Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles

by Jacqueline Marshall

  "Yes, ma'am" answered Ali.

  "Yes, Gramma, not ma'am" instructed Gramma.

  Ali nodded.

  "Now, your room, Any preferences?" asked Gramma.

  "I'm not certain what can be done. I will let you choose. You know me well enough" said Ali.

  "You, sweet girl, would choose something extremely modest. I think a palatial room on a cliff-top with a long marble balcony overlooking the ocean. That will connect you to your mother's family" she said as she waved her hand and made it so. "In case of trouble, I have included a staircase down to the small beach below. If you swim out to the floating platform there is an alarm button in case of emergencies. When you push it your oceanic family will arrive quickly to assist you."

  Ali took in her new bedroom and mumbled a thank you to Gramma. "It is beyond anything I could hope for" she said.

  "Aliandra, you forget that you have already paid a steep price for being born an immortal. We have kept you weak and exhausted through your childhood to hide you. We continue to keep you weak and powerless to build you up. I will not forget that the price you pay involves being separated from your true parents and loved ones. There may be another price you will have to pay. It may be necessary to wipe your very existence out of the minds of your mortal family. They could be tracked down and used to blackmail you by your enemies or corrupt gods."

  "I see that must happen at some stage and the sooner the better to keep them safe. It is unlikely I am able to visit them much while I study and impossible once I debut. Please tell Donny, Kitch and Trak what you intend to do first because they are expecting to meet my mortal family. As soon as you are able to wipe all evidence of my existence from my mortal family, then do so. I must protect them" choked out Ali as tears flooded down her cheeks.

  "Relax in your room a while. I will do what must be done. I will finish the rest of the cottage. The basement will be set up for your physical training and combat regime. All technology you may require is set up in the house in the attic. I will leave you now, go to the attic house for your meals when you are ready" said Gramma gently.

  Ali curled up on her bed and cried as she deeply felt the impending loss of her mortal family.

  Chapter 17

  A small knock on her bedroom door woke Ali. The mid-morning light shone bright on the ocean below and was reflected into her room.

  "Yes, who is it?" called out Ali.

  "Amirael" she answered.

  "Come in" she said. Nothing happened. "Darn it, I forgot she only speaks elvish." Ali leapt off her bed and opened the door. Amirael had a disk on a silver tray for her. Ali waved her inside her room. "Elvish?" asked Ali.

  Amirael nodded and passed Ali the disk. Ali held the disk to her temple and after an hour she had absorbed several different languages and cultures including elvish.

  "It is time for luncheon, mistress" said Amirael formally.

  Ali took the disk off her temple and spoke in elvish. "I have had some bad news, Amirael. I would prefer to eat in my room for now if that is acceptable? I do not feel up to being surrounded by servants" said Ali.

  "I will have your chef bring your food here until you feel up to attending the attic house" replied Amirael. "How else might I serve you?"

  "Bring some ambrosia. I feel the need to be revived by it if I am to continue this study" she replied.

  "At once, mistress" said Amirael as she bowed and exited.

  Ali sat at her desk and reflected on the most efficient way to use all the tools that had been provided to her. She decided to use the dimensional window to cram as much study in as she could. She revised the instructions on the window and decided she had to work out if she could stay there and find her own food on the ancient planet while she absorbed a mountain of information disks. She had to discover what could be safely transferred over the dimensional threshold. A knock on her door signalled her food had arrived.

  "Enter" said Ali.

  The tall elvish chef and a few men carried in trays of food. They set up a table and chair and placed the trays on it.

  "I apologize for the inconvenience, chef. This will not be a habit" said Ali.

  "It is our pleasure to serve you, mistress" replied the chef as he bowed. When they left Ali inspected the plates of food. It all looked and smelled delicious. They had obviously gone to a lot of effort to tempt her to eat. Even though misery still felt like a stone in her gut Ali felt obliged to eat as much as she could. Ali managed to eat half of everything that was provided and was sipping on ambrosia when Amirael returned.

  "It was to your liking?" asked Amirael.

  "It was delicious. The problem is with me , my usually hearty appetite has deserted me because of the bad news I mentioned before. Yesterday, I had to ask Gaia to wipe my existence from the memories of my mortal family to protect them. Now I mourn the loss" explained Ali.

  "That is a heavy burden indeed" said Amirael. "I am sorry for your loss."

  "I have a dimensional window and I am deciding on how best to use it to facilitate my studies. Can elves pass into the dimensional window?" asked Ali.

  "We may enter the window; however, we will age while we remain because although we elves live long lives we remain mortal. As a goddess, you will not age in the dimensional window" answered Amirael

  "I will not ask you to enter the dimensional window for any length of time. Can I take food across the dimensional threshold?" asked Ali.

  "Food and anything you take across the dimensional threshold will age at a normal rate. If you take plants and release animals then they will multiply whether you are in the dimensional window or not. It would be wise to verify what already exists in the existing windows" advised Amirael.

