Dak followed her father down steps that followed the concave curve of the floor, and she realised that the room was like a vast hollow ball. Their footsteps echoed from the distant walls as he led her down to the floor of the chamber, which was flat and stretched away into the dark. The sound of dripping was loud now, and Dak could hear the constant lapping of water and realised that the floor ahead of her was one vast pool.

"Who is that?" asked a voice from the darkness above them. It was a sharp voice and came in strange clicks and scrapes.

"It is Engineer Tomova," said her father to the darkness. "And my daughter, Dakskansia. Hello, Sefolla Gerratik."

"Ah," said the voice. "Hello, Engineer Tomova."

Something descended from above; a large spindly shape with many long angular legs. It seemed to swing above them, changing its course a few times before landing on the curve of the chamber wall above them and picking its way down, its many limbs carefully caressing the space around it. It loomed above them, twice the height of her father, but Dak could still see no details, only a confusion of black limbs and a long curve of shiny carapace, which was either head, or body, or both.

"Daughter, this is Sefolla Gerratik of the Growers."

"Hello," said Dak.

"What is it that brings you down this far?" said Sefolla Gerratik in its strange clicking voice.

"I had a mind to pay yourself a visit and show my daughter your charge. Is all well?"

"All is well," replied the Grower, Sefolla Gerratik. "You can see."

The creature turned, and from somewhere about it there came a high, warbling whistle. The light in the chamber suddenly intensified. It was as though a hundred sleeping creatures had awoken and opened their eyes to reveal orbs of glowing green.

Dak gave a gasp of surprise, for above them, taking up the entirety of the upper dome of the chamber, was a mass of pale vegetation. Fine thread stems hung down and entwined one another to support long flower heads, whose thick fungus like petals had peeled themselves back to reveal the luminous green orbs whose light had suddenly dazzled the chamber.

Long tubular tendrils criss-crossed the space, and they swayed in the warm air, though there was no breeze to move them. In the very centre of the chamber, hanging above the round pool that the light had revealed, was a large swollen mass from which thicker tendrils curled and swayed. It was these that caused the dripping, as water fell constantly from their open ends, into the water below.

Dak was aware that her mouth was hanging open, so she closed it.

"What is it?" was all she could manage to say.

She turned to the figure of Sefolla Gerratik. Now that the chamber was brightly lit, she could see the creature properly for the first time. Its many legs supported a long curved body, from under which hung a collection of smaller limbs, each ending in clawed hands. The green light from the strange plant reflected from the surface of its carapace, from the front of which protruded a long conical appendage. It was lined with twin sets of large black orbs above and below, which she thought must be eyes. She could see no mouth; the head instead ended in two clumps of long finger-like tentacles.

"It is of the same family as the whitestep," came the strange clicking voice. Dak could see no mouth, but the sound seemed to come from somewhere high up on its body. "It is an ancient strain. Here it purifies the used water from the fortress."

"All the pipes we have followed on the way down lead to the waste reservoir in the chamber above," explained her father. "And the plant feeds on that."

"Your father oversimplifies the process; the way people who do not understand things do. I have attempted to explain it to him previously."

Her father shrugged.

"That is true. And I am still not understanding."

There was a sudden splash from the pool, and a translucent shape fluttered from the water, shedding a trail of green reflecting droplets before it landed on one of the glowing green orbs. It seemed a delicate thing, with wings and fins of fine folded glass, lit by the light from the orb on which it rested.

"There are creatures alive in there!" exclaimed Dak.

Sefolla Gerratik moved then. It slowly stretched one set of leg towards the water and lowered its head, dipping the long prehensile tentacles at its tip beneath the surface.

"Of course," it said. "They are attracted by the light and feed on the flowers. How else would the plants be pollinated?"

"Be what?"

"Pollinated. It is how we get more plants."

Sefolla Gerratik now had its head part submerged in the pool, so that half of its eyes were beneath the surface.

"I do not really understand about plants," said Dak. "I would like to though."

There were further splashes as more of the creatures emerged from the black water, each one landing on a glowing orb where they would sit for a time, inspecting it's surface with fine transparent antennae, before flitting away to another.

"I would be more than happy to explain the process," said Sefolla Gerratik, its head now fully submerged.

"Well, I..."

"I do not think that my daughter will be needing a lesson on growing," interrupted her father.

"Actually, it does sound quite interesting."

Sefolla Gerratik pulled its head from the pool, flicking its tentacles to send droplets of water flying and glittering in the green light.

