Aliandra: nymph: Book 1 The Nymph chronicles (24 page)

"And now?" asked Ali carefully.

"If you would have me, I would choose to have children with you" he replied.

"You still have your harem, Brand. You know that isn't possible."

"Several of my companions chose to stay with tribal gods when I sent them for a holiday there" he replied.

"How many women do you still have?" asked Ali.

"Only four" he answered.

"Four too many, Brand. You know that."

"I do not touch them. I only want you. I only dream of you" he said.

"You are still sorting out your life and I will leave you to it. You are welcome to come over whenever you like to help out, tell stories and run around with the kids. Even though my life is seriously complicated: I still have a boyfriend and I am still off limits to you" she said.

"I will take what I can get, Ali-cat" responded Brand. "I will visit as often as I can."

Chapter 46

Things were in hand with the children so Ali decided to 'port to the cottage to see Gramma, Riv and Amirael. When she arrived Amirael showed Ali the long list of order contracts that had been completed and paid for. Every one of the guests had put in a purchase order for a suit of olympium armor and all had paid up front in full, no questions asked. Zeus sent her a note inviting her to dinner at his palace as his personal guest. When Gramma walked in she smiled and teased "It seems you are now a very wealthy young woman, Aliandra. Are you ready to enter the upper echelons of god society?"

"I am still busy with the children but more are maturing now, so they will be able to manage the little ones without me soon. I love looking after the children but I know you have other plans for me" she said. "I can watch over them from afar and they can contact me any time if they need me there."

"Indeed. Now that these orders are in, the Olympians will be keen to protect you as their investment. It is now wise to make their acquaintance and go into their fold. That is the only way you can exert political influence and develop alliances for later. Your wealth and skills has pushed you up the social rankings so people will be keen to invite you to their functions, dinners and luncheons after you attend Zeus' dinner party first. The only reason you have no other invitations yet is because according to protocol Zeus' dinner must be first."

"Do I not have to debut first to be on the social register and enter the community?" asked Ali.

"Normally, yes. Zeus has made an exception in your case. He is king and that is his prerogative" said Gramma. "Officially I am still a nobody student, so I cannot attend with you. Perhaps attend with Prometheus. Zeus has opened a direct line of communication with you ready for you to accept his invitation. Effectively, you now have the ear of the king of the gods and he is more keen to seek your favor than vice versa, so prepare to be popular and receive the VIP treatment. We have had Zeus waiting over six months now, so you can reply to his invitation any time you want. Aphrodite sent you a note asking you to contact her and she can make you a full-day salon appointment any time you like. I suggest you make it soon."

"Everyone is sucking up so hard. I am going to really hate this schmoozing part of the training, Gramma" whined Ali.

"Suck it up, Ali" laughed Gramma. "Go to the attic forest, Rom has been pining for you."

Ali went to see Rom and he almost hurled himself at her in his excitement. "We can be together now, Rom. You will love all the kids I have been looking after. I just had to be careful because they were so damaged and fearful at first, but they should be fine with you now. You can keep me company at the dinner parties too." Ali 'ported to Gramma with Rom "I will just check the children have everything they need and work out when I can make to Aphrodite's salon, then I will contact Zeus." said Ali then she gave Gramma a big hug and 'ported back to the children.

It took a few more days for Ali to clear her schedule for a day at Aphrodite's salon and she sent a note advising which day she could manage to make it. A reply was immediately returned confirming her appointment. Rom was lovingly mauled by over-eager children and loved every minute of their pampering and patting. He followed Ali everywhere with a long trail of winged children tottering behind.

Ali and Rom turned up at Aphrodite's on the day for the appointment. They were immediately ushered in and provided food and drink while she browsed their style choices catalogue. Alphonse entered the room with panache. He asked Ali what sorts of styles appealed to her most and the sorts of places she would need to wear them.

"I need casual clothes for home, simple and comfortable. Something I can wear around children; lots of children! I also have a dinner invitation from Zeus and expect many more such invitations to arrive. I expect to be a real social butterfly from now on. So maybe glamorous for the events. Then there is the debut dress too. I preferred to be covered up rather than flaunting everything; however, I am not sure about the styles and what suits me yet" she finished vaguely.

"We will have a fashion parade and you tell me which styles you like" announced Alphonse 

"Is a fashion parade usual, Alphonse?" asked Ali

"No, you are designated high level VIP. Nothing will be too much for you. Any time you want an appointment you will just need to hint and the appointment will be made" he said.

"What about the waiting lists?" she asked.

"They cease to exist for you. Other goddesses have regular appointments made for years but you have leap-frogged over all of them socially so they are pushed aside and their appointments rebooked as soon as cancellations occur. Do you want your pet to be styled today too?" he asked.

"I will see what you can do and how cooperative he is. Lead the way, Alphonse" announced Ali.

Ali watched the fashion parade and she marked the styles she liked best. Then she worked with a fashion guru to narrow down her own particular fashion style. As he designed he kept adding touches and adjustments and asked if Ali liked it; sometimes yes, sometimes no. It took a while before he narrowed down her personal 'look' range. Ali was asked to stand before a mirror and as outfit after outfit appeared on her she either gave a thumbs up or thumbs down.  The uncertain ones were put to the side. The hairdresser came in and conferred with the fashion guru. They decided on elaborate braids and up-dos. Again Ali stood before the mirror and her hair appeared in different styles which she also gave thumbs up or thumbs down. Shoes, hats, bags, lingerie, accessories, every detail of her look was scrutinized and judged by the guru and Alphonse.

