To Lori's pleasant surprise, dinner wasn't as annoying as she had feared.

The Deadspeaker—Lori checked the new rock she'd made that afternoon—Kolinh, and—no, wait… that was definitely the wrong name, she could tell that much… ah, here was the right rock, the description she'd thought to include matched—Taeclas, and her wife had sat on the other side of the table next to Umu, who had a firm grip on Rian's arm.

"Hello, Rian!" Taeclas greeted enthusiastically, her voice somehow managing to cut through the normal background noise of the dining hall. "Who's your… uh…" She faltered, seeming to notice how both Mikon and Umu were sitting on either side of him, clutching at his arms as the women leaned against him, while Riz sat on the other side of Mikon, making a pouting face. As Lori watched, waiting for the food to be ready, Taeclas rallied. "Could you introduce us?"

"Ah, Taeclas, you already know Riz. On my left here is Umu, and on my right between me and Riz is Mikon," Rian said. "Umu, Mikon, this is Taeclas and sitting at the end is her wife Rybelle. "

Umu, who'd started to glare, visibly relaxed at that last, giving Taeclas and Rybelle a nod instead even as she seemed to tighten her grip on Rian's arm.

Mikon leaned forward to look past Rian. "Hello. It's nice to meet you. You must be the new people Rian brought back with him from Covehold."

"Yes, we are. Ah, how… um, what is… uh…"

"Go ahead," Mikon said cheerfully. "You can ask."

"I'm… not sure what to ask," Taeclas said, one finger scratching at her cheek.

"So!" Rian said brightly. "You're both new here Tae, so I'll show you where you can line up for food when it's time. I can introduce you to the men and women running the kitchen—"

"No, you're not going anywhere, Rian," Mikon interrupted. "You're tired and you've been away from home for a long time. Umu, and I will take care of showing our new neighbors around while you sit here and relax."

"I will?"

"Come on, don't you want to make our new neighbors feel welcome?"

The expression on Umu's face that she directed to the other weaver was one Lori had no trouble interpreting.

"Look, neither of you have to, it's no trouble for me to show Tae and Rybelle where—"

"No, you just sit down and rest, Rian. It's our turn to get the food tonight, so we're going there anyway…"

Taeclas turned towards Lori, a confused expression on her face. She opened her mouth… and Rybelle reached over and touched her wife's hand, drawing her attention. The blue-haired woman shook her head, which took the Deadspeaker a moment to interpret, before she suddenly reached a realization, and theatrically shut her mouth.

Well, at least Rian had managed to get that across.

"Oh look, the food's ready," Rian exclaimed, trying to get up and of course failing as Umu and Mikon still had a grip on his arms. "Uh, Umu, Mikon… could you let me go now?"

It was a pleasant meal, as Taeclas kept glancing sideways at the byplay between Rian and the three women, while Rian tried to hold a cheerful conversation with her, assisted by Mikon. It was mildly amusing to watch as Taeclas clearly wanted to ask what was going on and kept failing to properly articulate her question.

Since she wouldn't be discussing matters with Rian, Lori retired early to her room.

The books were waiting for her.

For a moment, Lori stared at them.

The itch came back.

Well, it's not like she had any more work to do today... and she wasn't that tired yet. Surely she had time for a little reading.

Moving to the table, Lori picked up the early primer on Deadspeaking—because it was the most immediately useful for their situation—and took it to her bed.

…

She… might have to wash her bedroll and blankets soon. Lori remembered planning to do it… when was that? Well, not important, she'd get to it… soon.

Arranging her bedroll in the upright recess against the wall she used when she'd been expanding the demesne so that she would be comfortable, Lori carefully opened the Deadspeaking primer—fortunately, the book felt solid and secure in her hands—and began to read.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

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At breakfast the next morning, Rian still looked sleepy, his hair still wet from having been at the baths before he'd arrived. Notably, Umu, Mikon and Riz were absent.

"Rian," Lori said with poise and dignity, "did you stay up late last night?"

"Did you get any sleep at all?" he retorted, blinking slowly.

…

Lori didn't dignify that comment with a response, and not because she couldn't think of anything in time.

The two of them stared at each other across the table, Rian raising his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. He was also swaying from side to side. Yes, it was definitely Rian swaying.

