The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

  “Yes, they’re fine. It’s just… Crystam and Tgfhi are engaged now…”

  “What?” Rhen barked. That wasn’t at all what he’d expected Ceceta to say.

  “Yeah.” Ceceta grimaced, afraid he’d be mad at her for not telling him sooner. “They started dating during the war and got engaged two months ago.”

  Rhen’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe Tgfhi hadn’t told him he was getting engaged. They talked almost every week. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

  “Things were crazy right after the war, Rhen. You and Bosternd worked non-stop to set up all the systems and departments you needed to to be able run such a large empire. Tgfhi had wanted to tell you in person, but he kept missing you, so he asked me to tell you and we never seemed to have any alone time together. When we did, you were always exhausted and wanted to sleep. I didn’t want to bother you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

  Rhen sighed and shook his head. "I knew Crystam and Tgfhi liked each other, but I’m not sure that I approve of them getting married. Crystam is from Ventar, a part of Thestran’s territory, while we’re a part of the Convention. We aren't compatible."

  "That’s not true," Lilly contradicted. "If I can make it with Jet, why can't they? Besides, when the Black Angel comes back, he’ll be able to keep the peace."

  "The Black Angel?" Rhen asked.

  "There’s no way you forgot about him," Lilly scolded. When Rhen gave her a blank look, she added, "He's the guy dressed completely in black, who rescues people in trouble throughout the Universe. Remember? No one knows his identity."

  Rhen's brow furrowed. He was about to make a comment, when Ceceta clapped her hands. “Oh, my, look at the time. I better cut your hair now or we’ll be late for lunch.”

  “You cut Rhen’s hair?” Lilly asked, when Ceceta pulled out a chair for Rhen to sit on then turned to go to the bathroom.

  “She always cuts my hair,” Rhen said. “She’s good at it.”

  Ceceta returned from the bathroom with a towel and scissors.

  “Is that a Surpen thing?” Lilly asked. “Does Jet expect me to cut his hair?”

  Ceceta laughed. “No,” she told Lilly, while wrapping the towel around Rhen’s shoulders. “Most Surpens get their hair cut by a professional. Rhen’s the only one I know who hates going to a barber.”

  “That’s a relief,” Lilly said. “I was a little worried Jet may…

  The front door burst open and Rhen and Lilly’s brother, Charlie, stumbled into the room smelling of Tgarus weed. “My turn,” he announced. His jacket caught the edge of the wooden barstool next to him, causing it to jerk away from the bar. Charlie swung his hand out to push the chair back but missed and jammed his knuckles into the lip on the bar’s counter. “Oww!”

  Lilly shook her head at the sight of her little brother cradling his hand. “First,” she told him, while picking up her bag and walking towards the door, “you’re late, and second, don’t bother because Ceceta’s back and Rhen’s awake.”

  Charlie glanced over at Ceceta. "Ceceta!" he yelled, raising his hands in the air. He stepped forward to embrace her, but his foot caught the leg of the dislodged bar stool, causing him to trip and fall to the floor.

  "Charlie,” Lilly whispered sadly under her breath as she stepped over her brother. She waved goodbye to Rhen and Ceceta. “See you at lunch,” she said, before leaving the room.

  “What’s the matter with her?” Charlie mumbled, rolling over onto his back. He threw his arms up to cover his eyes from the light and listened to the sound of Ceceta’s scissors as she cut Rhen’s hair.

  After a few minutes, Charlie lowered his arms and pulled himself up onto his knees. “Hey,” he said, when he spotted Rhen. “You look elfin again.”

  “I do,” Rhen agreed. “We can now go…” He was about to say ‘home,’ but Charlie interrupted him by launching into a story about a prank he had pulled at his graduation party, while standing up and patting down his coat pockets until he found a silver flask in his inside left pocket. He unscrewed the top of his flask and took a drink.

  Sighing with pleasure, he added, “Hey. You didn’t take last term’s exams. Are you going to stay in the 18-year-old program or move up?”

  “We don’t know what we’re doing,” Ceceta told her brother-in-law. She combed out the section of Rhen’s hair that she’d finished cutting.