As the day progressed they moved to combinations of the looks for Ali to assess. Casual outfits, day clothes, luncheon outfits, ball dresses, dinner dresses, styles of riding habits, lounging outfits, sleeping outfits, business outfits, work outfits, outfits for different types of functions and many other activities. Every conceivable occasion or activity had a look for it. They took in whether the outfit would be worn in bright or dark lighting and what should be worn in the homes of various gods and venues. Zeus' dinners had its own huge section in her new wardrobe. At last everything was coordinated together and they worked on her debut outfit.

It took an hour of searching but finally they found it. Ali loved her debut outfit. She twirled as the white sparkling panels floated around her. It was sexy but not revealing, classic but exciting, comfortable but alluring. Perfection!

Alphonse and the guru worked on a selection of looks for Rom to match every one of her outfits. Outfits and looks flashed onto Rom as he slept in the corner.

Finally Alphonse clapped his hands and announced "Jewelry!"

"I didn't know you did jewelry" said Ali.

"Not usually, Ms VIP and we only bring you our best, nothing second rate" he whispered.

Ali browsed over the jewels as Alphonse assessed her rings and earrings.

"The naval storage, earrings and rings have to stay, they are useful" instructed Ali.

The guru worked around that and matched up assortments of necklaces, tiaras, hair ornaments, bracelets, jeweled arm bands, jeweled belts, jeweled garters, anklets and more rings for her fingers and toes. Everything was incorporated to her wardrobe and matched to outfits. Finally a diamond collar for Rom was added to her collection.

"Is this going to cost more" asked Ali.

"No, Aphrodite just has a small request that her armor is delivered immediately after the armor of Zeus and Hera" he whispered.

"Agreed" whispered Ali back to him.

"That is hair and fashion complete. Now for the hair and beauty treatments. All the best for you. When you walk out of here you will feel like a new woman" he announced and then turned to Rom "You too, pussy cat."

Ali enjoyed the long massage with hot rocks the most and she could hear Rom purring loudly as he was given his cat massage treatment. The hairdresser then approached her and examined her hair closely, then announced she had so much work to do. The hairdresser got busy and two hours later Ali's hair was lustrous silky perfection with shots of silver, platinum and gold. The body and skin treatments used all sorts of technologies, creams, powders and other products. Ali then chose finger and toe nail designs and looks. Long or short, pink or gold, it was selected and matched up with each outfit. Then the head beautician approached her, examined her face closely and backed away then walked closer to her. He then announced her brows were a mess, her features were acceptable but there was so much work to do before they could start with makeup. Hours later, when Ali had been plucked, primped and prodded until she was ready to scream, the head beautician dramatically announced his work was done. There was a personalized makeup look assigned to perfectly match every outfit. Everything was stored in her naval gem under wardrobe. No detail was left undone and Ali was finally ready to be launched into the realm with the blessings of Aphrodite's team.

Ali wore a casual street outfit with matching everything to leave the salon. As she walked along men openly stopped and gapingly stared at her as she passed them by, with Rom wandering at her side.

"You do look so handsome and shiny, Rom. Wasn't that massage amazing, huh?" said Ali and Rom just looked at her with a bored look on his face. "We will definitely go in for more of those."

Ali 'ported to the cottage with Rom and as she opened the door everyone stopped and stared at her. "Hello, I am back. What do you think?" asked Ali.

Riv gulped and stared and gulped again. Amirael said "You look stunning, Ali. It is like you are glowing from within. It is still you, but perfect."

Gramma walked in the room and looked her over "Good enough but don't let it go to your head. You have a lot more work to do. These looks will disarm most of the men but the women will be wilier and smarter than the men when you look like that. You have a good head on your shoulders so keep it like that."

"They didn't even let me look in the mirror before I left the salon" complained Ali.

Gramma said "Follow me!" She headed to the basement where there was a mirror they used to perfect their stances. When Ali looked she almost didn't recognize herself as the graceful beauty staring back at her.

"If I look hard and pull a face I can still see me in there" she said. "This is what I had to do for the next step, so I am not going to gripe about it. I will advise Zeus I am at his disposal for his dinner invitation." Zeus replied immediately and invited her for that night. Ali sent a note to Prometheus asking him to accompany her to Zeus' dinner party that night. He quickly replied with a 'Yes'. "Let the games begin"!" Ali announced.

Ali dressed in her favorite Zeus dinner dress ready for the dinner party showdown. Prometheus arrived at the cottage door exactly on time and they 'ported to Zeus' palace. When the palace guards saw Ali it took a little while for them to collect themselves enough to escort her and Prometheus directly to Zeus. The impact increased when she smiled at them as they left.

Zeus turned up naked to welcome her to his home and commented on how ravishingly lovely she looked as his eyes traveled lustfully over her from head to foot. Prometheus and Ali bowed to Zeus and then followed his lead down the long hall. Ali was glad she had a fully-dressed Prometheus with her as a go-between because, in her opinion, Zeus was a big slimy pervert.

"I wasn't aware there was something between you and Prometheus" probed Zeus.

"We are just friends, Zeus. Aliandra has attended several of the guest speaker functions we held at the college. We got along well enough for Aliandra to consider me as escort material for tonight" replied Prometheus.

"Friends? You had better get your eyes checked again, old man!" said Zeus suggestively and nudged him with his elbow.

Zeus led them to a room where cocktails were being served. "Cocktails are all the rage after your little launch party. Impressive little gathering; everyone is still talking about it. The food was impressive but it was the demonstration of the armor that really floored us" said Zeus.

"You can mostly thank Hades for that. We planned it, of course, and I did ask him to make it convincing but he felt inspired to take it to another level of his own accord. I think his acting lessons with Brand really paid off" she finished.