Lori sometimes wished that Rian had agreed to be her lord when she had first asked him. It would have made things so much easier in the long run, but he had been firm in his refusal… and then had started running away from her whenever he'd seen her coming in his direction when she'd kept trying to get him to agree. While it had been tempting to sink him into the ground to get him to stop, that would likely have broken his ankles if he'd been moving with sufficient acceleration, and he'd have been little use with broken ankles.

So she'd gone with her second option.

At least her mothers would be happy. They'd always wanted her to find a nice girl to settle down and spend the rest of her life with, and as lady and Dungeon Binder, they were most certainly doing that.

"Good morning, Binder Lori," Mikon said cheerfully as she sat down opposite Lori on their table. "How are you this morning? Did you get enough sleep?"

Lori watched the woman warily for any sign of flirtatiousness. She had long since told her subordinate that the sometimes-weaver's preference were of course her own so long as she kept Lori out of them, but the pink-haired woman seemed to occasionally 'forget'. Then she'd put her hands on Lori's shoulder, or her arm over Lori's shoulder, or her face would move too close to Lori's face, or sometimes her foot would touch Lori's—

She paused, then leaned down sideways and looked suspiciously under the table, but Mikon's feet were primly folded back under the bench she was sitting on. When Lori rose back up, Mikon's smile was cheerfully innocent, which meant she was probably guilty of something. "Is something the matter, Binder Lori?" her lady said.

Lori eyed her suspiciously. "Are you flirting with me again?" she finally voiced.

"Now, Binder Lori, why would I do that?" Mikon said, even as her smile somehow grew wider. "You've made it perfectly clear that you don't want such attentions directed at you. Why would I disobey your orders?" She winked.

"There!" Lori exclaimed, pointing at the offending eye. "That right there, that was flirting!"

"It most certainly was not," Mikon said pleasantly. "I simply had something in my eye." She winked once more. "See, there it was again."

"If that's so, then go and wash your face first so it stops happening," Lori said, her tone completely flat and unamused. "You obviously missed doing so during your morning bath."

"Well, if you insist, Binder Lori," Mikon said, and Lori rolled her eyes as the woman deliberately leaned forward to emphasize her chest in Lori's direction as she rose. "I'll be right back so we can discuss matters." Then she walked away with a deliberate sway in her step that made her posterior swing sideways as she walked, and Lori sighed, closing her eyes and putting a hand over them so she could squeeze inwards to her nose.

Lords and ladies used their positions of power for their benefit, and for the benefit of those related to them, that was just a fact. When she'd offered Mikon the position, Lori had done so with the understanding, indeed the certainty, that she would use her implicit power and influence derived from speaking in the Dungeon Binder's name to her own advantage. She had thought that the woman would use that to defeat that other blonde weaver in their rivalry over Rian. It was the sort of small, petty abuse of power she had been expecting.

And, there had certainly been some of that. She had gotten her family a house that was twice the size of most people's houses… but given she had an uncle, two aunts, and seven cousins… Well, Lori had been inclined to let it go, because even she was forced to agree that trying to cram that many people into the standard houses she'd first built was far more cramped than having them live in the shelter. The few other similarly large families had, under Mikon's supervision, also received such living quarters, showing that her lady at least knew to give their indulgences publicly defensible justifications.

The rest, however…

Well, Lori had honestly thought the woman's affections were for Rian.

She had been wrong. And not even in the way she would normally have been wrong about such a thing.

Mikon came back, and she actually looked like she'd washed her face. There was moisture on it, at any rate, little droplets of water on her cheeks. "There, Binder Lori. I've washed my face, so there shouldn't be anything more getting into my eyes." Not that there ever had been.

Was it lying if both parties knew the statement was untrue? That was either politics or flirting…

Lori sighed, reminding herself that Rian still refused to be her lord and that there were no other candidates. The suggestion of… whatever his name was… that man who tried to kill Shanalorre had been a horrible mistake she didn't want to repeat again, and was one of the few blemishes on Mikon's otherwise perfectly capable record. "Fine, fine…" she muttered. She was fairly certain dealing with your subordinates shouldn't feel like this. It probably shouldn't feel like anything at all. "What do you have to report?"

