Lion's Den's Council Chamber had been moved to the third ascending level inside the mountain, where it featured a huge open platform with no windows yet installed.
Building it deep inside the mountain, where it would remain dark all day and require torches and candles for light, was simply too oppressive.
More than three hundred people now lived inside the mountain, spread across more than sixty families. Though the settlement was small, it had everything it needed, and it was still expanding.
At that moment, only Suleiman and Evelyn remained in the chamber. Olivier had already taken a group to the lands and towns of the neighboring lords to buy seeds, grain, and breeding stock—chickens and ducks.
Lion's Den currently had only three court officials: Evelyn, Bryn, and Lushen.
The mountain breeze blew in, stirring the enormous sheets of parchment spread across the table.
Evelyn leaned forward, golden hair falling loose as her fair fingers tapped a freshly drawn blueprint.
Though she had drawn it herself, she didn't understand its workings. Its structure was several times more complex than the waterwheel's. A massive waterwheel was connected to a wooden axle covered in raised cams, and the other end of the axle was linked to an enormous, oddly shaped hammer.
Pure curiosity colored Evelyn's voice. "Lord Suleiman, what is this?"
She raised her head, her sapphire-like eyes fixed on Suleiman.
"It looks like some kind of variation on a waterwheel, like the High-Rotation Waterwheel, but this huge hammer... what is it for?"
Suleiman traced the power-transmission route on the blueprint with his finger. "Water-powered forging."
"A tool that will reduce the physical labor required of our blacksmiths."
Evelyn repeated the unfamiliar term. "Water-powered... forging?"
Suleiman's voice was steady and clear, carrying a reassuring strength. "Look, the principle is much like the