Rhen laughed. “As it should be.” He turned to hug his friend Erfce, the Prince of Ponto, who was standing behind Crystam.
Erfce’s head only came up to Rhen ’s elbows. He felt awkward being crushed into Rhen’s chest and pushed back against Rhen to free himself. “It’s good to see you again,” he told Rhen.
“You too,” Rhen said.
Erfce pointed behind Rhen at the instruments. “So, what’re you going to sing for us today?”
Rhen hesitated. He had wanted to catch up with his friends. It’d been too long since they’d talked in person. Unfortunately, there were thousands of people watching them right now. It seemed he’d have to wait. Tapping his index finger against his forehead, Rhen said, “I haven’t any idea, but I’m sure it’ll be good.”
“It always is,” Erfce told him.
As Rhen returned to the microphone, his friends and family picked up the musical instruments on the stage. Once they were settled, Rhen nodded his head and the instruments began to play. With his powers, Rhen moved their fingers and bodies, so that each of them was playing the piece he had chosen.
A sweet, lilting melody filled the stadium, bringing with it a sense of peace. Rhen began to sing in a language no one could understand, but they didn’t care, because they all felt glorious.
Chapter 11
Thestran Royal Palace
Crystam's mother, Queen Chara of Ventar, along with a large group of Council Delegates, had entered the stadium before Rhen had appeared on stage. She watched with amusement as her daughter and the others approached then hugged the Surpen Emperor in greeting. Chara was overjoyed that Crystam was friends with Rhen. It was good to be friends with the most powerful Emperor in the Universe, especially one who’d protect you from harm. Chara wondered if Rhen knew that Crystam and Tgfhi had become engaged while he was on Surpen. Rhen had given his sister Sage a Genister Magic Box when she’d gotten married. What would he give Crystam at her wedding? Whatever it was, she knew it’d be something extraordinary. That boy doesn’t know how to do anything dull, she thought to herself.
Chara listened as Rhen’s music filled the room. Rhen’s powers pulled on her soul, making her smile. She remembered his first concert at the University. Rhen seemed to release some sort of power when he performed that mesmerized his audience. It appeared he was at it again. His powers were similar to her own, but she couldn’t quite figure out what they were. The only thing she knew for sure was that Rhen’s powers were stronger than hers, and if she didn’t leave the stadium soon, she’d be staring at Rhen like an infatuated teenager.
Chara stood up and stepped over the four prostrate men, who’d become overwhelmed from being near her. She tugged on her skirt to free it from the clutches of a group of people who were kissing it. When Chara stepped sideways towards the exit, another set of Thestrans fell at her feet, helpless from the powers of her attraction.
Chara stifled a sigh, lest more people faint. I’d better go home, she thought to herself as she made her way out of the concert hall, leaving behind her a trail of overwhelmed humans.
In the Grand Hallway, Chara covered her face with her hands to minimize her powers.
Rhen’s music was playing on speakers throughout the palace. Chara wondered whether her powers, if combined with Rhen’s, would become more intense or if their powers would cancel each others’ out. She should talk with Rhen about their powers. Maybe the two of them could have dinner on her balcony overlooking the vineyard. She’d be sure to light the plum scented candles that were a specialty of Ventar. Rhen would sit on the chair to her right and Chara would serve him…
Chara stopped short and shook her head. She’d just started daydreaming about Rhen sitting beside her on her balcony with no shirt on while holding her hand. “It’s his music,” she reminded herself. She wondered if anyone had had the foresight to record today’s concert. She hoped so. She’d love to have a copy.
Chara scooted around three families, who’d fallen to their knees at the sight of her and stepped into the Council Chamber to use the portal to return to Ventar.
As she crossed the Chamber’s floor, she remembered she needed a document from her planet’s desk. With luck, the room was empty, so Chara didn’t have any trouble walking up to Ventar’s seat in the Council Chamber. She spotted the document she was looking for. It’d been tucked into the lower shelf of their desk. Bending down to pick it up, Chara hesitated when she heard two men enter the room. She didn’t feel like dealing with any more casualties of her power, so she decided to remain hidden. Chara sat down on the floor and tucked her knees up into her chest to wait until the men left.
