Setup The Squared Circle
1323 Words
"This rectangular arena is the squared circle you had mentioned to us. It's not a square but rather a rectangular. It would be sized 8 feet wide and 16 long on an elevated wooden platform with 4 poles and 3 lengths of ropes running to make a perimeter."
I listened as I intend to make notes of the whole design of the arena. Besides the engineers would be held responsible for the designs of the 20 seat bleachers while I would be overseeing the arena onwards.
"We need 4 wooden beams of 8 feet long with a dimension of 6 inches by 6 inches. The posts would be marked 17½ inches between 3 markers for the ropes. Holes would be made through using an awl with at least 2 inches diameter for the ropes to go through."
"The corners of the arena would have a hole of 2 feet deep to bury the wooden beams and planks would be placed at the sides of the wooden beams so that it would have a frame to work with."
"The planks would be 8 inches high so that it would be elevated off the ground. Sacks of hay would be lined inside the frame and packed as thick as possible to be able to cushion falls and shocks."
"Cover the top with planks 16 feet long and hammered down with nails to firmly secure it. Then another layer of cushioning would be set on top of the wood and multilayer of tarpaulin would be used to cover the top of the cushion and around the frame."
"Ropes would then be attached and be as taut as possible to give a spring if one slams into it. Furthermore, some cushions would be made for the corners of the wooden beam to prevent unnecessary bumps. These areas would also be used to climb and perform some acrobatics or some wild and dangerous moves."
I was clapping my hands excitedly like a small kid when I heard them explain and I drew in the papers on what the arena would look like and I could imagine how cool it would be rather than the last one we had.
"By the way, we Shadows would be doing an exhibition fight if you wish. At least it would give the participants a rough idea on how they would be able to perform in the next bout. Don't worry Your Majesty, we are all trained professionals." one of the engineers mentioned to me.
Eagle upon hearing the enthusiasm of the Shadows intending to participate in an exhibition fight, he laughed so loud that he awoke the rest of the occupants within the domain.
"Hahaha... By golly... You guys also wanted to be part of this so much, eh? I guessed you would be wearing different solid colours during the exhibition font with full face masks and all. Unarmed combat, innit? This would make the opponents much more jealous of you... Hahahaha..."
Eagle was laughing and slapping his thighs when he exclaimed out the interest of his Shadow members. It seems those guys had not been sparring for so long that they might have missed out a lot of these actions that they seemed to exert a lot of interest to make the arena soon as a working project.
"Alright, we can give this project a go-ahead. It would be up by the next salary in April, I hope? It would be too much of a rush, won't it?"
I asked since I was afraid that rush work might bring shoddy results. But since it was the bleachers were made of bamboo poles and could be easily assembled and then set aside under wraps to prevent it from water damage.
The engineers explained that the arena won't take long to set up except for the bleachers and extra care needed to be made since it would be 15 to 20 seater bleachers. Besides the only drawback was the size of our courtyard that needs to have some of the buildings to be moved back to accommodate the seatings.
"Eh? Move back the buildings? The only areas that need to be moved would be the grains frying kiln, the cold storage barns, Blacksmith, General Store and the food preparation area."
"If this move then the rest would move too, right? Hang on, let me take a look at the drawings once again. Make this side 16-foot seater and this side 8-foot seater. Move these around to maximise the space a bit."
I suggested and was met with a counter by one of the engineers. "I might have a better idea. Since the benches were 6 feet long, the make this as 6 feet and here as 18 feet long. That means we have 8 sets of 6 feet long bleachers of up to 15 or 20 seatings high."
"People could walk in through these gaps instead of wasting 4 feet on these sides instead. What do you think, Your Majesty? So 4 adults x 8 sets all around and 20 seats high would make up 640 capacity or a maximum of 800 even...! We just need to adjust the inclination angle to a steeper one instead."
I looked at the new idea and approved it. "Don't compromise safety." That's all I mentioned to them and the engineers jumped and high fived and bumped their chest before realising that I was around and were looking wide-eyed at them...!
"Oops...Sorry, Your Majesty. We are simply too excited to contain it. Hehe." explained one of the engineers sheepishly as I waved them off so that they would be sharing the news with their mates downstairs instead of resting. Hahaha.
As I was packing the sheaves of paper that were scattered around the settee, the domain helper helped me up to clear the rest of the mess and arranged the papers back to my study.
Then, we heard someone bounding up the stairs towards where I was. It was a nurse from her infirmary and from her face, it was flushed with excitement too with beads of perspiration dripping from her forehead.
"Your Majesty, the Queen. Its time. Go...!" she panted as she bent forward and held her hands to her knees as she tried to catch her breath. The moment I heard that Heather was about to give birth to the twins, I nearly jumped off the balusters from the second-floor balcony to get to the infirmary fast.
The papers that were picked and arranged earlier in my hands were now being thrown and scattered once more as I threw them in the air in excitement. Eagle and the rest who were with me at the settee was also sweetly surprised when they heard that the first childbirth would be recorded here in Gracehaven.
"Pack this place, please..." I motioned to the domain helper as she clasped her hands and nodded at me. I guess she would be punching her fists on the air with joy the moment I turned my back away from her. Hahaha...
We all ran down the stairs, 2 at a time as we headed to the infirmary where I was the only one allowed entry. Someone shooed the rest from blocking the entrance as it was considered as a taboo — as if blocking the birth canal for the babies to be delivered safely.
I held Heather's hand as she was attended by so many nurses as she strained and gritted her teeth to perform a natural birth. She was groaning and pushing her 'belly muscles' as the midwives were ready to receive the babies as their heads appear at the canal.
"I can see the head, push Heather... Push it real good..." hollered Old Kayla as the midwives were putting her hands to receive the baby as Heather's legs were propped high and looked a bit indecent.
WATCH OUT WORLD — I AM GOING TO BE A DADDY... WOOHOO...
- Writer