Mikon unrolled her scroll of beast hide leather. It was something of an indulgence, to use a perfectly good roll of leather so in their current circumstances, but she had said that carrying around a piece of plank was uncomfortable. "Ah, Rian tells me that the large ice boat's frame is almost complete," the pink-haired woman said as she check the slightly smudged writing, "and that they'll soon need you to put ice around the frame to see if it stays balanced. He estimates that they should be able to make the trip to Covehold in a few weeks and be back before winter arrives." She sighed dramatically, and Lori rolled her eyes.

The weaver had been her second choice because… well, she was one of the few people whose name Lori could remember. The situation between Rian, Umu and Mikon had been something she had noticed soon after they had left Covehold, and had watched in morbid fascination out of a lack of any other entertainment. Like most romances, it had been something like an irritating subplot, the kind that should have been resolved easily if at least two of the parties involved had bothered talking coherently at each other. Exasperation and morbid curiosity as to whether the situation would lead to some kind of sudden murder has been strong enough to anchor their names in her mind, though just barely.

Nowadays, the subplot had become even more ridiculous, and Lori was trying to stay well away from it. Sometimes she wondered how well she was succeeding.

"Stop swooning about a man who hasn't even left yet and get on with it," Lori said. She meant it to be sharp and reproving, but it came out as simply exasperated and tired. "What about the harvest?"

A sigh, and Mikon visibly roused herself. "Master Rafel said that the grain's in good shape, and should be ready to harvest in a few more weeks," she said, not bothering to consult her leather scroll. "Though he's worried that were won't been enough sun to dry the grain properly for threshing and winnowing."

Lori frowned. "What?"

Mikon paused as well, staring at Lori, and then suddenly shaking her head. "Right, right, you were from a city…" she muttered, "Uh, threshing and winnowing is how the vigas grains are removed from the stalks. It's best done when the stalks have been dried in the sun for a week or so after behind harvested, but with how cold the days are getting, it might take longer for the vigas to dry, and we can't just leave them out where the chokers could get them."

She hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Rian wondered if maybe there was something your magic could do? He said that the heat wasn't the important thing, it's how the heat dries out the stalks?" It was her turn to speak with tired exasperation. Mikon knew that she'd been chosen to be Lori's lady not because of any great talent on her part—though Lori was willing to admit the other woman possessed talents that had proven themselves useful in her role—but to serve as an intermediary so Lori wouldn't have to talk to anyone else in the demesne. Specifically, she was to be an intermediary for Rian, who despite his protestations of not wishing for any responsibility, was perfectly willing to organize and direct everyone provided it was because he had been asked for his help in doing so.

It was... well, it was inefficient. Lori told Mikon what she needed done, and while Mikon, to her credit, enacted what she could, for much of it she sought out Rian and asked for his help in getting it done. And he did. Lori wasn't privy to the exact details, and she didn't really care. The things Lori wanted done had been done, and things that needed to be done were brought to her attention by way of Mikon, who was the only one she needed to talk to.

"I'll see what I can do," Lori said, and Mikon nodded.

As her lady checked her scroll for further matters she needed to bring to Lori's attention—or possibly just having difficulty reading smudged writing—Umu finally arrived, carefully balancing three bowls of food in her arms. With her was Rian, carrying a jug of water and four cups. Another bowl of food was on the mouth of the jug, where it remained balanced quite well as long as the jug managed to remain upright.

Mikon quickly got up and helped Umu put the bowls down on the table. With their hands now clear, she gave her wife a quick kiss on the cheek, as if they hadn't spent the night together and woken up in the same bed. It reminded Lori far too much of her mothers, bringing to mind memories of sighing tiredly in the morning as they flirted over breakfast before she managed to finish her food and beat a hasty escape to school. In fact, she felt a strong urge to shovel her food into her mouth as quickly as possible so Lori could make her scarce.

Sometimes a part of her worried she'd forget what her mothers' faces looked like, since she no longer saw them. However, it seemed her grievance against them was so strong it prevented that from happening.

