Asbjörn and Haera want to take a walk across the island for themselves, and I advise them to follow the beach south, round through the village and take the road back. There are no people living there before the village, and the cliffs straight south are a nice place for a small fika without anyone nearby. There is a nice view and the sun makes warm cozy places amongst the rocks. They love the proposal and walk away happy, arm in arm, with their maid Sylvi carrying a small basket and three guards following a bit behind. If they didn't actually plan to try to arrange a marriage between Sefa and me, I honestly think that Asbjörn and Haera saw the last few days as a bit of a holiday. To get away from their ordinary life in Borgarsandr.

I know that Asbjörn usually takes some long trips around the country for a few months each year; on their properties, visiting relatives, Jarls and other important people. Like a lot of larger kingdoms, this has been a traveling kingdom, and to some extent still is. It is to strengthen the bonds, get a personal contact, stay updated and avoid transporting food. Naming Borgarsandr as the capital and spending much of the time in its castle is kind of new historically speaking. Asbjörn also tries to slowly make others used to his son Hagthorn being in power and be the next king, and have for at least 3 years given Hagthorn more and more responsibility. Hagthorn is now a married man and for the first time have traveled by himself with his wife on one of those journeys while Asbjörn and the rest of the family stayed in Borgarsandr. Asbjörn don't plan to leave the throne for at least another 5 years as a lot depend on him personally - like the peace agreement between him and Dase King Magnbjorn is between them, not their kingdoms. And shit happens. These few days is more to get away from being King for a day or two, and only having his immediate family and minimal people around him.

It must suck being part of a traveling kingdom and on the road for 6-8 months a year. Or more. Add a lot of feasting and talking with people for most of it. Sure, some will enjoy it, but I know I'm not one of those people. Even if I was the king. I hear the princesses talking to Jane, Iselin and Kari. Seems to be about clothes and shoes, so best not to disturb them.

I look at how making extra Risk games go, and it turns out everything is finished and painted game pieces are drying. I find Ciara in her room and give her a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, but she wants an intimate repetitive thank you, which I do my best to fulfill, and she force her face down into a pillow and use the blanket to keep the sound down. Everyone knows that Ciara can't really avoiding being loud when we have sex, and that I sometimes find it embarrassing. So that's her solution as the princesses are in the house. I'm really going to need a couple of days to regain my energy. Ciara is relaxed and happy when I kiss her cheeks, each breast, and mouth before I leave. Good day. Exhausting, but a good day. It always warms my heart seeing Ciara content and happy.

Alith has a smug face while leaning against the wall outside the bedroom door. I silently close the door and leave Ciara enjoying the moment. Alith asks: "So, don't Jane deserve to be thanked for her work too?"

I give Alith a little hip bump and reply: "That is Jane's future choice. Oh! Did you bet on today?"

Alith smugly reply that her date is in six weeks, and with a wink she just happens to give me the exact date. She also happens to repeat the date one more time. Oops.

We reach my workshop, close the door behind us and I start to check how many parts I have left for oil lamps and lanterns. I don't really get how Alith can be happy with her life to just stay close and guard me like this, day after day. Mostly just lurking in the background and watching me work, maybe reading a bit or helping if she wants too, or I politely ask. I would be bored out of my mind. I guess she is used to another way of living than me.

I ask if Alith thanked Ciara for her help a week ago. Alith goes quiet and after a while quietly responds it was completely unexpected. Of course they talk often and not just about sex, but she had mentioned the feeling with the sword and how she have realised she really loved having something big 'there' during sex, even though so far it has only been a few short moments with me. She jokingly complained to Ciara that she wanted to experience it again to be sure, but she had not counted on Ciara just saying that it was easy to fulfill, and dragging her along to me after checking where Caecilia was. She hadn't anticipated that Ciara would react in that way, but it was so damn nice even though it felt weird walking afterwards, and since then she has fantasized more. She has found herself looking at things and wondering. Alith looks at me and completely serious ask if I know the limits of what 'fits' in the butt.

How the hell do I answer a question like that?

