The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

  “And why would you want to find a relative of Ceceta?” Yfetb asked.

  Loreth sighed. Once again, Yfetb was being annoying. He’d like to fry the kid to ash, but he’d lose Te if he did. The Neptian Delegate wasn’t a full pawn yet, so he’d have to wait until he was before doling out punishments for insubordination.

  “Because, as I’ve explained to you before, Ceceta is your enemy. If we can find a relative of hers, we can use them to force her to renounce her claim to Neptian.” He was tired of Yfetb’s interference. The boy was constantly trying to get between him and Te. It was obvious that Yfetb didn’t want him advising his father.

  “Ceceta’s never made any claims on Neptian,” Yfetb said.

  Loreth pursed his lips. He’d forgotten what he’d told them in order to convince them to go after Rhen. He knew it had something to do with Ceceta, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Did it have something to do with her marriage? Loreth sighed. There was no way he was going to remember, so he went on the attack. “Don’t be so nasty, Yfetb. I simply misspoke. You know what I meant.”

  “Of course we do,” Te answered. He couldn’t understand why Yfetb wasn’t being more helpful. “If we can find a relative of Ceceta’s, we can use them to force Ceceta to drop her plans for revenge, thereby keeping Surpen from attacking us.”

  Yfetb’s eyes narrowed as he watched Loreth nod his head in agreement. He knew Loreth had a different agenda, but he wasn’t sure what it was. It was blatantly obvious to him that Loreth was lying. Every time he had tried to talk to his father about it, to warn him, Te had dismissed him, telling him he was inexperienced.

  Te waved his hands at Yfetb again, telling him to go over and lock the door. “Right,” Yfetb said, walking back towards the door. He couldn’t take it anymore. He was done. Hadn’t it occurred to his father that simply by allowing Loreth on Neptian they were increasing their chances of being attacked by Surpen? As far as he knew, Rhen would love to kill the man.

  Yfetb stepped out of his father’s study and slammed the door behind him. He could hear his father’s raised voice as he yelled at Yfetb to show some respect. Right, he thought. It was his father who should show some respect. Turning his key in the lock, Yfetb wondered yet again why Loreth had chosen Neptian.

  If it didn’t put his father in danger, Yfetb would’ve already told Rhen that Loreth was here.

  Chapter 21

  Thestran Royal Palace

  Rhen walked into his bedroom in the Thestran Royal Palace as the sun was rising to find Ceceta waiting with her bags packed. “Can we go to the University now? Crystam and the others returned last night and the rest of the students return tomorrow.” Ceceta’s arms were crossed over her chest and she was tapping her toe as she spoke. The two of them had yet to find any time to be alone together. Every time Rhen had asked Thellis for some time off, the Genister had informed him that his duties to protect the other Universes were more important than his ‘social life.’

  “Yes,” Rhen said. He was exhausted and couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a break. He was actually looking forward to going to the University. When he’d been there a year ago, he’d found it very restful. The Genisters tended to leave him alone while he studied. He hoped they’d continue that tradition.

  --

  Professor Dewey, the Headmaster of the Elfin University, greeted Rhen and Ceceta when they arrived in the school’s portal room. “Right on time,” he told them as he ushered them into a classroom so that Rhen could take his exams.

  Ceceta was surprised to find their teachers waiting in the front of the room. Since they’d taken seats and spread out their papers, it appeared they planned on staying to watch Rhen take his exams. She was glad that Thellis had returned Rhen on time. She wasn’t sure how she would have explained their tardiness if Rhen had been late.

  “Professor Dewey,” Ceceta said, sitting down at the desk beside Rhen’s. “I’d like to retake my finals as well. I know you offer that as an option for raising your grades.”

  “But Ceceta, you got all…” Professor Dewey hesitated. The Thestran Royal Family had told him that Rhen was illiterate, so he’d mentioned it to Rhen’s teachers, which was the reason why they were present. They were curious to see how Rhen planned on taking his exams. If Ceceta wanted to retake her tests, after receiving near perfect scores, it had to be because Rhen needed her to. He wondered if Rhen planned on cheating off of Ceceta’s paper. If he did, the teachers would catch him. “If you wish, Ceceta. It just so happens that I brought multiple copies of each final.”

