Milsy and Tarvan accompany Parrel to see a recent development suggested by Garia. What they find is a development new to Anmar but still in its infancy, a modern blast furnace. They see how the huge brick tower can easily produce pure iron but there is a loading problem. Milsy remembers something that happened to her long ago in the castle...

What Milsy Did

by Penny Lane

16 - The Tower of Fire

Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2016 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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Outside the windows of the carriage the dwellings became fewer and fewer until they were riding through open countryside. Milsy turned to Parrel.

"If I may ask, Master Parrel, why did you build them so far away from the city?"

"Several reasons, Milsy, the first of which is that they generate a large amount of smoke and it was thought best to avoid having that flow over the areas of the city where people reside. Since the prevailing wind comes from the north-east, we have situated them to the south-west of the city. The other main reason is that we require large amounts of raw materials so there is a canal connecting the site to Crescent Lake and thus from there to the Sirrel."

"A canal? What is that?"

Tarvan answered from his seat beside Parrel. "It is a kind of ditch, Milsy, but its main function is to provide a route for heavy barges to approach the site. It is about the same width as those you see either side of the road but shaped differently."

Tarvan demonstrated by drawing the shape with his fingers.

"Ah, I see. But should not a railroad have been constructed instead? I understood that to be the best way to move heavy materials."

Parrel stirred uncomfortably. "It is one of those avian and egg situations, Milsy. In order to build a railroad we must have steel, and to make steel we need raw materials. We cannot bring the raw materials to make steel for the railroad if the railroad has not yet been made... using the steel we have not yet produced."

Milsy's eyes crossed as she tried to make sense of Parrel's statement.

"In addition," Tarvan added, "Our raw materials must needs cross the Sirrel, since they are brought from Tranidor and the mines beyond. Since that part of the journey requires a barge we might just as well let the barge come all the way to the furnace site."

Milsy considered. "So... if you had built a railroad, say from South Slip... it would still have been necessary to load and unload the rocks on each side of the Sirrel, at the very least." She nodded. "I understand."

"Actually, it is more complicated than that," Parrel said. "For both iron ore and coal, the rivers are too narrow where the mines must be so the first part of the journey must be done by wagon. When Lady Garia first told us how a modern blast furnace worked we were horrified by the incredible numbers of wagons, dranakhs and men that would be required to bring the materials together. That is when she first described the railroad to us and it seemed to offer the perfect solution - in time.

"For now, we have to work with what we have available and that means wagons for the first part of the journey and then small river barges. A complication is that no river barge may pass Haligo, halfway between Teldor and Tranidor, since the river runs through a narrow gorge over rocks."

"You haven't been to Haligo yet, have you, Milsy?" Tarvan asked her. "I went once when I was a young boy and it is very spectacular, but it is impossible for any water craft to pass through the town. Thus, as Master Parrel has mentioned, the barges have to be unloaded into wagons, taken through the town and then loaded into different barges to bring the materials all the way to Dekarran."

Parrel resumed the explanation. "Some few of those barges can cross the Sirrel and thus sail all the way to the furnace site but others are too small for so open a river. That means the materials must needs be transferred yet again before they reach us."

Milsy winced. "That is a lot of effort to bring a few bags of rocks all the way here, isn't it? I would wager that the guilds seek ways to simplify the process."

"Aye," Parrel nodded. "The first way is the simplest - we must site most of our production furnaces near Tranidor, so that the materials need only travel the shortest distance. However, Central Palarand must still produce some of the steel required by the capital. We dare not, for example, leave all weapons production in the north for fear an enemy should cut off our supply."

"As you say, Guildmaster."

"In addition it makes sense for a small facility to be built somewhere near the capital so that we can make experiments at some convenience to ourselves."

"Oh, instead of everybody having to go off to Tranidor. I understand." She nodded. "Is Tranidor that bad? I thought it a prosperous town, from what little I know of it."

"It is a very prosperous town, Milsy, being at the junction of three rivers," Parrel explained. "To the west is the valley of the Sufen, where most of our iron ore is obtained, and to the north-west is the Upper Palar, which is the main trade route north across the Stone Sea to Tel Botro. The Upper Palar also provides much of the food consumed by those who reside in the town. To the north is the valley of the Bray and at the far end of the Bray lies Blackstone, the town where Lady Garia anticipates finding adequate supplies of coal for our future needs."

Milsy nodded. "Thank you, Guildmaster. As you may imagine, my understanding of the various parts of the kingdom are somewhat vague. Having lived in Dekarran all my life I did not need to know such things."

Parrel smiled. "But now you are let loose upon the world your education must needs be improved, Milsy. You need to know how our lands are laid out and how far each place is from another, that you can estimate how long materials will take to go from one to another."

"As you wish, Guildmaster. I assume there are... maps... in the palace that will inform me?"

Tarvan replied, at a glance from Parrel. "Aye, Milsy, maps we used to educate Lady Garia about her new home. When we return to the palace I will ask for them to be provided to you."

"Thank you, Tarvan." Milsy pointed out the window. "Whatever is that?"

"That is where we are going, Milsy," Tarvan replied. "Welcome to the site of Palarand's first advanced blast furnace."

"First and second blast furnaces," Parrel amended. "Soon there will be three, though the first failed almost as soon as it was lit. I will explain what happened once we arrive."

"How long does the process take, Guildmaster? Surely we will not see everything during our visit today."

"Regrettably not, Milsy. To fill the furnace, fire it and produce the iron takes two or two and a half days. The furnace has already been lit and I expect the men are adding the final few loads to the top of the desired charge. Because we may not yet run the furnace continuously, as Lady Garia describes, we must then allow the whole thing to cool before cleaning it out and replacing the clay lining. This will take maybe another six or seven days before we may begin loading again."

