Demesne 509 - Temporary Rian Again

There weren’t as many people to see the Coldhold off as there used to be. This was the third time they would be going to Covehold Demesne, and the fear that they’d never be coming back because they were sailing on a boat of made of ice that could melt at any moment or get torn apart by rocks or be cracked open in the jaws of a curious dillian… had faded slightly. Mikon knew she’d stopped thinking about it. When Rian left, all she thought about was how much she was already missing him, how long before he came back, how it would be some time before she’d be able to be with him again, how enthusiastic he’d been that morning, how long before she’d get that enthusiasm again, and how the bed would be much more spacious and comfortable with one less person on it…

Mikon felt a bit guilty thinking that last part, since it was technically Rian’s bed, but not very guilty. She’d grown up and shared blankets with seven cousins, fighting to get comfortable when sleeping was something she’d had to do for a long time.

The gathering of people seeing their men off didn’t linger long, not even waiting for the boat to get out of sight before turning away to get back to work, or heading for the various hiding places they’d found to not be seen by Binder Lori when they weren’t actually working. The woman would probably have been glaring at them all to get moving and back to work if she hadn’t gone straight down to the bottom of the Dungeon and started digging as soon as she finished her breakfast. She was scowling as she’d stomped off, muttering to herself ‘stupid boats houses and stupid Rian making more work for me, ugh, he better get back soon” and other things like that, which was all perfectly normal for the woman to be doing when she was working.

The weaver was sure she was one of the people most exposed to Binder Lori’s various moods. She’d seen the woman annoyed, guilty, hungry, irritated, intent, panicked, pleased, sleepy, smug, suffering, and occasionally even happy. While it didn’t make her any less aware that the woman was their Dungeon Binder—how Rian found it in himself to tease and sometimes even scold her, she had no idea—Mikon had become more relaxed around the woman as the Dungeon Binder’s habits became known. Simply be respectful, quiet, don’t waste her time, and if you gave an opinion it had better be one backed your experience working as a craftsman (because your feelings on something didn’t matter since hers were more important).

Mikon knew many of the craftsman in the demesne liked that last part. If they told her Bindership something, she would believe them and not insist they do it her way.

“Well, back to work,” Erzebed sighed, turning away with everyone else as the Coldhold and everyone on it shrunk into just a little shape in the distance.

“Good luck, Lady Temporary-Rian,” Mikon teased as she wrapped an arm around her woman’s arm.

“I’m not a lady, Mikon. I’m pretty sure I’m just ‘temporary Rian,” Erzebed said as they walked. Next to them, Umu was still staring longingly towards the boat, and Mikon had to reach out and touch her on the arm to get her attention. That finally got the beautiful woman to turn away, walking with them and the rest of the crowd down the stone dock and up the stairs over the floodwall. Already, the pile of rock Binder Lori used as building material was a little bigger, the new stone obviously brighter than the slightly weathered parts that had been there before. “Well, time to go make sure the Great Binder doesn’t bury someone or try to kill Tae for standing too close again.”

Mikon gave her a reassuring pat. “You’ll do fine. Think of it this way: she’s never gotten hurt on your watch.”

Erzebed blinked, frowning it thought for a moment—which made her lips look so pouty and distracting—before brightening. “Huh, you’re right!” To be honest, that probably had more to do with Binder Lori being almost childishly morose, depressed and lonely when Rian was gone for a long time than anything Erzebed had actually done, but it was still true! “Well, I better go see if she needs anything…”

The way she pulled her arm in Mikon’s grip was gently half-hearted, and the weaver let go with exaggerated reluctance. “Well, I’ll see you later then, Erzebed,” she said, giving her woman a quick kiss on the cheek. She immediately turned and hooked her elbow around Umu’s arm. “Come on, Umu, let’s get back to work.”

Umu visibly considered pulling her arm away, before just letting out a sigh. “Don’t walk so slowly, or else there won’t be any looms left for us to use.”

“If there’s only one left, you can have it. I’m fine with spinning.” It left her fingers aching if she did it all day, but that was fine. She’d usually recover by the time they went to bed… and if she didn’t, Erzebed was very understanding.

