Rhen’s eyes widened as he signed, He’s got to be joking. Step down? They want him to step down? Neptune’s balls, what an insult. I knew they wanted to become Surpen, but I didn’t know they wanted to kick James out. He should tell them to go to Hell rather than trying to keep them satisfied. Rhen paused to consider the situation. What do you think the Council Delegates are thinking? Don’t they realize I’m an Emperor? I won’t listen to their crap. They’re far better off with James than they would be with me. He smiled then added, Although, it might be fun to rule Thestran. I might enjoy that.
James tensed when he heard Mary’s translation. Had Bosternd been mistaken?
After a few anxious moments, Rhen shook his head and signed, Ceceta, tell James not to worry. I will refuse their request. He can keep his Council. I just need to find the proper passage in the Code Book that deals with this to make sure that I’m not violating any laws.
Ceceta realized that Rhen had made a mistake. He was probably feeling worse than he was letting on. When she translated his words to James, she left out the ‘Code Book’ comment. That had been a slip up by Themrock that didn’t need to be repeated.
“That’s great. Thank you, Rhen,” James said, after Ceceta had translated Rhen’s signs. “I’ll tell the Delegates that they’re stuck with me.” He wondered why Ceceta hadn’t mentioned the ‘Code Book’ remark and why Rhen wasn’t questioning her about it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring it up, since he wasn’t supposed to know what Rhen had signed.
Ten, nine, eight…
“What are you doing?” Ceceta asked.
Rhen snorted. Counting down until Lilly enters hard labor. Three, two, one… blast off.
At that moment, Lilly, whose eyes were as big as saucers while she transmitted Mary’s words to the others, felt an incredible amount of pain in her abdomen. “Gods!” she cried out, clutching her belly. She couldn’t believe it. She was having her baby. She laughed, before groaning in pain as another contraction hit.
Thellis floated into the room on a green cloud. He was there to feed the dragons some of his powers. While he lowered himself next to Jack, he heard everyone wishing Lilly and Jet good luck as they left the room. “Good luck with what?”
Jack picked the dragons up off the coffee table where he’d been playing with them and placed them on his lap. “Lilly’s having her baby now.”
Thellis grunted. Yeah, he thought sarcastically, another mortal. Just what the Universe needed. He reached over towards the dragons on Jack’s lap and pinched off two pieces of his green powers, making small, glowing powerballs about the size of marbles. The dragons lengthened their necks to suck at the powers floating above them. Jack stroked them as they fed, his fingers dancing lightly over their soft scales. “Why does their golden color take on a green tinge after you feed them?”
Thellis glanced down to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, the dragons’ golden scales were now tarnished. He hadn’t thought that they were getting enough of his powers to change. “It happens all the time,” he told Jack with indifference. “When a being absorbs our powers, they take on our essence. Their appearance will change in accordance with how much power they take in in relation to the amount of power they have on their own.”
Jack tilted his head. “It happens all the time?”
Across the room, Ceceta signed, I can’t wait. What are they having, a boy or a girl?
Thellis’ head jerked up at the sound of a man’s voice in his mind. Ceceta had just used the private hand language she and Rhen had created and someone had apparently translated and then telepathically transmitted her words to everyone in the room but Rhen and Ceceta. Jack’s question forgotten, Thellis floated over towards the Thestran woman with brown hair who was sitting by the windows. He knew everyone else in the room. She was the only newcomer.
Mary stared at Thellis with terror as she translated Rhen’s response for James, who’d moved over to take Lilly’s place. You won’t have to wait long. She’s going to have that baby incredibly fast. Her powers were keeping her from feeling her earlier labor pains. She wondered what Thellis was going to do to her for translating Lord Themrock’s personal conversation with his wife. She watched him as he hovered in front of her then breathed a sigh of relief when he floated up into the air above her, a curious expression on his face.
As Mary translated Ceceta’s signs for James, she watched Thellis chuckle. Apparently, he didn’t mind her involvement. She dropped her eyes and noticed Charlie was still staring at her. Blushing, she looked away.