  “Well, if I were you,” Charlie said. He lifted his flask into the air and shook it, listening for how much alcohol was left within it. “I’d have mom make the Headmaster give me last terms’ exam when I return to school after this vacation and then I’d move up to the 19-year-course. It’s much more fun. You get to learn about meditation. I spent most of that class asleep and I still got high marks.”

  “You got high marks?” Rhen teased as Ceceta’s scissors trimmed the hair around his ears.

  Instead of answering, Charlie stumbled over to their couch to sit down. He appeared mesmerized by Ceceta’s movements.

  When Ceceta was finished, she ran her fingers through Rhen’s short hair saying, “Now that’s the Rhen I know. You’re back to your old self."

  “Thanks, Cece,” Rhen said. He stood up and tossed the towel that had been around his shoulders into the trash can before going to his closet. A moment later, he emerged carrying one of his weapons belts.

  “You don’t need to wear that to lunch,” Ceceta said, as Rhen strapped the belt around his waist.

  Rhen raised an eyebrow in her direction and placed his hands on two of the four painted Sai that hung around his waist. There was no way he was going to leave his weapons behind.

  Ceceta rolled her eyes but kept quiet. She didn’t feel like arguing.

  When Rhen sat down on the sofa to put on his black, ankle-high running boots, he noticed that Charlie was watching him. Before he could comment on Charlie’s behavior, Ceceta said, “Rhen, your feet will stink if you wear shoes without socks. Put on some socks, will you?”

  Rhen gave Ceceta an evil grin and shook his left foot in the air before plunging it into his boot. Ceceta grabbed the towel he had thrown into the trashcan and tossed it at him, making him laugh.

  “Come on,” Rhen said, rising to his feet. “Let’s go eat.” He turned to find Charlie’s blue eyes studying him. There was a questioning look on his face. A second later, Charlie’s expression morphed into a drunken grin and he lifted his flask. “Let’s go.”

  They left the bedroom and started down the hall. About mid-way to the stairs, Rhen reached out to stop Ceceta. He wanted Charlie to proceed without them to the dining room, so he could discuss something with Ceceta in private. When Charlie had disappeared down the stairs, Rhen said, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Tgfhi and Crystam.”

  “I said I was sorry. I meant to tell you, but you were always so busy, and I was a little preoccupied with…”

  “With what?”

  “You know,” Ceceta threw out.

  “No. What’s been bothering you?”

  “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe I was preoccupied by the fact that you were a dragon and we never spent any time together after the war,” Ceceta snapped.

  Rhen ducked his head. Now it was his turn to feel guilty. “I should’ve tried to make more time for you. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” Ceceta said, reaching for his hand. “You were busy arranging an Empire.”

  Rhen shrugged. “Getting back to our friends… explain.”

  “Crystam knew Tgfhi was in love with her, so she asked him out. He still doesn’t have control over his water powers so he ended up turning into a puddle at her feet. When he was able to pull himself back together, he told her ‘yes’ and the two of them started dating. A few weeks later, they decided they should marry.”

  Rhen frowned. “Lilly’s wrong. It’s different with her and Jet. Jet was one of my soldiers. He’s not the ruler of a planet. How are Crystam and Tgfhi going to make it when they both take over as rulers of their planets? The Convention membe
rs and Thestran Council are always at odds.”

  "The Black Angel?" Ceceta offered lightly.

  Rhen rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not going to do it again. I'm done being the Angel."

  Ceceta pulled on Rhen’s hand. "Come on. We don’t want to be rude by showing up late for lunch." She wasn’t ready to confront Rhen on the topic of the Black Angel just yet.

  Chapter 7

  Thestran Royal Palace

  When Rhen and Ceceta arrived at the Thestran Royal Family’s dining hall, they found Charlie outside in the hallway struggling to open the heavy, wooden door. “Hey,” he said, as he jerked on the gold doorknob, his feet propped against the bottom of the door to give himself leverage. “It’s stuck.” He stepped back and shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to go somewhere else for lunch.”

  Without a word, Rhen reached past him and pulled open the door. He wondered if Charlie had any clue that he’d been blocking the door with his foot while trying to open it.

