Weekly Digest 113 - (#362 - #364) (Patreon)

Loaded And Ready To Go

With the new cart, we needed to find a route that wasn't so full of people as we headed back to Taeclas' house. Fortunately, the three men accompanying us—Lerri, Aran, and Malbin—knew Covehold's streets well, and had a good sense of what the roadways of the city were like at any particular time of day. With their help, we were able to get back to Taeclas' neighborhood in a reasonable amount of time, though it still seemed to take a little longer than walking would have.

The three men were pleasant enough company , but they tended to get engrossed in their own conversation when they weren’t telling each other of conditions ahead that they needed to push the cart through. Still, they were willing to talk when I asked them about what their jobs were usually like, when was the best time to push a cart through the streets, complaints that the streets were getting more and more crowded again, and their very loud and colorful complaints about those who used living lakimay to pull their wagons instead of dead ones, as was only polite and sensible.

I could understand their point of view. Even the most affectionate, well-behaved lakimay was big enough to knock a man down, and no matter how well-trimmed and sheathed their claws were, a swipe by either foreclaw or hindlimb could be very damaging and liable to break someone’s bones. And just because most had their heads muzzled didn’t mean that there was no threat of injury there, just that it was less likely to be from the teeth and more from the blunt impact of the head on one's poor, defenseless body.

And of course, living lakimay relieved themselves wherever they wanted.

It was always that last which got people annoyed.

We actually walked past several such gifts to the roadway, which wasn't pleasant. Even with Deadspeakers and breeders alter them in different ways since people had started using them as war mounts, wagon pullers and undead, they still had to eat some amount of meat, which made their waste smell particularly vile. And while there were herbivorous beasts, they tended to be big, slow, heavy, and eat significantly more, and relieve themselves an equal amount, which… well, was worse for other road-users.

By the time we got back to Taeclas' house, the pile of wrapped bundles in front of their house was a bit smaller, though the dismantled table was still there, and the pile was now surrounded by several potted plants, being fussed over by the Deadspeaker. She was tying cloths around their pots, presumably to keep the soil from spilling out if the pots fell over. Her wife Rybelle stood next to her, the blue-haired, yellow-eyed woman holding several other cloths and wearing the mildly exasperated expression of someone indulging their spouse about something they didn't think was necessary.

"Hey!" I called as I walked ahead of the cart. "Sorry we took a while, but we have the cart."

Taeclas looked up with a smile. "Oh, there you are! Uh, will we be able to bring some of our vegetables along? They're all newly planted, so they shouldn't take up much room."

I looked at the pots, which numbered about a dozen. About half were small pots easily held in one hand and contained a small, well-maintained leafy shrubs, which were presumably some kind of herds or spices. The others, however…

Bucket-sized pots, full of heavy dirt and holding everything from larger but still well-maintained shrubs, vines and climbing plants supported on trellises, a short and squat sapling-like tree with small flower buds, and what looked like a stump from which grew long pointy leaves so thickly clustered together they looked like solid branches.

"We can probably bring the small ones," I said, "but bigger ones… well, they'd need to be secured on the outside of the ship, and I'm not sure how well they'd survive the trip." The rest of their belongings we’d be able to carry, even the table, though they’d probably need to be placed carefully.

The two women were making mildly nauseous faces. "Does it really need to be a ship…?" Taeclas said.

In hindsight, I should have realized that most of the people who’d come here to the new continent probably remembered only unpleasant experiences with ships. Being enclosed in a mostly dark hold, the nauseating swaying that never ceased, the smell from all the people crammed together, only rarely being allowed up on the deck for fresh and a chance to stretch one's legs, shivering in cold from the bi-weekly washings to get rid of any iridescence growth, the lack of privacy, the occasional incidents of vomiting when someone couldn't get using to the swaying…

Months ago, it had taken me some time to realize the reason for the reticence the men seemed to have when we’d first been learning how to operate the Coldhold. I wasn’t sure if it explained why all the salt boats we’ve been seeing have all been open-topped affairs though. That was probably as much the cost of all the wood that went into it, but most people were probably disincentivized to be on a boat large enough that it had an enclosed lower deck.

