Lilly reached past Jet for another dumpling. “No!” Charlie yelled, reaching out to smack her hand away. Jet caught his fingers in a tight grip and Charlie wailed until he was released.
Kate swung her hands forward in a circular motion then pulled her fingers in towards her chest. The air around Charlie’s plate shimmered like a mirage before his plate flew across the table to land in the open space beside Kate. Using her knife and fork, Kate cut a small piece of the dumpling and put it into her mouth. She stopped chewing at once as the warm, rich taste of island placo beans rolled across her tongue followed by the cooling, tangy flavor of sunrise pears. Kate hadn’t tasted anything like it in ages. Turning to Rhen, she asked, “This is a tribal Mencurian dish, isn’t it? How do you know what their food tastes like? Mencuri isn’t a part of your Empire and they don’t eat meat.”
Rhen’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized that anyone but Charlie knew he’d altered the dish. Lifting his chin towards his birth mother, he replied, “My nanny.”
Rhen watched Kate’s complexion pale. He thought his answer might have that effect.
“Oh,” Kate whispered, lowering her fork. “I forgot your nanny was from Mencuri. She must have cooked you plenty of Mencurian dishes before we left for Surpen.” With a shiver, Kate used her powers to return Charlie’s plate to him. She didn’t want to think about Rhen’s past.
Rhen watched as Kate lifted a newspaper in front of her face. What a piece of work, he thought. His father had apologized to him over and over again for screwing up and abandoning him on Surpen, but his mother had yet to admit any wrongdoing. He turned his head away from her and his eyes fell on Rachel. “Rachel, am I finished with the antidote? May I go home now?”
James heard Rhen’s question and panicked. They hadn’t told Rachel that they needed Rhen to stay on Thestran. James thought about using his powers to send a mind message to Rachel to tell her what to say, but if Rhen saw him gesticulating with his hands as he sent the message, he’d know what James was doing. “Here,” James called out, before Rachel could respond. He stood up and walked down the side of the table towards Rhen with one of his papers. “Have you seen what they’re saying?” He knew from questioning Ceceta last term that Rhen couldn’t read or write, so it didn’t matter what paper he handed him. Rhen’s adoptive father, Andres, had kept Rhen illiterate as a way to control him. Rhen wouldn’t understand anything that James gave him.
James handed Rhen the newspaper he was holding. Rhen took it, glanced briefly at it for pictures, then handed it over to Ceceta.
“Rhen,” James began. “Everyone is thrilled that you’ve returned to Thestran for the antidote. That virus you caught did a number on your body. I still can’t believe it turned you into the Surpen God of War.” He shook his head with disbelief. “The Universe is overjoyed that you’re back to your old self, but they’re still angry with your father for what he did and they’re frightened that you might repeat his actions. It’d be in your best interest to stay on Thestran for a while, at least until things in the Universe calm down. Once everyone is assured of the fact that you won’t be turning into a dragon again, you can return to Surpen to rule your 17 solar systems.”
“Nineteen,” Rhen bit out, correcting James. He wasn’t sure if James was trying to trick him and he didn’t like James’ slight to his political standing. James was beneath him and yet he was standing above him acting superior. It was so very Thestran of him.
“Right,” James said. “Unbelievable. One man ruling nineteen solar systems. Wow!” James turned away from Rhen and walked back to his chair, adding, “You’re cured, but you should probably lay low for a while until everyone gets used to the idea that you’re really back to normal, then you can return to Surpen to become the most powerful Emperor in the Universe.”
Rhen felt himself flush with anger as he turned back to face the table. James was being an idiot. Could he really be that naive? Did he even realize that he’d just insulted Rhen three times? How could he have ‘forgotten’ how many solar systems Surpen ruled? Why was he implying that Rhen couldn’t handle the systems he controlled — and why had he told Rhen that he wasn’t the Emperor of Surpen while he was on Thestran?
