After sweeping her floor after dinner—Rian had insisted on doing it himself, since he said she probably wouldn't sweep under her bed, which… was fair—a promise of new footwear, and begging for Lori to not expand the demesne before he could measure how much the demesne had expanded, Lori went to bed.

"Five paces!" Rian declared cheerfully the next day as he finally arrived for breakfast. "Well, five paces less a yustri, but still! I think that's a record for you!"

Lori gave him a flat look, then turned toward Riz. "Erzebed, did you accompany him?"

"No, Great Binder," Riz said, turning to frown at him as well.

Lori nodded solemnly, then turned a glare at her lord. "Rian… did you go to the edge by yourself? Alone? Before sunrise?"

Rian froze. "Uh… um…hmm…" He looked deep in thought for a moment before nodding. "Absolutely nothing I say is going to keep me out of trouble, is it?"

"No," Lori said, and she found herself being echoed by Umu, Mikon and Riz.

Next to her, Shanalorre stood up. "Come on, Yoshka. Let's sit at the other table this morning."

"Eh? But we're already sitting here, Shasha—AH!"

Shanalorre put her hands under her cousin's armpits and lifted her up and over the bench in a smooth motion, turning around and walking towards the end of the other table's bench. The children sitting their hastily shuffled aside to make room, and Shanalorre put down her cousin on the bench.

"Yay! Shasha, do that again!"

"Later. Make room, Yoshka."

Rian looked forlorn for some reason. "She abandoned me… Shana—"

"Shanalorre," Lori corrected.

"—I thought we were friends!"

"Dungeon Binders don't get involved in this sort of nonsense," Shanalorre said as she sat down.

Lori nodded approvingly, then continued glaring at her lord. "You went alone! While it was dark! What if you'd encountered a beast?-! Even a choker could have significantly hurt you in the dark, and if you'd been injured, there wouldn't have been anyone to help you and get you back to my Dungeon! Were you even armed?"

"And it was at the edge!" Riz added, also glaring at him. "You know the local beasts still haven't really learned not to step into the demesne! What if there'd been leapers out there!-? If you'd woken me up, I could have at least gone out with you to keep watch!"

"I didn't want to bother yo—"

"It's not a bother, it's just common sense not to go to the edge of the demesne alone! And don't mention the hunters, they always tell each other where they're going out, and when they plan to be back!"

"You didn't even leave a note," Mikon said, her face set in a disapproving frown that somehow made her face look like she was pouting. "Even though we have that writing slate in the house. If something had happened to you, we wouldn't have known until you didn't come home tonight!"

"You didn't wake us up!" Umu said, then blushed and ducked her head.

"That too!" Mikon agreed.

Lori immediately threw away the first thought she had of why that was a complaint, and then the next three as well just in case.

"Not the point, you two," Riz snapped, and the other two women looked chagrined for a moment. Lori threw away her thought as to why. "That was reckless! You're the highest-ranked officer in this demesne, especially since the Great Binder doesn't seem to want to raise any more lords or ladies. If something happened to you, it would break the flow of command, and there'd be no one who'd be able to talk to the Great Binder!"

Lori nodded fiercely. "You can't just go off alone," she said. "You're the lord of this demesne. If you need to go somewhere dangerous, you can and should wake up people to go with you. Whether or not you want to bother anyone is irrelevant. Your safety and usefulness supersedes any irritation or bother they might feel…!"

The four-way scolding went on for most of breakfast. Whatshername—the one who named plants—and her wife for once chose not to be affectionate and simply ate quietly, something Lori was relieved about. The scolding was only interrupted when Lori realized she was hungry and that no one would be going to get food because… well, everyone who would get food for her was either scolding or getting scolded. Sending Rian to get food—finally getting to go get everyone's food as he kept asking for—let them all catch their breath, and the water he brought let them soothe their throats.

There was a brief silence as they all took a quick moment to eat and drink. The food was a bit cold, likely because they were the last bowls left, but Lori was able to warm hers, and the other seemed to have no trouble eating. Rian sat with his head bowed and eating as quietly as possible, as if trying not to draw their attention again.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lori finished her food quickly, eating the last of her bread and pushing her bowl aside. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she said. On the other side of Umu, whatshername and her wife looked at each other, picked up their bowls and cups, and left the table.

Rian visibly flinched, his hands hesitating on his food before her set his spoon back in his bowl. "Um, I promise to not go to the edge, or even just the deep woods myself?"

Lori raised an eyebrow, and proceeded as her mothers had done unto her. "And?"

"…and if I have to, I should bring people with me even if it would be bothering them…"

"And?"

"…and I shouldn't risk myself, because it would be inconvenient for you."

"And?"

"…"

Lori let out a disgusted snort. "And you going off alone sets a bad example for the children," she said, pointing over her shoulder, where she could still here the children sitting. "You will not do this again, is this understood, Rian?"

"… yes, your Bindership."