I'd already reassured the two women about this before, but I repeated it again to assuage their discomfort. "Don't worry, our ship is completely different. It won't be anything as crowded as the ocean-crossing ships, and you can go up and walk around as much as you want."

"Well, that would be nice…" Taeclas said. "But Rybelle was really sick on the ship…

"Walking around helps with that," I assured them. "I've heard it helps to look at the horizon as you get used to the ship, but since we weren't allowed up often, we couldn't do that on the ocean ships. And unlike the ships, if you're feeling really bad we can slow down and let you walk on land for a bit."

It was that last that had made them agree they were willing to risk the ship again when we I had been recruiting them, and it seemed to work again now. Hopefully they'd come to realize that not all ships were terrible, claustrophobic boxes of suffering.

…

It's only just occurred to me that Lori actually likes being in the small room in the front of the ship, which admittedly still smelled a little ripe since… well, Lori slept there when she had to go to River's Fork and stay overnight. I had to wonder what she'd gone through when she'd traveled on the ship she'd been on.

With everyone's help, we were able to quickly pack up all of Taeclas and Rybelle's things onto the cart, securing the potted plants with some rope that Lerri unwound from the cart's rails. Taeclas and her wife made one last round of goodbyes as some of the older and burlier men crowded me and informed me that the two women were good people, implicitly threatening me with dire consequences if anything happened to them.

I chose to take that in the spirit in which it was intended, which was their friends were concerned about the two women and wished them well. I even managed to be a good sport about how many of the men, some my age with surly expressions when the two women weren't looking, 'volunteered' to accompany us to the ship. It seems like they thought our ship was in the rickets, and were concerned someone would try to go after the contents of the cart.

After some internal debate about whether I should try to dissuade them, I simply shrugged and left the matter alone. Why not let them have some more time with people they knew?

Also, I suspected that some of the men talking to me were part of the local neighborhood gang. Best not to get on their bad side, they might remember my face next time I came by.

It was actually a bit of a mixed blessing, since with so many men to help push the two women were able sit on the cart and rest their feet after the day's hurrying about and trying to get everything packed. Thankfully, Lerri and the others knew how to handle guiding the cart while having such enthusiastic but amateur help, and so they kept everyone in good order as I led the way to Lidzuga's house.

Of course, having so many people with us tended to crowd the street, which slowed us a little as we traveled. We also seemed to pass by a several groups of men who didn't seem to be at work despite it still being early in the afternoon, many with rather surly expressions. Thankfully, no one barred our way, though I half-expected to see a gang waiting in front of us and things degenerating into a street brawl.

"There you are!" Lidzuga called out as we came close. The pile of belongings he had with him was much smaller than Taeclas and Rybelle's, which rested on half of the bench in front of the boarding house. Unlike the two women, the siblings had rather large and well-maintained leather packs, as well as a large leather sack. Judging from the dimpling on the sack's surface, it was beast leather. They had probably been chosen for the ease a Deadspeaker could repair them. Most people would have used canvas, since they could be sewn in the event of tears, and could be darned in negligent washing had allowed the Iridescence to grow enough to wear out the threads. "Did something happen?"

I shook my head. "No, we just had to get a cart to carry everything. Ah, Lidzuga, this is Deadspeaker Taeclas and her wife Rybelle. They've also consented to accept our invitation."

"Tah!" Taeclas greeted enthusiastically.

"Tah," Lidzuga replied, just as cheerfully. "Kuw's inside in the shade. She said it was too hot to wait out here. Let me help you put everything on the cart and then I'll go get her."

It was a good thing I was a trustworthy soul. Putting all your worldly possessions on cart and then stepping away from it to go somewhere out of sigh was a very good way to lose said possessions.

That was probably why Kutago came out running, her gaze sweeping from one end of the street to the other before they fell on me as I leaned on the cart. Relief mixed with the scowl on her face as her brother came up behind her.

"See?" Lidzuga said, the wooden case he had slung over his shoulder and across his chest thumping against his side. "They're still there. You didn't have to hurry."

Kutago gave her sibling a withering look. "Well, you still shouldn't have taken your eyes off everything we own," she said, clearly annoyed.

