Garia finally gets to attempt some exercise, but a dreadful session is only saved by Keren's wise words. A hot afternoon sees Garia journey into the city to inaugurate Anmar's first paper-making experiments. Later, Tarvan is asked some strange questions...

Somewhere Else Entirely

by Penny Lane

17 - On the Mat

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) 2011-2017 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

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The last guardsman walked out of the door with an armful of practice swords and Captain Bleskin turned to the three who remained.

"I think that's everything, Highness, Mistress. We'll need to come back in and pack everything away before lunch, of course, but you'll have the room to yourselves until just before the fifth bell." He hesitated. "Are you going to be able to hear the bell? I'm afraid the men are going to make a bit of a racket out there, and we've never been able to hear the bells properly in here anyway."

Jenet reached into the bag she carried slung over a shoulder and pulled out a rolled-up towel. She unwrapped the towel to reveal an hourglass already started.

"Ah, you have a sand-dropper. Good, then, I'll be off. Good luck, Mistress, with your endeavors. Your Highness."

Bleskin saluted and then left, closing the door to the Small Training Room behind him. Jenet carefully placed the sand-dropper on the corner of a shelf stacked with battered leather helmets before the three turned and regarded the center of the room. Bleskin had gotten two of his men to pull out and unroll one of the thick felt mats they used for hand-to-hand and unarmed combat training and it lay before them on the floor. Garia guessed that it was about four yards square, an inch and a half thick, the felt covered by a canvas cover stitched over like a mattress to prevent it wrinkling. The cover looked well-used but still serviceable.

"Let me help you with your skirt, Mistress," Jenet said.

Garia lifted up her arms to let her maid untie the garment and remove it. Jenet then removed the sash, re-wrapping it around Garia's waist so as not to leave so much free before tying it again. Garia pulled the tunic's hem down, settling the too-broad shoulders of the garment on her own.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen next," she told Keren and Jenet. "If I were you, I'd just stay well clear for a while as I get on with it. I'll do the Tai Chi exercises first to loosen myself up and mentally prepare myself. It's something I'd do in any event back on Earth, so it makes sense to keep the routine up."

Keren and Jenet found a bench at the side of the room and sat down to watch. Jenet took the opportunity to empty the rest of the bag's contents out onto the bench, besides the towel there was a bottle of water and three metal beakers. Garia took up a position at one end of the mat and began her preparations.

As she went through the forms her mind cleared, but she was aware that while her body flowed from one to the next there was something different. Partly that was down to the softer surface she stood on, making her take extra care over her balance, but there was something else as well. She felt that she wasn't getting 'into the zone' as she had the other day outside on the field. Still, she felt reasonably loosened and stretched by the time she finished, ready to start the real business of the day.

I'll just start with some simple falls first, she thought. There's no sense doing any fancy stuff yet till I find out how this is all going to work.

She tensed and then fell forward into what was supposed to be a forward roll. Instead of smoothly rolling onto her shoulders and back onto her feet at the other side of the mat she fell badly, tumbling onto her side and rolling uncontrollably into a sprawled heap, hitting the wood floor at the side of the mat with the side of her left ankle with a bang. Both Keren and Jenet winced at the noise.

"Ow!" Garia pushed herself into a sitting position and pushed a finger down the inside of her soft boot to rub her ankle. "That's not supposed to happen."

Stupid. That should definitely not have happened. She cringed at the words that would have come from sensei at home had she fallen so badly then. Sloppy, sloppy. Try more carefully next time. Perhaps the mats are a little softer than you're used to. Yes, that's it. You'll have to compensate.

She stood and returned to her starting position, giving her audience a weak grin as she did so. She looked at the mat, estimating her position and where she intended to arrive at the end of the maneuver. Then she closed her eyes and tried to settle her mind. Her ankle still hurt. She leaned forward into the roll.

This time her whole body stayed on the mat but her final position was more undignified, one leg going over her other shoulder and giving Keren and Jenet a free view of everything, barely disguised by the thin tights she was wearing. Jenet pursed her lips at the exhibition but a side-wise glance at Keren's face showed that his only focus was on concern for Garia. She pulled herself to her feet.

