Dinner was without incident, especially after Yoshka fully woke up to eat. Yrria and Tena finally relaxed during the meal, apparently taking comfort in the familiarity of the food. After dinner, she, Karina, Ateh Koyan and Ateh Kayas took the younger ones to the baths.

The dungeon's bath was much smaller than the bath houses outside that people regularly used. Most of the time it was unused since Binder Lolilyuri had made it clear it was for emergencies only, and people had more convenient and comfortable facilities at their disposal. Now, however, everyone was staying inside the Dungeon due to the dragon—

…

…

Shana found herself blinking, coming back to her senses as the disruptive emotions receded, and found Yoshka grinning up at her, her cousin's hand mashing her cheek in circles again. "Please stop that, Yoshka."

Yoshka giggled, but put her hand down.

Everyone was staying inside the Dungeon, so using these baths were the only option available to them to use. The bath's capacity was much smaller than the others outside, so Shana and the children under her care all had to wait as others who had entered the baths before them finished. Fortunately, the arrangement of the dungeon's baths discouraged lingering. Shana had never used the baths beyond washing her hands before dinner until now.

Unlike the demesne's other baths, it had no anteroom for people to get undressed and put away their clothes. There was only a pair of blocking walls that kept people from seeing inside, in keeping from Binder Lolilyuri's views on propriety. Since the arrangement seemed to keep out most drafts, no one really complained despite how cramped the entrance to the baths could be when many people were trying to get in and out.

As they waited, other children joined their group, all carrying their bath buckets with towels and a change of clothes. With Binder Lolilyuri's bath houses, everyone had gotten into the habit of washing off after a sweaty day, and everyone clearly intended that today would be no different.

Normally, clothes would be worn for as long as people could stand them in the summer—and in other season, really—but at Lord Rian's urging, people had taken to changing out their clothes when possible, so as to give soiled clothes time to be given a shallow washing in water to get some of the sweat off. Clothes were usually washed in soap, but with the summer's heat and everyone sweating so much, it was done in this way to ration out their soap supplies. Shana carried her bucket with her soap, toweling, and a set of shallow-washed clothes. Later, when she had time, she intended to take the set she was wearing and wash them as well to get the smell off so that they would be reasonably wearable for a few more days.

Eventually, it was their turn.

Fortunately, most knew how to bathe themselves, and for those young enough to need help, Shana, Karina, the two Ateh, or one of the older children were there to help. Most of what Shana and the others had to do was remind everyone not to use too much water or make a mess by splashing it everywhere on the floor. Some also needed help washing their hair, since the younger ones couldn't put soap on their head and close their eyes at the same time. With everyone having been restricted to the dungeon though, there were fewer instances of mud and small pebbles falling out of someone's hair during washing.

Then everyone had to be toweled and dried, which required a lot of reminding because there were those who would have been perfectly fine with walking out of the baths still dripping wet to try to keep cool in the summer heat.

"No," Shana said resolutely as she picked up the dripping wet Febe by her underarms and carried her back to be toweled off by Ateh Kayas. "If you go out there dripping, you'll leave water all over the ground, and people could slip and hurt themselves, you especially. The mess will also make it more difficult for the uncles and aunties who clean the floors of the dining hall. Do you want to give people more work to do?"

"But it's hot…!" Febe whined.

"No, it won't be," Shana said patiently. "We're sleeping in the dungeon tonight, remember? It won't be hot."

"Oh! Yay!"

Shana placed the girl in front of Ateh Kayas and her toweling, who made the younger girl giggle with pokes at her ticklish spots as she was dried. Shana was glad the two women were learning to be more patient. They had been a bit overwhelmed when they had first started living with her to help tend the children, but in the past months the two had gotten better at it.

Once everyone was done, Shana led her charges down to her alcove, where all the game boards and a few carved toys were set aside to one corner so that everyone could start laying down their bedrolls together. The bedrolls were layered for added padding, and some blankets were put on top of them, since blankets were easier to wash than bedrolls. Then it was the usual confused tangle as everyone tried to get a comfortable spot without anyone's feet in their face.

Shana laid out her and Yoshka's bedroll next to where Yrria and Tena lay on the edge of the sleep tangle and sat down on it to keep them company.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Yoshka sat down next to her without a pout. "I'm not sleepy," she insisted. "I just slept!"

"I know, Yoshka," Shana said as she sat back. "I'll just make sure that Yrria and Tena can sleep well, and then I'll be going up. You can play upstairs while you're waiting for me if you want." She reached up and grabbed their pillow, then set it down next to her.

"I'm not going to sleep," Yoshka insisted, but she lay down and put her head on the pillow. "I'm just lying down."

Shana nodded, one hand drooping down so two of her fingers could gently stroke Yoshka's hair. "You're just lying down."

Yrria and Tena took a while to fall asleep. The two of them were uncomfortable in their new surroundings, and the constant, unchanging light of the Dungeon was probably brighter than they were used to. The other children were sleeping with an arm over their eyes or simply with their back to the opening of the alcove, clearly used to the Dungeon and Binder Lolilyuri's occasional bouts of thoughtlessness on the matter.

