“They’re all connected,” Charlie said, taking a bite from his apple. “Come on, he’ll probably land in the dining room to see if Ceceta wants to take a ride. Let’s meet him there.”
“That looks like fun,” Jack said as he chased after Charlie, who was now sprinting for the entry door.
Bosternd stood up when they entered the dining room. “Where is he?” The guard elves stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few seconds. They didn’t know what to tell him. “There he is,” Charlie said, pointing towards the ceiling as Rhen zipped past them in the tube over their heads. The merpeople smacked their tails with excitement.
A few seconds later, there was a sucking sound from the open tube that was sticking out of the ceiling and Rhen dropped down onto the cushions below. He rolled twice then stood up, dripping wet. “Fantastic!” The smile fell from his face when he noticed everyone staring at him. “Sorry. Was I supposed to wait until after the meal to try them out?”
“No, no,” Plos reassured him. “It’s fine.” He had always thought that the tubes were a decoration. He’d had no idea they were a ride.
Rhen grinned as he walked over towards his table. “Plos, that was amazing. You can speed up and slow down by changing your body shape and then there’s this area…” he hesitated, “but you already know all about it.” Turning to Ceceta, he said, “Come on, you’ve got to try it out. I’ll give you the ability to breathe underwater like them and then you can jump right in.”
“Like them?” Tgfhi asked, climbing to his feet.
“Like the Water Elves. Didn’t you know that Water Elves could breathe underwater?”
Tgfhi put his hands on his hips. Nice little information drop there Themrock, he thought. “No,” he said, “I didn’t.”
“Well, they can.” Rhen pulled Ceceta towards the trough in the back of the room. He searched the area for a second before saying, “Ah, here. This must have been where Themrock used to put it.” He reached up, above the trough for what looked like an old, wire bird cage then pulled a white ball of energy out of his body and placed it into the cage. He closed the cage’s door and locked it with a spell, then hung it back up over the trough. Turning, he told his friends, “Dip one of your fingers into this energy and you’ll be able to breathe underwater like the Water Elves for two hours.”
Tgfhi was impressed. “Thanks, Rhen.” He couldn’t wait to try it.
Rhen held out his hand to Ceceta. “So, are you coming?”
Ceceta shook her head and stepped away from the trough, her eyes narrowing suspiciously on the tubes. “I don’t want to.”
Rhen hesitated. He’d wanted to share the experience with her. “Are you sure?” When Ceceta nodded, he jumped up into the trough.
“I want to go before you,” Sarah called out. She ran over and climbed into the trough in front of Rhen. She was taking a chance. None of the Water Elves had ever breathed under water before. She hoped that Themrock had restored that power to them. If not, she would be in serious trouble. Aaron looked worried as did her parents. She winked at them, then lay down in the few inches of water in the trough with her arms across her chest. Rhen gave her a gentle push, sliding her into the tube, and an instant later, she was pulled out of sight by the water that was rushing by. In their minds, the elves could hear Sarah laughing as she zipped past them. It seemed Themrock had given them the ability to breath underwater.
Rhen flipped his body over to enter the tube headfirst. “Wait!” Ceceta yelled, just as he was sliding into the tube. He flung his hands and legs out to stop his momentum. They could see the water pummeling him as it rushed by with great force. A second later, he phased out of the tube and landed next to Ceceta, dripping wet and breathing hard. “Trying to stop the force of that water is impossible.” He leaned over to catch his breath. “If I wasn’t tired before, I am now.” When he had recovered, he held out his hand to Ceceta. “Do you want to go together or separate?”
“Together.”
Rhen pointed at the ball of energy in the cage and Ceceta dipped her finger into it. She felt the cool rush of his powers as they ran up her arm into her chest. Rhen lifted her into the trough then jumped up behind her. “You’re sure this will work?” she asked.
Rhen kissed her. “Would I lie to you, love?” Ceceta smiled and lay down as Rhen wrapped himself around her.
“Ready?” She nodded.
