Demesne 510 - Completely Unnecessary Interference

Having a full meal in the middle of the day, by explicit order of Binder Lori, was a luxury Mikon had never failed to enjoy or appreciate. Back In their old village, while the weavers were technically allowed to stop working for half an hour at noon, most had worked through the time to make their quota. The fastest ones would collect beads from their friends and buy salt buns so they’d have something to stuff in their mouth at midday, but that was only so many people, and Mikon hadn’t been among the fastest weavers.

In Lorian, when the time for the midday meal came, everyone—everyone—would stop the work they were doing, put away their tools, wash their hands—that wasn’t something Binder Lori had insisted on, but it felt so good to eat with nice clean hands—and go to the dungeon’s dining hall to eat. Pots of stew that almost never stopped cooking during the day simmered in the kitchen, filled with meat, water, tubers, herbs for flavor, and grains. Everyone got a bowl that wasn’t just watered-down soup—or possibly water with a drop of soup—although today it looked like the ones who worked the kitchen had decided it was time to start making soup instead of stew.

Mikon carefully balanced the two bowls of thick and hearty soup and a wooden plate of bread rolls in her hands as she went between the tables towards where Erzebed and Binder Lori were talking. She could hear Binder Lori from a long way off, because the woman spoke with a deep, firm voice and a complete disregard for anyone hearing her. Most of the time people just ignored what she said, unless she and Rian were talking about something important. Sometimes she said something funny and didn’t seem to realize it, and sometimes she said something that made it clear she considered everyone around her idiots… usually because she has to find a way to keep people from pissing everywhere and anywhere, which… well, was fair.

Umu followed behind her, carrying her own bowls of soup and the fruits. Ah, the fruits. While they weren’t as sweet as honey—there was actually a chance you’d get a fruit that was a little bland and watery—there was more of them, they all tasted different, and they got to eat it three times a day, although because of how they had run out last winter there’d been talk about how they’d be rationed to last longer, which… well, personally Mikon was torn between having a lot of fruit and eating fruit for more days.

“—ore your coat and boots are finished, Great Binder,” Erzebed was saying as the two of them arrived at the table, which was probably the most-fixed table in the whole demesne. It used to wobble slightly, if you put weight on one corner it would tip over to that side, and the tabletop was a little rough in places. After more than a year of the carpenters secretly fixing it when Binder Lori wasn’t looking, it was much more stable and secure, and the surface had been carefully scraped with some kind of tool to make it as smooth and even as… well, as Binder Lori would prefer. If she’d noticed, she had yet to say anything. Unfortunately, the bench they had been sitting on hadn’t gotten the same treatment, and until Tae had arrived and fixed it with magic the bench would tend to swing from side to side if those sitting on it weren’t careful. “More damage was found once the entire coat was examined, so more time needs to be spent on it. However, Master Orris and Wizard Tae are sure they can get it fully repaired before winter.” The wizard in question and her wife were still waiting in line to get their food, so the table only had Binder Lori and Erzebed sitting at it for the moment.

Binder Lori grunted at the reply, looking annoyed as Umu and Mikon began putting down the bowls, plates and fruits. Wooden cups and a jar of cold water were already on the table, the latter dripping water on the waxed wood. Since the Dungeon Binder’s face always looked slightly annoyed, this wasn’t really notable and just meant Binder Lori heard and understood what Erzebed had said. “Very well. As long as it is repaired properly,” she said as she reached for one of the bowls of stew. The kitchen had used to try giving them bowls that had more meat and bits in it than usual in an attempt to get her favor, until Rian told them Binder Lori didn’t really notice. So now they just made sure to set aside all the juicy tails bits for her when they got a chance to roast beast meat.

Erzebed made a nervous sound in her throat that couldn’t be mistaken for a cough—every time someone made a sound that was even like a cough, Binder Lori thought they were sick—before she continued. “The sawyers are also saying that they’ll need to begin preparing the sawmill for winter in a few weeks,” she said as Mikon put a bowl and a filled cup in front of Erzebed like she sometimes needed to with Rian before sliding into the bench to sit next to her woman, “since we’re running low on logs and the loggers are starting to concentrate on collecting deadfall for firewood instead of cutting down trees. They also said there’s one last batch of timber in the curing shed ready for you.” Unlike Rian, Erzebed immediately grabbed her bowl and a spoon, muttered a quick thanks to Mikon, and started eating.

There was another grunt from Binder Lori as she took her roll and began using her fingers to make a space inside the bread. “I’ll get to it when I can,” she said as she began to carefully scoop some of the meat in her soup into what was becoming a meat pastry. “It might have to wait until I’m finished with the boat house.”

