The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves

by Charity Kelly

  “Hey, we found the perfect man for Ceceta,” Crystam told Tgfhi. She pointed at the man sleeping on the beach. His body reminded Tgfhi and Erfce of Rhen’s. Ceceta liked her men to be physically fit, so he was perfect for her in that respect, but they couldn’t see his face. “He looks perfect for you Ceceta,” Tgfhi said. “Do you want us to help you meet him? Erfce and I could strike up a conversation with him and then you could walk over and join us.”

  “Yes, that’d be great. Do it tonight,” Crystam told him. “But we’re calling her Crissi, so no one will know who she is. We want him to like her for who she is and not because she’s rich.” Ceceta gave her a look and they both laughed.

  “Makes sense,” Erfce said.

  “Oh, look. He’s getting drinks,” Latsoh said. They watched as a waiter holding a tray with several drinks on it arrived next to the man. The man pulled the magazine off his face and put his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun’s glare as he looked up at the waiter.

  “Is he cute?” Ceceta asked. She leaned to her right to try to see him better.

  “You can’t see what he looks like yet,” Tgfhi told her. “He’s still lying down looking the wrong way and he has his hand over his face.”

  The waiter put the tray of drinks down on the low table next to the man then handed him a new magazine. He sat up to take the magazine while turning to his right to block the glare of the sun from its pages. As soon as he turned towards them, they gasped. It was Rhen. “Oh, Gods,” Ceceta said, stumbling backwards and falling onto a chair.

  “What’s he doing here?” Latsoh whispered. She and the others had ducked down to try and hide behind the slats in the deck’s fencing. “I thought he was on Surpen.”

  “Did you tell him we were coming?” Crystam hissed at Tgfhi.

  “No! I haven’t spoken to him since the Fair. I swear.”

  “Look who’s standing up in the ocean,” Erfce said, resting his chin on the railing. He shielded his large brown eyes from the sun for a better view. “It’s Aaron and Sarah.”

  Sure enough, now that their drinks had arrived, Aaron and Sarah were coming out of the ocean. They’d been swimming together and, like Rhen, their bodies were bronzed by the sun.

  “Hey,” Erfce added, pointing down the beach. “Isn’t that Charlie and Mary walking this way?”

  Charlie and Mary were holding hands and talking, as they walked along the shoreline. Like the others, they were tan and relaxed.

  “So, where are the other guards?” Tgfhi asked, his head swiveling back and forth as he searched for them.

  Latsoh snorted and pointed out towards the ocean. “Jack and Shno are on those jet skis. Wow, nice jump. Did you see Jack’s jump, Erfce?” He gave an affirmative grunt, as he watched Shno line up to do the same thing.

  “Look behind us in the kiddie pool area for Lilly,” Ceceta whispered.

  They turned around and spotted Lilly and her daughter playing in the children’s pool.

  “So Jet is?” Tgfhi asked. He leaned forward, over the railing and spotted Jet. Jet was on duty. He was keeping people away from Rhen, while leaning against the wall of the pool, not far below them. He had two small daggers strapped to his arms, a harness across his chest that held a long sword against his bare back and two daggers strapped to his thighs. His bathing suit looked like his military shorts. Tgfhi laughed at the sight of him. “You can take the man off of Surpen, but you can’t take the Surpen out of the man. He’s armed to the teeth. Do you think he has mini-daggers under his armpits?”

  Erfce laughed at Tgfhi’s comment, but when no one else did, they turned around to find Crystam and Latsoh comforting Ceceta. “So,” Crystam said, holding Ceceta’s hand. “Where do you want to go on vacation?”

  “What?!” Tgfhi bellowed. Latsoh glared at him to shut up.

  Ceceta looked up at their hopeful faces. She could tell they didn’t want to leave, but they would for her. She didn’t want to make them leave just because her ex-husband was at the hotel. “We’ll be fine here. I just need to stay away from him. I don’t want him to see me.”

  “We’ll be like spies and go wherever he doesn’t,” Latsoh assured her.

  Ceceta nodded and it was settled. They walked to their rooms, talking about how much experience they had as spies and thanking Themrock that they didn’t have to leave the paradise of the hotel just yet.

