Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles (15 page)

Chapter 32

Gramma answered a quiet knock at the cottage door the next evening. An elderly elven man introduced himself and said he was there is meet Aliandra. Gramma invited him in to sit in the lounge. Gramma found Ali studying in the cottage bedroom and asked her about the elven man. Ali had no idea. Gramma questioned her about any recent events and Ali told her about the previous day.

"I was expecting them at some stage but they found you earlier than I expected. We will have to deal with them now" said Gramma as she transformed into the regal Gaia.

Ali and Gaia walked into the lounge together and the flustered man stood and apologized for not recognizing Gaia immediately. "I know why you are here and I will permit representatives from each Norse realm to visit Aliandra and introduce themselves. Each greeting party shall be no more than five people and each visit will be for ten minutes at which time gifts may be presented to her. Teleport to these coordinates on this schedule. We do not want attention, no parades, no scenes and no more callers to our door" instructed Gaia.

"Understood, Great Mother" said the man as he shakily held the schedule and tucked it into his coat pocket. He bowed deeply to Ali and Gaia then left quietly into the night.

"Any chance of an explanation?" asked Ali.

"You have been identified as the prophesized one of the Norse realm when Bronny flared her colors. The elves would have secretly followed you since then. We will have some visitors calling to meet you tomorrow evening to give you the gifts the prophecy demands" answered Gaia.

"Do you write all these prophesies?" asked Ali suspiciously.

"Some of them, not all" she laughed.

"Can you tell me what to expect?" asked Ali.

"We will leave it for a surprise. You will have a more natural reaction then" grinned Gaia.

"Is this necessary or just for entertainment purposes?" asked Ali skeptically.

"Most definitely necessary. Many things have been planned to make you strong enough to survive debut. This is one of those things" said Gaia. "You are allowed to enjoy the gifts and the grovelling too" she smirked.

"I am thinking of taking another off-reality vacation just so I have some time without drama. I think you like all the pomp, excitement and drama, Gramma" said Ali.

"It never gets old" she laughed. "Get back to me after the next twenty thousand years and we will swap notes again on this."

"Deal. You know how stubborn I am, I won't change my mind about preferring peace and quiet to all the skullduggery you set up" said Ali. "Brand gave you the window for me, didn't he?"

"Yes, anything to protect his little Ali-cat" she replied.

"How do you know he called me that?"

"He has called you that in every other incarnation. He told me in several incarnations that he first realized he loved you was when he called you that" she answered.

"Tell him he isn't allowed to call me that while I have a boyfriend!" she said and stomped off.

"Brat!" called Gaia after her, still laughing.

Chapter 33

The visitors were due to arrive in their newly decorated basement and they were ready. Ali was dressed up in a regal dress her housekeeper made for the occasion at Gaia's insistence. Riv was stationed behind her, Amirael to her left and Gaia looked suitably magnificent and glittery to her right. Rom was thoroughly unimpressed at all the arrangements and was in the corner licking himself.

Gaia had extended the roof to fit in the giant guests.

"Ten minute time limits means we don't have to provide them with food or drink so they have no excuse to hang around to chat all night. They will have just enough time to say what is necessary and go" explained Gaia.

"After all the times you have gone through this you must have it down to a fine art by now" said Ali.

"Yes" grinned Gaia.

"If they mumble or leave anything important out be sure to tell me later" said Ali.

Gaia jokingly kicked Ali in the leg under the cover of their billowing skirts. "Behave! 3. 2. 1. Now!" she said.

"Alfheim" announced Amirael. The elven representatives bowed low and began a rehearsed speech. Ali tried not to roll her eyes at the mind-numbing formality that the elves loved so much. At the rear of the group Ali noticed the elven chairwoman from her interview standing at attention. The elven senate leader produced a disk which he explained held magnificent elven-made armor and weaponry that had taken their finest smiths five hundred years to make.

Ali was instantly hooked on his every word now. He listed all of the powers woven into the fabric of the metal that protected the wearer from many unseen forms of attack, including curses. Every weapon was unparalleled perfection and unbreakable. The armor and weapons never rusted or needed cleaning. The elven bow required no arrows as it fired an unending supply of pure shots of disabling energy at targets. He instructed that, when she first holds the long blade the armor and weapons will only work for her. As the senate leader finished Ali thanked the people of Alfheim for their generous gift and it was placed on a silver tray held by Amirael. Tick, tick, tick, the ten minutes was up and Ali desperately wanted to try on the armor. No chance!

