Turning back to Reed and Lilly, Tgonar waited for Reed to finish his formal ‘Welcome to Thestran’ speech. When Reed had stopped talking, Tgonar saluted him. “Thank you very much,” he told the Thestran Prince, before returning to his seat.
When Tgonar glanced back up at Rhen, he found him watching Reed and Lilly. He couldn’t tell if Rhen liked them or not, but his glance suggested otherwise. This information would make the Surpen King happy. Yes, Tgonar thought, everything he had seen so far, except for the presence of the Thestran Royals, would make Andres very happy.
The group finished their meal and rose to leave. As they were walking out of the dining hall, Tgonar reached out to put his hand on Rhen’s arm. Rhen was taller and more muscular than he had realized. The Surpen King had done well in choosing his heir. “May I have a word with you before you return to class?” Tgonar asked Rhen. Rhen was expecting this and nodded. Tgonar turned to Tgfhi and thanked him for a wonderful visit. They hugged and Tgonar kissed his son on the top of his head before releasing him. “I’ll stop by again,” he promised.
“That’d be great Dad,” Tgfhi said. He turned to take Crystam’s books from her. Tgonar watched Tgfhi and the others walked off towards their classes. When they were out of sight, he turned to Rhen. “Is there somewhere we can go to talk in private?”
With a nod, Rhen gestured for Tgonar to follow him. They walked out of the school building, down a brick pathway and up to a large, brick building that was named the Teacher’s Residence Hall. Tgonar followed Rhen up the cement stairs into the building. They crossed a small lobby and went up more stairs, to the second floor, where they stopped in front of a plain, white, wooden door. Rhen leaned over and opened the door.
Rhen peeked into his apartment to make sure that Charlie wasn’t passed out on his couch or walking around naked in his kitchen. When he saw the coast was clear, he pushed his door wide open, so Tgonar could enter.
Tgonar walked through the door to find a quaint little kitchen and living room area. There were textbooks on the coffee table and a woman’s shawl rested on the back of one of the blue chairs. Rhen had taken him to his apartment. Tgonar was pleased to see it. He could now report to Andres on Rhen’s living conditions. He noticed Rhen was gesturing for him to sit down in one of the nicer chairs by the coffee table.
“Thank you,” Tgonar said, taking a seat. Rhen sat down across from him.
“I guess by now, you’ve figured out that I’m not here just to visit Tgfhi,” Tgonar confessed. He had decided to go with the truth. Rhen nodded his head in acknowledgement. “I came to see my son and to check up on you. I’m going to tell your father that you’re being a perfect Surpen, amongst a flock of Thestran fools.” Rhen smiled at the compliment and looked down at the floor. Tgonar wasn’t sure how to read him. He was starting to find Rhen’s lack of communication intimidating, and he wondered how Surpen would treat Tgarus when Rhen was King.
Suddenly, Tgonar remembered something Andres had told him years ago. The knowledge twisted into a rather devious idea. Andres had mentioned that Rhen had been a part of the invading force that had conquered Tgarus. If that was true, Tgonar might have a way to control Rhen. He grinned at the boy, forming a dangerous plan. Looking Rhen in the eyes, Tgonar said, “I want to give you something to thank you for saving my son from public embarrassment, but I don’t know what you want?”
“Tgfhi’s friendship is all I need your majesty,” Rhen said with diplomacy.
Tgonar dipped his head at Rhen’s words. Andres never would have said something so appropriate. It appeared Rhen was clever, which would make him even more dangerous than his blustering father. “You were a soldier during the war on Tgarus, right?” Tgonar asked with innocence.
“Yes, your men were some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to fight. It was an honor to be there.”
“A true Surpen compliment. Thank you,” Tgonar said. He stared at the boy for a few minutes, debating whether he should take the next step. If he was wrong, he might very well find himself assassinated by Andres later that night. If he was right, he would’ve hit a homerun that would ensure Tgarus’ protection forever. Deciding to follow his instincts, Tgonar reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, plain, silver box which he offered to Rhen.
“No, thank you, your Highness,” Rhen said. “I do not need a gift for protecting Tgfhi.”