  "Yes, I agree. I ask you to compile information disks for me. Anything you think is relevant to my god and demi-god studies. Compile all available knowledge about dimensional realms. I also want as much information about all gods and demi-gods as you can find including history, genealogy, alliances and politics. Download everything you can find on the legal knowledge of every realm. I also want information on legal issues and a history of all court cases of the realms with transcripts. How long will that take to arrange?" asked Ali.

  "The search parameters are broad which will take me less time than a more precise search. The download will be overnight and possibly into tomorrow morning. I will bring it when it is complete" answered Amirael

  "Thankyou. Where is Rom?"

  "He has been fed and is exploring the attic forest, mistress" said Amirael.

  "I will join him" said Ali.

  "Mistress, what do you wish me to do if someone knocks on the cottage door?"

  "Answer the door. If I am unavailable then take a message and if I am due to return soon make them comfortable in the main lounge but do not let them explore the cottage. Serve them tea or something. Familiarize yourself with the cottage kitchen in preparation. Tell them you are an eleven student who studies management and you are visiting us. Just make sure you do not call me mistress in company, call me Ali. It would be better if you got used to that now. From now you will call me Ali" instructed Ali.

  "Yes. Ali." stumbled Amirael.

  "I understand your need for formality, standards and rules but there is a greater need for deception where I am concerned. I hope it does not make you feel too uncomfortable. Let's go and see what Rom has found."

  As Ali and Amirael entered the attic forest, Amirael signaled a man forward and instructed him to clear the luncheon dishes in the mistress' bedroom. They wandered together around the forest while Ali asked Amirael about her home and family. Rom was perched on a rock and was staring at the fish passing beneath him by in the stream flowing around the rock. Rom spotted Ali and headed to her. He rolled on his back in front of her and waited for a belly rub.

  "You see how cats get everyone to serve them, Amirael?" Ali laughed. "I bet you are enjoying being spoiled, Rom. Are there any steeds to ride in the area?"

  "I will arrange their delivery. The stables a
re located at the rear of the attic house" responded Amirael.

  "Yes, Gramma knows me well. It will be a great comfort to go riding through the forest with Rom. I suppose I should come to the house and introduce myself" said Ali.

  They made their way to the house with Rom leading the way. This is the most spectacular log cabin ever built! "It's huge, how many bedrooms does it have?" asked Ali.

  "There are thirty bedrooms plus the staff quarters" answered Amirael.

  "I am not sure who Gramma thought I would invite here. Everything is secret including this house. I suppose there are allies and family that I will meet eventually. Amirael, you have my schedule?"

  "Yes."

  "Please remind me when I am due to meet Hephaestus."

  "Three weeks from today" answered Amirael.

  They entered the main doors and the staff had gathered in the greeting hall. Amirael introduced Ali to all twenty elven staff; from the chef, his assistants, butler, housekeeper, maids, grounds man and gardeners. Amirael dismissed them and they returned to their work.

  "I will remain in this house until I begin working with Hephaestus. Show me around the house please" asked Ali.

  When they got to Ali's bedroom she gasped at the beauty of the view; a lake was below her vast balcony and the forest spread for hundreds of miles in every direction beyond that. It was perfect and she yearned to share it with her loved ones; an impossible dream.

  Ali sent a message to Donny advising him of her new address. She told him she would be busy of the next three weeks but she would love him to visit her the two days before she started with Hephaestus. Donny quickly replied saying he had rearranged his schedule and will be there. He also noted he had received the message from her grandma about her mortal family and he yearned to hold her close to comfort her.

  Ali inspected the main dimensional window and found old sturdy furniture was spread throughout a sprawling maze of rooms. Many of the soft furnishings were too old and fragile and needed to be replaced. Ali tried to clean using her powers. She fed power down her arms and said "clean!" All the dust flew up and resettled. Then she tried "dust!", again the dust flew up and resettled leaving Ali sneezing. Finally she gave up and called her servants to come and clean out the window. They all marched outside carrying their cleaning supplies and Ali opened the window wide for them and they all trooped in. Robot vacuum cleaners got to work on the worst of the dust piles. Soft furnishings were removed, everything was cleaned and polished. The men mended some of the furniture and replaced the furniture that was beyond repair. Furnishings were brought from the attic house's unoccupied bedrooms and the work continued until it met with Amirael's approval. When the servants finally left the dimensional window they were all dusty and tired.

  Ali entered the window and closed it. She searched out the control panel for the attached portals along a hidden wall panel. Finally it flicked open and she dialed in the dimensional door for the ancient planet. As she went through she noted the position of the exit to return was a cave behind a waterfall. She climbed along the damp rocks until she stood on a cliff top next to the waterfall. From her position she saw the landscape was covered in plants and trees of all types. She wandered up the river and undressed. She entered the water and as she swam she noticed there were fish of all types swimming in the river. When Ali had swum for hours she lifted climbed out of the water and lay down on the grass. She slept.

