Female complications, day 20
High pressure situation
It''s good timing that Kari and others are in Borgarsandr when Kari''s loom is delivered and I get help from the bodyguards to quickly smuggle it into the secret room below the stairs, and put it under a blanket. Of course Kari might discover it, but I don''t think so, because there''s only one room she cares about in the secret basements, and that use another hidden entrance. I don''t really like giving her a loom, but she want one and that is what matters, and Kari will also get her own side saddle. She already has a horse here, but I have no idea how many horses she actually owns, but I''m guessing it''s several dozen. Frankly, I don''t care that she is wealthier than me, but it does make it harder to give her gifts than Iselin or Ciara.
What else I can give Kari, keep milling around in my head as I do most of the construction on the hidden soundproof door into our b-room and prepare for the door that will be hidden behind the epic painting. I want to give something more, but I don''t know what. What can I give her that Kari really loves or appreciates, and that I can give in front of others?
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The steam boiler is tested with static pressure by filling the tank with water and then slowly air is pumped in until the pressure reach 6.0 bar, because the manometer only goes to 6.5 bar. Gradually we also increase the weight on the dead weight safety valve, which has also been a good way to check the scale on the pressure gauge and verify that everything is working. I also screw in to increase the force on the regular safety valve, and engrave its scale according to the pressure. High pressure worries me, and we will try using this steam boat with max 6 bar. For what is probably the first steamboat engine and steamboat test it is definitely enough power. All of this fiddling and pumping takes time, so at the same time we''re also slowly testing pumping up the pressure in high pressure tanks using a similar method. That is extra nerve-wracking - at least for me - because we will pump until two explode, and the pump is screwed onto a short adapter with an additional check valve, to which two pressure tanks are directly connected, because minimal space between the pump cylinder head and the check valve is the only practical way to really achieve high pressure, and the primary reason for the adapter is that I have a special dead weight safety valve and a hopefully very high-pressure manometer that needs to be calibrated using a similar method as for the boiler.
There will be so much higher pressure in the small tanks - hopefully 20 times - and there is a large steel plate on the centre section and thus between the tanks and the one pumping, and the tanks are in water, both to show any tiny holes, and to absorb energy in case of explosion. It''s a long cycle pump like thing, so not a lot of volume in each pumping, but it will be needed to be able to hand pump the high pressure I''m hoping for. I have calculated how many pump strokes will give what pressure, but that is not exact and I don''t know how much air the tanks will hold as water filling is not accurate enough. Also, if the water leaks out through a small hole, it will require a lot more pumping.
While we wait, we play with the new simple rangefinder that requires two people, or that the rangefinder is mounted on something like a tripod or at least stably weighted down in a good spot. We''re trying without a tripod. The rangefinder works like some optical ones like the coincidence rangefinder, but is a long rod with a screw-on diopter sight at each end. One person holds the rod steady and aims at the target with the fixed diopter sight. The other person follows softly along and aims through the second diopter sight, adjusting the screw that adjusts the side angle. There is both an accurate angle scale with vernier, and a distance scale. We have carefully measured some distances here in the valley over flat ground, and will take several measurements to see how accurate the rangefinder actually is. Theory and drawings on paper are one thing, reality is another. I hope it can be used for cannons or similar, for the first shot to get close enough.
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The steamboiler has reached 6.0 bar and now it''s time to just wait and let it be, because we need to test that the boiler does not leak while pressurised, and the metal might have to settle in. One advantage with this method to test the boiler, is that we now know that it can handle 6.0 bar while cold, and that the first pressurisation rose very slowly. Another bonus is that I didn''t have to do any pumping as I had said it could be dangerous, and thus everyone noped that I should do it and be close. I don''t think anyone beside me understands exactly how dangerous it could be, but many have learned that when I''m careful about something, it can be dangerous.
It''s particularly nerve-wracking when the safety valve on the high pressure tanks trips, but the pressure that''s lost is only in the pump manifold itself, while the tanks with their check valves hold the pressure they''ve reached, so it''s not too many pumping cycles to keep increasing, and the pumping strokes are carefully counted. We also keep an eye on the tanks diameter so they don''t expand too much. The water has clearly soaked up any compression heating. I''m damn proud and a bit scared when we pass 100 bar, on the tanks that Olafr forged, and I turned brass tops and valves to.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
It''s hard work to pump even with a lever, and the pressure gauge is about to go out of range, and so is the safety valve, because I didn''t think we''d get that high, so we stop at 140 bar. 140 bar. Holy shit. I had intended to pump until a tank explodes, but at this pressure and probably way higher? I''m nervous as the worker loosens the bleed valve so the adapter and pump depressurises, and we let it rest to see if there is any back leaks from any of the check valves on the tanks. Then we''ll try unscrewing the tanks. At least to me, they feel like bombs waiting to go off. We might have to drop one on rocks from increasing heights, to know how dangerous they are to handle.
