Naci opened his communicator to make a note in his calendar. On his way into the theater tonight, Latsoh had pulled him aside to tell him that Erfce had had a warning vision about a group at the school called EFT. Unfortunately, his soon to be son-in-law hadn’t gotten any specifics on what was going to happen, but he had learned that the EFT was going to cause trouble for the elves. Naci typed a note into his schedule to talk to the Headmaster about the EFT.
The woman to his right gasped then giggled. She was definitely having a good time. Through the door to his box, Naci could hear the play wrapping up. It was almost time for the intermission. He probably should warn the lovebirds that any moment now there were going to be thousands of students entering the hall.
Naci pushed off from the wall. His feet were silent on the corridor’s thick red and gold carpet. Perhaps he should make some noise so he didn’t startle them? He cleared his throat as he rounded the bend.
Aaron lifted his head. He had thought he’d heard something. Turning, he froze. His father was standing in the hallway not more than ten feet away. Oh, crap! Aaron stepped backwards, his mouth open as he tried to think of something to say.
“What are you…” Sarah asked reaching out for him. When she saw Naci, her heart stopped.
Naci scanned Aaron, taking in his tussled hair, open shirt and unbuttoned pants. When Aaron had stepped away from the alcove, he had seen Sarah sitting in an equally undressed state. He watched as Sarah squeaked and pulled her shirt together, hiding her chest.
“Dad…” Aaron began. Before he could say anything more, the red padded door beside Naci opened and students filed out into the hallway on their way to the bathroom and refreshment stand. It was intermission. Aaron turned and buckled up his pants. He glanced at Sarah to find her glaring at him. She pulled her Water Elf cape tighter around her chest. She had told him that she thought it was too risky for them to make out during the play, but he’d convinced her that they’d be fine. “Sorry.” Sarah rolled her eyes at him. They were in for it now.
They stepped out of the alcove and worked their way across the busy corridor towards Naci. He was leaning backwards against the wall with his eyes closed. Aaron had been worried that Naci would make a scene, but now he was even more concerned because his father didn’t look angry. That definitely wasn’t his normal behavior. “I can explain,” Aaron said when they reached the wall.
Naci held up his hand. “How long?”
Aaron glanced at Sarah. It seemed it was time for the truth. “Since sophomore year.”
Naci’s eyebrows rose and he opened his eyes. “Sophomore year?” Aaron nodded. Naci took a deep breath then let it out. “Does anyone know?”
Aaron looked sheepish. “Rhen and Ceceta, probably the other guards.”
“Erfce,” Sarah added.
Naci nodded. “Okay.” He waited until an elf who was speaking extremely loudly walked past them. “I guess I had some idea. I just thought that… you’d tell me if you were serious.”
“We’re married,” Aaron said.
Naci breathed in deeply and closed his eyes again. He banged his head gently against the wall, then grunted and opened his eyes. “Let’s keep this quiet. It’s not a good time for elves to marry out and I don’t want either of you to be put in danger.”
Aaron laughed with shock. He couldn’t believe it. His father was going to accept his marriage? It had to be because of Latsoh. Her engagement to Erfce had softened him. He’d have to remember to thank her later. Sarah was saying something. He turned towards her in time to hear her say, “…then we’ll head to the Water Elf castle to tell my parents.”
“Fine,” Naci said. He gestured towards their left. The lights in the hallway flickered telling everyone the play was about to start again.
“What are we doing?” Aaron whispered to Sarah as they headed down the hall.
“We’re telling your Mom and then we’re going to tell my parents.”
Aaron wanted to scream. If he’d known how well his dad was going to accept his marriage, he would have told him ages ago. As they neared the Fire Elf box, Aaron thought he heard his father mumble to himself, “At least she’s an elf.”
***
The line for the women’s restroom on the auditorium level of the theater was too long, so Ceceta decided to try one of the restrooms on a different floor. When she entered the restroom on the third floor, she saw that there was one stall open. Quickly, she dashed in and closed the door behind her.