"Ah, you have your mother's curiosity," said her father. "Well, if you think it might be interesting, go ahead. If you need me I will be over here," He walked to a bench set into the curving side of the chamber. "Sitting down."

He sat down.

"Maybe we can be talking another time," said Dak to Sefolla Gerratik. "Sorry."

"Do not worry, child," said Grower Sefolla Gerratik. "I have known your father for years, and I know his moods."

It rose up once more and went over to a table, which sat alongside the bench. It sorted through numerous jugs and jars with its smaller limbs until it finally found a cup that it placed on the bench besides her father.

"Your father's current petulance is due to the fact that he has been here fully five minutes and I have yet to offer him a drink."

"It is a simple courtesy."

Her father looked a little more cheerful at the sight of the cup.

Sefolla Gerratik lowered its body to ground level to look under the table. With the tentacles on the end of its triangular head, it rummaged around among the oddments piled there, before finally pulling out a heavy glass bottle. With a deft delicacy, it uncorked it and poured a generous measure of its contents into the cup.

Dak stood still by the pool's edge, looking up at the vastness of the chamber, and its hanging, dripping plants.

"It is quite magnificent," she said.

Sefolla Gerratik re-corked the bottle and placed it on the table.

"Indeed. Has your father told you about the deserts of Kla?"

"He has. My uncle lived there for some time, in the Workshops at Badesh. He was a sword-smith for the Order of the Sands."

"It is a land with little water. The fortress of Badesh has many chambers such as this. Klinberg only requires one."

With exact slowness, Sefolla Gerratik reached upwards and climbed the curving chamber wall, up into a web of looping tendrils. From there it hung itself upside down, legs extended and with its long triangular head pointing towards the ground.

"There are many wonders in the desert, I have heard," said her father.

The Grower started to clean itself, collecting moisture from the surface of the vines from which it hung with the comb like spines that protruded from its smaller manipulative limbs.

"The circles of glass," it said as it worked.

"Ah, yes. My brother has told me of them, but I still find them hard to imagine. They are of a natural creation he says, but I do not see how." Her father took a long drink from the cup and smiled appreciatively. "The Guild has done much fine work down there also," he said. "The challenges of the place have provoked its genius."

"The water gardens of Naddaran," said Sefolla Gerratik suddenly, stopping its preening. "Now there, I have heard, the true genius of the Guild of Engineers is being applied, with no small help from the Growers, of course."

"Hah! The water gardens of Naddaran, indeed!" said her father dismissively.

"What are they?" asked Dak with interest.

Her father drained his cup and then uncorked the bottle to refill it.

"A waste of Guild time if you are asking my opinion," he said as he poured.

"And they are the finest work of the Guild if you ask mine," said Sefolla Gerratik. "I have not seen them, but my colleagues have told me much about their construction. I will visit them one day. When I am small again."

"What are they?" persisted Dak.

Her father gave one of his deep sighs, but did not reply. Instead he took a drink from his refilled cup. It was Sefolla Gerratik who spoke. As it did it began to clean its head, paying careful attention to its eyes and the long tentacles at its tip.

"The merchants of Naddaran have employed the services of the good Guild of Engineers, along with the Growers, to construct a garden, stretching for kilometres around the city. Naddaran lies in the centre of a maze of lakes and rivers and islands, and the gardens are being built over that landscape. There are to be waterfalls and fountains, bridges and aqueducts, pagodas and other decorative buildings. It is not yet completed, but the Growers have already started its planting. There will be so many different varieties of plants and trees, you will be able to travel for hours and not see the same genus twice. There the Growers and Engineers are working to create a thing of true value."

"It is a nonsense!" said her father, draining his cup and banging it down on the table. "This new Association of Merchants have too much money. They have rebuilt Naddaran, and now they seek to surround the place with flowers."

"And what is wrong with flowers?" asked Sefolla Gerratik.

"Nothing in themselves, when they have a use, but the gardens are for no other purpose than for them to show off their new wealth."

Her father made a sweeping gesture around the room, knocking his empty cup off the bench and onto the floor, where it bounced once and then rolled away in a wide circle.

"Here is a thing of true value, Sefolla Gerratik. It has a practicality. Surely you can see the value of what you do?"

"Of course," replied the Grower. "But I see nothing wrong with creating a thing of beauty."

Sefolla Gerratik swung itself from its nest of vines and back onto the floor of the chamber. It retrieved the fallen cup from the floor, went to the dark pool in the centre of the chamber floor, and refilled the cup with water.

"Father?" said Dak hesitantly.

"Yes, daughter?"

"Do not the books of Yeltov say that he promised Fortak that he would create a life of safety and comfort for his people?"

