Demesne

"There's actually a law against loud music?" Wiz Rili said as Karina rubbed at her eyes, blinking as she tried to keep them open.

"Yes, and I'm afraid the phrasing is a bit misleading," Lord Rian said. "In practice, it means all music, not just loud music."

She sat up straight as she realized she'd been leaning against Shana, and her friend gave her a reassuring pat on the knee, even as the Dungeon Binder kept her eyes on Wiz Rili.

"Surely you cannot be serious."

"Wizard Rilianne, you seem like a neat, tidy, reserved woman who likes peace and quiet. If you could keep people from being loud when you wanted to relax, would you?"

"A fair point. However, this will not be a popular law."

"Yes, well, trust me when I say our Dungeon Binder takes it as seriously as the ones about rape, theft and molestation…"

Karina fell asleep while Lord Rian was explaining that there was a law against playing music, and that it was taken seriously, and that anyone who thought it wasn't and that they could get away with ignoring it would be made an example of, because that was how laws worked. She didn't mean to, but since she was only sitting around and looking, her eyes got a little heavy, and in a weak moment she decided she'd take a little nap. After all, a good farmer knew to get naps in whenever they could, because it meant you were well-rested when it was time to do more work.

It was only later when she woke up that she felt guilty about it. After all, she was supposed to be keeping away wizards who wanted to kill Shana! What if one had come by while she'd been asleep? All right, Auntie Riz and the others would have kept them away too, but she still felt guilty.

But that was later. At the time, she thought that maybe she'd rest her eyes for a bit, and had leaned on Shana again out of habit so she wouldn't fall over while she napped.

"Is this…usual?" It was Wiz Rili's voice, but Karina didn't both trying to understand what they were saying. She was napping, and therefore didn't bother to hear what was being said.

"No, she normally doesn't rest enough," she heard Shana's voice said. It was a comforting hum despite coming from right next to her. "Ignore her and let her sleep. Now, the next one is 'no public urination', which I understand most militia have trouble comprehending when they think the latrines are too far away…"

The sound of people talking was actually really nice as she fell asleep. Sometimes people talking made it hard, but Wiz Rili and Shana weren't loud, and the way they talked made it really easy to fall asleep. Lord Rian normally had the kind of voice that made someone wake up and want to run around, so it was nice of him to start talking like Shana too, letting Karina fall aslee—

She only woke up twice. The first time, she felt Shana moving her head to straighten it as she felt a snore ripping through her, one that immediately quieted as she realized she was doing it.

"—o one is getting land," Lord Rian was saying. "It's her demesne, so by definition she owns the land, and she's not going to just give it out to people who want a status symbol…"

Karina fell back into the darkness of sleep once more.

The second time, it was because she felt Shana moving against her.

"—ot a child, I am a Dungeon Binder," she was saying, "My age is irrelevant to the reality of the situation, and does not change the fact that if any adult tries to force a child to work—"

She shifted in her sleep, moving the way she did whenever Shana had a bad dream, and she felt Shana relax slightly, voice becoming less sharp and more even—

"Karina, time to wake up."

Karina blinked as she woke up, sitting up straight a she looked around. The light had changed, and a glance up showed that the sun was… not directly overhead, it was sort of to the side, but it was high enough that Karina could tell it was around noon. Had she really been sleeping that long? Oh no, she was becoming lazy! "Are you done, Shana?" she said before pressing her lips together to hide her yawn.

"At the moment," Shana said, holding out her hand. Karina took it, letting herself be pulled to her feet. Rubbing her eyes to wipe of the sleep sand, Karina looked around. The air was full of food smells, and she saw people sitting around banked cooking coals and eating. There were breads and stews, but there were also meaty porridges, meat-filled buns, and Karina even saw some people eating roasted and shelled bugs. "We are having a brief recess—" She stopped and stared at Karina for a moment, before talking again, "a little break so we can eat. The Coldhold is here with our lunch."

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Karina woke up with excitement at that, and turned towards Lord Rian. "Oh, can we eat on the boat?" she asked.

Lord Rian smiled at her, and she could tell he thought she was being childish. "I don't think so Karina," he said. "We can't really let it stay beached for too long. They just got close long enough for someone to jump off with our food."

She slumped, sighing in defeat. She'd always wanted to eat on the boat.

He turned back to Wiz Rili. "We'll come straight back here when we're done eating. Ah, but no need for you to rush. It's just we don't have any timepieces, so it's not like we can say we'll be back in twenty minutes."

Wiz Rili nodded. "Very well. We shall continue our discussion later."

"See you here later, Wizard Rilianne," Lord Rian said cheerfully. "Come on, everyone. Let's go have lunch—uh, your Shanalorreship? Where are you going?"

Shana didn't stop, although she waved her hand to have people follow her. She was heading towards one of the campfires where some people were eating. It was a pretty big family, with seven grown-ups and four children, and they seemed to be just enjoying themselves as they ate. They looked curiously at Shana as she got close and just stood there, but she didn't say anything.

