--
“Latsoh?”
Startled, Latsoh shrieked and tumbled sideways, falling onto the brick path that led to the classroom building. Earlier she’d dropped her book bag on the way to class. She’d been so focused on getting everything back into her bag that she hadn’t heard anyone approach. Glancing up, she saw Erfce’s large brown eyes gazing down at her.
“Are you okay?” He was worried that she’d hurt herself.
Latsoh felt her heart jump in her chest. Why did Erfce’s smile make her feel so happy? It wasn’t fair.
“Are you alright?” Erfce repeated when Latsoh didn’t answer.
Feeling like an idiot for staring so long, Latsoh turned her head and said, “Yeah, I’m fine.” She reached for her phone, which was lying on the grass by the path.
“Do you want some help?” Erfce asked, squatting down beside her.
His closeness made Latsoh’s brain freeze. “I dropped my bag and everything fell out.”
“I can see that,” Erfce said, reaching out for one of her stray notebooks. “I’ll help you.” He gathered up the remaining items that had fallen on the path and handed them to Latsoh. “Did you trip?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I was walking along and then everything just sort of fell.” Latsoh finished packing her bag and stood up. “What are you doing here? I thought you had a class this morning?”
Erfce had skipped class. He’d had a vision last night that he needed to be on this path at this hour or his life would never be the same. When he’d exited his dorm, he’d seen Latsoh fall and he knew the Gods were pushing him to take the first step with her.
“I overslept,” he said, gazing up into her green eyes. The sun was rising behind him. Its warm glow lit Latsoh’s red hair. “Latsoh,” Erfce began. He stopped speaking when a spacejet flew over their heads. When the jet had moved on, he said, “May I carry your books to class?”
Latsoh’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe it. Had she heard him right? Was this it? Was Erfce taking the first step to asking her out? “Yes,” she said, nodding her head emphatically. She shoved her book bag at Erfce’s chest so hard that he grunted when it hit him in the stomach. “Sorry,” she wailed, feeling terrible.
“I’m fine,” Erfce gasped, when he’d caught his breath. Carefully, he put the strap of Latsoh’s bag over his shoulder. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he asked, “Are you sure it’s okay if I carry your books?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because, I’m not an elf.”
Latsoh felt everything click into place. Erfce wasn’t sure if she’d be interested in him because he wasn’t elfin. The entire time that they’d known each other, she’d talked continuously about how her parents wanted her to marry an elf. Not just any elf, an elf from the Fire Elf Tribe. No wonder Erfce had been so hesitant about asking her out. She felt like kicking herself for not making it clear to him earlier that she wasn’t interested in a Fire Elf, she was interested in him. “I don’t mind that you’re not an elf.”
“You don’t?” Erfce asked hesitantly.
“No, Erfce. I’d love to have you carry my books.”
“But,” Erfce said. “What about the other elves here at the school? Do you think they might…?” He faltered, because he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
Latsoh knew where Erfce was going. Elves liked to gossip, especially about their royalty. Latsoh was the Fire Elf Princess, so she was a hot topic among the elves at the school. Erfce was worried that the other elves would tell her parents, but she wasn’t sure if he was concerned for her sake or if he was worried that her father might go after him.
Clearing her throat, Latsoh said, “I don’t care what anyone thinks or says about the fact that you’re carrying my books.” There, she’d told him how she felt. “Do you care?” she asked.
Latsoh waited with anticipation. This was it. If Erfce was worried about her father enough that he was too scared to date her, he’d hand her bag back to her and they’d walk to class discussing menial things, but if Erfce cared enough about her that he’d stand up to the meanest elfin king on Thestran as well as face the scorn of the other backward thinking elves, he’d tuck her book bag under his arm and they’d walk to class knowing they’d started something big between them, something that would shake her family to its core but would make her the happiest elf in the Universe.
Erfce glanced down at Latsoh’s bag as it hung from his shoulder. He rubbed his hand on the top of the worn canvas flap, then tucked Latsoh’s bag behind his back. “So,” he said glancing up at Latsoh. “What did you think about last night’s history homework?”