Tarvan added, "That is how ironmaking normally happens, Milsy, but of course this furnace is so much larger that everything takes longer to do. At least this morning we should see the exciting part of the process, where the iron flows out of the furnace like water."

Parrel continued, "Then we must leave to travel back into the city for a short lunch at our Guildhall before I take you to the site of the new coke works. Tarvan, as you know, has a meeting arranged at the Clockmakers' Guildhall this afternoon."

Milsy looked cross. "I still do not see why I could not accompany Tarvan," she muttered, "but I accept that it would be better not to go. Seeing Tarvan there with our designs may inflame them enough."

The carriage turned down an access road and crossed a bridge over a canal to reach the work site. Milsy was faced by the usual collection of hastily thrown together workshops, stores and huts but the main objects of interest were the three towering brick constructions, one surrounded by scaffolding, set in a line backing onto the canal. In the broad space between the canal and the brick towers were conical piles of materials, some of which were obviously coke and others she presumed were ores.

The carriage halted and men came forward to open the doors, bowing respectfully as Parrel climbed down. Milsy and Tarvan followed to stand on a surface of pounded ash and other dark materials which prevented the whole area becoming a sea of mud. Parrel led them away from the carriage to a clear viewpoint and she looked around with interest.

"The square furnace to your left was the first one built," Parrel explained. "I have to admit that there was a lively discussion between the metalworkers and the masons about the correct way to construct something of this size and complexity and as it transpired we were both wrong. As you can see all the furnaces require amazing numbers of bricks, so many that we must needs set up two factories just to make bricks for the project. Those bricks are bound together with mortar, the white lines you can see, and another factory had to be set up to make all the mortar we needed.

"Mortar is mixed with water to make it stick the bricks together and as it dries the water is gradually released back into the air. Now, normally with any building made with bricks this is no problem but because there are so many bricks, and because the walls of the structure are so thick in order to retain the heat and to carry the weight, those bricks inside the structure cannot dry out quickly. Do you understand?"

Milsy nodded. "Aye, Guildmaster. It is like a cake which is made too large, even though the outside may be properly cooked the inside must needs take longer."

Parrel beamed. "Exactly so, Milsy. Now, our problem happened because we lit the fires within too soon and the structure dried out too quickly and unevenly." He pointed. "Look to the left, you can see the crack running the whole height of the furnace. There are many more cracks around the back. It is a monument to our folly and a warning to consider more carefully what happens when we erect structures of such size and thickness. As I understand it, furnaces will not be the only things we will make in such a way, though they may be the only ones to contain so hot a fire."

Milsy considered. "Like many, I know little of the arts of masonry, Guildmaster, but I understand your point. What of these others, then? How did you solve the problem?"

"They were made from the inside out, Milsy. First, the inside layer was made, of special bricks and mortar that we thought could stand the high temperatures involved. Then, while that was drying, another ring was made outside with a gap in between. Once the two layers were deemed dry enough the space between was packed with sand. Of course this is but a simplified explanation, there are in fact seven layers altogether, all of which were in various stages of construction at the same time. In that way we were able to build so high and so thick and yet be confident that it would not crack as the first one did."

Milsy gazed up at the center structure. It was a circular tower which tapered slightly from base to top. It might have been ten strides high and perhaps six or seven wide. She shook her head, estimating distances like that was not one of her talents. The top looked odd, there was a wide overhang with a railing round which meant that men climbed up there to do... what, exactly?

"Guildmaster, how does it work?"

"Perhaps we should walk around the other side to show you what is done," Parrel said. "This way, if you would."

They walked past the failed furnace and stood at the end of the space behind. Between the piles of materials and the structures was a curious mechanism of poles and ropes. A single tall pole was supported vertically by two others which slanted from the top down behind to the ground. At the base another angled pole went up, higher than the others, and Milsy guessed that it was some kind of crane or hoist. Ropes went from the top of the angled pole to the tripod support and others went over the end of the angled pole to a hook which presently dangled above a large basket of ore ready to be lifted.

One of the workmen around the hoist called out to another and Milsy saw a large steam engine behind with winding drums connected to each of the ropes from the hoist. There was some hammering and a drive belt was moved from one drum to another. The steam engine began to work and the basket of ore gradually rose into the sky.

Two men stood on the walkway at the top of the furnace and shouted instructions to those below. By selectively choosing which drum to wind or unwind the load was lifted and positioned until it could be grabbed by the two men at the top. Once they had a firm grip on the basket they carefully tipped the contents into the furnace and then called for the basket to be lowered again.

Milsy watched the exercise being repeated with ore, coke and a pale rock she didn't understand the use of. Once the two men at the top were satisfied they climbed into the basket after the final load had been dumped and were lowered down to join those on the ground.

"Wait a moment," she said. "Those men were up there loading ores into the furnace while it was alight? I did not realize how dangerous this business was."

Tarvan snorted. "Aye, Milsy. Wait until you see the new iron pouring out later on. The men are all volunteers, they are experienced men and they are all trained to treat this new furnace with caution."

"Even so..." she gazed thoughtfully at the heat haze rising out of the top of the furnace before shaking her head and turning to Parrel.

"Guildmaster, what happens now?"

"The furnace loading has been completed," Parrel explained. "Now we can begin the process of producing good iron. Lady Garia tells us that in principle it is possible to keep loading at the top and taking iron out the bottom but as you can see, loading is not so easy here. When we build bigger furnaces for production we will probably have to build them on a hillside to make loading easier. Attend! Watch what happens next, I think you'll enjoy the spectacle."

