Weekly Digest 114 - (#365 - #367) (Patreon)

Settling Accounts

I woke up to someone falling on top of me. The feeling of a face slamming into my chest was immediately identifiable, even with my clothes in the way. A nose against your sternum was a distinctive feeling, though I had less experienced with confused mumbling.

"Kuw, stop kicking me," Lidzuga said sleepily in the annoyed but resigned tones of someone who's had this happen to him before.

Then Lidzuga, Kutago and I had let out pained cries as Taeclas had rolled out of her bunk and fallen on top of all three of us. Poor Lidzuga had barely escaped a knee to the clapper and clapper weights.

It was a novel way of waking up. I hope not to repeat it ever again. Or if I had to, hopefully not any time soon.

The commotion and exchange of embarrassed apologies was enough to wake up everyone else, and we had an early start to our day as Taeclas and Lidzuga did first their official bit of Deadspeaking and checked for serious injury, and then dealt with the aches and pains involved. They were… well, it was clear how much slower they worked compared to Shana. Oh, I’d been checked over and treated for injuries by Deadspeaker’s before—a lumberyard could be a dangerous place—but I’d gotten used to how quickly Shana did it. Just a touch, a strange squirming sensation around the injury or ailment, and then a few heartbeats later she was done.

“Where does it hurt?” Lidzuga asked as he fell into the same breathing rhythm Lori used to before she’d become a Dungeon Binder, and still sometimes did when she needed to calm herself. As far as I understood, it was how they drew in magic from the air, building up a reserve of it that they used to imbue their magic.

“Just here, mostly,” I said, gesturing at the center of my chest where Kutago had fallen face-first. The sudden impact still stung, especially where her nose had hit. There was also a pain in my thigh from where Taeclas had landed when she’d fallen, but as magic required direct skin contact… no. Off to the side, Taeclas was healing herself before she started on Kutago, which from the outside simply looked like she was sitting down and taking deep breaths. It made sense, I suppose. Just like Lori had special control over her internal wisps, Taeclas probably had special control of the life inside her body. There was no need to touch the injured areas, because she was already aware of what those areas were.

“All right, let’s begin,” Lidzuga said. “I’m going to touch you now. Tell me when my hand is on the afflicted area.”

I nodded as he reached for my chest, pressing his palm against the sore flesh. Another difference from Shanalore. She didn’t need direct contact with the afflicted area, even outside of her demesne. Sometimes she did it, but it seemed to be more for assessing the affected area than because she needed to use her meaning on it directly. Or perhaps Lidzuga's method was simply the most efficient? After all, they didn’t have the infinite supply of magic Shana had because of her core. There was time for me to contemplate these thoughts and more as Lidzuga did whatever Deadspeaking he was doing to my chest.

We all washed our faces with some of the distilled water to get the feeling of sweat and oil off it. Since we were leaving today, there was no point in heading out to bathe only to come back. We'd have a proper wash once we were underway.

After washing my face, I went out to buy breakfast for the last time, Hans and Yhorj accompanying me to help carry the food. There were no street vendors of skewered meat yet, but some walking led us to a bakery. Picking out some fresh bread—the thick, leavened kind—and meat buns, the three of us hefted the paper bags they’d been stuffed in, keeping the paper pinched shut in a silly and futile attempt to keep the warmth and freshness in. And also the smell, which was less futile and only slightly less silly, because if I had to keep smelling the bread all the way back to the docks, it would not reach its destination intact.

…

No, no eating before everyone else. That was the behavior of a bad leader!

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Once we'd eaten, I went back to the dockmaster's office, where I settled our account with some of the last of our beads. The parting was amiable, with Yhoe telling me how glad he was that the crew wasn't rowdy or caused trouble.

Either the people keeping watch at night weren't properly paying attention or they hadn't bothered to tell me something.

The other dockhands in the office—technically not taking their ease, but rather being a presence in case another gang tried to force themselves into the dock again—also said their farewells regretfully, though they would probably be missing the added food they were getting at night than our presence, but that was fine.

Then it was time to wait for Ravia to arrive.

"So we'll be leaving as soon as this merchant arrives and everything has been loaded onto the boat?" Taeclas said as we all sat around in the upper deck an tried to find a place where the morning sun didn't shine directly on us.