As it turned out, Mikon did have to spin thread because they were running low on it again. Fortunately, they had a good stock of fibers piled up, with more still retting in the tank. She was able to just lean back against the back wall next to Umu’s loom and spin, her fingers going through the familiar movements until she didn’t have to think about it anymore and she could let her mind wander. That mind went to the usual places: whether it was time to sweep under the bed again, should she remind Binder Lori to give her any socks with holes in them so they can be darned, whether Rian would remember to eat properly, worrying that Umu was drawing into herself as she thought that perhaps she shouldn’t be with Rian and them anymore…

The weaver knew Rian worried about the blonde as well, although he didn’t speak about it. To be fair, she didn’t say anything about it to him either, the two of them simply exchanging significant looks whenever Umu did something that said she felt she didn’t belong anymore. Erzebed… would be no help. She was a wonderful woman and Mikon loved her, but at best she accepted Umu’s presence, and only because both Mikon and Rian liked her. The not-an-officer was not yet so open to the idea of sleeping with women that she was curious about what being with Umu was like, but Mikon was doing her best!

She needed to speak to the blonde soon. With Rian away, Umu was sure to feel lonely and unwanted, especially with Mikon and Erzebed carrying on next to her on the bed. Which they probably would be, since Erzebed was becoming very enthusiastic about what exactly the two of them could do together and was even beginning to take the initiative…

Mikon blinked as she realized her spindle had stopped because of her daydream and got it spinning again, making sure it was properly wound before she started adding more fibers to the thread. Right, work to do, work to do, threads to spin and people to keep warm when the snows came. She’d think about this over lunch.

Despite that resolution, her mind kept coming back to the subject, though it was more idle musing than distraction, and she was able to spin a long skein as the morning wore on. With her hands busy, and her mind wandering, her eyes simply stared in front of her, simply taking in the familiar sights of the Dungeon in the middle of the day as she listened to the other women who were weaving and spinning talk. They exchanged gossip, complained about the little difficulties of life, grumbled about the cooks using the same recipe of stew over and over again, and wondered how things were doing downriver. Normally, Mikon would be joining in the gossip, but today she simply didn’t feel like it. The others seemed to sense her reticence since no one tried to pull her into conversation. Perhaps they thought she was longing for Rian already. Well, she wasn’t! She probably would later, but only when she was alone or when she had Erzebed and hopefully Umu to commiserate with.

A few of the women were talking about Shanalorre and wondering if she was all right and if she was eating enough. Most of the older women of the demesne regarded the young girl sympathetically, and the ones whose infants she’d helped keep healthy over the winter felt fondly towards her.

…

Though, not all of them were the older women, were they? One of those new mothers had been younger than her!

Was she old now? Was this when her breasts woul start getting flat and droopy and her face would start wrinkling?

Past the weaver’s alcove, children were playing in the clear space in the middle of the second level, running among the stone pillars that held up the ceiling and yelling exuberantly. She half-expected to see Karina or the Lady Binder come by and try to get some of the children to help them tend the crops in the dungeon farm before remembering they’d left for the other demesne.

On the other side of the second level, the carpenters were still had at work doing… whatever it was they were doing to try to come up with a door for the boat house Binder Lori would be building. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were gesturing at the planks, blocks, and the few pieces of wood that Tae had put together from scraps that would otherwise have just been burned in a way that reminded her of someone realizing they needed more thread.

Occasionally, she’d see Binder Lori pass by, using her magic to push rock that moved like wet clay collapsing under its own weight and yelling at people to ‘get out of her way unless they wanted to break their legs and Shanalorre wasn’t there to heal them so they’d need to go to Taeclas and that would take longer and probably be more painful, Taeclas if you can hear this make sure to make it painful to discourage the idiots’. Once you learned to ignore the tone and listened to the words, it was easy to see that she cared… in her own way. It was clear from how she’d stop whenever one of the children got too close to the stone, and even though she yelled at them to get out of her way, the children weren’t really afraid of her.

In a demesne where people were starting to wear long sleeves, padded jackets, thick hats, and two or even three skirts to keep warm—Rian had already put on his winter robe a week ago and had stated he didn’t plan to take it off until halfway through spring—Binder Lori was still walking around in just tsinelas, trousers and a shirt that was actually getting a little worn, as if cold was something that happened to other people. It made her stand out in a way that no amount of sparkling fabrics, floating in the air, and having people kneel before her could do.

Mikon knew from experience that Binder Lori would be doing this for the next day or so. She needed a lot of rock when she built things, and it seemed like this ‘boat house’ was going to be bigger than the houses she’d built before… which was probably going to get people annoyed, since the boats will have a nicer house than many people. Erzebed was probably going to be very troubled by that. Hopefully she could deal with it until Rian got back.

…

And if not, Mikon probably needed to start planning how she was going to help deal with it. As adorable as Erzebed was when she was overwhelmed, she tended to go straight to sleep after days like that, and Mikon had needs too!