After they got Rian a new bone tablet, they spent the afternoon conducting several permutations of the initial successful binding. Lori experimented with replacing the firewisps anchored to the sample of white Iridescence with airwisps, with darkwisps, and with airwisps and darkwisps. While the other internal arrangements worked, if inefficient, the firewisps in the copper shell around the sample were absolutely necessary as they were one of only two kinds of wisps could be in the metal shell.

They also experimented on the wisps they could anchor to the outside of the copper shell. Lightwisps, of course, provided illumination, and some airwisps resulted in an underwhelming breeze, since the shape of the shell wasn't exactly conducive to air flow, and she couldn't have the airwisps extend out too far. Darkwisps anchored well and were easy to make fairly large, but she didn't really see a good use for a little cloud of darkness.

Waterwisps also anchored, and it was possible to have them either solidify water or evaporate it on contact, which was useful. Lori could already see how she might possibly use the prototype as it was to make some of the waterwisp–based bindings she had made. The evaporators they used to distill gold water for the tannery, the flowing water that powered the water wheel for the carpenters…

Lightningwisps were a bit problematic, since they wanted to occupy the copper instead of the air around it, but that was solved by letting them take the place of the firewisps in the metal. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do with it. Her only uses for lightningwisps were the bindings to keep bugs away from certain buildings, and the binding she used for the curing shed. Possibly it might have some use in welding metal, but she didn't really know how to do that very well, so she couldn't really translate that into something they could use the prototype for.

Earthwisps required her to put some stone on the shell, and they integrated well with the binding anchored to the white Iridescence, but there wasn't really anything she could use it for either. Perhaps if she used earthwisps to reinforce stone structures, but she didn't. And off the top of her head, she didn't really know any bound tools that actually used earthwisps…

"Could you use some other material for the shell?" Rian asked as they finished with the thirteenth experiment. "Bone and rock seem to be doing well."

"No. Even if it's a substitute, metal has a property bone and rock do not: it has no wisps of its own."

"What really? I'd have thought it would have earthwisps…"

"Only when it's near-molten."

"I'll… take your word for it. But why is that important? Wouldn't the shell having its own wisps be an advantage in this instance? You can skip the step of putting firewisps into the shell."

"Because having wisps that don't do anything in a binding reduces the overall efficiency of the binding," Lori said. "There's a reduction in the amount of magic transferred between wisps of unlike type when using metal seepage. When the binding was all firewisps, there was no loss, but in the configuration with the lightwisps, the lightwisps had less magic imbued into it from the firewisps… or at least they would have, if it weren't for the fact they were also being imbued directly from the copper shell. Which they could only anchor onto because of the firewisps in the shell, which were anchored into the firewisps anchored around the white Iridescence."

"Ah… so it's an optimization problem…" Rian mused. "The wisps anchored to the white Iridescence is what lets the binding stay together, but the shell is what imbues the part that's actually doing the work we want it to do, like make light or move air around." He tilted his head. "Can't we still use bone or stone to act to connect external wisps to the wisps anchored to the white Iridescence, then just use some other metal to imbue the wisps anchored to the bone or stone? That should take care of the imbuement inefficiency, right? Or… what if we used a raw metallic ore? Would it be metallic enough to allow magic to flow and imbue through it, while letting you anchor onto its earthwisps?"

"Do you have any raw ore to test this with?" Admittedly, it sounded like a good idea if it worked… but if it worked, bound tools would likely already be using metal ore in that way.

"Well, no… ah, but I think River's Fork might still have some of the raw ore they were trying to sell or make dye with?"

"No, just get some from the mine. We'll test it when you get back. "

"And… using a bone or stone shell?"

Lori rolled her eyes. "We'll have them make another prototype setting to test it." A part of her didn't want to—these prototypes were all supposed to be a stopgap measure for her inability to work with glass, which was how a proper bound tool was made—but she supposed that having different possible stopgap measures couldn't hurt. "Still, remember that the goal is of these experiments is not to make these little classroom demonstrations of metals seeping beads, it's for me to learn to make proper bound tools. Ones we can use reliably and are simple enough I don't need to be the one to operate it. Perhaps eventually create bound tools for sale to Covehold. For the latter we will need to have mastered the proper way to make it with glass."