"What was I supposed to do, shout? Besides, you were napping."

I coughed to get their attention. "Um, it would be best if we can get to where we're going while there's still daylight so we have light while we pack everything up. Perhaps you can have this discussion on the way?"

Kutago gave me another annoyed look, but stomped towards the cart and hauled herself up to sit on the opposite end of the cart from Taeclas and Rybelle, her head turned so she could look over the packs and sack.They'd been put at the front of the pile of , and Taeclas had carefully put them were they wouldn't roll onto the little pots of herbs.

Taeclas immediately engaged the younger woman in conversation, starting from the ever popular 'what's your name' and asking what she did.

As the wary young woman cautiously answered, I started leading the way to the docks again as the cart was pushed into motion, Lerri and his friends following after me. As I walked, Lidzuga fell into step beside me, the wooden case still over his shoulder. "I apologize for my sister," he said softly. "She means well, but—"

I waved him off. "Don't worry, I understand. I have a sister too. Hopefully she'll think better of me once she sees this isn't all an elaborate way of parting you from everything you own and leave you both homeless."

"Well… give her a few days to get used to our new home," he said.

I nodded, and we lapsed in a companionable silence as we walked.

Behind us, Kutago's replies slowly became less monosyllabic and reticent as Taeclas and Rybelle coaxed her with their gentle cheer.

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Settling In The New Recruits

It was almost late afternoon by the time we reached the docks, mostly because the might-be-a-gang with us all kept insisting we were going the wrong way, until I made it clear that, no, we were NOT going to the rickets.

When we reached the docks, Yhoe almost didn't let us through because… well, having what looked like a gang coming to his docks probably had him very concerned given incident with the fiery warehouse and the stolen ship. Fortunately, Taeclas was able to get most of them to wait outside, with only two of them accompanying up to help push the cart—with the women still sitting on it, because why not—the rest of the way. We got curious looks from the new arrivals standing around outside of the warehouse where they were staying as we moved towards the end of the dock where the Coldhold was, I was glad to see, docked.

"That's your boat?" Kutago said incredulously as we stopped in front of it.

"Yes? What, were you expecting one of those little toy boats?" I said, gesturing to where some of the salt boats were already coming in.

"Yes, actually," Lidzuga said. "I mean, the only other kind of boat I've heard of was a story about someone making a boat out of ice and wood and coming to the demesne last winter."

"Ah. Well, may I direct you attention to this little gap in the wood here, and the transparent solid material visible through it?"

Attention was directed towards the little gap of wood, and the transparent solid material visible through it.

"This is the ice boat?" one of them men who'd helped push the cart said incredulously. "I thought it would be more… ice."

"To be honest, I did to when we started building it," I admitted, "but ice chips very easily, so we've put as much wood as we can in front of the ice. More ice had been visible back when we visited last winter, so the Coldhold was more obviously an ice boat back then."

"I have so many questions," Lidzuga said.

"Then we'll have something to talk about on the way back home," I said. "For now, would don't I show you the four of you the hold down below where we'll likely to be sleeping. If you don't think you could endure it and want to back out… well, I really wish you wouldn't but if you did, now would be the best time to find out when we can still take you back home." I waved towards the hatch leading down. "If you'll please follow me, you can look over what we have to work with and we can work out who sleeps where."

Lidzuga practically ran to join me, only slowing down as several people, his sister included, yelled at him to not run. Said sister was right behind him, her pace more sedate but only because she was clearly restraining her pace. For all her objections previously, she seemed as eager as her brother for the chance to inspect the Coldhold.

Fortunately, the controls for the steam jet driver bound tool was covered with a big pile of bedding when I climbed down ahead of the two siblings, the bead that powered it hidden in the front room with the spares and other bags of beads. The wisplights Lori had made nowhere in sight, though I caught sight of their outline under the bedding. Enough light came in through the hatch and gaps between the planks for us to see as I gave the four an abbreviated tour of the lower deck, which was more crowded than usual with all the cargo we already had, and would become more crowded still when Ravia came with the last of our order tomorrow. However, the lower deck had deliberately been made to be spacious, both for holding cargo and carrying people, though this would only be the second time when it would do both.

