“So much for Thaster,” Loreth mumbled to himself, flying away from the moon. He had hoped for a more exciting battle. He ducked behind a planet to make his purple vortex.
Loreth flew threw his vortex onto Neptian. Te was waiting for him in his living room. Landing on the beige rug in front of Te, Loreth waited as the Neptian Delegate to the Thestran Council bowed before him. When Te had risen, he said, “I understand you weren’t successful in stripping Rhen of his crown.” Loreth glanced down at his hands as he peeled off the brown leather gloves he was wearing.
“No, sir,” Te answered.
“I didn’t think it’d work, but it was worth a shot.” Loreth tossed his gloves onto the coffee table to his right and plopped down onto the chair behind him, the same one that Te had been using. Reaching up, he used the fingertips on his right hand to pluck at the unibrow over his eyes while he considered what to do next.
A moment later, he gestured towards the chair across from him. “Have a seat and I’ll tell you my new plan. I think you’ll like it.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Te replied obediently.
---
Ceceta woke up to find Rhen sitting on the edge of their bed pulling on his black running boots. “Hi,” she said, sitting up and running her hands through her hair to straighten it. “Any trouble last night?”
“No,” Rhen mumbled, reaching for his weapons belt that held three, ten-inch dirks in it. He glanced up to find Ceceta frowning at him. “What?”
“Why didn’t you wake me up when you came home?”
“I just got home. I haven’t been to bed yet.”
"But you're changing?"
"Because my other clothes were disgusting."
“Rhen,” Ceceta said, feeling exasperated. “Your body needs rest. You just went through a painful procedure. You should be taking it easy.”
“Yes, mom,” he snapped.
“That’s not funny,” Ceceta said. She threw back the covers and stalked off to their bathroom to get ready for the day.
“I thought it was,” Rhen called after her, before closing his eyes to scan the Universe for trouble.
Ceceta returned from the bathroom a few minutes later, brushing her teeth. She waited for Rhen to open his eyes. "Anything I should know?" she mumbled, lifting a hand to keep the minty green toothpaste from dribbling down her chin.
Rhen shook his head. "I can stay with you during the day to study and meet with Bosternd and Nk about Surpen affairs, but the Genisters have asked me to visit the other Universes with them at night. Thaster’s been leaving traps and they want help finding them."
Ceceta nodded. She walked back to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. Returning a few minutes later, she said, "You were gone a long time yesterday."
"Yeah. It appears I’ll be working overtime for a while. I don’t know what the Genisters have been doing for the last few months. Everything’s messed up. Thaster’s been having a field day. It’s like the Genisters were on vacation."
"The Genisters are always on vacation. If they were humans, things would be different.”
Rhen grunted in agreement.
“Just... be sure to make some time for yourself, please?" Ceceta said.
Rhen reached out for Ceceta and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his head to touch his forehead to hers. Ceceta was about to reach up to give him a kiss, when their door opened unexpectedly and James walked into the room, calling out, “Good morning!”
Chapter 13
Thestran Royal Palace
Crystam walked into the room labeled ‘Racetrack’ on the fourth floor of the Thestran Royal Family’s palace and stopped short. “No way!” she laughed out. She was standing in an open, grassy area gazing out over a full-sized racetrack, complete with stables on the far-right side and a stadium on the left. “Unbelievable,” she whispered, raising her camera to take a picture.
“What’re you doing?” someone asked behind her.
Crystam jumped. She’d thought she was alone in the room. She hadn’t seen anyone in the stands or on the racetrack. Turning around, she found Charlie standing against the wall behind her. She tilted her head as she stared at him. Charlie’s posture seemed off.
Stepping closer, Crystam noticed that Charlie appeared to be hanging on the wall. The back of his black jacket was lifted above his head, making his shoulders droop forward.
Charlie grinned then saluted her with the red cup in his hand before taking a drink.
“I should be asking you the same question,” Crystam said, while approaching the Thestran Prince for a better look.
“Oh, I like to hang about, you know?” Charlie replied casually.