There was more hammering and the belt was shifted to a different shaft. Milsy frowned, there must be easier ways of doing that? Her attention was diverted as the steam engine ran up to speed to be almost drowned out by a curious roaring sound.

"What's that noise?" she shouted.

"There is a big fan in the back of the furnace," Tarvan shouted back. "See that iron tube coming out? It is inside that. It drives more fresh air into the furnace which helps heat up the contents and drives out impurities."

The process took a while as the materials were heated by the fierce draft from the fan. Soon, black smoke issued from the top and Milsy understood Parrel's comments about why the furnaces were sited here. The smoke gradually cleared until what came out was almost invisible, only detectable by the shimmer it created in the air. She could feel the heat being generated, even though they were standing many strides from the furnace.

Then a signal was given and the beat of the steam engine rose even higher. She looked up and saw that a solid plug of flame stood on the top of the furnace, the glow lighting up the low cloud of an overcast Fall day.

"It is time for us to go around the front again," Parrel shouted at them.

The group retraced their footsteps until they stood once more on the other side of the furnace. Here, a pile of sand had been spread out on the ground and compacted into a thick layer, with channels being set in the surface. A plug near the base of the furnace was pulled away by a man with a long iron rod, allowing the fierce glow from within to blaze out. All of those watching instinctively put their arms over their faces.

"I'm sorry," Parrel shouted, "I have forgotten to provide you with protective goggles. Stand back as far as you can and try and watch as much as you are able to."

Having backed up as much as she could, Milsy decided that she could see enough if she squinted carefully through her fingers. She noticed that most of the men on this side of the furnace had... things strapped over their eyes, with large, dark circular... what, exactly? They must be the goggles which Master Parrel mentioned, but what were they?

A larger plug, situated lower down, was hauled out by two men and this allowed a flow of glowing liquid to run down the sand channels. As it reached the end of each channel a man with a shovel chopped a segment off and then nudged the sand across to prevent any more flowing. In this way a number of rough ingots of iron were produced which were allowed to cool while the flow was diverted elsewhere. Milsy noticed that at the end a dark material was produced which was sent to an open area of ground to the side.

The note of the steam engine dropped abruptly and she guessed that the process was at an end. A movement to her left showed that another figure had arrived and was walking over to join them. She recognized the distinctive shape of Guildmaster Hurdin and she curtseyed automatically.

"Now, lass, I'll have none of that," he told her with a grin. "My lads do not curtsey to me so I don't see that you have to, either. This is Guild business, a simple nod will do." He turned to the array of slowly reddening ingots in front of them. "What do you think of Parrel's incredible monster furnace?"

Milsy blinked. The act of watching the operation had left spots in front of her eyes which moved when she looked elsewhere. It was rather like the day she had incautiously glanced at the sun without thinking. Her eyes began to run and she wiped them with the edge of her fingers.

"Your pardon, Guildmaster, the light is too bright. I have yellow shapes in front of my eyes."

"Ah, I am sorry, lass. Parrel should have provided you goggles, though," he considered, "I doubt we have any of a size to fit you here." He chuckled. "The men who work here have big enough heads, it is true, but I would not care to measure the size of their brains against yours, indeed!"

Tarvan took her arm and turned her away. "Come with us, Milsy. Your eyes will recover soon enough and we must be ready for the next stage in the process. Master," he addressed Parrel, "do we go to the measuring room next?"

"Aye, Tarvan. Take Milsy there and we will join you presently. You are right, I should have found goggles for you all, I will go to the stores hut and find some now. Bursila, are you uncomfortable at being in such a place as this? I know that neither your mistress nor yourself would be accustomed to come to such a raw place of work."

Bursila blinked as well. She had also been affected by the bright glare of the molten metal.

"Master Parrel, if my mistress is comfortable here then so am I. It is very different than my previous duties but so far I have not noticed anything that would concern either of us... excepting perhaps the bright light in our eyes."

Parrel smiled. "You have my apologies, Bursila. I will make certain the mistake is corrected. If you would catch the hand of your mistress, Tarvan shall take you both to the measuring room. Mayhap you will find pel brewing within, the heat of the furnaces produces a powerful thirst, I am told."

Entering the hut she could see, vaguely, a table around which men were seated, mugs of pel in front of them. All leapt to their feet when she appeared in the doorway.

"Guildmistress! We did not expect..." The man trailed off, confused.

Milsy smiled and, as she had been told to do, nodded at the man. "I regret that I am not the Guildmistress. I work for her and I am told that we do look very similar. I am a guildswoman, though, I am Journeywoman Milsy and this is my... chaperone, Bursila. We await the arrival of Guildmaster Parrel and Guildmaster Hurdin."

She had been about to say "maid" but decided that doing so might give the men the wrong impression. There would always be differences between men and women as more joined the guilds but she decided that it was important that she did not introduce any unnecessary attitudes.

The man relaxed slightly. "As you say, Journeywoman. If you and your companion would like to have some pel while you wait. I regret that it is not as fresh as you may be used to." He looked at Tarvan.

"I am Tarvan, Craftmaster of a new division of our guild concerned with electricity. Milsy works with me on some advanced projects for the King."

The man nodded to him, though the strange word obviously meant nothing. "You are welcome, Craftmaster."