"Uh, this doesn't seem to be going very well at the moment, does it?" she told them ruefully. "Let me try something else."

Damn, damn, damn! What is going on here? Is there some kind of difference here in the laws of physics or something? This should be dead easy, why isn't it? What am I doing wrong?

She attempted a fall to her other side but that ended in another undignified sprawl.

Fine, she thought as she got to her feet again. It must be me, it must be because I haven't done anything like this for a while. Heh, I have been otherwise occupied, haven't I? It's not surprising that I've gotten slack. Her chin set with renewed determination. I can do this, I know I can, I've done it many times before. I've just got to FOCUS, be more precise in my movements. It'll be like the Tai Chi, suddenly everything will come together the way it should.

She tried again and, while she didn't end up on her feet again at the end, it seemed to her that she had started to get a feel for how things should go. Unfortunately the next attempt ended with her banging her right elbow on the floor. Inside, she could feel the anger begin to bubble up. She got to her feet and tried some more times, each failing somehow differently than the previous attempt.

By now she was getting furious with herself for screwing up such simple exercises and she knew that she had to get a handle on her temper. It would be important to be clear-headed when facing an opponent and focus and clarity had been drilled into her as a basic requirement of her art. She walked to one end of the mat, stood with her eyes closed, her body relaxed and willed her breathing to stabilize. Slowly the fire died and her body became calm again. She attempted another roll and ended up spread-eagled on the mat.

Both Keren and Jenet were now becoming concerned about Garia. They had watched her tumble onto the mat like a rag doll but that was obviously not the purpose of the exercise. Keren could see what he thought she was trying to achieve but was unable to work out why she wasn't doing what seemed to be required. Jenet just looked at her mistress doing seemingly inexplicable actions and wished she would stop before she hurt herself.

Garia got up and walked over to them.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I thought this was going to be embarrassing and I guess I was right, wasn't I? I can't quite figure out what I'm doing wrong, though. These two moves are so simple anyone should be able to do them. I'm just going to have to work at it for a while, I guess. After all, that's the whole reason we're here, isn't it?" She gave them both an unconvincing smile and returned to her starting position.

I could do that, thought Keren. I can see exactly what she's supposed to be doing, and it's not much different than what we do in our own training. But, if I get on that mat and do it it'll destroy her confidence completely, won't it? After all, this is about her, not me. He cleared his face of all expression and leaned forward to watch her carefully.

Tumble followed fall, flail followed sprawl. She tried some other moves to see if it was something specific but it wasn't. For some reason it appeared that her body just didn't want to do what she thought she was asking it to.

This is RIDICULOUS! she fumed to herself. This can't be happening! I've tried to be calm, focused and precise and NOTHING has made any difference at all! By now several body parts were smarting from knocks or minor sprains and she knew that she was going to have more bruises by the end of the day. A new feeling was beginning to seep into her, one she had rarely ever encountered before: panic. This can't be happening! she thought again. I could do this before, it was easy! Why can't I do it now? I've GOT to do this, I have to! What's going to happen to me if I can't do any exercise at all? I don't want to end up just another feeble girl!

She climbed to her feet yet again, trying to keep her face away from her audience because she was afraid what they would see on it. She took a position at the side of the mat nearest them, facing away, her hands open and down by her sides, desperately trying to calm the humming stress chemicals inside her, struggling to control her breathing. She rolled forward again and again things went awry, this time somehow ending with her face-planting the mat. It was too much. She began shaking and the tears came unchecked.

"I can't do it, I can't do it," she sobbed, raising herself onto her elbows. "What's happening to me?"

Keren and Jenet came to their feet and were there within seconds as Garia rolled into a sitting position, one kneeling down either side of her. Jenet pulled out the inevitable cloth and started dabbing Garia's eyes. Garia put both arms round Jenet's waist and rested her head on the older woman's shoulder, the tears still flowing freely. Keren itched to comfort her as well but he knew he had to be careful here.

"I think it's time you took a break," he said as she quieted. "You've been at it the best part of a bell."

He stood and offered his hand to Garia. She reluctantly took it and he pulled her up easily.

