The next morning, Lori expected to be eating alone with only, at best, Rian for company.

Not that she cared. She was used to eating alone. There were no inane expectations of conversation that way.

The dining hall of her Dungeon was quiet that morning. There were the usual smells of food, but from what she could see not all the kitchen staff were there cooking, and there were only a few people sitting at the tables.

Lori walked to her table, stepping over the bench on her side so she could sit down. Not for the first time, she considered getting rid of the bench and getting a proper chair, with a proper back for her to lean on and a side-rack for her staff… but it was a lot of effort for something she only used for meals. So the bench it was…

She was in the middle of doing basic breathing exercises to pass the time and simply feel magic filling and flowing through her when Rian slipped into the bench opposite her. Lori focused her gaze on him, noting the slightly wet hair, and the same clothes from last night. "Rian," she nodded, letting the magic fill the breath in her lungs, bound to the airwisps there, expelled on her breath.

"Lori," he replied.

For a moment, they sat in silence.

"Can we both just go back to sleep?" Rian suggested. "Because I really want to go back to bed to sleep in for my first day back."

"You can go back to sleep after breakfast," Lori said. "Though how you think you can go to sleep after taking a bath, I don't know."

"It's the principle of the thing," Rian insisted. "After coming back from somewhere, the next day is for recovering."

"Today is a rest day," she pointed out.

"Yes, well, it sort of defeats the point of resting when you wake up this early. You should be allowed to sleep in until noon. Midmorning, at the very least."

"You had all of last night to sleep," Lori said. She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you stayed up late and therefore did not get as much sleep as you could have?"

Rian didn't respond. The silence lingered.

"There's a lot of things I want to say to you," Rian finally said, staring down at the table's surface. "Some things I probably shouldn't. Some I probably should. I want to say you overreacted last night…" He sighed. "But when you walked in… I was literally backed into a corner."

"I saw. It was why I did it. Were you really so frightened of two women?"

"I… don't know anymore," Rian said quietly. "I wasn't really scared, more like I was… overwhelmed? Overwhelmed and trying to get away so I finally could think about it…"

"So, the whole time you were away, you didn't think about it?"

Rian blushed and looked away.

"You. Idiot." Lori declared.

"I was… no, nothing I say can make that look good," Rian admitted. "Yes, I was an idiot. I have no excuse. I just… I'd get my hopes up, then I'd think what I was thinking was stupid, I'd make excuses, and… well, it was easier on my mind to not think about it."

"You. Idiot."

"Yes, I am," Rian nodded. "But last night I finally thought about it and we talked about it and…" He blushed slightly, looking aside. "All right, first off, I want you to know officially that those three have my express approval to touch me. And so does everyone else in the whole world, from the beginning of time to the end, so please don't threaten to kill anyone like that on my behalf again. Please. It's the sort of thing that makes people terrified of shaking hands or helping me up if I fall or think that they'll be killed if they accidentally trip and nudge me. I can do my duty a lot easier when people don't have to be afraid of making physical contact with me, which translates as being more convenient for you."

Lori tilted her head, then nodded. "Noted then. I will not summarily execute people who touch you."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that." Rian paused. "Thank you for speaking on my behalf. It was overkill, but that's how you do things. Still, thank you."

"Of course. You're my lord. I still have a use for you."

"I'll add I have no expectation of you not doing it to anyone who touches you," Rian said, "but as your lord in charge of talking to people, I strongly recommend that people you plan to kill at least get a 'get your hands off me' so they can save themselves. Maybe a 'get your hands off me or else I'll kill you' so they know you mean it. And make an exception for genuine accidents?"

"I'd have thought all that should be obvious," Lori said.

"Yes, well, after your declaration last night, I thought that it probably wouldn't be safe to assume," Rian said.

Lori considered that. "No need. Everyone is acting as they should. There's no reason to correct anything."

"Wow. That actually sounds like you don't think everyone around you are idiots anymore."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "Of course not everyone around me are idiots. Some of them are skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. And those who are idiots have been acting less idiotic."