Crystam leaned forward to look behind Charlie and everything fell into place. “You leaned against the wall and the coat hook got you, didn’t it?”
Charlie was silent for a moment. “Maybe,” he finally admitted. “I was going to slide down the wall to sit on the floor, but the hook snagged my jacket. I don’t want to rip my coat, since it’s new, so,” he gestured with his hands, “here I am.”
“How long have you been standing there?”
Charlie pouted. “Long enough for the ice to melt in my drink.” He lifted his red cup and swirled it around a few times so Crystam could hear that there wasn’t any ice clinking within it.
Crystam shook her head. She’d had a crush on Charlie last year. His long, dirty blond hair was always sticking out in chunks, like he’d just gotten out of bed, and his light blue eyes held a mischief that promised a good time. Crystam had loved his pranks at the University. She wondered what would’ve happened if she’d asked Charlie out. He probably would’ve forgotten to show up for the date, she thought, reaching into her pocket.
Charlie’s eyes widened as he watched her.
“I’m not going to take your picture,” she reassured him, raising her phone into the air. “I’m just going to call Tgfhi for help. I can’t lift you off the hook by myself.”
“Oh,” Charlie replied with a nod. “Good thinking.”
Tgfhi answered at once and Crystam felt her heart swell. She couldn’t imagine how lucky she was to have him. After explaining the situation, she put her phone back in her pocket.
“Is he coming?” Charlie asked, looking up at her through the tufts of hair that had fallen over his forehead.
“Yes. He’ll be here in a minute.”
Charlie’s head bobbed. “Cool.”
They stood in silence as they waited. It wasn’t long before they heard two people walking down the hallway towards them.
“I don’t get it, Tgfhi,” Latsoh complained. “Can’t you just tell him to ask me out?”
“No. It’s not my place to tell Erfce to ask you out,” Tgfhi said. He sounded tired.
“Have you told him that I like him?”
“More than once,” Tgfhi answered.
“Well, why doesn’t he ask me out?”
“I don’t know, Latsoh. I think he’s just shy,” Tgfhi said. “Give him time. He’ll get there.”
“I’m tired of waiting.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have no idea how frustrating this is,” Latsoh said.
“I think you’ve made it clear.”
“No, I don’t think you understand—” Latsoh began. They rounded the corner and stepped through the double doorway into the room. Latsoh stopped talking at the sight of the racetrack.
“Holy crap,” Tgfhi swore, when he saw the size of the room. “That’s screwed up!”
“Over here,” Crystam called out to them.
Latsoh and Tgfhi turned in her direction. After a moment, Tgfhi asked, “You weren’t joking?” Crystam shook her head. “I thought you were joking.” Crystam shrugged as Tgfhi walked over and hoisted Charlie up into the air.
“Hi,” Charlie said, staring down into Tgfhi’s rugged face.
“Hi, yourself,” Tgfhi replied, placing Charlie down gently so he wouldn’t fall onto the floor.
Charlie stretched. “Oh, that fe
els much better. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Tgfhi said. “How long were you up there?”
“Long enough for the ice to melt in his drink,” Crystam remarked dryly.
Charlie lifted his cup. “You’re right,” he said with shock. “That’s terrible! I better get some more ice.” Without another word, he turned and shuffled out the door.
“What an idiot,” Latsoh said.
“I feel sorry for him,” Crystam admitted.
“Did you get the pictures you wanted?” Tgfhi asked, changing the subject.
“Yes!” Crystam shrieked. “I have pictures of all the rooms. This palace is amazing.”
“This room alone is amazing. How’s it possible? The hallway is only thirty feet long, yet when you enter the room, you find a regulation-sized racetrack,” Tgfhi said.
“Duh,” Latsoh teased. “Themrock made the palace. He can do anything. Remember?”
Tgfhi grunted. He didn’t want to mention the fact that in his opinion, Themrock wasn’t that great. A smart person wouldn’t have let themselves get locked up into a Void Box for thousands of years. Fortunately, Latsoh changed the subject.