  For the first few days of their vacation, neither Rhen nor his guards spotted them. On the third day, they were sitting in the infinity pool, patting themselves on their backs for their spy-like abilities, when Charlie jumped into the pool and swam over to Crystam.

  “Hi, everyone,” he said. “We saw you guys arrive. We weren’t sure whether or not you would stay. I guess you decided this place is just too amazing to leave. It is, isn’t it?”

  “Does Rhen know we’re here?” Latsoh asked.

  “No,” Charlie told her emphatically, while raising his hands. A servant placed a drink into his palm. “Oh.” He looked surprised, then shrugged and took a sip. “I love this place. It’s better than the palace. They remember what you like and they always have it ready.” He took another sip of his drink then put it down on the side of the pool. “No, we decided not to tell Rhen that you were here. It’s been fun playing this game of cat and mouse with you these last few days. Unfortunately, that’s why I’m here. Rhen’s decided to go swimming in the pool, so you need to go to the beach now.” He pulled the slice of blueapple off of the rim of his drink and ate it before adding, “Sarah’s delaying him, so you’ll have enough time to get down to the beach.”

  “Thanks,” Ceceta said, standing up. She was a little surprised to hear that Rhen was going swimming. He didn’t like water.

  “You know,” Charlie added, licking his fingers. “It’s been hard keeping him away from you. You’re not very good at hiding.”

  Their earlier elation at being good spies deflated. It seemed Charlie and the others had been making sure that Rhen didn’t cross their path.

  “Well, thanks for helping,” Latsoh said, making her way towards the steps to get out of the pool.

  “Oh,” Charlie called out, as they grabbed their towels. “We won’t be around tomorrow morning, so you can eat whenever you want to but we’ll be back for lunch, so don’t eat in the main restaurant tomorrow at lunchtime. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Tgfhi said with a nod, while walking towards the ocean. Erfce held back. When the others had left the pool deck, he squatted down next to Charlie. “Charlie, would you please sell me the portrait of Thamber that you purchased from the Fire Elves. It has special meaning to Latsoh and I’d like to give it to her on our wedding night.”

  Charlie, who’d been drinking his cocktail, lowered the glass and smiled. “This is really strong.” There was a line of blue juice along the top of his upper lip. “Do you want some?”

  “No,” Erfce growled. “Stop fooling around. Let me know how I can contact you later to buy Latsoh’s portrait.”

  Charlie tilted his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Erfce couldn’t believe it. Charlie was pulling that trick again? He had been in Charlie’s bedroom. He knew that Charlie had Latsoh’s portrait along with a huge stash of other Genister artifacts. One that any country would be proud to claim. Why was he acting this way? “Charlie, please, you have to–”

  “What are you doing here?” Shno hissed interrupting Erfce. “Go! Rhen’s right behind me.”

  Erfce glanced up to see Jack and Aaron distracting Rhen by the side entrance to the pool. They were pointing at something back towards their rooms. Without a word, Erfce ran towards the beach. It didn’t matter if he stayed anyway. Charlie would never sell him Latsoh’s portrait. It was time for Plan B.

  From that moment on, Ceceta and her friends communicated with Rhen’s guards to make sure that neither of them would be in the same place at the same time. One morning, they walked into the restaurant for breakfast earlier than they had agreed on with Aaron. Since Rh
en and his guards had left, they didn’t think it would be a problem. They took seats and ordered their meal. A few minutes later, Rhen entered the room. He strode past their table, stopping at a table near theirs, to pick up a package that had been left on the floor. When he stood up, he noticed them. Rhen stared at them for several seconds with a blank expression on his face before giving them a curt nod and leaving the room.

  After he had left, Ceceta exhaled. She was surprised to find that she had been holding her breath. “Well, what now?” Latsoh asked.

  A few minutes later, they had their answer. Sarah entered the restaurant and approached their table. “Okay, he’s seen you. He’s not leaving the hotel and he doesn’t care if you stay, so do whatever you want to.”

  “Our vacation is almost over,” Crystam told her.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sarah said. “Your being here doesn’t seem to bother him.”

  “Yes, it does,” Ceceta said. She was surprised to find that Sarah’s words hurt her. “He’s just pretending that it doesn’t.”