The hut was subdivided so Milsy didn't see all that was inside at first. The part they were shown to was the largest with an area for the men to take breaks as required and benches and lockers along the other walls. The pel they were offered had obviously been brewed a while and tasted very strong. Milsy managed to drink what she had been given but Bursila asked for hers to be diluted with hot water. After a while Parrel and Hurdin joined them, Parrel carrying several pairs of goggles which he placed on the table beside their drinks.

"Milsy, I doubt any of these will fit you," he told her. "As Hurdin said, they are made for larger heads. You may all try to see if any are suitable. I should have some made for smaller folk, you will not be the last of such a young age to work out here, I deem."

Milsy inspected the nearest pair. There was a circle of glass for each eye so dark she could not see anything through it, but which she suspected would be adequate to reduce the glare from the furnace. These were held in the leather harness by circular brass fittings. The whole assembly simply strapped around the head and was supported by the nose and ears.

"Master Hurdin, if you can supply the glass, I can have these made in the palace for myself and Bursila," she said. "It occurs to me that a pair with plain glass might be useful for us to wear in the laboratory. Sometimes we are beset by fumes from the batteries, smoke and grit from the steam engine and smoke and spitting when we solder wires."

"Aye, Milsy," Tarvan agreed. "I am surprised I did not think of the idea myself. Our eyes are precious, we should protect them whenever we can."

The two guildmasters looked at Milsy and Tarvan, then each other.

"Hurdin, these two speak a lot of sense. There are many areas within our own guilds where such protection would be useful. I will bespeak our leatherworker friends to produce more for our needs and, aye, for the needs of other guilds as well."

Hurdin rolled his eyes. "It seems I must set up yet another production line. That will mean another workshop, we have no room any more, and yet more men to employ..." He waved an arm. "No matter. I came into this business with my eyes open." He turned to Milsy. "You'll have these made in the palace, lass? Who there has the skill?"

"Why, I will get Master Fulvin to make the brass parts," she said. "Tarvan and I could probably make them in time but," she raised her arms in an open-handed gesture, "we are as busy as you, Master Hurdin. For the leather, there is a cobbler in the Palace Wardrobe I could ask... You should know that I have asked Rosilda -"

"Rosilda?"

"Aye. She is the seamstress who makes Garia's special clothes. You have seen her riding gear?"

"Aye, of course. This Rosilda is then a talented worker, I deem."

"Indeed, Guildmaster. Well, Rosilda will make me a suit of leather which I can wear to places like this one and to workshops like those of yours, Master Hurdin. My last visit didn't go so well and I decided I needed something more protective. Of course, Bursila will have a similar suit."

"A good idea, lass. I doubt any here would wish you - either of you - to come to any harm."

Parrel nodded thoughtfully. "Aye," he agreed, "I have been wondering how we would protect our new female workers. Milsy, whatever your seamstress produces will be of interest to all our guilds."

Milsy made a small bow. "As you say, Guildmaster. I was only considering our own wants but I can see that others will have the same need."

The door opened and three men came in, the first carrying a small bucket and two obvious apprentices followed with a similar bucket in each hand. The five buckets were carefully lined up in a row on a table at the far end of the room. The older man came back and nodded to Parrel.

"Guildmaster, it looks like a good pour this time. I can tell that from the way my chisel bit as I nipped off the samples."

"Is that so? Then let us begin testing immediately. Shall you prepare the samples?"

"As you desire, Guildmaster."

From each bucket a small nugget of iron was lifted with the aid of tongs. These were then held between two white rods which were supported by a U-shaped metal framework. The elder man carried the first of these through a door beside the table into the further end of the building. At a gesture the others followed Parrel through the door to find a small room with a bench against the far wall. The guildsman was setting the U-frame up over a pipe which came from somewhere below.

"This is where we test our iron pourings," Parrel explained. "The Guildmistress told us that everything in the world about us is made from a number of basic substances called elements and that it is possible for us to determine which elements are in some materials by heating them until they glow. Of course," he smiled, "this will not work with wood or other like materials but for making iron and steel it is useful enough. The pipe you see contains gas from the making of coke and we can use that to heat our sample hot enough that it glows almost white. The white rods which hold the sample are a special kind of pottery which can withstand the heat which is produced."

He gestured. "Look yonder, at the wall, you will see a small sheet of brass with a narrow slit in it, so that only a thin sliver of the light which is produced goes through the hole behind into the next room. On the other side of the wall is mounted what the Guildmistress names a prism, which is a specially shaped piece of glass. The light from our sample goes through this glass. The shape means that different colors in the light are sent in different directions and the presence or absence of certain lines in the colors indicates the presence or absence of different elements. Iron itself is one of those elements and we expect our pourings to be mostly iron. The rest may be impurities which we do not desire and must be burned off for the metal to be useable."

Milsy frowned. "But, Master, this then is iron. What is the difference between iron and steel?"

"Steel is actually an alloy of iron and certain other elements, Milsy, in the correct proportion. The chief of these is carbon, which is what coke mostly is. You will also know it as soot. We can add other materials as well, usually metals, to change the kind of steel we need. Steel looks like iron but has properties which are more useful to us. It is much stronger, for example."

She nodded. "Thank you, Master."

Parrel turned to the guildsman. "Begin the heating, if you would."

The man turned a valve in the gas line and lit the end of the pipe, which flickered with a smoky yellow flame. Milsy had never seen a gas flame before and stared at it with interest. To see a flame burning, with apparently no fuel beneath it!

Parrel instructed, "If you would hold your goggles up to your eyes."

They did so and the man twisted a ring on the pipe to open a hole through which air was drawn. The flame quickly turned from flickering smoky yellow to a fierce blue arrowhead and the man then positioned the sample in the flame. As they watched it rapidly heated, going from dark to glowing yellow-white.