"So that other people can't modify it or study it to learn how to make one themselves?"

"Exactly!"

After all, why have only one absolutely monopoly when you can have two?

Rian sighed for some reason, but he was smiling as he did so.

––––––––––––––––––

They put away everything to get ready for dinner, sealing up the alcove again. The tablets had several spots that needed correction near the beginning as Rian continued to get used to the new writing medium, but beyond those, it was all well-written and neatly organized, though a word here and there were missing, likely omitted to let him write faster. Lori read the two tablets, just to make sure that none of the omissions resulted in any wrong connotations, but Rian knew what words he could afford to omit. At worst, it read like someone in a hurry.

She'd still need to remove the corrections, because they looked terrible, but the notes themselves were perfectly understandable and concise.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Are you ready to go to River's Fork tomorrow?" Lori asked as Rian sat opposite her. His hair was wet from the baths, but he was still wearing the same clothes.

"I suppose. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to pack the meat, but beyond that, everyone's ready to go." Rian sighed, but the sigh sounded different from the ones he'd been making when they first arrived from River's Fork a few days ago. It was less deep, for one thing. "We'll bring back some fruit when we come back. It's part of why we're trying to keep the place alive, right? Might as well get our share of it." He gave Lori a twisted smile. "Do you have a preference of which fruit we should bring more of?"

Lori seriously considered that. Which one, which one…? The micans? The golden buds? The pink ladies? The hairy blueballs? Eventually though, she had to sigh. "I find I have no exact preference at the moment," she said. "Bring home equal amounts of each."

Rian nodded. "On a related note, you'll probably have to promote two people to lord or lady in the near future."

"Oh? I will, will I?"

"We're still planning to take the Coldhold to Covehold, right? That means you're going to need someone to manage Lorian, and someone else to keep visiting River's Fork while I'm gone. Unless you don't want me heading that trip and think someone else can handle trying to sell the beads?"

Lori flinched inside. Ah, yes, that. It was something she hadn't really thought of since she'd been so busy. She should have, but she hadn't. "We'll discuss it when you return. So far, I do not have any promising candidates."

"I can suggest some…"

"I remember how the last candidate you suggested turned out."

"All right, to be fair, any other candidates I have now I will have known for far longer!"

She gave him a flat look as Shanalorre helped her cousin step over the bench and sit down. "Do you even have candidates?"

"… I don't see what that has to do with anything…"

"Well, only bother me about it when you do."

"…yes, your Bindership." Rian looked around for a moment, as if searching for something. "Ah, right, do you intend to go to keep going to the edge to do… things." He glanced at Shanalorre.

"Should I make myself scarce for a moment?" the other younger Dungeon Binder said.

Lori waved a hand dismissively at her to stay. "Of course. I need to make more for the trip to Covehold."

"Then I'll ask Riz to stay behind to accompany you. Since you'll be staying here, we don't need to bring as many people, since we don't need to assign anyone to protect you. She can accompany you to the edge." Rian tilted his head. "Unless you're fine with someone else doing it?"

Ah. She hadn't considered that. "Don't you need her to accompany you?"

"We'll be fine. Keep her with you, it's more important to keep you alive, remember?"

And what was she to say to that? Lori simply nodded. "Very well. Don't come back early because you were stabbed in the back by someone who couldn't stand you. The people there have a distressing tendency to suddenly attack people for no reason."

"That only happened once," Shanalorre said as Umu and Riz sat down on either side of Rian, with Mikon sitting down next to perpetual non-officer, "and the ones responsible have already been dealt with."

"So? It still happens significantly far more than it does here."

"I… do not know how to respond to that… Ah, Riz," Rian said, turning towards the non-officer. On his other side, Umu gave the other woman an annoyed look as she was ignored for the moment. "Could you stay here and go with her Bindership when she goes back to the edge?"