  Ali lost count of the weeks she stayed exploring the ancient planet. There didn't seem to be any large animals roaming the forests. Ali built fires and cooked her fish and vegetables wrapped in leaves. At last she felt that she could relax and forget about time and her worries. She could pick ripe fruit and berries directly from the trees and bushes as she wandered around. Eventually Ali felt it was time to return to the other plane. She entered the cave behind the waterfall and dialed in the return code. She entered the main window and closed the door behind her. She went to her desk in which Amirael had stored the information disks. She picked up the box of disks and lay down on her bed. One by one she went through the disks. She was a quarter-way through the box when her stomach growled. Ali decided to return to the attic house to eat and see Rom.

  When she exited the window no time had passed. The servants were still washing off the dust and grime from their hands and faces from cleaning the window. Ali closed the window and re-entered the house. She called out for Rom and as he bounded up to her she bent to give him a big hug. She saw Amirael and requested chef send plates of food to her room as soon as possible and keep them coming. Ali went to her room and waited for the food to arrive. Large trays of food were delivered to her room and she opened the window wide and asked the servants to place the food in the window. When they left, Ali entered the window and closed it behind her. She feasted on the food and then lay on her bed with the box of information disks. She continued absorbing the information only stopping to eat more. When the food was finished she opened the window and deposited the empty trays in the house bedroom. More food arrived and Ali again directed the servants to place the trays of food in the window. Ali continued her studies like that until all the disks were absorbed. She returned to her house bedroom with the emptied trays, closed the window and sent a message to chef he can stop cooking for now. She decided to go for a walk with Rom before retiring for bed so she could expend the last of her energy to heal the earth.

  The next day after breakfast, Ali summoned Amirael to ask her if anyone of the staff could sew. Amirael said the housekeeper was an expert seamstress and summoned her. Ali asked the housekeeper is she could make her several outfits that were extremely unflattering. Something she could wear to her work and appropriate for working at a forge. Amirael and the housekeeper were confused at her odd request.

  "I will be working around men. Male customers will arrive to pick up their orders. I do not want them to pay any attention to me. I have a number of lovely tribal dresses that are flattering so I cannot wear them to work. I have a veil I will use that will help men to ignore me. I need to disguise my figure and appear unattractive to all the men who visit or work in the business. It is another deception" explained Ali.

  They finally understood the request and put their heads together to design something drab, baggy and unfeminine. Ali immediately thought something akin to her baggy western clothes would emphasize her outpost background and make a suitably ghastly impression. She drew up designs for long aged raggedy skirts and baggy patched working pants with loose overhanging shirts. When they were ready a few days later Ali announced they made just the right impact she wanted.

  Ali made another list of topics for Amirael to download. She found the more answers she received, the more questions were raised. Ali absorbed vast amounts of knowledge over the next weeks. Once she had finished a virtual mountain of disks, Ali once again escaped for weeks to her ancient planet escape to relax and prepare herself for more hard work at the forge.

  Chapter 18

  Gramma sent word she would return the week after Ali's start with Hephaestus. She and Agenor had steadily worked through the entire town of Eureka to thoroughly remove all memory and trace of Ali.

  Amirael reminded Ali that Donny was due the next day to visit and asked to help prepare her for his visit. Ali advised Amirael that his visit was casual, not formal, so there was little required by way of preparation. Amirael produced a list of things that Ali could tick off in regards to required preparations. Ali handed back the list without any ticks on it.

  "He takes me as I am, Amirael. I think we may explore the village and the campus. He can show me around here better because he is an ex-student. We will probably want to eat out somewhere" explained Ali. "It will look strange if I begin to provide him food that is professionally cooked. Unfortunately I must keep secrets from him too. I will wear one of my tribal dresses. Tonight I will sleep in my cottage bedroom."

  Ali woke before dawn and dressed. Nervously she began to rearrange cushions in the lounge. Amirael arrived with her b
reakfast tray and Ali asked her to put it in her room Ali was half-way through eating her breakfast when she heard the knock at the door. She hastily wiped her mouth, slammed the door behind her and ran down the stairs. She flung the door open and threw herself into his waiting arms. Donny lifted her up and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Then he proceeded to kiss Ali thoroughly as she clung helplessly to his neck.

  "Nice welcome there, Ali" smirked Donny.

  "I was saving it up for you. I am so glad you are here. Can you tell?" grinned Ali.

  "Do I need to knock on the door again to get a repeat of that?" he chuckled.

  "No, you have to sit me on your lap because my knees have gone all weak. The lounge chair is that-a-way" she pointed.

  They made it to the lounge and collapsed together. Donny pulled Ali onto his lap and they exchanged a long deep kiss before they relaxed and cuddled.