One of the waterskins in the hut still had a little water, and the two of them used it to wash their hands. Lori set down the bowl and, deciding they'd had enough sleep, began to clap her hands noisily. "All right, all of you, wake up," she said. "Get that dust off and wash out, or the colors will take root in your brains! It's the afternoon, and the food's cold!"

She was really sounding like one of her mothers at this point.

"I'm on vacation, leave me alone," Rian muttered.

"The bread will get hard," Lori said.

"What the bread does on vacation is its business," Rian muttered and turned over, rolling off his sleeping roll and face first into the wooden floor. "Sleep is divine and I'm worshipping."

"You're making that up," Lori said. "There are no sleep-based religions."

"I'm starting one. Go away," Rian muttered.

"Is that any way to talk to your Binder?"

"Please go away, your Bindership," Rian groaned, grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head, still facedown on the wooden floor.

Lori shrugged, turning to the three who were at least sitting up. "Fine. The three of you can have his bread and stuffed meat pastries."

Rian was suddenly upright like a seel leaping out of the water. "All right fellows, get up, get up, it's a new day, time is wasting!" he said with manic cheer. "Where are these pastries and…" he blinked. "Why is Binder Shanalorre here? Who found her?"

"No one. She was never lost," Lori said.

Rian gave her a look, then knelt down to meet Binder Shanalorre's eyes. "Blink twice if you're being held against your will," he said in a mock whisper.

"You realize I can hear you, right?" Lori said flatly.

"Lori, please, we're having a private conversation," Rian said.

Binder Shanalorre gave a small smile. "I am not being held against my will, Lord Rian," she said, "but thank you for asking."

Rian blinked at that, but nodded. "Well… nice to see you're fine and not hurt. Have you let your aunt and uncle know you're back?"

"They have been informed," Shanalorre said. "Lord Rian, I thank you for acting as you did and moving to protect me yesterday. Without you, the attempt on my life might have succeeded."

Rian blinked, and for some reason glanced at Lori. "Um, you're welcome," he said. "It was the right thing to do. I'm just glad you weren't hurt."

"I am physically unhurt," Binder Shanalorre said. "It was nice to meet you, Lord Rian. I hope our future meetings are more pleasant." She turned to Lori and nodded. "I will see you later, Binder Lolilyuri. I must make arrangements for my announcement. I hope you have a good day. "

"And you as well, Binder Shanalorre," Lori aid.

The younger Binder left.

"Is she all right?" Rian said, sounding concerned.

"Yes," Lori said, frowning down at him.

He noticed her gaze. "What?" he said as he stood up.

"You never kneel for me," she said. She wasn't petulant. Not at all.

"We have the same eye level, I don't need to kneel to talk to you face to face," Rian said.

She supposed that made sense… and really, ritualized kneeling sounded like a pointless waste of time anyway.

"Did anything about her strike you as… strange?" Rian said, still looking towards where the little Binder had gone.

Lori shrugged. "She seemed like a perfectly reasonable, level-headed, sensible person."

"And… you don't see anything strange about that?" Rian said.

"Well, yes, but it was probably about time I met someone else who was reasonable, level-headed and sensible," Lori said.

Rian didn't reply, still staring after Binder Shanalorre with a slight frown.

"I brought fruit," she said, gesturing towards the hairy blueballs.

He gave her an intent look that was mildly disconcerting. "So the pastries were a lie?"

"They're in the bowl," she pointed.

"You're the best Binder ever," he shamelessly flattered. "Hey, you three save some for me!"

Landoor was summarily dispatched to get more drinking water as the other three sat down for the very late breakfast– alternately, lunch– of bread, meat and vegetable pastries, and hairy blueballs. While Deil and Tackir were perplexed at the fruit's appearance and how to open it, Lori wasn't even surprised when, after taking a moment to marvel at its appearance, Rian squeezed it in the middle with both hands, splitting the skin open and revealing the yellow flesh inside.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

She was a little concerned when he popped it into his mouth, gently chewed once, and his eyes went wide.

"What? What is it?" she said.

Rian gestured vaguely and took another, slower chew, before spitting the seed into his hand and quickly chewing the rest. "I've found a reason to live again," he said, staring at the seed like it contained endless wonders. "Lori, we need to grow these on Lorian. We need to! Otherwise I don't know how I'll keep on living!"

"It's only a fruit, Rian," Lori said, wondering if her lord was losing his sanity. Was he having some sort of allergic reaction? Some kind of strange mind-altering substance that formed from leaving the fruit unattended?

"Blasphemy!"

"There aren't any fruit-based religions."

"I'll start one!"

"I thought you were starting a sleep-based religion?"

"We need something to worship during the day, don't we?"

––––––––––––––––––

"I shall begin by apologizing for causing you all undue worry," Binder Shanalorre began, addressing the assembled people of River's Fork Demesne. There were much fewer than the number of people Lori had in her demesne, which was… well, mildly satisfying. "I had not considered how you would all react to my sudden disappearance, and for that I'm sorry…"

She spoke on, while the people of her demesne kept glancing at each other in confusion and paying insufficient attention. Really, their Binder was speaking! They should mind her words. Granted, they weren't words Lori herself would have ever bothered to use, but to each their own, she supposed.

