Since the Black Angel’s disappearance, there’d been a drastic drop in the Club's membership. Tgfhi knew that if he could get Rhen to the Club’s meetings, it’d increase attendance.
“I can’t come, remember?” Rhen told him. “Ceceta told me I had to stay away from her.”
Tgfhi looked crestfallen. “But we really wanted you there tonight.”
“Sorry,” Rhen apologized as he headed towards the school’s lawn and Reed.
Tgfhi groaned and walked off towards the library, cursing under his breath and wondering what he could do to convince Rhen to become the Black Angel again.
Chapter 33
Library – Elfin University
Crystam groaned when she felt her phone vibrate. Was Yfetb calling her again? She hadn’t answered any of his calls, not after Ceceta had warned her to stay away from him. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she saw her mother’s face smiling up at her.
Reaching out, Crystam touched Latsoh’s arm. “Will you tell Tgfhi that I’m stepping outside to talk to my mother?”
Latsoh nodded. The Black Angel Club meeting was over, but Tgfhi and a few of the other students were hashing out ways to reach the Black Angel in the hope of getting him to return.
Crystam grabbed her purse and ducked out into the hallway, answering her phone. “Hi, Mom.”
“Baby girl!” Chara exclaimed.
Crystam gritted her teeth. She hated it when her mother called her that, but she didn’t want to upset her by asking her to stop. “How are you?”
Chara glanced around her palatial but empty room. “Fine. I was worried about you.” She turned her blue eyes back to Crystam’s. “You didn’t call me last night. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, sorry about that. I was studying for an exam.”
“How’d it go?” Chara asked.
“I think I did well on it. I only had trouble with two of the questions.”
“My smart girl,” Chara said, glowing with pride.
Crystam found an empty bench outside the library and sat down. She chatted with her mother for twenty minutes, catching up on everything. Just as she was about to hang up, Chara asked, “Have you set a date for the wedding?”
“Mom! You’ll be the first to know when we pick a date.” She couldn’t believe her mother had asked.
“I should hope so,” Chara said. “Is there a reason why you haven’t set a date yet?”
“No,” Crystam said feeling guilty. She didn’t know why she hadn’t. Tgfhi had been nudging her to choose one. He and his father had told her repeatedly that they’d accept any date she chose. For some reason, she was having trouble taking the next step. “We’ll get to it.”
“You know I approve of your marriage to Tgfhi. I hope you realize how happy I am for you.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Chara smiled but then her eyebrows crinkled with concern. She hoped Crystam wasn’t delaying because she sensed her familial powers. No. Crystam would have mentioned it to her if she thought she was getting Chara’s powers. Perhaps she was delaying for political reasons? “Is it Rhen? Is the Surpen Emperor causing trouble? Why don’t you bring him to Ventar? We can show him the palace and walk him through what we’d discussed for your ceremony and reception. I’m sure we can allay any concerns he may have over…”
“Mom,” Crystam interrupted. “It’s not Rhen. He’s fine with our marriage.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure. Since he’s a member of the Convention, he might have trouble with one of his planets aligning with a Thestran planet.”
“He’s fine,” Crystam answered with fatigue. She wanted to end the conversation.
“I still think you should bring him by for a visit,” Chara continued. “I’d like Rhen to see what Ventar has to offer.”
Crystam sat up straight. Why did her mom when Rhen to visit Ventar? “Why would Rhen need to see what we have?”
“Well, you know, Surpen’s quite influential these days. They have a lot of power both financially, with all of their trade routes, and physically with their army.”
“Surpen’s been influential for years. Andres made it the largest kingdom in the Universe.”
“Yes, but Rhen’s more than doubled what his father did. You should bring Rhen by for a visit.”
Crystam was completely confused. She couldn’t understand why her mom wanted her to bring Rhen to Ventar. It wasn’t that she had anything against asking Rhen to stop by her planet, more her surprise at her mom’s insistence that he stop by.