  Ceceta settled herself into her seat, before picking up the exam that Professor Dewey had left on her desk. She read the first question then checked the appropriate box on the answer page. Rhen immediately copied her hand movement. Professor Dewey was about to step forward to complain that Rhen wasn’t allowed to cheat, when Ceceta marked the ‘yes’ box for a question and Rhen hesitated. He tapped the table once with his left hand and waited while Ceceta erased her answer, then he copied her movements when she marked the ‘no’ box. When he had his answer checked, Rhen leaned back in his chair as Ceceta again erased her answer and checked the ‘yes’ box on her test.

  It seemed Rhen was taking his own test after all. He was reading Ceceta’s mind as she read the questions and answers for him, then copying her hand movements to mark the appropriate boxes. If he disagreed with Ceceta’s response, he’d indicate it by tapping the desk, then he’d copy her hand movements for his response.

  Professor Dewey glanced at the teachers. He wasn’t sure if they’d complain that Rhen was cheating since he knew Ceceta’s answers, but it seemed they were fine with Rhen’s technique.

  When Rhen and Ceceta reached the essay portion of the exam, Rhen put down his pencil and leaned back in his chair. He stared out the window as Ceceta worked on her essay. When Ceceta was finished, she took her exam to the teacher then returned to her desk where she took out a plain piece of paper from her notebook. With pencil in hand, Ceceta waited for Rhen.

  Rhen picked up his own pencil, closed his eyes and told Ceceta what to write, while copying her hand movements on his exam paper. When Rhen had finished his essay, he brought his exam to his teacher, while Ceceta ripped up the paper she’d been using. They followed this same pattern for each of Rhen’s remaining exams until they were finished.

  --

  That evening, Rhen and his friends wandered into the student dining hall for dinner. “Our usual seat?” Rhen asked Tgfhi, while glancing across the rows of rectangular metal tables.

  “Of course,” Tgfhi said, making his way through the tables towards the far-right corner of the room. He liked their table, since it was near the windows. The room was too institutional looking with its white walls and white-tiled floor. He used to get headaches from it before he joined Rhen’s table. When the windows were open, as they were now, he felt less tense and could enjoy his meal.

  "Why are all of the teachers eating here?" Rhen asked his friends, as he sat down on the metal bench in between Ceceta and Crystam.

  "The University is renovating the teacher’s dining hall and the school’s auditorium with the money it made off your fight class last year," Erfce told him. "It was supposed to be finished by now, but the construction is taking longer than expected."

  Rhen was going to comment that they should redo the student cafeteria too but held his tongue when Professor Dewey appeared at their table.

  “Congratulations,” the Headmaster said, while handing Ceceta and Rhen their exams. “Ceceta, you’ve passed all of your classes with high marks. Rhen, you did well in every class but Astronomy. It seems you had some trouble on that exam. I’m afraid you’ll need to re-take Astronomy this year. It must run in your family, because Charlie had to retake it too. I guess Astronomy isn’t either one of your strong points.”

  Rhen’s brow furrowed as he stared at the Astronomy exam in front of him. It was full of red pen marks that he didn’t understand. “What?” he asked the Headmaster.
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  Professor Dewey bent over the table and pointed at some of the areas with red marks as he explained to Rhen that he’d given the wrong answers. “Not to worry,” he said, straightening up. “I’m sure you’ll pass it next year.” He waved to the others at the table then left to join the teachers for dinner.

  “It’s not such a big deal. Lots of students have to retake Astronomy,” Tgfhi told Rhen. He was surprised that the University had failed Surpen’s Emperor. He had figured they’d give Rhen passing grades since he was the most powerful man in the Universe.

  Rhen didn’t respond. Tgfhi watched as his eyes narrowed while he stared at his exam. He wondered why Rhen seemed so upset. It wasn’t like he cared about graduating from the University. He’d told them repeatedly that he was only there for Ceceta.

  “You’ll do better the next time,” Crystam told Rhen.

  “I’d be happy to tutor you again,” Erfce offered, when Rhen reached out and turned his exam over in his hands.