"Ship," I corrected. "And yes. He isn't bringing much, so we hopefully we'll be able to leave much earlier. Late morning, if we're lucky."

"Oh…"

If the tone wasn't obvious, the way she slumped slightly was a definite indicator. "Why? Was there an errand you wanted to do before we left?"

"Ah, I was hoping to say goodbye to everyone again, and apologize for not being able to find another Deadspeaker to take my place," Taeclas said.

"Take your place?"

"Yes," Rybelle said as she put an arm around her wife's shoulders. "Taeclas took care of some people in our neighborhood who occasionally needed some Deadspeaking to help them with some aches and pains. Master Dormed, for instance, sweet sickness, so Taeclas helps him deal with the sweetness in his blood."

"They said it was all right if we leave, but I wish I was able to find someone to help take care of them," Taeclas said. "Konfa said she'd stop by, but she has her own job…"

"I wish you'd told me sooner," I said. "We went to speak to a lot of different Deadspeakers in the last few days. Even if they weren't willing to move to a different demesne, they might have been willing to move to your neighborhood just to have their own room, especially the ones who live with their family."

"Why doesn't Taeclas go to the warehouse and ask if there are any Deadspeakers who want to live in her old neightborhood?"

I blinked, then turned towards Yhorj, who'd been sitting nearby. "What did you say?" I said.

Yhorj pointed at the warehouse. "Well, the ship came with new people, didn't it? Maybe they have Deadspeakers there who might be able to live in Wiz Taeclas' old neightborhood?"

…

Well, this was embarrassing. While I had dismissed the thought of recruiting any of those people for Lorian, Yhorj was right.

I turned towards Taeclas. "What he said? It's worth checking."

"That's a great idea!" Taeclas exclaimed with a wide smile, getting to her feet. "I'll go ask them!"

The only reason she didn't run excitedly was because she was still getting used to the way the boat shifted underfoot, as well as all the people taking their ease between her and the ramp.

"Multaw, Liggs, go with her," I said. "It's not I don't trust those probably very nice people, but… well, accidents happen."

"Right, L—Rian," Multaw said.

"We'll make sure no one steal her belt pouch," Liggs said.

Lidzuga stood up. "I'll go with them too. Any Deadspeakers or carpenters there would probably appreciate knowing where they could try applying for a job."

Kutago sighed and rose to follow her brother. "Maybe there will be a papermaker there," she muttered as if trying to justify herself. "Master Manira will probably appreciate not having to look…"

The five of them headed for the warehouse, Taeclas in the lead.

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They still weren't back by the time Ravia arrived with the cart containing the last of the goods I'd asked him to acquire. Most were plant seedlings in long trough-like wooden planter boxes. The seedlings had needed to be matured enough to be able to survive passing through Iridescence, which was why they had taken so long. There was also the two barrels, a big one and a smaller one, of sweet-tasting booze made from honey, which I'd heard about and put in a last order with Ravia. I was sure that Lorian and River's Fork would appreciate us bringing the drink back with us, even if the barrels would probably be emptied the same day it was opened. The day after at the latest.

I listened to Ravia giving me instructions about how to care for the seedlings while we were traveling. They shouldn't be washed normally, and instead any Iridescence should be wiped off with a soaking wet rag. Normally, having the seedlings out in the Iridescence for a day wouldn't matter. However, they also had experience with taking care of the plants when they were out in the colors long enough to gain a coating of crystals.

"Don’t wash them by just splashing them with after," Ravia said. "Use this instead."

He handed me what looked like a perfectly ordinary wooden ladle that seemed a bit on the small side. At a second glance, however, the bottom of the ladle was covered with small holes. "Ah. We should let water spray down on them from this?"

Ravia nodded. "It will be gentler for the seedlings. The planter troughs have holes in the bottom to let water drain, so you can rinse the seedling with this. Just quickly pass the spray over the seedling twice and don't linger. This will also help water the seedlings. Do't do it too much, or else the seedlings will become waterlogged and might die or develop root rot."

"Don't lose the ladle, understood," I said. Inside, I was sighing in relief. I hadn't thought of what sort of care Taeclas' plants would need, much less our own. If Ravia hadn't told me this, the seedlings we'd brought might have died on the way home, and it would have been wasted effort and money.