Riz blinked. "Ah, right, she's not going to the Fork with us." She pressed her lips together, even as Mikon's expression brightened, and the weaver smiled at Lori for some reason. "Sure, I'll stay. If, uh, that's fine with her Bindership?"

Lori waved a hand dismissively. "The same arrangement as last time should suffice, Erzebed."

Riz nodded, then stiffened. "I don't have to take notes for you, do I?"

"No, you do not."

A sigh of relief. "Thank you, your Bindership."

"If you need any notes taken, Binder Lolilyuri, I volunteer," Shanalorre said. "Provided you feel it safe to allow me to learn the contents of the notes."

"That will not be necessary, Binder Shanalorre. I will not need any notes taken." Beyond putting up the ice structure to work in as Rian had suggested, and leaving some samples of white Iridescence beyond the edge to see what happened to them, all she intended to do was make more beads. "Rian, are there any matters in the demesne that need to be dealt with while you're gone?"

Rian blinked. "Wait, are suggesting you'll—"

"I'm sure Erzebed can attend to it when she's done accompanying me to the edge."

"… of course you do…"

"Wait, wait, I'm not an officer!" Riz said hastily. "You gave me an official plaque about it and everything!"

"Yes? I'm not promoting you into an officer, Erzebed, or making you my temporary Rian again—"

"Oh, you're back to using my name as a job designation."

"—and if you don't want to provide any assistance to Rian, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Wow. Seriously? You're doing that? You realize Riz is an adult woman and not a child, right? And even most children wouldn't fall for that plot." There was a pause. "But, um, if you're willing Riz, there are a few things… "

"Well… so long as if doesn't mean I'm an officer."

"No, of course not!" Rian hastily assured Riz. "At worse, you're a sergeant, getting things done for an officer who clearly needs help. And I definitely need help…"

Riz looked relieved. "Ah. Huh. Well, that's fine. I can do that."

"Oh, thank you! It's not much, just talk to all the task overseers and ask them if they anything. If they do, decide if it needs to be mentioned to Binder Lori or if you can handle it yourself. If you're not sure if it's something to tell Binder Lori, or it doesn't seem urgent enough to do so, just wait and tell me when I get back."

"It will only be two days, so you won't have to do it for long," Lori said.

Rian nodded at Lori's words, then paused. "No, it's four days, right?"

"Two days," she said with finality as Umu and Mikon stood up to join the line at the kitchen to get their dinner.

A strange expression came over Rian's face, before it settled onto something that might actually have been distaste. "It needs to be at least three days," he said eventually, sounding like was barely keeping himself from sighing. "I'm not going to be able to get anything done in just two days. I'll need the whole working day in the middle."

Lori gave him a flat look, which he returned with one that wasn't quite as flat. It looked very reluctant, in fact. "Are you sure?"

"No, but I need to do it anyway. I'm a gainfully employed adult. I have to do the distasteful things that are part of my responsibilities."

"You're not being paid," Lori pointed out. "I'm not sure it counts as gainful employment."

"That's simply an unfortunate artifact of the current state of our economy. Everyone is equally unpaid. Now let's stop talking about this before you start getting ideas for how to tax people."

Lori smirked at the implication. She supposed she did have the basis to switch her demesne to a capital-based economy now, what with being able to produce beads. It… well, was probably something she should finally get around to thinking about… but she didn't want to. Not yet. "All right. Three days."

"Would it be too much to hope that you'll wait for me to get back before testing the second prototype?"

"Yes."

"I hate being a responsible adult… have more experiments to do by the time I get back?"

"I'm sure you'll bother me with proposals for them yourself."

"I wouldn't dare presume."

"Yes, you would. You would definitely dare presume."

Rian shrugged, not even looking a little chagrined.

Lori rolled her eyes as Umu and Mikon arrived with the food. She took one of the bowls and a piece of bread for herself. "Well, besides all that, did anything come up this afternoon?"

"Well, the smiths said the second prototype will be ready tomorrow, and we've set aside some of the older frozen meat and a few jars of dried and fresh mushrooms to take to River's Fork tomorrow, so hopefully that will take care of some of the complaints about the food…"