Demesne

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Shana found herself coming back to her senses as the disruptive emotions receded, and was glad to see that Captain Yhallisu had said nothing during her temporary absence, though he was staring at her with a disturbed expression. Fortunately, her previous statement made for a good reason to fall into an emotional silence.

"So do not presume that you alone possess a moral imperative to not 'give up' on this demesne," Shana said, filling the silence. "I am this demesne's Dungeon Binder. Not 'giving up' on this demesne is my purpose. It is my highest moral imperative. If you truly intend to work to build up this demesne, then I believe you will find a place here." She tilted her head. "Do you want a place here, now that you know it is not what you intended?"

Captain Yhallisu smiled, and relaxed slightly. It was a subtle change—Binder Lolilyuri would no doubt have missed it—but given nearly all her attention not being devoted to maintaining her claim on the life in the Deadspeakers outside of her office was directed at watching the life of the man before her, it was not a change she missed. She saw the life in the muscles in his chest change subtly as they untensed, in the same way the life in his back, along his jaw, and other places in his body did so as well. It wasn't a violation of the Great Binder's command to not learn any further Deadspeaking. This wasn't Deadspeaking, but rather learning how to interpret what she perceived through her connection to the demesne's core. "Well, it just means that we have a lot of work to do to get it how we want it to be, doesn't it?"

"A lot of work does need to be done to have the demesne suitable for housing so many people," Shana agreed, even as she noted the wording of his reply. It seemed innocuous enough, but… "And we only have a few weeks to get it done before winter arrives. Even if the winters here are milder than they were in Lomabuyar Demesne, winter is still winter, and because of your arrival, the Great Binder will not be present to begin conducting her winter preparations."

"By 'great binder', you mean the woman you surrendered the demesne to?" Captain Yhallisu said, barely restrained disdain so apparent in his voice even Binder Lolilyuri would have noticed. "She'd leave you to freeze?"

"When the topic was discussed, she concluded that if there would be eight Whisperers in River's Fork, then to earn their keep they were more than capable of dealing with the matter their presence was keeping her from seeing to herself," Shana said, her words flattening slightly at the implied judgement. As Binder Lolilyuri was always concerned with Shana being properly respected as a Dungeon Binder, it was only right that she reciprocated the concern.

"Earn their keep? You're speaking like they're hirelings or apprentices. These men and women have no such obligation."

"Oh, so eight militia Whisperers aren't capable of doing the work of a single civillian? In that case, I am unsure I wish to accept any application of theirs to settle and reside here. Such incapable Whisperers will probably only be a burden on the demesne. Will the other wizards be similar?"

To his credit, he seemed genuinely indignant at this slight to these people he knew. "All the wizards with us are good people and more than capable of matching any civilian. They all volunteered to come here because Yllian's letter said that their presence was needed."

"So they would be able to provide warmth for everyone over the winter as part of the work they contribute to the demesne?"

"That's… of course they'd wish to help keep everyone warm!"

"Despite your statement they have no obligation to do so?"

"Ye—look, it's not that simple. It's not as if we will be turning them out if they don't use their magic to help keep people warm!"

"We most certainly will," Shana said relentlessly. "The demesne does not have the resources to waste on people who will not contribute to the demesne." She paused. "Except for children, of course. But even children know to try and help where they can so the resources that go to feed and clothe them are not wasted."

He was staring at her again, his expression hard to decipher, though Shana was reasonably certain that bewilderment and disquiet were there. Possibly disgust and offense as well. "No," he said slowly, his voice stern as if lecturing a child, "that will not be the case. We will not be building a demesne where only those who contribute will be allowed to live and those who can't will be discarded. I saw enough of that in the militia." She confirmed disgust. "Is this what Yllian's been doing? No, Yllian wouldn't do this…"

Shana noted the statement and added it to her previous note, but for the moment acted as if she did not understand the implications. "Either I am missing context or we have come to a misunderstanding. Regardless, your naïve idealism is misplaced." Lips mouthed the word 'naïve' disbelievingly. "The demesne literally does not have the resources to spare for anyone who does not contribute to the demesne. Before you arrived, we were barely certain that we would have enough supplies to see us through the winter as well as early spring. With the influx of settlers your arrival has brought, what margins we once had become non-existent once we start accepting them into the demesne, and you have not provided us with enough details about the amount of food supplies you are carrying to be able to make an accurate assessment of whether it will be sufficient to sustain the demesne once it is added to our supplies."

Captain Yhallisu frowned. "I can assure you that we've brought more than enough food to sustain us through the winter, as well into spring. Tafit and Madsmif have been doing nothing but overseeing the supplies so they can travel well."

"How reassuring," Shana said flatly, noting that she could vaguely hear voices coming from outside. "Regardless, even that amount of food is finite. What will be done when the supplies you came with are depleted? We will need to increase the demesne's food production four times over, which will require a significant amount of work, and at the very least means quadrupling the number of field workers, the number of hunters, and the number of people in the kitchen preparing meals. And that is simply for gathering food. We will also need people performing maintenance on the demesne's buildings, repairing tools, mining, assisting Kutago with making paper and ink, and numerous other tasks that need to be done. Given all that, we simply do not have the food to waste on those who do nothing." By the end, her voice had gotten so flat it became an edge, sharp and cutting. "So yes, retired Captain Yhallisu, this is a demesne where those who cannot contribute will either change or be discarded, because we cannot afford to do anything else. If you believe otherwise… then you are free to try establishing your own demesne and then starve when spring comes. You will not have my sympathies."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I doubt Yllian will say the same," Yhallisu said cooly, the words dismissive.