"Thank you," she said, still desperately unhappy. "Perhaps you're right. Keren, it shouldn't be like this, these exercises are easy, basic. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong."

They helped her to the bench and seated her between them. Jenet filled the three beakers and they each took a drink. It was going to be another hot day, and while the windows were all open as far as they would go, the air in the room was already getting warm. Garia was beginning to have a faint sheen of sweat on her exposed skin. Keren tossed down the rest of his water and then turned to her.

"I think I understand what's happening here," he mused.

Garia raised an eyebrow. How could he possibly know what was wrong? He had no experience in these kinds of arts, surely?

"I think," he continued, "that you're looking at this whole business from the wrong angle. I think that you're approaching this problem the same way I would."

Garia frowned. "But, that's a good thing, surely?"

"Yes, it would be a good thing," he replied, "if you were a boy. Look, you told me, both of us actually, that on Earth you were a boy about my age and size, correct?" She nodded mutely, unable to see what he was getting at. "And what you were doing over on that mat is exactly what I would do in your place. Something doesn't work, you try harder. You concentrate, you try to be more precise, you try to do exactly what you did the last time you got it to work. Am I correct?"

Garia nodded. Of course that's what she should do. Wasn't it?

"Now I don't know a great deal about the way female minds work," Keren smiled, "only Jenet here could tell you that, but I don't think they go about problem solving quite the same way we do. At least I don't think they do all the time. I think you're trying far too hard, far too early. But that's only part of the problem. You see, you've now got an entirely different body to deal with and that's what's causing your main difficulties. If you were a boy like me," he explained, "you'd have shoulders like mine. Instead you've got these."

He put his arm around her shoulders and was shocked by the visceral response his body produced. Maker, not now! Not while I'm trying to explain something important! He briefly hesitated, then, in control of himself again, he held her shoulders again.

"These are fine for a girl and you should be able to do what you want but you're probably compensating wrong because they're not so wide. Then there's these," he pointed to her hips. "Your weight distribution is all different, isn't it? You've got proportionally more of your body down there than I have. And wider hips means that your legs start from different places, don't they? That's got to have some effect on your balance, I would have thought. Not to mention what you have on your chest. Of course, you're now so much lighter than you must have been before, but that doesn't always mean that your muscles are that much weaker. You might be trying far too hard there as well."

Her numb brain tried to consider his words analytically. Her body was her body, wasn't it? The first couple days, true, she was stumbling all over the place, but then it had all smoothed out. She had unconsciously adapted to the body, or so she had assumed that she had. After all, everything had worked after that, hadn't it? Even the Tai Chi exercises? So what could be the problem?

The problem is, this whole body is a totally different shape than the one I had before. What I've done up till now has been totally on automatic pilot, but what I have to do here is control it in a way I've never attempted before. Keren's right, I'm attempting to use my remembered responses of my other body to control this one, and that's never going to work, they're too radically different. This is a girl body, not a boy body, and it's just not going to function the same.

That doesn't mean I can't get the results I want, though. Enough girls can do martial arts. Heck, girls can do a lot more than boys in that respect, can't they? Ballet dancing, cheer-leading, gymnastics, whatever. A girl's body is a lot more flexible than a boy's body.

She turned her face up to Keren's and gave him a weak smile. "Your Highness, I do believe you're right. It's something that should have occurred to me, and it didn't." She handed her beaker back to Jenet. "Now I know the problem, I should be able to do this, but it's going to take me longer than I thought. I've been using this body as though it were my old one, and that's never going to work. I'm going to have to re-learn how to do some things."

Garia stood up and walked back to the mat, seating herself cross-legged facing her two companions. Sitting this way is a heck of a lot easier than when I was Gary. Why didn't I realize that? This body is a lot more flexible than my old one. I guess it's a trade-off, men get speed and strength, women get flexibility and fine control. She looked at her arms, tapering down from the narrow shoulders to her delicate hands. I guess these are going to be shorter than if I was a guy the same size, she thought. But, hey, they seem to get the job done so far. Look at this skin, it's so smooth and soft, just like a baby's. I'm never going to get back the muscle tone I had before, am I? Perhaps I don't need it, though. I must weigh half what I did before.