  “No,” Sarah snapped. “I really don’t think he cares.” She glared at Ceceta and found she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “You know Ceceta, five boyfriends within a short time of separating from your husband? That’s a little harsh, isn’t it? Don’t you think you should’ve had some sort of mourning period?”

  Ceceta paled. “He knows about them?” She had thought that her outings had been private. Had Rhen had been spying on her?

  Sarah shook her head. How could Ceceta ask that? “Of course, he knows. The whole Universe knows. You’ve been in all of the magazines for weeks.”

  Ceceta was stunned. She’d had no idea. “They weren’t boyfriends. I went on one date with each of them. Besides, like you said, we did separate.”

  Sarah gave her a thin smile. “Right. We all know that part.”

  For the rest of their vacation, Ceceta and her friends continued to avoid Rhen. They made sure to go to opposite parts of the hotel and to eat at different times. Sarah’s comment had left Ceceta feeling guilty. She had thought that by now Rhen would have been dating an elf.

  Late in the afternoon of their last day, Ceceta told the others that she was going for a swim. Tgfhi and Crystam decided to join her. They walked down to the infinity pool to find it practically deserted. There were a few people over by the swim up bar, but the rest of the pool was empty. “Nice,” Ceceta said with appreciation. She dropped her towel and ran towards the pool to jump in. As she leapt into the air over the water, Jet screamed out, “Wait! Ceceta, you’re jumping in on top of Rhen!” It was too late to stop. Ceceta fell into the water, making a large splash.

  Rhen had been sitting under the water thinking. It was a past time that he had enjoyed, when he’d been the Surpen God of War and now he found he liked it even more as a man. He would sit on the bottom bench of the pool with his eyes closed, pondering issues. The pool had been emptied of guests by Rhen’s guards. They had thought that Ceceta had seen Rhen, so they hadn’t said anything to her or her friends when they had arrived.

  Ceceta fell into the pool right above Rhen’s head, narrowly missing him. Rhen gasped in shock and swallowed a large amount of water. Above the pool, Jet, Aaron, Tgfhi and Crystam watched, as Ceceta kicked the water to move away from Rhen. Suddenly, the water in the pool was gone and Rhen was on his hands and knees gasping for air. Blood was splattered on the sides of the pool around him. When he sat up, they saw blood flowing from his nose and mouth. Jet and Aaron jumped down to his side. “Are you alright, Emperor?” Jet asked. There was blood everywhere.

  “What happened?” Aaron asked. “She didn’t land on top of you. Where did all of this blood come from?”

  Instead of answering them, Rhen started to laugh. He laughed for a long time, as he looked over at Ceceta. Wiping at the blood that was dripping out of his mouth with his forearm, he got to his feet. “Damn, woman. Just when I thought I could get used to a boring life, you show up and the calamities start all over again. I think you’re my albatross.” He grinned at Ceceta, his teeth red with blood.

  “What happened, sir?” Jet asked.

  “Nothing,” Rhen said dismissively. He flew out of the pool and used his powers to lift the others out. In the blink of an eye, he cleaned the pool and refilled it with fresh water before putting everyone back down on the pool deck.

  “Where did all of that blood come from?” Aaron asked.

  Rhen wiped at his face again. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.” He glanced over at Ceceta and started to chuckle. Sauntering up to her, he stared down at her for a few moments, watching her cheeks blush a darker blue from his proximity. “Do you want to get back together?”

  Ceceta felt prickles of desire dance across her skin.

  “No,” she told him, doing her best to look cross.

  “I can hear your heart rate increasing. I know you still like me.”

  Ceceta lifted her chin. “My heart rate is increasing because every time you’re around, some tragedy occurs. I’m worried that I’m going to be hurt.”

  “Tragedy?” Rhen glanced around them. “What tragedy just occurred?”

  “There was blood all over you!” Ceceta yelled. “Most people keep their blood on the inside of their bodies.”

  Rhen smiled. She was worried about him. “There was blood all over me because you startled me when you jumped in on top of me. I accidentally swallowed some water, which caused my bloodworms to get angry.”

  Ceceta crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you eliminate them finally?”

