The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

“Why don’t you ask the Milowian King?” Reed suggested. “He’s still here. I saw him a little while ago at the Crown Bar.”

  “That’s just what I’m going to do. Do you want to come?”

  Reed smiled. He did. He thought it might be fun.

  They found the Milowian King and the King of Nehpets chatting in the Crown Bar, which was located off the Grand Hallway. “Gentlemen,” James said, as he and Reed sat down in the low leather chairs beside them. From the number of empty glasses on the round table in the center of their circle, James assumed that both men were intoxicated. “Thank you for your words regarding my brother in the Council Chamber,” he told the Milowian King. “We appreciated your support.”

  “Oh,” the King replied, leaning back in his chair to rub his large belly with both hands. “It was my pleasure, really. Your brother is one of a kind. I’d do anything for him.”

  “We hear that a lot,” Reed mumbled to himself.

  “If you have a minute, we’d like to ask you how Surpen handles your government,” James said.

  “Ahh,” the Nehpets King said with a smile, his beak of a nose looking longer than ever. “He’s amazing, that Rhen. We’re doing better now than ever before in the history of our planet. Look,” he said, moving to the edge of his seat and gesticulating with his hands, “Rhen’s the Emperor, then there’s Bosternd and Nk, a few other generals, and then our own general. Every planet is assigned its own general. Since that general lives with us, they can pinpoint our needs, you know? Rhen’s also got these ancillary generals, who perform roaming duties. I’m not sure how it all works, but our general is never left unattended.”

  “Don’t forget the Trade General,” the Milowian King piped up.

  “Yes,” the Nehpets King said. “When we were an independent planet, we were required to pay everyone’s taxes, in order to trade with them or to cross their space. The Surpens, you see, have done away with all of that. We trade freely amongst ourselves and with the Convention members. The Surpens have a department that tracks our goods and services. If one planet has an excess of something, that department notifies them of which planets need their product. My people have made a fortune since we joined Surpen.”

  “What happens when no one wants your products?” Reed asked.

  “Well, then, Rhen buys it,” the Milowian King answered.

  “What?” James asked. “How?”

  “He’s bloody loaded,” the Nehpets King laughed out. “Rhen is the richest man in the Universe. Not only is he loaded, but his generals are all rich too. They don’t want for anything.”

  “But how’s that possible?” James asked. “After Rhen’s father died, he returned everything his father had taken during the wars. He didn't keep anything from the planets his father had looted. How could he be rich if he gave it all back?”

  “I don’t know,” the Milowian King said. “He just is. He buys our excess products and stores them on Surpen until they’re needed. He has generals that organize everything. If someone has a problem, such as a drought, he will donate what he has to keep them going, and he does it for free. It’s incredible. You get the sense that he wants all of us to be successful and… happy.”

  “It’s like having a loving parent watching over us,” the Nehpets King agreed.

  “But how does Surpen survive?” Reed asked. "The mathematics of it all don't make sense."

  “It’s the most self-sufficient planet I’ve ever seen,” the Nehpets King said. “Surpen is a desert, but they’re better off than all of us combined.”

  “What if you don’t like the general that’s assigned to you?” James asked.

  “I’ve only heard of that happening once,” the Nehpets King confessed. “There was this one general who was power-hungry. He was always giving everyone a hard time. The King, who had received him, was about to complain, when he found Rhen walking into his palace with the man’s replacement. The general was removed before the King could even lodge his complaint. It was as if Rhen knew there was a problem before anyone else did.”

  “The Planet Generals have to behave,” the Milowian King added. “Rhen watches them all the time. He spies on them.”

  “He can’t spy on them,” Reed scoffed. “First of all, they’d know if he was watching, and secondly, it’d take too much time for Rhen to watch them. Rhen wouldn’t be doing anything but spying.”

  The Nehpets King shrugged. “Perhaps Rhen hears of potentially problematic situations and keeps his eye on them? Kind of like a… God?”

  Reed and James laughed as the Milowian King nodded in agreement.

  James turned to the waiter, who was hovering near their table. “We’ll have whatever they’re drinking.”