“You aren’t considering removing Ventar from Thestran’s Council, are you?” Crystam asked.
“No!” Chara exclaimed.
“Because it sounds like you’re thinking about joining up with Surpen.”
Chara laughed. “Never. I’d just like to show off our fabulous planet to your friends.”
Crystam didn’t believe her, and for the second time, she wondered if her mom had a crush on Rhen. “Sorry, Mom. He’s super busy. We never get to hang out with him anymore. You’ll get your chance to meet Rhen at our wedding.”
Crystam watched her mother’s face fall. Clearly, Chara was disappointed.
“Well, if anything should change, I’d love to show Rhen Ventar.”
Somebody bumped into Crystam’s leg. She glanced up to find Tgfhi smiling down at her. “Hey, I’ve got go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye, baby girl!” Chara called out before turning off her device.
Tgfhi leaned down to kiss Crystam, his long, blond hair framing their faces. After several minutes of soft, seductive kisses, he pulled back. “Have I told you yet today how much I love you?”
“Hmm,” Crystam said, pretending to think of an answer to his question. Tgfhi told her almost every five minutes that he loved her.
“Well, if not, you should know that I love you. I love how smart you are, I love your wonderful sense of humor, your creative flair, your skill at dancing, the way you laugh, how you cry during movies, the way you cut your food, how you step through a door…”
“My beautiful face?” Crystam asked interrupting him.
Tgfhi sat down beside her on the bench and pulled her onto his lap. “Your face?” He stared into her eyes, while considering her question. “It’s passable.”
Laughing, Crystam punched him lightly on the chest. Tgfhi chuckled and kissed her on the neck.
“Who were you talking to?” he asked, making his way up her neck to her earlobe.
“My mother.”
“Ah, call number twenty-six of the day?”
“We don’t talk that often,” Crystam protested. “Besides, you should cut her some slack. She’s got no one else to talk to. Everyone else passes out when they spend any time with her and she’s been super kind to you.”
Tgfhi nodded. “Your mother has been wonderful. I suppose she asked you about the date for our wedding?”
“Of course,” Crystam said with a sigh.
“We should set it soon.” He’d set the date for tomorrow, but Crystam had told him that she wanted to hold off until she felt she could take time from her school work to properly plan a formal wedding.
“I know,” Crystam told him. Her mind returned to her earlier conversation with Chara. “She also asked me if Rhen was upset about the fact that we were getting married and if that was why we hadn’t picked a date yet.”
Tgfhi stilled, his lips an inch from Crystam’s cheek.
“Is Rhen upset?”
Sighing, Tgfhi pulled back. His actions confirmed Chara’s comment. “Why didn’t you tell me he was upset?” Crystam demanded.
“He’s not,” Tgfhi told her. “He was a little angry with me for not asking his permission first before getting engaged to you. That’s all.”
“Why would you have to do that?”
“Because I’m going to be the next king of Tgarus. He owns our planet. He needs to know these things.”
“The Thestrans don’t make their planets’ royalty ask for permission before they marry
.”
“The Thestrans aren’t a part of the Convention. It’s a Convention thing. Besides,” Tgfhi said, “there might be unrest within the Convention if Tgarus aligns with Thestran’s Council.”
“What kind of unrest?”
“Nothing serious. As long as Surpen’s in the Convention, the other Convention members can’t attack us. Rhen was just concerned that the other Convention members might consider Tgarus to be a weak link.”
“A weak link for joining with a Thestran planet?” Crystam exclaimed. The idea was ridiculous. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard. Joining Thestran’s Council will only strengthen Tgarus. You’ll have new trade routes and Thestran’s protection as well as Surpen’s.”
“Right!” Tgfhi agreed to keep the peace between them, but he didn’t think joining with Thestran would help Tgarus at all. Instead, it’d make them look weak, as Rhen had implied. His father had been working overtime to secure all of Tgarus’ Convention relationships, hoping to prevent any lasting damage from Tgfhi and Crystam’s union.
