Haera gives both me and Iselin one of her best horses each, which Iselin definitely appreciates. Haera also gives a horse to her shieldmaiden Raneigh, as well as 20 ounces of gold, as a little compensation for how she messed up her life.

  I've spoken to Iselin, Ciara, Alith and Gunhild and Raneigh was 'forced' to cover for Haera as per her oath to the Queen, so I offer Raneigh employment, which she immediately and very gratefully accepts without reservation. I give her the same contract as Hillevi just because it feels better, which impresses Raneigh who was very willing to swear me the same for life allegiance as Alith and Gunhild, because she already know their thoughts and agrees with them. But I would prefer it if she did so voluntarily in the future when she has given it more thought, and not now. Raneigh is serious and happy as she swears me allegiance and promises to prove herself worthy of my trust and her chance.

  When Alith and Gunhild welcome her to her new luxury employment and show her into their day room, Raneigh truly smiles for the first time since she arrived. I expect I will be able to trust her 100%, not only because she will have 'luxury employment', but also because if she were to fuck up this employment and fail me, her life as a shieldmaiden would be completely gone, and probably being seen as an honourable woman. I call Alith to me and in front of witnesses I upgrade her contract to similar, and apologise for forgetting to do so. Both she and Bodil deserve it and I want to try to treat all bodyguards equally, and will upgrade Bodil's when she returns from Borgarsandr. I want everyone to have the opportunity for days off and vacation once a year, to be able to visit relatives etc, and it simply feels better if I treat them extra well even with vacation and days off. I have discreetly told them all that if they need more leave, to just ask.

  Skirlaug gets 20 ounces of gold from Haera, but she was a very willing conspirator who outright betrayed me, so I won't be offering her any favours or work and she understands that. She is happy for Raneigh though. Skirlaug is a daughter of one of the Counts down south, and she had a bright future. She was Haera's lady-in-waiting and personal assistant, but now her future and bride price have hit rock bottom, and unfortunately for her she'll have to be happy as long as any man wants to pay the statutory minimum bride price of 8 ounces of silver. She owns nothing more than what she brought to Borgarsandr or gifts given since, although she has a lot of silver, fine clothes, jewellery, a horse etc and the gold Haera just gave her. I didn't know that Skirlaug was close to getting married. No official agreement between the families yet, but would be during the Northmen's Tinget in a few weeks with the marriage later in the spring. It's very unlikely to happen now; her value has plummeted almost as badly as Haera's since Skirlaug admitted to helping Haera. News takes time to travel, so she hasn't heard anything about it yet, but she expects her family will sever ties to minimise the fallout against them, because just before leaving Borgarsandr, her future groom's family have told her so, and are not happy about almost being duped in getting such a deceitful wife.

  What has happened also makes Asbj?rn's task of finding a new husband for Sefa more difficult, so it is fortunate that Sefa is one of the 'most desirable women' for marriage here in the north, and the biggest issue is still who they allow Sefa to marry. As usual, the Northmen's Ting will be important for arranging future marriages between the nations powerful, or outside the nation.

  I lend a couple of maths book to Haera and Skirlaug. They want to learn and want to do something with their time here, and Haera, who has studied the one Asbj?rn got last autumn, gets the more advanced book. All they have is plenty of free time, and Skirlaug offers to copy it for me without payment, or if I have other things she can do. I guess she's trying to adjust and keep herself occupied and useful. I myself have plenty of projects to do so, and I'm too good at thinking up new ones.

  We are getting dressed to go to the village and forge and try the steam engine, when we hear a scream and swearing. Raneigh is standing holding her left hand and swearing by the lightning machine. Gunhild looks scared and worried along with the others. Of course. Raneigh touched the copper bars when Gunhild was about to demonstrate the lightning machine and cranked it, and Raneigh has got a hell of an electric shock in her hand. Good start to her employment.

  I examine her hand as best I can, check that the nerves and muscles seem to be working and she feels light touch in all her fingers and movement. There doesn't seem to be any real problem, so I reassure Raneigh and the others that it will probably get better quickly, but her hand may feel numb, tingly etc for a day or so. I'm unsure so better that I calmly warn her. If it pass faster than I've said, then it is positive and less worrying. I myself have been stuck with both hands on 130V AC once, and got 230V shock a couple of times, and accidentally discharged high voltage capacitor twice. I just tell Gunhild and others that they need to warn people properly about the machine, and I point to the symbol that Raneigh obviously missed and she feels stupid. I should write 'no touching the copper bars', but most people can't read. Hopefully warning symbols and the like will be standardised much faster in this world than in Midg?rd. I'll have to introduce it everywhere.

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  The noise has caused Haera to come down with Skirlaug and they too get a demonstration of my lightning machine. When they start talking about Thor's hammer and thunder etc, I leave. Sometimes it is best to seem a bit mysterious. I do hear Raneigh comment that if such a tiny lightning bolt hurts that much, she sure doesn't want to get hit by a real lightning bolt, and will be much more careful in thunderstorms in the future. Lightning is far more frightening and painful than she realised, and no wonder they can kill, split trees and start fires.