She looked down at her thighs. Heh, I have a butt the size of Maryland! Okay, that's exaggeration, but they're certainly bigger than DC. She gave a mental smirk. Still, it feels nice and stable, it's a good foundation for this new body of mine. Keren is right, I have to approach this a whole different way. She closed her eyes, meditating.

Keren and Jenet watched as she just sat there, eyes closed. They had little idea what she was doing but they knew that she did, and that was what was important. They both just hoped that she could find the key to getting the most out of the person that she now was.

Garia's eyes flicked open, she unfolded her legs and stood up.

"More experiments," she said. "Nothing special."

She stood in the middle of the mat and swung her arms, round, and round, up and down, to and fro. She leaned over, forwards, backwards, sideways, twisted at her waist as far as she could go. She knew that the Tai Chi was supposed to cover all these limits but it had happened without her consciously being aware of it, this time it was different. Then she laid down flat on her back, swinging her legs as far as they could go in every direction, twisting her hips from side to side, bending her knees, wiggling her ankles.

She stood, moved to one side of the mat, composed herself and rolled. There was a stumble at the end but at least she was standing. The movement she had made was completely different than before. Different mass distribution, different muscle power, different body proportions, all had made a contribution. She felt a glow of satisfaction and she knew that everything was going to be all right.

The next roll was almost perfect and she repeated it several times before changing to the other side. Again, the first one was awkward but after that smooth, smooth. Then she moved on to other exercises and the two watchers knew that she had corrected whatever was wrong. The moves came faster and faster and both wondered at the violence implicit in this tiny figure. Finally she stopped whatever she was doing and came over to them.

"I need another drink."

She settled between them and held out her beaker for Jenet to fill.

"If that's a sample of what you're capable of," Keren remarked, "I'm not sure I want to meet you on a dark night."

She sniffed at him. "And why would that worry you, Your Highness? If you were out on a dark night, you'd have a squad of guardsmen around you, wouldn't you?"

He grinned. "If I met you, I think I'd need them." He sobered up. "Seriously, do you think you have solved your problem now?"

She replied just as seriously. "I don't know. I need to do some steady training to bring my muscle tone up before I can answer that properly. I need to do those movements till I'm sick of doing them, I need them to happen as pure reflex, no thought involved at all." There was a glint in her eye. "And, I'll need at least one sparring partner."

Keren pointed at the mat. "If that's a sample of what you have to offer us, then I want to know about it. Count me in." He gave a wry smile. "If you'll have me, that is."

"As you wish, Your Highness." Garia gave a flourish with her free hand. She turned to Jenet. "How much time do we have left this morning?"

"About a bell, Mistress. Don't forget, you'll have to go back to your suite and change before lunch."

Garia looked down at her sweat-stained clothes. "Oh, yes. I can't possibly turn up looking like this."

"Don't forget, lunch in your suite is an option," Keren reminded her.

Garia shook her head. "Not today. Don't forget yourself, Gerdas is taking us to do some paper-making this afternoon."

Garia returned to the mat and tried to go through all the single-person exercises and moves that she could think of. More than that would definitely require a partner. After a while she stopped to get her breath back. Just moving her body was so invigorating, she was flushed and happy. So happy, in fact, that her cheek muscles ached from the continuous grin on her face.

What else can this body do, she wondered. I reckon there are things I can do now that Gary would never have been capable of. Would never even have considered, in fact. There are things that boys do and things that girls do and there is very little overlap, now I think of it.

I'm a girl now, and that opens a whole load of doors I never knew were there to open. What do girls get up to? Ballet? Pshaw. Don't think there's anything like that going on in Palarand, and it looked like hard work anyway. Cheer-leading? Well, there's a lot involved in that, certainly. Lots of movements, jumping, wriggling and leg-kicking. Hmm. I wonder how high I can get my leg to go? I think I'll leave that experiment for another day. Gymnastics? Hmm. Maybe. I wonder if...