"And this is where we sleep," I finished, gesturing towards all the beds folded against the walls. "It's… well, honestly, it's sleeping on a wooden board, so you'll need a bedroll to be really comfortable, but beyond that it's not bad. Though if you're like me and tend to move around in your sleep, I'd suggest joining me on the floor. It's a bit dusty, but there's room to spread out." I glanced at the three women, then coughed. "Um, if you're concerned about privacy, I'd offer the use of the front room once we're underway. We're only using it for storage for now. However, it's… well, it's an enclosed room and—"

"No."

"No."

"No, but thank you for the offer!"

I nodded. "Well, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. Perhaps you could sleep along one wall with Lidzuga and I on the floor in front of you or something." I hesitated. "That is, if you're still willing to come with us?"

Glances were exchanged between sibling and sibling, and wife and wife.

"It doesn't smell," Rybelle said eventually, then seemed to realize the words that had come out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

I laughed and waved it off. "Don't worry, you're being too kind. I know it smells like sweaty boatmen." A thought occurred to me. "Ah, before you make a final decision, perhaps I should show you the latrine arrangements."

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After a verylong pause, an examination of the small privacy doors that Lori had insisted on and which we generally didn’t bother with, and the four looking at lines of sight, the four of them declared the latrine arrangements usable and they were still willing to come with us. With that final approval, we started moving everyone's belongings onto the ship.

The sibling's things were easy enough, as we were able to just put them in with our own packs, after informing them of why we couldn’t put anything on top of the darkness-covered containers. The two women's things were a bit harder to put away, especially since they were irregularly shaped, but Rybelle had apparently packed them very well, and we still had sufficient space without having to be really creative with stacking. It was very likely everything would have to be rearranged tomorrow, when we received the rest of the items Ravia would be delivering, but for tonight we should be able to sleep well enough.

Speaking of sleeping, though…

“Well, I don’t mind…” I said as Taeclas and Rybelle declared their intention to sleep at the Coldhold. “But I thought you’d be sleeping in your house one last time tonight?”

“That was when I didn’t realize how nice the boat we’d be sleeping on was,” Taeclas said. She’d taken to the Coldholdfaster than her wife and had been eyeing the higher folding beds in the way of someone who wanted to try them out. “Besides, we’d have to do it anyway, and since you say we’re not leaving until tomorrow, tonight’s a good time to get used to sleeping here when we’re not moving in the water.”

“Ah. I regret suggesting you leave your bedding at your house, then. Do you need someone to go with you to get it?”

Taelcas waved me off. “Oh, don’t worry, the boys will keep me company and help my bring it back here,” she said. “We should be back soon now that I know the way.”

“Ah. Well, we should have something to eat ready for you when you get back,” I said. “And if we don’t because people were too hungry to save you any, we’ll buy you some.”

“Ah! I’ll look forward to it, then!”

As Rybelle watched her wife go back to retrieve their bedding with the gang they were friends with—and possibly other things left behind, because there always were—I went with Multaw and Liggs to buy us all dinner, with Lerri, Aran, and Malbin coming with us to take the cart away. As promised, I bought them dinner from a nearby street stall—a leaf-lined bag full of meat and chlyp skewers, which they assured me was more than sufficient—before sending them off to take the cart back to the merchant house.

We were laden with food when we went back to the docks. One bag went to the dockworkers, who were very grateful for the food, though after that we had to dance around the new arrivals who thought we were handing out food for free. I was inclined to buy something for them as well, but there was a limit to what I could explain away to Lori as reasonable expenses. As much as I wanted to… in the end, these weren’t really my beads I was spending, it was Lorian’s, and ultimately Lori’s. She just trusted me to use it wisely.

I wasn’t going to betray that trust, despite all that I’d used up so far, which were absolutely necessary expenses. Unless we were planning to recruit those people, however, feeding them would fall under Lori's definitions of 'a waste of resources'. That way lies Lori ultimately sinking me into the ground to asphyxiate surrounded by solid rock if she thought I'd overstepped. She probably wouldn't kill me, but it would be highly unpleasant, and she would be less likely to trust me in the future, which would make doing my job as her lord harder.