Huh, this meant we might have to make special arrangements when washing Taeclas' plants. At least we had several cloths that soaked up water well. We used it to gather up the water when we washed the inside of the ship so we could toss it over the side. Not all the water had to pass through the evaporator, after all.

…

And I just realized we hadn't bothered to cover up the evaporator bound tool. Well, if Ravia asks, I can just say it was directly powered by Lori.

"And that's everything, Rian," Ravia said as the last of the cargo was moved down to the lower deck. One more sheet of paper to be added to the folder was in his hands. I read it over, especially the sums, noting the advances of beads I'd asked for, and comparing it to the papers in the folder. My thumb kept all the sheets weighed down, as I did not want them being caught by the wind. The sums involved added up, and I nodded in satisfaction as I accepted the final copy of the contract. I was handed a reed—I supposed Ravia didn't carry pens on deliveries—and dipped it into the little bottle of ink Ravia held before signing off on two copies of he contract, indicating the sale had been completed to both party's satisfaction. Granted, according to the contract Emborin and Sons still owed Lorian Demesne—and Lori specifically—tens of thousands of bead-tani worth of beads, but there was a way around that. "And here is the preliminary contract you asked for."

I read over this contract too. It was similar to the order I'd placed before—more mesh screens, more cloth, other things—except we would pick it up next time we came back to Covehold. This way we could lessen the time we had to wait in Covehold by a couple of days, meaning we coud go back home sooner. None of the items were perishable, so the trading house shouldn't have any difficulty keeping them in storage for us. "Everything looks to be in order," I told Ravia once I as satisfied with the list, including the price that had been quoted. "We'll probably have another list when we get back, but at least we'll have these things ready to pick up then."

"Our business is almost concluded then," Ravia said. "We only need to balance accounts. If you'll please follow me, Rian?"

I blinked, but trailed after him towards the cart he'd brought all the goods on. Balance accounts? Did he mean…?

There was a box under a tarp on the cart. I couldn't help but stare. It was a nice box, almost a small chest really. The wood had been planed smooth and the corners rounded in a way that I recognized denoted skillful woodworking talent. The surface looked smooth as glass, and there were tasteful wooden handles on either side. Despite the skill that the box had been made with, instead of a lock the chest had been secured with a heavily knotted rope. The knotting was so secure, in fact, that Ravia removed the rope with a knife.

Glancing around even though there was no one near us, Ravia turned the chest towards me and opened the lid.

Inside, nestled on a recessed wooden tray made of lightweight wood, were rows on rows of large beads. There were cloudy-white wispbeads, inky-black thinkbeads, fallbeads that were clearer than glass and seemed to glitter with stars, and cloudy gray walkbeads. The beads had all rolled slightly, probably from being shaken by the cart as it had trundled through the roads, but enough denomination markings were pointed up I could identify them.

The tray was full of double-large beads, and though each bead was no doubt from a different demesne, according to the markings there were each worth two thousand bead-tani, the most common highest denomination of bead. As I stared, Raia picked up the tray and revealed another one underneath, and then a third. A fourth tray at the bottom didn't contain double-large beads, but rather small bead…

"What…?" I managed to get out.

"As agreed upon," Ravia said, "half of the full amount that Emborin and Sons owes for our purchase of you product. Would you like to count?"

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Towards Home

I did, in fact, count.

After a quick inspection to ensure that all the double-large beads were all marked with the same denomination, I counted numbers of columns and rows. It all added up to half of the amount owed us for the wispbeads, just under fifty-thousand bead-tani. We'd gone above what would have been our profits if we'd only had salt, skins and furs to trade, but that was only because I knew we could, otherwise I wouldn't have bought so much wire, more mesh screens, bound tools—even with no beads to fuel them, they were still relatively expensive—and cloth.

Really, the bolts of cloth in the amounts I'd brought had been bought with the intent of averting a clothing crisis. Trousers were wear out, and the children were outgrowing their clothes. It was only a matter of time before someone found their clothes too tight for them to wear and I wanted to get ahead of it. The same for the materials to repair and make shoes. All out footwear were getting a bit worn, and while we could make do with trying to make footwear from reeds, that was only good for the warmer months.