She moved to the floor at the end of the mat and then did a perfect cartwheel across it. Yay! I have never, ever, been able to do that before. Of course, being so light undoubtedly helps. She cartwheeled back. That's good fun! I could enjoy doing this. Her face grew a wide grin as she thought of something else. She moved off the mat to stand facing the others on a clear patch of floor, and then slowly moved her feet apart, sliding on the soft soles of the boots. Both her watchers gaped as she slid slowly down to do a perfect splits, one leg straight out either side of her body.

"I often wondered how girls could do this," she said, "now I know."

"That looks extremely painful," Keren said in an agonized voice.

"It would be for you," she told him. "Women's bone structure is sufficiently different than men's that we can nearly all do it without a problem. Besides which," she smirked, "I don't have any soft bits down there to get squashed, do I?"

Keren's answer was incoherent. Garia leaned forward and brought her legs together behind her, then rose to her feet.

"I think we'd better stop now, don't you think? I'd like to call the session a success, I just wish I could forget all about the first half of it."

"Don't worry, Garia, our lips are sealed," Keren managed a grin. "You plan to do this tomorrow?"

"And so on," she replied, "if Captain Bleskin permits us, of course." She thought. "There are other things I - we - could do," she added. "I'd like to try running round the field a couple times a week, and I'd like to try some of the weights, some of the weapons as well occasionally. That's something we can build up to over the coming days. You must tell me what you normally do when you train with the men."

Jenet handed Garia the towel and she wiped her head, face and neck. She downed the rest of the water and Jenet repacked the bag while Garia wrapped the skirt around her legs. Finally, with Jenet making sure everything looked suitably proper, they headed for the door.

~o~O~o~

"Mother."

"Keren, come in."

The Queen was in her sitting room, reading a document which Kendar had given her. The Chamberlain stood to one side of her chair.

"Uh, it's a personal matter, Mother."

"What? Oh, of course. Kendar, I'll talk to you about this after lunch, if I may."

"Certainly, Ma'am." Kendar bowed and then left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Sit down, dear," Terys said, indicating a chair. "How did Garia's session go this morning?"

"It was awkward to start with, Mother. Although she's been here almost two weeks now I didn't realize that she had such poor control over her body. Don't forget, she hasn't grown up with it, until she came here her body looked much like mine does, or so she has told us."

"I hadn't realized there would be a problem there, dear, but I suppose you're right. Go on."

"I managed to point this out to her."

"You did? That's good insight for someone so young. There are many much older than you, like me, for example, who wouldn't have worked that out quite so quickly."

"Thank you, Mother. Anyway, after that she tried some different things and then it all seemed to flow much easier. You watch her when you next see her, she even walks differently now, although I don't think she's realized that herself."

"So, this morning was a success, then?"

"Oh, yes. You should have seen the smile on her face. Now, it seems I have to get involved as well, and that's where a problem might arise."

"She did say that she would need partners. Oh!" Terys looked at Keren closely. "What happened?"

"We were comforting her when she couldn't get anything to work. I put my arm round her shoulders and, Mother, it was like nothing I've ever experienced before. I didn't know I could have feelings like that."

"Ah. Do you think it will cause a problem for you or Garia?"

Keren sighed. "I'm not sure. It's going to take a lot of will-power on my part, I think. We both know nothing more can happen, if that's what you're thinking. I just wish it wasn't so. I really wish it wasn't so."

"Hmm. Do you want to talk to your father about it?"

"If you think it will do any good. We both know his views on the subject."

"I think it would be better all round if you treat Garia as if she were your younger sister, dear. After all, that's almost exactly the position she holds in the palace at the moment. Try keeping your relationship like that and we'll see what happens. Have you said anything to her yet?"

"No, Mother. I hope the ground would swallow me up before I did that."

"No need to be so shy. She's a pretty young girl, after all, and you're a handsome young man, it's not surprising there's a spark between you. Nevertheless, you know you have to be careful here. Although you aren't betrothed to anyone yet, a day may come when the presence of an apparent rival in the palace may cause us problems."

"I understand, Mother."

~o~O~o~

Garia scowled.

"Mistress? Something wrong? Something we have forgotten?"

Gerdas was sitting beside Keren, facing Garia and Jenet as the carriage took them into the city. Although the leather blinds were pulled up and the four frayen were pulling the carriage along at a reasonable speed, it was still stuffy inside.