“You shouldn’t do it, Dad,” Yfetb told his father.
“I disagree,” Te said.
When she heard Te’s voice, Chara was glad that she’d hid. Te seemed to think that she enjoyed talking with him but in all honesty, she found him to be a bore.
“You can’t trust him,” Yfetb said.
“He’s brilliant,” Te said. “Look at what he did for Surpen. He took a simple, backwards planet and made it into the most powerful planet in the Universe. We need him.”
“No, we don’t, Dad. He’s dangerous. He hurt Surpen and killed their king. You can’t trust him.”
“Listen, Yfetb, Rhen is no friend of ours. Just think of what his wife must be telling him about us. She hates us for breaking off your engagement to her at the altar. We need this man to advise us, so when Rhen turns against us, we can protect ourselves.”
“It’s wrong,” Yfetb said.
“Is it wrong?” Te asked. “Most of what he says seems to make sense.”
“Neptian,” Yfetb said to the portal in front of him. The inside of the large golden frame flickered with a blue light as the portal sprang to life. A moment later, a majestic room of white marble with floor to ceiling windows appeared within the frame. The sound of a cascading waterfall floated into the Chamber.
Yfetb turned to his father. “I know what he says seems to make sense, but you have to consider his words when he’s not right in front of you. When you think about his claims, without his personality to influence them, you’ll find they’re hollow. His promises don’t add up.”
“What do you know?” Te barked. “You’re still a student at the Neptian University. You’ve attended, what, a handful of advisory meetings? I’m telling you, Yfetb, he’s our future. He’ll make Neptian the most powerful planet in the Universe.”
Yfetb clenched his teeth, his blue lips thin. He hated it when his father criticized him like a child. He’d been following in his father’s footsteps ever since mid-school. He’d done everything his father had asked, including abandoning Ceceta—something he hadn’t wanted to do, but his father had insisted on. That decision was now coming back to bite his father on the ass. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was happy that his dad was being confronted by Ceceta’s success. It served him right.
Yfetb watched his father step through the portal onto Neptian. He was about to follow, when he suddenly felt the need to find Queen Chara. Desire coursed through his body and he felt his knees weaken.
“What the hell,” he cursed, shaking his head. He glanced about the room. Normally, he only felt this overcome by the Goddess of Love when she was in the same room. Stepping back to look up into the public balcony, he confirmed that the Council Chamber was empty. It didn’t make any sense. He shouldn’t be feeling love for Queen Chara when she wasn’t nearby.
“What are you doing?” Te asked, his arms crossed with impatience.
“I thought Queen Chara might be nearby,” Yfetb said.
Te dropped his arms. “If you feel like having sex, go find one of the palace girls. They never say no.”
Yfetb closed his eyes. His father was such an idiot. They never said no because they didn’t want to get fired. “She must’ve passed through the portal before us,” Yfetb said, ignoring his father’s comment and stepping through the golden frame onto Neptian. “I was probably hit by a trace amount of her rema
ining power on the portal.”
“Speaking of Ventar,” Te said, as the portal began to close, “I think you should make a play for Crystam. There’s no way her mother could approve of her marrying a Tgarian. They’re members of the Convention, for the Gods’ sake. Think of what we could do with Chara’s power behind us. You should consider it. It’s not like Crystam’s hard on the eyes. She looks just like her mother, except without the power.”
“Dad…” Yfetb replied with fatigue, but the portal closed before Chara could hear the rest of what he had to say.
Chara rose to her feet and stared at the empty portal. "I’m not sure what’s worse," she said to herself. The idea that Andres’ evil advisor might be alive and in communication with Te and Yfetb or the fact that Te wanted Yfetb to court Crystam in order to gain Chara as a political ally.
Chara dragged a hand through her hair. She had thought that Loreth had been killed during Andres’ battle in the Thestran Council Chamber, but it was obvious that Te was speaking to someone who had advised the Surpen King. Could Loreth have survived Rhen’s power blast?