  “Oh,” Charlie said, staggering forward into the room. “Thanks, Rhen.”

  Rhen waved his hand for Ceceta to follow Charlie. She walked into the dining room and veered to the left of the table, heading to their pre-assigned seats.

  Rhen stepped into the room behind her and hesitated. As usual, it appeared the entire Thestran Royal Family, along with the Elfin Royals from all four tribes, was present. Rhen felt like he was entering a trap. Why did the Thestrans always gather in large groups when they ate? He took a step backwards and bumped into Charlie, who had somehow ended up behind him.

  “You aren’t scared, are you, little brother?” Charlie teased before stumbling to the right.

  Rhen reached out to steady him. “Do you need help getting to your seat?”

  “No,” Charlie told him, rotating his shoulders in a circle. “I think I got it this time.”

  Rhen walked behind Charlie with his hand out, ready to catch him, in case he fell, but his brother managed to make it to the table. Glancing back up at the guests in attendance, Rhen was relieved to find that the Thestrans were ignoring him. They seemed to be deeply engaged in other activities. Following Ceceta around the left side of the table, Rhen passed in front of a wall of windows that ran the length of the room. He reached his assigned ‘family’ seat, about halfway down the table, and paused. One of the palace’s servants was helping Ceceta into her chair. Rhen debated pushing the man aside, but Ceceta seemed content, so he pulled out his own chair and sat down between her and Rachel.

  “Hi,” Rachel said.

  “Hi,” Rhen said. He was relieved that the Royal Family hadn’t invited a bunch of Council Delegates to the meal as well. Reaching for the platter of raw meat in front of him, Rhen thanked Ceceta for pouring blood into his glass.

  Rachel pointed at Rhen’s cup. “One of these days, I’m going to have to devote some time to finding a way to remove the bloodworms from your body,” she told him. “It can’t be healthy for you to only eat meat.”

  “I don’t mind them,” Rhen said. “All Surpens have bloodworms. It’s just the way it is.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way. You weren’t born with them.”

  Rhen shrugged and turned away. The Thestrans were always complaining about Surpens’ bloodworms. He was tired of hearing about it. He nodded to Jet, Lilly’s husband, who was eating a plate of raw meat on the other side of the table. Jet smiled and shook his head. He knew exactly what Rhen was thinking.

  At the head of the table, James was working to keep his eyes trained on his papers. He’d been relieved to see Ceceta enter the room, since he knew Rhen would be with her. He wanted to give Rhen some space, so he’d ordered the others at the table to treat Rhen as they would anyone else. It was hard to do, since they all wanted to grill Rhen about his powers, his health, his country and the Convention members. Not to mention the fact that they still hadn’t asked Rhen about Themrock’s wife, Layla. James was dying to know if Layla’s ethereal body was still inside Rhen or if she’d moved on. Scanning the room, James was pleased to see the others were keeping their eyes averted, letting Rhen settle in. The last thing they needed was to make Rhen angry by asking him too many personal questions.

  Before Rhen and Ceceta had arrived, James and his family had been discussing ways in which they might convince Rhen to stay on Thestran. The Universe was still raw from Andres’s War. Many people were nervous that Rhen would follow in his father’s footsteps. The unease was causing countless conflicts. If they could keep Rhen on Thestran, it’d give the Universe time to heal. James peeked at Rhen over the top of his paper. He was thrilled to see that Rhen looked elfin again. Rhen lifted his head to take a drink and James ducked down to hide before Rhen could catch him watching.

  While Rhen ate, he listened to Charlie, who was entertaining the table with his usual anecdotes. By the time Charlie was finished with his stories, his food had become cold. “Mom,” he called out. “Can you heat my food? It’s like ice.”

  Without lifting her head, Kate said, “No, Charlie. You should’ve eaten it before it got cold.” She was sitting at the head of the table beside James, reading the news.

  Charlie stuck his tongue out at her then pulled a lighter from of his pocket. He held it next to his plate, burning his fingers once before lighting his dumpling on fire. He waved a hand over his food to put out the fire, but it only intensified the flames. Hoping to smother the fire, he threw his napkin onto his plate, but it ignited, making the flames jump higher.