"It is time for us to go to the next room," Parrel announced. "You will not need your goggles beyond the door, indeed, the room is quite dark."

The further room was indeed completely dark except for a broad strip of multicolored light on a board, lit by the light coming through the slit in the wall. Milsy gasped at the sight.

"A rainbow! You have made a rainbow!"

"Not exactly, Milsy," Parrel replied through the gloom. "If we admitted sunlight in this way we would have a rainbow, aye. We have in fact tried that, using a mirror to direct the light onto the prism. The light you see, which is called a spectrum, comes entirely from our sample, with a little contribution from the ceramic supports and the flame. Look! There you can see lines which indicate our elements. The brightest of those is the iron, the other lines are impurities."

The guildsman joined them carrying strips of wood which had been painted white and marked with a reed. He held each of these up above the spectrum and compared the lines drawn on the strips with the lines in the light from the sample.

Parrel asked, "Which one is that, Tador?"

"Guildmaster, this is the one produced by our purest iron. As you can see, we have other lines indicating that the sample is not pure iron, but then we do not want it to be."

Other strips were held up and compared before the guildsman made a note on a slate. This procedure was repeated with the other samples before he turned to Parrel with a satisfied look.

"Guildmaster, it seems we have very little to do this time. The impurities I can see are those we need in the final metal, which means that calculating the coke required will be easy enough. With your permission?"

"Aye, Tador. You will convert this batch this afternoon?"

Tador inclined his head. "Aye, Guildmaster. We must needs let the iron cool before we may weigh it safely."

"Carry on."

Parrel turned to Milsy and Tarvan. "How much of what you saw did you understand?"

"Enough, I think, Master Parrel," Milsy replied. "That... spectrum, how much do we know about it?"

The Guildmaster shrugged. "Very little, Milsy. We do know what is good and what is not, though sometimes the lines can be very faint to see, especially if one has just come indoors from a bright sunny day. The Guildmistress tells us that the position and number of the lines is to do with the way the elements are made, but she does not know the details of this herself."

Milsy's eyebrows went up. "The elements are made? I thought... Never mind. As you say, much may be learned by inspecting these spectrums. I am assuming that you may use this procedure with anything that doesn't just burn or melt, Guildmaster."

"Indeed, Milsy. I understand that several Questors have seized on the idea to advance their areas of study. For ourselves, it saves a lot of time assessing our production for purity. Shall we leave this room and go outside again?"

They returned through the rooms to stand outside again. There were men picking up the ingots with tongs and loading them into little four-wheeled carts to take away somewhere.

"Once we have determined our most efficient procedure," Parrel explained, "doubtless we will lay down a system of tracks with hoppers the way the miners do, the same way Milsy suggested to Hurdin. That will enable us to move ores, coke and ingots much more easily. These ingots will be weighed and the appropriate amount of coke discovered to add to the metal to convert it into good steel. For this we will use the converters you see the other side of the hut."

Milsy turned to see another squat brick construction with an attendant steam engine.

"How does that work, Guildmaster?"

Parrel shrugged. "Much the same as the furnace, actually. The iron and coke are carefully weighed to determine the exact proportions that we desire. Then they are loaded in and fired. Once the iron has melted, air is blown in at the bottom to increase the burn and raise the temperature. After a time any excess carbon is burned off and the steel is poured out into ingots. The proportion of coke to iron varies, as you have seen, so each batch may be different to the next."

Tarvan commented, "Master, I know that to turn iron into steel can only be done in batches but I understood the new iron-making process was to be continuous."

"Aye, Tarvan, if we could but feed the ores, coke and limestone in at the top we could run the blast furnace continuously." He pointed at the furnace behind them. "The problem is that we cannot stand at the top and guide the material down while the furnace is fully working."

"Ah. You have to lift the loads up with the hoist and that means the steam engine cannot be used for the blast. That is why you desired to build the production version on a hillside, I deem. But why do we not install another steam engine here?"

Parrel grimaced. "That is not the whole reason. Who would dare to stand up there when the furnace is hot?"

Tarvan shook his head. "I do not think it will be possible, Master."

"Which means that we must needs let the entire furnace cool between firings, which will take, as I explained earlier, several days. Once that is done men must climb inside and renew the lining with fresh clay. If we could but run the furnace continuously we would need do none of that, but I cannot see a way of attending the top in safety."

Milsy looked at the hoist, now lifting materials for the third tower, which was still under construction.

"You are still building the third furnace, Guildmaster?"

"Aye, Milsy, we were." Parrel ran a hand through his hair as they turned their attention on the third brick structure, which was completely surrounded by wood scaffolding poles and noticeably incomplete. "We have again been forced to stop construction because our ideas have changed. Until we can discover a way to feed the furnace while it is alight there is no point in going further."

"Master," she said diffidently, "there might be a way..."

"Aye, Milsy?"

Her companions gathered round and gave her their full attention.

"Well, there's something I remember doing a long time ago, Master Parrel. When I was about eight or nine years old, we had to go down to one of the lower levels of the castle to help with the cleaning up, because something had broken and water had flooded the level and ruined much of what was stored there. I remember passing through a great chamber which contained two immense wheels, inside of which men were walking. I had never seen such a thing before."

Hurdin nodded. "Treadmills, lass, that is what they are called."

"Aye, of course. They would be like the wheel of a watermill, then? What made me remember, though, was of the two strange devices that the wheels moved." She shook her head in frustration. "It was a long time ago, Masters, and my memory of something I had never seen before is poor. They were like two strange ladders, I deem, with what looked like wooden boxes attached to them which moved up and then down again."

