Weekly Digest 25 - (#75 - #77)

Holiday Morning

"Good morning everyone, and I hope you enjoy today's holiday!" Rian called after getting everyone's attention. "We're here to celebrate our Binder not dying from infection." There was a cheer at that. Rian could make anything sound like something to cheer for, it seemed. "We'd have done it yesterday when we arrived, but we didn't think people would appreciate starting the party in the middle of the night. Besides, we're not allowed to play music after sundown, and who wants a party without music?" More laughter. "But we've got the whole day—and tomorrow!—ahead of us, and we've have plenty of daylight until sundown, so let's make the most of it! Rest have fun, maybe take a dip in the river—" abruptly Rian turned to face Lori, "—er, is that all right, or does it fall under lewd acts?"

Lori thought about it, and she was mildly unnerved to realize people seemed to be actively paying attention to her answer.

"No touching of any things below the stomach and above the knee and I'll allow it," Lori declared. "Though people really shouldn't go naked, what if a seel bites something? Or a slug attaches somewhere delicate?"

There were winces.

"She's says it's all right!" Rian declared cheerfully, followed by people doing their own cheering. "Hunting party, are you ready?"

There was a loud, affirmative-sounding roar from a group of people, a mixed group of men and women.

"All right! We'll be eating beast tonight!" Rian declared. "And for lunch! And tomorrow! Not that we don't already eat beast, but roast sounds good, doesn't it?"

There were more cheers.

Lori hoped they had some kind of sauce they could put on the meat with it was roasting, lest it come out dry and tasteless. Would the fruit do, if they boiled it? They're probably have time….

Wait, why was she thinking about this? She didn't care!

Lori sighed, and went back to eating as Rian continued to talk. "We'll be planning some games for tomorrow since today we'll all probably be too busy eating and… well, probably doing literally anything else other than working, so when we eat later, be sure to be very nice to the hunting party for doing any hunting at all" Another roar from the mixed group who had apparently volunteered to hunt beasts.

"Well, that's it. So, in conclusion, let's all be glad that Binder Lori didn't die and celebrate it by staying away from her and not talking to her as we all have fun for the next two days!" Lori found herself nodding at that. "Really, that's the best way to show your appreciation. Well, that and remembering to stop playing music after dark." Lori nodded again, then caught herself and went back to eating.

Rian made to sit back down to eat, then abruptly stood up, "Oh, and can the following people talk to me one at a time after we're done eating? Nothing important, just a minor matter." He named various people, and only then did he sit down.

"So, now what?" Rian said, eating slowly.

"People come, I thank them, I give them the bowls, they go away," Lori said. "Then everything is done and I don't have to remember their names anymore."

"And you started so well, too," Rian sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Lori said flatly. This was all looking a bit too organized for something Rian had just put together that morning.

"I got enough," he said, exactly like a student who'd stayed up the night before and as swaying at his desk before the big test. "I'll be fine. The walk will wake me up."

Lori gave him another stare. Rian didn't seemed to notice, intent on eating. If she hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have noticed the sway.

"So you're going with the hunting party, then?" she said.

"Well, I amthe one asking them to work on a holiday, so only fair," he said.

"A holiday that was entirely your idea," she pointed out.

"Exactly! Only fair I help out too."

Hypocrite.

She finished her food, watching patiently as Rian ate his. People were talking excitedly at other tables, some leaving in groups. At one corner, several people had gotten together and were playing their board games, finally able to play as long as they wanted.

Someone approached their table, a man who Lori wasn't familiar with. "Lord Rian, you wanted to speak to me?" he said.

"Ah, Drelyn, good. Yes, thank you for coming," Rian said. Lori immediately shifted the binding on the darkwisps, letting her see the bowls from her side. "Actually, Binder Lori asked for you."

The man shot her a nervous glance as she scanned the bowls, before carefully grabbing the right one.

"Er, what can I do for you, your Bindership?" he said nervously, stepping as if to put both the table and Rian between the two of them.

Lori snorted, and gestured for him to lean forward.

"Go ahead," Rian said as the man—Drelyn—glanced at him. "She doesn't bite. She just ate after all."

For once, one of his tasteless jokes didn't illicit some a laugh. Still, the man stepped around Rian and leaned forward.