"No, Master Gerdas," she replied. "It's only just occurred to me, I carefully chose something light to wear to be able to cope with this weather but it's not going to be appropriate when we get there, is it?"

She was wearing a thin silk-over-cotton gown with a wide neck and short loose sleeves in the usual off-white fabric of most of her summer clothes. It had been carefully chosen to keep her cool, and they had paid special attention to detail as this was Garia's first trip outside the palace since she had arrived. Her one pair of outdoor shoes and a lightweight white straw hat with a fairly wide brim completed the ensemble, ensuring that she would not receive disapproval from any Palarand women who happened across her. Neither Garia or Jenet had considered what the conditions might be like inside of the building where they were going, where the apparatus for making paper had been set up.

"The shed, where the items you asked for have been put, is reasonably clean, Mistress, but how long it will stay this way I couldn't say. I don't know how much you will need to get involved, though. If your part is to seed us with ideas, as I understand it, then you may not wish to visit the sheds and workshops where the guilds conduct their business."

"Oh, but I do, Master Gerdas. There are sure to be questions which I can only answer in person. I'm sure there are much more practical clothes I could have worn than this gown had I thought about it." She gave him a wry smile. "I think I'll have to have another interesting conversation with Mistress Yolda."

He smiled back. "At least it should be a conversation this time and not a major battle."

The carriage pulled into a yard and stopped. Shortly a footman opened the door and Keren gestured Garia to emerge first. In this society at least, a woman could precede royalty where passage through doorways was concerned. After getting out she looked around while the others climbed down from the cabin. A typical factory yard, if one overlooked the fact that it was full of men and animals instead of machinery. Buildings of various heights, ages and construction methods lined the yard. A small delegation emerged from a double doorway in a corner of the yard and approached.

"Your Highness, so good of you to have come," the leader said, bowing towards Keren. He turned to the others. "Master Gerdas, welcome, everything is ready." His eyes went enquiringly to Garia.

"Master Selvar, let me present Mistress Garia to you," Gerdas said. "Despite the evidence of your own eyes, I can assure you that she is the one behind today's demonstration."

"Master Selvar." Garia curtseyed to him and received a bow in return. She noticed the doubtful expression he gave her. "Let's go in, and I'll show you what I'm made of."

The party went in the doorway Selvar had emerged from, leaving the carriage and the escort of six guardsmen in the courtyard. Inside it was much cooler for which Garia immediately gave thanks. It was a large workshop, and at the far end various smiths were hammering and beating away at metal items on their benches. Journeymen and servants were visible feeding charcoal to several furnaces in one corner, but the slight draft through the building thankfully kept the full heat away from the end where the party was. A familiar face came over to greet them.

"Master Tanon." Garia curtseyed.

"Greetings, Mistress. I'm glad you have arrived. We have made the frames as you instructed but I'm afraid I can't quite understand how the process is intended to work. If you'll come with me?"

He led the way over to a bench against the wall upon which was a rectangular copper tank about three feet by two and a foot deep filled with a milky liquid. Beyond that was a huge wooden-framed press with a wooden screw down the middle of it, turned by capstan bars. At the end was a pair of millstones being worked by hand by two journeymen, causing a small stream of milky liquid to ooze into a bucket below the outlet.

Tanon held up a wooden frame, about twelve inches by ten, over which fabric had been tightly stretched and nailed.

"This is what you described, Mistress? I can see that you can pick up the ground wood pulp with it, but I fail to see what you do with it next."

Selvar spoke. "Ah, Master Tanon, it's quite obvious! You collect the pulp and then leave the frame in the sun to dry out the mixture. Isn't that right, Mistress?"

"May I have a look, Master Tanon?"

She took the frame from Tanon and examined it.

"Uh, I think you have the cloth on the wrong way. The smooth side is supposed to be on the outside."

"But, Mistress," Tanon protested, "if the smooth side is outwards then the pulp will slide off, surely?"

"You have to do it that way, because the next step is to sandwich another frame on top and put them both in the press," she explained. "Then you can squeeze water out of the paper and press the fibers together at the same time. Look, I'll show you."

"But, you said the fabric is on the wrong way."