Rhen kicked at the water in the trough to push the two of them into the tube. Ceceta felt a moment of panic when the water consumed her but the thrill of the speed and being able to see out through the tubes at the passing scenery had her laughing with delight in no time.
As soon as they were gone, there was a mad rush to enter the tubes. Everyone wanted to try it out. Those who couldn’t breathe underwater dipped their finger into Rhen’s energy ball, while those who could jumped into the trough as soon as the person in front of them had zipped off. The merpeople had left to enter the tubes through openings that were located underneath the castle. They zoomed around inside the tubes with the Water Elves, laughing and playing.
Later that night, Rhen pulled himself and Ceceta out of the tubes. They’d been riding the water for a while now and he was exhausted. “I’m afraid I need to go home to bed, Cece. You can stay if you want to. I’m just wiped.”
“No, I’ll go home with you.” She waved at Neka, when she shot past them through one of the tubes. A moment later, Neka stood up in the trough outside the castle beside them. “Yes? Do you need something?”
“We just wanted to say thank you. We’re tired, so we’ll be heading home now. Would you please thank Plos for us and tell him we said goodbye?”
“Of course.” Neka stepped out of the tube to hug them. “Thank you so much for coming tonight. I hope you had fun. Please visit us again soon.”
“We will,” Ceceta said, taking Rhen’s hand.
Rhen phased them back to their apartment where they found Jet and Bosternd waiting for them. “Hey,” Rhen called out, kicking off his wet military boots. “Didn’t you want to try out the tubes?”
“We’re Surpens,” Jet said stoically, making Rhen laugh.
Of course, Rhen thought. A Surpen would never want to be totally submerged under water. Rhen waved good night to them and headed into his bedroom to crash.
***
The next day at school, everyone was talking about the Water Elf castle. Most of the students had already been to the castle to try out the tubes. Those who hadn’t were planning on going after breakfast. The Water Elves’ tubes had become famous overnight and people throughout the Universe were visiting Thestran to try them out. Plos had had to set up a new accounting department to handle the income from so many tourists.
Rhen didn’t leave his bedroom that morning. Ceceta wandered out into their kitchen around mid-morning. “Is everything okay?” Jet asked, from their adjoining living room.
“Yeah.” She pulled some coffee beans out of the refrigerator to make a cup of coffee. “He just needs to sleep, like Thellis told you he would. He’s completely wiped. It’s still the weekend, so I told him to spend the day in bed. There’s nothing to get up for, right?”
“No,” Jet agreed. He turned to go back to Lilly. “There’s no reason for him to leave the apartment today.”
“That’s what I told him,” Ceceta said before yawning and starting her coffee maker.
Rhen spent the entire day in bed. That night, as Ceceta and her friends sat down to study, he opened his bedroom door and wandered over to sit down next to Ceceta on the couch. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was askew. Ceceta leaned over to give him a kiss. “You look so much better than you did this morning.” She rubbed her hand through his thick brown hair to flatten it.
Rhen grunted. “Really? I thought I still looked like a Rasack wart.”
“No, you looked like that earlier. Now you look like a Tgarian mormot’s butt.” She chuckled when Rhen glared at her. “Only kidding, only kidding.”
Rhen settled dow
n into the couch and leaned his head back. A few moments later he was asleep.
“I love how he can do that,” Latsoh said.
“Me too,” Jet agreed wistfully as he bounced his daughter up and down on his hip. The nanny had delivered their baby an hour ago and he was already tired.
Chapter 26
Student Bathroom – Elfin University
“Rhen, can I talk to you for a moment?” Tgfhi put his hand on Rhen’s shoulder to stop him from leaving the bathroom. The rest of their group was still at the lunch table in the student dining hall and Rhen’s guards were waiting outside. If he didn’t leave the bathroom soon, they’d come in to check on him.
“May I have your permission to take Latsoh’s portrait of Thamber from Charlie? Erfce has asked Charlie for it repeatedly, but he keeps pretending he doesn’t have it. We know he has it. We all saw it in his bedroom. Erfce’s been begging me to steal it since Charlie won’t sell it to him. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble swiping it from Charlie’s bedroom, but I wanted to check with you first. If I’m caught, it could be difficult for you politically, considering I’m a part of your territory.”