"Here," she said, holding the bowl out to him. He took it, confused. "Thank you for carrying me."

"Y-you're welcome, your Bindership…" the man said, surprised.

Lori nodded.

The man just stood there, staring at the bowl and the fruits in it.

"I think you can go now, Drelyn," Rian eventually said.

"O-oh! Yes, Lord Rian. Your Bindership." He bowed to her then walked away, much to Lori's satisfaction.

One down more down.

Seventeen more to go…

They started coming in ones and twos and threes. Rian always managed to find a pretense to say their name, usually by exclaiming it when they approached, and soon Lori was able to dispose of all her bowls. Some had tried to give it back, the ingrates, and others had thought she was only giving them the fruit and they'd have to return the bowl. Really, why would she want a bowl with their name on it?

People talked, of course, when they saw some people being given bowls of fruit, and a few had even tried to line up as if expecting to get some themselves, but Rian had thankfully managed to get rid of those. Eventually the table was empty, every bowl of fruit gone. Their breakfast bowls had been taken to be washed before the kitchen volunteers, as they had cheerfully declared, would be doing nothing but nothing for the next two days.

"I'll have to find some people willing to help me clean those," Rian sighed. "Just because we're changing food doesn't mean we won't need all those spoon, bowls, cups… "

"Lord Rian?"

Someone else approached had their table, and Lori wondered who this was.

"Oh, hey Dormin," Rian greeted.

Not a name she knew. Not important.

"Are you still joining us on the hunt?"

"No, he's not," Lori said. Lori fixed her gaze on the newcomer. "He didn't get much sleep last night since he was up preparing for this holiday. If he goes with you, he's likely to get himself killed. Go without him."

The man blinked, then looked at Rian.

"I slept plenty," he said.

"He's swaying," Lori pointed out.

The man smiled and clapped Rian on the shoulder. "Get some sleep, Lord Rian. It's a holiday. You shouldn't be working."

"You are," Rian said, even as he looked a bit relieved.

"This isn't work," the man said with a smile. "This is a hunt." He turned to Lori a bowed. "Great Binder." He walked away.

There was a moment of silence.

"I could have gone," Rian asserted.

"Hypocrite," Lori repeated. "Don't get yourself killed, I don't want to go back to River's Fork so soon."

Rian huffed. "Fine, I'll take it easy," he said, then yawned.

Lori considered that. "I don't believe you," she said.

He blinked. "Er, what?"

"You clearly need minders, or else you might start working with sharp objects or climbing trees to pick fruit or something," Lori said.

"Ineed a minder? You think that I need a minder?" he sounded indignant, offended and disbelieving.

"Yes. I'd rather not have you falling unconscious and being left out in the sun to burn. Or trying to go beast hunting as soon as I take a nap," Lori said. "Either you go to sleep and get your energy back or you bring someone with you to make sure you don't fall asleep somewhere dangerous, since I'm reasonably certain you'll force yourself to keep doing things despite it being a holiday. Which reminds me, take some of the mashed fruit and cook it so we have some kind of sauce for the roast."

"Ooh, good idea…" Rian agreed. "And please don't change the subject, I don't need a minder."

Lori ignored him and tilted her head to look past him. "Umu. Mikon," she called.

There was a minor racket as the two young women climbed over the table in front of them, ending up on either side of a surprised Rian as they leaning over the bench and table towards her. "Yes, your Bindership?" they both said. It was almost harmoniously synchronized this time.

Lori pointed at Rian. "For the rest of today, I want the two of you to stay with Rian and make sure he doesn't exert himself," she ordered. "Grab his arms and don't let go if you have to. He'll probably try to organize things for the holidays, and that's fine, but under no circumstances is he to help carry anything or do anything that requires exertion. For all I know, he might have stayed up all night."

There was a clatter as a third young woman scrambled over the table as well. Riz-something looked like she didn't want to draw Lori's attention while at the same time wanting to step forward to volunteer.

"I didn't! I did sleep, you know," Rian protested, only for his own body to betray him as he yawned. He tried not to let it shown by keeping his mouth shut and breathing in through his nose, but the forcibly opened eyes were a giveaway. "Not tired at all," he sighed out, emptying his lungs.