"Thank you," I said once I confirmed the amount of beads. "This… it's not going to cause problems, is it? Having some many high-denomination beads?"

"I'm touched by your concern, but you need not worry," Ravia said. "There is sufficient supply, as such high-denomination beads were never used for bound tools. Each merchant house has the right to ask the Central Bead Storage for high denomination bead when making large-value transactions."

I considered that, looking at the orderly rows of beads that had been restacked in the storage box. "Well, we shouldn't have to repeat this next time," I said. "We'll be bringing a smaller amount of beads."

"That will help," Ravia said. "Still, I'm sure that matters will settle in time."

"Provided I don't do anything silly like lose this chest in the ocean," I said dryly.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything, but since you did…"

The two of us exchanged a look of amused understanding.

"The chest looks very beautiful," I said. "Very solid and well-made."

"Thank you. Consider it a gift from us to your demesne," Ravia said.

"A useful gift. I'll have to remember to bring something nice for you when we come back." At least it wasn't something too hard to match. The chest itself was simple, it was the skill that it was made with that distinguished it as being a quality product. While it seemed too well made to have been made in the last few days, I couldn't rule it out, though it was likely that there was a good chance Emborin and Sons had a pile of these in some store room that they had touched up before giving them out. "By the way, did you manage to find a bound tool that blew out cold air?"

"Unfortunately, one wasn't part of the bound tools we were able to acquire," Ravia said.

"Ah. You know, now that you have beads, it shouldn't be too hard to have… what was his name? Endlew? It shouldn't be too hard for Whisperer Endlew to make a winding of airwisps to cool the inside of the merchant house and imbue it with the beads. Properly positioned you could keep the entire interior cool. The wispbeads used to imbue the bindings would be a sensible business expense, especially if you use it to attract more people to your business because it's more comfortable to wait there."

Ravia tilted his head thoughtfully, then smiled. "Hmm… intriguing. I'll suggest it."

The merchant redid the knot with another length of rope before handing me the chest, which I had Cyuw and Cottsy very carefully carry down to the lower deck. I'd move it into the front room later. "Well, it's been pleasure doing business with you again, Master Ravia," I said cheerfully as I reached into my beltpouch and drew out a mican, which I handed to him. "See you again in a few weeks."

"The pleasure was all mine," Ravia said, accepting the fruit and looking at it with a smile before he slipped it into his own belt pouch. "I look forward to our next meeting… Binder Rian." The last was said in a low voice.

It took me a moment to realize what he'd said. "Well… this is awkward," I said.

Ravia's smile became reassuring. "You need not worry, Rian. I can assure you of our discretion on this matter."

"Please stop, you're making it even more awkward," I said, struggling not to laugh. "Ravia… I'm not secretly our demesne's Dungeon Binder. I'm just a lord."

The merchant stared at me. "Ah…" he said. "Well, this isawkward." He tilted his head. "A lord?"

"Believe me, if I were our Dungeon Binder, I wouldn't be needing to ask for authorization to take up that proposal to have a boat built," I said. "The only delay would be getting a good design down on paper."

"How very strange. The demesnes outside of Covehold don't normally bother with lords and ladies, save for the older ones."

"We have our reasons," I said. "Such as having someone to send out to a trading trip like this so our Dungeon Binder can stay home in case of a sudden dragon or any other emergency."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose a lord would need to be sent if they were negotiating directly on the Dungeon Binder's behalf."

"Well, there you have it. I would appreciate you not spreading the fact around, though you'll probably be telling your family."

"Of course. Have no fear, however, the knowledge will not spread beyond them. Though Royt will be very disappointed. He was the one who put forth the theory."

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With our business with Ravia concluded and the chest stashed in the front room, I went to collect Taeclas, Lidzuga and Kutago from the warehouse. We faced some difficulty, as they was a thick crowd of people around them.

"Taeclas, Lidzuga, Kutago, finish up, we're leaving soon!" I called out. They glanced towards me, and I pointed at the ship. Kutago nodded in acknowledgement, but the other two went back to their conversation, speaking more hurriedly.

Shrugging, I headed out, Cyuw and Kotse following after me. Hopefully Yhoj and Hans could take care of things in the boat.