“Did you see that Neptian bitch watching the show?” someone said by the towel dispenser. Ceceta lifted her head as the woman in the stall beside hers added, “It made me sick. Themrock had his hand on her thigh the whole time.”
“Barf,” a woman by the sinks said. Ceceta shifted to her right to see if she could spot the woman by the sinks, but the stall door was lined up in such a way that she couldn’t see out.
“The nerve of that foreign whore,” someone said by the exit door.
“Themrock would be better with an elf. Ceceta pretends to understand what he’s going through, but she doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to be an elf. She’s completely pathetic.”
“Yeah,” a woman said in the stall to her left. “If she understood elves, she’d realize it was time to move on. There’s no way she can keep Themrock happy.” The woman on her left flushed the toilet and exited the stall at the same time as the woman on her right. Ceceta realized she was going to lose her opportunity to confront them.
“Hey,” she yelled, trying to hurry. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I dare you to say those things to my face.” She stood up and flushed the toilet then opened the stall to tell the women off. “You should…” The room was empty. The women must have left when she’d flushed the toilet, otherwise she would have heard them leave.
Ceceta stepped forward to wash her hands. She was tired of hearing people criticizing her. It was really starting to get to her. As she walked back towards the stairs to go to her seat, there were students racing past her in all directions, hoping to get back to their spots before the play started. Suddenly, someone shoved her. Ceceta cried out as she stumbled at the head of the stairs. She fell, but fortunately, her hand caught the railing. Her body jerked to a halt as her body hung, dangling part way down the stairs.
“Ceceta!” Jack ran up the stairs and helped her stand. “Gods. Are you okay? You almost fell down the stairs.” Ceceta’s hands were shaking. She nodded, afraid if she spoke, she might cry. Jack took her hand in his. “Come on. I’ll walk you back.”
As they headed down the stairs, Ceceta realized she was afraid – not just from the fact that she’d almost been seriously hurt, but from the realization that there were elves at the University who wanted her out of Themrock’s life and they were willing to stop at nothing to get rid of her.
Chapter 18
Fire Elf Temple – Thestran
Naci marched up the stone stairs, passing the towering black columns that surrounded the exterior of the Fire Elf temple. He ignored the priests as they bowed in prayer before a portrait of Themrock in the inner sanctum. Pushing open the Fire Elf Cardinal’s study door, he crossed the floor and rapped his knuckles on the priest’s wooden desk.
The Cardinal had been writing his sermon and hadn’t noticed Naci’s entrance. He jerked when he heard the knock then swallowed his groan at the sight of Naci. “Your majesty? Can I help you?"
"I've just heard about some strange group at the University called Elves for Themrock. Do you have anything to do with it?”
As usual, Naci got right to the point. The Cardinal leaned back in his chair and placed his fingertips together in thought. A breeze blew through the open door and he shivered. Reaching behind him, he pulled his red cloak up over his shoulders. “I can’t say that I’ve heard of it, no.”
"Well, I don't like it. Latsoh said they’re actively attacking elfin students at the University who are dating outside their tribe. She even mentioned that Erfce had had a warning v
ision about them. They’re going to cause trouble for us.” Naci began to pace before the Cardinal’s desk. “I met with the Headmaster about it and he told me that the group is sanctioned by our religion. They even receive funding from you.”
“The Supreme has been preaching against elves marrying out for some time now,” the Cardinal told him. “It sounds like these students are acting on his words. As for the foreigner, you know visions can be wrong. Things change all the time, people make different choices, and the visions that we thought were factual end up being false.”
