TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) Read Online Free
Author: Amanda May Bell
disc harnessed the natural energy which was all around us and I knew could listen to the songs again whenever I chose, and for as long as I wanted to.
I had to wear clothes from this time segment this morning and I frowned slightly as I pulled on synthetic fibre sportswear that scratched against my skin. Whenever I was allowed, it was my preference to wear my Aldirite clothes. They were sewn by hand and made only of the finest weaves of natural wools and fibres. Aldirite society, although far advanced in the areas of medicine and energy, and in our knowledge of the elements, would in some ways, have been seen as primitive by the people of +2013. We lived slowly and without convenience or waste. Our craftsmen worked only on things which would last us a lifetime and our people knew the value of working with the natural world instead of against it. The instant communication which had become a way of life here in +2013 was looked upon with horror by my people. It was against nature and hazardous to the health to receive messages instantly and to talk to those who were not by your side. Aldirites knew it was far healthier for the mind, and the body, to wait patiently for a message to arrive. The earth itself waited for the sun to rise and set, and for the seasons to pass from one to the next. Even the galaxy was required to wait. It waited centuries for comets to pass. In fact, the only thing our people did that went against the natural state of man within earth and space was to travel through time. And those of us who did this paid for it physically every time we made a drop.
I bent down and tied the synthetic laces on my rubber soled running shoes. The plastic fibres on the laces scratched against my fingers and I winced a little and frowned. My Aldirite shoes were nothing like these running shoes. They were knee high boots made of the softest leather which was crafted to stretch and mould closely to the shape of my calf and foot. The soles of my Aldirite boots were treated with the sap of a particular plant which was gathered and bought to our Kingdom from an ancient past. Many layers of a natural rubber like substance were bonded together with this sap to last us through a lifetime of running across all types of terrain.
While I waited patiently for my pendant to turn to rise seven, I fidgeted absently with the Aldirite leather which was looped multiple times around my right wrist. The leather was soft and supple, as was all Aldirite leather, and it was tied together at the ends before those ends were tucked beneath the looped binds. It didn’t matter what time segment I was in, I never removed my pendant and I never removed the leather binds I wore around my wrist. Before I went downstairs though, I made sure my pendant was hidden beneath my clothes, and I pulled my long sleeve down firmly to make sure it completely covered my leather bound wrist.
“Good rise Livia,” said my tutor briskly.
She waited for me at the front door and was also dressed to go running in a +2013 park. Her pendant was tucked beneath her sports shirt as well, but she didn’t have to worry about wrist binds. As my mother liked to remind me on every occasion she could, I was the only Aldirite she knew of who’d been born with a shameful secret which needed to be covered.
“Good rise Mirren,” I said, with what I thought was a good attempt at sounding friendly, but my tutor didn’t look at me at all as she mumbled a reply. She avoided my eyes and opened the door for me instead, and as we were hit by the crisp morning air, we jogged slowly across the street towards the entrance to the park.
In this time segment, my schedule began every morning with a run, and running was my least favourite of my physical challenges. I didn’t mind climbing. When I’d been based in Ancient Era time segments, I’d climbed giant structures and monuments which, by this time segment, had long since crumbled into dust. When I’d lived in +2134 for a while,
I had to wear clothes from this time segment this morning and I frowned slightly as I pulled on synthetic fibre sportswear that scratched against my skin. Whenever I was allowed, it was my preference to wear my Aldirite clothes. They were sewn by hand and made only of the finest weaves of natural wools and fibres. Aldirite society, although far advanced in the areas of medicine and energy, and in our knowledge of the elements, would in some ways, have been seen as primitive by the people of +2013. We lived slowly and without convenience or waste. Our craftsmen worked only on things which would last us a lifetime and our people knew the value of working with the natural world instead of against it. The instant communication which had become a way of life here in +2013 was looked upon with horror by my people. It was against nature and hazardous to the health to receive messages instantly and to talk to those who were not by your side. Aldirites knew it was far healthier for the mind, and the body, to wait patiently for a message to arrive. The earth itself waited for the sun to rise and set, and for the seasons to pass from one to the next. Even the galaxy was required to wait. It waited centuries for comets to pass. In fact, the only thing our people did that went against the natural state of man within earth and space was to travel through time. And those of us who did this paid for it physically every time we made a drop.
I bent down and tied the synthetic laces on my rubber soled running shoes. The plastic fibres on the laces scratched against my fingers and I winced a little and frowned. My Aldirite shoes were nothing like these running shoes. They were knee high boots made of the softest leather which was crafted to stretch and mould closely to the shape of my calf and foot. The soles of my Aldirite boots were treated with the sap of a particular plant which was gathered and bought to our Kingdom from an ancient past. Many layers of a natural rubber like substance were bonded together with this sap to last us through a lifetime of running across all types of terrain.
While I waited patiently for my pendant to turn to rise seven, I fidgeted absently with the Aldirite leather which was looped multiple times around my right wrist. The leather was soft and supple, as was all Aldirite leather, and it was tied together at the ends before those ends were tucked beneath the looped binds. It didn’t matter what time segment I was in, I never removed my pendant and I never removed the leather binds I wore around my wrist. Before I went downstairs though, I made sure my pendant was hidden beneath my clothes, and I pulled my long sleeve down firmly to make sure it completely covered my leather bound wrist.
“Good rise Livia,” said my tutor briskly.
She waited for me at the front door and was also dressed to go running in a +2013 park. Her pendant was tucked beneath her sports shirt as well, but she didn’t have to worry about wrist binds. As my mother liked to remind me on every occasion she could, I was the only Aldirite she knew of who’d been born with a shameful secret which needed to be covered.
“Good rise Mirren,” I said, with what I thought was a good attempt at sounding friendly, but my tutor didn’t look at me at all as she mumbled a reply. She avoided my eyes and opened the door for me instead, and as we were hit by the crisp morning air, we jogged slowly across the street towards the entrance to the park.
In this time segment, my schedule began every morning with a run, and running was my least favourite of my physical challenges. I didn’t mind climbing. When I’d been based in Ancient Era time segments, I’d climbed giant structures and monuments which, by this time segment, had long since crumbled into dust. When I’d lived in +2134 for a while,
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