One last visit to the bakery, using some of the smaller beads from the chest that I'd taken before Ravia had tied it shut again, and we were walking back with more meat buns and bread. Hopefully the bread will still be edible at dinner time, and if not we can add it to whatever meat we cook. The meat buns will be for lunch.

We passed the warehouse again to find Ravia there, also talking to several of the new arrivals. From the sound of it, several men were getting ready to set out, looking hopeful. Mutlaw and Liggs, spotting us passing by, informed the three with them, and Kutago interrupted the conversation her brother was having. While I couldn't hear what it was, it was probably along the lines of 'come on brother, we're going'. I also saw Taeclas start making her excuses.

Once the meat buns had been set aside for lunch—it was only just coming on late-morning—and our three new recruits finally returned—Taeclas was the last to arrive, looking satisfied with herself—we began unmooring the Coldhold from the dock.

Despite myself, I turned to our four new recruits. "Last chance to change your mind," I said, ignoring the little Lori-sounding voices in my head telling me to not give them the chance. "We can still let you off. If you change your mind later… well, we won't be bring you back until the next time we go to Covehold to trade."

"No, I'm going through with this," Lidzuga said excitedly. "This is what I came to the new continent for, not working some carpentry workshop. I came here to have an adventure and learn. All the beasts and bugs and fursh that haven't been properly studied and catalogued!"

"And I came to make sure he didn't get himself killed having his little adventure," Kutago said. "Where he goes, I go."

I turned to Taeclas and Rybelle, who both shook their heads.

"We're already here," Taeclas said. "Besides, I found some nice people who seemed interested in our old room, and a few others who might be able to find a job there. So… even if we stayed, we won't have anywhere to live and people who work faster than me working at the places that usually hire me. So… uh… " She trailed off, looking embarrassed.

I nodded. "All right, then. Why don't the four of you sit over there?" I gestured towards the cabin's benches. "Later we'll teach you how you can help us around the ship, but right now…"

"Stay out of the way?" Kutago said dryly.

I shrugged. "Hey, you're getting better seats than you'd have gotten in there." I jerked my thumb at the ship further down the dock. "If you have any questions, we can talk once we're underway and have less to focus on, all right?"

They went off to seat themselves, and I gestured to Cottsy before I went down below. The front room was still latched shut, so I opened it and turned, kneeling down and reaching behind some bags of beads to get the large bead that we'd been using to imbue the steam jet driver. Throwing back the bedding covering it, I placed the bead into the bound tool's receptacle. Then I took hold of the control lever and moved it into 'reverse'.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the tell-tale vibration of water turning into steam and driven through the long tube that passed through the ship. Good, the bound tool was still working. It had been my greatest fear during this trip that one day we'd try to use the drier bound tool only to find it no longer worked. Fortunately, today wasn't that day. If Covehold Demesne's Dungeon Binder had noticed the bound tools, they hadn't interfered in a way that was obvious.

After I went up, Cottsy went down to take his usual place operating the bound tool and I headed to sit with our new recruits. "Now," I said, partly to distract them, "we'll be heading out. To keep from distracting anyone, please don't speak too loudly while we're maneuvering." On either side, Multaw and Liggs were taking out the oars and using them to help guide the ship away from the dock next to us. Yhorj had taken his position at the rudderand I could feel the vibration of the driver bound tool activating. "Once we reach cleaner water, we'll stop and give everyone time to have a quick bath."

I coughed, and deliberately lingered on the embarrassing subject as an added distraction. "Now, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but… well, there's not really a lot of privacy to be found here, so we'd best figure out what bathing arrangements we need to make…"

"Ah… how do you bath here?" Taeclas asked. She didn't seem discomfited by the subject.

I gestured towards the outriggers and the walkway between them and the ship. "Well, to keep water from getting down into the ship and getting things wet, we usually bathe over there. Just use the buckets and dippers we have, scoop up water and wash ourselves, use soap if we're feeling particularly filthy, and then wash again…"

What followed was an embarrassing discussion—at least it was for me—that I stoically bore as part of my duty as a lord to see to it the people I'm supposed to take care of are… well, taken care of. It was decided that a sheet would be hung and the men would both on the outrigger on one side, and the women on the other. The discussion of how the sheet would be hung went on for long enough that Yhorj was able to back out of the docks and get the ship turned around to point at the opening out of the bay.

