Demesne

From Chapter 245:

"Do you remember when you said you would allow me to stay and live in your demesne?"

There was silence for a moment as Lori reached out and moved her Dungeon Binder, moving it like a Horotract position it to take Shanalorre's Mentalist on her next turn. "I remember," she said quietly.

"Is that offer still open?" The voice that asked was softer and… tired.

"…it is. Have you finished considering?"

There was another short silence. "Not yet. But thank you for keeping the offer open"

"Truthfully, I am envious. Your demesne possesses far better infrastructure, reserves, and mercantile prospects, then my own, and you have already planned how you will expand to increase your prosperity. We, on the other hand, are barely capable of sustaining ourselves. Without Deadspeaking assistance, we are unlikely to be able to grow enough to sustain ourselves in the coming year, never mind this winter."

"I'm surprised," Shanalorre said quietly, "that you haven't tried to negotiate for my teaching you how to heal."

It took a moment for Lori to register she was being spoken to, and she looked up from the board to Shanalorre. The other Dungeon Binder was still only regarding the board—it was her turn—as if she hadn't spoken at all. "Of course not."

"Why not? I might be willing."

Lori couldn't help it. She laughed at the joke. "But would you be capable? After all, you're a savant. Do you even understand the flow diagram for taming the meaning you use when you heal?"

"Not really, no," Shanalorre confirmed with a small nod. She reached out and moved one of her lords, occupying a space that one of Lori's Horotract could have moved to, though she hadn't been considering doing so. "In hindsight, I suppose that would explain why you didn't ask. I should have realized that would be familiar with a savant's limitations."

Lori paused a moment, before raising her cup to her lips and taking a sip. "Have you decided upon a site?"

"I have one in mind, yes," Shanalorre said. "While I am still here, I wonder if you could find some time to discuss the possible layout and design of the shelter with me some time in the next few days. While we have this time together, I thought perhaps we could begin finalizing the matter. It need not be completed in one discussion, and I would not wish to impose on any pressing matters requiring your attention, but if you should have a moment to spare after this holiday, it would be appreciated."

Lori considered that. "I believe I can find time tomorrow," she said. "We could discuss it now, if you prefer. I have time to spare."

Shanalorre blinked. "Will you not be enjoying the holiday?"

Lori shrugged. "I don't need to rest. I'm quite well rested, and discussing possible shelter arrangements will hardly be taxing."

"Your Bindership, please don't teach the Great Binder bad habits," Rian said as he arrived with another plate of honey bread, laying it down between the two of them. "Everyone needs to rest. If you have a mental breakdown from working too hard, there's really nothing any of us can do to help you." Rian gave her a vaguely scolding look. "Besides, while you might be willing to do that kind of work during a holiday, isn't it a bit rude to make the Great Binder work too? She's a guest, after all, and it's her first holiday in our demesne, let her enjoy it."

"I am not being made to work," Shanalorre asserted. "I chose to approach Binder Lolilyuri to "

From Chapter 249:

"And those who don't obey you?" Rian said.

"I'm sure they can be reasoned with," Shanalorre said. "What other option do they have? They have nowhere to go. All water transport to Covehold or elsewhere is controlled by you. Even if they should choose to make their way through the Iridescence, they have no known safe destination they can reliably reach. Their only choice is to submit themselves to you as I did."

"So… you're saying those people have nothing to lose by protesting Lori's rule, regardless of whether or not they succeed," Rian said flatly. "These people who've already been willing to risk walking through the Iridescence to live in River's Fork because they didn't want to be ruled by Lori have nothing more to lose if they, to pull an example from thin air, decide to try and form a mob to kill her on the spot as soon as you tell them of the change in circumstances."

Lori, Shanalorre, and Lord whatever-his-name-was stared at him.

Slowly, Shanalorre tilted her head. "Oh. I hadn't considered that possibility. However… now stated… it sounds plausible."

Rian groaned, cradling his face in his hands as he leaned his elbows down on the table. "It's all going to end in bloodshed. I can just see it. As soon as Shana announces Lori is running things, the people who moved away from here are going to get violent, and it's all going to end with that fancy dome of yours burning down!"

Lori sighed. Her lord was being all theatrical again. "I don't see what the problem is. If they attack me, I will defend myself and kill them."

"Will you kill their children too?" Rian said, voice slightly muffled because of the hands on his face. "Because letting children live after you kill their parents in front of them when is how a lot of revenge stories get started."