"Lord Yllian will say exactly the same because I—and more importantly the Great Binder—will say so," Shana snapped. "Master Yhallisu, it has not escaped my notice that you seem to be suffering the misapprehension that I can be ignored. That I am simply a child whose words are as smoke because they do not matter, because I do not matter. You look at me with amusement because you think I play at acting like an adult, that I am 'cute'." She did not draw herself up, did not change her stance or position at all. Instead, she tried to fill her eyes with cool disdain, the way she thought Binder Lolilyuri would. "You are grossly incorrect, civilian. I am the Dungeon Binder of River's Fork, the one whose soul is bound to the core of this demesne."

Yhallisu recoiled as if slapped. "Civilian?" he repeated, outraged.

"What else could you be?" Shana said coolly. "You are not part any demesne's militia. Therefore you are, by definition, a civilian." She rose from her chair in the most dignified manner she could, considering she had to sit her feet on the apron bar between the chair's front legs to do so, and stepped down smoothly onto the floor. "I do not believe further discussion will be fruitful. Do not let me detain you, Master Yhallisu." Not looking at him—by his expression he seemed to be considering spanking or even beating her—she stepped around her desk and him—one hand parried his attempt to grab her—towards the door of her office, opening it to step outside.

She was immediately met with Lord Yllian's back as he stood before her doorway, the three Deadspeakers whose life she had claimed surrounding him. Karina was standing next to him, although she seemed to be more concerned about keeping her seeling rod from accidentally hitting someone in the face. The three Deadspeakers immediately focused on Shana as she stepped out, closing the door behind her out of habit.

"Shana!" Wizard Tsad said. "I need to speak with you! We need to talk about what you're doing!"

Oh, yes. "Claiming the life in your bodies to prevent you from Deadspeaking?"

"Yes!"

She nodded as the door opened of her office opened again. "I will release it later. Right now, I have—"

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder, interrupting her as it forcibly turned her around. "What did you do?" Yhallisu demanded once she was facing him. "What did she do, Tsad?"

"Tah!" Karina exclaimed. "Don't hurt Shana!"

"It's fine, Yhal, it's fine," Wizard Tsad said as Yllian turned. "Shana seems to have claimed the life in our bodies, we can't use Deadspeaking on oursel—Yllian!"

Lord Yllian had forcefully interposed himself between Shana and Yhallisu, such that her lord actually pushed the civilian back. "Don't touch her," her lord ordered as Shana sensibly backed away from the brewing altercation, pulling Karina along with her. Karina, for her part, immediately stood between her and the other Deadspeakers again.

"What have you been telling that girl, Yllian?" Yhallisu said. "She talks like she's conducting a trial, she thinks you can just get rid of people, and she actually seems to think she's the Dungeon Binder!"

"Because she is, or were you not listening this whole time Yhal!-?"

Shana hastily reached into her belt pouch, feeling for a specific shape as Yhallisu and Lord Yllian confronted each other. The latter was in a disadvantageous position, for he had the three Deadspeakers at his back, and despite her claim on the life in them they still had limbs and were former militia. She noted that Wizards Otin and Xiasam were also nearby, having apparently decided to stand back and watch as their fellows had tried to get past Lord Yllian, although she was not certain whether this was out of concern or amusement.

"She's a child!"

"And that means nothing, because she was the only person we had to claim the core! She did, she saved us, she is the Dungeon Binder! The sooner you understand that, the sooner you'll stop making a fool of yourself."

In a similar way, Lord Rian was leaning against a nearby house with his arms crossed, far enough away to be obviously uninvolved but close enough to obviously be watching. His walking stick was at the crook of his elbow, but at a second glance Shana noticed that the stick wasn't hanging there, but rather Lord Rian was holding it in a reverse grip. The two exchanged nods as their eyes met before he went back to watching the wizards.

"I'm making a fool of… Yllian, have you been outside too long? She. Is. A. Child!"

"She is our Dungeon Binder."

Shana found what she was looking for, drawing it from her belt pouch. The brass whistle was dull but clean, something she had been given by Lord Yllian to help her alert everyone back when they had been dealing with the typhon abomination, which he had asked her to keep so she could summon aid in an emergency. She raised the whistle to her lips and blew.

The sound was high, loud, piercing, and one that all militia knew to immediately respond to. It instantly drew the attention of the two men as well as the wizards and nearly everyone else in earshot, and for a moment their quarrel was forgotten… at least until they realized she was the one blowing the whistle.

"Civilian Yhallisu, please stop making a nuisance of yourself and detaining my lord," Shana said evenly as she returned the whistle to her belt pouch. "He has other matters he needs to see to, and you are keeping him from them. Lord Yllian, I will deal with this. See to the demesne. I believe the fruits have not yet been gathered and stored."

Yhallisu had another complicated expression on his face as he stared at her, then made a sharp, impatient gesture towards her to Lord Yllian.

The latter merely gave him a tired look, then turned to her and bowed. "Are you certain, Great Binder?"

Shana nodded, already glancing over Yhallisu and wondering where to hit. He was tall, which had never hindered her before, but the heavy coat his was wearing might present a problem. It meant his kidneys would have more padding over it, so she'd need to focus on his knees and ankles to force him down so she could reach his head…

Lord Yllian glanced at Yhallisu, his expression clearly doubtful, but simply bowed. "As you say, Great Binder. I'll get back to work, then." He turned and headed back towards their orchard, even has he glanced toward her in concern one last time.

Shana found herself facing Yhallisu again, who was looking at her lord's receding back in exasperated confusion, a confusion that he directed towards Shana. She met his gaze, and reflected she did not miss how she'd needed to beat so many people to get them to acknowledge her as, if not the Dungeon Binder, then at least someone consistently about to give them a beating if they disobeyed her.

She sighed. Binder Lolilyuri never had these problems. It was probably the staff. People didn't doubt you were a Dungeon Binder when you carried a staff.