Lori didn't recognize who won at wrestling, but they were tall, big and heavy, which sounded about right for winning wrestling.

With the day so late, dinner preparations immediately followed. Lori decapitated the seels, and people set out to skin, gut and drain them. She had to help with that, as the blood had either frozen or congealed from being in blocks of ice while the wrestling competition ran its course, but once she was told it needed to be done to improve the flavor, she resigned herself to it. Admittedly, forcing water though blood vessels was a novel new experience. As there was no horrible taste in her meat, she presumed it worked.

Someone started playing music again, and Lori instinctively checked the sky. Not yet proper sundown. They had time before she had to make them—well, make Rian—stop doing that.

"A lot of people will probably go to sleep soon," Rian commented next to her. "They're full, since they've been eating a lot. People might actually look forward to regular food tomorrow." He looked at where the seels were still in the process of being butchered. "I better go make sure they're ready to store most of that. It'll be easier to get food out of storage if people want to eat some more than it is to put it in storage once it's been sitting around a while…"

"I need you to make another announcement while everyone is eating," Lori said.

Rian groaned. "My poor throat…"

Lori rolled her eyes. "If you can't speak the actual words, find someone who can. I need you to ask for volunteers for our part in River's Fork's proposal about the mine. Make it clear that they will still be part of this demesne, they're just working there."

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" Rian asked.

"They'll be up late letting their stomach settle, they might as well have something to think about," Lori shrugged.

"You're giving them homework? You cruel, cruel monster you," Rian said with a small, amused smirk.

"A necessary cruelty, I assure you," Lori said.

The announcement was made, and the call for volunteers came out. Lori had decided on a maximum of thirty, but would be very surprised if that many people volunteered. She was hoping they'd get around fifteen. It would not surprise her if no one volunteered though, and she would need to find the people doing the least work—well, have Rian find the people doing the least work. There were always some, simply from human nature if nothing else—and somehow 'volunteer' them. Or at least entice them somehow…

Lori sighed as she realized she might actually have to do something she'd been putting off.

Still, the announcement was followed with an interested murmur in the crowd. Some people even went up to Rian to ask for details, very politely ignoring her completely and not bothering her as she ate. It wasn't like sitting at their usual table in the Dungeon. For one, it was windier, and as the sun set more, she had to make bindings of lightwisps and have them float in midair to illuminate where people were eating. Still, Lori and everyone else made no move to go eat in the dining halls.

Eventually, it had to end. There were disappointed sighs as Rian called for people to start moving tables and benches back into the dining halls. Not all the tables had been removed, but a lot of the benches had been, including a few that some jokers had put in the river for some reason. She hoped that hadn't damaged them.

Still, the return of the furniture proceeded smoothly enough. The tables all went back, but some of the benches remained for people to sit on. Well, not her problem. The benches at her table had stayed right where they were in the Dungeon.

As night fell, the music all fell away, leaving only the sounds of the songbugs, the sound of the river, the distant sounds the seels and voices raised in song. A drinking song at that, despite the lack of booze to accompany it.

Well, it wasn't music. Lori let it be.

After cleaning her plate with oil and ash, and giving Rian the stones of the pink ladies as well as other seeds, she went up to her room to sleep.

––––––––––––––––––

Lori lazily woke up to the now-familiar discomforts of sleeping on a wooden bed with nothing but her laundry and her raincoat to cushion her back. Was it her imagination, or did her clothes no longer provide the cushioning they once did? She very much hoped it was just her imagination…

With a sigh, she stiffly got up, stretching and getting to her feet. If she had a proper bed with any sort of softness at all, she might have been tempted to just turn over and nap a little more. That was not an option, however, since her bed was very uncomfortable as it was. She went to her bathroom for some water to wash her face of oil, then got dressed for breakfast.

She tried not to think about stealing Rian's bedroll or keeping it for her own use. Or wishing she'd managed to get the bedroll of someone who'd died when she'd had the chance. She didn't remember being this uncomfortable when they'd been traveling from Covehold… but then, she'd always managed to cut a nice pile of grass to lie down on.

Maybe she should start doing that again…

Grumbling to herself, Lori headed down, game board in her arms. Thankfully, the Dungeon's dining hall was rich in the smells of cooking, though it was strangely quiet as well. Many people seemed to be sleeping on the tables, waiting for the kitchen staff to declare that the food was ready.

The board had been set up by the time Rian came in, looking like he wanted to sleep more. He took one look at the board, lingered, and shrugged. "Eh, why not," he said, and sat down. "So how'd you sleep?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"The same as I usually did," Lori said, which was true. She made the first move, taking stones from one of the bowls.

"Then you're in a good mood?" he said hopefully.

Lori sighed. "What do you want this time, Rian?"

"It's not for me," he said, affecting innocence. "It's for all your hard working, frustrated citizens."

"The weavers and ropers can start moving into the second level as soon as they can, as long as they keep their equipment contained in the alcoves," Lori said. "Make sure they know that in the event of a dragon, that's the alcove they and their families will have to occupy, so they need to keep themselves neat. I'll begin construction of the third level as soon as I've transferred miners to River's Fork and have researched the air circulation question. If that is successful, I expect you to prioritize boat construction."

Rian paused. "I'll be perfectly honest, I'm actually surprised you remembered about that."

"Why wouldn't I remember?" Lori said.

"As I probably once said already, I can't just assume things with you," Rian said. "I wasn't talking about that issue, though I'll get the word out. But no, I don't mean any of that. "

Lori sighed. "Of course you didn't."

"No, we have a different immediate problem," Rian confirmed. "Er, over the holidays, did you perhaps notice how people were… ah, how do I say this…?"