“Crystam, did you say that you took pictures of all of the rooms in the palace?”
“I did,” Crystam said, looping her fingers into one of the belt loops on Tgfhi’s pants and pulling herself toward him. Tgfhi dropped an arm around her shoulders to tighten their connection.
“Did you see any portraits of the Genister God Thamber?”
Crystam laughed. “Really? Latsoh, there are hundreds of portraits of the Genister Gods in the palace.”
Latsoh pulled out her phone and scrolled through her pictures. When she found the one she wanted, she held it up for them to see. In the portrait, Thamber was wearing traditional Genister clothing, a black cape, black shirt and pants, black gloves and black boots. She had long, golden blond hair, a turned-up nose, plump cheeks and blue eyes that had streaks of gold in them.
“That’s cool,” Crystam said. “I’ve never seen her look like that in any of the other portraits.”
“It’s been in my family for years. My great-aunt gave it to me, but my Dad had to sell it.” Latsoh dropped her head down as she put her phone back in her pocket.
Crystam reached out and pulled Latsoh into her arms. She knew the elves were in horrible shape financially. Her own mother had bought several small Genister artifacts from the elfin tribes to decorate their palace.
“I’m sorry,” Crystam said, hugging Latsoh tightly.
Latsoh shook free from her embrace. “It’s okay, you know. I was just wondering if the Royal Family bought it. Dad sold it through an auction house and it was bought anonymously, so we don’t know where it went.”
“I didn’t see that one. Although, it could still be here since I didn’t go into any of the Royal Family’s private bedrooms. It could be in one of them. A portrait that large would’ve been very expensive, more than most planets could afford. If they bought it, they’d want to keep it out of public view. No need to rub their wealth in everyone’s face, you know? I bet it’s in one of their bedrooms.”
Latsoh nodded but didn’t reply. She turned and walked towards the door. Her eyes misting. As she stepped into the hallway, she bumped into Charlie. “Hey!” she cried out with anger, wiping at her tears.
“I have ice,” Charlie said with triumph. “They had it at the pool.” He pointed down the hallway in the opposite direction from the pool.
“Idiot,” Latsoh snarled, stepping around him. She continued down the hallway but stopped, when she heard Charlie say to Crystam, “Thanks for getting me down. I noticed you were taking pictures of our palace. Do you want me to take you to some of the rooms that are off-limits, so you can have a complete set of pictures?”
Crystam was positive the other Thestran Royals wouldn’t want that, but Charlie’s offer was too good to pass up. “Yes!”
Charlie stumbled to his right and bumped into the wall. “I’m going to finish this drink outside by the ocean and then I can meet you in my bedroom. We can start there.”
“That’d be great. Thanks, Charlie.”
“Happy to help,” he said, walking disjointedly towards the exit.
After he’d left, Latsoh asked Crystam if she could join them.
“Sure,” Crystam told her. “Erfce’s almost finished tutoring Rhen for the night. I figure Charlie will be back in an hour. We can all meet outside his bedroom then.”
“Perfect,” Latsoh said, running off to get Erfce.
Chapter 14
Thestran Royal Palace
Rhen walked up to the fourth floor of the palace, looking for Reed and James. He’d just finished his lesson with Erfce and wanted to talk to his older brothers about Delegate Te before heading out with the Genisters. He opened the first door he came to and found himself in a glass-domed room that had a pool in it. Rhen entered the room, looking for someone who might know where his brothers were, but there wasn’t anyone around. There weren’t even any servants behind the refreshment stand on the right side of the room.
Returning to the hallway, Rhen closed the door behind him and headed for the next room. As he walked he thought about the jobs that Thellis had lined up for him for this evening. He didn’t want to work tonight. He wanted to play. Erfce and Ceceta had gone off to join the others on some adventure that involved Charlie, yet once again, he was working.
