"All right, I think that about covers everything," Rian said, visibly sighing in relief. "Unless anyone remembered something at the last moment?"

In the crowd, someone tried to stand up. The man behind him grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him down, and the woman next to him—presumably his wife, or at least a close relation—swatted him on the head. Another woman rose, stopped at a sort of half-crouch, then sat back down again.

"No one? All right, then, I officially declare the community meeting over, just in time for dinner to get started," Rian said. "Thank you for your contributions everyone, even if you were denied. If you feel dissatisfied with the demesne, Binder Shanalorre is right there and will probably be more than willing to allow you to live in River's Fork… um, once she wakes up from what seems like a very comfortable nap. Thank you to whoever lent her what she's using as a pillow, that was very nice of you."

And just like that, the community meeting was over again. Lori sighed in relief, even though she was in the middle of imbuing the binding that she'd be using to expand her demesne for the fourth time that day. Thankfully, most of the matters brought up after the idiots were things Rian knew how to deal with—without resorting to his voting fetish—though she had to rouse herself every so often. Still, she was able to make good time. She hadn't been able to expand the demesne when she'd been busy building the flood barriers, except for the days when the soil was being dug up to clear the way to the bedrock.

"Ah, the feeling of sitting around all day and calling it work…" Rian muttered as he stood up next her, then winced slightly. "It feels like your hips falling asleep, doesn't it?" Indeed, most people seemed to be getting up and walking—the children were running and were being yelled at to stop running—and even Lori felt an urge to stand up and walk around before she sat back down onto another bench for dinner. Already there was activity in the kitchen, but it would be some time before all of that would result in food. "So, what now?"

"Now, you tell everyone that was told I would discuss matters with them later that I meant some day after tomorrow," Lori said. "We do have someone making charcoal, right?"

"Yes, a few people," Rian said. "At least, they were before winter. They have a place somewhere in the woods where they gather the deadfall and make the mounds they need."

"Show me where it is so I can make the boundaries official," Lori said.

Rian started gathering up all the stone tablets with notes on them to take back to her room so that they could be made into blank tablets again. "I have to ask, why not the sawyers?"

"It's a hole in the ground. They don't qualify."

"If you wrote down what your standards were, I'm sure it would be easier to meet them."

"If I wrote them down, I'd have idiots claiming they had already met them."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose that is what would happen."

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By the time dinner had come, Lori had managed to stretch her legs and stop her posterior from aching from the hours of sitting at a seat with no back as she once more inspected the flood barriers she had built. Thanks to the masons and plasterers, the surface of the barriers were as smooth and even as she would want. Indeed, they were much smoother than her own work. She tried not to be annoyed with that. After all, they were craftsmen with specialized tools and skills meant for such a thing, while she'd had a plank on a stick. A difference in quality was to be expected.

Still, the work wasn't done. On consideration, she decided she needed to make a small flood barrier in front of the passageway into the Dungeon after all. Not because she thought that the flooding from the river could reach it—she was very confident about the flood barriers she'd made—but because she'd just realized that all the ice and snow all over the village would also melt, and she needed to keep that water out of her Dungeon too.

But not today, since it was so late. Tomorrow, she could make it, a little knee-high thing that she'd even add steps to. And it would need something to texture it so that people wouldn't slip on it when wet. Then after that she could build the pipes to work with the binding that would drain water from their side of the flood barrier so that the melting snow wouldn't be trapped behind it and be the cause of the very flooding they were trying to avoid…

Lori already had a full plan of the next day's work to be done as she sat down on her bench for dinner, her game board in hand. Then she frowned, got up, and pushed the bench back into position, since it had been a bit too far from the table. Only when she was satisfied did she sit down again with a sigh, leaning on her elbows as she closed her eyes.

She felt the bench shift under her. It was a familiar movement by now, even though their guest usually got to the seat before she did. Lori opened her eyes, inclining her head to the one sharing her bench.

"Binder Shanalorre," she said.

"Binder Lolilyuri," came the reply.

"How did you find the community meeting?" For some reason, the thought entered her head of Rian answering 'easily' with a stupid smile on his face.

"You have my sympathies," the younger Dungeon Binder said as her lord sat down opposite her on the other bench. "And while I would of course be willing to accept anyone who wished to live in my demesne… I'd rather not."

"Oh?" Lori said.

"They will find that my policies on simply giving people land just because they want it comparable to your own."

"Why would anyone think otherwise?"

"I suspect my youth plays a factor."

Lori frowned in puzzlement. "Why would you being young cause them to equate to you being willing to just give them land?"

"I believe they thought me foolish or easily convinced. I already have many such people in my demesne. I'd rather not have more. Still, it was… informative and interesting. You've given me much to think on and perhaps adapt to my own circumstances."

Oh? "Oh? Well, best of luck there, then."

Rian finally slipped into the bench opposite her, Umu sitting next to him and leaning against his side. "All right, finally have someone who's volunteered for flood watch duty," he said cheerfully. "Now he'll just need someplace along the wall to watch out for floods from. On top of the stairs over the wall heading towards the laundry area doesn't exactly command a good view of the river."

Lori sighed, but added it to the things she needed to make. Maybe she could widen the shorter floodwall to make a walkway? No, wait… "They'll need access to one of the ladders."

"I'll see what I can do," Rian said. He turned to their guest. "Binder Shanalorre. Lord Yllian. What did you think of the community meeting?"

"It was interesting, Lord Rian, though I'm not sure if I can make use of it," Shanalorre said. "Many in my demesne are prone to complaining already."