Karina followed, of course, and wondered if she needed to tell Shana she was being rude by just staring… no, Shana was old enough to know that. If she was staring like that, she must have a good reason. But Karina shouldn't be rude, after all.

"Hello!" she greeted. "I'm Karina! It's nice to meet you!" Ooh, they were having roast bug! Karina couldn't really tell what sort, since they'd been shelled and the meat had changed color from the cooking, but it looked like a nice mouthful.

"Uh, hello?" one of the grown ups said, smiling despite looking a little confused.

"Excuse me," Shana said suddenly, pointing at another of the grown-ups. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal, but you need to stop eating that."

The grown up frowned at her. "What?" he said, his voice wheezing slightly.

"At the moment, you no doubt feel a constriction of your throat, and I believe parts of your skin are starting to become itchy," Shana said. "I could heal you, but as I understand the process, the reaction is due to something that has been released into your blood." She turned and looked towards Wiz Rili, who had followed them along with everyone else. "Wizard Rilianne, could I trouble you to deal with this matter? My meaning is not suited for immediate resolution of this issue. I have taken the liberty of claiming and imbuing him to facilitate the matter."

Wiz Rili frowned, but hurried towards the man, who'd raised a hand to his throat. "Stay still, and pull up your shirt," she said like he was in trouble for tracking mud into the house, and he did just that, pulling up his shirt to show a hairy belly. Karina suppressed a giggle, because it was would been rude. Putting a hand on the man's side, Wiz Rili got that 'not really looking at anything' look Shana, Wiz Lori and Wiz Tae got a lot when they were doing magic. "The diagnosis is correct," she said, turning to look at Shana. "You're having an allergic reaction. Sit still and focus on your breathing. You'll feel your heart beating strongly, some sweating and urge to move. Do not do so and sit until you've calmed down."

"It was likely the roast bug," Shana said. "Fortunately, it was cooked separately, so the stew is probably safe to consume, but I would advise caution. For your own safety, do not eat any further bugmeat, yes, I know it's a waste of good food. If you insist, you can eat it and die. It is your choice, and I can only do so much to prevent your own self-destruction." Wiz Rili and all the other adults looked at her when she said that, and many of them frowned at her. Karina would have squirmed under those looks, but Shana was really brave and didn't even twitch. "I will leave this to your capable hands, Wizard Rilianne. Inform me if you need further imbuement. Good afternoon, everyone. I apologize for interrupting your meal."

Shana turned and started walking.

"Well, she apologized at least. So she's got that over Lori…" Karina heard Lord Rian mutter. Speak up Lord Rian, don't eat your words!

Lunch was nice. They sat under a tree along the river, watching as people pointed and stared at the Coldhold. There were a lot of grown-ups telling children they were not to make an ice boat like it, which probably meant there would be at least one big ice boat this winter. Karina knew they'd tried to make their own ice boat when they'd been allowed to play outside of the Dungeon, and Shana had told her they'd done the same last winter.

Their lunch was jars filled with stew and two baskets with bread and fruit. Karina watched as Lord Rian dipped his bread into the jar to get it covered in stew before he ate it, and ate stew directly from the jars, holding it like he was drinking from a cup. Karina and Shana had needed to use both hands to do the same since the jar was big and heavy, but it was actually a really easy way to eat, although they still needed to use a spoon to get the heavy bits at the bottom.

People looked at them as they ate, and a few came over to talk to the aunties and uncles with them. Auntie Riz was asking about someone named 'Mevt' again, and there were a lot of people who seemed to know her and offered to get her for Auntie Riz.

"Ah…" Lord Rian said. "Karina, as a responsible adult, I need to tell you something, and I need you to listen."

Karina turned towards him right away. Lord Rian sounded really serious. "What is it, Lord Rian?"

"In a little bit, you're going to see something," Lord Rian said. "And I need you to understand that this isn't how you're supposed to treat your friends, except maybe if they did something horrible to you, like trick you into not eating the tastiest fruit in the world for ten years or something."

"Shana wouldn't do that," Karina said, confused.

"I know, it was just an example," Lord Rian said as there was a commotion.

Nearby, Auntie Riz straightened, a big smile on her face.

"Now, I can't make you do anything," Lord Rian said as Auntie Riz and her friends all walked over to a woman who'd just arrived. There were a lot of smiling and laughing and patting each other on the shoulder. "But as a responsible adult, I'm telling you: don't do this thing."

Karina frowned. "What thing?"

There was a cry as Auntie Riz and her friends picked up the woman by the arms and legs, and started swinging her back and forth. The woman started yelling at them, using colorful language that turned into a scream as she was thrown into the river.

"That thing," Lord Rian said, pointing towards where the woman was splashing and screaming in the river. "Don't do that to your friends, all right? They might drown."