Demesne

I worried about Lori.

That was part of my job, of course. As her lord, I was a professional Lori-worrier, botherer, feeder, and talker. Often I worried that Lori wasn't getting enough sleep, or using her magic for too long, or deciding it would be more convenient for her if she killed everyone in the demesne—except for the children, of course—and lived alone. Usually she remembered she didn't know how to butcher beasts and seels, or knew how to make her own soap (oil and wood ash at a minimum), sighed and resigned herself to have to put up with people a little longer.

Right now, I was worrying because I haven't seen her in days, and she was in a demesne—all right, she was in the one of our two demesnes—where people didn't like her as well as they did here in Lorian. Yes, most of the people there were devout dungeon worshippers, which was why they had been so accepting of Shanalorre's rule, but there were also the malcontents who'd left here for there. While they'd receded to quiet grumbling when Lori taking over had resulted in increasingly improving living conditions, there was still some resentment there. While Riz was there to protect her… well, things could still go wrong, and that just made me worry about Lori and Riz!

But that was my off-duty worrying. I had other, more lordly worries to worry about, because if I didn't worry about it, other people would soon find themselves worrying about them.

At the moment, the worry was the possibility that the dragon outside would be causing a dangerous drop in temperature. While it was proven that the dungeon could remain comfortable in winter and even blizzard conditions, that was nowhere near close to being cold enough to solidify air. However, given that the air coming into the dungeon wasn't freezing already, and what sounded like hail outside, it was probably safe to assume that the extreme cold wasn't occurring at ground level. Even through the slats of the dungeon's air vents, I think I'd be able to notice a big chunk of solidified air outside the entryway.

So, while the dragon generating cold extreme enough to make solid air was a worry, it didn't seem to be an immediately pressing one. My little cup of water hadn't frozen yet, after all. Even if Lori was being absolutely lazy and leaving our survival solely to us—a laughable thought, as that woman would tell us how to breathe if she thought we were somehow doing it wrong—it didn't hurt to make preparations anyway.

Tae came back with a pot that was in good condition, although it was surprisingly small. I'd been expecting bigger, but looking at the pot's dimensions, it made sense. The pot was tall, vaguely mug-like, and just the right size to cook a meal for two, ideal for Tae and Rybelle. "Will this do?" she asked, putting the pot down on the table and happily accepting a cup of water from Karina. "Ah, thank you Karina!"

"It's a start," I said. "If we need to do this, we can just get more pots. I have four bound tools, so we can make four hot water pots."

The bound tools in question were these things that had a bead receptacle on one end and the coppery shell filled with the white Iridescence on the other. Like most of the non-wisplight bound tools Lori had made, these had originally been embedded in stone to keep them from being used for something besides their intended purpose. However, when we'd realized that they had been left outside during the previous dragon, Lori had slightly altered them to be more easily moved so that they could be collected and transferred to the dungeon.

In keeping with Lori's penchant for making things as difficult as possible to use for something besides their intended purpose—and most likely to keep them from being removed from the baths—the stone the bound tools had been embedded into had been made removable. Thankfully, the stones weren't head-sized things, but anyone trying to make off with the bound tools would be immediately obvious.

The bound tools to draw water from the dungeon's reservoir to the bath was even bigger and more awkwardly shaped.

To the best of my knowledge, people took Lori's stern instructions to not do stupid things to the bound tools seriously—we'd yet to receive a report of so much as a dropped wisplight, never mind the kind of damage that resulted from improper use—but Lori wasn't the sort of person to trust in people not doing stupid things with dangerous objects.

This was the same woman who basically didn't care who was operating the demesne's boats. She was both so good and so bad at being paranoid…

To be honest, I wasn't sure if the bound tools would work as they were. It would depend on how Lori had configured the things to generate heat. While the bound tool probably used firewisps, after being removed from the baths they might no longer be working. I could just see Lori doing it such that the bound tool only worked when it was in place at the baths it was supposed to be used at.

Well, there was an easy way to figure that out. "I'll get one of the bound tools and a bead. We can start experimenting to see if the bound tool still works and—"

"No, we won't!" Taeclass interrupted cheerfully.

I pause. Yes, I know it's a bad habit to just stop talking and let people interrupt you, but I considered it preferable to trying to talk over someone else and both of you being unintelligible. My sister was much better at being loud and obstinate and talking over someone else than I was anyway. "We won't?"

"We won't," Tae confirmed. "Because you are going back to sleep like you're supposed to. If you're going to be night shift, then you need to be up at night, so that means you sleep during the day. I'll handle making sure this is working properly."

"Tae, I can't—"

"Oh, hush. I'm a wizard, I know enough about proper scholarship to be able to handle analyzing this," Tae said. "If your plan was just to stick the end that doesn't have a bead receptacle in water and put in a bead, then anyone can do that. Not that I'm going to do just that. If Binder Lori made this, then first we need to figure out how she made it."

