“Where will we go?”
“Across land and sea, to India, to make a new life where history will not repeat itself.”
Mother and daughter faded into a dark void where Allie floated alone and frightened, reliving the scariest moments of her Awakening until she caught the unmistakable scent of the ocean.
“We’ve come so far,” Naeemah sighed wistfully at the sight of land in the distance. Allie could feel the steady rocking of the ship as they sailed closer to shore.
“Yet we still have much further to go,” Sayid added.
“Father, can’t we stay here along the coast? It reminds me of our home in Alexandria when I was just a child.”
“I’m afraid we have other plans. We must continue on to Agra to win favor with the young Emperor Jahangir. Perhaps we can return to the coast some day to live a simple life of your choosing.”
“Why is wealth and nobility so important to Grandfather Nasser?”
“You have never lived without either, but my father lived many long years as a slave to mortal men masquerading as gods. He cannot bear the thought of returning to such a life. We must respect his desires as much as our own. We will be happy in Agra, where I hope to watch you grow into the powerful independent woman you will soon become.”
Father and daughter sank slowly beneath the waves that carried them toward their future, but Allie knew what to expect this time as the darkness washed over her.
“Aunt Zahra, I haven’t stepped outside the walls of our villa in almost a year! You have been allowed to visit the marketplace with Mother upon occasion. I have not!” Allie could feel her desperation. The months of sedentary isolation were getting to the young, adventurous Naeemah.
“Our time will come,” Zahra answered calmly.
“To what end?”
“My father has a plan for us, child. You must be patient and learn to do as he has requested.”
“Perhaps if I understood why I must appear so young, I could accomplish the feat.”
“It is not for you to ask questions. Do as you are told, and when the time is right, you will understand.”
They faded like ghosts, but Allie found herself in the same room several years later.
“As a gift to my wife, Zahra, the Empress Nur Jahan, I give my third son, Prince Kurram, to her lovely young niece, Naeemah. They will be wed this day,” the Emperor commanded.
This has been grandfather’s plan all along! Naeemah realized in a panic. This is why he wanted me to appear as a young girl. First, he places Zahra on the throne, and now, surely he will remove Kurram’s older brothers from the line of succession and I’ll be next!
She nearly fainted as she approached her husband to be. He is just a boy!
Allie felt her paralyzing fear but she fell once again into a kaleidoscope of colors.
“I am Prince Kurram no more,” her husband sighed sadly as they laid his father to rest beside his brothers. “Today I am Emperor Shah Jahan and I name my Chief Wife, Naeemah, Empress Mumtaz Mahal, Chosen One of the Palace, for the day my father forced us to wed was the day I truly began to live.”
Allie grew dizzy from the web swirling in her mind, until she felt Naeemah’s boiling, white-hot rage.
“Granddaughter, you must produce an heir!” Nassar ordered. “The throne will never be secure until you have a son!”
“I will not deceive my husband!”
“We have the skills to persuade the world to believe you are with child, there is no deception,” he argued. “The child will be his!”
“But it will not be mine!”
“Sayid, speak with this stubborn daughter of yours!”
“Naeemah, please consider this logically?” her father asked patiently. “The child will be of Kurram’s blood, a legitimate heir. His mother will be a concubine who would never have been allowed to raise him. You will be doing the boy no harm.”
“If I agree to this deception, I will raise him as I see fit and there will be no further meddling in my affairs, is that clear, Grandfather?”
“You will show some respect—”
“No! It is you who will show some respect! You may have placed me on this cursed throne, but I am the one who bears the burden of responsibility for it! You will do as I say or I will see you exiled from this court!”
“Very well,” Nassar agreed stiffly. “It seems your mother has taught you some of her old tricks.”
“Indeed she has,” Sayid murmured appreciatively. “Nicely handled, Daughter.”
“Is this what you really want, Father?”
“Prestige in this life shall give us comfort and peace of mind for many generations to come. But it is not worth the misery I see on my daughter’s face now. I would give it all away to see a genuine smile.”
“This is not the life I would have chosen for myself, but I love my husband and our people. If there is to be a child, perhaps I can find happiness there.”
Allie was overwhelmed by Naeemah’s sorrow when the void returned sending her into a spiral of gray.
“Mother!” her children chorused as she entered the palace nursery.
I love them so much!
Naeemah watched her six children swarming around her. She intended there to be only one child, but her eldest brought them such joy, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to fill the palace with children.
It will break my heart to leave them, but it is time.
As much as she loved her husband and their family, her people and their court, there was a gaping hole in her heart and she knew it was time to leave.
I’ve set everything in motion, she sighed as her youngest daughter chattered away. I must leave tonight.
Allie’s eyes snapped open and she blinked, disoriented to find herself back in the present.
“Naeemah!” she gasped. “How did you leave?”
“The Empress died in her sleep that night,” she said sadly. “Kurram was grief stricken by my death. He retreated into a year of secluded mourning and spent the remainder of his life building a mausoleum. It still stands today.”
