Midwinter calling, day 12

Going down with style.

Since Ciara only said 'there is a secret basement' to Jane, I can show Jane the least secret part of the basement under the mezzanine, and with Ciara waiting in the alcove, I show Jane the secret door and we go down. Jane loves it, but also thinks that it should have been obvious to her that there is a space under the mezzanine. I explain that when I designed the mansion, I did so with the intention to building on sloping ground with only a basement under the wing, or part of the wing, and be mirrored so my bedroom had evening light. But the location here and the shape of the cliff meant that I had to mirror everything, and the shape of the cliff under the south side of the mansion meant that there was a space I never planned to exist. So the whole wing got a basement, and there was some space for a basement here. It was less work to make an inclosed space instead of filling it, and of course I had to use it for a secret room, as that is cool to have, even though the stairs are a bit steep and I had to enclose the alcove under the stairs and add the drapers and mosaic window to try to keep the secret door more hidden.

As expected, Jane loves the secret basement and completely agrees, even though she's a little annoyed that she's lived here for two months and didn't notice. I comfort her with the fact that Caecilia doesn't know either, and in the staff only Elvira knows to be able to keep it clean. The room will probably become more known as someone happens to see people disappear or appear from the alcove under the stairs, but we have to be smart and try to not use the room when there are guests in the house. I just have no idea what to use the room for. Jane's eyes light up;

"Ooh! This would be a perfect place for a secret sex dungeon for you and Kari!"

"No. I still don't like to really dominate and we're fine with my bed, plus there is no true lock on the secret door, and this place don't have soundproofing. The stairs are just above our head, with just a normal roof section between, and you know how popular the mezzanine sofa is."

"Oh please! It's almost three meters high in here! Plenty of space to add soundproofing if you wanted to, and besides; with a gag in Kari's mouth it will work fine anyway. You seem to be sneakily quiet during sex."

Jane's face makes me worried that she will give Kari more ideas for the dungeon I am building. But Jane becomes suspicious as my own smile grows.

"So you have finally realised that since there is no rack for Kari to be tied to, your ass will be mine after New Year. I'm a bit disappointed. I thought you where looking forward to it."

Jane regains her own smile, puts a hand on my shoulder while she disappointedly shakes her head; "Robert, Robert. Think man! You can still turn this into a sex dungeon - you just have to wait with the rack until after New Year."

Damn, that's a win for Jane, and it's starting to get hard to joke about that, and my mood is a bit uncomfortable when we return upstairs. Not least because the stairs are steep and Jane make sure to seductively wiggles her ass as she slowly walks up in front of me. However, Ciara is waiting in the alcove and is happy to help me solve my pants problem with a short intimate moment right in the alcove.

I really need to remember to take Ciara's loudness in consideration.

I blame my brain for going on tangents, but Jane's talk about having Kari tied to a rack makes me remember to make three rope ladders for possible fire escape so it will be safer to evacuate via the guards attic windows and my bedrooms external balcony. The third rope ladder will be stored in the future sex dungeon under the meeting room, where it is many meters down from the secret escape route, right down the cliff. We also need to store a long rope with knots in the bunker under the pavilion, as that rope is meant to help climb down the cliffs under controlled and quieter conditions, especially if it is raining. Since Hillevi isn't here, Alith has to store that in the pavilion bunker. It is no big deal to build rope ladders and custom hooks so that the rope ladders can be securely attached to their respective places. The carpenter Engdrid and Hrappr will do most of that work.

Carpenter Engdrid has become my go-to guy for weird jobs and he gets a lot of them, but he is good at understanding what I mean and implementing it. I hope he can make a good enough drilling machine for the cannon as that is not an easy project. Especially since I've complicated it even more in that the same machine should be able to rifle the barrel once it has been drilled.

It wasn't difficult to make a hardened reamer for rifling, and in the end I just literally hammered it down through the barrel. The barrel is after all just a removable pipe so it was not difficult. The weather is good, so I test the Boomsticks rifling, but I can not shoot too much so as to not reveal my Boomstick's function. The rifled barrel is better than the normal ones, and gives what I think is good enough accuracy at 70m, which is more than enough for its intended use. It is also a pretty good test that the Boomstick and its cartridges so far are quite reliable. That feels good to know, and I will use the rifling reamer on the other barrels as well. When Olafr has finished the rifle, I should try to persuade him to make some pistols, because it would be practical to have if necessary. Alith have already volunteered to practise and become good with a gun.

Common sense from my guards, Kari and Ciara stops me from being the one to test that the rope ladders really work to evacuate from the guards attic windows or my bedroom balcony. It is an unnecessary risk, so Hrappr is quick to offer to test it and prove his masculine and Gunhild also wants to try. It goes without issue, and if there is a crisis enough to use them, I sure won't care that the rain gutter is damaged. But just like fire drills and other safety stuff we all need to practise this a few times, but future practise will be done with a safety rope. Shit happens.

Other good news is that the lab ovens work beyond expectations with a long cooling time on the most insulated one. So now I can try to temper and anneal glass.