While they rest, the other high pressure tanks will be pumped up. Maybe I could modify the pressure gauge and safety valve for higher pressures?
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As we wait, we have switched to doing the final touches on the steam engine, when Hrappr comes running and tells us that King Asbj?rn''s ship is about to dock. I really want telephones! We just have to drop what we''re doing and rush to welcome Asbj?rn, but we''ve just made it to Thrymheim when Asbj?rn, escorted by a couple of guards, arrives at the manor, and he looks serious and asks to speak to me alone in the meeting room. I get a little worried as there are few things I can think of that might be the issue, and I make sure to take my Boomstick with me even though Asbj?rn does not seem confrontational or angry. He actually seems more uncomfortable and not wanting to be here. As we sit in the meeting room facing each other on sofas, without guards, it is with resignation and after a deep breath that Asbj?rn begins to talk:
"Robert, you are without blame, but Haera has confessed to me how she used a blindfold and Skirlaug to trick you into having sex with her in the bathroom during the Stag Night, thinking it was Skirlaug."
FUCK!
Even though I realised this might eventually happen, there is no good reply. I can only be honest and try to act honourable, admit the truth and try to avoid any kind of duel. But Asbj?rn doesn''t wait for an answer and continues:
"Skirlaug has apparently been fantasising about having sex with you since you had been in Borgarsandr for a while, and influenced Haera when she talked to her about it. Your growing reputation and the happy women around you, not least Kari, made Haera''s lust grow, until she got an opportunity when you were fair game and there would be many other women there. Both were so pleased with their deception and that no one knew, until a few days later when you seemed to have figured it out, just like you did with Kari and her family, and discreetly returned the blindfold and told Haera to enjoy the memory, because it will never happen again. After initial dread, Haera savoured the memory, even a little more because you knew."
"I''m sorry, but yes; it''s true. I figured it out afterwards, because in my memory, Skirlaug was taller in the bathroom than before and afterwards, and she had more energy once back in the bedroom and slightly more vocal. All furniture have standardised sizes. I guessed who it might be, choosing words that would be interpreted differently depending on whether it was Haera or she had no idea of the second meaning, and her reaction confirmed. I didn''t think she would ever tell you."
Asbj?rn sighs, closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly. "That it was such a small thing that revealed their plan, and that she confirmed a guess. Who truly thinks about the woman''s height when you''re having sex?" Asbj?rn just slumps and leans back, but doesn''t seem to be done talking yet, and honestly I don''t know what to say. After all, I have had sex with his wife. "Robert, you are blameless. I''m a little disappointed that you didn''t tell me when you figured it out, but I also understand why you didn''t say anything. It would have complicated the wedding feast, and you were probably trying to protect me from pain and having to make a hard decision about it. I would have preferred to know the truth, and maybe your plan was to tell me the next time we met, and it''s still your honeymoon with Iselin. And I know you loath travelling. Legally speaking, Haera has deceived you, and the ones at fault are Haera and Skirlaug. Haera has been unfaithful to me - unfaithful to the throne - and has also deceived a close and important friend into doing so. Does anyone else know?"
"Yes, there is one more person who knows and is sworn to silence. When I suspected it wasn''t Skirlaug, I talked to people discreetly, and was able to connect the dots and who it might be. To be honest, I was really worried that it might have been Sefa trying to get pregnant and force me into marriage."
The look on Asbj?rn''s face, and the way he jerks upright, proves that he obviously hadn''t thought about it from my point of view - that I didn''t know who I''d had sex with - and that is him realising the problem that Sefa would have caused. If only he knew what Sefa actually did, but best to not tell him that here and now. If ever. Asbj?rn''s life is already a mess.
"I found out that someone else here happened to realise who I had sex with, but it was only when I specifically asked about small things that the person confirmed, and that person was convinced that only Skirlaug and Haera''s guard knew. Because of the seriousness, the person hadn''t even planned to tell me, and understood that it needed to be kept secret. I never thought Haera would tell you."
Asbj?rn laughs sadly.
"She''s had no choice. Robert, Haera is with child. Your child."
Whut?
Queen Haera is pregnant?
I''m the father?