"If he falls asleep, try to make him comfortable," Lori said blandly. "I'm sure you'll think of something." She did not pointedly stare at anything as she said it.

"Yes, your Bindership!" Mikon said with a wide grin, grabbing Rian's arm and twining both of hers around it.

"You can count on us, your Bindership!" Umu said, doing the same for his other arm. They both glanced at each other for a moment.

"Can I help too, Great Binder?" Riz said. "In case he needs something carried." She seemed to think what needed carrying was Rian himself given how she'd latched on to Rian's back.

Lori waved a negligent hand as the two women on the arms glared at the newcomer, who didn't glare back because she was looking at Lori. "Fine, fine," Lori said. "If that's what you want to do for your holiday."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Rian said.

"You can go and sleep in the shelter," Lori pointed out. "I'm sure these two will help see to it you're undisturbed. But if you insist on going around doing things in a sleep-deprived state, then you will be attended to so that you don't do yourself an injury. Now, go and see to that fruit sauce and whatever else you're having done. I am going to make the cold room even colder and then take a nap." Her back ached as she remembered her bed. She mentally added 'find someplace nice to take a nap' to that chain of events. "Now, I'm going. Enjoy your sudden holiday, Rian." She headed out to the river so she could get ice for the cold room. It was already very cold, but more ice never hurt.

Actually, that gave her an idea…

Behind her, she could hear them talking.

"If you need to wake yourself up, Lord Rian, why don't we go have a dip in the river?" she heard Umu say brightly. "I'm sure that will wash the sleep colors from your mind and have you up and lively!"

"Ooh, yes," she heard Mikon agree. "I haven't had a good dip in ages! Stripping down and taking a dip in the river would be wonderful…!"

"And the Great Binder even said it would be all right as long as there was no touching…" Riza said.

She hoped those two remembered to bring their bowls home, at least. She had worked hard on those.

Lori stifled her own yawn. Right! River water, cold room, then nap!

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Things People Do On Holidays

The cold room was made colder after Lori dragged water up from the river, took out all the impurities she could, and solidified the water into ice. The Dungeon actually had two cold rooms: one where they put the food that would be used for cooking, and another, larger room that was slowly being filled up with meat for winter reserves. She'd have thought the amount of food in the latter was too much until Rian pointed out that they needed to feed over two hundred people for more than a hundred days.

That had gotten her to expand the winter storage cold room. Twice.

Thankfully, that wasn't their only food storage room, but it was certainly the one that needed her personal attention most, due to the need to keep it cold. The fruit mush was cooling in the other cold room though, along with a few cuts of meat that was likely intended for today's meals were it not for the sudden holiday.

That particular work done, Lori set out to finally do what was important: finding someplace soft to take a nap.

Now that she was done with the ice and came back out to the river, there were already people frolicking in it. They were all in various degrees of undress. Some had gone into the water fully clothed, some had kept on trousers or skirt, some had some sort of loincloth on, and many were just fully naked. There were piles of clothes scattered about, some getting muddy from lack of forethought as to placement.

Someone had started a fire, and a large stone pot was being place over it. From the smell alone, she could tell it was mashed fruit. She saw some mushrooms being added in as well, as…. Huh. It appeared some people had managed to keep hold of spices and salt, and had decided this was as good a time as any to use them. At a nearby table bench, someone was cutting mushrooms.

Rian was supervising this, or at least trying to. It seemed he was having difficulty, what with the three women on him. He was also swaying a little, but that could have been because he was finally growing tired or because the two were leaning on him and one was making him lean on her by holding him from behind. He tried to ignore it, continuing to talk to the person stirring the pot, but all around him, people were amused and bemused.

Lori ignored all this as she started drawing more water, pulling it out upriver from all the people frolicking. While she didn't need the water to be completely clear, a part of her was repulsed by the thought she might be using water someone had done something unsanitary in. As the tendril of large glob of unnaturally viscous water sat beside her, Lori bound airwisps and vaporous waterwisps mixing them together in a binding, one she'd learned in school as an example of multi-wisp processes. Though there was no visual sign to mark it, air began gusting from a spot in midair, blowing so fiercely it was noticeably cooler than the air around it,

Lori took the water by her side and passed it through the binding.