Rhen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For Ceceta’s sake, he needed to keep his temper in check. These Thestrans were inexperienced in Convention politics. “James,” he began with fatigue, debating whether he should call James out on his insult. There was no point in challenging James, though, since Rhen knew he could kill him in the blink of an eye. Rhen considered reprimanding James and telling him to go back to school to learn how to be a better politician, but he decided it wasn’t his place to do so. He wasn’t Thestran, nor did he care what the Thestrans did. Perhaps, if he simply mentioned to James his recent insult, James would understand that he’d misspoken and apologize. “I am still the Emperor of Surpen, whether I’m here or on my home planet.”
“Of course,” James replied flippantly, taking his seat and reaching for the papers in front of Kate.
Rhen put his elbows on the table and dropped his head down into his hands. What a moron, he thought. There was no way James could ever deal with the Convention members. They’d eat him alive.
“No,” Rhen told James quietly, lifting his head. He rose to his feet. Staring down the table to his right at James, he said, “No, James. In typical Thestran fashion, you’ve misunderstood my point and you owe me an apology.”
Rhen gritted his teeth at the silence that followed his words. The Thestrans’ faces were blank.
“Whether you realize it or not,” he continued. “You’ve just insulted me three times. If we were on Surpen, I’d be forced to call you out.”
Again, the room fell silent. No one could remember hearing James insulting Rhen. Before James could respond, the door to the room opened and Rhen’s top two advisors, Bosternd and Nk, entered the room. They were chatting in Surpen, as they carried armfuls of documents.
“Out!” Rhen barked, pointing at the door behind them.
At once, Bosternd and Nk turned and left the room. When the door had closed behind them, Rhen slapped his forehead with his hand and cursed, “Damn!” He plopped down onto his chair and shook his head. “I’m not going to call you out on your insult, James, because the only other Surpens in this room are Ceceta and Jet and they won’t demand it, but for Gods’ sake, watch what you say in the future. If Bosternd or Nk or any other Surpen had heard you, I would’ve had to kill you. I don’t want to kill you. I don’t want Thestran as my solar system.”
“Why not?” Charlie asked with offense. “What’s wrong with us? Aren’t we good enough for you?”
For a second, Rhen was confused. He couldn’t tell if Charlie was serious or not. Then he laughed.
Charlie smelled his armpits. “Do we smell or something?”
“Yes, Charlie,” Rhen told him with a smile. “You Thestrans smell awful.”
“Rhen," James interrupted, rising to his feet. "I’m sorry that I insulted you. It wasn’t my intention. I only wanted to convince you to stay here a while longer because I think it’ll be best for Universal peace. That’s all. Please accept my apology.”
Rhen took in James’ deferential stance. His arms were open, asking for forgiveness. “Does the newspaper say what James claims?” Rhen whispered to Ceceta in Surpen. She nodded. Turning back to James, Rhen said, “I accept your apology. We’ll stay on Thestran for another week. That should give you enough time to calm down any quibbling planets.”
“What about going back to school?” Ceceta threw out.
“What?” Rhen asked with surprise. He couldn’t believe she’d suggested his going back to the Elfin University.
"It was Charlie's idea," Ceceta added defensively, while pointing at Charlie, who was trying to refill his silver flask with wine from the table, although most of the wine was running down the side of his flask onto the white linen tablecloth. "He said they might be able to schedule a makeup exam, so you could be in the same year
as me."
"Yes, of course they can,” James said, before Rhen could object. “I’ll schedule it tonight.” He was thrilled to have Ceceta’s help.
Rhen stared at Ceceta with a blank expression on his face. He didn’t want to go back to school. He thought it was a waste of time, but he could see from Ceceta’s eyes that she really wanted him to return.
Ceceta leaned forward and whispered, “Please.” Her breast brushed against Rhen’s arm, as she reached up to stroke the back of Rhen’s neck and the lower part of his ear.
Rhen's body shuddered in response and he closed his eyes. Ceceta’s fingertips were igniting a fire within him, and despite his better judgment, he felt himself nodding his head. He knew he was going to regret his decision, but if it made Ceceta happy, he could put up with it for a little while.
The Thestrans at the table grinned with appreciation for the way Ceceta could control her husband. Rhen was putty in her hands.