"Good. If it happens again, there will be consequences. I believe there are leaves to be swept and latrine waste needs to be hauled." Rian visibly winced at that. "For now, I will trust you to learn from this. Do not betray my trust."

"… yes, your Bindership."

Lori nodded, rising to her feet. She nodded at Umu, Mikon and Riz. "I have work to do, so I leave the rest of his scolding to you. Consider your displeasure to be my displeasure in this matter."

Rian blinked, staring at her. "Wait, you're… delegating this?" He sounded aghast and disbelieving.

"I'm still displeased but have no more time to spend on this matter." Lori nodded at the three. "They do. Discipline him with my blessing, you three. Erzebed, leave any violence to be done to the other two, they don't know how to kill or maim a man with their bare hands. If anything happens to him, I'm giving you his job."

Giving the three one last wave, she headed up to her room to work on expanding the boundaries of her demesne.

––––––––––––––––––

The next day's expansion was easier as Lori slowly got back into the rhythm of things and in so doing remembered the little tricks and efficiencies she'd been using to make the work easier for her, and more importantly when she should apply them.

When it was time for lunch, the knock on her door calling her to the meal was soft as if hesitant, and she opened the door to find a Rian lacking his usual cheerfulness. "The food's ready, your Bindership."

Lori looked him up and down. "Have you asked Shana to heal you yet?" she said.

"I'm happy to say things didn't progress in that direction," he said. "Do you want the details, or are you going to trust the people you delegated to have it handled?"

She tilted her head in thought, then waved a hand dismissively. "Will any of them be leaving you?"

Rian was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he said. "I hope not. I…" He shook his head. "No, you don't want to hear, right?"

"You should have married them," Lori said. "I technically haven't actually made a complete divorce procedure yet. Until I do, they wouldn't be able to leave you properly."

A laugh emerged from Rian. "No, no you haven't," he said, still chuckling. "How's the expansion going?"

"I'm still getting back in practice, but it is already progressing smoothly," she said. "It seems easier now as well. That might be because of the increased concentration of Iridescence on the ground because of the heat."

Rian nodded as they began walking downstairs. "Doesn't that mean that the best season to expand the demesne is summer, not winter?"

Lori twitched. "I'll consider it," she said, then realized that made absolutely no sense.

"Huh… so that does mean 'I know you're right, but won't admit it'…"

"No, it doesn't! It means a manner requires my careful consideration!"

"Then why did you say it just now?"

"Oh, shut up, Rian!"

"Shutting up, your Bindership."

Lunch was quiet, which was a pleasant surprise. Whatshername—Lori checked her rock—Taeclas and her wife Rybelle didn't engage in their usual affectionate behavior for some reason. Still, the four seemed to have gone back to their usual rotation, because Umu and Mikon were the ones to get the food. Still, there was none of the usual flirting. Umu didn't press against Rian's side, and Mikon was sitting on his other side instead of Riz. While they sometimes traded places, Riz was pointedly paying attention only to her food, and Mikon was flirting with no one.

It all reminded her of the pointedly polite periods when her own mothers had quarreled over one thing or another. During those times, she'd simply kept quiet, stayed out of their way, and made airwisp bindings to muffle the sounds when they eventually reconciled.

"Rian, what's the status of the sawmill?" she asked.

"It's coming along," he said. "We're almost done securing the beams and purlins, so we'll be able to start roofing soon…"

Lori nodded, listening to the report as she ate. After making sure there was nothing she had to take care of and telling Rian to eat his own food, she went back to her room to continue her work.

By the end of the day, she'd managed to expand her demesne nine times, though she wouldn't know how much that was in comparison to yesterday without Rian measuring. Not that it really mattered, but she needed to confirm that she was actually expanding the demesne more now than she had during the winter.

At dinner, everyone seemed to be back to normal. Whatshername—Lori checked her rock—Taeclas and her wife were sitting closer now, and Umu was leaning against Rian again, though only slightly. Riz was also casting glances his way, and Mikon was humming happily, still sitting between the two of them and alternating leaning against both.

"Erzebed," Lori said, and the woman's attention turned to her.

"Yes, Great Binder?"

"Rian will be going back to the edge tomorrow. Make sure there isn't a repeat of this morning."

"Yes, Great Binder," Riz said firmly as Rian simply nodded, seeming resigned.

Lori nodded. "He'll probably be going every morning from now on, so account for that."

Riz gave Rian a level look. "I will, Great Binder." Mikon put a hand on the other woman's shoulder as if trying to calm her, and Riz actually did seem to relax slightly at her touch. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't go unaccompanied again."

"Good. Rian, is there anything that needs to be brought to my attention?"

Rian looked relieve at the change of subject. "Uh, you asked me to inform you when the when the smiths would be free to assist you in running some more alloy experiments?"

Ah. "Ah. Are they free, then?"

"Tomorrow," Rian confirmed. "It will be a good chance to try out the new crucibles we brought back from Covehold Demesne."

Lori nodded. "Good. I expect you to be present to take notes."

It was time to continue her experiments on copper-white Iridescence bound alloys.