The food was greeted with enthusiasm, and everyone was soon eating as we enjoyed the slowly waning light of the coming dusk. The salt boats were coming in, and the three newcomers took the opportunity to watch, having never really seen them before.

"They're all very low, aren't they," Lidzuga noted. "Probably very stable when they're mostly empty, but it's probably unstable the more people there are them who are moving around."

"They'd probably turn over if they had three people all on one side," Kutago agreed, making Rybelle look down worriedly. Fortunately, the other woman noticed. "Oh, don't worry. Those floats on either side of us are probably meant to prevent exactly that. Some of the salt boats have them too, see?"

While they were occupied, I took the opportunity to head down to the front room, taking the wisplights and stashing them there. While we'd have to reveal Lori's rudimentary bound tools to them, I'd prefer not to do so while it was still physically possible for word to get out to the rest of the demesne. It was probably too late if the Dungeon Binder paid any sort of attention to us, but… well, you could say that about a lot of things, and I knew Lori couldn't really pay attention to everything in her demesne. Given how much bigger Covehold Demesne was, its Dungeon Binder probably had proportionately more things clamoring for their attention.

This meant that we wouldn't have a little breeze to help circulate the air, but it would only be for one night.

I unfolded one of the beds along the wall, took my rock out of my belt pouch and set it down on the board to give the now-dark confines of the lower deck light before I grabbed my walking stick headed back up. At the mouth of the bay, the light houses were lighting up, as was the dockmaster's office. Light was also starting to shine from the warehouse where the new arrivals were staying, no doubt from the Whisperers among them.

"Multaw, Liggs, would the two of you come with me?" I called to the two. "I'm going to wait at the dockmaster's office for Taeclas, they might not let her back into the docks if they don't recognize her. Wouldn't want her to not be able to get back here and be stuck outside all night, after all."

After all, Taeclas was technically one of mine now. I had to look after her.

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Good Night, Everyone

I was right to worry about Taeclas not being allowed back into the dock. When I arrived, she was in the middle of trying to explain to Plet the night dockmaster that she should be allowed back in. She probably would have if it weren't for her gang friends looming behind her, but as a result Plet and the dockhands were wary.

"Taeclas, there you are!" I called out cheerfully to break the growing tension. "We were wondering what was taking you so long."

"Tah, Rian!" she called out. In her arms was yet another bundle, which was probably the bedding that had been left behind. "We were coming back, but they wouldn't let us through."

"It's all right, Plet," I called, "Taeclas is with me. You can let her through."

The night dockmaster gave me an annoyed look, which I tried to look sufficiently apologetic about. "If she's with you, then she can come through," he said, "but only her."

I nodded, and was glad no one on the gang interrupted with something like 'you think you can keep us out' or anything like that. "Taeclas, do you need any other help from your friends here?" I asked, which was the most polite way I could phrase 'can you ask your gang friends to leave now'.

Thankfully, she shook her head, turning to one of the men nearby with a smile. "Ah, I'll be fine now, Malon. You and the boys can go home now, Rian and his boys can help me with anything else I need."

I kept my back straight and kept my smile from becoming sickly as Malon and the rest of his gang gave me threatening looks. All right, I might have leaned on my cane a little, but that was simply to get some weight off my feet! Behind me, I heard Multaw and Liggs shift, and didn't look back at them. "Don't take it personally, men," I said as quietly as I could while still reasonably sure they could still hear. "They're just concerned for Taeclas."

I think that got them to relax a little as Malon turned to Taeclas and said something to her in a low voice, to which the Deadspeaker smiled and patted him on the arm and said something I hoped was along the lines of 'stop threatening Rian'. I kept myself from visibly breathing a sigh of relief as the man reluctantly nodded and gestured to the men around Taeclas.

They went from being a threatening gang to saying reluctant goodbyes. Taeclas hugged some of them, someone else holding the bundle for her, and I heard phrases like 'take care of your mother' and 'don't stay up to late' and 'don't visit the bellgirls so much, I won't be around to help you if you catch anything'.