  Chapter 15

  Beach Front – Thestran Royal Palace

  Charlie banged the red cup against his top teeth to force the rest of his drink from the bottom. As the cool, tangy liquid slid into his mouth, his taste buds rejoiced. “Delicious,” he said, licking the inside of his cup one more time.

  Sighing, he lay down on the sand. He was resting on the beach by the inlet where the ocean came close to Thestran’s palace. “Lovely day,” he said to himself. He watched the terns flying in to shore for the night and grunted. It was later than he’d thought. Wasn’t he supposed to be somewhere later today?

  Rolling to his right side, Charlie started to rise when he noticed a glowing, red image lying on the sand beside him.

  “Hello?” he said hesitantly. The image shimmered before coming into focus.

  Thaster opened his eyes and smiled. “Hello, Thestran Prince.”

  Charlie’s mouth dropped open at the sight of Thaster. “I have to go,” he said, scooching himself backwards on the sand to put distance between himself and the glowing red Genister.

  “Indeed, you do,” Thaster agreed. “You’re coming with me.” Thaster had scanned the Thestrans’ Palace and found Charlie lying alone on the sand by the ocean.

  He’d remembered that Rhen had saved Charlie from his own pranks at the University on multiple occasions. There was a bond between the two of them. If he took Charlie to Hell, Rhen would come running.

  “No,” Charlie said, shaking his head and finding himself growing dizzy from the movement. He’d had more to drink than he’d thought. “I can’t go with you.”

  “Of course you can, young prince,” Thaster replied cheerfully.

  “No,” Charlie said. He staggered, trying to climb up the sandy dune towards the palace. “I have to go home now.”

  “And that’s just where I’ll take you.” Thaster flew towards Charlie, a blur of red in the twilight sky.

  Charlie was about to scream, but Thaster punched him in the gut as he lifted him into the air and turned the two of them invisible.

  A moment later, Charlie was tossed onto some grass that was the color of red wine. He lifted himself up onto his hands and knees and gasped for air. When he could finally breathe again, he noticed that the air tasted wrong. It was thick and had the flavor of wet cardboard.

  “Where… where am I?” he asked.

  “Welcome to Hell,” Thaster said, his body becoming solid now that he’d returned to his own dimension. Charlie’s complexion turned white, making Thaster laugh.

  Charlie couldn’t believe it. Thaster had kidnapped him. Thaster had taken him to Hell.

  He glanced up at the pink stones of Thaster’s peaked palace. It was ten times the size of the Thestrans’ palace. To his right was a forest of trees that looked like red maples, only their color was slightly more purple than red, and to his left were empty stables. Charlie sat back on his knees and noticed he was in the middle of a garden five times the size of his parents’. Birds sang as they flew past and a butterfly landed on one of the pink flowers to his right.

  “It’s kind of nice,” he said, taking in all of the flowers around him. Granted, most of the flowers had a strange tone to them, but they were still pretty. “It’s rather relaxing,” he added, as he felt the tension ease from his body.
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  Thaster frowned. He’d never heard that one before. “Are you serious?”

  Charlie smiled and lifted his head. “Yeah. I like it here. Where’s my room?”

  Thaster’s mouth dropped open. “Your room?”

  “Yes,” Charlie said, standing up and dusting the sand off his pants. “I think it’s good to make a change every now and then. This will be fun. Where’s my room?”

  “You don’t get a room,” Thaster lied. “I’m turning you into one of my slaves.”

  “Oh,” Charlie said. He was thoughtful for a moment. “Okay. That’d be kind of cool. Are you turning me into a slave now? Can I attack anyone for you?” When Thaster didn’t respond, he added, “I like the idea of being a slave from Hell. Can slaves use their tails like monkeys? Because I want to try to pick something up with mine.” He bent down to pick up a rock. Lifting it higher for Thaster to see, he asked, “Do you think this is too big for me to hold with my tail?”

  “There’s something seriously wrong with you,” Thaster said, crossing his arms over his chest. He’d never seen anything like it. Charlie appeared to be excited about the prospect of being turned into a slave. No one wanted to be a Hell slave.