"They do."

"I have heard it be said that gardens are a good source of comfort, so surely the gardens of Naddaran cannot be so much of a bad thing."

Sefolla Gerratik went back to the bench and handed her father the newly filled cup.

"Your daughter has a good point, my friend."

Her father took the cup, but he was looking at Dak with a tinge of sadness.

"You have so much of your mother in you, and I see more with each rising and setting sun. She would have argued the same."

Sefolla Gerratik had now settled itself on the floor beside the table, its legs angled about itself, casting grotesque shadows across the curving wall behind.

"Anyadda would be proud of the child, Tomova."

It turned towards Dak, and bending its many limbs, brought the curve of its body closer to the ground, one of the large black orbs of its eyes level with her own.

"I am sorry that your mother died. I am sure you miss her."

"Thank you," said Dak. "I do miss her, though she was not around for much of the time. Her research was often taking her very far away."

"Yes. I was always glad of her visits when she was here. I enjoyed our talks. She had an interest in everything and she understood my work, unlike some I could mention." It raised its voice for this last part.

"I understand your craft as well as you understand mine," replied her father from his place on the bench.

"True enough," conceded Sefolla Gerratik. It lifted its body again, and turned to the pool where the delicate creatures continued to flit between the luminous flowers. "So give me some news of the world outside, Tomova. My fellow Growers tell me little."

"What are you wishing to know? A good many things are happening. War with the north was close, but has been averted. Until the Tourney's conclusion at least."

"Wars are always being averted. Or won. Or lost. They are a constant."

Dak had gone to stand beside the Grower, and was watching the dark lapping waters of the pool.

"Are you not being concerned by the wars?" she asked.

Sefolla Gerratik gave a strange motion with two of its legs, drumming them briefly against its body, then it began inspecting the flowers that hung from the chamber's unseen heights.

"Wars or no wars; the sun will still rise, the rains will still fall, the plants will still grow. The Growers do not get involved, just as the Guild do not."

Her father was looking thoughtfully into his cup of water.

"But how long that will remain is a question," he said.

With two of its smaller limbs, Sefolla Gerratik began to trim one of the plant's thick flower petals, whose edges looked brown and wrinkled.

"Are the Elders still in disagreement?"

Her father shrugged.

"Tchovin has his supporters, but most in the assembly believe that he is merely getting crazy with age."

"Still, it is an interesting idea that he has. The Guild could have an influence..."

Her father got suddenly to his feet.

"I should not be discussing these things in front of my daughter."

"I am sure your daughter is trustworthy."

"I am sure that she is, but of late she has acquired an unconventional friendship."

"It is good to have friends."

"Not of this type."

"Who is your new friend, Dakskansia?"

"She is..." began Dak.

Her father put his cup down heavily on the table, spilling some of its contents over the side.

"She is someone whose friendship my wife should not have been encouraging."

"Ah," said Sefolla Gerratik. "The Order girl. Anyadda mentioned her to me on the last visit she made."

"Yes, and I am assuming that she was not mentioning what trouble the girl is."

"She did not. She said only that the girl had a spirit she found intriguing."

"Spirit! She has a spirit like ascerbium, which will cause nothing but damage. It is good I have given instructions that the friendship be over."

Sefolla Gerratik made the strange motion with its limbs again.

"If that is what is desired," it said. "Then it is good."

Her father looked at the dark carapaced Grower from beneath his lowered brows.

"We should probably be getting gone," he said, turning to his daughter. "Thank you for your time, friend Sefolla Gerratik."

"Always a pleasure, Engineer Tomova," said the Grower, seemingly unperturbed by her father's sudden briskness.

It turned and rose up on its many legs to tower above them both once more. Then it lowered its head towards Dak and ran the long tentacles at its end over her face. To her surprise, they felt warm and gentle. When it had done, the creature turned away and did the same to her father, who in return gave its strange head an affectionate blow with the flat of his hand.

"Look after your child, my friend, unconventional friendships or not."

"Be sure that I will."

"She has a keen mind on her."

"That I know for a certainty. Good bye, my friend."

"Good bye, Tomova. Good bye, Tomova's daughter."

And so they left.

As they climbed the stairs, the chamber was once again growing dark. The flying creatures were falling, one by one, back into the water as the thick petals of the flower heads slowly closed, dimming the light within and sending the chamber back into darkness.

The odd looming shape of Sefolla Gerratik the Grower grew indistinct as the light faded, and the last Dak saw of it was a slow movement as it hauled itself back into the web of vines, before moving upwards towards the ceiling of the chamber.