There was a momentary jet of cold water before the airwisps dispersed it into a conical spray, and then white powder started blasting from the invisible binding. To the casual observer, it would look like Lori was simply make the water next to her turn into snow, ignorant of the waterwisps being used to compress and organize the structure of the water into ice, of the airwisps mixing in minute droplets and vapors of water to build around that little bit of ice, causing them to form into snow.

The spray of white blasted forward as Lori began drawing more water from the river to feed through her binding, before she aimed it at the side of the cliff face next to the river and just let it spray. It was best to let the pile form on its own. Trying to gather and manipulate it with waterwisps had an unfortunate tendency to turn it into slush and ice.

It didn't take very long. Soon she had a nice, shining white pile of snow.

Momentarily ceasing the spray, Lori reached down and tested the snow. Not quite like a natural fresh snowfall, but good enough. Lori stepped on it to test it, and her foot went down a ways before it finally stopped.

Thicker it is, then!

Bringing her bindings back to bear, Lori blasted out more snow.

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Lori woke from her nap on what had been a refreshingly soft and cool snowbank. Now it wasn't as soft anymore, having conformed to the countours of her body while she napped. Her rain coat, lain on top of the snow to keep her from being in direct contact with it, was chill under her, but it had kept most of the meltwater off.

In the distance, she could hear people still splashing in the water, loud noises that she tentatively identified as attempts at music. Enthusiasm was apparently being substituted for talent and ability, bringing back all sorts of horrible childhood memories about waiting for dragons to pass over their demesne…

Blinking, she pushed herself up, her raincoat sliding on the wet snow beneath her. The hems of her trousers and her socks were wet, having lain in the snow, and Lori sighed as she felt her shoes squelched. Still, a small price to pay for a good nap. A pity she couldn't replace her bed with a pile of snow, but that was far too much upkeep and water.

Sighing, she got up, squelching through the wet around her snow pile and putting her coat back on. As expected, she didn't feel refreshed but even more sleepy, as if her body wanted to go back to the nap that had been interrupted. But she wasrested, and while she was perfectly willing to indulge in another nap, she could do that later. Unless she missed her guess, it should be about lunch time. The air was filled with the scent of wood smoke, and the fruity smell from earlier was gone. Instead, something else had taken its place, something that had the original fruity smell as part of it but merely as part of a more complex scent…

Eh, as long as the meat was juicy, she didn't care.

As she rounded to cliff face, she was amused to find many people were using the laundry area in various states of undress, trying to get mud out of clothes that had been left lying on the ground. Many were doing it awkwardly while being spoken to or chided by someone else. She supposed the ones who usually did the laundry for their family decided it was a holiday.

There were more fires out, and on top of several were large pieces of dismembered beast slowly rotating on long wooden shafts. In other, there meat was being held over hot coals with smaller lengths of wood. Several of her new bowls were being used to hold sauce so that people could baste the meat they were cooking using bundles of reeds to act as a brush.

Hopefully someone was taking care of the head for its skull and teeth. She needed more teeth after all those bowls.

It looked like none of the meat was ready to eat yet, so she diverted into the Dungeon to take care of her socks.

Inside, she was surprised to find people using the kitchen. Instead of stew, however, they were using the stoves to cook… she sniffed. Yes, someone was frying mushrooms, vegetables, tubers, gourds and other things in seel fat. Many of the tables were also occupied, as people who decided they wanted to play games had claimed the tables as there demesne. There was a lot of excitement, competition, name-calling, cries of victory and groans of defeat. It almost made her want to ask if she could paly.

Almost.

Finding an unoccupied bench, Lori took off her shoes, then her socks, resisting the strange urge to smell it. she knew it would smell like wet socks, so why did she always feel like doing it?

Carefully, she bound air- and firewisps together to gently blow hot air into her shoes to dry them. She'd long since learned her lesson of just ripping all the waterwisps out of leather shoes. The socks, she bound with waterwisps and slowly made the water boil before finally turning the moisture into steam.