Erzebed smoothly stopped eating. “The, uh, carpenters said they’ll need the wood in there to build the doors for the boat house.”

The bread now full of meat and tuber, Binder Lori carefully began to drip in soup. “Then at worst I will get to it when they actually need to start working.”

Tae and Rybelle arrived as Erzebed nodded, clearly choosing not to push. “The seedlings for replanting the trees we’ve felled have sprouted, but I’m told they won’t survive the winter if we plant them now,” she said as the Deadspeaker and her wife put down their food, the former making a face at the mention of trees. Was there something about wizards that just made them strange? “They’re being stored in the dungeon farm until we can plant them in the spring, in little wooden boxes right now since there’s nowhere to put them that isn’t already planted.”

Wizard Yhaine in her old village had seemed perfectly normal, save for a preference for being paid in eggs… but that was perfectly normal! Many people had paid with eggs when they could, since it was easier to keep a little beastling for eggs than to part with beads.

…

Ugh, she missed eating eggs! During a lot of months it had been the closest thing to meat they’d had, so they’d eaten it when they could until Mikon had gotten sick of it, but now she actually wanted some! Well, one. All right, perhaps a mouthful for the taste, but still!

Binder Lori frowned. “Is that what those were? I thought someone was growing more tubers and doing it wrong.”

“They should have been growing tubers instead of trees,” Tae muttered. Her wife gently nudged her with an elbow, and she quieted down. Binder Lori didn’t visibly react, because Tae wasn’t speaking directly to her, so she didn’t care. Just another of her particular oddities.

“That’s what the seedlings are, Great Binder,” Erzebed said as Mikon ate, occasionally leaning forward to watch Umu eat. The blonde was speaking quietly to Rybelle who was sitting next to her, the latter giving her an encouraging smile. After a few months of this, Mikon was almost certain that this wasn’t just Rybelle being polite. “After talking with some of the loggers and sawyers, Rian thought we should start our forestry efforts early, especially since the spring rains could wash away the soil if we just left the ground bare.”

Binder Lori tilted her head in thought, then waved her hand dismissively, which Mikon had always been told was rude to do to someone you were talking to, but either Binder Lori had never been taught that or—most likely—didn’t care. So many children had already gotten in trouble for doing that after seeing Binder Lori do it. “See to it, then.”

The dismissal was clear as Binder Lori concentrated on her food with the kind of focus that ignored everything else around her as she carefully bit into her slightly-soggy hand-made meat pie, holding it over her soup bowl to catch any drips.

Erzebed immediately started eating again, although she kept an eye on Binder Lori in case the woman suddenly thought of something for her to do. After a few moments of nothing, the not-an-officer slowed down the pace of her eating to something more relaxed, and Mikon was able to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. She got back a relieved smile in return, and the two exchanged a look before Mikon turned back towards her food, taking her spoon in hand as she put one hand on Erzebed’s thigh under the table.

“Both hands where they can be seen, Mikon,” Binder Lori said, not looking up from her bowl.

Ugh!

“Yes, your Bindership,” Mikon sighed, putting her left hand up on the table as moved her foot to—

“Both feet flat on the ground or I’m kicking you. The table is for eating at.”

She couldn’t even see Mikon’s feet!

Despite this completely unnecessary interference, lunch with Erzebed was nice enough. Binder Lori didn’t seem to have any objection to the two of them simply leaning against each other or Mikon laying her head on Erzebed’s shoulder. For all the fact she seemed to have no problems with marriages that consisted of more than two people—something Mikon had only heard of, although it varied whether it was done by really rich or really poor people—and had arranged for a building specifically for people to ring bells in, Binder Lori was very prudish about mostly innocent things. Erzebed had been wearing trousers, after all, it wasn’t like Mikon could just slide her hand up and enter her dungeon right there.

No, that could wait until after lunch, when Mikon had cheerfully asked for Erzbed’s help to take the dishes away before she left for River’s Fork. Her woman had grumbled but had reluctantly agreed, and so had been pleasantly surprised when Mikon had dragged her to their house to… send Erzebed off. There was no time for them to ring bells—having Erzebed walk out sweaty would have been far too obvious—Mikon had time to help her woman polish the brass…

Erzebed left the demesne with a happy smile on her face and a kiss on her cheek as a self-satisfied Mikon went back downstairs to go back to spinning thread. Now that she’d made her woman happy, she could turn her mind back to thinking of how she could help Umu…