Latsoh wanted to shriek with joy, but she knew it’d embarrass Erfce. “It was dreadful. Didn’t you think?” Turning, she walked with him towards their class, a huge smile on her face.
Chapter 31
Thestran Royal Palace
Thaster used his powers to throw open Charlie’s bedroom door in the Thestran Royal Palace just as James was walking by. He knew that if the Thestran King glanced into Charlie’s room, he’d notice the decay and dust that had settled on everything. Once James saw that, he’d realize that Charlie was missing.
James was reading a tablet as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom. “Hey, Charlie,” he said, without raising his eyes. “You missed dinner again.”
“Seriously?” Thaster exclaimed, his invisible form hovering in the doorway to Charlie’s bedroom. He’d been loitering in the open doorway, hoping to get a thrill from James’ expression when he realized Charlie was missing.
“Yeah, I’m serious,” James said as he passed by without looking up. “You really need to start attending some of our meals and Council functions. If you don’t, we won’t be able to count your vote when you go to the Council meetings. You don’t want to lose that privilege, do you? I know you’re enjoying the fact that you’ve graduated, but it’s high time that you start thinking about the future.”
Thaster flew out into the hallway. He was too stunned to speak. It wasn’t until James opened his bedroom door that he realized he was about to lose his audience. He turned visible and let out an evil laugh. Then he called out in his rich, baritone voice, “I’m holding your brother hostage. If you don’t pay me 10 million trade coins, I’ll turn him into one of my slaves.”
James laughed and walked into his bedroom. Thaster heard him saying, as he closed his bedroom door, “That was a good one, but way too obvious even for you, Charlie. Next time, you should try to be Loreth. That one I might believe.”
Thaster felt an uncontrollable rage building within him. He’d tried to alert Kate to the fact that Charlie was missing, by having her stumble over the crumbling remains of Charlie’s spacejet. Instead of realizing something was wrong, Kate had simply used her powers to repair Charlie’s jet. After his failure with Kate, Thaster had tried to make Sage aware that Charlie was missing by having Charlie’s boating equipment fall out of the closet next to where she was having tea with her husband. Sage had only criticized Charlie for letting his equipment rot and had told a servant to remove it to the dumpster. Thaster had even tried to get William to notice Charlie’s absence by releasing William’s snake into Charlie’s room. He’d had some success with William. The red-headed prince had certainly noticed Charlie’s room was deserted, but instead of alerting his family to the fact that Charlie was missing, he’d kicked over all of Charlie’s expensive bottles of wine in retaliation for the fact that it’d taken him so long to find his pet snake.
“What the hell is the matter with you people?” Thaster shouted down the empty hall. He hovered in his ethereal state, waiting for someone to notice him.
When Rachel walked out of her laboratory, crossing the hall to her office, he shouted, “Hey, Rachel. I kidnapped your brother Charlie. I’ll give him back to you, if you ask politely.”
“That’s nice,” Rachel murmured, while studying the papers she was carrying.
“Rachel, look up
! It’s Thaster speaking. I’m not lying. I kidnapped your brother.”
“Mmhm,” Rachel said, opening the door to her office.
“For Gods’ sake Rachel. Look up! A Genister is speaking to you,” Thaster hollered down the hall.
Rachel lifted her chin to look in Thaster’s direction, but before she saw him, her phone rang. Turning towards her office, she answered her phone and stepped out of the hallway. “Hey, I heard the test results came back negative. I think…” The door to Rachel’s office closed, cutting off the rest of what she was saying.
Thaster laughed incredulously. He’d never seen anything like it. This had to be the first time he’d ever been ignored by every mortal he’d encountered.
He flew back into Charlie’s living room and used his red powers to destroy everything in sight. Then he wrote on the wall in large, red letters, “I have Charlie. If you want him back alive, you’ll have to pay me…” Thaster hesitated. What did he want for Charlie?
Lifting his hand, Thaster wrote, “One trade coin.” He scratched it out, realizing they’d think it was a practical joke. He had to ask for enough money to make it seem real. Underneath the ‘one’ he wrote, ‘ten million’. There, he thought, flying sideways to get a better view of his message. Perfect. He signed his name in blood underneath his note.