"It wasn't all complaining," Rian said. "That part didn't matter much anyway. People are always doing that. Besides, even if they're complaining, it might be about a legitimate problem that needs to be fixed. You won't know unless you listen to them."

"Unfortunately," Lori sighed as Mikon and Riz finally arrived. While Riz sat next to Rian as usual, the pink-haired weaver sat next to Umu, something that seemed to surprise the northerner woman. Lori began setting up the board for a game of chatrang, putting the pieces down.

Lord whatever-his-name-was looked sideways at Rian. "I think there are people in my demesne who would use such an opportunity to do nothing but complain, Lord Rian," he said pointedly

"Then let them." Lord whatever-his-name-was looked surprised at his reply. "They have to get tired of it eventually. And if it's in a public venue like this, then if other people besides you have to listen to it, they'll get very tired of it much more quickly. Even people who want to complain can only listen to so much of other people complaining."

"Hmm… an interesting premise…" Shanalorre mused as Lori moved the board between herself and Mikon. Mikon, as the one who lost their last game, moved first, propelling one of her militia pieces forward.

Rian shrugged. "You won't know if it work until you try it though. Maybe you'll be unlucky and people in your demesne like listening to other people complain as long as it's about complaints they would have complained about too. But what we really use it for is making sure everyone is aware of our situation, and any plans we have for the future that will either affect everyone or need everyone's participation—Oh, wait, food's ready. Excuse me."

Rian stood, Umu rising with him, and the two headed for the kitchen to get the food. Lord whatever-his-name-was hesitated, glanced towards Shanalorre, then reluctantly rose and went with them.

"How much longer will you be staying with us, Binder Shanalorre?" Lori asked as she moved her Mentalist to threaten Mikon's militia.

"Barring another woman going into labor before I leave, we will be returning to River's Fork tomorrow afternoon," the younger Binder said, looking at the game board curiously. "I will need to continue overseeing the construction of our own protections against flooding."

"I see. Is it likely to be necessary?" Lori tried to recall if there were any markings on the rocks that indicated how high the water could reach, and couldn't remember any. Did that mean there was no flooding, or that all the rocks became completely submerged.

"Given the topography of the hills on either side of the river, as well as the relative flatness of the ground on which the dome stands, any flooding on either branch on the river is likely to converge at our fork," Shanalore said as Mikon moved a different militia. "In truth, we are uncertain as to how bad it is likely to be. Given the elevation of our buildings above the usual level of the river, it is hoped that any flooding will not reach us. However, with the hills lining the rivers on either side, the floodwater has nowhere to disperse as it does here."

Lori nodded, understanding the dilemma as she recalled the hills that rose on the opposite sides of the two rivers that met near the Deadspoken dome that was at the center of the demesne. "Do you have sufficient material?" She moved her Horotract.

"We have the tailings from the mine, as well as rocks along the river," the Deadspeaker savant said. "However, as we are without a Whisperer such as yourself, all the rocks need to be moved manually, and given the season that has proven… difficult. Should the area beneath the dome flood badly, the only safe places would be the homes built into the central tree, which are finite in number, and the mine."

Lori nodded. It sounded like a lot of very difficult work, especially since they'd be doing it in the cold and snow. "It sounds like a lot of very difficult work, especially since you'd be doing it in the cold and snow. My sympathies."

"Thank you," Shanalorre said as Mikon moved her own Mentalist. "It is difficult, but it has to be done."

"I am familiar with the difficulties. I myself also still have things I need to build before the probable spring floods arrive. Will your projects be done in time?"

"It should be," Shanalorre said. "We are simply dumping the mining tailings and any other debris we can move into a crude wall. The problem will be properly waterproofing the barrier. We are covering the surface of the barrier with mud and attempting to bake it by lighting fires on top of it."

Lori considered that. "That might work, but the quality is likely to be very poor and brittle."

"So we have found," Shanalorre said. "But we've been gathering a large supply of wood over the year, and one of the first things my…. father…"

Shanalorre trailed off, staring blankly at nothing. As Lori looked on in bemusement, the younger Binder twitched, and her left arm rose and slapped herself on the cheek. She blinked, then shook her head. "Apologies. My predecessor used a taming to cause a stand of wood outside of the dome to continuously grow branches, which I have been able to maintain. Unfortunately, the dragons damaged several over the past year, and the current cold has reduced the growth of the few that remain. We have been regularly pruning their branches and gathering firewood over the past year, as well as refining it into charcoal, which helps supplement the deadfall gathered from the hills around the dome. Even with the losses, we should have sufficient fuel for this project, as long as people are careful."

Meaning the demesne was probably on the edge of running out of fuel. Though it made their sabotage of her warming binding earlier that winter when she was refining the ore even more idiotic. Or possibly lazy. Or simply deliberate malice…

"I see…" Lori said. "How convenient."

Shanalorre nodded. "Yes, the stand makes for a convenient place to dump waste to keep the trees constantly fertilized as well. Though people have to be careful where they step when they're pruning, and we've had to punish a few who nearly damaged the trees."

"There are idiots everywhere," Lori nodded as Rian and Umu came back, Lord whatever-his-name-was following after, all of them carrying bowls of soup and platters of round flatbread, as well as a few pieces of slightly greenish honey bread. Well, it had been the community meeting, so Lori had allowed herself to be talked into letting them use some of the honey.

As Lori picked one of the bowls of soup and her share of the bread—though there seemed to be one more piece of honey bread than there should have been—she thought of how difficult it had been to make her own demesne's flood barrier, even when it only covered such a small area. She considered how truly difficult it must be with only hand tools, rocks, mud and a limited number of people.

Then she shrugged as she tore a piece off her bread and dipped it into her soup. Not her problem.