Demesne

There were two benches in front of each other, with a fire pit in between them. The benches weren't as nice as the ones back home. Instead of proper legs, they were supported on a pair of rocks that looked like they'd been magicked, and the wooden seat was made of branches bundled together with maybe-also-magic instead of planks. The fire pit in between had only ashes in it.

Wiz Rili sat on one bench, while Lord Rian, Shana and Karina sat on the other. Karina was glad for the rest, since it let her get off her feet. As a farmer's daughter, she was used to being on her feet and doing a lot of walking, which had taught her she should sit down and not be standing any chance she got!

"So, what do you need clarification on?" Lord Rian asked as Karina took off her tsinelas and wiggled her toes. "I'd have thought that the terms were pretty self-explanatory. Binder Lori's authority as the Dungeon Binder supersedes any other authority, her laws supersedes any other laws, and no wizards are to try to approach Lorian Demesne through any method. It's not as if there's any ambiguity to confuse people."

It was still a nice bench, even if all the different branches felt bumpy under her. Karina put her tsinelas on the ground and rested her heels on them so they wouldn't get lost and started looking around to watch out for wizards. Even with all the aunties and uncles all around to keep Shana safe, since she wasn't doing anything she needed to keep an eye out for them too.

"It is not those conditions we seek clarification on. I seek clarification as to why exactly your Dungeon Binder has assumed authority over River's Fork Demesne. Yllian said that the demesne was surrendered to your Dungeon Binder in exchange for food?"

Next to Karina, Shana moved, putting a hand on Lord Rian's arm. Lord Rian turned towards her, and they looked at each other's eyes for a bit. Then he shrugged. "I believe you would be better served inquiring about the matter with Binder Shanalorre, Wizard Rilianne. I wasn't personally present for the full set of negotiations, as I was attending to other things and only arrived when the negotiations had become… aggravated."

Wiz Rili looked at Shana, who didn't sit up straight—she was already sitting up straight—and didn't shuffle nervously. She never did. Grown-ups didn't make her feel nervous or worried. It was probably a Dungeon Binder thing. "Wizard Rilianne," Shana said. "I do not see how this subject would be relevant to the matter at hand. River's Fork is now under the authority of Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri. This state of affairs is not open to negotiation."

"I did not assume it was, Great Binder," Wiz Rili said as Karina looked up into the trees. While there were plenty of bugs flying around, there weren't any fruits, which had probably gotten eaten already. The bugs were hard to catch too, so it was a bit tough to get enough to roast for a snack. "I am merely asking for context as to the current disposition of the demesne. It is obvious that the information we have is highly outdated. This needs to be corrected."

Shana did the long stare that Wiz Lori sometimes did before she nodded. "Very well. Context. Due to insufficient food supplies caused by hoarding and a lack of discipline, the demesne's grain reserves were depleting at a dangerous rate. By the time the problem came to my attention and attempts at correcting the matter were made, the remaining supplies were projected to be insufficient to sustain us until the next harvest…"

It was a lot of grown up—and Shana—words, which meant it was probably important talk, so Karina sat quietly and didn't interrupt. It was … it was…

…really boring.

Karina knew that boredom was just something you had to deal with when you were doing chores. There were a lot of boring things that needed to be done when growing food or seeling—waiting for the seeds to grow, watering the crops when they finally did, waiting for all the blood to drain out so they didn't cook the blood along with the meat, carving new little hooks when your hooks broke—but they were still important to do… and so she completely understood that Shana had boring things she had to do like reading things, writing things, and grown up talk.

"…a lack of skilled Deadspeaking, necessary infrastructure such as a dungeon farm or even a Dungeon, we had no way of correcting the insufficiency over the winter. The demesne was similarly undermanned for hunting and seeling in quantities sufficient to sustain the demesne while still having sufficient people to begin preparing fields for planting. Without an immediate source of food when spring arrived, the demesne would starve…"

She also looked around in case there were any wizards coming towards Shana, although Karina wasn't sure if she could tell since not all wizards seemed to carry a big stick. Just because she was bored didn't mean she was going to stop doing what she needed to do! It was what friends did. Shana made sure she didn't drown when she got cramps, helped her lift heavy seels to drain out their blood and let her sleep over when it was really hot so she could enjoy that nice magic wind thing Wiz Lori had made, and Karina helped her magic the crops, made sure no one bumped into her when she was just standing there until she slapped herself, and kept away wizards who want kill her.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"…such, I turned to the only other demesne nearby and requested assistance. However, due to having nothing to trade with that Binder Lolilyuri would accept, she was not willing to provide any. The only thing she would accept was my submitting to her authority, which I did. As the demesne was now under her authority, she provided food, infrastructure improvements, resources in which we were lacking, additional labor to help with the work in the demesne that needed to be done, and saw to a general increase in discipline and standards of behavior. Your information has been corrected."

