the way to the stairs at the back of the level. "Now, it has been some time since you left Lorian demesne," she said as Karina herded Yrria and Tena behind her, making sure the two girls didn't wander off, "so let us show you where everything is now. Every family has their own alcove, where they stay when there's a dragon or some other emergency, like a storm. I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you again once they wake up."

They climbed up the same stairs they gone down, Yoshka laughing as the breeze sent their hair flying back.

"You have already seen the latrines," Shana said, "and the kitchen, which is where we will be getting our food later. The table we'll sit at is there in the middle, we'll show you were it is later." She pointed to one side. "Those are the baths. We can take a bath there later. Right now, men are using it, so we can't go in. If you need to launder any of your clothes before the dragon leaves, we'll do it here."

"You probably don't have any soap," Karina said, "and it doesn't seem like you have your bath buckets with you, so we'll get you some later." Shana nodded at those words, so she'd probably ask the carpenter uncles for the buckets later.

"We will get you the soap before it's time to eat so you can wash your hands," Shana said. "Over there are the cold rooms. No matter how hot it gets, do not go inside there. You'll hurt yourselves, and you might not be able to open the door from the inside. There's also all the new buildings outside, but we can't show those to you at the moment. We need to stay inside because of the dragon. Now, do either of you need to use the latrine?"

Yrria shook her head, but Tena nodded nervously.

"All right, we'll show you the short latrine that will probably be easier for you to use…"