“It’s not right,” Naci said, ignoring the fact that the Cardinal refused to use Erfce’s name. He sat down in one of the two leather chairs before the Cardinal’s desk. He was worried about his children. Both of them would soon be married outside of their tribe. He didn’t like the idea that there might be elves targeting them. And what would happen if The Supreme decided that his children were unfit to rule because they’d disobeyed the rules? His family might lose their claim to the throne. After all of the sacrifices his family had made for the Fire Elves, there was no way Naci was going to abdicate his throne. He wondered about Plos. When the Water Elf King had learned that Sarah and Aaron were married, he’d contacted Naci, giving him dates in which they could hold an official wedding. Naci had promptly hung up on him. Didn’t he realize how risky it was? Was he willing to lose his throne? The Cardinal was staring at him, so Naci added, “And what’s with the name? Elves for Themrock?”
Turning, the Cardinal picked up his cold cup of coffee. "I like the name. We need a group of elves out there working to help Themrock. If we've learned anything after all this time, it’s that Themrock needs our support."
"But," Naci began, he shivered then banged his feet on the ground to warm his toes while sticking his hands into the pockets of his cape. "The whole thing sounds… wrong."
The Cardinal laughed. "What have they done? A little name calling? It’s nothing to get upset about. You worry too much. Find peace in the knowledge that our God has returned. You should be rejoicing that you’re present to witness this miracle."
"But–“
"Naci, this is a blessing. I ask you not to think on it anymore. Find the peace that Themrock offers."
Naci hesitated. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with the Cardinal. He considered bringing the matter up with The Supreme, but dismissed it. If his Cardinal liked the EFT, then certainly The Supreme would too.
“Praise, Themrock,” he said, rising to his feet. He should go. He had paperwork waiting for him on his desk.
“Praise, Themrock,” he heard the Cardinal say behind him.
***
For the first time since she’d started school on Thestran, Ceceta wasn’t enjoying herself. Whenever she was alone, she heard students saying mean, hurtful things about her. She hated how their words were getting to her. Her confidence had taken a hit and she’d found herself shying away from situations where she might be alone.
Neither Rhen nor her friends had yet to hear the derogatory remarks that were being said. When Ceceta had told them what was going on, they’d suggested she ignore it. She’d tried to disregard the comments but she found she couldn’t because it was happening almost every day. Everywhere she went there was someone mocking her or making fun of her appearance.
Sitting on the couch next to Rhen, Ceceta glanced at her apartment door. She needed to help Latsoh with her costume for tonight’s school event but she was afraid to leave the apartment alone. Jet was bouncing his baby on his hip and Shno was lounging by the windows reading a book. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could do this. It was highly unlikely that anyone would be waiting for her in the hallway.
Standing up, she told Rhen, “I have to help Latsoh with her costume, so I can’t help you with yours. Do you have one in mind?” Rhen nodded. Ceceta walked to the door adding, “When I come back, it’ll be time to leave, so be ready to go, please.”
“Sure,” Rhen said absentmindedly, while flipping through one of his jetbike magazines.
Ceceta paused at the door. “You heard me? You’ll be ready?” Rhen nodded again. “See you later.”
“Bye,” Rhen called out, before the door closed.
A moment later, Reed walked into the room. “Want to go for a jetbike ride?”
“Definitely.” Rhen tossed his magazine onto the coffee table.
“Rhen, what about your costume?” Jet asked. “Ceceta told you to get it ready before she left. You don’t want to end up on the couch for a week.”
“Oh, yeah.” He’d already forgotten. He glanced around the room for a second then said, “I got it. No need to worry.” Jet shook his head as Rhen and Reed left.
When Rhen returned later that day, he found Jet and Lilly dressed as salt and pepper shakers. “You better hurry up or you’ll be back on the couch tonight,” Jet warned him, while lifting his communicator to let the guard elves know that Rhen was back.
“I’ll be ready in a minute,” Rhen said, walking into his bedroom.
After Jet and Lilly had met with their babysitter to go over their daughter’s schedule, Jet walked into Rhen’s apartment to check on him. He noticed James sitting on Rhen’s couch reading a jetbike magazine. James was wearing black jeans, a blue shirt and a Crithnian purple cap that he’d recently picked up on vacation. “Excuse me, sir. I was looking for Rhen. Did you see where he went?”