"Stop that," Lori said, not looking up from her bowl as Rian helpfully put down the cups and jug, taking his bowl off the top of the jug. Lori grabbed one of the cups and started filling it with water as Rian nodded amiably and walked away to try to claim a spot to eat his breakfast. The two women watched him go, making Lori want to sigh.

She didn't know how Mikon managed to seduce Umu after she had become a lady. She didn't know why, because she clearly remembered the two exchanging glares behind Rian's back where he couldn't see as the two had tried to get his attention and failed miserably. She didn't want to know, because it was strange enough to be aware of that fact that marriage had apparently done nothing about their interest in Rian.

It made sense, to some degree. After all, given the lack of available orphans for adoption, if they wanted to have children they'd need a man to assist them. As Dungeon Binder, that was none of her business outside of establishing inheritance laws, laws on parental responsibility, and possibly taxation laws if people started charging money for the service. However, Lori was fairly certain that wasn't just their intention, mostly because while Mikon had asked her what the limitations on marriage were, whether marriages can subsequently add more people, and whether there was an upper limit…

Lori had reluctantly admitted—to herself if no one else, but she was the only person who mattered, so that was fine—that perhaps she should support her lady in this pursuit. After all, if Mikon—and her wife—was married to Rian, then it would secure Lori's hold—however indirect that hold was—on him, reducing the possibility he'd move to, say, River's Fork, or simply leave when the planned trading trip arrived at Covehold. The only way to more securely tie him to the demesne would be…

…

No. No, that sort of thing was what lords and ladies were for!

"Ah, by the way, Binder Lori," Mikon said as she finally looked away from Rian, "It's been two weeks now. Do you need help with your laundry again?"

Lori blinked. Oh, yes, she was running low on clean clothes, wasn't she? "I'll have them ready for you after breakfast," she said.

Umu immediately turned an unamused stare at her wife. "I'm not washing that batch," she said flatly. "I draw the line at touching your loincloths."

"Of course not, moonlight," Mikon said, smiling and leaning her face toward Umu again. Their foreheads touched. "I'd never ask you to do such a thing…" One hand rose…

"Again, stop that," Lori sighed. The two reluctantly parted, Mikon again pouting at her. "That too. I told you to stop flirting at me."

"I'm not flirting. Do you think me the sort of woman to do such a thing in front of my beautiful wife?"

"Yes," both Lori and Umu said flatly.

For some reason, Mikon smiled widely at this. "You two have so much in common… "

"Sunlight, stop reminding me why you annoyed me for weeks," Umu said in honey sharp tones.

"Yes, my moonlight."

Lori pointed at her lady. "And eat. We still have more to discuss. You can flirt with your wife later."

"Yes, Binder Lori." She finally started eating, and Umu and Lori exchanged a glance of commiseration for a moment, before the other weaver started eating as well.

Lori reminded herself how useful and capable Mikon was despite her… tendencies. Reminded herself that there was no one else in the demesne—whose name she knew, at least—who was capable of performing the same duties to Lori's satisfaction, save possibly Rian, who was the one who did most of the actual work anyway…

…

Perhaps she should start looking for a replacement. Not an actual replacement, since Mikon was still a satisfactory lady, but what would Lori do if she was incapacitated for some reason? Surely it was only prudent planning to find someone to take her place in the event of an emergency, and perhaps act as her assistant the rest of the time?

Hmm…

––––––––––––––––––

Erzebed, Riz to most people, looked at Lori nervously as the Dungeon Binder eyed her. "Are you Riz?" Lori said, just to be sure.

"Y-yes, Great Binder," the pink-haired woman said, straightening in what Lori recognized—mostly from plays— as 'at attention'. One arm rose, only to falter abortively. Probably a salute.

Lori nodded, then looked sideways at the brat. "Thank you Karina. You may go."

The young girl nodded, turning away to leave and do… young girl things.

Lori turned back to the other woman, whose name she'd been able to get from Umu when her wife wasn't about. "You're Riz," she said, mostly to remind herself. It was embarrassing to forget someone's name in the middle of talking to them, after all. "I believe you're interested in Rian?"

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes?"

"How would you like a reason to speak to him more?"