It was almost late afternoon by the time we reached the docks, mostly because the might-be-a-gang with us all kept insisting we were going the wrong way, until I made it clear that, no, we were NOT going to the rickets.

When we reached the docks, Yhoe almost didn't let us through because… well, having what looked like a gang coming to his docks probably had him very concerned given incident with the fiery warehouse and the stolen ship. Fortunately, Taeclas was able to get most of them to wait outside, with only two of them accompanying up to help push the cart—with the women still sitting on it, because why not—the rest of the way. We got curious looks from the new arrivals standing around outside of the warehouse where they were staying as we moved towards the end of the dock where the Coldhold was, I was glad to see, docked.

"That's your boat?" Kutago said incredulously as we stopped in front of it.

"Yes? What, were you expecting one of those little toy boats?" I said, gesturing to where some of the salt boats were already coming in.

"Yes, actually," Lidzuga said. "I mean, the only other kind of boat I've heard of was a story about someone making a boat out of ice and wood and coming to the demesne last winter."

"Ah. Well, may I direct you attention to this little gap in the wood here, and the transparent solid material visible through it?"

Attention was directed towards the little gap of wood, and the transparent solid material visible through it.

"This is the ice boat?" one of them men who'd helped push the cart said incredulously. "I thought it would be more… ice."

"To be honest, I did too when we started building it," I admitted, "but ice chips very easily, so we've put as much wood as we can in front of the ice. More ice had been visible back when we visited last winter, so the Coldhold was more obviously an ice boat back then."

"I have so many questions," Lidzuga said.

"Then we'll have something to talk about on the way back home," I said. "For now, why don't I show the four of you the hold down below where we'll likely to be sleeping. If you don't think you could endure it and want to back out… well, I really wish you wouldn't but if you did, now would be the best time to find out when we can still take you back home." I waved towards the hatch leading down. "If you'll please follow me, you can look over what we have to work with and we can work out who sleeps where."

Lidzuga practically ran to join me, only slowing down as several people, his sister included, yelled at him to not run. Said sister was right behind him, her pace more sedate but only because she was clearly restraining her pace. For all her objections previously, she seemed as eager as her brother for the chance to inspect the Coldhold.

Fortunately, the controls for the steam jet driver bound tool was covered with a big pile of bedding when I climbed down ahead of the two siblings, the bead that powered it hidden in the front room with the spares and other bags of beads. The wisplights Lori had made were nowhere in sight, though I manged to make out their outlines under the bedding. Enough light came in through the hatch and gaps between the planks for us to see as I gave the four an abbreviated tour of the lower deck, which was more crowded than usual with all the cargo we already had, and would become more crowded still when Ravia came with the last of our order tomorrow. However, the lower deck had deliberately been made to be spacious, both for holding cargo and carrying people, though this would only be the second time when it would do both.

"And this is where we sleep," I finished, gesturing towards all the beds folded against the walls. "It's… well, honestly, it's sleeping on a wooden board, so you'll need a bedroll to be really comfortable, but beyond that it's not bad. Though if you're like me and tend to move around in your sleep, I'd suggest joining me on the floor. It's a bit dusty, but there's room to spread out." I glanced at the three women, then coughed. "Um, if you're concerned about privacy, I'd offer the use of the front room once we're underway. We're only using it for storage for now. However, it's… well, it's an enclosed room and—"

"No."

"No."

"No, but thank you for the offer!"

I nodded. "Well, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. Perhaps you could sleep along one wall with Lidzuga and I on the floor in front of you or something." I hesitated. "That is, if you're still willing to come with us?"

Glances were exchanged between sibling and sibling, and wife and wife.

"It doesn't smell," Rybelle said eventually, then seemed to realize the words that had come out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

I laughed and waved it off. "Don't worry, you're being too kind. I know it smells like sweaty boatmen." A thought occurred to me. "Ah, before you make a final decision, perhaps I should show you the latrine arrangements."

––––––––––––––––––

After a very long pause, an examination of the small privacy doors that Lori had insisted on and which we generally didn't bother with, and the four looking at lines of sight, the four of them declared the latrine arrangements usable and they were still willing to come with us. With that final approval, we started moving everyone's belongings onto the ship.