Parrel looked at the Glassmaster. "Hurdin, she describes a chain pump! Milsy, what you saw is the means by which water is lifted from the wells and carried to the tanks which supply it to the castle. There is a similar system in the palace. There is no reason why we could not devise something of the like kind to lift ore and coke to the top of our furnaces."

"Master," Tarvan cautioned. "It must needs be made of iron or steel, I deem, if it is to be close to the top of the furnace."

Parrel waved a hand. "A detail, Tarvan. Now the idea has been revealed I will instruct my designers to immediately change the way that the third furnace will operate to include this new method of feeding it. As we are making many other changes, this should be but a small problem."

He turned to Milsy with a big smile. "My dear, your guild thanks you for this significant contribution. While the making of iron and steel is an arcane and ancient art you have touched upon one of the few ways in which one such as yourself could improve it. Your contribution will, in time, be recognized by the increase in coin you will receive from us."

Milsy blushed and stammered, "Th-thank you, Master Parrel! I have done nothing, really."

Hurdin smiled. "As gracious as Lady Garia, I deem! You'll go far, lass, I know you will."

Milsy had nothing to say to that, but any possible reply was stopped by a man who rode a frayen right into the middle of the men loading the ingots. Both man and beast looked exhausted. He slid out of the saddle and cast around for someone to speak to, eventually noticing the unmistakeable figure of Hurdin and then beside him, Parrel. He staggered over to the small group.

"Guildmaster, forgive me," he gasped to Parrel. "I bring terrible news. There is a large fire at the new brass workshops in the Street of the Grennis. Many are dead, missing or injured. If you would come immediately."

Parrel started. "Of course! If there is help I may offer, then I will. Thank you for your message, now go into yonder hut and rest for a bell. You have earned it." He cast about, suddenly aware of how he had arrived at the furnace site. "I have need of a frayen."

Hurdin said, "Take mine, Parrel. He should be rested enough to take you back to the city though," he added, "I ask that you not ride as hard as your messenger has done. He is a favorite of mine and I would not have him worked as that poor beast has been." He pointed to the rider's frayen, which was now being led slowly away by one of the furnace men.

"My thanks to you, Hurdin." Parrel spun to Milsy. "I regret that our afternoon visit must be postponed to another day, Milsy. Take the carriage back to the palace, if you would."

Milsy was shocked by the sudden speed of events. "As you wish, Guildmaster. But, could I not go with Tarvan to the Clockmakers?"

Parrel shook his head. "That would not be wise, Milsy, for reasons we have already discussed. Go you to the palace."

Milsy inclined her head. "As you command, Guildmaster."

* * *

After their lunch back at the palace Milsy asked Bursila, "Master Parrel said there was a... treadmill... here in the palace. Do you know where it might be?"

"I do not, Mistress. The guardsmen ought to know, since it would be one of the places they must needs guard."

"Guard? How so?"

"Even one such as myself can see, Mistress, that the water supply of the palace has to be protected, else an enemy can poison the water or mayhap make it undrinkable. They might also damage the machine to prevent any more fresh water coming into the palace, Mistress."

Milsy stared at Bursila. "You seem unusually well acquainted with the defenses of the palace, Bursila."

The maid shrugged. "I have spent many weeks following Lady Garia around, Mistress, which has opened my eyes to some aspects of the way the palace operates. This is even more so since you began exploring the palace by yourself. You will remember that there are those who sought to detain, injure or even kill Lady Garia, why is why you are here in her place, after all."

Milsy nodded agreement. "Aye, forgive me, I did not intend any suspicion, Bursila. You are right, of course. I know that many servants think only of their own duty and ignore much of what is around them but there are others who must needs consider all that might happen in such a place. Come, let us ask our guardsmen."

In the corridor outside their suite Tilmar scratched his chin. "Aye, Mistress, I know the place. I am puzzled what you expect to find there."

"There is a treadmill there? And a pump?"

"Aye, Mistress. Oh! Is it to do with what you were doing this morning?"

"Aye, exactly. I just want to see it for myself. I have not seen such things for about ten years and then I had no idea what I was looking at."

"Then I will take you there, Mistress. It will not take us long. Will you seek Master Tarvan first?"

"Oh, no, Tarvan has gone to the Clockmakers' Guild this afternoon. It will just be me and Bursila."

"As you say, Mistress. Let me call some more men."

Their route led to a stub corridor which ended with a small door set in a wall of stone. Tilmar knocked and waited for the door to be opened by a guardsman within.

"Mistress Milsy desires to view the treadmill and pump," Tilmar explained.

"She does?" The man turned and caught sight of Milsy. "Oh, Mistress! I did not recognize you. This is most irregular, I should really ask the Captain -"

"I only want to look at it for a moment or two," she cut in. "I'm not going to interfere or anything like that."

"As you wish, Mistress. I would ask you to stay near the door when you enter and, Tilmar, protect your charge. We have convicts within raising the water."

Tilmar and another of her escort entered first. After a short while he reappeared and beckoned with a nod.

"Mistress, if you would come."

Inside was a large, square, vaulted chamber made entirely of stone. To Milsy's eye it looked old and not particularly well finished, at least by castle standards. There were two immense wooden wheels with two men walking inside of each. There was a groaning, clanking noise and she saw two of the chain pumps, so Master Parrel had named them, one coming from a hole in the floor and the other rising from a large tank at the side of the room through a hole in the vaulted ceiling. As the rectangular wooden boxes full of water reached the top of the first device and turned over, the water tipped into a trough which fed it into the tank. The other chain pump lifted the water upwards somewhere higher but out of sight.