Alith is serious, and I'm a guy with the internet since I was a teenager, so of course I've seen clips and pictures even though I havn't exactly studied the subject. I was never one of those who went to LANs to download Pr0n and stuff. I've never seen a complete porno as it just feel so very weird, and not that enticing. Hell, I always skip intimate scene's in movies if I can. I also know that the body can get used to a lot and not just concerning sex - just look at ballet, gymnastics and some circus people - but does Alith really want to? It becomes a philosophical discussion about moving boundaries, and she may find it difficult to enjoy normal sex without it eventually. Which can make her future family life with a man really difficult, but she doesn't seem to care. So I warn her that with wood she shouldn't push the boundaries too much, and that even oiled wood is bad for dildos, because it has no give and is a porous material that can carry bacteria and other things that enter the bloodstream via small scratches she won't notice. Even if bacteria are already present both inside and outside the body, including in the butt, it can be fatal if the wrong kind enter inside the body and bloodstream. It can also give painful infected wooden splinters in places she really doesn't want it, and there is very limited healthcare here. She also has to be careful if she tries to push long things up in her vagina as it can damage her uterus where the IUD is and her ability to have children. There is also plenty of tales of objects getting stuck inside and needing a trip to the emergency ward. I scare Alith when I tell about consequences, and they all know how fussy I became when she was sick and taught them about disinfection and bacteria. Hell, that still happens if someone has a cold or sneeze nearby.

Honestly, everyone in the household seems to be go in isolation mode if someone is the least bit sick, as they do not want me to get sick. Above all, Ciara takes it deadly seriously, and together with Alith, Iselin and Kari, they have taught the whole household the 'rules'. That Jane has confirmed - and come up with suggestions as a face mask on someone who has a cold - has not diminished this. They have sewn a few face masks for others to use, and Ciara has made two really nice ones for me that are even embroidered on the side. I use one as a protective mask in my workshop. It's sweaty and slightly uncomfortable, but Ciara's face and eyes when I'm in a dusty environment without protection just hurts my soul. So I use it.

I explain to Alith that materials are a huge problem for me and my constructions and introduction of technology, because flexible materials like rubber doesn't exist here, and I need it so much. I can not create it either because I don't know the chemistry, and it is incredibly difficult, even if I have plans to try making rubber and latex via dandelions and vinegar or something. The white sap that seeps out from dandelions? That contain latex. I assume it will be a large difficult project, and I probably need to start cultivating for selective type of a good dandelion.

Alith wonders what I mean, so I show her the Fenix watch strap and show it in silicone, and then I bring her to my study and find my 3D printed tablet support in thick 'ninja flex', and show how she can abuse and deform them - barely even cut the material - but the material is dead and soft. I show her more examples such as my folding cup etc, and tell her about silicone and explain a bit about how it is used for so much. I show O ring seals on both the firestarter and the pill holder in my pocket. Alith understands what I mean, and that there are far better materials than wood, bone, or metal - just not here. Alith really wish to experience a latex condom just to know the difference, but I didn't bring any. When I tell her that they are disposable one-time use items due to hygiene, she is more shocked. Alith lives in a world where everything is done by hand. Mass-produced products and how it makes something exact and cheap is not something she truly understands.

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But Alith still wants to know the limits with the right material, even if she can never see or try it. So I show a diameter and a length between my hands at what I guess, and Alith's chin falls. She mimics the length with her hands, and tries to measure against her back, which is entertaining when she tries to turn around without messing up the measurement between her hands, and I try to show on her body. She gives up and instead tries to measure using her arm, which goes from elbow to knuckles, and she stands with her own arm against her back or between her legs and just shakes her head in complete disbelief.

I need to distract Alith, and myself, from the thoughts her arm gives, and do so by telling me how important it is with materials and metal that are against the body, as in jewellery to avoid rashes and infections. Alith eyes grow big and she asks if the body can react to different metals? I give her a lesson in allergies, both to plants, animals, metals and pollen etc. Alith is very serious when she asks me specifically about certain things I just said. So I just confirm, and repeat. Alith says that it happens that people get rashes, not just from jewellery, but it is often seen as someone has received a curse or it's the gods who say something is wrong or curse a woman or man. Someone else can wear the jewellery or wedding ring without getting a rash or problems.

I ask Alith to fetch Jane without saying anything about why, so she can confirm, and when she soon returns with all my sambos, Caecilia, Bodil and Gunhild, I really understand how important this is. So I have to make it clear that it is widely known in our world. I gesture that everyone should sit down and before we discuss more details I just say; "Jane, explain nickel allergy. Please explain nickel allergy."

Jane looks at me a little questioningly, but easily describes it in her bad Norse and without it being something special. How cheap silver jewellery, gold or white gold can make one sick, what the rash looks like and how long it takes before they heal, but that some people are more sensitive and get rashes faster than others, etc. Our audience have shocked faces as Jane calmly explains as it is obvious and as given as water is wet.