It would still be a bit ripe, but at least it was warm and fluffy again. She put on the now-warm socks with satisfaction, followed by her now-dry shoes. Now, she just had to find Rian so she could get him to get her some food. Since they weren't using the kitchens anymore, she had no idea how they were doing the food distribution, so she had to find Rian so he could find out for her.

A thought occurred to her, and she stood up and headed down to the second level, which was still technically in progress. Her injury had delayed the weavers and ropers moving in, so the entire level was still empty except for Rian's pots of seedlings. When she reached the stairs, however, she heard people below. Climbing down, she found several children playing some kind of game that involved a lot of running and trying to tag one another, then going back to seemingly arbitrary positions to start again. Thankfully, when she checked the alcoves, no one was doing anything lewd in them. She did find some people napping in the wall niches though. Why they chose there, she had no idea, but at least they were using them for the intended purpose.

Her worry assuaged, Lori headed upstairs to find her lord, and found him directing some people bringing down tables from the outside dining hall, putting them near the cookfires. No benches, just tables. As per her orders, he wasn't actually carrying anything, as both his arms were still restrained. He seemed to be ignoring that now, and the people he was directing all looked amused at his circumstances. Riz, she noted, was helping carry one of the tables and looking unamused.

"Rian," she said, walking up to him. "Food."

He blinked at her brow furrowing, and she sighed. She looked at the Umu, who was closest. "Did he get any rest at all?"

"No, your Bindership," she said. "We've tried, but Lord Rian keeps saying he was things to do."

"And I do. Really, you should go enjoy the holiday without me," Rian said.

They all ignored him.

"Has he eaten, at least?" Lori asked.

"I'm right here. You can ask me," Rian said pointedly.

Lori looked at him. "Have you eaten?"

"I've been busy," he said.

"He hasn't had anything except for trying the sauce for the baste," Umu said helpfully.

"Rian, go and get something to eat, and then get some rest," Lori said. "That's an order."

"You are being surprisingly involved and insistent about my well-being today," Rian said. "Are you sure you're not still sick?"

"You tried to go on a beast hunt while lacking sleep," Lori said. "You clearly cannot be expected to take care of yourself right now, and I'd rather not have to find a new lord. Again. I still haven't replaced the last one."

Rian opened his mouth. Paused. Looked thoughtful. Seemed to realize something. Finally spoke. "All right, when you phrase it that way, you might have a point…"

"And you still haven't gotten any rest," Lori pointed out. She turned back to his minders. "Has he done anything to enjoy himself? Gone to take a deep? Played a board game? Just sat down and ate?"

"No, your Bindership," Umu said. Mikon settled for just shaking her head.

"There was work to do?" Rian said. "I mean, it's not like I can expect you to talk to people, present company strangely excluded."

"Oh? And what were you planning to work on next?"

"Making sure everyone gets something to eat," Rian said instantly. "Sure, the hunting party bought back four beasts, and another group went out to get more, but will that be enough?"

Lori nodded. "Perhaps next time don't plan a holiday in the middle of the night?"

Surprisingly, he frowned. "Yes, yes, it's my fault, rub it in, why don't you," he said, then yawned hugely, covering it with his hand.

"You're clearly too tired to be calm," Lori said. She looked at his minders. "I assume you know where he sleeps?" They nodded. "Take him there and make sure he sleeps. Sleeps, understand?"

"Yes, your Bindership," they said, nodding.

"I still don't get a say in this?" Rian said.

Lori gave him a long look. "Say something, then."

Rian opened his mouth, and a yawn came out. He covered it again.

"Succinct," Lori said.

Rian sighed. "Ugh, fine. I'm too tired to argue. There, I said it. Happy?"

"Not particularly," Lori said. "Get something to eat too."

"Isn't eating before going straight to sleep bad for you?"

"Only if you overindulge like a glutton," Lori said, rolling her eyes.

Umu, Mikon and Riz all nodded. Wait, when had…?

"And you three," she said. "Eat something too. Maybe it'll encourage him."

"Which is it you want me to do, sleep or eat?" Rian said. He tried to roll his eyes, only for his head lol, and he rapidly shook his head. "Right, sleep it is! Guess I'll just have to hope there's still food when I wake up."

Lori watched the four go, reasonably certain she didn't have to worry about Rian being molested in his sleep.