Plet and his dockhands relaxed a little as the goodbyes progressed. At one point, I stepped forward to take the bundle off the hands of the one holding it, which got me looks and muttered promises of terrible consequences if anything happened to the Deadspeaker and her wife. I… suppose it spoke well of Taeclas' ability to get along with people that they would hold her in such high regard. Maybe she'd actually be able to make friends with Lori.

…

Well, I wouldn't bet on it, but it could happen.

I stood patiently as Taeclas waved goodbye to the departing gang. No point making her hurry. The bundle wasn't all that heavy once I got a good grip on it, and even though it was getting dark, it wasn't like we'd have any problem seeing where we were going.

"They're such nice fellows," Taeclas said fondly as she finally lowered her arm. Why was she talking like an aged aunt?

"A lot of those 'boys' are older than you are, and you're not that much older than me," I pointed out.

The Deadspeaker chuckled. "Yes, well, when you've had to deal with as many sores on bell-clappers for them as I have, you can't help thinking of them as little boys."

"As someone who's not a Deadspeaker or doctor, I'll take your word for it," I said. "Shall we get going?"

We walked through the docks, the people taking their ease and enjoying the night breeze outside of the warehouse watching us pass. Taeclas waved to them cheerfully, and they raised their hands hesitantly, but thankfully she didn't deviate from our course. Ahead of us, the Coldhold was a dark shape, though light was shining out from the hatch and through the ice visible between the planks.

Taeclas frowned when she saw that, then visibly counted the people who visible on the upper deck. Cyuw and Cottsy were napping, while Yhorj sat where he could watch the occupied warehouse and Hans was talking to Lidzuga, while Kutago and Rybelle listened nearby. "Did someone leave a lamp burning unattended, Rian? That's really dangerous."

Why was a woman not that much older than me trying to mother me? "Don't worry, that's not a fire hazard you're seeing, just a little something our Dungeon Binder gave us for light. Follow me and I'll show you."

Once the bundle of bedding was carefully carried onto the ship—after bringing it this far, it would be tragic if it just fell into the cove water at the last stretch—and then taken down the hatch to join the rest of the bedding, I brought up the rock with the binding of lightwisps anchored to it to show to our new recruits.

Then I had to disabuse them of the notion that one of us was a Whisperer.

"No, no, I didn't do this, our Dungeon Binder did," I explained as the rock was carefully passed around, lest it fall into the water. I did not want to have to dive down—with my eyes open—to get it back out.

"How long has this been imbued?" Lidzuga asked.

"Uh, two or three seasons now? Maybe more, I've forgotten when I got it," I said.

Lidzuga and Taeclas both stared at me incredulously.

"I'm going to presume it hasn't all been one large imbuement and this has been intermittently imbued since then," Lidzuga said.

"You presume correctly," I said. "It's really useful for light on the ship. While we don't sway too much, some sort of flame is still dangerous, so…" I gestured at the rock that Rybelle was currently holding.

"Still…" Taeclass said, "when was the last time this was imbued?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm pretty sure their Bindership imbues it at the same time that they imbue the ice in the hull."

The two wizards blinked and stared at me again.

Another shrug. "Don't ask me. I'm not a wizard, much less a Dungeon Binder. I don't know what secret methods they use to do it, only that it works since after two weeks away from home, the light is still imbued and the ice hasn't started melting yet."

The four of them stared down at the deck, and presumably towards the ice in the hull.

"Please don't change your minds now, I swear we have yet to have an accident caused by our Dungeon Binder forgetting to imbue the ice in the hull," I said.

I immediately realized that was a terrible thing to say, even if it was true.

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After listening to the testimony of the other men on the ship—Cyuw and Cottsy were allowed to keep napping as they were on watch tonight—I breathed a sigh of relief as our new recruits to decided they weren’t in any immediate danger from the ship suddenly sinking, and so weren't going to change their minds about joining our demesne.

"You should have told us," Kutago said accusingly.

"I'm not exactly in the habit of revealing our ice boat construction methodologies to just anyone," I said, "Especially since I'm not a wizard and don't really know what they are. Our Dungeon Binder did everything involved with the ice. And it's not really something I think of as a concern! It's just how our ship is built. Hasn't failed us yet."