  Charlie shrugged. “What are you talking about? You said you were going to turn me into a slave. It’s not like I have a choice. So, come on, do it.” He opened his arms wide, inviting Thaster to change his form.

  Thaster shook his head then turned and marched off towards his palace. “Of all the Thestrans I decide to abduct, it figures I’d pick the biggest idiot. I wonder if the Royal Family will negotiate for him or if they’ll pay me to keep him.” Thaster rubbed his palm against his forehead. “They probably won’t even tell anyone that he’s missing.” He paused. “Dear Gods! I hope I don’t get stuck with him.”

  A thin smile appeared on Charlie’s face as he watched Thaster’s broad back marching up the hill towards his palace. It appeared the evil Genister God wasn’t happy with him. Too bad. And here he thought they might be able to strike up a friendship.

  When Thaster turned around to yell at him for being an idiot, Charlie lifted his hand to wave, making sure his face had an open, inviting smile on it. “Shall I follow you to my room?” he shouted for the Genister to hear. He watched Thaster’s thin mustache shake with rage and fought to contain his laughter.

  I shouldn’t, Charlie thought to himself. But hey, first time in Hell, why not?

  Holding his arms outward at waist height, palms turned upward and fingers splayed, he did his best to perform a drunken skipping motion up the hill in pursuit of Thaster. “Wait up,” he called. “If you aren’t going to turn me into a slave, can you show me around? This is my first time in Hell and I don’t want to miss anything. I love it here.”

  A moment later, the Genister God of Hell disappeared in a cloud of red dust.

  “Aw,” Charlie pouted. “He left.”

  Charlie had ended up by an outdoor patio. The stone courtyard had a fountain, which was surrounded by tables and chairs. A topiary garden surrounded the area on three sides. The patio was crowded with Thaster’s red-skinned slaves. Their four-foot tall bodies filled the open spaces.

  Charlie watched as their tiny black eyes focused in on him. Their tails swished back and forth as they considered him. “Hi,” he called out brightly, although he was dying inside. Every single one of these slaves had once been a human being living within Themrock’s Universe. “Excuse me,” he said. “I don’t know where Thaster is. Would you show me where I can find him?”

  One of the slaves broke free and trotted over towards him. It nodded, unable to speak.

  “Great,” Charlie said. “And if we should happen to pass by a bar on the way, that wouldn’t upset me at all.”

  He reached out for the slaves’ three clawed hand and let it lead him into the palace.

  Chapter 16

  Thestran Royal Palace

  “Just ask him out,” Crystam told Latsoh as they stood outside Charlie’s bedroom door. They’d had a palace servant show them which bedroom was Charlie’s, since the bedroom doors of everyone in the Royal Family looked the same.

  “I can’t,” Latsoh wailed. “It’s against our culture.”

  “So is going out with a non-elf,” Tgfhi said under his breath. Crystam shot him a look, so he turned to look at a picture of the Wood Elf Castle that was hanging on the wall behind him.

  “I answered the door in my underwear yesterday and he didn’t do anything,” Latsoh complained. “He just stood there, looking shocked, and then turned around and walked away without saying anything.”

  “He’s shy,” Crystam said. “You can’t push him into asking you out. He’ll get there. We know he likes you.”

  “You guys will have grandchildren by the time he finally asks me out,” Latsoh moaned.

  “Here he comes,” Tgfhi said.

  Erfce and Ceceta were walking down the hallway on their way to meet them. Their shoes were silent on the gold carpet. If Tgfhi hadn’t of been looking in their direction, he wouldn’t have known they were there.

  “Have you finished teaching Rhen for the night?” Tgfhi asked as they approached.

  “Yeah,” Erfce said. His eyes shot to Latsoh. She looked lovely in her white t-shirt and black pants. A wisp of her red hair had fallen out of her ponytail. It dangled by her cheek, framing her face. “We finished Section 12 in the Women in Interuniversal Politics textbook.”

  “That’s a relief,” Latsoh said. “I was afraid I’d have to review Section 12 with him tomorrow and I’m always stumbling on those politicians’ names.” Tgfhi laughed. He had the same problem.