It was Kutago who brought it up first. "Aren't we moving too fast?" she said, looking around and no doubt noticing the wake we were leaving behind us.

"Please stay seated," I said, looking ahead of us. "The water's about to get a little rough. But yes, we are. Cottsy's taking care of that."

"Oh, he's a Whisperer?" Lidzuga said. "I've heard some of the salt boats use Whisperers to propel them and help with collecting the salt."

"No," I said. "He's just operating the driver bound tool that moves the ship."

There was a pause, and the four of them turned to stare at me as we passed through the mouth of the cove and started turning towards.

"There's a bound tool on this boat?" Lidzuga asked.

"Ship," I corrected, pointing towards the salt boats. "Those are boats. Anything that's big enough to carry one is called a ship."

"Oh, is that what that means?"

I nodded.

Kutago frowned as she looked towards the lighthouse we were passing. "Wait, where are we going? I thought you said the demesne we're going to is upriver?"

"Oh, yes," I said. "Just not that river. The river we're on is a little ways along the coast."

"Huh. I didn't know there was another river nearby," Lidzuga said.

"Ah. Perhaps I should clarify a few things…" I said as we headed towards home.

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Your Absence Was Missed

As fast as Lori's Ice Boat could move, between moving with the current and steam jet driver mounted on it, it still took some time to get down to River's Fork. Time Lori had to spend hot and sweating even with the binding she'd anchored to her hat to keep her head cool. This time she had also tried anchoring airwisps to the exposed ice of Lori's Ice Boat, using them to make a binding that blew air in her general direction. It wasn't perfect—the breeze generated tended to carry droplets of water towards her when water splashed against the side of the boat—but it was certainly cooler than her previous trips so far.

She dreaded having to get off the boat when they reached their destination.

"Anything?" Lori said.

"No new injuries as of yet," Shanalorre replied from beside her, one hand keeping the reed hat on her head from flying off. "There is currently a degree of intermingling. If these arrivals have hostile intent, they haven't shown it yet."

That was a good indicator that this was Rian, but there was still the possibility that this was a group from the Golden Sweetwood Company, come to try and claim River's Fork for themselves, or set up another demesne on the river. Another demesne on the river could impose tolls on their ships passing through, which would be an unacceptable imposition.

Feeling her hands clenching into fists, Lori forced them to relax, took a deep breath, and began breathing evenly to calm herself. No, no, she shouldn't aggravate herself over a possibility. It was much more likely this was simply Rian come back home. It was within the time they had scheduled, after all.

Across the boat from her, Riz looked eager, something the escort of militia she'd chosen seemed to be teasing her about. At least they weren't being loud about it. The rest of the space on the boat contained the current shipment of food for River's Fork, frozen meat packed in ice to keep them cold. The demesne still had its own stores of grain, which had recently been checked and had been confirmed that no one had stolen from it again.

Though if this was Rian, they'd have to recalculate the food deliveries to account for the new Deadspeaker. Well, she'd have Yllian recalculate how much more food they needed. Lori had the amounts needed per person written down somewhere on one of the notes in her room, but she had other people to handle those matters. Now that Rian was back, he could take care of it.

They passed by an enormous beast drinking on the river bank, the Iridescence washed off around its mouth as it's tough lapped at the river water. The triple-row of knife-like spines running along its back glittered in prismatic colors as sunlight shone off them. Lori glanced at it disinterestedly, and was about to turn away when she blinked and her gaze snapped back to it. "Stop the boat!"

Everyone stared at her, but to her credit, whatshername immediately moved the lever on the driver bound tool, deactivating the binding propelling them. Still, the boat continued to move, carried along by the river and their own momentum.

"Turn us around! Turns us around!" Lori hissed, pointing back towards the beast she'd seen as she got up on her knees to see above the heads of her escort seated on the other side of the boat. It was undoubtedly the typhon beast that had ruined their hunting. If she could get a shot at it… "No!"

The typhon beast was turning away, somehow managing to not rub against the trees on either side of it as it stalked back into the woods. Lori was surprised she couldn't hear its thundering footsteps. In the plays she'd watched, beasts were always accompanied by resounding, drum-like footsteps… provided by the actual drums of the musicians… Oh.