"This is real life, not a story," Lori snapped, even as she felt something clenching around her heart.

"Yes, it's real life. That means killing someone isn't as easy as you seem to think it is."

"Maybe they think they won't survive and are indulging recklessly as they count down the days," Rian mused. He glanced at Shanalorre. "After all, you didn't have a lot of faith that their demesne would survive this long. Maybe other people felt the same. Though if they are, it's sort of unconscionable that they're planning to get their children killed with them instead of just trying to come back here. I've been coming by all winter, and they didn't even so much as try to talk to me about it."

He sighed. "Speaking of which… we need to discuss how we're going to break this news to those in River's Fork without, you know, everything breaking out into open violence?"

From Chapter 250:

"My ability to enforce my will in my demesne is limited. While many of those who were with my…" Her words trailed off, staring blankly. Then she twitched, and her left arm rose and slapped herself on the cheek. She blinked, then shook her head. "Apologies. While many of those who were with my predecessor in the militia nominally follow and obey me, it is out of fondness and pity rather than respect for my person."

"The easy thing to do would be to simply abandon River's Fork," Rian mused, "but we can't just do that, can we? Operating the mine is too lucrative, and there's the fruit that grows there. Sure, we have fruit here too, but the ones in River's Fork grow faster. It might not be enough to feed everyone there, but it's something. For those two resources alone, we can't abandon the site."

Shanalorre nodded. "While I have not been able to even discern, much less replicate, how the meaning for it was done, I have been able to imbue and maintain it. I have been doing so even now. Since winter has passed, fruits should be growing from the trees attached to the dome again, provided people have been keeping them properly fertilized."

"Then"

"And those who don't obey you?" Rian said.

"I'm sure they can be reasoned with," Shanalorre said. "What other option do they have? They have nowhere to go. All water transport to Covehold or elsewhere is controlled by you. Even if they should choose to make their way through the Iridescence, they have no known safe destination they can reliably reach. Their only choice is to submit themselves to you as I did."

"So… you're saying those people have nothing to lose by protesting Lori's rule, regardless of whether or not they succeed," Rian said flatly. "These people who've already been willing to risk walking through the Iridescence to live in River's Fork because they didn't want to be ruled by Lori have nothing more to lose if they, to pull an example from thin air, decide to try and form a mob to kill her on the spot as soon as you tell them of the change in circumstances."

Lori, Shanalorre, and Lord whatever-his-name-was stared at him.

Slowly, Shanalorre tilted her head. "Oh. I hadn't considered that possibility. However… now stated… it sounds plausible."

Rian groaned, cradling his face in his hands as he leaned his elbows down on the table. "It's all going to end in bloodshed. I can just see it. As soon as Shana announces Lori is running things, the people who moved away from here are going to get violent, and it's all going to end with that fancy dome of yours burning down!"

Lori sighed. Her lord was being all theatrical again. "I don't see what the problem is. If they attack me, I will defend myself and kill them."

"Will you kill their children too?" Rian said, voice slightly muffled because of the hands on his face. "Because letting children live after you kill their parents in front of them when is how a lot of revenge stories get started."

"This is real life, not a story," Lori snapped, even as she felt something clenching around her heart.

"Yes, it's real life. That means killing someone isn't as easy as you seem to think it is."

From #346

Admittedly, I was ordered to sell them per bead. Tell you what, I'll speak to my Dungeon Binder to get them to consider negotiating the price on a per-sengrain basis and we can use that from then on. They'll probably want to measure the weight of the beads themselves so they can calculate the average amount of beads that will be." I shrugged apologetically.

Ravia pursed his lips. "Your Dungeon Binder put such limits on your ability to negotiate?"

"They're from Taniar Demesne."

The merchant's head didn't move, his expression didn't shift, but somehow he gave the impression of slumping slightly. "Ah."

"That's a very strange way of swearing, but whatever suits you."

That made him smile briefly before he smoothed his expression to something more professional. "My apologies. Father warned me about amateurs from Taniar Demesne."

"I probably can't even refute any of it. "

Chapter 370 Deleted Scene!

"I'm sure we can arrange some sort of schedule, your Bindership," Rian interjected. "Lidzuga no doubt understands the need to balance the amount of time and work he contributes to the demesne with the time he takes for himself to do his research. Like Lidzuga can work for four days and take a break on the fifth? Or that he needs to work in the morning and he can take the afternoons off? Er, some combination of those? After all, it's not like we need to rush anymore. We have functional infrastructure, a decent food reserve, secure housing… people have been resting most of the day already because of the heat when I left, and unless things have gotten cooler since then, they probably still are. It's not big loss to let Lidz do the same. What does it matter what he does during it?"