  “Love,” Ceceta said in a cautionary tone, when Rhen’s upper lip started to rise.

  Rhen flipped through the pages of his exam, his anger increasing with each new red mark. He’d travelled more than anyone else in the Universe. The fact that his Astronomy teacher had given him a failing grade was beyond his comprehension.

  “Let it go, love,” Ceceta said. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yeah, it’s not a big deal,” Latsoh agreed. “I mean, Charlie had to take Astronomy over, remember? And he still graduated on time.”

  “No,” Rhen said softly.

  “Love, don’t,” Ceceta begged. She didn’t know where this was going but she was afraid he might do something that would get him expelled. If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to go back to school, she’d have to return to Surpen.

  “No!” Rhen barked. He crumpled up his exam.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” Ceceta told him. “It’s just a piece of paper. It’s meaningless. Forget Astronomy.”

  “No!” Rhen shouted. He shot to his feet, knocking over the bench that he was sitting on. Ceceta and Crystam fell forward, catching themselves on the table. Rhen marched over to the teacher’s table and threw his wadded-up exam at the Astronomy teacher hitting him in the face. The exam bounced off the teacher’s cheek and fell into his dinner. “Fool!” Rhen yelled.

  The University’s Astronomy teacher stood up. He used his fork to flick Rhen’s exam off his plate then lifted his eyes to meet Rhen’s. “Excuse me?” he asked with a tight smile.

  “You’re dumb,” Rhen told him.

  Professor Dewey rose from his seat. “Rhen, don’t be disrespectful. So, you did poorly on one exam. We’ve all had at least one subject that we weren’t good at. There’s no shame in it.”

  “I’m not dumb,” the Astronomy teacher hissed through clenched teeth. “You got the answers wrong. Don’t call me dumb, because you slept through half of my class last year. Astronomy is difficult. If it’s too hard for you to understand, then perhaps you should ask the Headmaster to have it removed from your curriculum.”

  Rhen gave a bitter laugh and stepped forward, so he was only a foot away from his teacher. “You’re a bad teacher.”

  “Bad teacher? I don’t think so. You’re a terrible student. Don’t blame me for your own inability to memorize astronomical facts.”

  Rhen stepped closer, his face flushed with anger, his hands clenched into fists by his side. He wanted to strangle the man.

  “Now, now, now,” Professor Dewey said, while moving over to separate the two of them. He was worried Rhen might attack. “Please, Rhen, sit down. I know you tried your best. Astronomy is hard. It’s alright that it’s not your best subject. If you’d like, I can remove it from your schedule.”

  Rhen began to shake with anger. He glared down at the Astronomy teacher and yelled, “You, stupid idiot! You know nothing about Astronomy. How the hell are you qualified to teach it? I slept through your class because you didn’t know what you were talking about. You’ve probably never even been off of this planet. I’ve been around most of this Universe. How dare you tell me I don’t know Astronomy.” Rhen turned and pointed at the Headmaster. “How dare you tell me Astronomy isn’t my best subject. Go to Thaster, both of you.” Turning, he marched back to his table.

  In the ensuing silence, Tgfhi chuckled uncomfortably.

  Once Rhen had taken his seat, Professor Dewey cleared his throat and said, “Rhen, we know that you’ve traveled extensively, but the textbook contains intricate details about the planets in our Universe that you may not be aware of. For example, the distances between planets. You might fly to a planet in your spacejet, but that doesn’t mean you’d know the distance between the planet you left from and the one you arrived on. That’s something you’d need to memorize from your textbook. The important thing is that you tried your hardest. I’ll remove Astronomy from your course load for this year.”

  “Don’t patronize me,” Rhen said, turning around in his seat to glare at the Headmaster. “You ask about planetary distances? Well, I know distances, and as for the ‘intricate’ details of planets, I know that too. How far is it from Foyna to Geis?” Rhen asked the room, remembering one of the questions on the exam. “The answer is 1,300,500 ziphectors.”

  Professor Dewey picked up Rhen’s exam from where it lay next to the Astronomy teacher’s plate. He opened it up and checked the question that Rhen had used as an example, then glanced up at Rhen with pity. “You didn’t write that, Rhen,” he said. “You wrote 1,298,000 ziphectors. And it just so happens that you got that one right.”