"I'm almost sure she did it by making a binding and anchoring it," I said.

"Well, yes, that's true. But what kind of heating did she form her binding to do? Is she using firewisps to just generate heat, or are the firewisps set to raise the temperature of anything that intersects the binding to a certain point? And more importantly, what is the volume of the binding?"

"Volume of the binding?" Ugh, I felt so stupid. This kind of 'repeat the last few words said' exposition is the domain of badly written characters!

"See? You really must be tired if you're just repeating the last thing I said in the form of a question. Go to sleep, Rian."

…

I'm pretty sure this feeling of annoyance is why Lori hates me so much when I'm right. "Fine. But only after you give exposition about what you said."

"…most people ask for an explanation, you know."

"I know what I said."

Tae let out a giggle. "Fine, but then you sleep like a responsible lord. Firewisps are one of two kinds of wisps that can be inside all three kinds of matter, the other being lightningwisps, and even then some kinds of matter resist the latter. Now, normally, wizards can't claim, bind or otherwise affect wisps, thoughts or vistas inside someone's body, not like a Deadspeaker can affect life. However, there are some exceptions, and one of them is firewisps. While a Whisperer—and a Dungeon Binder like Binder Lori, I suppose—can't claim the firewisps in someone's body even when the Whisperer is physically touching them, there is a way they can affect the temperature inside someone's body using firewisps. All they need to do is form a binding of firewisps , and then have someone step into the volume of space occupied by that binding. While the firewisps are technically only going to change the temperature of their environment, when someone steps into the volume of the binding they become part of the environment being affected, and the firewisps don't count as being of that person's body since they originated from outside."

"All right… what does this have to… ah. We don't know what sort of binding Lori used or the volume occupied by the binding Lori put on the bound tool, so until we do it's dangerous to put a bead on it because we might accidentally be in the volume."

Tae nodded. "Our internal organs need a specific temperature range to operate properly, and any binding of firewisps intended to heat water would probably warm that water to significantly above body temperature. At the very least, we need to ascertain what kind of binding it was that Binder Lori used, and if it was the dangerous one, find out the boundaries of the volume so we can build tools to safely operate the bound tool from outside it." The Deadspeaker gave me a bright smile. "Something I'm perfectly able to do all by myself, so you go find yourself somewhere to sleep, close your eyes, go into the dark, and get some rest."

The suggestion was very tempting, but—

"Wizard Taeclas is correct, Lord Rian," Shana said, and I blinked in surprise. Oh, right, she was there, wasn't she? I'd completely forgotten. "If I am going to be awake in any case, then you should sleep. There's no need for both of us to be active at the same time outside of an emergency, which will hopefully not manifest."

…

"I'll be honest, I forgot you were sitting there, Shana. Shanalorre. So you're probably right, I should maybe go to sleep properly." Lying down next to where children were being loud hadn't been all that restful, but I'd really just been trying to rest my eyes without going to sleep…

Shana nodded. "Wizard Taeclas, if the binding is possibly as dangerous as you say, it would be best if you moved somewhere safe before you begin. There are still some unfinished tunnels in the third level that are empty, you should be able to set up there. I will come to assist you once I have escorted Lord Rian down to his alcove and ensured he is actually resting."

"I feel like I should be offended that I'm actually being escorted to make sure I go to sleep. But yes, set up the experiment away from people first, just in case. I'll…" I sighed. "I'll go get the bound tool and a bead."

"And then you go to sleep," Tae said.

I rolled my yes. "Yes, and then I'll go to sleep. Is there some kind of conspiracy going on to get me to sleep?"

"Yup!" Taeclas cheerfully admitted. "Umu and Mikon talked to my wife, my wife told me, I talked to Shana and she told me about the last dragon, and now we're all making sure you go to sleep properly instead of staying awake for days on end." She frowned. "That's really not healthy, you know. Lack of sleep can cause your clapper to not work properly for ringing."

…

"Why did you immediately go there?" I said blandly.

"I've found men pay better attention to warnings about their health when I make it clear how it affects their clapper," Tae said cheerfully.

"Is this something you learned in Deadspeaking school?"

"Yes, actually. We learned it from one of my teachers, and it's been really useful since graduating."

I nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll get the bound tool, and then I'll get some rest. Though I'd like to make it clear, I am not doing it because I'm worried about what you said, all right?"

"If you say so," Tae said with a grin.

"Yes, I say so. I'm doing it because I really want to go to sleep."

"Of course, Rian."

"I might be sleepy, but I can still recognize when you're humoring me."

With lofty dignity, I went to get one of the bound tools and a bead.