"Still… to be able to imbue these from so far away," Lidzuga said, a thoughtful look on his face. "I've never heard of anything like it."

"But didn't Rian just tell us?" Taeclas said innocently. "Or weren't you listening when he explained that his Dungeon Binder could imbue the boat from their demesne?"

"No, I was listening, I meant…" He cut off at the woman's grin. "All right, I set myself up for that one. But still, I'm curious how they're doing this."

I shrugged. "You could ask them?" They will anyway.

The discussion tapered off as I excused myself to buy dinner for Taeclas. Fortunately, the stall was still open, and a bought enough for her, and then a little bit more for anyone else who might like one more bite to eat before going to sleep. I know I certainly wanted to eat a bit more. It was the smells. As good as the bread, stew and fruits we've been eating in Lorian have been… well, getting to eat something else was an experience we were all indulging in.

Perhaps I should try to talk Lori to hold another holiday when we got back home. All these skewers were nice and all, but having huge chunks of roast meat…

No, no, I was going to go to sleep soon, I shouldn't fill myself up!

Taeclas was given first pick of the food so she could have dinner and everyone else got one more skewer at most. Those of our new recruits who weren't eating seemed to be enjoying the breeze that was slowly rising from the ocean, which was cool and constant. I had the large hatch down to the hold opened up to help cool the lower decks since we were all up above.

"Is it always this breezy?" Kutago said, facing the wind with her eyes closed, her hair fluttering behind her.

"Every night so far," I said as I sat back on one of the benches of the cabin, a skewer in my hand.

"Lidz, we lived too far inland," she declared. "Why didn't we live closer to the water?"

"Because we could afford the rent there?"

Kutago let out a frustrated sigh. "Oh, right."

Everyone talked as we waited for our stomachs to settle. While I already knew where Lidzuga and Taeclas had worked from those who had referred me to them, I hadn't known that Rybelle had been working at a greengrocer's, where they had also sold some of the excess vegetables that she and her wife had been growing. Kutago, I learned, had been working at a papermaker's, which was where Lidzuga had bought all the paper he'd brought with him.

"Wait… you brought paper?" I said.

"Well, of course. I need it for notes and sketches."

"I can probably guess the answer, but… did you box it in glass?"

"I don't have that much in my savings. If the gets damaged by Iridescence I'll make do, or Kuw could try to remake the paper."

"Brother, I keep telling you, it's not that simple to remake paper!"

I coughed. "Um, if you could bundle up the paper, we could put it in the darkwisp boxes to try and keep the Iridescence from getting to it. It seemed to work on the skins and furs we brought here from our demesne. Actually, if you have anything that might be too delicate to be washed, we can try to find some room in the darkwisp boxes for you…"

Getting ready to sleep was delayed as Lidzuga's supply of paper and some books that Kutago and Rybelle had in their packs were extracted and moved into the darkwisps boxes. I only saw Lidzuga's books as he drew them out. One was a book on beast anatomy, which seemed to contain several sketches, while two were notebooks that Lidzuga seemed to be keeping. The other books, I didn't get to see as Rybelle and Kutago both took pains to keep them wrapped up, but that in itself was a good indicator of what kind of books they were.

We prepared to go to sleep soon after, laying out our bedrolls for what would hopefully be our last night sleeping in Covehold Demesne. After a brief discussion, the women were given first pick of the folding beds, and they claimed the ones along one wall. Lidzuga unrolled his bedroll on the floor in front of them, basically sleeping right next to his sister, who was sleeping on the lowest folding bed. Once they were set, the rest of use started setting up our own bedrolls. I unrolled my bedroll in front of the door to the front room out of habit, which put me next to Lidzuga as the other men flipped down the remaining beds. A couple unrolled their bedroll where they felt they could feel a breeze coming down from the open hatch now that the large hatch had been lowered and locked back into place.

"Good night, everyone," I said as I flipped over the rock Lori gave me to lessen the light it emanated.

There were mutters and murmurs of acknowledgement as I closed my eyes to go to sleep.

It was an uneventful night's sleep.