If he was lucky, someone would open the door to Charlie’s room and find his message.
Thaster noticed that Charlie’s bedroom door had opened slightly from when he’d used his powers to destroy the living room. He figured he might as well destroy Charlie’s sleeping quarters too. Flying into Charlie’s bedroom, he hesitated. He’d never seen a more detailed and impeccable shrine to his people. Everything in Charlie’s room was an homage to the Genisters. The portraits of his brothers and sisters were the most accurate that he’d ever seen. There was even one of him.
He flew down to examine the picture that portrayed him sitting on an elfin horse, his mouth open as he laughed at something. Thaster was impressed by the craftsmanship of the piece and he was honored to find a portrait that didn’t depict him as some evil, hunch-backed monster.
He reached out to take his portrait, but then paused. He didn’t want to remove it from the presence of the others. It felt right here, nestled between Thellis’ portrait and Theta’s.
With a sigh, Thaster gently closed Charlie’s bedroom door and flew up out of the Thestran Royal Palace. He liked Charlie’s bedroom. It was the only positive thing that he could say about the idiot.
Chapter 32
Elfin University
"Vivists’ piss! We’re late for class," Rhen said. He leaned back from the table where he was sitting with Bosternd and Nk and grabbed Jet’s wrist to phase them into their classroom.
Their history teacher jumped when Rhen and Jet materialized in the classroom less than a foot away from where she was standing. “Rhen! I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t appear in my classroom like that. It’s most unnerving to the other students.”
"Sorry," Rhen said, thinking she was a jerk. The students didn’t care what he did with his powers.
Rhen followed Jet to the back of the classroom and watched as Jet took out a notebook to take their notes. When they’d started sitting apart from Ceceta, he’d asked Jet to take notes for him. Jet had agreed to it at once and had never questioned Rhen on why he couldn’t take his own notes. Rhen wondered if Bosternd had told Jet that he was illiterate. He’d have to remember to ask him the next time they were alone.
Sitting back in his chair, Rhen watched as their teacher walked around the classroom lecturing everyone on the brilliance of the Thestran Royal Family. He tried to catch Ceceta’s eye, but she refused to look at him. He considered sending her a mind message to check in but decided against it. She’d probably tell him to stay away from her for another week if he did.
Letting his gaze wander, he noticed Tgfhi and Crystam were passing a Ventarian plumb cake back and forth between them behind their binders. Rhen smiled at their innocence. They both looked so naughty, breaking the teacher’s rule forbidding food in her classroom.
Rhen’s gaze shifted to Erfce and he wondered why his friend had so many books on his desk. Erfce seemed to be protecting them, as if they held important treasures. When Latsoh reached out her hand towards Erfce and he handed her one of the books, Rhen realized that Erfce was holding his and Latsoh’s books. “Just like Tgfhi,” he murmured. That was how Tgfhi had gotten closer to Crystam. It appeared Erfce had taken his first step. Rhen was sad that he hadn’t been there to witness Erfce’s ‘bold’ move.
Ten minutes later, Rhen was bored out of his mind. He’d never been so frustrated before in his life. He couldn’t stand the inaction. He needed to do something. Since he couldn’t leave the classroom, he let his mind wander. He found himself thinking about the Black Angel. Before their fight, Ceceta had been needling him to take it up again, but he just didn’t feel like it. Why should he be the Universe’s savior? He had enough to do as Emperor of Surpen. He didn’t need any more jobs. Ceceta seemed to feel he owed it to the Universe, because he’d been given more powers than most people, but his birth mother, Kate, had multiple powers. Why didn’t she fly about the Universe saving people? Hell, why didn’t the Genisters do it? They had the powers of the Gods. Ceceta should be pestering them, not him. There was no reason why he had to become the Black Angel again.
Rhen smiled when he realized he wouldn’t have to listen to Ceceta’s comments about the Black Angel again until after their fight was over. He chuckled over the fact that it also meant that he wouldn’t have to go to any of the Black Angel Club meetings. He liked that idea.