  Rhen turned to glare at Ceceta. She had changed his answer.

  Ceceta gave him a little shrug. “I didn’t want you to fail that badly,” she offered.

  “Well,” Rhen began, turning back to Professor Dewey. “I guess I did get that question wrong. The correct answer is 1,300,500 ziphectors.”

  “No,” the Astronomy teacher snapped. “You’re wrong. The textbooks have it at 1,298,000 ziphectors.”

  Rhen growled with frustration. He grabbed Ceceta’s bag and pulled out their Astronomy textbook. Throwing it down onto the table, he yelled, “It’s all Rasack shit! I slept in your class, because you’re teaching nothing but Rasack shit.”

  The room was quiet. They all knew the Astronomy textbook was correct. It was the same book that had been used for hundreds of years. Its facts had been checked and rechecked countless times by learned scholars.

  "Rhen," Ceceta said hesitantly, "perhaps you could show them?” She had thought that the textbooks were correct, but if Rhen said they weren’t, then they weren’t. If he contacted Surpen, Bosternd could bring Surpen’s planetary logs to the University to show the Headmaster and teachers the correct information.

  Rhen’s anger clouded his judgement and he misunderstood Ceceta’s suggestion. He turned his head towards the windows and grunted. An instant later, everyone in the room was floating in outer space.

  They had the ability to breathe and their body temperatures hadn't changed. It was as if Rhen had encased each of them in their own weightless bubble. Once the initial shock wore off, Rhen’s friends laughed and spun themselves in circles, while the teachers tried “swimming” in space.

  The only one who wasn’t enjoying himself was Rhen. He stood still, his arms crossed over his chest, as he watched them play. From the redness creeping up his neck, it was clear that he was still angry about his exam.

  “Now!” Rhen barked for their attention, startling them. He pointed at Foyna, a small planet in the distance. “Foyna,” he told them before turning to point in the other direction at a tiny light that was very far away. “Geis. How many ziphectors apart are they?”

  “1,298,000,” the Astronomy teacher said. "Just because you can bring us into outer space, doesn't mean that you’re correct on the distance between them."

  “Wrong!” Rhen barked as dark blue lines appeared throughout the Universe forming a marked grid that could be used to map the distances between t
he planets. Rhen bent down to touch the grid. As his fingers made contact with it, they found themselves hovering over the Planet of Foyna. Rhen pointed to a specific line that was marked with the Number 1. “Foyna to Geis is…” he said, turning to his right. Suddenly, they found themselves floating over the atmosphere for Geis. “1,300,500 ziphectors,” Rhen told them, tapping the grid line beneath their feet with the toe of his boot to make it shimmer. “Read it,” he told them, while crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at the Astronomy teacher.

  No one spoke. They stared at the grid with astonishment. They knew Rhen had enormous powers. They’d seen glimpses of them during the war and then afterwards, while Rhen had been organizing his empire, but this. This was insane. It was one thing for Rhen to bring them into outer space to make a point. It was another for him to make blue lines appear throughout the entire Universe marking the proper measurements from planet to planet.

  Rhen thought their silence meant they disagreed. “1,300,500 ziphectors between Foyna and Geis,” he repeated, gesturing towards the grid with his hands. When no one answered, he waved his arms around him, pointing towards different planets and repeating his answers to a few of the other questions that were on the test. With each planetary distance he recited, Rhen would pop them over to the planet he was talking about so they could read the grid line themselves.

  Tired of their lack of response, Rhen returned everyone to the school’s dining room. Whatever, he thought. He didn’t really care if they believed him or not. Although he had assumed that they’d agree with him when he took them into space. Guess I was wrong. Picking up his Astronomy book, Rhen shoved it into Ceceta’s bag then sat down on the bench beside her. “Sorry,” he whispered. He was sure the Genisters would yell at both of them later for showing their mapping lines to the mortals.

  Professor Dewey stumbled as he made his way over to Rhen. Returning to Thestran’s gravity made his movements awkward. He stood behind Rhen, taking in the Surpen Emperor’s short brown hair and sculpted ears. Who is this boy? he wondered.