…

Perhaps she shouldn't have started reading that primer after all. She'd found herself staying up all night, simply reading it and familiarizing herself with the most basic aspects of Deadspeaking… not that she could remember what those were, at the moment. She remembered eagerly reading the early parts, resisting the urge to try anything until she had more information… she remembered finding a way to balance the book on her sternum so she wouldn't have to hold it as she read…she remembered reading just to find out what was next so she could make sense of the mush of words that she had read previously…

There was a loud skidding sound as Shanalorre arrive, and with a practiced movement drew back the short bench next to Lori with one foot as she assisted her almost-asleep cousin to the table. It was almost impressive how the young girl managed to sit on the bench the right way before crossing her arms on the table to lay down her head. As Shanalorre moved the bench back in place, her cousin was already dozing again, her slow, even breaths whistling slightly…

Lori opened her eyes and straightened hurriedly. Her half-lidded eyes glared a challenge at Rian, daring him to say anything.

"Good morning, Great Binder, Lord Rian," Shanalorre said. Her pale hair was pulled back and tied into a tassel, likely to help with the heat. "Are you both well? You both seem… tired."

"Yes, I am very tired," Rian said, nodding. Then he forced his eyes open again. "I want to go back to sleep, but I should be fine again after breakfast."

Shanalorre nodded. "Then our scheduled briefing as to the demesne's stocks and supplies is still on?"

Rian visibly winced. "I really want to say yes…" Rian muttered, "but… can I get back to you about that?"

"So you did stay up late last night," Lori said pointedly.

"Can you say that with your eyes open, it's hard to take you seriously otherwise."

Her eyes were closed? Oh, right, they were closed. She'd better open them, then.

…

She'd better open her eyes, then…

"Your Bindership…" she heard Rian's voice say, "perhaps you should go back to bed and join us for lunch instead? Or maybe even dinner? After all, it's not like you have to work. If there's anyone in this demesne who can afford to take a day off, it's you."

…

…

…

Oh, right, Rian was talking to her, wasn't he?

With what seemed like a great effort, Lori forced her eyes open to see Rian blinking at her. "What?"

"I said maybe you should take the day off and get some sleep," Rian said. "There's no reason for you to force yourself to stay up if you're tired. You're the Dungeon Binder, after all." He paused. "Though, if you're going to take the day off, can I do that same? Just a half day off would be great. Because if you're taking a day off, we'll have to push the schedule we talked about a day forward anyway."

"So you did stay up late last night!"

"…" Rian '…'-ed. "Yes, I stayed up later than I had intended to last night. Would you like me to give an account as to why?"

…

"No, that won't be necessary," Lori said magnanimously.

Rian nodded. "Why don't you go upstairs and sleep properly¸ your Bindership. Get some proper rest. If you woke up the same time yesterday as you always do, then you've been awake for more than twenty hours. There's no dragon passing overhead. And if one was coming, then we'd need you well rested to be able to prepare the defenses properly. So it's practically your solemn duty as a Dungeon Binder to go upstairs to your room and sleep for as long as you want. We can just push everything we discussed that we'd do to tomorrow."

…

Well, when Rian put it that way… Yes, she definitely had a duty to be as well rested as possible in case there was a dragon coming today. Though… should she wait to eat something first? She'd been up all night, and while her stomach was strangely quiet on the matter, it was still occasionally poking her with the reminder that she hadn't filled it all night…

Eh, she could eat later. She wasn't going wait the hour or so it would take for her to digest enough of the food to sleep safely…

…

"Lori?"

With a start, Lori realized her eyes were closed again, and reluctantly forced them open. "What?" she said blearily.

"Do you want me to help you get to your room?" Rian said.

Ah, right. Letting out a sigh, Lori reluctantly pushed herself to her feet, her hands on the table for balance. "That won't be necessary," she said. "I can make it back just fine."

Rian nodded. "Do you want me to accompany you and make sure people stay out of your way?"

"… fine…"

Lori wasn't sure how she got back to her room. She vaguely remembered her eyes being closed half the time, but obviously she'd somehow managed to make it there. Rian was probably involved. She remembered being annoyed as he made her wait while he fixed her bed roll, then again as she sat, her head lolling, while her boots were pulled off. They hadn't been laced properly, she could have just kicked them off.

She remembered some kind of cloth over her eyes, since the room was so bright… why was the room so bright?

She…

…

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When Lori woke up an indeterminate amount of time later, it was to a room that was far too bright to sleep in properly.

For a moment, she debated getting up.

…

Fixing her pillow and wrapping her blanket around herself properly—she didn't need it, but she liked the feeling of it wrapped around her—Lori deactivated all but one of the bindings of lightwisps and went back to sleep.

The darkness of her soul behind her eyes claimed her once again, and her last thought was to reassure herself that all her bindings would last until she woke up.