Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri—Lori to most because people tended to mangle her name by mispronouncing it ‘low-lai-lee–ooh-rai’ or ‘lowly-uh-ree’ or any of a number of ways that she’s had to be stopped from kicking people in the shin for over the years—founder and ruler of Lorian Demesne and conqueror of River’s Fork Demesne, looked upon the first and most senior of her lords with narrowed yellow eyes and was displeased.

  Normally, this wasn’t because of anything anyone had done. Well, it wasn’t anything anyone she could name specifically had done, although given how her list consisted of said lord, said lord’s lovers, another Dungeon Binder surely out to kill her, and the brat—there were probably other people, but if she couldn’t remember them, then they probably weren’t worth remembering—she was just displeased with the state of the world. When she was younger, she had been subtly—and then, when people realized such subtlety didn’t work on her, directly—told that this was a character flaw on her part. That she should see the good in things rather than the ill, and be happy instead.

  People were stupid. Why shouldn’t she be displeased things weren’t to her preference? How else would these things be dealt with?

  This was not a normal circumstance.

  “You look displeased,” the lord in question sitting across from her at her table said. Next to him was Shanalorre, the diminutive Dungeon Binder sitting up straight with her hands folded on the table face, smooth and utterly composed. It was still a bit too early for dinner, so it was just the three of them seated there, although people were starting to trickle into the dining hall of her dungeon. The wide, cheerful smile that Rian was giving her was obviously fake. For a moment, she wondered for whose benefit the smile was. “More so than usual, I mean. It’s probably hard to tell for most people, because most of the time you already look displeased, but you’re giving me the head tilt you do when—”

  “Rian.”

  “Yes, your Bindership?”

  “Explain to me,” Lori said, her voice a knife, sharp and flat, “why I should tolerate the presence of more threats to my life in my vicinity.” She’d been quite ready to stand her ground and start directing lightning at anyone who looked like a wizard. Indeed, after she’d stripped all the bound tool cores, wisplights and nearly all the beads to be found in River’s Fork, she’d started making a dedicated lightning bolt tool. It had been crude, merely a length of beast bone she could hold comfortably where she’d anchored a binding of lightwisps that produced piercing light, and binding of lightningwisps that would generate lightning she would be able to direct through wherever the piercing light was aimed at. “Make it a very convincing explanation. I gave you explicit orders. No wizards.”

  It had been Rian’s idea for her to retreat back to Lorian, both to safeguard her person and to remove the bound tool components out of the demesne to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands—that is, anyone capable of magic who wasn’t her—while at the same time sending him and Yllian to meet with these new arrivals to ascertain their intentions and see whether they were in fact the group from the Golden Sweetwood Company that the letter they had received told them to expect and not, say, literally anyone else. And if they were… well, as her lord in charge of ‘dealing with people’ matters, it would be his job to deal with these people anyway…

  Their exchange afterwards had been heated and rushed, with her ordering him to lay down terms of ‘no wizards, anywhere, go away’—among other things—and him nodding along with that… Until the very last moment when, while the Coldhold was in the midst of leaving its dock but before they were out of hearing range, Rian had yelled that he had an idea for how to deal with the wizards and then promptly ran away before she could reply.

  When he’d finally returned in the late afternoon, it had been to tell her that he had a plan to get the wizards to remain in River’s Fork where they could be of use for her—“Imagine what you could have that many wizards do for you!”—while also keeping her safe from them.

  Naturally, she was displeased.

  “They’re not in your vicinity, though?” Rian said. Lori didn’t know if it was better or worse that he wasn’t feigning innocence with wide eyes. “All the new wizards are safely isolated in a completely different demesne. And if we can maneuver the situation properly, they’ll be more focused on trying to stay there instead of trying to get here, where they’ll be a direct threat to your life.”

  She stared at him.

  “Look… you’re only worried about the wizards, right?” Rian said. “No actual objections to having a group of new settlers wanting to settle in either of your demesnes, as long as they acknowledged you as the rightful and supreme power in the demesne they lived in, right?”

  Obviously. “Obviously,” she said curtly.