Stepping down through the tiered desks towards the portal, Chara decided she needed to keep a closer watch on the Neptian Delegates. If she discovered that Loreth was alive and helping Neptian, she’d alert the Council.
“And I better make it clear, publicly, that I approve of Tgfhi,” she added under her breath. She didn’t want any other sleazy politicians using her daughter as a pawn.
Chapter 12
Thestran Royal Palace
Rhen ran up the stairwell in the secret passageway that Reed had shown him. The concert had been an enormous success. When he’d finished his last song, his fans had burst forth onto the stage. He’d still be there now if Reed hadn't of thrust him into a private stairwell that would take him to the family’s section of the palace.
Jogging up the last set of stairs, Rhen reached out for the brass doorknob in front of him. Before he could open the door, he was startled by a flash of orange light. “Thestrst,” Rhen said, the smile fading from his face. He turned to find the translucent, masked Genister, whose powers were a distinctive sunburst orange in color, hovering over the stairs behind him.
“We need you,” Thestrst said. “Thaster has been wreaking havoc in Universe 3. We’ve been trying to stop him from destroying the Universe’s planets, but he’s out maneuvered us at every turn. We need more power to send him back to Hell.”
Rhen sighed. "Why can't you Genisters do it without me for once? If a group of you were to join together, you could blast Thaster back to Hell."
Thestrst closed his eyes with fatigue. This would be a lot easier if Rhen knew he was a Genister, he thought.
"Rhen, we've been trying to stop him, but we can’t seem to locate Thamber or Thatch. Without them, we don’t have the power we need to return Thaster to Hell.”
“Why don’t you use your Genister loop to call them?” Rhen asked, pointing at the four-inch-wide circular black ring, hanging from Thestrst’s Genister belt.
“Damn it, Rhen,” Thestrst snapped. “Stop complaining and come with me. What if Themrock is in Universe 3? You’re supposed to protect him, remember?”
Rhen pinched his lips shut rather than curse the Genister God that everyone was so intent on worshipping. He was sick of Themrock. When the Genisters first made themselves known to him, they’d told him that they’d seen his future and had found out that he would not only find Themrock, but he’d also be instrumental in protecting Themrock from Thaster and Therol. At the time Rhen had been excited about the prospect of meeting Themrock, but now he was annoyed. The Genisters never left him alone. They were always following him, hoping he’d discover Themrock’s location for them. Themrock’s wife, Layla, had even gone so far as to set up residence in his body. If Themrock were on Universe 3, Rhen wasn’t sure if he’d welcome the God or punch him in the face. “Ceceta’s waiting for me in our bedroom. I told her I’d meet her.”
“This is more important,” Thestrst told him.
“Everything you want is more important,” Rhen said. “I never get to do what I want.”
“There are people on Universe 3 dying right now and you want to go to your bedroom to meet Ceceta?”
Rhen closed his eyes. Put that way, he did sound like a whining child. He wondered if Thestrst would tell Themrock, once Rhen found him, that he didn’t want to help. Rhen certainly didn’t want Themrock to be angry at him. “Okay. Will you take me across The Ultimate Blackness to Universe 3? I can’t get to the other Universes without your help.” Only a Genister could jump The Ultimate Blackness or TUB, as most people called it, that separated Themrock’s 12 Universes.
“Of course,” Thestrst said sounding relieved. He adjusted the black mask that covered his face so it wouldn’t come loose when they jumped the TUB.
“Do you really think Themrock could be on Universe 3? The Thestran elves seems to think that he’s here, since their apple trees are blooming again.”
“I don’t know. He could be anywhere,” Thestrst said. “In the past, he’s been known to move around a lot.”
Rhen lifted his arm so that Thestrst could take him across the TUB.
“I know it’s a pain, but we appreciate the help,” Thestrst told him. “Themrock will thank you one day.”
“Make sure he knows.”
“Oh, he’ll know,” Thestrst replied, looping his arm through Rhen’s. “He sees everything.”
“Please tell Ceceta that I’m doing a job for you.”
“I will,” Thestrst said. “Do you want to go as the Black Angel?”
“No. I’m done being the Angel. It was exhausting, and people were beginning to rely on me rather than protecting themselves.”