"It matters because we only have this summer and fall to plant and harvest crops, Rian," Lori said sharply. "The primary reason we needed Deadspeakers if because we need to increase our crop yields to stabilize our food supply. Especially since if another dragon passes over us before the crops our harvested, it will severely impact our winter stores in both demesnes."

"Um…" Lidzuga said, and we both looked at him. "All I want is some time to be able to pursue my own independent research, but I'm hardly going to do so at the expense of other people. So… how about this: I'll work until the current crops have matured enough to be ready to harvest. Once they've reached that point, I'm allowed to spend my time as I please conducting field research until the harvest has been brought in. I know that will take a few days at least, and maybe one or two more to prepare the fields for planting again. Once the next crop has matured enough to have bindings placed on them, I'll get back to work."

Lori considered that. As always, it was her immediate instinct to reject such a proposition because it didn't come from her. So, of course, she carefully thought of the terms given so she could give a reason to reject it. "The current crop is already well-matured," she said. "Once you have put meanings in place, it would only be a short time before you would qualify for your 'time off'."

"Is that a bad thing, though?" Rian rebutted. "I mean, what is it worth to us if we can harvest the crops tomorrow and get a new crop planted by next week? That's a double harvest right there. At worst, Lidzuga here will only have up to three-fourths off a week off before he has to get back to work again, and it's in his best interest to reduce the time between harvests. Though I doubt we'll be spending so much of his time off doing his research."

Lidzuga blinked. "Huh? Why not?"

Rian smiled brightly at him and gestured all around. "Lidzuga, it's hot. Even if it looks shady, if you go off wandering in the woods in this heat, you are going to collapse from exhaustion and dehydration and die. Even increasing our crop yields, you are more likely to spend your off time in the baths constantly pouring water on yourself, slowly growing bored as you run out of plants and animals you can bring back to draw at home, because it's far too hot to go very far. "

"Isn't it cooler in the shade of the woods, though?"

"I'll let you be the judge of whether the shade of the woods is cool enough to want to spend time in it," Rian said. "Here in town, you'll at least have the baths to cool off in."

"No bringing beasts, bugs and fursh into the baths," Lori said, even as she realized she hadn't put a binding to repel bugs on the bath house when she'd built it. She'd have to get a bound tool core and form one. "It's unsanitary and disgusting for the other people using the baths."

"I'm sure no one was thinking anything of the sort, your Bindership, but I'll tell everyone you said so just to be sure. However, what do you think of the proposed arrangement?"

"Is assisting in farming all he will do, then? What about when we need Deadspeaking for woodworking, or healing, or structural repair?"

"I'm sure Lidzuga was a proposal in mind that will properly balance requests for his time and his desire to do research, without just leaving everything to Taeclas," Rian said. "Right, Lidzuga?"

"Uh…"

Rian sighed. "Come on, work with me here! You're the one who wants time off to do research! Give us a good reason why your research will bring some benefit to the demesne. "

Lidzuga hesitated, then said, "I could do all of my work in the morning and—"

"No, no!" Rian interjected immediately. "Come on, it has to be at least equal to the one about the harvests. As it is, you're basically going to working only half the time as it is. Do you want her to insist on you only getting food, use of the baths, and permission to sleep indoors on the days that you work?"

"I thought you said you didn't have to rush anymore?" Lidzuga said.

"That's for other people who can only do manual labor and not Deadspeaking. "

From #371

"That was my fault," Rian said as soon as he'd come back from leading the two siblings away.

"Yes, it was."

"I should have helped him prepare what he was going to say. I knew the time off was going to be a contentious point, so I should have helped him present it in a way that wouldn't annoy you."

"Yes, you should have."

"Really, I should have made more of a point about how important you considered contributing to the demesne to be, and that he should have waited a few days after he'd shown how skilled and useful he was before asking for time off."

"That would certainly have been a good idea."

"Shana, if this is your way to trying to make me feel better, please stop. If it isn't, I wonder at your newfound vindictive streak."

"I am simply agreeing with all your statements. Why would I be vindictive towards you?"

"Oh. Well, could you—"

"After all, it's not as if I'm annoyed at you for teaching Karina to swim, who has managed to give herself six cramps this month from doing so strenuously."