She sighed. Now how was she going to get food?

"Wiz Lori?"

She looked down. The brat was holding a bowl filled with steaming beast meat, mixed fried things, and what seemed to be a tuber cooked in its own skin, slightly damp as if it had been dunked in water. it probably had. Tuber cooked like that was put in among the coals to cook.

"I thought you'd like something to eat," the brat said.

Lori accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Karina," she said, relieved.

The girl nodded with a smile bowed, and went off, hopefully to get more food for herself.

Perhaps this holiday had been a good idea after all.

Humming to herself, Lori went to find a bench so she could eat, giving serious thought to the idea of making the brat a Lady.

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Lori's Bored, So She Goes Seeling Again

After lunch, the general excitement of everyone at not having to work quieted. Some went back to the river for another dip, but many followed her previous example and took a nap. Some sat in the shadows of the aqueducts or outside the bath houses, talking, sewing, using knives to whittle at small pieces of wood, and in one instance weaving a hat out of some long strips of soft river grasses. Many curled up in the unoccupied benches and tables in the Dungeon, and she found that the finished niches in her second level had all been occupied, the children having moved their noisy game outside of the Dungeon to let people sleep. Other children had found what was left of her pile of snow and expended it on one another.

Some people were still doing things, though. A different hunting party had gone out for meat for dinner, and a few had gotten together to discuss the inadequacies of lunch and how they'd cook dinner to be much better. At least, that seemed to be their topic of conversation when Lori passed the group discussing with the seriousness of a major portfolio investment.

Lori, for her part, found herself with absolutely nothing to do. With Rian hopefully taking a nap on her orders, she couldn't even play sunk. The alternative was to take another nap, and she wasn't really that sleepy anymore. She could work, but… No. This was a holiday, sudden as it was. She was NOT working on a holiday. Especially one ostensibly celebrating her, even if she hadn't asked for it.

…

She really wished she had a book to read. Lori had spent her best holidays that way: curled up in her room, a book on her lap, pillows behind her, just… reading. When she'd been younger, she hadn't been able to. Her mothers had kept dragging her to places that were supposedly fun but never were. They were just a lot of tiring walking, noisy people, food she was only ever allowed one of, and more walking. At least when she'd gotten older she'd been able to tell them she had to read something, even if occasionally they'd still try to drag her out.

Lori let out a huff of both nostalgia and resentment, and focused on the present. Sitting alone at the usual table where she ate with Rian, surrounded by lots of sleeping, snoring people, with nothing to do but nothing… inactivity was turning out to be much more boring than restful. It was starting to be like those old holiday events her mothers had dragged her to, only without the food and footpain. The lack of both evened out, and it was still boring, and therefore felt like a frustrating waste of her time. The sounds of the few people still playing games—if at a more tranquil, less excitable pace, and with fewer onlookers—taunted to her, and a part of her regretted making Rian rest. With him so tired, if she challenged him to a game of sunk victory would sure be hers…

Wait, the brat knew how to play sunk! It was desperate, but Lori literally had nothing else to do. And she knew the girl's name and what she looked like anyway, so it was hardly like talking to people at all! Lori looked around, but while there were some spots of bright orange hair around her, a cursory inspection showed none of them were the brat. Maybe she was outside? Lori hadbeen outside when the brat had given her the bowl of food, after all.

Speaking of which, Lori really had to put away this bowl… ah, but they kitchen staff were on holiday…

She didn't have a wash rag, but there was a pile of ash for cleaning near the laundry area, so Lori threw some on her bowl, held her squeamishness as she rubbed it into the stains on the bowls by hand, then blasted it all away with water that was well below the force needed to cut through wood until everything had been scoured off. That chore out of the way—it wasn't work, it was holiday work! Normal logic didn't apply!—Lori continued on her way to find the brat so she could have someone to play sunk against.

The brat wasn't taking a dip in the river, nor was she sitting under the shade of the aqueducts. A quick in and out showed she wasn't in the bath house, the safer, warmer alternative to taking a dip in the river. Maria ignored the women seated next to each other who had moved apart when she'd come in. She couldn't prove they were touching and had no desire to look to find out. And if they were so thoughtless as to do it in a publically used pool of water… well, Lori didn't bathe there anymore, so that wasn't her problem.