  Rian nodded. “So, they’re not a problem. Then the only thing that’s bothering you is all the wizards they brought with them, who are obviously a threat to your life and therefore can’t be allowed to be anywhere near you. Correct?”

  “You’re repeating yourself.”

  “I’m merely ensuring we have the same understanding of the situation. If my understanding is incorrect and you have other reasons to fear, then as your lord I really need to know now so I can account for it.”

  Lori rolled her eyes. “Yes, your understanding is correct.” Really, how hard was it to understand? They were wizards who had come to the new continent, so obviously they all wished to be Dungeon Binders, and therefore would try to kill her to add her demesne to their own, just like she would!

  Her lord nodded. “Well, then this is perfect! They’re well away from you in River’s Fork, and now you finally have a very good reason to never have to leave your demesne ever again!” He spread his arms at that as if he as in the finale scene of a particularly over-acted play.

  That last actually gave Lori pause, tilting her head slightly in consideration. The thought of never having to leave her demesne to visit River’s Fork was very tempting, especially with winter coming… “I will not be imprisoned in my own demesne,” she eventually declared.

  “Is it really imprisonment when you have no desire to go out, no reason to, have everything you need brought to you, love to stay home, have perfect accommodations, and despise having to set foot outside?”

  …

  Ugh, she hated it when he had a point.

  “Besides,” Rian continued, “you’re not imprisoned. If you have any reason at all to go to River’s Fork, then the wizards will make themselves scarce so they are all well out of your sight and too far away to harm you before you even approach the dome. If you have to go there, we send word ahead, all the wizards are evacuated out of the dome—or even just be made to sit in the dragon shelter with the doors closed— you can come and do your work safely, and we let them out once you’ve left. This way, you’re safe, have everything you want and the demesne has access to a workforce of skilled wizards who can both help relieve your workload and allow us options we previously didn’t have available to us. For example, with Horotracts you don’t need to excavate the dragon shelter anymore. They can just make a vista and expand the dimensions of the shelter area that’s already there.”

  “That won’t work long-term,” she said immediately. “The water storage and purification capacity were barely able to keep up with the shelter’s needs last time. With the increased population brought on by new settlers, expanded and improved bindings will needed to be formed. Water storage will also need to be expanded, as well as latrine capacity.”

  “I’m sure that’s something eight Whisperers can figure out together, especially since they’ll be well-motivated to do so since they’ll be the ones using the dragon shelter,” Rian said.

  That made Lori pause once more. Phrased like that… eight Whisperers, working in shifts, would be more than capable of imbuing the necessary bindings to protect the dragon shelter in the event of one passing over the demesne, while still ensure that there was always someone awake at all times…

  She shook her head to clear it of happy thoughts. “Nevertheless. Why did you see fit to ignore my orders?”

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  “Because I was only one man, and if you didn’t think you had good chances going directly against 19 wizards, how well do you think I thought I would do?” Rian said immediately.

  …

  Ugh, she hated it when he had a point.

  …

  “Well, regardless,” Lori said, completely dismissing the previous point and proceeding to ignore it even existed. “I find it unlikely that they’ll agree to such a limitation.”

  For some reason, Rian looked up at the bare stone of the dining hall’s ceiling for a moment before letting out a sigh and opening his mouth to respond—

  He paused, mouth still open, and tilted his head slightly. Finally, he said, “Why do you think they’re a threat to you?” he said. The words came out slower than he normally spoke, as if the thoughts were still coming to being in his mind as he was speaking.

  “I’ve already explained this,” she said, impatience and the beginnings of actual anger at his incomprehension.

  “No, no, I understand that reasoning…” Rian said. “They’re wizards, they want to be Dungeon Binders, I understand all that. But how are they a threat just because they’re a lot of them?”

  “Rian, just a moment ago you proved you could count.”

  “Your Bindership… you, as you are, as a Dungeon Binder… do you think you could defeat any wizard you faced, individually?”

  “Of course,” she said immediately.

  “Would you have trouble with two?” he said.

  “Not if I can see both of them at the same time.”