“I insist on giving you this one,” Tgonar said. He leaned over moving the box closer to Rhen. “It’s just a small token of my appreciation. I happened to have it with me, so I thought I would offer it to you.”
Rhen hesitated before reaching out to take it. “Thank you, your majesty. You are very kind.” He placed the box onto his coffee table.
“Open it,” Tgonar pushed. “The gift is inside.”
Rhen picked up the box and opened it. He found a cutting of Tgarus weed inside.
From Rhen’s expression, Tgonar realized he was right. His gamble had paid off. Rhen was one of the Surpen soldiers that had been left on Tgarus too long with nothing to do after the war. In their boredom, they had all ended up trying Tgarus weed and every single one of them had become hooked. It had been a huge fiasco. The Surpen King had recalled his entire force and sent in new troops, which were under strict orders not to smoke the weed, but the damage had already been done. The strongest, bravest, meanest Surpen soldiers enjoyed smoking Tgarus weed, and they had brought their love of weed home to Surpen. Ever since then, there had been a strong trade route between Tgarus and Surpen, and Tgonar had benefited from it royally.
Tgonar released the breath he had been holding as Rhen closed the box with care and slipped it into a hidden pocket in his tunic. Looking back up at Tgonar, Rhen said, “Thank you for your generous gift. It is much appreciated.”
As Tgonar rose to leave, he finalized his plan in his mind. He would have Tgfhi deliver weed to Rhen on a daily basis. Later, when Rhen became the future King of Surpen, Tgarus would be protected from whatever he decided to do. It would be safe. Their planets would always be at peace. And, if they played their cards right, perhaps someday Tgarus would find a way to rule Surpen. Tgonar smiled at the thought. This would be the only part of his visit that he would not mention to the Surpen King.
The next day after lunch, Tgfhi walked up to Rhen, who was coming out of the bathroom in the hallway outside the student dining hall. He tugged Rhen aside, so no one was near them. “My Dad told me to give this to you. He’s got one for me to give to you every day that we’re here at school.” Tgfhi held up a small white envelope.
Rhen took the envelope and sniffed it. Tgarus weed. He smiled. “Your Dad is very kind,” he told Tgfhi, tucking the Tgarus weed behind his military belt.
“Rhen, I didn’t know you used Tgarus weed.”
“I don’t,” Rhen said. He glanced about, to make sure Ceceta couldn’t see them.
“You shouldn’t use it,” Tgfhi said.
“Have you ever tried it?” Rhen asked with a sigh. Whatever Tgfhi wanted to tell him, he had already heard before from Ceceta and his mother. Tgarus weed wasn’t illegal, so technically, he wasn’t breaking any laws. Because of his bloodworms, he couldn’t drink alcohol, so he used the weed to give himself a sense of peace for a couple of hours. It wasn’t like he used it every day. He and Bosternd would imbibe on holidays, although Tgonar’s gifts might change that now. He couldn’t understand why Ceceta, his Mom and now Tgfhi seemed so upset when he smoked it.
“Yes, I have tried it, but it doesn’t have the same effect on our people that it seems to have on everyone else,” Tgfhi told him.
“Listen,” Rhen said. He leaned down to whisper into Tgfhi’s ear. “Don’t tell Ceceta what you’re doing. Just give me the stuff and keep your mouth shut.” Tgfhi nodded, his eyes welling with tears. He turned and ran off on his little legs towards his dorm room.
How can this be happening? he thought. After the war on Tgarus, he and his friends used to make fun of the Surpen soldiers who used Tgarus weed. They would lie a
round the city, mumbling and laughing to themselves. The Tgarians enjoyed seeing these strong, mean soldiers brought to their knees after the invasion. It was a source of great Tgarian pride. Many Tgarian farmers changed their crops to start producing Tgarian weed for the Surpens and all of them had become rich.
Tgfhi couldn’t get over the realization that Rhen had been one of the invading soldiers on Tgarus. He was 13 when Surpen conquered Tgarus, which meant that Rhen had been fighting in battles before he had turned 13. At 13, Tgfhi had spent his days playing games with his friends and tormenting his parents, while Rhen had been a full-time soldier, killing people for a living. Had Rhen even had a childhood? “None of us know anything about Rhen,” he said, climbing up onto his bed. Tgfhi sat with his back against his pillow. “Well, that’s about to change,” he told the empty room.