“Is that Erfce and Latsoh walking over there?” Crystam asked, interrupting Tgfhi’s thoughts.
“Where?”
“There.” Crystam pointed towards the student common area.
“Probably. Erfce wanted something else to eat.”
“They’re holding hands,” Crystam whispered excitedly.
“Really?” Tgfhi stared across the lawn at the couple walking towards the student common area. Sure enough, they were holding hands. “That’s awesome.”
“Do you think he asked her out?”
“Not yet,” Tgfhi said. “But he’s working up the nerve to. It won’t be long.”
“It’ll be fun when they’re officially a couple,” Crystam said.
“And we won’t have to listen to Latsoh’s complaints about Erfce not asking her out any more.”
“I’m looking forward to that. By the way, I was thinking that we should try to get Latsoh’s Genister portrait back for her.”
“That’s a great idea, but I think Erfce is planning on doing the same thing. We should let him have the honor of giving it back to her.”
It made sense. Latsoh would love Erfce even more if he got her portrait back. “Has he talked to Charlie about it? Do you know how much Charlie wants for it?”
“He hasn’t talked to Charlie yet. For some reason, he’s been having trouble locating Charlie. He’s asked everyone, but no one seems to know where he is.”
“He asked the Thestran Royals?”
Tgfhi nodded. “They didn’t know where he was.”
Crystam frowned. Come to think of it, she was surprised that Charlie hadn’t stopped by Rhen and Ceceta’s apartment. He used to love hanging out in it when they were in class. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“Definitely,” Tgfhi told her. “It’s Charlie. He always lands on his feet.”
“I hope you’re right. I actually miss seeing him in the apartment. He used to love stopping by.”
“To trash it. We’ll have to lock the door to our apartment to keep him out. I don’t want him abusing our stuff the way he does Rhen and Ceceta’s.” Tgfhi reached into his pants pocket and pulled out two brass keys tied together with a green ribbon. “Shall we go take a look at it?”
Crystam was stunned. “Um…” She pushed herself off Tgfhi to stand beside him. “What’s that?”
“The keys to our apartment across the hall from Rhen and Ceceta’s. After Erfce mentioned it the other day, I went to the Headmaster to see if we could get a place together, since we’re engaged. It appears there aren’t any rules on the matter, so I chose the apartment directly across from them.” When Crystam didn’t say anything, Tgfhi felt a prickle in the back of his neck. Hesitantly, he asked, “You do want to move in together, don’t you?”
Crystam blinked and then tears welled up in her eyes. Tgfhi thought she might be on the verge of breaking up with him, but she threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Yes!” she cried out, while laughing and kissing him at the same time.
Tgfhi sighed with relief as he pulled his fiancé into his chest. He dismissed his worries as their kissing grew in intensity.
Chapter 34
Men’s Room - Student Cafe - Elfin University
Erfce felt the presence of someone behind him. He finished rinsing off his hands then reached for a towel to dry them. As he dried his hands, he tried to remember how many people had entered the bathroom after him.
Tossing the towel into the receptacle, he turned and grunted when someone thrust his body against the wall.
“Stay away from Latsoh,” an elf with straight black hair told him. He’d pinned Erfce to the wall, his hand under Erfce’s neck.
Erfce glanced around the room. There were five of them. He released his powers fully, welcoming the biting chill as they burst forth across his mind.
“I’m not going to do that, Ridgely,” Erfce said. He was pleased to see the surprised expression on Ridgely’s face. If he had been a student at the University, he would have known Erfce’s powers, but he clearly had no clue that Erfce now knew everything about him.
“How did you know my name?”
“I know everything about you.” Erfce glanced at the others. “And you Roberto, Joehn, Cassity and Piter.” The elves backed up a step. “You were fooling around and you broke the statue of Themrock in your castle’s back garden. No one knows you broke the statue. The priests have cursed the ones responsible.” He laughed. “You’re a bunch of imbeciles. What did you think would happen when you climbed on top of it?”