“Mahal?” Allie whispered reverently.
“Yes, my wonderful husband built the beautiful Taj Mahal in my honor.”
“How did you escape the city?”
“That is a tale for another day. Now it is time for yoga. Follow me please,” she instructed, every inch the teacher.
Allie gaped as she followed her through the glass doors onto a perfectly manicured lawn dappled with sunlight. They stood at the center of a cloistered path, housing stone benches, sculptures and fountains. Tall trees in the distance spread their branches across the high ceiling. Allie blinked in disbelief at the hazy white clouds floating above.
“Naeemah! How is this possible?”
“I detest the underground. Think of this room as a large terrarium, possible with just a little help from Emma, her daughter Hélène, and a host of others. There is a larger terrarium, which Greggory has so charmingly dubbed the ‘Yard,’ but this room is a special gift from him.”
“It’s amazing!”
“Shall we begin?”
“Sure, but why yoga?”
“The exercise will help you gain strength and flexibility, but it will also teach you focus, which will aide you in every aspect of your training. We live dangerous lives. You cannot allow your emotions to compromise your actions when faced with danger. You must learn to disengage from any distraction. Yoga will teach you that kind of focus.”
“Come now, Allie, let us see what level student you are.” She grinned eagerly.
<><><>
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
The noise is maddening! Allie cranked up the volume to drown out the distractions. “Thank you Mr. Bach for your lovely Cello Suites.”
Her senses were in overdrive and she was desperate for the escape of sleep, but found herself staring at the ceiling instead. Naeemah prepared her for this. Apparently, she would feel restless and uncomfortable for weeks!
All
ie tossed and turned, but even the weight of the cool sheet was annoying. Just when she was almost comfortable, a loud clanking sound had her on her feet and across the room in an instant.
A strange earthy scent hung heavy in the air, and the churning sensation she was learning to associate with her rising power made her head spin.
“Aidan!” she snarled. He was driving her crazy!
A shadow moved on the balcony and she flung the doors open. She moved faster than she intended and crashed into him. He flew over the railing, landing in a heap among the bushes below.
“Ow! Alexis Ann, what’s the matter with you?” His voice echoed in the darkness.
“Sorry! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, although I’m starting to doubt if I will survive you.”
“Well, you should know better than to sneak up on me like that!”
She watched him climb onto the porch roof below. With a running start, he made an impossible leap to grasp the iron rail at her feet. He used his momentum to swing into a graceful flip, landing effortlessly at her side.
“In the last week you’ve managed to break my hand and throw me off a building. Let’s not go for three.” He glowered with that eerie shifting golden light in his eyes.
“You didn’t break anything, did you?”
“Just the bushes.” He grinned, instantly forgiving her.
“I have a door, you know.”
“Where’s the fun in that? Get dressed. We’re going out.”
“Aidan, it’s late.”
“Do I really have to teach you how to stay up all night?” But Allie wasn’t listening; her head was still spinning.
“Hey, deep breaths.” His tone softened as the odd earthy scent filled her senses.
“I just don’t feel like me.”
“It will get better, I promise.”
“What did you have in mind?” She pulled on her recently discarded jeans and sweater.
“If anyone asks, I left you alone. I may have promised not to bother you.”
“Didja now? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Come on, Red.” He headed for the balcony just as Allie turned for the stairs.
“I’m so not jumping off that balcony, Aidan Loukas!”
“Just do what I do.” He vaulted off the terrace without looking.
She ran to the door in time to see him swing into a wild flip, spinning in the air for a long moment until he landed silently on the ground. His laughter floated up to her—like he did this all the time.
“You’re going to make me jump, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” came his soft reply.
She took a deep breath and gingerly climbed down over the railing where she began to swing as Aidan had. She closed her eyes and went for it. Turning into a mid-air backflip she didn’t know she could do, she came to rest in a crouch beside him.
“Okay, that was actually fun.” She grinned, reaching for his hand as they ran for the beach. He had a small driftwood fire and a chaise lounge waiting for them.
“Look at me, Lex.” He tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “You’re putting up a brave front, but this is me. How are you really doing?”
“I think I’m fine, Aidan. It’s just a lot to take in.”
They curled up on the lounge together and it was the first time she felt calm all day.
“This is nice.” He pulled her close. “No more secrets.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. But Naeemah’s words of caution came back to her. She knew she shouldn’t allow the affection they shared, but no one understood her the way he did and she found such comfort in his touch.
“What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t help it. It all just came tumbling out. “It’s like my body is rebelling against me, and my mind is running at warp speed. Everything’s so freakin’ loud! I can feel the noise, Aidan! And I can’t concentrate on anything longer than five seconds. I’m all, ‘oooh shiny!’ all the freakin’ time. My vision is weird and I’m dizzy! I’m so sick of thinking about food! And this is supposed to last for weeks?” Her voice came out in a squeak.