  Crystam felt frustrated. She was getting tired of reading the textbooks to Rhen. “Ceceta, are you sure we can’t tell Rhen that we know he’s illiterate? It’d make teaching him a lot easier.”

  “No,” Ceceta insisted. “You can’t tell him I told you. He’d be furious with me.”

  “Do you really think he’s going to be able to remember everything we’ve read to him?” Crystam asked.

  Ceceta laughed. Genisters had very good memories. “Yeah, that’s not going to be a problem for him. If you read the textbooks, he’ll remember the information for his test.”

  “But how’s he going to take his test if he can’t write?” Erfce asked.

  “It’s hard to explain. Basically, I’ll take the test again with him and he’ll tell me what he wants to write, then he’ll copy my hand movements on his exam paper.”

  “Sounds like cheating.” Erfce wasn’t sure if their professors would accept Rhen’s work if he was copying what Ceceta wrote.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Ceceta told him dismissively. “It’ll be fine.”

  “So, where is our grumpy friend, anyway?” Tgfhi asked. “I thought he’d be joining us tonight.”

  “Something came up and he has to meet with Bosternd and Nk,” Ceceta told them, while cursing Thellis in her head for keep Rhen away from her. The two of them had yet to spend any alone time together since Rhen had turned back into a man. She was sick of the Genisters.

  “He works a lot,” Crystam said. “I miss hanging out with him.”

  “I know,” Ceceta said. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. Glancing about the hallway, she asked, “So? Where’s Charlie?”

  “He’s not here yet,” Tgfhi told her. “We’ve been waiting for almost an hour. I think he might have forgotten.”

  “He wouldn’t have,” Crystam said. “It was his idea, not ours. He’ll be here.”

  “Right,” Tgfhi replied, rolling his eyes.

  Crystam’s phone vibrated. She pulled it out and frowned. She didn’t recognize the number. Opening the keypad with her thumb, she answered the call. “Hello?”

  “Hi, um, Crystam?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is Yfetb. I was wondering if you might be at the next Council meeting?”

  Crystam was silent. She couldn’t remember who Yfetb was. “I don’t go to those meetings.”

&nb
sp; “Right.” Yfetb laughed nervously. “Well, you’re in the palace now, so I thought you might go to one with your Mom.”

  “No.”

  “Well, if you do, I’d love to learn more about Ventar. Maybe we could talk?”

  “Sure,” Crystam replied shortly. “Sounds great. I’ll talk to you then. Bye.” She hung up and slipped her phone into her pocket.

  “Who was that?” Tgfhi asked.

  “Somebody named Yfetb. He wanted a date, I think?”

  “Bastard,” Tgfhi growled. “You want me to kill him?”

  Crystam laughed. “No, I’ll just ignore him.”

  “Stay away from him,” Ceceta said in a hollow voice. They turned to look at her. Her normally rich blue color had paled. “He’s bad news, Crystam. Whatever you do, stay away from him. Promise me.”

  “Sure,” Crystam agreed. She wanted to ask Ceceta what was wrong but decided it might be better to do so in private. Standing in the middle of the Thestran Royal Family’s bedroom hallway was not an ideal location for a personal conversation. “I have no idea who he is so there’s no reason for me to hang out with him.”

  “Good,” Ceceta said, nodding her head. She knew from the look on Crystam’s face that her friend wanted an explanation. Maybe later. She wasn’t in the mood to talk about it now. If she was lucky, Crystam would ask Rhen and she wouldn’t have to talk about it at all.

  “So, where’s Charlie?” Erfce asked. Ceceta’s reaction to Yfetb’s call had creeped him out. He wanted to change the subject.

  “Drowning in the pool?” Tgfhi suggested. Crystam jabbed him in the ribs and he laughed.

  “I hate to tell you this, Crystam, but if he’s not here yet,” Latsoh said, “then he’s probably not coming.”

  Crystam sighed. Latsoh was right. “I can’t believe he blew us off,” she complained, while staring at her camera. She’d really wanted a complete set of pictures.

  She looked so upset that Tgfhi stepped forward and opened Charlie’s door.

  “What’re you doing?” Crystam asked, while glancing left and right down the hallway to make sure no one had seen him.