“School is in a two-week recess right now," James told Rhen, when he saw Ceceta remove her hand. "We’ll have the Headmaster send us the books you need, and we’ll ask your friends to swing by to help you study for last year’s exams. They can also help you catch up on the work that was done this semester.”
“That’d be great,” Ceceta said. She held in a cheer while tucking her hand into the crook of Rhen’s arm as he rose to his feet. She couldn’t wait to go back to the Elfin University with Rhen. They’d had so much fun their freshman year. Not only had she enjoyed getting an education, but it’d been the first chance that she and Rhen had had to make friends. When Andres had been king, they were never allowed to meet anyone their own age who wasn’t a Surpen soldier. “Tgfhi and the others will help Rhen catch up in no time.”
“Excellent,” James added, watching the two of them walk towards the door. “We’ll take care of everything.”
Rhen nodded his thanks to James, before he and Ceceta left the room. He had hoped to return to their bedroom, but Bosternd and Nk were waiting for him, lounging on chairs outside the dining room. Rhen groaned. "I forgot," he said, removing Ceceta's hand from his arm. "I have work to do."
"No problem," she said. “Thank you for what you did in there. You have no idea how much it means to me.”
Rhen lowered his forehead to touch Ceceta’s, then turned to find an empty room in which to discuss the status of Surpen’s Empire.
Chapter 8
Fire Elf Castle – Thestran
"Are you coming?" Latsoh yelled.
Erfce smiled at Latsoh’s excitement through the monitor. She was standing on the other side of her bedroom shoving school books into her olive-green, canvas school bag. Her long, red ponytail whipped about as she thrust another book into her bag.
A moment later, Erfce’s heart jumped in his chest, when Latsoh turned and pulled off her black sweater. Her hair cascaded out of its ponytail, falling down around her shoulders like a wave of lava.
Erfce opened his mouth to ask her out, but just then Latsoh looked up at him with her deep green eyes and he lost his nerve. "I'll arrive with Tgfhi and Crystam. They were visiting Crystam's mom on Ventar and said they’d swing by here on their way to Thestran."
Latsoh heaved the heavy book bag onto her shoulder and shuffled over to her desk. "This is going to be so much fun, don’t you think?" She dropped the bag down onto the floor with a thud and hunched over to be closer to the screen. "Can you believe it? We'll get to live in the Thestran Royal Family's part of the palace as we teach Rhen. I can't wait. We'll be hanging out with the Thestran Royal Family!"
"It’s going to be great," Erfce agreed, trying not to look at Latsoh's cleavage as she bent down in front of the screen. “I’m looking forward to checking out their palace.”
"I know! We’ll get to explore the Royal Family’s private wing.”
“I’ve heard they have an amazing pool on the fourth floor,” Erfce said.
“Yeah. I heard that too. My Dad told me they have different rooms for everything. I wish I lived there.”
Erfce frowned as he considered her words. “You live in a palace too, Latsoh.”
Latsoh sighed and dropped her head down onto her forearm. “Erfce,” she complained. “You know it’s not the same. Our elfin castles are terrible. They won’t be glorious again until Themrock returns.”
“It’s still a castle,” Erfce mumbled.
“What?” Latsoh asked, lifting her head.
“I said, ‘I can’t wait to see Rhen.’”
“I know,” Latsoh squealed, her excitement returning. She inched closer to the screen. “Do you think he’s still a dragon?"
Erfce shrugged. He was soaking in the intensity of her green eyes. He’d never seen eyes as electric as Latsoh’s before. They were almost the color of a Neptian apple, a bright vibrant green mixed with light blue highlights.
"I asked my parents if he looked elfin again, but they didn’t get back to me yet.”
Erfce leaned back from his monitor and blinked. “Your parents are there?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. They’ve been attending the Council’s sessions.”
“Oh,” Erfce mumbled, turning away from the screen. He didn’t particularly like Latsoh’s parents. They’d always been cold towards him. A lot of elves were still stuck in the past. They believed elves should only socialize with and date other elves. Latsoh’s parents seemed to be a part of that group.
“What’s the matter?” Latsoh asked.