He stared down at the stack of white envelopes lying on the floor where he had dropped them. Jumping off his bed, Tgfhi leaned over and opened one of the envelopes. With care, he took out a chunk of weed and tucked it under his mattress. He wasn’t going to let his Dad get away this. From now on, whenever he gave Rhen an envelope, he would remove more and more weed, until there wasn’t enough for his friend to smoke.
As the weeks passed, Tgfhi kept his mouth shut about Rhen’s use of Tgarus weed. He was surprised by Rhen’s ability to hide it. He never seemed to be under the influence. Every day, Tgfhi would pull more weed out of Rhen’s envelope and hide it in his room. Things were going great, until Charlie found his extra stash of weed and begged him to sell it, which Tgfhi did. He was happy to be rid of it. Unfortunately, Charlie told some other students where he had gotten his weed. It wasn’t long before Tgfhi was approached daily, by students looking to buy Tgarus weed. He started to feel like a hypocrite, pulling weed away from Rhen and selling it for an exorbitant amount of money to the other students. Damn his father.
Chapter 19
Elfin University – Student Dining Hall
For three weeks Thestran’s Council had been waging an internal war with the planet of Ustar. Erfce’s father had told him that for no apparent reason, the Ustarian King had attacked the Thestran Council’s offices in the Ustarian Capital. Instead of putting out the rebellion in one swift move, King James had opened the Council floor to a discussion on how to proceed. Since none of the Delegates had wanted to send their forces to Ustar, the Council had voted to have the Thestran Royal Family resolve the war using their own forces.
“They’re doing it all wrong,” Erfce told the others at breakfast.
“What?” Rhen asked, reaching over to take some meat off Ceceta’s plate. She stuck her tongue out at him and he smiled.
“The war,” Erfce exclaimed. “The Thestran Royal Family’s doing it wrong. Even though James and his troops are the only ones fighting on Ustar, he still defers to the Council Delegates before making any decisions.”
“You’re a member of the Council,” Tgfhi told Erfce, spearing a melon ball with his fork. “Wouldn’t that make you happy? Don’t you want him to listen to your opinions?”
“Yes, of course. But James has been delaying strategic moves and putting his troops in odd locations simply because the Council, who isn’t on Ustar and doesn’t know the situation, tells him to. My Dad’s been telling the Council that they should stay out of it, but no one seems to want to listen.”
“My Mom’s doing the same thing,” Crystam said. “This is the Council’s first internal struggle and they’re botching it.”
“We could lose,” Erfce said, sounding worried.
“It should be okay,” Latsoh told him. “Earlier this morning, James asked all of the Thestran Royals to join him and Reed in the upcoming battle for Bunks Hill. Once Kate gets there she’ll fix things.”
“Themrock,” Erfce swore. He didn’t want to frighten Latsoh and the others by telling them about his vision of the Thestran Royal Family’s defeat while on his way to breakfast. “Latsoh, we need to send more troops. Have you looked at Bunks Hill on the map? It’s huge. According to my Dad, the Ustarians have us pinned down on the south side of the hill. We need the other Delegates to send their armies. There are tunnels that…”
Latsoh shook her head. “You’re worrying too much Erfce. No one can defeat Kate.”
“My Mom said the same thing last night,” Crystam told Erfce. She speared a melon ball off Tgfhi’s plate. “She’s offered to send our military to Ustar to help the Thestrans with the war. She’ll even lead our troops herself,” Crystam said, gesticulating with her forked melon ball, “but the Council rejected her offer.”
“Because they’re being idiots,” Erfce retorted. “They think your Mom will turn around and say that she should rule the Council because her forces won the war.”
“You think?” Crystam asked.
“Yes. They can’t see beyond their own petty politics to the larger…” Erfce stopped speaking, when he spotted Sage and Lilly, wearing their black and gold military clothing, enter the room and walk towards their table.
“We’re off to Ustar,” Lilly said when she reached their table. She swung her black and gold striped cape around, over her shoulders, hoping to catch Rhen’s eye.
No one spoke.