A shadow appeared across his desk. Rhen looked up and found his history teacher staring down at him. Her lips pursed in anger.
“Yes, Rhen? Do you have something to add?”
“No.”
Rhen picked up his pencil as if he were going to take notes. His teacher frowned down at him for a little while before turning away and continuing her lecture.
By the end of class, Rhen couldn’t wait to leave. Unfortunately for him, he found all of his other classes equally boring. Am I having an off day? he wondered. Or had his classes always been this boring and he’d never noticed it before? He was also getting the impression that his teachers were picking on him. It seemed a little far-fetched that they’d single him out, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were angry about something and focusing their attention on him. Two of his teachers had even asked him to read something off the whiteboard. In both cases, he’d had to make up a lame excuse for not following their instructions. He couldn’t wait for lunch.
"Did you hear?" Tgfhi whispered to Rhen in the hallway as they walked towards the dining hall.
"Hear what?"
"Onir's home planet is about to be attacked by the Vivists. Their ships have surrounded it."
"Who's Onir?" Jet asked beside them.
"He's a kid in our grade," Tgfhi told him. Turning back to Rhen, Tgfhi asked, "So, Rhen? What do you think?" He was hoping Rhen would make an excuse to go to the bathroom and then fly off to save Onir as the Black Angel.
"It's a good planet for the Vivists to conquer," Rhen told him. "They need the vesten grain that Onir's planet produces. Onir’s people will benefit from the increase in sales." Glancing to his left, Rhen noticed that Tgfhi was staring at him with his mouth open. "Is something wrong?"
"I... I kind of thought you might want to help Onir by running off the Vivists and saving his planet."
"Why would I want to do that? It’ll actually benefit both of their planets."
“Benefit?” Tgfhi asked with shock. “You think being a Vivist’s slave is beneficial?”
Rhen sighed and shook his head. “Did you hear that from Crystam? It’s another Thestran misconception. The Vivists don’t have slaves. Only the Rasacks and Sastarians do. Nothing will change for Onir, except that his planet will become wealthier and they’ll have the Vivists’ protection. It’ll be the same as
it is between our two planets.” Rhen glanced at Jet, who was nodding his head in agreement. Turning back to Tgfhi, he added, “Don’t listen to the Thestrans’ crap, Tgfhi. Not all Convention members are out to enslave you.”
Tgfhi frowned. Now that he thought about it, Rhen had a point. “See you,” he said, walking off towards the cafeteria line.
Jet and Rhen sat down with a bunch of excited Wood Elves to eat their meal. Professor Dewey had announced earlier that day that a dragon company was going to stop by the University on its way to transporting two dragons it had captured to their new home in the dragon preserve. The Wood Elves were talking excitedly about the prospect of seeing a dragon. They became even louder when their Prince entered the room. The Wood Elves watched as Reed strolled over towards Ceceta and her friends. He asked Ceceta something and then looked in the elves’ direction. Reed spotted Rhen, whose back was to him, nodded his thanks to Ceceta and then approached the Wood Elves’ table. The Wood Elves giggled with nervous energy as Reed drew nearer. They hoped he would take notice of them.
“Hey,” Reed said, walking up to stand behind Rhen. He waved hello to the excited Wood Elves then sat down on the bench beside Rhen. “Any chance you want to ride tonight?”
“Yeah!” Rhen said. "I haven't been on a jet bike since last year."
“Great,” Reed said, slapping Rhen on the shoulder. “I’ll pick you up after dinner.”
“Thanks!” Rhen called out as Reed walked away from the table. His day had just gotten a whole lot better. He smiled over at Jet, who grinned in return.
Jet was happy to see his Emperor smile for the first time since breakfast.
That evening, as Rhen was leaving the dining hall with Jet, Tgfhi ran up to him looking worried. “Where are you going? Aren’t you coming to the Black Angel Club meeting tonight?”
The Surpen King: Part 1 - Return of the Gods (Themrock Book 2) Page 21