She had thought to check the houses next, but after she'd gotten close she saw allof them had some sort of garment hanging from the door and backed away. Lori very much hoped the brat wasn't in one of those right then. Checking the outside dining hall revealed no brat, just a smaller amound of people either sleeping or playing quiet, thoughtful games. She turned right around when she saw the still unfinished houses also had some sort of garment on their doors, those that had doors. Those that didn't just had a something on a stick leaning diagonally across the doorway as a symbolic barrier.

Given the way she immediately turned around, it was probably fair to say it worked.

She sighed. Well, at least no one was doing it in publ—!

Lori paused, then against her better judgement concentrated on her awareness of the demesne's wisps and the voids of wisps caused by people.

…

…!

Lori pushed away her awareness of the demesne's wisps. Why there? Why in the woods? People were within ten feet of each other, there was no way they couldn't see or hear each other, why…!

She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. All right, just… ignore it. The way the woods were, any public indecency would be a self-inflicted crime. There were no victims, only perpetrators. She resolved not to act on it unless there was a traumatized child at dinner or something…

Still, checking for voids hadn't been completely unhelpful, and mostly disturbing. She'd felt a lone, upright void along the river, near where the children seeled. A small void. Child-sized.

Sighing, she did put the brat out of her mind to do the responsible thing and make sure the child wasn't unsupervised. Really, what were they doing there? Shouldn't they be enjoying the holiday or something?

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Lori found the brat perched on a rock overlooking the river, her seeling rod in hand, arm upraised and eyes staring into the water. Her skirt had been girded around her loins, and she moved carefully, deliberately, as she scanned the water around her.

"What are you doing here?" she called, raising her voice so it would carry.

The brat's head jerked up, but that didn't seem to affect her balance at all as she turned to look towards Lori. "Wiz Lori?" she said, surprised. "Why are you here?"

"I asked you first," Lori said.

The brat considered that and nodded. "Lord Rian asked me to get some seels for roasting," she said. "He asked me to get the biggest one I could so that there would be enough for everyone, but…" she sighed. In annoyance, from the look on her face. "None of the big seels have come near me, so I have to keep waiting. I wasn't able to bring one for lunch, so I'll bring one for dinner." She nodded, as if satisfied. "Your turn."

"I noticed someone was all alone near the river without any supervision and decided they needed to be stopped from getting into an accident that would get them killed," Lori said. "Especially since they were here without adult supervision, or even someone else to call for help."

"Everyone's busy having fun," the brat said, as if that explained everything. "So I came by myself."

"That's dangerous," Lori said. "What if you'd slipped and fallen into the river? Who'd be there to help you?"

The brat frowned. "I would have been fine. I'd done it before and I know what I'm doing."

Lori gave her a level look. "If you'd caught one of the big ones," she said, pointing to an enormous adult seel, at least six paces long, which she was fairly sure was NOT what Rian had meant, "how would you have carried it back by yourself?"

The brat opened her mouth. Paused. Frowned. Looked thoughtful. Huffed. "I'd have called for help," she said. She waved vaguely. "There are people at the fruit trees, trying to get more fruit. I could have just gone to them."

Lori sighed. This girl… She shook her head, and bound the waterwisps in the river. "Come here," she ordered.

The brat frowned, but did as she'd been told, carefully making her way over the rocks and onto dry land. She picked up her shoes and carried them as she moved to stand in front of Lori.

The waterwisps surged upward, bringing the water with it, and one particularly large specimen of seel adulthood was promptly lifted off the rock it had been resting on by the rising water, which also dispersed the only slightly smaller seels around it. before it could move its powerful body, however, Lori pulled the waterwisps around its body together, encasing it in ice. She waved her hand in a purely unnecessary gesture, and anothr surge of water brought the large block of ice ashore, sliding and grinding over the loose river rocks before it slowed to a stop. In addition to the big seel she'd been aiming for, she'd also partially caught another. It's head and a quarter of its body was stuck in the ice, leaving the rest of it to writhe and wriggle violently as it attempted to free itself.