Thellis shook his head. Damn, those mortals were clever. They’d done something he and other Genisters had never been able to do–crack Rhen and Ceceta’s sign language. He sat in the air, his legs crossed at the ankles, as he waited to see what Rhen was going to say next.
You’ll know soon, Rhen signed. The baby dragons had left Jack and were now crawling up his pants. Reaching down, he lifted them into his arms.
Damn it, Rhen, a boy or a girl? Ceceta stopped signing when her bracelet started to beep. Turning, she walked over to the cabinet to get Rhen’s next shot. Rhen moved over to his bed to sit down. He plopped the dragons onto his pillow before pulling off his shirt. Ceceta returned to give him his shot. When she was done, she opened up the cream for his wound. Rhen caught her hands and signed, A girl.
Ceceta smiled. She knew Lilly had wanted a girl. “That’s great.” Reaching out, she put the cream on Rhen’s wound. He breathed in sharply through his nose while grabbing the edge of the bed, shaking from pain. The cream hurt like hell. When it had subsided enough that he could tolerate it, Rhen pulled on his shirt.
“Rhen,” James said, when saw Ceceta return to the cabinets. “The Council Delegates want to interview the Zorthan prisoners that were captured during the battle. I don’t think that’s a good idea. You must remove them and send them to Surpen. I will tell the Council Delegates that that was our agreement for having Surpens’ soldiers defend us.”
Rhen nodded. Good boy, James, finally showing more decisive behavior. Telling me, your superior, what I must do. I like it. He winked at Ceceta. Ceceta, tell James it’s been done. I moved the prisoners to Surpen before he finished speaking. If he needs them back for anything, he should ask Bosternd. Ceceta told James the last half of what Rhen had signed.
“Thank you,” James said turning towards the windows to hide his face. Mary had translated everything Rhen had said. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Rhen’s praise or the fact that Rhen considered himself to be superior.
“Damn it, Rhen,” Thellis said with anger as he floated towards him. “Didn’t I tell you not to use your powers? Every time you use them you worsen your condition. You can’t use your powers.” Rhen gave Thellis a sheepish look. He had forgotten. “Sorry,” he mouthed.
“Just don’t do it again,” Thellis growled before flying away.
Later that night, Rhen waited in his hospital room with his four elfin guards while his wife and the others went to congratulate Lilly and Jet. Charlie was the first one back. Rhen’s eyebrows raised when he noticed his brother holding Mary’s hand. “Hey, Rhen. We saw the baby. She’s little and… ugly-looking.” Rhen chuckled silently as Mary shook her head and walked over to the seating area. “No, really,” Charlie insisted. “Newborn babies are ugly. They have these funky faces that are all squished.”
Suddenly, Ceceta rushed into the room. She grabbed one of Rhen’s shots and headed towards his bed.
“What are you doing, Ceceta?” Charlie asked. “Your bracelet isn’t beeping.”
“I know. I think I’ve finally got the timing down. It will probably beep in–” Before she could say another word, her bracelet sounded off and she gave Rhen his shot. Charlie watched as Rhen took off his tunic for the cream.
When Ceceta was finished, Charlie leaned over and whispered to them. “You know what? I met this girl, you see her?” He pointed not so discreetly at Mary, which made Rhen and Ceceta roll their eyes. “Anyway, you’ll never believe this, b
ut she likes me. Can she stay here tonight? I don’t want her to leave the palace yet, because I don’t know if she’ll come back. Do you mind if she stays here, please?”
“What’s her name, Charlie?” Ceceta asked, while wiping off her hands. Most of the time, Charlie never remembered his girlfriends’ names.
Charlie’s chin lifted. He looked very pleased with himself. “Mary.”
Ceceta was impressed. It seemed Charlie really did like this girl. “She can stay as long as she wants to.”
