Demesne

Lori liked to say that I was her lord in charge of 'talking to people' matters. What she failed to understand was that everything about being an authority figure was a 'talking to people' matter. In making me her lord and functionally her voice in the demesne, she had essentially made me its absolute ruler in her name, as my word could only be gainsaid by her, or something she had previously ordered.

Many would literally kill to be in this position. Absolute authority, and my superior barely cared what I did as long as she got what she wanted? This would be a dream come true for most people. All this power and uncaring oversight… I can do almost anything I want. Have the best food delivered to my house, basically order people to be my servants, never leave my house, have someone else do all the work…

When she'd chosen me on that rainy day last year, there was a good chance all she probably knew about me was that I could organize people to work, and she decided she wanted me doing that for her. It's equally likely that Lori either hadn't actually considered all that when she picked me out to be her lord or in fact expected me to use and abuse my authority like that. Or maybe she just thought that if I acted in a way she didn't like she could kill me. That would be a suitably Lori approach to that sort of problem.

Shana in comparison had been far more active in the running of her demesne than Lori was, with her meeting with people who wanted to speak to her, meting out discipline, and personally beating up people who disrespected her authority. When she had surrendered her authority to Lori and essentially moved to Lorian, Yllian and I had been able to mostly take her place once things had settled down. So I was used to people just walking up to me and telling me things with the expectation I would do something about it.

"Lord Rian, I need to talk to you."

I didn't take my eyes off Shana. "Talk away, Kutago. What do you want?"

The red-haired papermaker frowned and followed my gaze. She gave a grunt of understanding. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no, it's fine as long as you don't need me to look at you," I said.

"All right…" I heard Kutago shake her head. "So… a whole bunch of people arrived, and that somehow has something to do with why the baths aren't working the way they usually do… but I've heard that they have Deadspeakers among them. Is that true?"

"You've heard correctly," I said, already having some idea of what she wanted.

"Is it true that they will be settling here?" Kutago said. Her voice had an intensity usually reserved for phrases like "Give me all your money" or "Traitor!".

"That's what we're going to be talking about tomorrow," I said. The fact that Yllian had told me what they had told him, that they had no intention of doing anything else, wasn't something to pass around after all. "We still have to see. If we don't come to an agreement they might decide to set up their own demesne."

"I… see," Kutago said.

I took pity on her. "Why do you ask?" I prompted.

"Well, if this demesne is going to have more Deadspeakers, then I was wondering if it would be possible for my brother and I to move upriver to Lorian Demesne," Kutago said, jumping at the cue. "After all, with so many Deadspeakers here, my brother wouldn't really make much of a difference, and Taeclas would probably appreciate having help with the crops, even if it is just my brother."

"Hmm… that's a thought," I said, as if I hadn't known how badly she'd been wanting to move to Lorian. The only thing that was keeping her here in River's Fork was her loyalty to her brother Lidz, although I'd heard passing comments where she jokingly said that she was willing to leave him behind. At least, I assumed she was joking, because she still lived here rather then just grabbing all her things and asking for passage upriver. "I'll bring it up with Lori. As much as I'd like to have your brother around to help with the farming, letting him move to Lorian will ultimately be up to her. Although I wouldn't get your hopes up. Even if she did approve his moving, you'd probably be in for a miserable winter in the shelter. By the way, how's the paperwork?"

There was a moment's pause as she realized I'd changed the subject. "It's coming along," Kutago said. "I basically just have to wash the sheets. Remaking the sheets would be pointless since they're still in good shape except for the writing, and it wouldn't change the quality anyway."

"Could you, though? Remake the sheets, I mean?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem, but as I said, they won't be as white as they used to be, since I can only use the most basic process here." Kutago shrugged. "I don't exactly have a lot of alchemicals I can use."

"That's fine. I just want to be able to use old paper again when we don't need the things written on them anymore." I tilted my head. "Although make me a list of what alchemicals you'd like to have and what they're for. Maybe I can get them while I'm in Covehold."

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Kutago straightened. "You're going back to Covehold?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, hopefully before winter. Why? Wanna go back?"

The papermaker shuddered. "Not really. The only reason I'd want to go back is to… well, never mind, I'll speak to Binder Shanalorre."

I blinked. "If you need anything from Covehold, just tell me. After this she's going to be busy in her office, and she's just going to pass whatever it is to me anyway."

"Ah, it's fine, don't worry about it," Kutago said, waving the idea away. "It's nothing really, I shouldn't have mentioned it."

I frowned. "Then why would you—" I paused. My twin sister had been a very blunt and straightforward person who'd driven our mother to despair. This was sometimes because she saw no reason to be modest with me, and thus had no hesitation in asking me to do things you weren't supposed to ask a boy, much less your brother. Things like asking me to run errands for things that were… "Ah. Kutago, I'd like you to do something else for me."