"Is that enough, do you think?" Lori asked over the sounds of the fursh's tail slapping the ground and water in panic at its asphyxiation. She glanced at the brat, and was surprised to find them glaring at the captured seels with a look of… determination? Envy? "Karina?"

The brat blinked, and the strangely dark expression was gone. "Yes, that should be enough for dinner, it think," she said. She grimaced. "Though it might be really fatty, though. I should catch another one—"

Lori made another unnecessary gesture. Her lord wasn't the only one who could do things for dramatic effect, after all. There was another surge of water, another seel lifted and encased in ice, then the ice was propelled to the riverbank. It slid and came to a stop when it struck the ice that was already there.

The brat glared at the block of ice with a seel in it like it had personally offended her, her lips pouting. It was all very childish.

"That should be enough," she said through her pout.

"Excellent," Lori said. "Help me get this back to the village so people can start preparing it for dinner."

The brat nodded. "I think we need more people to push them, though."

"Who said anything about pushing?"

––––––––––––––––––

Lori used earthwisps to push the frozen seels—the tail was still flapping around—into town and in front of the dungeon, with Karina being her spotter to tell her if there was anything ahead. Not that she was in front of the blocks, of course. That would have been dangerous and irresponsible, having someone stand in front of a mostly-frictionless large mass as it was being propelled forward. No, Lori made sure the brat was well to the side and having her shout course corrections, which probably also did double duty to warn away people hiding in the brush that they were approaching. The brat gave no sign she encountered anyone, at least.

There was a stir as the blocks of ice, flapping tail and all, slid to a stop in front of the Dungeon, bumping a table on the way. People looked up and pointed, a few standing to come nearer.

The seels were still alive in there, Lori was bewildered to realize. They were still voids in her senses, so they were still alive, as if the still-moving tail wasn't a clue. Well, can't have that. Food was best dead and unmoving so that it wasn't inconvenient.

"How do you usually kill these things?" she asked the brat.

The brat moved to where the head of one of the fursh were, pointing through the ice. "You hit it there," she said. "You can break the neck there, in the small ones, and if you can't do that, it can also bleed to death."

Lori scowled. The ice was warped, and wasn't perfectly clear. She had no idea where the brat was pointing. "Will cutting its head off affect the flavor?" she asked.

The brat shook her head. "No, it will still taste the same."

Lori nodded, beginning to pull water from the river to her. "Stand back!" she called to no one in particular, habit and practice from several jobs taking over. "Water cutting hazard! Stand back!"

She moved to the side of the seels that was away from the river, the water from the river reaching her and arcing upward as she ascertained the cut she was to make. "Karina, get behind me," she said as she carefully took aim.

The brat dutifully did as instructed, and Lori pulled earthwisps to either side, forming depressions there as a wall of compacted earth rose in front of her to about chest height. A thought, and a narrow but weak stream of water began to flow from the mass she'd pulled from the river, and she used it as a guide to correct her aim. Once she was satisfied, she nodded, made sure again the brat was behind her, yelled out, "Cutting!", ducked down behind the barrier, and poured power to the winding.

What had been a weak stream became a cutting jet that hissed out like flowing sand. Water sprayed as the jet cut, and she began to angle it upwards, cutting through the seel's head. She didn't stop until she heard something fall to the ground. "Flow stopped!"

She and the brat peered around the barrier. The head of one seel lay on the ground, surrounded by the shattered ice that had encased it, blood trickling around it. From its body, more blood flowed from severed arteries and veins as Lori was treated to a cross-section of a seel's neck.

There was a lot of pale fat. She really hoped they wouldn't use ALL of it for cooking. She hated it when she got a fat-induced headache.

"Karina, could you find the ones who usually handle the seels after you catch them, if you will?" Lori said. "And tell them to keep most of the fat for the chandler. I'll cut off the other heads."

The brat nodded, staring at the decapitated dinner in morbid fascination, before turning to find… whoever.

Lori was already examining the partially trapped seel. This would be an awkward cut. It might be better to remove it into its own block, or else she'd damage the other one. She didn't want that. A sealskin that large would be useful.

She found herself humming a tune she'd learned in one of her old jobs—working as a water cutter at a metalworking shop—as she started extracting the seel so it could be decapitated properly…