“Will you join us Rhen?” Lilly asked, when he continued to keep his eyes averted.
Rhen turned towards Lilly and raised one eyebrow, an incredulous look on his face. When he realized she was waiting for a response, he said, “No.”
Lilly nodded. She had expected him to refuse. “Will you at least come see us off? We aren’t sure if Charlie will actually join us. Someone needs to force him through the portal. If he doesn’t go, he’ll be committing treason.”
“We’ll come,” Ceceta told her. She stood up and held out her hand to Rhen. He rolled his eyes but rose to his feet. The two of them followed the Thestran Royals to the school’s portal.
When they arrived in the portal room, they found a large gathering of students milling about, waiting to see the Thestran Royals depart. The students spoke amongst themselves in hushed tones while Lilly and Sage checked the blasters on their belts.
A few minutes passed before Stanley walked into the room pulling Charlie by the collar of his military jacket. When Charlie saw the waiting portal, he cried out, shook himself free from Stanley’s grip, dropped to the floor and curled up into a fetal position.
Rhen couldn’t believe the spectacle.
“Poor Charlie,” Ceceta said beside him.
“Seriously?” he asked with disbelief.
“Rhen, come with us,” Sage pleaded walking up to him. “You’re a part of our family. You’re required to join our battle.”
“Seriously?” Rhen asked again. When Sage remained in front of him, staring up at him with pleading eyes, Rhen shook his head and added, “What’re you worried about? Use your water powers to give the Ustarians gills. None of them will be able to breath and you’ll win without having to fight.”
An odd look passed over Sage’s face. “Even if I had that kind of power, I couldn’t do that to someone.”
Rhen shook his head in dismay. “And there’s the problem.”
“Rhen,” Charlie said, lifting himself up onto his knees. Snot rolled down his face and his eyes were swollen from crying. “Please help us.”
“God, Charlie,” Rhen said. “Certainly you, can use your powers to stop them.”
“W… What?” he asked, looking stunned.
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Sage snapped. “Charlie doesn’t have powers. You and I are the only elves in the Universe who have powers. The rest of the elves lost their powers when Themrock disappeared. They won’t have them again until he returns.”
“Huh?” Rhen said. He had sensed an enormous amount of power in Charlie, almost as much power as his father’s advisor had. “I don’t understand.”
“Rhen, we don’t have time to discuss our powers or lack thereof. Please, join us to protect Thestran and its solar systems. We need you. Thestran, your home planet, nee
ds you,” Lilly pleaded.
“I… can’t,” Rhen said. For some inexplicable reason, he was starting to feel guilty about not helping. It was obvious they were terrified. They would be lucky to live through today’s battle.
Ceceta felt herself flush with anger. She didn’t want anything to happen to the Thestran Royals. Turning on Rhen, she yelled in Surpen, “Why not. They’re your family. You’re a Thestran elf for God’s sake. Haven’t you realized that by now? Get off your butt and go fight for them. It’ll be easy for you.”
Rhen glared at her. She wasn’t supposed to speak to him like that in public. She could say whatever she wanted to in private, but in public, she had to maintain the façade that he was the boss. Also, she had no idea what she was asking of him. If Ceceta knew, he was sure she wouldn’t be telling him to go help the Thestrans. “No,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Ceceta paused. She realized she was going to have to try another tactic to get Rhen to volunteer. “You live on their planet, you take advantage of their hospitality and yet you won’t lift a finger to help them protect their way of life? You’re the best warrior in the Universe. You could end this thing in an hour, if you wanted to. Go, help them,” she said in Surpen. “Please.” She reached up to stroke the side of Rhen’s face.
Rhen frowned and shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
Charlie could see Rhen was weakening. “Come on little brother. I need you to save my butt. Can you see me in a battle? I’m going to be killed for sure.” He gave a rather morose sort of laugh.
“Please Rhen, join us. We wouldn’t have been called into action, if the others weren’t in trouble,” Sage pleaded one last time.
“Please sweetie,” Ceceta said. “Please go help them. No one knows war better than you do. No one can kill as well as you can.” She stroked the bottom part of Rhen’s earlobe. When Rhen bent his head down towards her hand, Ceceta knew she had him.
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