Chapter 8

After taking a few deep breaths I felt more relaxed.

Still with my eyes closed , suddenly i started feeling something like small electrical charges trough my body. It was a pleasant feeling , like a good massage to invigorate you. Not loosing this feeling and still in the same position I concentrated more and started seeing the mana around me. It was all different colors, every color specific to a type of magic. Our family magic , lightning, the mana had a blueish-white color and was more predominant than the other types.

Slowly , with great care I imagined all the dots of blueish-white color coming to me, i tried to willed it to approach my body. It was a slow process but it worked. All the mana around me started to get absorbed in my body, I could feel my mana pool increasing bit by bit. It was a wonderful feeling. After an unknown amount of time I opened my eyes feeling excited and amazed at the same time. I still felt it hard to believe all this. This new world, the new body , everything that came with it and most of all MAGIC. If someone would have told me that one day I would experience all this I would probably just laugh in their face and called them coo-coo, but here I am.

Knock Knock

Still lost in my amazement and disbelief a knock came on the door followed by a maids voice.

"Miss Alida your lunch is here. "

One of my maids was here with my lunch and right on the dot my stomach started to protest.

"Come in Flora."

A maid with black hair and brown eyes entered the door with my food on a tray.

Sitting from my position I saw i was a little sweaty. Deciding to freshen up a little before eating, I entered the bathroom. After all this was done I walked towards a table on the side that had a chair attached to it and where my food was waiting for me. After taking a seat I took a glance at the clock on the wall and saw it was 12:30 am. So I meditated for about an hour. Feeling famished after all that I started digging in my food with relish. The first course was a bowl of chicken soup followed by a plate of stake with some potatoes to the side. After eating everything my eyes saw the dessert. It was a small piece of cake with white filling and yellow topping. Taking a bite i concluded it was lemon. Finishing the cake in record time, Flora prepared a cup of jasmine tea for me before cleaning the table.

After drinking my tea in silence and admiring the view outside I got right back on the bed continuing my meditation. I plan on familiarizing myself with gathering mana for a while then I plan on taking a look around the town.

Of course this time I didn't lye on the bed like before. I found a comfortable spot, crossed my legs, straighten my back, closed my eyes and taking deep breaths I started to relax my mind and body until after a few minutes I was 'in the zone' again.

For the next week I did this meditation daily for an hour a few times a day. Once in the morning before breakfast, then another after breakfast, one hour after lunch and another hour after dinner before bed. I couldn't concentrate more than an hour at a time for now but fortunately I could do it multiple times a day.

Of course I didn't stay in my room all day. Breakfast and dinner I made sure to attend it with the family, only lunch time was my alone time. All this week I barely exchanged a few words with my brother Aryan and with my mother Patricia. Jane was ...well ..Jane. Acting shy like a meek lamb wronged by the world. My father only greeted me and said no more but i could see him wanting to spend some time with me. I planned on visiting him in his office soon. I have to get him on my side as well.

From time to time I would tour the Mansion based on Alida's memories to familiarize myself with it and also to stretch my body and relax the mind.

The Burgess Mansion was huge to say the least with an imposing central building where all the family lived and some core maids and the butler. It had three floors , on the third floor the patriarch and his wife lived also both their offices where there with a small interior garden for my mother and the main library. The second floor was divided in three wings, every Burgess child had his own wing which contained the main room of the Burgess family member, rooms for their personal servants , an office, a lounge and a small library. The left wing was Jane's side, the right wing was Alida's side and the central wing was Aryan's side. All three sides were connected by a small hall that connected to the main stairways. Of course each wing had separate stairs that led to the back of the mansion and connected to a path that led to the main Garden.

The first floor was were the dinning room was , the art room , the music room and a few small lounges for daily visitors plus a few rooms for guests.

The ground floor was where the main entrance was , a huge hall for different occasions, kitchen and some quarters prepared for guests.

Except for personal maids and the head butler all the other servants had a separate building to live.

Now the garden was a separate matter. It was huge, with enough space to hold a wedding of at least a few hundred people. All kinds of flowers and trees were in it , all meticulously planted and arranged so beautifully that it took your breath away. It contained all kinds of colors and spaces with tables and chairs for one to enjoy the scenery to his/hers heart content.

At this moment I was in the Garden, admiring the flowers and enjoying a cup of floral tea.

Today I planned to visit my father in his office. Although it was an unplanned visit let's hope I'll get permission to see him.

Putting my cup down, I rose from the chair and walked at a moderate pace towards the third floor. Of course all these walks that I took were not only for pleasure. I made sure to absorb as best as I could the way of a noble, rehearsing how to walk properly and the mannerisms. Although the body does remember all this it was best to atune my mind to it too lest i make a fool of myself at special occasions.