Rhen’s mouth twisted to the side as he considered Tgfhi’s words. He pushed open the bathroom door. “Charlie, come in here.”
“No,” Tgfhi hissed, putting his hands out to stop Rhen, but it was too late.
Charlie glanced at Tgfhi curiously as he walked into the bathroom. “Is there a problem?”
“Give Erfce the portrait of Thamber that you bought from the Fire Elves.” Charlie was about to protest, but Rhen continued, “I’ll pay you a fair price for it. The poor guy’s been trying to buy it from you forever now. It’s not nice of you to play with him. You know how much that portrait means to the Fire Elves and Latsoh in particular. Let him give it to Latsoh as a gift on their wedding day as he’s been planning this whole time.”
Charlie could tell that Rhen was angry with him. He wouldn’t get anywhere claiming he didn’t have it. “Okay, Rhen.”
Rhen clasped his shoulder. “I appreciate it.” Glancing behind Charlie at Tgfhi, he asked, “We done here? Can I go back to lunch?”
Tgfhi nodded then jogged past Rhen to open the door for him. He rushed out behind Rhen so Charlie couldn’t yell at him.
***
The Fire Elf King and Queen had a problem. "We've invited too many people," Naci bellowed as he paced back and forth in his study to keep warm. Reman had counted and then recounted the acceptances to Latsoh and Erfce's wedding invitation. They had expected about twenty percent of the people they’d invited to be unable to come but that wasn’t the case. Everyone had accepted their invitation. Reman, who was sitting at Naci’s desk, gathered the response cards to her. “They’re probably coming because they want to see what happens to the castle when Rhen enters it.”
“I agree, but what do we do before then? The castle won’t grow until he puts his hands in the handprints. We can’t fit everyone in our reception room. It isn’t big enough.” He paused by the fireplace and kicked at a few dying embers. “Stupid fire.”
Reman sighed. None of the Fire Elves could keep a fire blazing. It was actually rather comical. She’d grown used to it, but Naci still rallied against his inability to produce a fire.
“Where do we fit everyone?” He turned to face her, looking distraught. A moment later, he perked up. “I know. Let’s tell Latsoh she has to get Rhen to visit the castle the night before her wedding for a ‘dress rehearsal.’”
Reman wrapped a second shawl around her arms. "She won't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because then Rhen will sleep through her wedding. She wants him to be awake for her celebration." Naci grunted. Reman was right. Rhen had slept for an entire day after his visit to the Water Elf castle.
Reman curled her toes under the soles of her feet to try to warm them. “I think we should hold the reception in the courtyard between us and the temple. The light from the temple will keep us warm, the setting is beautiful with all of the flowers and there’s plenty of room.”
Naci’s eyebrows rose as he considered her suggestion. It was a good idea. He walked over to stand in front of his desk as Reman smiled up at him. “Okay. But what do we do about the dining portion of the ceremony?”
“We’ll squeeze some extra tables into the banquet hall. Nobody will mind, since it’ll keep us all warm.” Naci rapped his knuckles on the desk twice and pointed at her, giving his approval.
Reman hoped that was the end of it. Her husband had a habit of worrying too much.
***
Rhen was sitting on the couch in his apartment spacing out. He had already dressed for Latsoh and Erfce’s wedding in his black military dress uniform, the one that Ceceta liked, since it brought out his eyes. The black tunic was trimmed with leather and black pearls had been sewn in intricate patterns across the sleeves and bottom hem. Rhen’s cape was black and he wore a single sword with dagger attachment around his waist. Ceceta stepped out of her bedroom wearing dark blue robes that were trimmed with black.
“You look awesome,” Crystam told her.
“Can we go now?” Tgfhi asked, when Ceceta started to compliment Crystam on her dress. “The ceremony is supposed to begin soon. I don’t want to be late.”