“I’ll tell you a secret no one knows but Dad,” he said. “I got through this stage in less than a week and I think you can, too.”
“Cheers to that! Show me!”
“Okay, the important thing to realize is your senses are waking up after laying nearly dormant most of your life. I remember how frustrating those first few days were. You just need to learn how to distinguish what you’re feeling, and it will fade.”
“I take it there are more than the traditional five senses?”
“More like eight or nine depending on your strengths.” He laughed at her look of disgust.
“You have a sense of smell and taste, but you also have a sense that is a blend of the two, so it’s really something on its own. For instance, your scent tastes like honey and citrus.”
“I don’t even wear perfume, Aidan.” She rolled her eyes.
“Your natural scent, Lex.”
“So that’s you I smell, then? Earthy, like evergreen and juniper, and I think it tastes like mint and…dirt.”
“Dirt?” he scoffed.
“Yes, dirt! You know this is nuts, right?”
“I may have known it was coming, but I had to start here too,” he reminded her.
“I’m never going to wrap my brain around all this.”
“One thing at a time. It is our nature to know and understand everything happening around us. It takes most young Immortals weeks or even months to figure out how to process so much information at once, but when you do, volume will fade, sight will focus, and you’ll feel more like yourself again.”
“Sight is killing me!” She closed her eyes, reeling from another spinning fit of vertigo.
“Let’s try it. Sit back, relax and pick one star as a focal point and don’t look at anything else.”
“‘Kay.”
“What do you see?”
“The sky.”
“Brilliant, I’m so glad you left the sarcasm at home. Focus on your star and when you’re comfortable, pick another. Keep doing that until you’ve picked the faintest star in the sky.”
He waited, absently stroking her hair as she concentrated. Just when she was about to give up, the universe exploded at her fingertips. Her hair stood on end and she felt a strange vibration.
“You see it now?”
“It’s amazing! It’s so close. And so much more than sight,” she whispered in awe, attempting to explain something she had no words to describe. “There’s a faint pulsing sound like I can hear the universe expanding. There’s a vibration too, like something I can feel, hear and see. Aidan, it’s so beautiful I can hardly stand it!”
“It will only get better with practice.”
When she finally came back down to earth, she no longer felt the nausea and discomfort.
“Oh, that’s so much better!” She had it under control now.
Allie stared into the dazzling flames of the driftwood fire and for the first time she understood how much more powerful she was than the others.
“What are you thinking?” He rested his chin on her head.
“Does it ever overwhelm you? Your power?”
“All the time, Lex.”
<><><>
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
Allie felt a strong tremor of nerves as she followed Gregg down the long corridor.
“Go on, Red, my office is just across from Nae’s. I’ll join you shortly.”
She wandered into the masculine study. It reminded her of an old castle library with its massive shelves of books and stone walls draped with the tartan of his ancestral clan. The room was comfortable and inviting, in spite of the arsenal of weapons on display at every interval. A cheery fire burned in the fireplace behind a giant oak desk, and a billiard table with a fully stocked bar encompassed the rear of the room. It was the ultimate man cave for an old Scots.
As she waited, Allie’s nerves spiraled into irrational
anger, her pulse raced and her power churned. The nausea threatened to overwhelm her as her body responded with a fight or flight response—and she was definitely in fight mode.
“Okay, let’s get started!” Gregg burst into the room with a flurry of activity.
“Stop!” she snarled.
“Whoa, Allie!” He took several hasty steps back and dropped to the floor, swearing softly in Gaelic.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he said in his soft Scottish burr. “It never occurred to me to warn you. You’ve no need to fear me.”
“I’m not afraid.” She sneered, not entirely sure why she was treating him with such disrespect.
“Aye, your eyes are crackling like green fire.” He chuckled. “You’re a powerful girl, making rapid progress. I can see that now. I wouldn’t have thought it possible for you to react so strongly to me so soon. Your instincts are responding to the oppressive weight of my lifeline and it is only natural you feel threatened by my experience.”
She felt a rush of shame for her behavior. She was standing over him, every muscle in her body tensed as if some unseen force threatened her very existence, but she was only reminded of a lion cub roaring at its father to prove it was fierce.
“I’m so sorry!”
“I will not hold it against you.” He winked.
“So how freakin’ old are you?”
“Really freakin’ old,” he laughed. “I would like to show you a bit of my story, if I may?”
She nodded warily, still trying to suppress the anger boiling just under the surface.
“I’m really not sure when I was born, but I believe it must have been sometime around one-hundred-fifty BC.”
“As in before Christ?”
“Aye, I met the man named Jesus; he was brilliant and recognized me the instant he laid eyes on me. It was not long before his death. He was preaching his famous Sermon on the Mount and I was one of many in the crowd. As he passed, he said, ‘you are one of my father’s most precious creations. Never forget your purpose for the extraordinary life you have been given.’”
Emerge: The Awakening Page 12