"The first is that we have had some small measure of success in refining material inside of dirt and stone to become metal. We have yet to acquire any amount that we could use to do anything with, but with just a couple of weeks of concerted effort, we've made progress."
"Do we know anything about what the ants do under the mountain?" I asked, my mind only partially focused on what she was saying. "I know that there should be plenty of metal contained under the surface, but we've never seen them deposit anything like that outside of their colonies. In fact, I've never seen any material get brought out of the earth at all. Do they expand under there? Will we have to begin a war with them to create anything with metal?"
Ytte didn't interrupt me as I continued to speak. Once I went quiet, she flicked her tail back and forth in uncertainty. "Is there anything we can do about the ants? They're devastatingly unintelligent, but they're also so numerous that we can't do anything to provoke them without almost certainly inviting our own destruction. However, if there is something you wish for me or the Kha'Tal to do, you need only ask."
"I know." I grunted, having vented more than spoken my true thoughts. "I apologize, Ytte. I wasn't really speaking with you, I was just venting something ancillary to our conversation. I appreciate all you do. Thank you for working with this aspect of experimentation. If there's anything you need from me, let me know. The Kha'Tal Council is already and will continue to be the backbone of the Empire. I need to keep you on my side."
"I'll always be there, Zaaktif." Ytte assured me.
"Thank you. Did you want to show me your results on that, or merely present them to me? I suspect the second thing you wished to speak about was the real reason you were seeking me out."
"You are, as usual, correct." Ytte replied, a grin cracking her face. I realized only then that I'd never seen her nearly as happy as she was as a Kha'Tal. She remained a fierce warrior, I remembered seeing her rip through a Stonecalled wall to tear through the defenders behind it. Even so, Ytte loved creating things, and violence was just her method to protect that.
"It's the plants." She continued. "Keeping them growing through the cold has been difficult."
"I've heard it's been closer to impossible than difficult." I replied. "It's been a miracle that any have remained alive, much less growing."
"No," Ytte waved off my concern, "they seem to go into some sort of a dormant period while it's so cold. I'd imagine that on the mountains, they're covered with snow and stay inert until the thaw comes. The goal, then, is to keep them warm enough to not go inert. Long term, I don't think that we'll do this, but for now, we need to see how to cultivate the tubers to grow so that, once the weather turns and we can dedicate people to growing them as food, we can do exactly what we need without having to test."
"And you've found a way to keep the plants warm enough to grow?"
"Yes." Ytte grinned. "And more than that, we've learned a couple of ways to help them to grow faster."
"Great." I flared my frills. "Do you want to show me, or merely explain? I have time for both."
"I would like your eyes on it, if possible. You have a penchant for learning things that the rest of us have no idea how you learned them."
"Lead the way." I said. She immediately strode off towards one of the first buildings that had been completed that wasn't a dwelling. As we walked, Ytte had several of the other Kha'Tal walk up to her, and each one quietly reported the progress on one part of the construction, or where an experiment had shown fruit. I quickly realized that Ytte wasn't giving any commands to the subordinates that approached her, nor was she expressing anything other than congratulations or commiserations, whichever suited the moment. After the third reporter came and went, I asked, "You don't actually lead the Kha'Tal, do you?"
"No." She smiled. "I am our contact point to you, but I trust in my fellows to do what is necessary. They will see what needs to be done and do it. I am the only one that takes on the special tasks you assign, but the time is nigh at hand that another will evolve and join me. My first harvest is bet on Basit's ascension being the first, though others have been pushing themselves for longer. Even so, Basit is more driven than most."
"I'll take your word for it."
We walked in companionable silence, no more of the Kha'Tal coming to ask questions, and the rank and file of the Empire unwilling to bother me when I was obviously on my way towards something. And, of course, they remained generally hesitant to speak to me unless spoken to. Frankly, I didn't mind that much. There was enough that demanded my attention that I welcomed every opportunity to be in silence whenever it came. Ytte either understood that or didn't want to interrupt me.
Once we arrived at the building, Ytte shouldered the door open and walked in. As I did so as well, I was struck by how humid and warm it was inside. The same moment I was fully in the building, Ytte slammed the door closed. I could feel the vibrations of it scraping along every part of the wall where it closed. Looking around, I understood why she needed to put so much force into opening and closing the door. Every wall was coated with dried mud and grasses, the primitive walls made almost completely airtight. In each corner of the room, a small fire sparked, their smoke going up the most complete chimneys I'd seen outside of the nursery.
"Over here." Ytte said, pulling me towards a corner where neat lines of sprouting leaves flourished.
"Tell me what I'm looking at." I said as I looked at what could be just a normal patch of ground, if you asked me.
"Well, our process has been manifold." Ytte explained. As she detailed the specifics of it, I recognized that it was valuable knowledge that I didn't care to know the details of. Even so, I listened and asked questions when I was so curious as to ask. After an hour of learning how much each plant had grown from each experiment, I nodded my thanks and took my leave.
When I stepped into the snowy air, I took a deep breath, ready to move onto the next thing. There was always something that demanded my attention, and weeks and months passed like that.