“Stop it!” Ridgely yelled. He pressed his forearm harder into Erfce’s neck. “Stay the hell away from Latsoh. Elves aren’t meant for humans. It’s wrong.”
“Do you think King Naci would appreciate your threatening his daughter’s best friend?” Erfce had wondered if Latsoh’s dad had sent them to threaten him, but after reading their lives, he’d learned that they were here to assuage their guilt over breaking Themrock’s statue. They had come because the Supreme Elfin Priest had told the elves it was morally wrong for elves and humans to join together. Ridgely and the others thought they’d find atonement for their sins if they broke up Erfce and Latsoh’s relationship.
“Stay away from Latsoh,” Ridgely barked. “Do you hear me? Stay away from her.”
“I’m not sure you should be making threats, Ridgely. What will your mother say when I tell her what you did?”
Ridgely paled. “Come on, let’s go,” Piter said. He didn’t like Erfce. How did the kid know their names?
“Don’t talk about my mother,” Ridgely snapped.
“No, you’re right,” Erfce agreed. “I’ll talk to her. The next time I see Latsoh’s Mom, I’ll ask her where her secretary is. She’ll want to know why I’m looking for her secretary, so I’ll tell her. Then the two of us will talk to your Mom together.”
“Crap,” Cassity said. He reached out and hauled Ridgely off Erfce.
“Thanks, Cassity,” Erfce said, reaching up to rub his neck. “Tell your father that Princess Rachel has found a cure to his illness. If he contacts her within the next two weeks, he’ll be healed in time.”
“Th… thanks,” Cassity said.
“Glad I could help. You’re Dad’s a good guy.”
Erfce watched as the five elves hesitated a moment before running out the door. He pulled back on his powers, forcing the coldness down into a box he’d created in his mind. When he’d blocked his powers enough that he could function again, he walked over to the mirror and looked at his neck. It was red. He debated waiting in the bathroom until the redness faded but decided against it.
Walking out into the school’s café, he sat down next to Latsoh. “What happened to your neck?” she asked.
“It itched so I rubbed it,” Erfce said, massaging his neck. “Why?”
“It’s all red.”
“Oh,” Erfce said, sounding sur
prised. He picked up his fork. As long as he kept quiet about what had happened, Ridgely and the others posed no threat. They would only come after him if he retaliated. Erfce took a bite of pasta and put them out of his mind.
Chapter 35
Sinter’s Study – Rasack
"I’m serious," Nirs, the Vivist King, clicked with his pincers. He swiveled his tail eyes to look at the screen where Sinter, the Rasack King, was watching him.
"That's very interesting," Sinter said, gazing at the coarse black hairs on the grey exoskeleton body of his ally. "I must admit that I’m not actually surprised that the Thestrans did nothing after you conquered a planet near their solar system."
Nirs pushed his large front pincers onto the stones below him and raised the round black eyes on the front of his segmented body so he could have a better view of the monitoring screen and Sinter. "Me too. They seem to be focusing all of their energy on keeping Rhen on Thestran.”
"What?" Sinter asked. He’d been referring to the fact that they hadn’t done anything to stop Andres during his war.
"It appears that the planets that make up Thestran’s Council fear our Surpen Emperor. The Thestran Royals are keeping him occupied at the Elfin University so they can keep their planets calm."
Sinter laughed and bucked his front hooves off the ground. "Too funny!"
"Yes," Nirs clicked.
Sinter watched as the Vivist King lengthened his curled tail. The black eyes on either side of his stinger closed while his tail stretched. He was tempted to comment on how much the Vivist King resembled one of the scorpion bugs on his planet, but he refrained. "And how is our Convention member, Rhen?"
"He seems fine. The Zorthan Prince has been taking a fight class that Rhen offers at the University and he told me…"
"Wait, what?”
“Rhen’s teaching a fight class to the Thestrans.”
“He is?” Sinter asked. “Why would he do that?”
The Surpen King: Part 1 - Return of the Gods (Themrock Book 2) Page 22