Ceceta hesitated. “I don’t know. Rhen’s been zoning out more and more lately, ever since our trip to the Water Elf castle. What if I stop him while he’s in the middle of saving someone’s life?” Tgfhi certainly didn’t want to be responsible for causing someone’s death. “Do you know what’s going on?” Ceceta asked Jet.
Jet was sitting on his couch feeding his daughter. He held her bottle steady with his right hand as he rocked back and forth to try to get her to sleep. “There’s been a lot of unrest in Solar System 12. He’s probably just checking it out.”
“Unrest?” Tgfhi asked.
“Civil war,” Jet clarified. “Solar System 12 is a wreck.” He pulled the bottle free and lifted his daughter up onto his shoulder to burp her.
“That’s terrible,” Crystam said. “Why doesn’t Rhen stop it?”
“He can’t,” Thellis mumbled from outside the living room window, his green glow lighting the glass.
Ceceta waved at him, telling him to come in. When he continued to linger outside, she said, “Come on in Thellis and tell us why Rhen can’t stop the war.”
Thellis floated through the window into Ceceta’s living room. He hovered by the bookcase on the side of the room. “He can’t stop the war because he signed the Code Book.”
Tgfhi laughed. “Well, I guess that explains everything.”
“What does the Genister Code Book have to do with Solar System 12?” Jet asked, while checking to make sure the baby’s spit up landed on the cloth and not his uniform.
“The war in Solar System 12 is Therol’s game, thus the Code Book.”
Jet sighed. Ceceta was right. The Genisters were annoying. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Thellis floated down to perch on the coffee table. “There are many chapters in the Code Book. You know the one about not interfering with a Genister who is reliving their life, but there’s also a section that states that if one of us is involved with a solar system, then the rest of us are not allowed to interfere unless: one, the solar system asks for our help; two, we are good friends with inhabitants of the system; three, we are using a mortal shell from that system; or four, we are already involved in that system. Of course, when Themrock wrote the book he never considered that Therol might use it to his advantage.
“Maybe Themrock should rewrite the Code Book,” Crystam snapped.
Thellis snorted, his green powers flaring around him. “Great idea. Why don’t you tell him that the next time you see– ”
Rhen blinked his eyes and lifted his hand up to smooth his hair down. He looked around the room at the others. “Why are you staring at me?”
“We were talking about the war on Solar System 12,” Thellis said. “Can you do anything
to stop it?”
Rhen shook his head. “No. I wish I could. They haven’t called out to me for help.”
“Aren’t they calling out to Themrock?” Tgfhi asked, feeling confused. Thellis gave him a look and he slapped a hand over his mouth. Crap. He’d just slipped up.
Fortunately, Rhen didn’t seem to notice. He stood up to stretch saying, “Somehow Loreth has made it impossible for them to ask the Genister Gods or Surpens for help. They can’t seem to say the words ‘Black Angel’ either. If they could, I’d be there already.”
“That’s terrible,” Ceceta said. “Are they asking anyone for help?”
Rhen nodded. “The Thestran royal family.”
Charlie coughed as Lilly gasped. “They’re calling out to us?” she asked, feeling horrid.
Crystam pointed at Rhen. “You’re a member of the Thestran royal family. Can’t you help?”
Rhen rolled his eyes. “Crystam, I am no longer a member of the Thestran royal family. I am Surpen and even if I was still legally a part of the Thestran royal family, they have yet to call out my name.” He saw Ceceta draw in a breath to speak and stopped her by adding, “Either of my names, Max or Rhen.” She exhaled and pursed her lips, as she tried to think of a way to help the people in Solar System 12.
“I will tell you this,” Rhen said, when he saw the concern on everyone’s faces. “Loreth is maneuvering some of the people in System 12 towards attacking System 4. Last year, I set up a trade route between Systems 4 and 25. I own System 25; therefore, I have a vested interest in 4. I believe Loreth may have forgotten about that. If he forces his pawns into attacking System 4, I will retaliate.”
“Then let’s hope they attack 4 soon,” Ceceta said.
Rhen grimaced. He never hoped for war. Putting out his hand for Ceceta, he asked, “Shall we go?”
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 33