This seems a strange way to collect water. Why does it have to go so high?

Answer, because water flows downwards and it must needs be piped to all the bathing and toilet chambers which are mostly on the upper level.

Ah, I see why they call it a 'chain pump' now. Clever!

The four walking men turned to look at the newcomers but a sharp word from a guardsman on the other side of the chamber made them concentrate on their duty. Milsy looked at them more closely. They were stripped to the waist but did not appear to be restrained in any way. The guardsmen did not appear to be watching them closely but just enough to ensure that the wheels kept turning. Wheels, she saw now, that were not connected to each other.

So, at a stretch, two men could raise water from the well and fill the tank first, then go over to the other wheel and raise what was in the tank to a higher level.

Why are there two wheels anyway?

Answer, because that line of... buckets? boxes? would be too heavy for the men to lift all the way when filled with water.

She whispered to Tilmar, "What is above?"

The guardsman shook his head. He whispered back, "Have you seen all you desire, Mistress?"

She nodded and he gestured to the door. Everyone filed out into the corridor.

"Your pardon, Mistress," Tilmar explained. "I did not want to give those men any excuse to shirk their task. They are convicted men who have chosen the wheel as their year of labor. We rely on the water in the tank above for all our needs so we try to keep distractions down if we can."

"Of course, Tilmar. What is this place, anyway?"

"The High Tower, Mistress. I know little of its past but it is said to be one of the oldest parts of the palace. It is the highest of the several towers about the palace and there is a watch platform on the top. From there you can see most of the city and a long way out into the country when the weather is clear."

"What about the water? Where does that go?"

"Mistress, the water goes into a huge tank that almost fills the tower from just above the ceiling of the chamber you were in to just below the watch platform. I am told it supplies most of the needs of the palace, though other tanks have been added as the palace has grown in size. I know that as they are a part of the normal guard duty, Mistress. Is there anything else I can tell you?"

She smiled at him. "That has satisfied my curiosity for now, Tilmar. Let's go back to the suite."

"As you wish, Mistress."

* * *

It was evening. Milsy was at the sitting room table, her concentration on the drawings scattered over it. Having now seen the chain pump at close quarters she had been attempting to design a device to elevate material from the stock piles to the top of the furnace. There were other ideas, too, concerned with the perceived waste of the heat which simply went out the top and warmed nothing but the clouds above. Surely there was some way..? Another concern was the clumsy gear arrangement of the steam engine. She recognized immediately that this was something that electricity could improve but the technology was too primitive yet. Perhaps there was another way?

The door opened and Tarvan came in with a smile. Bursila lowered her reading book and briefly stood to curtsey before he waved her back down again. Crossing to the table, he took a chair facing Milsy.

"Good evening, Milsy. Before retiring, I thought I'd let you know what I managed to do this afternoon."

She put her reedlet down and smiled back. "Good evening, Tarvan. I've been busy too, perhaps we can swap stories."

"So I see. What is all this? Ah, the chain pump!"

Tarvan scrutinized several of the nearer sheets of paper before looking up at Milsy.

"My apologies. I should let you tell me instead of trying to work it all out for myself."

"Actually, I have been looking at other things, the chain pump is but the first thing I did this afternoon. Did you know there is one in the palace?"

"I did, but I have never seen it." He thought. "Actually, I believe there might be several. I know that there is more than one water tank, so mayhap they will all need some means of supplying with water."

"As you say. The one I went to see is inside the High Tower." Tarvan nodded and she continued, "There were two huge treadmills with convicts walking on them, each wheel attached to a separate chain pump. One comes out of a well and sends the water into a holding tank, the other lifts the water from the holding tank all the way up the High Tower into the big tank."

Tarvan nodded again. "About what I would expect. Did you find it interesting?"

"Oh, yes! Now I understand how the pumps work and," she waved a hand over the array of papers on the table, "I have been trying to discover a way to use something similar to feed that big furnace."

"So I see from all these drawings. Do you yet have an idea which Master Parrel may consider?"

"Several, in fact. My first thought was that each substance to be loaded should have its own feeder, so that they can be positioned directly by the heaps of materials. If a hopper is provided to load the feeder then it will reduce the amount of shoveling that the men must do."

"Separate feeders? Aye, a good idea. Why walk trucks of materials across the ground when the feeder can do it anyway? What else?"

Milsy grimaced. "I do not like the way that the steam engine is used. All that banging sounds expensive and complicated. There must be an easier way. Electricity would be easier, of course, with the steam engine running a generator and separate motors for each function which we can switch as required, but we cannot do that yet. I have another idea, which is to use a long steel rod to provide the power where it is needed."

Tarvan looked at the sheet of paper she gave him. "Ah, I remember the Guildmistress speaking about something like this. She called it a drive shaft, but her explanation was of using such a thing in a long hall filled with weaving looms and other cloth-making machinery. I don't think anyone thought then of using such an idea outside, for other purposes."

"Really? Oh, that's good, because Master Parrel will understand when I explain it to him, then. Let's see. Then I began thinking about feeding the materials into the top of the furnace and what happened to all the heat that came out." Suddenly she shook her head. "No, I do not know enough to speak of such matters, I should find out more before I can contribute any more ideas about that." She smiled at Tarvan. "Then we went to the Wardrobe."

"The Wardrobe? What might interest me about your visit to the Wardrobe?"

