The Immortal Realm Read Online Free Page A

down the front with buttons of green marbled stone.
    â€œHello there,” he croaked, laying down his book and smiling. “Come to visit the sick and ailing?”
    â€œThat’s just about it.”
    â€œThere’s no need. It’s nothing, really.”
    â€œThey’ll put that on your gravestone!” Tania scolded him gently. “Here lies Clive Palmer: died of nothing really .”
    Tania sat on the edge of the bed and rested the back of her hand across his forehead.
    â€œYou don’t look well, Dad,” she said. She frowned at him. “Typical you , getting ill at the worst possible time. Remember that holiday in Greece?”
    He nodded. “Sweltering outside and I was stuck inbed with a head cold,” he said, lifting her hand from his forehead and clasping it in both of his. “At least I got to see a Faerie wedding, eh?”
    â€œSpectacular, wasn’t it?”
    â€œRemarkable,” he said without enthusiasm.
    Tania picked up on her dad’s tone of voice. “I wish you seemed more comfortable with this,” she said. “It’s real , Dad; it’s not going to go away. This is who I am. And this is where I belong. Can’t you be happy for me?”
    He sat up, coughing a little. “I’m a science teacher, Tania,” he said. “My life and my work are based on certain solid principles, like the laws of physics, like the basic idea that if you add one and one together you end up with two every time. This world doesn’t conform to any of the rules I use for making sense of the universe. For all I know this whole experience could be the result of a chemical imbalance in my brain.” He coughed again. “I could be lying unconscious in a hospital bed. At least that would make more sense.”
    â€œYou can’t seriously think this isn’t real .”
    â€œNo, I can’t,” her father said heavily. “But I’d love it if I could.”
    Tania took his hands in both of hers. “Is it really that hard for you?”
    There was a pause as her father seemed to gather his thoughts. He stared out through a gap in the opening of the tent. Tania followed his eyes, seeing a sliver of the valley alive with lights and with the reveling folk of Faerie. “How do you see things progressing here,Tania?” he asked. “What exactly do you intend to do with your life?”
    Tania laughed. “Are you kidding me? There are a million things to do here. I have a whole new family to get to know, for a start. And I’d like to travel—to find out all there is to know about this place.”
    â€œBefore all this happened you were talking about taking a year after school to tour Europe and America,” her father said. “And then if your grades were good enough, you were set on going to university.” He looked closely at her. “You told me you were thinking of training as a journalist. Remember that?”
    â€œYes, of course I do.” She remembered it, but it was like looking at things down the wrong end of a telescope. All her previous dreams, hopes, and ambitions seemed very small and far away. She couldn’t bring herself to say that to her father. It would have been like telling him that all the things they had discussed together over the past few years were meaningless to her now.
    â€œSo?” he said quietly. “Do you intend to finish your education?”
    She gazed at him, noticing his flushed cheeks and the sheen of sweat on his forehead. “I hadn’t thought about it.” She looked at the crumpled sheets of his bed. “Get up for a minute,” she said. “You can’t be comfortable like this. I’ll straighten the covers for you.”
    â€œThe new term starts in September,” he said, heaving himself off the bed. “Why not come back home after the summer? Do your exams. Go to university;get some qualifications under your belt. What