"It doesn't matter so much for this demonstration. It just means the paper will have a slightly rougher surface. Now, can somebody lend me an apron, please?"

One of the journeymen, blushing furiously, found the least dirty apron in the room and Garia put it on with Jenet's help. She took the frame and walked over to the copper tank, asking for and receiving a box to stand on so she was high enough. Holding the frame in both hands she slid it into the tank up to her elbows and swirled the liquid around before slowly raising the frame out again.

There was a thin film of pulp on the cloth. Garia had only ever seen this process demonstrated on television and she had no idea whether it was going to work or not. She examined what she had dredged out.

"I think we need more wood pulp in the mix," she said. The two journeymen brought the bucket across and added it to the tank. "We don't want a sludge," she explained, "more a kind of smooth soup. Let me try now."

This time when she brought out the frame it was clear that a layer of pulp had been deposited evenly across the cloth. She let it drain for a few moments and then asked for the second frame. This was placed on top and then she led the group towards the press. There was a wait until the right sized blocks of wood were found and placed and then the frames were arranged in the press and the pad screwed down, the journeymen heaving on the bars. Everyone watched attentively.

"I have no idea how this is going to work out," she told her audience. "I have seen this done but I am by no means an authority on the process. Once you understand the basic principle it will be up to you to experiment, to try different woods, different ways of grinding or pulping, different textures of cloth, ways of improving the finish of the resulting paper. You do not even need to use wood, it is just that you have a surplus of waste sawdust which can be used to start with. You can try different vegetable matter like straw, grass, even fibers such as are in our clothes. Just experiment, and you will find many answers. Release the press, if you please."

Once the screw had been lifted she took out the two frames.

"Now we have to release the paper from the frames. At this stage it is still damp and very fragile. I'll need a rounded piece of wood that will fit inside this frame, please."

"Oh!" said Tanon. "Now I understand why you asked for that."

He passed over the length of dowel requested and Garia used it to release the paper from the top frame before turning the remaining frame over and repeating the action. The rough sheet of paper fell onto the bench and Garia gingerly picked it up between finger and thumb.

"There you are, gentlemen, Palarand's - Anmar's - first ever sheet of paper. Now it needs to be hung up on a line to dry in the air." She looked at Selvar. "Direct sunlight probably isn't a good idea, since the paper might distort as it dries. Very gentle heat from a nearby fire might do, though. A warm room like this is fine. Once it's dry you can trim the rough edges off and write on it just like you would a piece of parchment."

One of the journeymen quickly hammered out two basic clips from a sliver of sheet iron and the paper was hung up on a line over the bench to dry. There was an immediate rush of questions which Garia did her best to answer. Yes, they could make the frames bigger. Yes, they could use other fabrics than silk, this was just to ensure that they obtained a good result today. Yes, any trimmings could be re-used. The press needn't be that big, they weren't pressing barrels of fruit after all. They could make paper of different thicknesses, thin was called tissue paper, thick was called card. They could add other substances to the mix to improve the surface texture, or for other reasons. Try a small amount of white clay, for example. They might need to mix different inks to get the best out of the paper. Did they realize that they could add dyes to the mix to get colored paper?

Everyone present except Jenet had a go at making a sheet of paper, with variable results. By the time that the royal party had to leave there were twelve sheets hanging from the line, and the guildsmen had broken into small groups to talk animatedly about paper making.

"Another success, Mistress!" Gerdas told her. "If paper is this easy to make, then I can understand how your world has so much of it."

"Master Gerdas, you have no idea." Garia thought she would wait some time before she told him that on Earth people used it to blow their noses or wiped their bottoms with it. "Getting a consistent product might not be so easy, though. We'll leave these gentlemen to have fun experimenting for now. We have to be getting back to the palace for the evening meal, and then we have a meeting afterwards."

"I'm looking forward to it, Mistress! The things we have to discuss tonight all affect my craft greatly."

"Astronomy is no longer a craft, Master Gerdas, it should properly be called a science."

