“Unless you wish me to seek the help of some of the new builders in Akkad,” Trella said with a smile.
“From flattery to threats. Oh, well, I should stop complaining. Better to have too much work than too little.”
“We’re going to need your skills more than ever, Corio.” Trella’s voice turned serious. “And we’ll need your ideas on how to best attack the southern cities. Which is one reason why we need the Map Room. Do you have someone who can construct the models?”
“As soon as you told me what you wanted, I thought of my second eldest daughter. She refuses to learn to cook and sew properly, and prefers to spend time with her brothers and the other apprentices in the wood room, building models and sketching designs. She has a fine hand for detail work. Besides annoying her brothers, she embarrasses them with her skills. And none of them will eat anything she cooks.”
Trella’s eyes showed her interest. She’d always found it easier and better to work with women than men. Girls could concentrate more on the task at hand, follow instructions, and remain calm under pressure. And they didn’t have to be constantly competing with the other boys.
“You never told me your daughter had such an interest. What’s her name?” Trella knew the girl’s name, of course, but preferred Corio to offer it.
“Ismenne. I only wish she were a more dutiful child.”
Dutiful children tended to be of little use to Trella.
“Ah, yes, I remember her now. How many seasons does she have?”
“Almost twelve. Soon she’ll be married off and someone else’s problem.”
“If you think she can keep secret her work in the Map Room, perhaps I can make use of her. May I speak with her about this?” Trella saw that her offer had caught Corio by surprise. Like so many other men, he probably had underestimated his daughter’s value. Until now.
He took only a moment to grasp the implication of her words. “Of course, Lady Trella. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to her myself.” He sighed again. “Now she’ll come under your spell, and I’ll have lost her forever.”
“I promise I’ll return her an even more dutiful and loving daughter, who will give thanks to her father for permitting her this chance to help both her father and Akkad.”
“Let me speak to her mother first,” Corio said. “But I’m sure she’ll agree. I’ll bring Ismenne here tomorrow. I should have some sketches ready by then.”
Trella knew the girl’s mother would consent. With the queen of Akkad showing interest in her problem daughter, Ismenne, she would have much greater opportunities for finding a good husband. Everyone would benefit from such an arrangement.
“Then again we will all be in your debt, Corio. You and your daughter may do much to defend Akkad from its enemies.”
14
If Orodes’s early return surprised Trella, nothing in her countenance showed it. She sat beside Eskkar in the workroom, facing Tooraj and Orodes across the table. Both men still carried the dust and grime of a long and hasty journey. They had come straight to the Compound, despite the fact that the supper hour would soon be upon the household. Already the sounds of a large gathering floated up from the floor below.
“Well, what did you find?” Eskkar’s voice sounded hard. He had little patience for those who failed to obey orders. “Why did you return so soon, Tooraj?”
“He came because I ordered him, Lord Eskkar,” Orodes answered, cutting in before the soldier could reply. “In half a day, I learned more than enough to return to Akkad. I’ve made a list of what I will require to begin mining, and I brought samples with me.” He reached down and hefted a good-sized sack onto his lap. “You’ll want to check these samples with my father, or perhaps another goldsmith you trust, but I’m sure of what they contain.”
“And that is…?” Lady Trella’s voice sounded gentle compared to her husband’s.
“Gold, of course. At first it will be mostly loose nuggets lying about, or just under the top layer of dirt. We’ll also find more pockets in the stream and nearby. We’ll need to pick the valley clean of the surface gold first, otherwise the workers will steal it all. Once we’ve emptied the stream and the stream’s pockets, we can get started digging into the earth for the real ores.”
“What else did you find, then?”
“Almost all of the noble metals are present. There’s plenty of copper and tin, as well as quantities of lead, antimony, iron and arsenic. But I think we’ll find the real strength of the mine is this.”
Orodes removed a jagged nugget from the sack and placed it on the table between them.
Eskkar reached out his hand, picked it up, and held it to the light. “That’s silver, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Lord. The rocks and ground at this place are full of native silver.”
“What kind of silver?”
The fact that the king of Akkad didn’t know what that meant startled Orodes, but Trella caught his eye, and he knew that she understood. He softened his words so as not to offend.
“Native silver is a rare form of the metal, Lord. This nugget is almost
… it’s very pure silver, with only a few impurities, which could easily be removed. But any silversmith could work with this nugget as it is. Most silver, as I’m sure you know, is obtained from smelting lead and copper ores. Silver is one of the residues left behind from the smelting process. But the ores I found at the site are heavy with silver. More silver than gold.”
Eskkar handed the nugget to Trella. “And you say there is a good quantity of silver at this place?”
Orodes glanced at Trella, who had spared only a brief look at the nugget. “My Lord, I believe that this site holds large quantities of copper, lead, tin, silver, and gold. And iron, of course, but that’s of no value to us. Someday we may learn how to make use of it, since it’s so common.”
Eskkar’s frown returned, and Orodes decided now wasn’t the time to speak about iron.
“But silver seems to be the most plentiful. The gold nuggets resting on the stream bed are of high quality as well.” Orodes reached into his pouch, extracted an irregular clump of gold, and set it on the table.
Eskkar examined the nugget. He’d learned much about gold in his wanderings, but it had taken the siege of Akkad and Trella’s guidance to explain the mystery of gold to him. Many villagers believed the golden metal to be the most valuable of all possessions. Its rich and warm color satisfied some deep-seated longing in men. They worshipped it in secret, clutching it close to their bodies before burying it deep in the earth.
“Tell me more about the gold, Orodes.” Eskkar handed the nugget to Trella.
“Yes, Lord. As you know, gold is the most valuable of all the metals taken from the earth. Unlike silver, bronze, copper, or any of the metals, only gold neither tarnishes nor rusts. It can be highly polished, and hammered into any shape, even beaten to the thinness of a leaf. Malleable. That’s a word that we… the goldsmiths call it. And because gold is so malleable, it can be easily divided, and so accommodate exchanges of lesser value. Also, gold can be carefully measured and its quantity determined. Merchants and traders, for all these and other reasons, seek gold. They hammer out their own coins, and use them to adjust their trades, since much value is concentrated in such a small area.”
“And in so doing, they have created a medium of exchange,” Trella added. “It is easier to carry a sack of gold than a herd of cattle.”
Eskkar nodded. Barter might still be the most common way to trade, but gold, silver, and even copper coins made life in the villages possible. “Tell us more about the mine, Orodes.”
Orodes explained what he’d found, and told of his idea that the earth had shifted in the distant past and pushed part of its depths to the surface. He spoke at length, describing the site and estimating its potential, and no one interrupted him with questions until he finished.
“I think you’ve done well, Orodes. Now what do you suggest?”
Trella’s face held the hint of a smile, and Orodes suddenly understood that she knew exactly what needed to be done.
“I believe that we should mine this site, and we should get started at once. I believe we will dig a vast amount of silver from the earth. To accomplish that, we’ll need miners, slaves or free men. There will be no trouble