“Thanks!” Charlie hugged them both jointly before adding, “I’ll be right back.” He ran down the stairs to the first conference room on the right. As soon as he entered, his family turned towards him. “It’s done,” he announced. “They said Mary could stay.” Charlie was trying to act casual about it, but he was personally thrilled that Mary would be joining their group. He’d known, when she’d walked into the room, that she was the one for him.
Fortunately, James had just made his life a whole lot easier, by asking Mary to stay and then coming up with a plan that included making her Charlie’s new girlfriend. Charlie wasn’t going to have to work to get her to notice him. Now all he had to do was convince her to marry him.
James breathed a sigh of relief. “Excellent. She can watch them and they won’t question why she’s there. Our next hurdle will be the Vivists. Do you think Themrock was right when he said they would return or did he make a mistake? I can’t imagine why they would come back. They don’t know that the Black Angel is injured.”
Charlie lifted the glass of wine that he’d snatched off the table by the door to his lips. “That we know of,” he murmured before taking a sip. If James had asked him, he would have told his brother that, by now, everyone in the Universe knew about Rhen. There was no way they could keep something as monumental as Themrock’s return a secret.
Chapter 8
Delegate Te’s Manor House on Neptian
“Te,” Loreth said, as he phased into Te’s study. He glanced behind him to check the door and was pleased to see it was closed.
“I’m glad you came.” Te was sorting through some papers on his desk. “I’ve come up with a few ideas on how we can get Ceceta to leave Rhen. My first thought is to have Yfetb contact her and tell her that he made a mistake. He’ll confess to being deeply in love with her and will ask her to marry him. Ceceta loved Yfetb. She was devastated when he left her. I’m sure she would jump at the chance to marry him.”
Loreth covered his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing. Before he could say anything, Te continued, “If that doesn’t work, we should send a group of beautiful women to surround Rhen. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Ceceta is rather ugly. Once Rhen sees the true beauties that Neptian has to offer, he will divorce her.”
Loreth was now pinching his lips closed with his fingers. Seriously? he thought. Te was an idiot. First of all, Ceceta’s love for Yfetb died when she met Rhen; and secondly, Rhen loves Ceceta for who she is, not because of her looks, although her blue skin might have been the first thing that had caught his eye. Still, anyone could see that Ceceta was gorgeous.
Loreth wanted to mock Te for his stupidity, but he held his tongue. He’d lost ground with Te after the Ventarian trade route fiasco. He needed to tread softly around the man until he’d gotten him back under control. Pulling off his black gloves, he approached Te’s desk. “Those are some excellent suggestions. Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll work. First of all…” He paused, holding back what he really wanted to say, which was to tell Te that Ceceta wasn’t a fool and she’d know what Yfetb was up to if he contacted her.
“First of all,” Loreth repeated, “you had wanted Yfetb to marry Crystam. I think you’re finally making some progress on that front. Don’t pull him away from her when he’s so close to achieving his goal.”
“You think?” Te lifted his head, but glanced towards the open window, where he could hear some tourists, who were visiting Neptian’s famous Ldastar Waterfalls, laughing. Rising, he walked over to the window to close it.
“Definitely. And, your second idea is a good one, but Rhen is very stubborn. I doubt he’d look at another woman while he’s married to Ceceta. Perhaps we should save that idea for another time?” Te grunted as he returned to his seat.
“How about if we get some of the students at the University to ridicule and attack Ceceta verbally?” Loreth suggested.
“What would that do?” Te snapped. He’d liked his ideas even if Loreth didn’t see the merit in them.
“Well, if the students plant the notion in Ceceta’s mind that she’s not the right person for Rhen, then perhaps she’ll leave him.”
Te’s lips tightened as he considered Loreth’s words. “You think that would work?”
“Yes. If we tear apart Ceceta’s self-esteem, she’ll eventually realize that she doesn’t belong with Rhen. He should be married to an elf.”