“Ah,” Thestrst said with a nod. “I hear you. Still, you might want to reconsider your decision. He was a positive force.”
Thestrst made a swirling vortex of sunburst orange lights appear beside them. When the center of the vortex was big enough for the two of them to fly through, he tightened his grip on Rhen’s arm and made the jump to Universe 3.
---
As soon as Ceceta entered her bedroom, she kicked off her shoes. “Tonight’s the night,” she sang to herself.
She jogged over to the bathroom and sprayed a little perfume on her neck. She hoped Rhen would be back soon. She’d thought that Reed had shown him a shortcut to their bedroom, but since Rhen wasn’t back yet, she realized she must’ve misunderstood him.
Five hours later, Ceceta jerked upright from her desk. Around midnight, she’d fallen asleep on her textbooks. She stretched out her back then walked over towards her bedroom, expecting to see Rhen asleep on the bed. She felt a little angry with him for not waking her up. Knowing Rhen, though, he’d probably thought he was being kind by letting her sleep. He couldn't have been farther from the truth. She didn’t want to sleep; she wanted him.
Ceceta stepped into her bedroom and stopped short. Rhen wasn’t there. Fear gripped her as she turned to look about the living room. Rhen hadn't been back at all.
“Thellis,” she said into the empty room, while rubbing her left hand against the cold lump that had formed in her chest. “Thellis,” she repeated. When the green Genister failed to respond, she yelled, “Thellis, come to me, I need you!” Two minutes later, a green, swirling vortex of lights appeared in the air above Ceceta’s bed and the ghost-like form of Thellis flew out of it into her room. “What’s wrong?” he asked, as he scratched his transparent green, glowing face, his short spiky hair quivering from the movement.
“Where’s Rhen?"
“Oh,” Thellis said. “He didn’t tell you?” Ceceta shook her head, fearing the worst. “He’s in Universe 3 battling Thaster.”
Ceceta breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through her blond hair. She plopped down onto the sofa and asked, "Thaster snuck out of Hell's dimension again?"
“Yes.”
"He's still in his weakened, ethereal state?"
“That’s right,”
Thellis said.
“Okay," Ceceta said, feeling her tension recede. “Will he be home soon?”
Thellis flew backwards towards his green vortex. “He should be. Although Number 3 will want Rhen to stay and party after we’ve kicked Thaster back to Hell.”
Ceceta nodded. Number 3, the ruler of Universe 3, was known to tie one on whenever the Genisters stopped by to visit. Ceceta was going to have to wait until tomorrow for her husband.
“Tell him I say hi!” Ceceta called out as Thellis ducked back through his swirling vortex.
Ceceta walked back into her bedroom and pulled down the sheets before slipping under them. Tomorrow, she thought.
---
Loreth watched as Rhen, Thestrst, Theta and Thellis chased Thaster around Universe 3. Thaster was laughing hysterically at them, his body leaving behind little puff balls of red power every time he laughed.
Thellis threw a green power ball at Thaster, but he ducked under it. The power ball sliced off half of an asteroid and sent it spinning towards an inhabited planet. Theta used her turquoise powers to stop the meteor and turn it to ash as Rhen and Thestrst flew past her, hoping to catch Thaster behind the moon of a nearby planet.
“I’ll go around the other side,” Thellis yelled out, while flying in the opposite direction.
Loreth phased behind the moon to find Thaster hovering in the air. He was bent over at the waist, gasping for breath. “You know you’d fly faster if you stopped laughing,” he said.
Thaster glanced up at him. “Aren’t …” he gasped, “aren’t you supposed to be hiding?”
Loreth shrugged, turning invisible just as Thellis appeared and threw a green power ball at Thaster. Rhen and Thestrst must have guessed Thaster’s location, because Thestrst’s orange power ball and Rhen’s clear one sailed around the curve of the moon before they did. The three power balls caught Thaster’s ethereal body, exploding in a flash of lights. Thaster disintegrated into a red mist.
The Surpen King: Part 1 - Return of the Gods (Themrock Book 2) Page 9