The second level of the Dungeon suddenly plunged into darkness, making Yrria and Tena cry out and Shana glanced out of the alcove in surprise. Ah. It looked like Binder Lolilyuri had either remembered or had been reminded. She reached into her belt pouch and drew out the rock that emitted light that she had been given, setting it down on the ground next to her. The two young girls shuffled closer to her, their hands grasping. Shana reached down and took their hands in hers.

"Don't worry," she said as gently as she could manage. Beyond the alcove, a dim light returned, weak like the light of a single moon. "I'm here. You're safe."

"I want to go home," Tena said plaintively. "I want my inay and itay."

…

…

…

…

…

Shana blinked, coming back to her senses as the disruptive emotions receded. "You'll go home," she said gently. "You'll see them again. After this is all over, you can go back home."

Eventually, the two fell asleep, the long day and the relative gloom of the second level lulling them unconscious. Shana carefully let go of their hands, adjusting their blanket so they wouldn't get too cold. With the added light of her glowing rock, she checked over the other children. Most were asleep, and those that weren't were slowly getting there. Yoshka's snoring quieted as Shana adjusted her cousin's head, even though she knew her cousin wouldn't be loud enough to wake anyone.

Picking up her glowing rock, she placed it on the bench next to Ateh Kayas. "Here. Use this if you're going to be spinning."

Ateh Kayas smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Lady Binder," she said. "I'll watch over them. You can go take care of things."

Shana nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry you have to stay up like this."

"I know how the children need to be watched, Lady Binder," Ateh Kayas said as she flicked her wrist to get her spindle turning. "Go. I'll be fine here."

She nodded again and left.

––––––––––––––––––

The first matter Shana checked on was whether Lord Rian was in fact sleeping as he'd said he would be.

Lord Rian's alcove was the one in the far corner of the second level, next to the sealed off alcove where Binder Lolilyuri stored things she worked on that she didn't feel like keeping in her room above the dining hall. The alcoves around them hadn't been properly claimed by families, and were mostly used for storage for things like jars of vigas, or the room where flour was milled.

Unlike everyone else, there was a bed in the alcove, a large and wide one meant for several people at once. Currently, it's only occupants was the sleeping Lord Rian, with Ateh Umu cuddled against him on one side and Ateh Mikon on the other. Lord Rian's leg was twitching slightly, but was being held down by Ateh Mikon's, meaning all it could do was jerk up slightly.

The next thing she did was check with the medics and doctors if there were any injuries. While there were probably no serious hurts or possible infections since no one had been referred to her, there might be more minor things that weren't considered worth interrupting her. Upstairs, the dining hall was still as brightly lit as usual, with some people sitting at the table to play board games. The baths were still in use, not everyone having managed to take a bath yet.

There was still a congregation of people near the entrance of the Dungeon. In addition to the on-duty volunteers and the currently off-duty volunteers keeping them company, a space had been cleared and several bed rolls had been laid out on the floor, with several people sleeping on them. More volunteers, those too tired to stay awake but wanting to be nearby in case they were needed.

At a nearby table, aunt Medic Parndal was keeping an eye on a pottery waterclock that was dripping water down into a bucket. A small handful of stones was piled next to the water clock, and a line of three stones stood in front of her, likely a counter of some sort.

Shana decided to go there first. "Medic Parndal," she greeted as she drew close to the table.

The woman looked blinked sleepily as she looked up, a few strands of her pale blue hair having escaped from her bun. "Oh, Shasha…" she said blearily, before she shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "I mean, Lady Binder. W-what can I do for you?" She was clearly repressing the urge to yawn.

"I'm inquiring as to injuries," Shana said. "Are there any injuries I should know about?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about, Lady Binder," aunt Medic Parndal said, standing up and stretching. Her movements weren't particularly tired, so perhaps she'd been simply bored and lulled by inactivity. "Only some aching fingers. No one dropped anything on themselves, no one got cut on anything."

That was good to hear. It didn't mean no one would be injured from this point on—one of the stairs was near the baths, and she could imagine a chain of events involving someone dripping on the ground and someone slipping and falling down the stairs—but at least nothing of the sort had happened yet. Such would help with morale, she supposed. "Thank you. Would you like me to relieve you for the moment, or find you a replacement?"

"Oh, I don't need replacing yet, Sha—Lady Binder," aunt Medic Parndal said. "But if you're offering, I'll be glad for a chance to stretch my legs a little and get the blood flowing."

Shana nodded. "Does this mean three hours have passed, or that we are on our third hour?" she said, gesturing to the stones.

"Three hours passed," aunt Medic Parndal confirmed. "We think sundown was an hour ago, before we had dinner, but we're not very sure."

Shana nodded. "Very well. Take a moment to stretch, and if you could, please call Sargent Kovla for me so I can speak to him?"

She settled down on the bench, checking the level of the water and drawing the ladle from the bucket in preparation for refilling it.

Hopefully, it would be a long, boring night.