I continue that it is no curse or punishment from the gods - which immediately makes Jane understand and totally agree - but it describes different types of allergies. I describe how pure gold or silver is, is important and what the rest of the metal actually is. Even if 19/20 parts is pure silver but the last part is nickel, it is dangerous for at least one in ten humans and the same likely apply to elves because it is a biological chemical reaction. Most common animals had reacted more or less the same way. But if that 1/20 part is copper, it is safe for almost everyone. The roof is copper because it is easy to shape and forms a green oxide layer that protects for decades to centuries, but the roof could also be made of lead sheets. But the reason all water vessels and pipes are copper is not because it is easy to shape, but because it specifically kills a lot of microorganisms, algae and stink and makes the water cleaner and safer to drink. The body needs small doses of copper to be healthy. But a small cut from copper will take so very long to heal compared to a cut from a regular iron or flint knife, due to tiny tiny amounts of copper will be left behind in the wound. Healing will be slow due to coppers effect on cells.

But the body is not allergic to copper. Copper jewellery can even be healthy for some people to wear, as the body needs small amounts of certain metals to function properly. For example, blood is red because it partially contains iron, and they can match the color when iron rusts with dried blood. In case of blood loss, it is good to eat meat, especially red meat, to more quickly restore the iron content in the blood and body. But just eating a piece of iron or drink blood is not the same thing, and a bad idea. The blood may contain diseases and another person's blood may be different enough that it will be difficult to mix. Giving blood to another person might save their life, but its more likely to kill them.

I continue to explain how certain metals and substances are toxic, and how the same water system but with lead pipes and containers would have been dangerous in the long run, because the body accumulates lead and it will make a person crazier if done during a lifetime, and it is a bigger problem the longer you live. Had the roof been made of lead, I would not have collected it in drinking water reservoirs in the basement, nor would I have let the rainwater run out into the fields for farming, or be used in the greenhouse. Jane completely agrees.

Kari asks about lead drinking vessels for wine from the south, with religious inscriptions to make the wine sweeter. I confirm that yes, it gives a sweeter taste because the wine reacts with lead - the inscription does nothing - but it is not healthy to drink or eat from lead vessels. Jane's face makes my point very clear. I explain that technological use of lead for various things in Midgård seems to have led to a larger part of the population in polluted areas to become criminals and perpetrators of violence. We all have lead in our bodies, and it is not possible to completely avoid or get rid of it, so if you want to live long and healthy, you should try to avoid lead exposure.

But it's not just about lead. Drink really fine silver dissolved in water or similar, and the body's skin, organs and the whites of the eyes will slowly turn bluish gray, as the silver atoms spread throughout the body, even if the person is otherwise healthy. Gold is also toxic if drunk or eaten. In really low doses, it might temporarily help against rheumatism, but it is more of a slow poisoning.

In principle, everything is toxic, and it is just a matter of dosage. Drink too much of the purest water and it is still deadly. It can cause cerebral edema. So in hot climates when you sweat a lot and need to drink a lot of water, you also have to get salts and minerals. Again, Jane agrees with everything, even though she didn't know about silver and gold use. Jane say that there are human women who are allergic to semen, and it can itch and give a burning sensation where semen has been, or give rashes all over the whole body. Jane enjoys everyone's horrified expressions, but above all Caecilia's finds it utterly terrifying:

"How can that not be a punishment from the gods!?"

Caecilia is really shaking and horrified, and Jane tries to make it worse by making her imagine the horror of getting horrible burning and rashes every time you're with a man. Caecilia is nope'ing hard and covering her ears and loudly humming. Yeah, Caecilia probably have new nightmare material. Kari finds it funny and whispers that I'm right; it can always be worse.

Iselin gets Jane to stop by threatening to exclude her from pancakes and maple syrup. To get back to topic, I tell them that there are safe metals for jewellery such as pure gold, but it is difficult to make gold 100% pure, and other safe jewellery metals are what we in Midgård call platinum, titanium, etc, but most can not be produced here. The bracelet on metal watch is titanium. Not iron or silver. It will never rust and is lighter than iron. You can actually implant titanium in the body, and it will not be rejected, and I explain about joint replacements, bad skull fractures and titanium screws and plates. They're astonished about Midgårds medical possibilities. Jane just nods and say that she knew a guy that was in a really bad accident and had 49 screws in his head. She and also mentions rhodium for jewellery, which surprises me, but I should've expected that Jane knows more about jewellery than I do.

The gathered women in front of us are silent, and Jane has long understood the seriousness of this information. After a while Kari says that the information about jewellery is so enormously important to be spread. There has literally been wars over gifts that are believed to have been cursed, or women who have been shown to not be able to wear jewellery at all. Men are also affected.