The sibling's things were easy enough, as we were able to just put them in with our own packs, after informing them of why we couldn't put anything on top of the darkness-covered containers. The two women's things were a bit harder to put away, especially since they were irregularly shaped, but Rybelle had apparently packed them very well, and we still had sufficient space without having to be really creative with stacking. It was very likely everything would have to be rearranged tomorrow, when we received the rest of the items Ravia would be delivering, but for tonight we should be able to sleep well enough.

Speaking of sleeping, though…

"Well, I don't mind…" I said as Taeclas and Rybelle declared their intention to sleep at the Coldhold. "But I thought you'd be sleeping in your house one last time tonight?"

"That was when I didn't realize how nice the boat we'd be sleeping on was," Taeclas said. She'd taken to the Coldhold faster than her wife and had been eyeing the higher folding beds in the way of someone who wanted to try them out. "Besides, we'd have to do it anyway, and since you say we're not leaving until tomorrow, tonight's a good time to get used to sleeping here when we're not moving in the water."

"Ah. I regret suggesting you leave your bedding at your house, then. Do you need someone to go with you to get it?"

Taelcas waved me off. "Oh, don't worry, the boys will keep me company and help my bring it back here," she said. "We should be back soon now that I know the way."

"Well, if you're sure. We should have something to eat ready for you when you get back," I said. "And if we don't because people were too hungry to save you any, we'll buy you something."

"Ah! I'll look forward to it, then!"

As Rybelle watched her wife go back to retrieve their bedding with the gang they were friends with—and possibly other things left behind, because there always were—I went with Multaw and Liggs to buy us all dinner, with Lerri, Aran, and Malbin coming with us to take the cart away. As promised, I bought them dinner from a nearby street stall—a leaf-lined bag full of meat and chlyp skewers, which they assured me was more than sufficient—before sending them off to take the cart back to the merchant house.

We were laden with food when we went back to the docks. One bag went to the dockworkers, who were very grateful for the food, though after that we had to dance around the new arrivals who thought we were handing out food for free. I was inclined to buy something for them as well, but there was a limit to what I could explain away to Lori as reasonable expenses. As much as I wanted to… in the end, these weren't really my beads I was spending, it was Lorian's, and ultimately Lori's. She just trusted me to use it wisely.

I wasn't going to betray that trust, despite all that I'd used up so far, which were absolutely necessary expenses. Unless we were planning to recruit those people, however, feeding them would fall under Lori's definitions of 'a waste of resources'. That way lies Lori ultimately sinking me into the ground to asphyxiate surrounded by solid rock if she thought I'd overstepped. She probably wouldn't kill me, but it would be highly unpleasant, and she would be less likely to trust me in the future, which would make doing my job as her lord harder.

The food was greeted with enthusiasm, and everyone was soon eating as we enjoyed the slowly waning light of the coming dusk. The salt boats were coming in, and the three newcomers took the opportunity to watch, having never really seen them before.

"They're all very low, aren't they," Lidzuga noted. "Probably very stable when they're mostly empty, but it's probably unstable the more people there are on them who are moving around."

"They'd probably turn over if they had three people all on one side," Kutago agreed, making Rybelle look down worriedly. Fortunately, the other woman noticed. "Oh, don't worry. Those floats on either side of us are probably meant to prevent exactly that. Some of the salt boats have them too, see?"

While they were occupied, I took the opportunity to head down to the front room, taking the wisplights and stashing them there. While we'd have to reveal Lori's rudimentary bound tools to them, I'd prefer not to do so while it was still physically possible for word to get out to the rest of the demesne. It was probably too late if the Dungeon Binder paid any sort of attention to us, but… well, you could say that about a lot of things, and I knew Lori couldn't really pay attention to everything in her demesne. Given how much bigger Covehold Demesne was, its Dungeon Binder probably had proportionately more things clamoring for their attention.

This meant that we wouldn't have a little breeze to help circulate the air, but it would only be for one night.

I unfolded one of the beds along the wall, took my rock out of my belt pouch and set it down on the board to give the now-dark confines of the lower deck light before I grabbed my walking stick and headed back up. At the mouth of the bay, the light houses were lighting up, as was the dockmaster's office. Light was also starting to shine from the warehouse where the new arrivals were staying, no doubt from the Whisperers among them.

"Multaw, Liggs, would the two of you come with me?" I called to the two. "I'm going to wait at the dockmaster's office for Taeclas, they might not let her back into the docks if they don't recognize her. Wouldn't want her to not be able to get back here and be stuck outside all night, after all."

After all, Taeclas was technically one of mine now. I had to look after her.