  Jet, who was sitting next to Charlie, slammed three napkins down onto Charlie’s plate, extinguishing the blaze. “Seriously?” he growled in Surpen, while rolling his grey eyes with irritation.

  Charlie gave him an impish grin in return.

  Prince Reed paused from cutting his daughter’s food into bite-sized pieces and lifted his head to comment on his brother’s fire but hesitated when he saw Rhen. “Rhen,” he said. “You cut your hair.”

  Everyone at the table used Reed’s declaration as an excuse to look at Rhen. They were relieved to note that he looked normal again. His body was completely elfin. He no longer had claws or glowing red eyes or even fangs. Rhen’s skin was paler than it used to be, but that was to be expected since he hadn’t been out in Surpen’s desert sun for almost a year.

  Rhen nodded once in response to Reed but kept his eyes on his plate as he continued to eat. He didn’t want to talk to the Thestrans. They’d probably ask him a million questions, none of which he felt like answering.

  With difficulty, the guests at the table tore their eyes off of Rhen. Lifting up their papers and devices, they pretended to read, while listening to the table’s conversations and waiting for Rhen to say something so they could engage him.

  Charlie turned in his seat, his plate in his hands. He was hoping to flag down one of the palace’s servants to get a new plate. “No, Charlie,” Kate told him. “You cooked it. You eat it.”

  “But, Mom, it’s burnt.”

  “Serves you right, idiot,” his brother, William, snarled. “Who lights their food on fire? What a moron.”

  “Shut up, butthead,” Charlie hissed, sticking his tongue out in William’s direction. He turned to Rhen and whispered loudly enough for all to hear. “Annoying older brothers.”

  Rhen hid his smile by wiping his mouth with his napkin.

  “You think I’m annoying?” William barked. “You’re the biggest loser in the Universe. Do you have any idea what it’s like to have you as my brother? You embarrass our family every day, even Mom says…”

  “William!” Kate said.

  “What?” William asked, turning towards Kate. “You know it’s true. He’s an embarrassment to the family.”

  “That’s enough,” Kate told him.

  Charlie snickered.

  William’s lips thinned as he glared at his brother. He turned to Kate for support, but she was shaking her head, telling him to keep quiet. With anger, William shoved his chair back from the table and left the room, banging the door behind him.
>
  Once he was gone, Charlie took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s amazing how much better the air smells now that he’s gone.”

  “Charlie,” Kate said in a warning tone. “Stop.”

  Charlie grinned and reached for his fork. He took a reluctant bite out of one of his dumplings then paused. Staring down at his food, he cocked his head. The dumplings were no longer burnt, instead they looked perfect, warm and succulent. There was even a pale, green sauce that had been poured over them. Charlie glanced around the table, searching for the person responsible. His eyes fell on Rhen, who was doing his best to ignore everyone.

  Grabbing a roll from the basket by Jet, Charlie tossed it across the table towards Rhen.

  Rhen caught the bread inches from his forehead. He lifted his eyes to see Charlie nodding at him and pointing towards his plate. Rhen placed the roll he was holding onto Rachel’s bread plate then nodded once.

  “Cool,” Charlie said to himself, before pushing an entire dumpling into his mouth. Chewing slowly, he groaned with pleasure. “Amazing.”

  “What’s amazing?” Lilly asked. She leaned forward to see around Jet.

  “Nothing,” Charlie told his sister, while spearing another dumpling with his fork.

  Lilly’s lips pursed. She glanced at her husband but he shrugged. Picking up her fork, Lilly leaned past Jet and snatched one of Charlie’s dumplings.

  “Hey!”

  “I just want to try it,” she told him. She took a tentative bite then closed her eyes as a rich, tangy flavor exploded in her mouth. “Wow! That is amazing. What happened to it?”

  “I want one,” Rachel said, waving her fork in the air at Charlie.

  “No way. They’re mine.”

  “Stop it,” Kate barked, when Rachel and Charlie started to bicker. “What’s gotten into all of you today? We have some serious issues to deal with during Council session this afternoon and I need you to act your age.”

  “Sorry,” Rachel apologized, leaning back in her chair.