Before they left Garia was presented with her sheet of paper, ironically carefully wrapped inside a folder of parchment to protect it. She would be displaying it during the evening's meeting. The carriage returned through the baking streets to the palace and everyone immediately retired to their rooms to prepare for dinner. In Garia's case that meant having the third bath of the day before selecting a suitable evening gown to wear. This was, of course, full length and of the finest fabric she could find to make the evening heat as bearable as possible.

When they got to the dining room they found Gerdas animatedly talking to Parrel, who had arrived in advance of the meeting. Parrel's journeyman Tarvan stood alone to one side, ignored by the two Masters deep in conversation. Garia took pity on him and went over to greet him.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't know how to address you," she said with a smile.

"Um," Tarvan stammered, coloring, "Mistress, I don't have a title, you should just use my name. When I finish my indenture I would be called Master like Master Parrel, but until then I'm just Tarvan. If I were to own a property in Palarand then I could be called Freeman, but I'm not the son of a merchant or land-owner so I have no title."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Tarvan." She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially into his ear. "Actually, I'll let you into a secret, I don't have lands either, and you can see I'm not a merchant. I've no idea why they call me Mistress."

"But, but for women it's different, Mistress. The rules are complicated, but mostly it is the case that a woman's status is derived from her father's or her husband's status."

"That makes it even worse," she said. "I have no father or husband on Anmar. Still, my father on Earth could be considered a merchant, so perhaps I am being addressed correctly. Now, I have a question for you. I assume you've been journeyman for some time, you understand the basics of your craft?"

"Aye, Mistress, that is so. I have less than one year left of the six, I know about most aspects that a metalsmith needs to know." He stopped, thought, then grinned at her shyly. "I was going to say, Mistress, that you could ask me questions but there are things that are secret to the guilds, but then I realized that you probably know more than we do anyway. Is that not so?"

Garia smiled back. "Yes and no, Tarvan. I probably know quite a bit about what you're taught for your craft, but what I don't know is how your state of knowledge on Anmar compares to that on my home world. Do you follow me?"

"Ah, of course, Mistress. What did you want to know?"

"Copper." Tarvan nodded. "Do you have techniques for drawing copper wire?" He looked at her questioningly. "Um, wire as fine as the thickness of my fingernail, say?"

"Aye, Mistress," Tarvan answered slowly. "We can draw wire from copper like that, although I don't know if we make it that fine. It would be too weak for use as a binding or as a filigree decoration in a jewelry piece if the wire was that thin."

Garia's smile was wide. "That sounds good enough to me. How long a piece could you draw, do you think? A foot? A stride? A mark?"

Tarvan goggled at her question. "But... Mistress! Why would you ever need a fine copper wire that long? Do you make nets, ropes from it?"

"Something entirely new to Anmar, Tarvan. Something that will make a huge difference to your entire world."

Tarvan stared at her. "Mistress, should you be talking to me this way? Should you not address your questions to Master Parrel?"

"Master Parrel will shortly find that he has too much work to do it all himself, and I think you'll be handling different projects all of your own. Besides, what I'm asking about is still in the planning stage as yet, and those two are busy at the moment." She indicated the two Masters.

"As you say, Mistress. Uh, your question, I suppose that you could draw any length you required, if you had enough copper and the fuel to melt it with."

Garia nodded, and gave Tarvan another smile as she rested her hand briefly on his arm. "Thank you Tarvan, that's just what I hoped you'd say. We'll continue this discussion another time, I think. Tell me, how is the production of forks coming on?"

Tarvan grinned. "Master Parrel has contracted out manufacture of forks, just as Her Majesty guessed he would. I believe that they will be delivered to the palace weekly for some time to come." He fumbled at his pouch and came up with a cylinder of cloth. "To demonstrate the item to our fellow metalsmiths we had some samples made, and neither Master Parrel nor myself can eat a meal without having a fork nearby now. I can't imagine how I ever managed without one before. We have brought our own to use at the King's table."

Tarvan unrolled the cloth to display his fork. Garia took it and held it up to the light to examine it. The metalsmiths had made their samples to a different pattern than that of the palace cutlery but they still looked like a good, well-finished product to Garia. She handed the fork back.

"You've made a good job of that."

"Thank you, Mistress."

"Now, shall we take our seats ready for the meal?"