"How what?" Lori said blandly. "How people were sneaking off into the woods in twos and threes, uncaring if the children happened to stumble over them?"

Rian blushed. "Wait, threes?" he said.

"It was either that or they had a living seel with them," Lori said blandly.

"Threes," Rian nodded. "Wow."

"One group seemed big enough to be at least four."

"Were you watching?" Rian asked, looking aghast and horrified.

Lori twitched. "What kind of pervert do you take me for?" she said. "I could tell from my connection to the demesne. Nothing so sordid as actually seeing them with my eyes had to happen."

"I'm not sure if that's better or worse…" Rian muttered.

"Get to the point, Rian," Lori snapped.

"Right! I think people need a place to do… that," Rian said. "I know technically people can do it at home, but… well, a lot of them have children and relatives. It's just not normally feasible. It worked yesterday because the children were out, and I think—I hope—they took turns, but given the number of people in the woods… well, that wasn't an option for everyone."

"So you want me to build a brothel?" Lori said flatly.

"No, of course not," Rian said. "It's not THAT kind of place. Just… some place people can go to be private. You know, a place that's not 'public' according to how you're going to define your law so people can be as indecent as they want… within reason, no kids, purely voluntary and consenting people only," he added hastily. "It's going to keep happening, and unless and until people get bigger homes, it's going to be an issue due to lack of privacy, especially when winter comes."

Lori blinked. "Why 'especially when winter comes'?"

"Well, even if people manage to sufficiently fortify their homes," Rian said, "that's whole families with months at home with little to do. And it's not like we have any reading material lying around, unless we go buy some in Covehold… which I still need to build the boat for… "

Lori held up a hand to stop him talking. "I'll consider it," she said. "As it is, it's a much lower priority than anything else we have, and that includes getting benches installed in the second level and no, I am not going to have people doing that in the second level alcoves." She recognized the thoughtful tilt of Rian's head.

"It's just a thought…" Rian said defensively.

"I will acknowledge it is an issue," Lori said. She sighed. "I'll consider it. Anything else?"

"Can you tell Umu, Mikon and Riz they don't need to make sure I go to sleep anymore?" Rian said. "I'll be sleeping normally again, so there's really no need for them to make sure I lie down and wait for me to fall asleep."

Lori raised an eyebrow. "I didn't tell them to do that."

Rian blinked. "Then why are they doing it?"

"Amusement, possibly?" Lori said blandly. "As you said, there is little to do here."

Rian groaned. "I'm going to have to start worrying about people pulling pranks on each other out of boredom, aren't I?"

Lori gave her lord a long, blank stare. "Go get the food," she said. "It should be done by now."

"I know you were getting your own food for most of yesterday," Rian said.

"Holiday logic," Lori said. "Normal logic doesn't apply."

Rian rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." He went off to get food.

Lori stretched, then frowned, realizing Rian had never made his move after she did. Did that mean he forfeited and she won?

Rian came back, holding two bowls. Lori picked one and was about to start eating when she frowned. "Does the meat look like a strange color to you?"

"I think they seared it before they added it to the pot," Rian said, looking into his bowl. "Maybe they're trying something new?" He took a spoonful. "Tastes good, though."

Skeptically, Lori took a spoonful and put it in her mouth. It was a different texture than usual, but actually easier to bite through, and a bit more flavorful…

She was still considering whether she liked this change or not when someone sat down next to Rian.

"Good morning, Lord Rian," Umu said brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

Rian stared at her. Lori stared at her. She was fairly sure the people on the tables on all sides stared at her.

Humming to herself, Umu started eating her stew.

For some reason, Rian looked at Lori.

Lori watched the blonde warily, but Umu seemed to have no intention of talking to her. Shrugging, the Binder went back to her food.

"Ah, Lord Rian, your dirty clothes have probably piled up, haven't they?" Umu said. "I'll take care of them for you later, all right? They'll be on your bed, folded and clean by the end of the day."

Rian stared at her, looking… guilty, for some reason. "Ah, you don't have to—"

"Nonsense," Umu said, turning to smile at him. "You obviously have no idea how to wash clothes, so I'll do it for you. Though you should really wash your bedroll too. Perhaps you can help me with that. We wouldn't want it to get washed away in the river, would we?" A smile, and Umu went back to eating.

Rian stared at her as she ate, then for some reason turned to Lori.

"What?" she asked blandly.

He didn't say anything just waved one hand in Umu's general direction.

"Yes, you should eat too," Lori said. "Or do you need someone to remind you to eat?"

Rian stared at her. He was doing a lot of staring instead of eating. "You're not…?" He didn't continue the thought.

"Not what?" Lori said, fighting back amusement. All right, it was amusing to see Rian so ignorant, but still…

Rian made a hand gesture in Umu's general direction again.

"Rian, use words, not whatever strange signs you're making," Lori said.

"You don't mind?" Rian said.

"Why would I mind where she sits?" Lori said. "Clearly there was no other space elsewhere." The empty space directly behind Rian proved that a lie, but he never looked there anyway. On the opposite side of that table from the empty space, Riz and Mikon were both glaring at the back of Umu's head. The people on either side of them shuffled away slightly, clearly remembering the table-leaping of days prior.

"Does that mean people can sit next to you now?" Rian said.

"Your jests are weak, Rian," Lori said. "Eat and put some meat in your stomach, and maybe you can think of better."

For some reason, Rian stared up at the ceiling. "Am I still asleep?" he said. "Is this some weird dream?"

Lori shook her head. Useless thespian.

She ate and got ready for her day.