“An elf,” Te repeated, his eyes growing distant. “Yes. He would be better off with an elf. In fact, the elfin priests are livid with him for marrying out. I’ll talk to them to see if I can get their help. We’ll convince the students to form a club, an… Elves for Themrock Club. Their goal will be to get Ceceta to leave Rhen.” Te peered up at Loreth as he stood in front of his desk. “So, what do you think?”
“What?” Loreth was confused. What was Te asking him?
“About my idea. What do you think about my idea to go after Ceceta? If we form a club of students that ridicules her, she’ll realize she doesn’t belong with Rhen and she’ll leave him.”
Loreth blinked. How had Te’s mind morphed his idea so that Te now thought it was his own? Sometimes he wondered if Te was sane. “It’s fantastic. Put it in motion.”
Te pulled out his communicator. “I’ll contact The Supreme Elfin Priest now to set up a meeting. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble convincing him to organize a club to support Themrock.”
“Good.” Loreth leaned his hip against Te’s Ventarian plumb tree desk. He watched as Te typed his message with two fingers. It seemed Delegate Te didn’t do a lot of typing. He probably had a large staff of assistants. Speaking of assistants, Loreth remembered he wanted to have Te use two of his. “I want you to use two of my past aides. They can help you with your mission.”
“I don’t need them.”
Loreth bristled. He had half a mind to strangle Te for refusing him. “I think you’ll find they’re very helpful. Aul knows how Rhen thinks and Narseth’s good for his brute strength.”
Te paused to look up from his screen. “Aul and Narseth? The henchman that Rhen’s father used to use?”
“Yes. I’d like to use them again and this would be the perfect opportunity.”
Te shook his head. “No. Never. I will not use Surpens to further Neptian’s goals. I want nothing to do with them.” He had no need for some lowly Surpen soldiers. With Loreth’s help, he could make Neptian glorious on his own. He lifted up his communicator to finish typing his message.
Loreth groaned inside. Was Te really doing this? He debated how important it was for him to get Aul and Narseth involved with the elves and decided he’d wait. He’d let Te begin the process, and if an opportunity arose, he’d use the elves as bait for a plan that included Aul and Narseth. In the meantime, the Rasacks had heard a rumor that the Black Angel was ill. They were itching to attack Tgarus again. Loreth had given them permission so it was only a matter of time before they struck.
***
Crystam squeezed her eyes shut and pounded her head with her hands. What was wrong with her? She wanted to marry Tgfhi. She loved him. So, why was she finding it so hard to set a date?
Leaning into the bathroom sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes had bags under them and her lips were stuck in a perpetual frown. She wanted to laugh. Her mother was the most beautiful woman in the Universe, the Goddess of Love, and Crystam, who looked just like her, looked awful.
Latsoh and Erfce were outside the bathroom door sitting next
to Rhen’s hospital bed discussing possible venues for their wedding. Crystam had been offering them suggestions, but every time she mentioned a new locale, Tgfhi had glared at her. When she’d reached for his hand and he’d withdrawn it, she’d escaped to the bathroom to get ahold of herself.
Crystam turned on the sink and splashed some water onto her face in an attempt to keep from crying.
“Why can’t I set a date?” she asked her image. The misery on the face that stared back at her made her want to cry even more. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. For some reason, every time she thought about getting married, she felt scared. Someone knocked on the door. “I’ll be right out,” she yelled.
Crystam dried her face on one of the thick towels and opened the door.
“You, okay?” Charlie asked, sounding rather sober. Crystam nodded and tried to step past him but Charlie reached out and caught her arm. “You should talk to your Mom. If I remember right, you used to talk to her every day while you were at the University. When was the last time you called her?”
He was right. She hadn’t reached out to her mom in days. The very thought of talking to her again made Crystam feel better. “Thanks, Charlie. I’ll do that.”
Charlie grinned and bobbed his head looking inebriated. “Cool.” He released her arm and whispered, “I’ve got to pee now,” then closed the bathroom door in her face.
Crystam stepped out into the hallway on her way to the spare room they were using and called her mom. “Baby girl!” Chara sang out when she answered. “How are you? How’s it going with Rhen?”
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 6