Lori could only watch impotently as it walked further and further away from the river, vanishing from her sight entirely. Sighing in frustration, she dropped her posterior back down onto the floor of the boat, which made the boat rock alarmingly. "It's gone. Get us back on our way," she ordered.

For the rest of the trip downriver, she reviewed how to properly throw lightning and resolved to have a binding of lightningwisps ready on the way back home. Just in case…

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The familiar sight of the Coldhold at the dock in River's Fork finally allowed Lori to relax, the tense knot in her chest loosening. That meant Rian was back, right?

Riz was up on her knees as if trying to see over the crowd of people who seemed to be unloading on of the salt barrels from the large boat. “Where is he?” she muttered.

“Get down, will you?” whatever-her-name-was the ferrywoman said as she guided Lori’s Ice Boatcloser to the dock. “You’re going to fall into the river if you keep doing that. We’re almost there, keep your bell in—” For some reason the ferrywoman glanced at Shanalorre and stuttered. “—I mean, just sit down already!”

With a sigh, Riz sat back down as the rest of the escort smirked at her.

Lori sweated impatiently as Lori’s Ice Boat moved alongside the dock and was secured. By the time she managed to get off, Yllian was there, the new reed hat he’d taken to wearing recently being used to fan his face. “Great Binder,” he greeted. He nodded to Shanalorre next to Lori. “Lady Binder.”

Shanalorre nodded back.

“Yllian,” Lori acknowledged. “Anything I should know about?”

He shook his head. “Nothing immediate, although there have been a few things. Since Lord Rian is here—”

“Tell him instead,” Lori confirmed. “Where is he?” Now that she was closer—and standing—she couldn’t see anyone with Rian’s distinctive coloring.

“Oh, he’s over… huh. He’s gone. He was right there, Great Binder,” Yllian said. “I’ll go look for him.”

“Don’t bother, I’ll call him,” Lori said. She took a deep breath and channeled magic through her lungs, and up through her wind pipe. Her mouth closed, she claimed the airwisps inside it, forming them into a binding. Lori opened her mouth, barely noticing Shanalorre putting her hands over her ears. “Rian! Come here!”

The binding of airwisps amplified the sound of her voice as the sound passed through it, making her voice resound. Next to them, Yllian flinched. It wasn’t that loud. She hadn’t even bothered to put a binding of airwisps over her ears. Still, it made the crowd of people look towards her, then those carrying the salt barrel hurriedly turn back to paying attention to it.

There was a brief, pause, and then Rian’s head popped up from the hatch on the Coldhold’sfloor. “Ah, I’d know those musical tones anywhere!” he called out cheerfully as he scrambled up the ladder. “Hello, your Bindership! You roared?” He turned his head. “Hey, Riz!” He waved.

“Your absence—” Lori paused, then deactivated the binding of airwisps. She hummed to make sure, then nodded. “Your absence was missed, yes.”

“What? I can’t hear you! Wait a moment, I’ll come to you!”

For some reason, Yllian started coughing, his head turned to one side and a hand covering his mouth. Lori still took two steps away, nudging Shanalorre towards him. If he’d cough something, she wanted it washed before it started to crystalize. Shanalorre dutifully raised a hand and reached Yllian’s bare elbow. “Lord Yllian, I’m to check you for any sickness. Again,” she said. “Once more, the Great Binder finds your unexplained coughing concerning.”

“O-of course, Lady Binder,” Yllian complied, and Shanalorre’s hand touched his bare elbow. A moment later, she lowered her hand.

“No illnesses,” Shanalorre reported as Rian finally reached them, for some reason hand-in-hand with Riz. “Lord Yllian seems to have just had some saliva go down the wrong tube.”

“Be more careful,” Lori chided. “It would be inconvenient for me if anything happened to you.”

“Isn’t it wonderful to hear how much she cares about us?” Rian said, one hand theatrically rubbing at his eyes as if removing tears. The lantern he was holding in that hand swung, striking him in the mouth. “Ow. Ah, my actions had immediate consequences, I see.”

Lori rolled his eyes. Useless thespian. “Rian, report,” she said. “Were you successful?”