  Rian nodded. “So the minimum number of wizards needed to perhaps stand a chance of defeating you is two, if they cooperated by positioning themselves so one was in a blind spot,” he said, stating the blatantly obvious as if he were some kind of theater character expositing to the audience. “Your Bindership… why would any two wizards be willing to cooperate to that extent?”

  The question actually gave her pause. “What?”

  “Why would any two wizards be willing to cooperate to that extent?” Rian repeated, still speaking slowly, as he continued to visibly examined the words he spoke even as they came out of him. “After all, wouldn’t they be as much of a threat to each other as they are to you? More really, since you’re a Dungeon Binder and could literally overpower them. Compared to you, the other wizards are a much easier and more appealing target. Sure, theoretically that many wizards could work together to overwhelm you… but that puts them in a position where they could be easily betrayed and killed by someone before they even got near you. I mean, if you were in their position, would you cooperate with another wizard to kill a Dungeon Binder?”

  No, of course not. She’d be too worried about being betrayed. “No, of course not. I’d be too worried about being betrayed,” Lori said instantly, even as she stared at him, feeling lightheaded—or at least, what she thought being lightheaded felt like—as all flows of thought stopped like they’d slammed face-first into a door that should have been open but wasn’t. She examined the logic of the statements, and found to her surprise that it did in fact hold up. Yes, as a Dungeon Binder, what she had was desirable… but just as she had to regard all wizard as threats, all wizards also had to regard each other as threats. And while she was distant and content to remain that way, these wizards would all be in each other’s vicinity…

  “They’re also unlikely to try to decide to move against you,” Rian continued. “After all, they probably think that you’ve had time to fill the demesne with contingencies in case you’re attacked by wizards.” He paused. “You haven’t, but they don’t know that.”

  Her consideration of logic was interrupted as her displeasure returned, now joined by annoyance. “You say that with such certainty. For all you know, this entire dungeon is filled with bindings that will kill any wizard foolish enough to face me here.”

  “It’s not, though.”

  “It could be!”

  He just gave her a look so reminiscent of her mothers knowing she hadn’t done something she said she would that Lori instinctively started looking around for a suction sweeper before she remembered her demesne didn’t even have one, because she was no longer forced to clean the floor just because she had Whispering.

  “Stop that!”

  Rian shrugged. “As I was saying, it makes much more sense for them to focus on removing weaker rivals. Since you’re significantly stronger than they are, it’s only logical they leave trying to deal with you for last, when they can at least match you. Of course, to do so they’d have to found their own demesne, but to do that they’d have to either leave River’s Fork and move far enough that they don’t end up with just a scrap of land, or do it right outside Rivers Fork so they can do it in a short enough time-span that they aren’t missed. In the first instance, they risk death to the local beasts, and in the second… well, if having that kind of demesne conferred any kind of advantage, Covehold would be surrounded by them, and it isn’t. At least, not according to Tae and Lidzuga, and they would know.”

  Lori hummed thoughtfully.

  “As to your original question… they’ll accept the limitation because to not do so makes them a target,” Rian said, returning to speaking in that slow pace where he was letting his mouth divulge his thoughts even as he was coming to his conclusions. “Anyone who stays in the dome when told to leave will be explicitly defying you, which means you’ll need to deal with them. Which means they’ll lose and die, so they won’t. If more than one does so… well, each of them will need to worry about you and the other wizards around them, and since you’re the most difficult target…” He shrugged, leaving the conclusion up to her.

  Eventually, Lori nodded slowly. “Very well…” she said, her words equally slow, trying to find some sort of flaw in the reasoning, even as she chastised herself for missing the obvious. “Very well. Then we’ll let them kill each other and see who survives. We’ll need daily reports as to their movements. Anyone who disappears for a significant period of time is likely making their move.”

  “No need for their exact movements, surely? We don’t have enough people to spare in River’s Fork for that,” Rian said. “Just watch who misses a meal and check that the borders of the demesne don’t have any surprise neighbors. As long as neither of those things happen, then it means no one has done anything yet.”

