Tosra & The Auction, day 30

Proposal

With the rain pounding outside, my sambos and I work to loosen the latest half globe and to mark lines and points for coasts etc on the others. The scale of these globes is about 1:16 million, and the thinnest practical line of 1mm we can do is about 16km, so the Ackerek islands will not be visible. Neither Orusingen nor Tosra will either because there are a small triangle A symbol over the place where the Academy is located, so that the Academy is specially marked. Then it is also better that everything is clear on the map than with the highest possible resolution, and there will be errors on the map for things like the North Sea's southern coast with The Netherlands and north western Germany coastline having changed too much the last 500 years in Midgård, and I have to guess, and I basically guess on every flat and low lying coastal area all around the world.

I just try to make sure that it is close enough to reality and mountain ranges, larger lakes and larger rivers are marked. So the globe is kind of like a classic fantasy map for role-playing games, and I'm honestly a little pleased about it. This can still be the best world map in a hundred years as long as the world is actually the same and the globe keeps its shape etc, because a flat map deforms reality in some way. I have plans to have a globe made of brass sheet and engraved, but want to verify that more is right outside the small part of where I have been, and we don't write names except the most important we know, and can be sure of.

While the ink dries, we continue to work on the steam engine and line shaft system. There is so much to balance and fit together, and I also have to install stuff in the workshop. The line shaft will be on the west side, as it is the most suitable place, and basically the only place. The south side is my long workshop bench in front of the window. The east side is the attic stairs, the battery bank. The north is the door, fireplace and just a wall. The west side is vacant and have a window, and the steam engine can be placed up in the workshop attic. My workshop is just starting to feel too small all of a sudden, as I start to mentally place the machines along the wall. It will require some planning.

After dinner, Caecilia tries to convince me and Iselin to 'relax' with her in my bed - or on the workbench and couch in my workshop. Whispering, and making a promise, I get Caecilia to drop that subject for today - she will understand later - and she smiles and slips off to see how the cookie baking in the kitchen are going.

It has stopped raining and the clouds are starting to break up and show some sun, so I signal Kari who asks Ciara to help her with something and they disappear. Its just to prevent Ciara from tagging along. Once alone, I ask Iselin if we should take short nice walk and have a fika. We have deserved to take a break and enjoy the sun. Fika is a very Swedish cultural thing, similar to English afternoon tea, but a fika is an informal break, at about 9 in the morning and 14.30 in the afternoon. Since Jane arrived it has become very adopted by Iselin, Kari and Ciara. A fika can include any beverage and everything from cookies, to snacks, fruit, cake and sandwiches, and is quite informal. Although its basically expected that an adult will drink coffee, or maybe tea. The Nordic countries are basically the top coffee consumers in the world which is interesting considering we don't grow it. And most foreigners regard a normal Swedish coffee mug being somewhere between a double espresso and weak tar.

I have Caecilia quickly pack some fresh baked cookies and buns with something to drink in a shoulder bag along with a couple of seating pads, and to give it to Bodil. Then we leave with Alith and Bodil as guards. Along the road to the village, past Unn's house which is finished on the outside and just waiting for windows, down to the village, south around the lake and over the hill where the Academy will be built, and to the shore. Then east and back towards the mansion. We make a detour out on the large headland south of the mansion and sit down for a fika on the rocks in a slump on the north side.

The wind is a bit cold, but we have a nice view of the mansion on the other side of the bay. I would have liked to do something more special, but elves don't use rings for this here, and making it special is less important than asking the question that I have been postponing for far too long. For a while, I have taught Alith how to use a camera. Starting it, aim and press the button on the camera isn't hard, and I've told her to start filming after I give her the sign. So Iselin is sitting next to me as we fika and hug. We gently play with each other's fingers and just enjoy being close while I gather my courage. Why is this so hard? I love her. Man the fuck up! I signal to Alith, and after a few deep breaths get down on one knee in front of Iselin while I take her hands in mine and look into her eyes.

"Iselin Vigdisdottir. Do you want to marry me at the Midwinter feast and become my wife, and to live together for the rest of our lives?"

Iselins eyes grow wide when she understands, and as soon as I finish she half-throws herself around my neck with a "Yes!", and through her intense kisses she say 'Yes!' several times, and finally an overjoyed and cute shout of: "YES! I want to be your wife!"

It feels so damn good to hear Iselin say 'yes'. That such a small word can bring such deep happiness. Alith and Bodil are the first to congratulate us, but they are not the last when we return to the mansion and tell everyone, and we will have a nice little impromptu feast in the evening.

We look at the recording and Alith wasn't really prepared for that. She was ready to record, but didn't know why, and the camera jerks and we almost slip out of frame when I propose. Luckily, I've told her to stay of the zoom unless told. Even though it is not perfectly framed, Alith captured when I kneel and hold Iselin's hands, where we kiss each other and where Iselin leans back and happily shouts to the sky.

Iselin and I take a long bathroom session in the shower and bathtub where we just relax, hug and kiss while we enjoy the other's hands soaping in. To make it special I play some soft background music from my mobile and have lit some candles. Iselin really loves to be lathered up in fragrant soap and have a hot bath, and I massage and cleanse her; tenderly but thoroughly from the scalp to the toes, and try to avoid the tickly areas. Then I gently massage her on the new fold-down massage table. We try to keep it just a little playful with gentle kisses and save ourselves for bed, but it eventually fails when Iselin wants to massage me, and... Well.

After the evening small feast, we continue listening to music, cuddling on the couch or grilling apples with sugar in the fireplace. I play Cecilia Vennerstens 'Det vackraste (The most beautiful)' before we go to bed, but it takes a long time before we try to sleep.