“Yes, your Bindership,” he said cheerfully, imaginary tears forgotten. “All goods sold, everything on our shopping list purchased—and I even got you some nice things at a low, low price—and new people recruited. And they’re nice people too! I’m sure you’ll find them perfectly tolerable if you need to talk to them.”

“I don’t care about nice they are, I want to know if they’re capable,” Lori said.

“Oh, they’re very capable,” Rian assured her. “Uh, although…”

“What?”

Rian coughed. “Well, they have… not so much demands as things they’d like to do.”

“I’m not giving them land,” Lori said flatly.

“I’ve explained your land grant conditions to them. Uh, to be honest, Taeclas is already thinking of a plan to set up a vegetable farm.”

Lori gave him a flat look.

“That’s the female Deadspeaker we recruited,” Rian clarified. “If you give me a softened rock, I’ll write out her name and even put in a small sketch so you can tell her apart from everyone else.”

She blinked. “You can sketch?”

“Eh, a little. It’s been years, and I’m wasn’t very good at it, but I can give it a try again.” A thoughtful look came over his face. “You know, I think I’ll withdraw the promise of a sketch until I’ve had time to practice a little.”

“I’ll get you the rocks,” Lori said. She frowned. “Why are you carrying around a lamp?”

“Oh, this is one of those nice things it was able to get you at a low, low price,” Rian said.

“Why would I need a lamp?”

“You wouldn’t, but I thought you’d enjoy having a professionally-made wisplight to examine.”

Lori’s eyes immediately snapped to the lamp, examining it more closely. She finally noticed the bead receptacle, the switch, the adjustment knob… “You bought a wisplight?” Next to her, Shanalorre was also examining the bound tool, the younger Dungeon Binder’s eyes intent.

“Actually, I bought a whole bunch of bound tools,” Rian said cheerfully. “Including several carpentry tools. They were cheap because Covehold had run out low-denomination wispbeads to fuel them. Of course… that was before we sold all the wispbeads there. I expect the price of bound tools have since risen as they’ve become useable again.”

Lori blinked, before gritting her teeth as she realized she had completely missed that possibility. “Good work,” she complimented. “Where are they?”

“Still in the front room. Wasn’t sure whether you’d want to unload them here or Lorian. Though I recommend letting River’s Fork have half the wisplights I brought for them to use. Then you can reconfigure the ones into something else… like, say, a bound tool to move air around to keep your unfortunate, very useful lords from overheating at night and being unable to work the following day?” Rian said with a bright smile, his finger flicking between himself and Yllian.

She gave him a flat look, then sighed. “I will consider the matter,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Now… about the Deadspeakers you recruited…”

“Ah, right, their dema—notdemands, just things they’d like to do!” Rian corrected himself hastily. “Uh, you see, one of them, L—I mean, the male Deadspeaker wants to spend time sketching, recording, and studying the local plants, beasts, bugs and fursh. Which means he’ll need time… you know, not working.”

Lori stared at him. “He follows the Mysteries of Alknowledge?” she said, thought it was more a statement than a question.

“Him and his sister, though I get the feeling she’s not very dedicated to it,” Rian confirmed. “As your lord, I recommend letting him. Not necessarily everyday—after all, we’re feeding him on the understanding he does work that contributes to the demesne—but some kind of scheduled, regimented free time for him to do his research is a small price to pay for his skills and the work he can do. You know, like letting him take every fourth of fifth day off, or only letting him have time off once he’s done the day’s scheduled duties of something. Who knows, his research might be useful. It’s certainly a small price to pay to keep him satisfied.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Rian nodded. “Yes. You will.” He smiled. Do you want to meet them now or do you want to hear how the trip went and what loot we’ve got.”

Lori rolled her eyes. He should know the answer to that. “Report,” she ordered.

“Yllian, can you show our new people around and take them to lunch when it’s time? I need to exposit to her Bindership.”

“I’ll take care of them, Rian.”

Rian nodded. “Shall we talk about this on the ship? That way I can also show you what we brought back.”

Lori nodded back. “Acceptable. Shanalorre, come with me. Take note of the additions to the inventory.”

“Yes, Great Binder. Welcome back, Lord Rian. The Great Binder was saying how your presence was missed.”

Rian smiled. “Wishing she only had one person she needed to talk to about things?”

Obviously. “Obviously.”