…Shana was very good at grown up talk. She had to be, because Karina didn't understand what she was talking about. That's how you knew it was grown up talk.

"I… see…" Wiz Rili said. She looked at Lord Rian, then all the uncles around them. "And how is this arrangement enforced?"

"My word," Shana said, and Karina straightened at the tone, looking towards her friend. Oh, wow, Shana even sounded mad like Wiz Lori. "And that of Binder Lolilyuri. Why should anything else be necessary?"

"I apologize for the implication," Wiz Rili said quickly. "Such was not my intention. It has simply been my experience that such arrangements usually involve enforcement in some fashion."

"Those do not sound like people I would wish to make an arrangement with."

Wiz Rili made a weird nod, tilting her head from side to side as she did it. "No, they would not be."

"I think we're getting off-topic," Lord Rian said. "That should be more than sufficient to clarify the current state of affairs, Wizard Rilianne." He tilted his head. "Or do you have any other questions?"

Wiz Rili was quiet for a bit. "What can we expect should we settle here?" she said.

Lord Rian looked at Shana again.

"Work," Shana said right away. "River's Fork is woefully unprepared to shelter so many people, so everyone will need to immediately assist in building houses for them to stay in. In addition to house construction, the sudden influx of settlers will require that the dragon shelter be expanded, the dining hall and kitchen enlarged to accommodate the amount of cooking needed to provide for meals, building another bath house… there will be many things that need to get done so the new settlers don't die of cold when winter comes. Anyone who objects to doing so is free to leave the demesne."

That made Wiz Rili frown for some reason. "And go where?"

"Anywhere they want as long as it's not here," Shana said. "I cannot afford to have people taking food from the demesne and contributing nothing back. We do not have enough food as it is."

Karina nodded at that last. 'Never enough food' was always true no matter how much food you had, because it would always get eaten and you'd be left with no more food.

"And speaking of food, that is the second matter. All of your rations will need to be surrendered to the demesne so we can a conduct a proper inventory and prevent over-eating of the supplies to ensure they'll last through the winter."

"You're confiscating our food?" Wiz Rili said.

"It is not being confiscated, it is being added to the demesne's food stores to prevent people eating more than they need due to a lack of discipline and self-control. How else were you planning to store the rations once you had settled in?"

Wiz Rili made that weird nod again. "That is reasonable. I am told that the demesne practices preparing and eating all food at a central location. How is that handled so that every family can prepare their food?"

"Families won't be preparing their own food," Shana said. "A group specifically assigned to cooking will handle it, everyone just has to show up on time and eat. This helps keep food from…"

Glancing up to see the sun, Karina saw it was a bit later than she'd thought. Looking around, she saw people were lighting cookfires, and many women—and some men—were squatting down and hanging pots to start boiling. From somewhere began to rise the smell of flatbread being cooked on pans.

…

She was getting hungry. How much more talking was there going to be? N-not that she was going to make Shana rush or anything! Trying to rush had you ending up with your seel escaping, your harvest bruised and torn, and your chores taking twice as long because inay will make you do it again. Karina just… wanted Shana to realize what time it was so that she'd try to finish the grown-up talk before it was time to eat. Although if it took longer, then it took longer. Karina understood. Sometimes you had to work through lunch, and maybe even through dinner to get your chores done.

"… so don't tell me that once-militia would be too disciplined to do such a thing, because I saw them do it," Shana said. "That is why all food is prepared communally at the dining hall. This will not change no matter how much people complain about it. You are coming to my demesne and seeking admittance. You will change to accommodate the demesne's ways, not the other way around."

"There will be those who will not be pleased—" Wiz Rili said.

Shana snorted so hard Karina saw the ash on the firepit in front of them move. "People are never pleased. I am not here to please people. I am here to keep them alive, sheltered, fed and unharmed. If they wished to be pleased, tell them to turn to their spouses."

Lord Rian started coughing hard, and without looking Shana put her hand on his arm. "Be healed, Lord Rian. The Great Binder would be displeased if I returned you to her ill."

For some reason, even though he'd been healed, Lord Rian started coughing louder.