The elves disappeared and a group of Norse gods appeared in their place. "Asgard" announced Amirael. Odin introduced himself and his family members and began his speech. He was a jovial chap and looked like he would be fun to hand out with. His wife, Frigg, was a tall elegant lady who looked like she knew how to handle a weapon or two. Thor was with his wife, Sif, grinning like a fool and obviously feeling important. Baldur looked a little overawed to be in the presence of Gaia and when Odin called him forth to present the gift he stood staring at Gaia, still star-struck. Odin nudged him and he stepped up and presented the disked gift of the power of perfect health and vitality. Ali thanked the people of Asgard for their generous gift as they placed it on a tray and tick, tick, tick, time ran out.

The Norse gods disappeared and the demi-god representatives appeared in their place. "Vanaheim" announced Amirael. Ali wanted to give Gaia a thumbs up for her gift-giving organizational skills so far but she restrained herself. The demi-god representative stepped forth and issued his rehearsed speech. He presented their disked gift of the power of wisdom and diplomacy.
Not a minute too soon,
thought Ali. "I thank the people of Vanaheim for their generous gift" said Ali. Tick, tick, tick.

The demi-gods disappeared and the human contingency arrived. "Midgard" announced Amirael. The representatives all bowed and their president made his speech. Their gift was a storage gem beyond compare. A perfect pinkish purple brilliant-cut diamond. "I thank the people of Midgard for their generous gift" said Ali. Tick, tick, time's up!

The humans disappeared and a contingency of frost and rock giants appeared. "Jotenheim" announced Amirael. No speech. The giants looked at her bashfully and passed her a disked gift. Ali looked up and asked "What is it, my friends?" "Diamond wings" the rock giant whispered. "How lovely, I will be very proud to wear them." We have another from frost giants" another said as he placed it on the tray carefully. "What is that gift?" asked Ali. "We are the keepers of ancient knowledge. We downloaded it all for you" he whispered. "I really appreciate that. You are all very kind. I thank the people of Jotenheim for their generous gifts" Ali said with a warm smile. Tick, tick, tick..

The giants disappeared and a contingency of dark elves and fae arrived. "Svartalfheim" announced Amirael. The lovely fae queen made a short speech and motioned her son forward with the gift. "May I present to the most lovely lady, Aliandra, blue diamond earrings that block curses, warn of deception and impending danger" he said with a grin and a wink as his black hair flopped forward and his dark eyes sparkled. He opened the jewelry box with panache and bowed. "Very smooth" whispered Ali to him. He placed the earring box on the silver tray and leaned forward to take her hand an kiss it. "It has been my pleasure entirely, gorgeous" he  whispered back. "I thank the people of Svartalfheim for their generous gift." Tick, tick.

The dark elves and fae disappeared and the contingency of dwarves stood before her. "Nidavellir" announced Amirael. Each dwarf made a quick speech at such a fast rate Ali barely understood it. They quickly presented their gift explaining it was a red diamond gavel, known as the gavel of divine justice. The middle dwarf placed the gavel on the silver tray. "I thank the people of Nidavellir for their generous gift" said Ali quickly just before time ran out.

The dwarves disappeared and a stern group of frost giants appeared. "Niflheim" announced Amirael. They stood to attention and saluted Ali. "We share our home with Helheim, the place of the dead and of dragons. We present you with the ancient dragon fealty ring; it is a green and purple diamond of great power" a frost giant said very slowly and carefully. He passed the ring carefully on the silver tray. "I thank the people of Niflheim for their generous gift" said Ali as loud as she could manage without yelling. Tick, tick.

The frost giants disappeared and in their place a group of intimidating fire giants and demons appeared. "Muspelheim" announced Amirael. "I am Surtr, ruler of the southern realm" said the dark contemptuous demon. "I present you with the dragon shield. It has the power to reveal invisible and concealed foes. It is made from a single large diamond and has the image of a green dragon naturally formed in its centre. There is no shield to compare to it. He went to pass the shield directly to Ali but Riv stepped forward and took it instead. Surtr mockingly bowed "Commander Rivier you are keeping rather different company, I see" he said with an arrogant sneer. "I thank the people of Muspelheim for their generous gift" interrupted Ali as she watched the final group disappear with relief.

