"What have you done?-!"

Shanalorre turned towards him as Lori gave him a disapproving glare. "I have surrendered and submitted to the authority of Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri," the other Dungeon Binder said, her voice still pitched to carry her words to the crowd. "It is she who now rules River's Fork Demesne. She has generously allowed me to continue to live rather than simply killing me so that she could claim my core."

"You…! You had no right to do that!" her uncle insisted, his face growing redder as blood rushed into it from the strength of his emotions.

"On the contrary, as this demesne's Dungeon Binder, I was the only one with the right to do this. If you believe otherwise, then you are incorrect." Shanalorre turned and climbed back up the stairs so she was once more visible to most of the crowd. Lori followed her, making sure to plant herself one step higher than Shanalorre, the exclamations of the crowd changing as they saw her in turn.

Shanalorre's was perfectly calm as she continued speaking, now facing the crowd again instead of just her uncle. A crowd that was murmuring to itself, the combined whisperers slowly growing louder. "It cannot be denied that Lorian Demesne exceeds us. They are more prosperous. They are safer. Their food stores are greater and more reliable, and they have more resources and facilities. All of which the people of this demesne need, and which as Dungeon Binder I must provide. And so I have in the only way I could. You've all heard what Lorian Demesne is like. Some of you are from there. You know how no one died there when the dragons came, how they were protected within their Dungeon. That is a security I cannot provide for you, try as I might. But Binder Lolilyuri can. And with our arrangement, she has agreed to do so. She will build us a shelter against dragons, provide us with food from their stores, and help us build the infrastructure we need to not simply survive, but thrive."

She gestured towards Lori as Rian and some of the volunteers took up positions between the base of the stairs and the crowd, her lord standing in front of Shanalorre's uncle. Lord something-something stood next to him. "I have sworn myself to Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri as one of her subjects. If you hold any trust in me, if you accept me as your Dungeon Binder and are willing to follow my will, then by our agreement, she will consider you her subjects as well, and with her power build up this demesne as she has built up her own."

"And if you choose not to obey, and hereby reject my authority," Lori said, one hand on a length of wood in her side bag, ready to quickly place a well-practice binding of firewisps on it and throw if needed, "then you are free to leave for a different demesne. Or die. It matters little to me what happens to those I hold no responsibility over."

"You did something to her!" Shanalorre's uncle said, pointing at Lori in what he probably thought was a dramatic manner, but was really just rude. Well, her mothers would have said it was rude. She herself couldn't see why simply pointing was considered a rude gesture. It did make her want to break his finger, though. "You forced her to say all this, just so you could take over our home!"

"If I wanted to take this place, I'd have simply killed her and claimed the core under the tree," Lori said disdainfully. Next to her, Shanalorre nodded in agreement.

Shanalorre's uncle opened his mouth to continue his rant, but next to him his wife sighed and slapped him up the back of the head. He whirled around on her angrily. "Oh, be quiet Las," she said tiredly. "You're making a fool of yourself again. Shana told me before she started leaving to help with the pregnancies that she was going to try to find a way to try to get Lorian's help with everything, and that she'd surrender if she had to. Well, it looks like she had to, so she did."

"You knew?-! And you didn't do anything to stop her?"

"She's the Dungeon Binder, Las," she said, in the much the same tones as Lori's mothers trying to explain something that made no rational sense, like sharing or making friends. It was… slightly strange to be hearing those tones and not have the pointless lecture be directed at her. "You should know, you're the fool who talked her into it. Why would we stop her? It's her decision."

"It's a foolish, childish decision!"

At every word from the man's mouth, Lori felt the pressure inside herself build. Every expression of foolishness, every idiotic word from his idiotic mouth, practically demanded to be struck down, and she felt her hands tightening on the staff that could, would do it. The disrespect! Was he forgetting whose demesne this was? It certainly wasn't his! He was just one of the ungrateful parasites who lived in it! She opened her mouth—

"That's your opinion," Rian interjected, drawing the man's attention towards himself, and giving Lori pause. Rian's voice changed, becoming strong and carrying the way Shanalorre's had. "Does everyone else agree?"

"Stay out of this, outsider," the man snapped.

"No," Rian said, and the blatant cheerfulness in his voice, as well as the smile on his face, was definitely just to be annoying. Hah! She knew it! He turned sideways to look up at Lori. "Your Bindership… Great Binder… If I may advise? For dealing with the matter of this… person?"

…

Right. right, this was a 'dealing with people' matter. That was Rian's duty. She didn't actually need to talk to this idiot, and satisfying as it would be to inflict agonizing bodily damage upon him, he was a doctor—even if she was finding the possibility he was any good at it doubtful—and even with Shanalorre's healing on hand, a doctor would still be useful. Theoretically. "What do you have in mind now, Rian?"

Strangely, people seemed to quiet, as if they were actually listening. "The doctor has made his opinion known, your Bindership. He's against River's Fork Demesne subordinating itself to you. I propose we hear from everyone else."

…

Lori gave him a flat look as she realized his intent. "You want to put this to a vote?-!" she said, and only reason that her voice wasn't filled with disgust was because incredulity had gotten there first, managing to push back the outrage she'd been feeling.

"A vote implies the result will dictate policy for the demesne," Rian said, smiling widely. "No, I simply wish to hear how many of those who live here believes as the doctor does. A… poll, on whether others share the doctor's opinions. That their Dungeon Binder had no right to make this sort of arrangement with your Bindership. That Missus Vyshke, and possibly any others that Binder Shanalorre had made her intentions known to, should have stopped her. That this arrangement was foolish and childish. That they don't need a shelter from dragons, or food to keep from starving, or a place they can have hot baths, or all the things you can provide them."

"We don—!"