Erfce turned back to the monitor and froze. The right strap on Latsoh’s shirt had fallen off her shoulder, causing her shirt to lower enough that he could see the top of her blue, silk bra. “Uhh,” he grunted.
Latsoh leaned forward, her shirt dropping lower. “Everything okay?”
“Uh huh,” he murmured.
“Don’t you think this is going to be a great vacation?”
Erfce nodded. His mouth was open but no words were coming out.
"Do you think Rhen’s still green?”
Swallowing, Erfce whispered, “I… I heard the antidote worked. He should be elfin again.”
When Latsoh didn’t respond, Erfce pulled his gaze off her bra and up to her face. She was quiet, her eyes searching his for something. He wondered what she was looking for and felt he might be in trouble if he didn’t give her what she needed. Unfortunately, at that moment, he couldn’t figure out what it was that Latsoh wanted.
Eventually, she said, “That’s a relief. He was really scary-looking before.”
The moment seemed to have passed and Erfce felt as if he’d failed. He should’ve used his powers to see the future before calling Latsoh.
“I'll see you later," Latsoh said, leaning back from her monitor.
Erfce wasn’t ready to go, but he could tell from Latsoh’s posture that she wanted to be alone. “See you on Thestran,” he said, before turning off his screen.
Latsoh sighed as Erfce’s beautiful, large, brown eyes and pale skin, just a tad illuminated, faded from view. "What’s the matter with him?" she mumbled, pushing the strap on her shirt back up onto her shoulder. “Could I be any more obvious with you?” she growled at her monitor.
Bending over to pick up her bag from the floor, Latsoh hesitated when she heard footsteps. Was someone in the hallway outside her bedroom? Had they heard her conversation with Erfce? She ran through their dialogue again in her mind, hoping that it’d been benign enough that no one would have anything to report. Her parents, the King and Queen of the Fire Elves, would have a fit if they knew she was attracted to a non-elfin man.
Walking briskly to her bedroom door, she peeked out into the hallway. No one was there. A cold breeze blew her hair back from her face. Latsoh shivered and closed her door. She snatched her black sweater from the back of the chair where she’d tossed it and pulled it on over her head. She hated her castle. There was always a frigid wind blowing through the hallways and common rooms and they could never keep a fire going long enough to warm up. “Fire Elves,” Latsoh snorted. They were
more like Freezing Elves. She wondered what changes would happen to her castle when Themrock returned.
Latsoh closed her laptop and slipped it into her book bag then glanced around at her sparsely decorated bedroom. She’d had a portrait of the Genister God Thamber above her bed, but her father had sold it for fuel last year. Her brother, Aaron, had lost his portrait of the God Thellis the year before for medical supplies. If her father had asked the Thestran Royal Family for aid earlier, she might’ve been able to keep her treasures, but he had refused to beg for funds until this year, so they’d sold off almost all the antiques in the Fire Elf Castle to keep it running.
Latsoh stepped out into the hallway, closing her bedroom door behind her and shivering from the breeze.
Her father had been the last elfin king to go to the Thestrans for help. The others had started begging for aid shortly after Queen Kate had given birth to Reed, the first elfin child ever born to a human. Latsoh wondered, again, how it was possible that Reed, Sage, Charlie and Rhen, all elves, were born to human parents. The elfin priests had been telling everyone that it was a sign from the Gods that Themrock would soon be returning. She believed them, since none of the scientists had been able to explain it.
Most of the other elves believed it now, too. Ever since the apple trees on the Wood Elves’ land had mysteriously begun to bloom again last summer, there’d been a steep increase in elfin attendance at all religious events. If Themrock had found a way out of the Void Box, in which he’d been imprisoned over a thousand years ago, and was coming back to them then no one wanted him to think that they hadn’t remained faithful.
Latsoh paused in front of the golden framed portal that the Thestran Royal Family had loaned to the Fire Elves. She said a small prayer to the Genister Gods, thanking them for their generosity and praying for Themrock’s safe return, then lifted her head and said, “Thestran Royal Castle.”
One day, she thought, stepping through the portal into the Thestran Royal Council Chamber, I’m going to get it all back.
The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods Page 6