"That's probably won't last," Rian said dryly.

"No, probably not," Lori agreed.

Rian smiled at that for some reason. "You know, sometimes I think you don't need me. You seem to do well with people when you need to."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Lori snorted derisively. "You're sounding like my mothers again. I'm the Dungeon Binder. If I don't want to, I don't need to, and I don't want to. That's your job!" That last might have been a little more vehement than she intended.

"Understood, your Bindership," Rian said cheerfully.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Ah, I missed this…" Rian sighed. "You know, I made a horrible design decision when making the Coldhold. You need to be standing up to use the tiller, and since I was the one handling the steering…"

"Ah. That's a terrible oversight," Lori agreed. "How long before you decided to teach someone else to do it so you could sit down?"

"…I'll admit it was an embarrassingly long time and leave it at that," Rian said. "I'm having the carpenters put in a way to lock the rudder for times we're just going straight. And extend the overhead cover all the way to the back, because that stupid ball of fire in the sky is hot."

"Yes, it's known for that," Lori said dryly.

"But those are probably modifications we can do over the winter, because right now it's enough for going down to the ocean and getting salt and food."

Lori blinked. "Food?"

"Yup. There's a lot of… well, things that swim at the mouth of the river. We'll need to think of more efficient ways to catch them, but there's a lot to catch, and winter probably won't affect them too much."

Lori considered that. "I see… well, I haven't been there, so I'll leave it to you."

"Actually, I want to assign it to some of the men who went with me," Rian said. "If they're interested, I think they can be our dedicated rivermen, sailing up and down the river to the sea. And from what I learned, fresh food will definitely sell in Covehold, as will salt."

Lori frowned. "I'd have thought Covehold wouldn't have to worry about salt."

"Not Covehold, no," Rian said cheerfully. "But the demesnes further inland… well. Even with the salt tax Covehold imposes on independent salt harvesters selling at their markets, we'd still make a decent profit, and if we can come to an agreement with one of the demesne to sell directly to them, bypassing Covehold entirely, we'd be able to avoid that. And we might also be able to trade salt for vigas with River's Fork, to help supplement our food over the winter."

That… sounded very promising. "That sounds very promising," Lori said, nodding. "Tell me the rest in your report tomorrow."

Rian nodded. "Unfortunately, I might need to be the one to go to negotiate it."

Lori stopped and glared at him.

He shrugged. "Well, someone has to do it. It won't be now, but we're already planning another trip after winter to sell things and get the reply from the Golden Sweetwood Company, remember? Unless you trust someone else to do the negotiations on our demesne's behalf, it has to be me."

Lori closed her eyes. "Find me someone who can do it in your stead," she said evenly. "You have until spring."

"Already looking, but successful people like that are unlikely to be desperate enough to be all the way out here," Rian said.

"You're here," Lori pointed out.

"Yes, which shows just how successful I was."

She couldn't really dispute that.

Rian looked over towards the kitchen and stood up, heading for where the food was starting to be served. He came back with two bowls and two cups of water, and Lori picked one of each. He took the other one, and they both started eating.

"Have you considered adding a roasting area to the kitchen?" Rian suggested. "Then we can have roast in addition to stew even on normal days. Or at least, they can roast the meat before adding it to the stew."

"Is it really necessary?" Lori said dubiously.

"A roasting area can easily be converted to baking bread."

Lori paused. She gave Rian a suspicious look.

"Unless you'd prefer to eat vigas as a kind of boiled porridge?" Rian continued, smiling brightly.

Lori sighed and looked towards the kitchen. "I'll… find time," she relented.

"May I suggest practicing on the old dining hall?" Rian suggested. "Working there would be less disruptive."

Lori waved dismissively. "Fine, fine," she said, going back to eating.