  “If I may, Great Binder,” Shanalorre suggested, and Lori blinked. She’d forgotten that the other Dungeon Binder had been sitting there. “I regularly check on River’s Fork through my core for injuries or anything that needs to be imbued. It would be trivial to include checking for anyone significantly outside of the dome and moving towards the edge of the demesne when I do so. It would be necessary in any case, as wandering the woods alone is unsafe, especially for the children accompanying these new settlers.”

  Lori nodded immediately at that last. “Do it,” she said. Even if Shanalorre was unable to precisely identify who had done so, it would be a signal that someone had, and more specific measures could be taken.

  … measures that she would have to take, given that if the wizard—if it was a wizard—in question might have formed a dungeon’s core and become a Dungeon Binder…

  She shook her head, setting the idea aside for the moment. “Very well. On to the next matter. You said that the leader of the settlers wishes to negotiate?”

  Rian nodded. “They’re playing hard to get, implying that they’re planning to form their own demesne with their own wiza—don’t worry! I’m pretty sure he only said that as a negotiating tactic!”

  That exclamation might have resulted from the fact that Lori’s gaze had ignited from displeased to incendiary. “And if they weren’t?” she said as she glared.

  “Then what would I be able to do about it?” he said. “Tell them ‘do that and our Dungeon Binder will kill yours’? That’s the sort of thing you leave as a surprise so they can’t prepare for it.”

  She let her glare linger for a moment longer before letting out a huff and allowed herself to relax again. “You had best hope it was only a negotiating tactic,” she said. “Though negotiating requires a specific end.”

  Rian nodded, frowning slightly. “Yeah… I got the feeling that the leader of the expedition didn’t like the fact that River’s Fork was being ruled by a civilian.”

  “Do you think he will attempt to seize power as…” Lori frowned, tilting her head for a moment, then decided this wasn’t actually something she cared about. “…. as whatever his name was did?”

  “Not sure. On the one hand, he seems like he doesn’t enjoy being in charge. On the other hand, he seems like he’s simply trying to do right by the people he’s in charge of. Trying to appeal to any personal gain on his part—except perhaps for a decrease in things he’s responsible for—won’t move him, so bribery is out, but as long as we offer the settlement a collectively good deal he’ll probably be agreeable enough.” For some reason, Rian had a strange expression on his face as he said this. “He seems to get along with Yllian well enough, so once the settlers are established he might just stop being relevant and fade into the background. At most, he’d become an assistant to Yllian, being familiar with the new settlers. Actively seeking power and authority… he doesn’t seem the type. Of course, I’ve been wrong about militiamen before.” For some reason, Shanalorre reached up and patted him on the shoulder. This did not seem to comfort him, as he actually slumped. “Uh, do you want to be the one to conduct these negotiations? You know, so there’s no risk I’ll do something on my own initiative?”

  For a moment, Lori was sorely tempted… but only a moment. There was a reason she had Rian, after all. “Will you be doing something of your own initiative?” she said.

  “If it’s needed,” Rian said immediately. “Better you yell at me later than to look weak and indecisive during the negotiations.”

  …yes, that was about what she expected. “Make sure they understand that I rule River’s Fork,” she said. “My will is law, and any say they have in matters is by my indulgence.”

  “How much indulgence am I allowed to mistakenly assume they have?”

  “As much as River’s Fork already has.”

  Rian nodded. “All right, then. We’ll see what happens in three days. In the meantime, I’ll probably be busy seeing to the mail.”

  That gave Lori pause. “Mail?”

  “Well, yeah. Yllian got me a list of the people in the new group, and I’m having Riz pass it around. By tomorrow, I expect to have a lot of rocks and pieces of wood with mail on it from our people that needs to be sent over to the settlers.”

  “No mail,” Lori said immediately. “Not until you firmly impress on everyone that certain details are not to be spoken of.”

  “I think it’s a bit too late to keep the wizards from knowing you can make beads and rudimentary bound tools,” Rian said. “Even if you stripped all of them from River’s Fork, everyone knows about them, and they have no reason to not tell their friends.”

  …

  Oh, colored glittering rainbows.