"Then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about and that we'll see that everyone else in the demesne will agree with you," Rian cheerfully interrupted.

"What do you propose, Lord Rian?" Shanalorre said.

"It's simple, really. If people agree with the doctor's opinions, then they simply need to stand next to him. And if they disagree…" he made a sweeping gesture towards Shanalorre, and by extension Lori herself, "then just stand next to the tree, away from him. You know, to make it easier to count. After all, there's no need to complicate matters."

He turned back with a smile. "Shall we begin?"

The glare on Shanalorre's uncle's face turned into shock as Shanalorre's aunt walked past him. Lori watched as she approached the stairs, looking up to Shanalorre and Lori. Then she dipped her head in a small, almost perfunctory bow, and turned back around to give her husband a disapproving glare.

"Ah, good, our first vote," Rian said, still sounding annoyingly cheerful. "Next?"

There was a moment of confusion and indecision. Then, slowly, the crowd began to move.

––––––––––––––––––

"Fools! You're all fools! Can't you see she's just using you! She doesn't care about us! "

"Yes, call everyone you want to agree with you fools, that will change their minds," Rian muttered quietly next to Lori. "Excellent bedside manner doctor, I'm sure your patients all feel very safe in your care."

Surprisingly, Lord whoev—Lori remembered she had his name on a rock in her belt pouch and pulled it out to check it—Yllian chuckled quietly at Rian's words. She supposed he agreed with the sentiment, or at least found it amusing.

The number of people who had chosen to stand with Shanalorre's uncle was small, and seemed to consist mostly of non-northerners. They looked increasingly embarrassed as the man continued to harangue those standing near the tree. Two people had simply walked away from the man, finding a practical third option, while a few were clearly having second thoughts.

His most recent rant had been born from one of those who had initially sided with him choosing to walk over to the tree, why Rian had greeted the new arrival with a big smile and genial pats on the back. A couple of others had followed.

Normally, Lori would have been angered at his disrespectful words. Accurate, in many respects, but disrespectful. However, given how ineffectual he was, and how increasingly pathetic he looked as he became increasingly alone—the three left of those who had joined him were backing away behind his back—she couldn't help but be amused instead.

"Well, that seems to be everybody," Rian said cheerfully. "It looks like many people have chosen to put their trust in Binder Shanalorre and Binder Lori, doctor. Ah, but it was very close. Clearly your opinions, while not reflecting the majority, have their own merit."

Huh. That was probably the cruelest thing the she'd ever heard Rian say.

She half expected the man to explode into rant, or possibly into hysterics as he trembled where he stood. Instead, he sent a hateful glare at Lori, but visibly gathered himself as he finally shut his mouth. With an attempt at dignity, he deliberately turned away from them—then paused, clearly confused as he realized there was no one behind him. He didn't let that surprise stop him, however, as he stalked away from them, his feet sinking angrily into the mud with every emphatic step.

"Where's he going?" Lori heard someone say. "His house is up there!"

The observation amused the crowd, and Lori found herself surrounded by chuckles.

Next to her, Shanalorre glanced up at Lori. "Shall I continue, or do you wish to make your will known yourself?"

Lori glanced back at her, then waved a hand dismissively. "Finish what you were going to say," she said.

Shanalorre nodded, then drew herself up. "Thank you, everyone, for your trust and understanding in this matter," she said, her voice once more carrying. "If you would all please return to your previous positions, we still have a few other announcements."

Slowly, the crowd trickled back into position. The mood had changed, becoming more relaxed, and when the crowd finally settled down, they seemed more willing to listen.

"Now then," Shanalorre said. "In addition to agreeing to allow the children of the demesne to shelter in Lorian, where they will have access to the safety of Lorian's Dungeon in the event of… anything that makes it necessary, as well as assisting us in the various problems we've been having with food, as part of her taking charge of River's Fork, Binder Lolilyuri has agreed to allow some families to move to Lorian to helped reduce the load on our supplies. In addition, we will be enacting some changes that have proven successful in Lorian, such as communal meals."

Murmurs arose at those words.

"Yes, I am aware that our first attempt at doing so did not prove very successful, or last very long. However, given the pressing certainty of death by starvation as our food supplies run out, I am sure the second attempt will be more successful, as otherwise we shall starve to death," Shanalorre said flatly. "Except, of course, for the children sent to live in Lorian, who will probably have no such worries. This means distribution of food rations will be stopped, as no one will need to cook their own food anymore because they will be receiving communally prepared food. If any persons wish to apply for the position of cooking for the demesne, please speak to Lord Yllian. This also means that all food rations currently possessed will need to be returned. Please bring all rations remaining in your homes to the site of the communal dining area so that it may be included in the coming meals today."

Lori gave the crowd a bland look. "In this instance, we will not be counting of how much rations are brought forward by each household. But only in this instance. Any subsequent theft of food supplies, or any other supplies, will be subject to discipline. And it will be discipline by my standards, not whatever soft measures Binder Shanalorre has been using on you all."

There were a few mutters at that, but not as much as there had previously been, and no one threw rocks or complained they needed the food this time, which was a marked improvement.

"I am told that the communal dining area has been in some disrepair," Lori continued. "So the first order of business shall be to make it usable. Binder Shanalorre, Lord Rian—" Lori checked her rock, "Lord Yllian, organize everyone for the project. I want the place usable by dinner at the soonest, because we are all eating there tonight, or not at all. And if I see any smoke rising from any houses because someone went home to cook, I am setting the house on fire as an example."

That caused more murmurs to rise, but before anything could come of it, Rian hastily said, "And what will you be doing, your Bindership? Do I need to assign anyone to help you?"

"I," Lori said, "will be constructing permanent cooking facilities. Unless whoever is going to be cooking actually wants to have to kneel down next to a fire to do it?"