There was a thump, and Lori looked up in surprise to see Mikon sitting down next to Rian, her hair damp as she smiled brightly. "Good morning, Rian," she said in an equally sunny tone. She leaned forward, her lips lightly brushing his cheek. Mikon turned to Lori with a smile and nodded at her, then started eating.

Rian avoided Lori's gaze as he focused on his own food, eating intently. Lori directed her gaze towards Mikon, who smiled brightly again.

"I suppose you finally stopped being an idiot, then?" Lori said dryly.

"…yes…" Rian mumbled, not looking up at her.

"And you picked… Mikon?"

"… not exactly…" he kept on mumbling.

Lori raised an eyebrow and looked back at Mikon, whose smile no longer showed her teeth and had started humming. "Ah. Is this the scandalously extravagant hedonism of lords that I've heard of?"

"It's not like that!" Rian yelped, reaching a pitch he usually reserved for seeing her drawing blood with her syringe. "It's… we're…"

"I don't care," Lori said, waving his words aside dismissively. "As long as you can do your duty unimpeded. Will Riz be joining us? She had still not been relieved."

She looked at Mikon when she said that, and the latter grinned again. "I believe she'll be here soon, your Bindership. We were up quite late last night, so she's taking a bath to wake herself."

"It's not what you think!" Rian interjected.

Lori raised an eyebrow. "You didn't stay up discussing your situation like adults and coming to a reasonable arrangement?"

"… uh, then yes, it is what you think…" Rian corrected himself. He bent down to stare into his bowl again, eating slowly as if each and every movement of his spoon required his full attention.

Umu and Riz approached the table, both carrying their own bowls and keeping a full pace between each other. They hesitated when they saw Lori, but she ignored them, going back to eating her breakfast. Mikon looked up and waved towards them, then slid a little away from Rian, making a space between the two of them on the bench, patting it invitingly.

Umu didn't hesitate, sitting next to Rian on the side away from Mikon. Riz sighed, but sat down between the two as Umu deliberately ignored Lori and kissed Rian on the cheek. It was stiff, awkward, probably wetter than it needed to be, and Rian looked like he had to physically keep himself from wiping it off from how wet it was as Umu sat right up against him and began eating, blushing furiously. Riz looked like she was about to do the same, but hesitated, then reached up and patted Rian on the shoulder. "Good morning, Rian," she said. "When do you want to meet for that report?"

Rian looked surprised, glancing at the hand. "Um, probably after her Bindership finishes with her 'customs inspection' so I can get the things people asked for to them."

"Do you want me to help you with that?" Riz offered.

Umu's head snapped up. "I'll help you with that Rian!"

Lori, Mikon and Riz mouthed the words along with Umu, the other weaver looking fondly amused as Lori and Riz both rolled their eyes.

Lori was ready to mouth 'You don't have to do that' along with Rian, but to her surprise her lord hesitated. "If you want…" he said hesitantly. "Mikon, do you want to join us?"

Mikon made a show of thinking about it. "I believe I'll pass," she said. "I want to try weaving that fine filter cloth you asked about. But if I finish early, I'll go and find you all."

Rian blinked, while Umu looked around him and gave Mikon a suspicious look. Riz also stared at her. "Oh… that's… thank you."

Mikon smiled. "I might need to spin a finer thread for it, but for now I'll try with the yarn I already have. If it's only a small cloth, I shouldn't need much."

Rian hesitated. "Do… you need help with that?"

"If you want…" Mikon said with a coy smile as Lori shook her head and went back to eating. "Do you know how to spin thread?"

"Completely and absolutely ignorant," Rian said promptly.

"Ah. Well, I'm sure Umu and I can teach you everything you need to know…" Mikon said cheerfully. "Right, Umu?"

"Yes…" Umu said, still looking at Mikon suspiciously.

Lori tried not to sigh. Well, she supposed it was a rest day, and she and Rian couldn't really talk about her demesne's issues before he was properly caught up by Riz…

Shaking her head, Lori focused on her meal, wondering what she'd find that was worth tak—er, imposing customs duties on…