"The rock giants with the frost giants were so unbelievably cute!" exclaimed Ali.

"You say that every single time" said Gaia.

"What was it like the times when they all stayed together at the end?" asked Ali.

"Absolute murder! It gives me a blinding headache just to remember it" exclaimed Gaia.

"Two thumbs up on the organization skills for the Norse realm rendezvous" announced Ali. "I am desperate to see my armor and weapons. Did you deliberately put them first so you could watch me wait impatiently for this thing to finish?" asked Ali.

"Maybe" said Gaia.

"You have a very naughty sense of humor, you know that, right?" said Ali.

"You always say that too" sighed Gaia with a smile.

Chapter 34

"These presents are so cool!" exclaimed Ali as she checked out the weaponry and armor after imprinting it to herself. Ali downloaded the armor, weapons, and wings into the pink diamond storage. And replaced the gem in her navel. She decided to leave the wealth of ancient knowledge for her next trip to the ancient plane so she stored that in the pink diamond too. She downloaded her gifts from Asgard and Vanaheim directly. She wore the diamond earrings and put the dragon ring on her left middle finger then downloaded the gavel and the dragon shield into it.

"Gramma, why so many diamonds in the gifts?" asked Ali.

"You are the goddess of precious gems, that includes diamonds. They also store more things than other gems, including technologies and other powers. More density equals more power, remember?" she said.

"Gramma, can I ask why I get all these gifts? I mean why would they want to give them to me?" asked Ali.

"The Norse prophesies say that you are the one who repairs all nine Norse realms perfectly after the Battle of Ragnarok destroys them. Surtr does most of the destruction of course. They want to show their appreciation since it is you who save their realms, people and their cultures" answered Gramma..

Amirael answered a knock at the door. "Two deliveries for Aliandra" she announced.

Ali jumped up and found one was a scroll from the elves formally inviting her to study elvish smithing in Alfheim for the coming year. The other was the delivery of all her gift powers that had been fast-tracked at her interview. Ali touched the disks to her head and immediately absorbed her new powers. She handed the scroll to Gramma to peruse. "I saw the chairwoman of the committee was present in the elvish contingency. She must be behind this" said Ali.

"No doubt. And no doubt she feels like a perfect idiot too. Serves them right for acting so hoity-toity and superior. Wait a week before you send your answer, it might even teach them a lesson" grinned Gramma.

Ali pondered for a while before she asked "Gramma, if I am the goddess of precious gems and metals then what are my responsibilities in that area?"

"You control the use of all precious gems and metals, so if someone uses precious gems or metals without your permission then they have to pay a forfeit to you."

"From when I became goddess?"

"No, from the beginning of this incarnation. I have the list somewhere of all the forfeits due to you" answered Gramma.

"Is that like a lot of money?" asked Ali.

"No, it is a lot of power. The forfeits are power. A grand forfeit is ten forfeits. A forfeit is a concession or penalty one god must pay to another god. One hundred forfeits will cost a god his mortal army or a regiment of his immortal soldiers. Gods do not deal in money. Goods and services are paid for in forfeits. What do you think is in your account?" asked Gramma.

"I thought it was money, like home. Oh my! How can Aphrodite charge so much for a day beauty spa? Why would people pay so much?" asked Ali

"Gods and goddesses are all incredibly vain. Vanity is their downfall" said Gramma.

"I cannot believe I paid so much for a day of beauty. The 'looks' purchase was for business and the cost gets passed on to the customer anyway but my private purchase is so wasteful. I paid for it already and it cannot be cancelled" cried Ali.

"I suspect that with all the business you are doing and all the business that will come your way in the future you are going to be a very powerful young woman. You already have a sizable account so a beauty purchase is not such a large consideration" insisted Gramma. "Ali, I just want to warn you about something."

"What?" asked Ali cautiously.

"Your self-healing has come into effect so your freckles have all disappeared and your skin looks great" said Gramma. "When is your salon appointment?"

"I am on Aphrodite's private waiting list in case of a cancellation" answered Ali.

"I will speak with Aphrodite and ensure you get an appointment before your debut. Until then we will be training you hard so there is no use trying to look pretty until the hard stuff is all done" said Gramma.

"I have already been working really hard with Riv" insisted Ali

"It will get a lot harder after the elven sojourn. You will think it has been nothing but a holiday until now when we really start" said Gramma.

"Can't wait" said Ali derisively.