"– is no excuse. I will no longer be lax in my duties as this Demesne's Binder," Shanalorre continued as Lori leaned back on one of the wooden huts. "I know I am not the Binder you wish for, but I am the one you have. If you are dissatisfied with my leadership, then there are two options before you." She pointed, and Lori realized she was pointing in their direction. "Binder Lolilyuri and Lord Rian are here as representatives of their demesne, who were kind enough to take in our people who left. If you feel you do not find the idea of my rule palatable, then the first option is that you make arrangements with them to transfer and reside in their demesne. They have limited space on their vessel, but Binder Lolilyuri has assured me that she will accept anyone who wishes to do so."

There were murmurs and glances towards Lori, who remained impassive and leaning against the hut at her back.

Finally, someone called out, "What's the second option?"

Binder Shanalorre looked impassively over her people. "The second option is for one of you to kill me, here and now, and have Binder Lolilyuri replace me."

There was a much louder eruption of voices at this. In the front, Binder Shanalorre's aunt and uncle looked very upset, and even the militiamen around her looked uncomfortable.

"Did you put her up to this?" Rian said, his voice low and very, very flat.

"It would be convenient for me, but no," Lori said. "Stop Landoor."

Rian glanced at the idiot, but apparently Lori's concern was unwarranted. The fool simply looked as stunned as everyone else. She'd been worried he'd take her up on her offer in some misguided delusion that he could claim this place's core for himself.

"You! What have you been telling my niece?!"

The violent exclamation drew both of their attention, Rian letting his left hand drop but not actually touching his sword. The Binder's uncle, Lasponin, was pointing dramatically at Lori like this was some sort of climactic moment in a theatrical play, his face full of outraged indignation.

"Uncle, stand down," Shanalorre said. "You are being rude to our guests."

"They've done something to her!" her uncle cried, ignoring her. "Ever since they–"

Shanalorre took off her shoe and threw it with unerring accuracy, interrupting her uncle in mid-exclamation by slamming into his throat. "Do not ignore me, doctor," she said. "I am no one's puppet, and certainly not Binder Lolilyuri's. I give my people this choice because they deserve the option of choosing it." She faced the people. "Choose, people of River's Fork. Choose now and be done with it. Either I am your Binder and command your trust and obedience, or I am not. In which case, strike me down, here and now, and follow someone else."

In more theatrical circumstances, that announcement would have been made in eerie, dramatic silence, letting the audience take in the full dramatic import. Instead, it was by undercut the people speaking to each other in confused, upset tones. Her uncle tried to speak, but seemed to be unable to, only making strangled sounds of his throat while his wife examined him and apparently tried to keep him from choking.

"No one? Will no one end me?" Shanalorre said, looking out over the crowd. "Will no one have the courage to make their objection known? Will you truly obey a child?"

She stood there until the murmurs lessened, growing quieter until they vanished, the only sound the wind and her uncle trying to breath.

"So be it, then," Shanalorre said. "In that case, a few announcements. As of now, the only one authorized to speak in my name is retired captain Yllian, on matters of internal discipline, with punishments subject to ratification. Others will be announced as I ascertain their trustworthiness. Be informed that Doctor Lasponin is NOT authorized to speak in my name and is only to be considered an authority on matters of medical care. We are also beginning recruitment for the local militia, on a purely volunteer basis. Please speak to Captain Yllian if you wish to volunteer. As of now, the mines cannot resume operation, due to a shortage of labor. Instead, we will be redirecting our efforts towards securing food…"

Lori listened as Shanalorre went from establishing her authority to using that authority to set the necessary tasks to keep her demesne alive. Her people didn't seem very cowed, but neither did anyone take her up on her offer, so far. Perhaps someone would come later, too cowardly to do it with so many people watching. Was it a little hypocritical to make that offer, and keep the man most likely to take it imprisoned? Possibly, but Grem had clearly erred by trying to do it before the offer had been made. Really, if he'd just waited a day…

Ah, well…

"I'll be at the boat, imbuing the water jet," Lori told Rian. "Stay here and make arrangements for those who want to come with us. We'll leave tomorrow morning, bright and early so we can be back in my demesne before nightfall. Prioritize those with few belongings."

"Uh, right…" Rian said, who was watching Shanalorre with a vaguely disturbed look. "Are you sure you didn't put her up to anything? Even accidentally, or by implication? The way she's acting…"

"No, I didn't," Lori said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "I don't harm children. And don't forget to bring those fruit seeds with us, all right?"

"Uh, sure…" Rian said, still watching Shanalorre. "As if I'd forget."

Shrugging, Lori headed for Lori's Boat, to spend the afternoon imbuing the water jet… as soon as she'd rigged up some sort of sun shade…

Behind her, Shanalorre continued to speak, her voice calm and reasoned, and her words perfectly sensible.