  Their talk of Thor's hammer makes me think, and I get the urge to make a really powerful electromagnet and as a practical joke a 'Thor's hammer' only I can easily lift, where the electromagnet holds it to the floor, ground or similar with a large steel plate or the person is standing on trying to lift it. I could do 'magic' deactivation with a small magnet in the ring on the finger and a magnetic sensor in one place in the grip or similar solution. Where everyone else has to work like hell to lift it as the electromagnet holds the hammer, but where I can lift it with one hand without problems. Muhahaha! Haha. So easily amused.

  And so much work to create that, but would be fun to see. The problem is more of sensing someone gripping it reliably enough and fast enough as it can't be active all the time, and the batteries in the hammer etc. Can be solved with some kind of mechanical locking, but it shouldn't make any sound of be obvious. I can solve some if I make a long leather strap that hangs down and attaches the hammer to the plate and which can then hide signalling and power lines in the strap.

  I really want to do a 'sword in the stone' variant with hidden cam wheels further down inside the stone that automatically lock harder against the blade the more you pull it, and which are kept away and unlocked with some hidden solution. Maybe a magnet effecting a hidden compass needle or magnetic sensor.

  But that will maybe be future projects, and other things will be prioritised.

  The steam boiler works fine, and the steam engine runs well. Building the first steam engine last autumn has definitely taught me a lot of practical things, and it's been much easier to get the mechanical timing right. There is some vibration but less than I feared and this is probably not a major problem for use. The hard part is matching the steam engine to the volume of steam and pressure the boiler can give, and with what firing tempo and fuel.

  We jump or jerk every time the steam whistle on the dead weight valve sounds. It is just unnerving, and the sound is much louder than the steam whistle on the house even though this is smaller. Eventually, I adjust the second safety valve to a lower pressure the first. Eventually, the centrifugal regulator is adjusted so that full steam through the valve slowly causes the pressure to drop even though we are firing as hot as we can. With charcoal, the boiler will have more power, but this is enough.

  Now they 'just' have to move the steam engine to the catamaran and connect it to the paddle wheels. I hope my modified drum brakes work well as couplings to the paddle wheels. It would be easier to put a propeller on it, but a propeller is a bit more mysterious and harder to understand, so want to wait on that, and paddle wheels have their advantages and usage.

  Hafle is enthusiastic and I am happy. Over the day, the solar reflectors have managed to produce a total of 330 grams of salt. The salt is still a bit damp so the weight will probably drop more, and the last evaporation is being done in a pan in the glazed 'evaporation box' where it is warmer and protected from rain and snow. In the future we are going to try filtering salt water to increase purity. Yeah, 330 grams isn't 'much', but compared to work and time of year and daylight, this is good and bodes very well for the future, and long days this summer. If the salt ponds work as well as I hope, we will be far more than self-sufficient in salt. Potentially, salt production could bring a whole lot of income, and I'll need every ounce of silver I can get. So there will be a good house built for Hafle at the solar farm, but we can quickly build a simpler shelter for him to spend the day in if it is a bit windy and cold.

  The evening meal is rather uncomfortable. Haera's comments and behaviour is discreet and skilfully done and had I been my old self and unprepared, Haera's flirting and comments about my reputation and prowess in bed and the Stag Night would probably have completely flown over my head. But now I notice that, and that serving Jalida and Elvira react to it, and Gunhild's glances behind Haera's back are not entirely unnoticed either. But it won't happen tonight. It will be tomorrow night.

  We have spoken to Kari who told us that they will be home the day after tomorrow. Kari told us that she saw King Asbj?rn's ship arrive at Borgarsandr, and she went to talk with him and Ulfarna. Asbj?rn was surprised when he realised that Kari knew that Haera was on the island, but he quickly realised that it was obviously a radio message between Thrymheim and the ship. For him quick messages like that is just so terribly hard to get used to, but he really wants similar communication ability across the realm.

  Ciara knocks on the door and walks into my workshop, and sit down on a chair and peek at what I do and if she can interrupt.

  "Robert, you should stop working for tonight, and take me to bed so we can have sex."

  I can't help but smile, and give her a kiss on her cheek. It's funny how Ciara sometimes just decides how it's going to be - and the others usually adapt - and how she like now just casually tell me that we're going to have sex, without any playful sexiness or seduction like the others do, and takes it for granted that it will happen, unless I have something I really need to do.

  So I finish what I need and put my work aside, and accompany her.

  It's a bit comical when she tries to warn me about Haera's advances, and I can't stop myself from playing a bit clueless at first. But I reassure Ciara that it doesn't actually matters much I have sex with Haera. Haera is just a free woman now, but there can of course never be anything between us. It will be a long time before she even gets a chance for male companionship, and chances are she never will, which Ciara understands. But Ciara and I are both motivated to show how much we enjoy each other's company.

  My cuddly sexy Ciara.