James laughed. “I’m Rhen, Jet.”
Jet leaned forward to stare at James’ face. When James pushed up on his purple cap to reveal his elfin ears, Jet exclaimed, “No way. How did you do that? Did you use your powers to change your face?” It was a clever costume. Rhen looked just like James. Jet would have to be very careful not to lose him tonight. He didn’t want Bosternd to pull him from his position as Rhen’s bodyguard.
Rhen laughed again. “No, I already look like James. I just put on some of the clothes he likes to wear and drew some lines onto my face to make me look older.”
“That’s amazing,” Lilly said. “You look exactly like him. But you can’t stand up and you can’t talk because it’ll give you away. And he’s got that middle-aged gut. Can you make yourself a little fatter?”
Rhen rolled his eyes at her. “No, but I’ll remain seated and mute until everyone knows, okay?”
Lilly clapped. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction.”
By the time Ceceta and her friends returned to the apartment, Rhen had fallen asleep on the couch. His arms were crossed over his chest and his head was tilted downward. Ceceta was surprised to see James. She figured he was waiting for Rhen. She went into her bedroom to change, while her friends went into Jet’s apartment, so they wouldn’t wake up James.
A little while later, Ceceta marched out of her bedroom into Jet’s apartment. Whispering, so she wouldn’t wake up James, she said, “I told him to be dressed and ready when I got back but he’s not even here. Gods damn him. He’s going to be in so much trouble for this. How hard can it be to dress yourself? He’s had hours to do it. Where is he?”
Jet and Lilly laughed. “What’s so funny?” Charlie asked, when he noticed Shno laughing too. Jet had already told Rhen’s guards about his costume, so they could help Jet keep an eye on Rhen.
“Ceceta, you can’t get angry with him,” Lilly said. “He did get dressed. He’s waiting for you in your apartment.”
“No, he’s not,” Ceceta hissed. “James is sleeping on our couch, but Rhen’s nowhere to be seen.”
Jet shook his head. “That’s not James, that’s Rhen. His costume is James.”
Ceceta looked stunned. Turning, she walked back into her apartment. It was James. It had to be. It looked exactly like him. Ceceta wondered if Rhen had changed bodies again, so she reached out and lifted up the edge of his cap. There, peeking out from underneath the brim of his hat, were Rhen’s sculpted ears.
Her actions woke Rhen. He yawned and stretched out on the couch. “Hey,” he said in a scratchy voice. He cleared his throat and
added, “Ready to go, love?”
“Oh, Gods,” Ceceta said. She couldn’t believe it. He looked exactly like James. “Rhen, if there are awards for best costume, you’ll win. We all thought you were James.”
“You did?” He grinned up at her, happy that she liked his costume. He liked the cat costume she was wearing, too. “Lilly says I have to stay seated and I can’t speak if I want to be sure to convince everyone.”
“She’s right.” Ceceta laughed and reached for Rhen’s hand to pull him off the couch. “Let’s go have some fun.”
As they walked to the University’s concert hall, they agreed that Ceceta and the guard elves would have to stay away from Rhen, at least until everyone knew his costume. Charlie told Jet that he would act as Rhen’s guard in the meantime.
They entered the hall to find it had been heavily decorated for the evening’s festivities. Lights had been strung up along the walls, a seating area had been arranged by the bar in the back of the room and balloons and streamers were now hanging from the ceiling. The band was already playing and the room was full of students dancing and talking in groups. Rhen grabbed a seat at one of the tables in the bar area and tucked his legs under the tablecloth, so they’d be out of sight while Charlie and Lilly sat down on either side of him and Jet headed off to get everyone drinks.
Reed and his wife, Lilo, were the first royals to arrive. They were joined in the entranceway by Lilo’s parents, the Wood Elf King and Queen. Reed spotted James and headed towards him. “Hi, all,” he said, pulling a seat out for his wife. Rhen nodded to him, but kept his gaze on the students who were dancing.
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 20