  Rhen shrugged. “I had no choice. It was either them or me. No harm done. I’ve already healed.”

  “So? Are you going to try some new foods today?” Ceceta asked softly.

  Rhen leaned in closer to inhale her scent. He felt his body reacting. He couldn’t help it. He still loved her. “Are you going to be my wife today?”

  Ceceta hesitated a moment too long before saying, “No.”

  Rhen grinned then nodded and turned away. He’d seen her checking him out. She wanted him too. She was just too stubborn to admit it. He made up his mind. He was going to get her back. Walking towards his room, he said over his shoulder, “Then it’s really none of your business what I do, is it?”

  Ceceta watched Rhen until his trim backside disappeared around the bend. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him. If only she’d been born an elf.

  ***

  “Te’s looking for you,” Aul told Loreth when he appeared in the dungeon underneath Punishment Island.

  When Rhen had become Emperor, he’d condemned the Island. His soldiers had demolished the buildings and a memorial park had been built instead. What Rhen or anyone else for that matter hadn’t realized was that there was a secret underground network of cells, along with a holding chamber and medical room, built beneath the main structure. Its only point of access was a hidden path along the south edge of the island.

  Loreth groaned at the thought of contacting Te. With Ceceta out of the picture, he’d dropped him. There’d been no need for him to contact the man anymore. “What does he want?”

  Aul picked at his teeth with the edge of an old thumbscrew. There was still some dried blood on it. Loreth’s lip curled with disgust. “I have no idea. All I know is that he’s been telling the Rasacks that he has to talk to you.”

  Loreth sighed. “Fine.” He phased into Te’s bedroom and found Te sitting in his bed reading a book. As soon as Te saw Loreth, he yelled, “Do something!”

  Loreth cocked his head at the fuzzy pajamas with flying pigs on them that Te was wearing. “About?”

  “Haven’t you been watching?” Te snapped. He stood up and pulled a robe on over his pajamas, then paced back and forth beside his bed.

  Loreth noticed a bowl of milk and a pitcher with chocolate sauce in it sitting on a table by Te’s fireplace and made his way towards it. “Watching what?” he asked, while dipping his finger into the sauce. It was surprisingly delicious.

  “Rhen,�
� Te snapped. How could Loreth be so obtuse? He felt like hitting the Genister. His ignorance made Te wonder if Loreth was truly committed to their cause of making Neptian into an empire. “He’s actively courting Ceceta. As if… as if he wants to date her.”

  Loreth’s eyes widened. He’d poured the sauce into the milk and had been about to drink it. Quietly, he put the saucer down onto the table. Rhen was back in action? He’d thought he was still moping about on Surpen. Aul hadn’t mentioned that he was up to anything.

  Loreth had been completely bored since Rhen’s break up. He had thought that Themrock would return once Ceceta was out of the picture, but instead he’d remained hidden within his mortal shell. As a result, Loreth had had nothing to do. The boredom had been killing him. If Te was right, if Rhen was back in action, then he’d finally have something to do.

  He turned towards Te, the chocolate milk forgotten. “Are you sure?”

  Te snorted with disbelief. “Of course, I’m sure, you imbecile. He bumped into Ceceta while he was on vacation and ever since then he’s been popping up at the University. He shows up at least twice a day, every day. Ceceta has been acting standoffish about his visits, but that’s bound to change. The Supreme has asked EFT’s members to remobilize. I haven’t been able to get in touch with Yfetb to tell him to rejoin the club.”

  Loreth couldn’t believe how happy he was to hear the news. It sounded like Rhen had decided to live again. His depression had been incredibly annoying. If Rhen was actively pursuing Ceceta then that meant Loreth had to get back to work. He phased himself back onto Surpen. Aul was throwing knives at a wall while Narseth was using his teeth to tighten the crank on the top of the thumbscrew while his thumbs were inside it. Loreth put a hand to his forehead. He needed better pawns. “Time for action, boys,” he said, getting their attention. “Rhen’s courting Ceceta.”

  “No, he’s not,” Aul replied, dropping his throwing hand down to his side. “I spotted him talking to a battalion of soldiers yesterday.”

  “Te tells me he’s courting Ceceta. You should go to the University and do what you can to find out what’s happening.”