Rhen opened the door to the next room and shook his head. “Seriously?” he asked. “Like the palace needs an indoor racetrack.” He didn’t feel like walking across the field in front of him to ask the jockeys, who were riding around the ring, if they knew where James was, so he closed the door. Leaning against the door frame, he debated whether he could put off telling James about Te.
No, he thought. If Loreth was active again, they’d need to act quickly using all their powers to stop him.
Powers. Rhen laughed. He kept forgetting that he could now use his powers any time he wanted to. He’d hidden them for so long that he rarely used them. Closing his eyes, Rhen sent his powerful senses out into the other rooms on the fourth floor, searching for his older brothers. He found them five doors down the hall on the left.
“Finally.” He was tired and wanted a break. Ever since he’d turned back into a man, the Genisters had been keeping him busy. Every night they’d show up, demanding that he come with them. All he wanted was some time to himself. He prayed they didn’t have anything planned for tomorrow tonight. He’d love to spend an evening with Ceceta. Maybe, if he worked quickly tonight, he could get home early and surprise her.
James turned when the door behind him opened. He was surprised to see Rhen enter the room. “What’s up?” he asked, when Rhen paused in the entrance way.
Rhen looked up to see his brothers watching him. He’d been so wrapped up in his own drama that he’d momentarily forgotten why he’d been searching for them. “James, Reed,” he said in greeting. They had been playing a game where they rolled balls down a dirt path towards a hole in the ground.
“It’s Sink Ball,” Reed explained, when he noticed the confused look on Rhen’s face. “Clever name, right?” He laughed. “They play it on Mencuri.”
Rhen nodded. He vaguely remembered his nanny talking about the game. He had never been to Mencuri. Since it was a part of Thestran’s territory, he probably would never visit the planet. “Oh,” Rhen said, remembering why he was there. “I was looking for you. I need to talk to you about one of your planets.” He closed the door behind him for privacy. “I’ve received word from one of my generals that they’ve found a note from Te of Neptian. It was written to my father’s advisor, Loreth. Most of the note was destroyed…”
“What?!” Reed exclaimed. “I thought you’d killed him.” He squeezed the ball in his hand even tighter.
“I thought I had too, but it seems he’s still alive. One of my generals was at the Neptian Royal Palace and he happened to discover a letter in the fire...”
&nb
sp; “Did you see this letter?” James interrupted.
Reluctantly, Rhen shook his head.
“Rhen,” James began. “You hit Loreth with an enormous power blast. I find it hard to believe that he’s still alive. You must be misinformed.”
“No, James,” Rhen reassured him. “I…” He paused, reluctant to tell them that he’d smelled his father’s advisor on Te. They’d think he was crazy if he admitted that. “Listen,” he said. “I thought I’d killed him, but this information makes me question whether or not he’s dead. You should check in with Te. Find out what he’s been up to. If you want, I can send my army to Neptian and we’ll...”
“No,” James said. He didn’t want Surpen’s army anywhere near one of his planets. “That won’t be necessary. I believe you’re mistaken. Te’s a good man. He’s done nothing wrong. In the future, it’d be wise if you didn’t take someone’s word for fact. You mustn’t condemn or accuse others, unless you’ve seen the facts yourself.”
Rhen bristled. He’d been trying to help James, but now James was disciplining him. “Fine,” he replied curtly with a nod. “I leave it to you then.” Turning, he marched out of the room.
Rhen heard Thellis calling him in his mind and groaned. Sometimes he wished the Genisters didn’t have the power of telepathy. It looked like it was time to go to work. Thellis was complaining that they had found another one of Thaster’s power balls on Universe 9. He was waiting in Rhen’s bedroom to help Rhen jump the TUB.
“Do you think he’s right?” Reed asked, after Rhen had left.
“No,” James said. “The man’s illiterate. I think one of his generals is playing him. We should keep a close watch on him. I don’t like the idea of his being influenced this way. He’s young and inexperienced in politics.” James put his ball back onto the rack beside him. He didn’t feel like playing anymore. “I wonder how Rhen governs his planets.”
The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods Page 10