"I took the goggles that Master Parrel provided us. I showed them to Steben the cobbler and he said it would be easy to cut suitable leather parts to make such items for all of us. I also had a word with Rosilda about the special suits she will make for Bursila and myself, to wear when we are visiting such places in the future. Steben will also be involved in that project as we will need matching boots. Then I went off to find Master Fulvin and showed the goggles to him. He said that his journeymen, or others available to him in the palace, could make the brass parts of the goggles for us in but a few days."

"That is good news, Milsy! To have our own goggles, of a size that fit our heads, will be a good thing in the days to come. Ah, I assume that I will be required to attend to have my head measured?"

"Of course." She smiled. "Our goggles will also have a modification, agreed by Master Fulvin. Since we need dark glasses for visiting furnaces, glassworks and the like but clear glass for our own purposes, Fulvin will have the brass parts constructed with two pairs of lenses, the dark ones to be hinged up out of the way when we don't need them."

Tarvan stared at her with admiration. "That means we can use the same goggles for both purposes, does it not, and that we would not have to carry around two pairs all the time."

"My thoughts exactly. And instead of putting them on and taking them off all the time, as we did today, we can merely flip the dark glass up and out of the way." She grinned. "I do not plan to be carrying mine, though, they will be held by the leather cap Rosilda is making for me."

"A cap... interesting." He rolled his eyes. "I am in danger, it seems, of becoming interested in the products of the Palace Wardrobe." He sighed theatrically. "This is what happens when women are permitted to join the guilds. Our decline is certain."

"What, with Lady Garia driving everything? I think not! So, tell me what you have been doing this afternoon, then."

"Me? Oh, why, I went to the Clockmakers' Guild as was arranged. I expected open hostility, it is true, but other than a muttering about me being a stranger in their Hall I was generally received with respect. I took with me the designs for our hour clock, both the electric version and a weight-driven version for Master Gerdas to send to his friends. Since they should be easy to produce it should not take them long to provide to us. We will have to make and install the electric parts in those clocks ourselves since I do not trust them to handle such a new method yet."

Milsy nodded. "I more or less expected we would do that part. What of our double clocks?"

"I do not trust the Clockmakers at all to make those, Milsy. I have given the work of making the parts for our prototype to our Brassworkers' Department. The work is more complicated, after all, and our own men will be easier to supervise. But while I was at the Clockmakers' Hall I did give them more details about the spiral springs Master Parrel spoke of recently."

Milsy's brow furrowed. "I do not understand how one may use a spiral spring in a clock," she complained. I can see that if you hang a weight on it, it would bob up and down in a regular fashion, so that it might replace a pendulum, perhaps. But after a short time it would stop, would it not? Just as a pendulum does without an escapement - or a solenoid - to keep it working. And I cannot see any way to keep such a spring working at all."

Tarvan laughed out loud enough for Bursila to look up from her reading. He then astonished both maid and mistress by standing up and taking off his sash!

"Wait, what are you doing? Stop!"

"Do not concern yourselves, please. This is Guild business, not pleasure. I have a simple way to show you what I mean."

After draping his sash over the back of his chair he then began undoing his belt, causing more surprise to Milsy. Once free, he removed his knife and pouch and laid them aside on the table before sitting down again.

"Now, watch what I do, Milsy."

He grasped the end of the belt with two fingers and began to coil the rest around it in a tight spiral. Once he had reached the buckle he laid the coil on the table, keeping one hand upon it to stop it unwinding.

"Oh! I see, not that sort of spiral, a flat one," Milsy said. "But I still don't see how -"

Tarvan held up a hand. "Put your finger on the buckle to hold it in place," he instructed, "and watch what happens to the rest of it."

Milsy did so and Tarvan released his own hold. The leather immediately uncoiled part way to release the tension.

"Ah, of course," she said, watching the motion. "But how do you make it coil up again?"

Tarvan grinned at her. "I was shown this demonstration by Master Parrel this afternoon, Milsy. Imagine this is not leather but a thin steel strip, formed into this shape and then tempered. What you do is to fix the outside end to the frame and the inside to an axle. You wind it up with a key on the axle. To stop it unwinding, there is a ratchet on the axle."

She nodded understanding, ratchets were familiar enough to her now.

"The trick is," he continued, "the other side of the ratchet is connected to the clock mechanism, so that as the spring slowly unwinds and relaxes it drives the clock, just as a weight would do."

"Ah," she breathed. "Brilliant!"

"It gets better," he added with a broad grin, "since we can also use these springs instead of pendulums, meaning the size of the clock may be much smaller. Such a spring will resist getting larger as well as smaller, wanting to return to the original shape all the time, so it should be able to serve the same purpose as a pendulum."

Her eyes narrowed as she considered all this new information before looking up at Tarvan.

"Are we expected to involve ourselves in any of this?"

"I do not think so, Milsy. Master Parrel has already given the idea to the Clockmakers Guild, as they are the most experienced in such matters." He snorted. "I expect it will take them many months to make any use of the new springs, judging by the speed they currently work at. No, we must busy ourselves with our own projects, I deem, like getting the King's double clocks installed and working."

"As you say! Visits to factories and furnaces is all very interesting, but it takes time away from doing other interesting things in the laboratory. Although," she added, "what I'm designing with Rosilda is proving just as much fun."

"I'll have to take your word for that."

Tarvan stood and reassembled his belt before buckling it around his waist. He followed that with his sash as Milsy rose to join him.

"Do you leave us now?"

"Aye, regrettably. After today's outings I have some things to put in order in my chamber. Unlike yourself I do not have the assistance of a maid." He smiled down at her. "I shall not leave without a good-night kiss, I deem."

"As you command, Craftmaster."

Her face tilted up to meet his. Behind them Bursila regarded them fondly.