She blinked, but looked relieved at the apparent change in subject. "What is it, Lord Rian?"

"Could you go around and see how many people might also need what you do from Covehold? No need to give me names, just tabulate a number for me." I paused, and added, "and while you're at it, find out how many also need new socks. Actually, let me rephrase that. Find out if anyone doesn't need socks."

It was either underwear or something more feminine. Though to be honest, I wouldn't mind some new underwear. The loincloths I'd originally brought with me were starting to get worn, and while the weavers could make a soft and fine enough fabric to be used for new loincloths from ropeweed fibers, it was much more time consuming than the cloth they made that was used for shirts and trousers.

Kutago looked down, and we both pretended it was towards her feet. "Socks. Right, socks, we'll need that with winter coming. I'll go do that, Lord Rian."

I nodded. "Don't worry Kutago, I'll talk to Lori. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to you within the week."

Kutago relaxed slightly, or at least she seemed to in my peripheral vision. "Thank you, Lord Rian. And I'll get you that list as soon as I can."

I heard her walk away as I kept my eyes trained on Shana, who was starting to come down. It seemed this part of the dome had been completely picked.

Unfortunately, not everyone I had to talk to were so pleasant. And as much as I wanted to ignore some people… well, sometimes it was useful to know what the people you didn't like were saying.

That didn't mean the process wasn't a painful experience.

"Lord Rian." My title was a grudging addition and almost literally dripped with disdain and the complete opposite of respect because I'd made a point of ignoring him when he didn't add it. This wasn't usual for me as I didn't like to stand on ceremony or make people uncomfortable when they're talking to me, but for Shana's uncle Lasponin I was willing to grant this special and unique privilege that was only for him.

"Doctor," I acknowledged. "How are the children? Yoshka doing well, I hope? I know Shana really missed her. Please let your daughter know she's free to visit her cousin at any time." Really, a doctor should know better than to grind his teeth like that. While we had Deadspeakers in the demesne now, I didn't know if Tae or Lidz knew how to fix teeth. "So, what can I do for you this fine day?"

Luckily for me, he didn't try to punch me. Given the way I was leaning on the empty house behind me, I wouldn't have been able to block or dodge it. In hindsight, that should have been a sign.

"Do you intend to fight the Golden Sweetwood Company?" he asked in his usual confrontational tone.

"…no? Why would we do something like that?" I said. While Lori was concerned that the Golden Sweetwood Company would make itself a rival authority, she seemed fairly certain she could impose her own will… which had me really worried, since it couldn't possibly be that simple. Still, she was more worried about the presence of the wizards than the company itself.

…huh, have I told Lori that Yllian had told me that 'company' referred to a militia company and association of former militia, and not a business entity? Oh dear. If I didn't know the answer, I probably didn't do it. I should remember to tell her when I get back.

"No?" Shana's uncle sounded genuinely surprised by my answer. "You're… not going to fight them?" He said it suspiciously, like he was expecting some sort of trap.

"Of course not. Why would we do that? Winter is coming and there's a lot of work to do. Fighting would be completely unproductive," I said.

There was a brief pause, and then Shana's uncle laughed. It was mocking and naturally made me want to punch him in the face, but I just repressed the urge to sigh. He'd get to the point eventually.

"You don't understand, do you?" he said, and… huh. He sounded both frustrated and smug. "Now that the company is here, they're going to drive you invaders out."

"I'd trust your assessment more if you didn't have a history of being terrible at understanding what's happening around you," I said. "Do you think that the Golden Sweetwood Company came, saw that Lori was in charge, and are now going to take up spears and drive out we the evil invaders, and make all things right again?"

"You're invaders," the doctor snapped, as if I was too stupid to understand something simple. "The company is made up of militia. It's not like there are even enough of you to put up a fight."

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, Binder Shanalorre!" I called out. "Are we invaders?"

"Of course not!" she called back, punctuated by a pink lady falling into Karina's skirt. "Uncle, stop being rude to people and go do something useful." Another pink lady fell down after it.

"There you go, from the Dungeon Binder herself," I said, actually turning my head so I could glance at him. He was scowling, lips pressed together like he'd tasted something bitter. "I hope that settles matters and puts your mind to rest."

"They're not going to listen to her," he said. "You heard them. She's just a child and they know it."

I sighed. "Are you done, or was there anything else?"

I saw his fists clench—

"If you injure yourself on Lord Rian's face, I won't heal you," Shana called down.

He scowled and let out a frustrated huff before turning to stalk away, every step coming down like the ground had done him a personal insult.

Just another day of being a lord.

I waited until he was out of hearing range before I called out, "Thank you!"

Shana, unsurprisingly, waved a hand dismissively in a very Lori way and went back to work, plucking another pink lady and not even looking down as she dropped it. It landed solidly into the skirt Karina held out.

That girl worried me, she really did.

I leaned back and continued to watch.