The Surpen King_Part 1_Return of the Gods

by Charity Kelly

  James was surprised that Rhen would care enough to ask for the changes. He wondered how long Rhen would have to teach his class to make enough of a profit for the Headmaster to carry out his demands. "It’ll take a while for Rhen’s class to make enough money for all those changes.”

  "What? Haven’t you heard? Rhen’s class is huge.” Lilly stepped back and threw her arms wide. “It’s so big that Rhen has been bringing 300 Surpen soldiers to the school every day to help him teach."

  James stopped short. Surpen soldiers on Thestran? "I didn’t know about that. How long has he been bringing soldiers to the school?"

  Lilly could see that James was upset. "As far as I know, he brought them to the school to help him teach his first class. It was so successful that he’s been doing it ever since. You didn’t know?” James shook his head. “You don’t have to worry. It’s not like they linger around after class. Rhen uses his powers to pop them onto the Great Lawn at the start of class and then send them home when it’s over. Jet told me it’s been great. Rhen gets the help he needs to teach his class and the students get more personal attention. He said the soldiers are enjoying it, too."

  "Rhen should have asked me first,” James said.

  Lilly laughed and reached for his arm. “Oh, James. Don’t get all kingly on me. Rhen’s our brother. We can trust him.”

  James disagreed. If there was one thing Rhen had made perfectly clear, it was that he considered himself Surpen. He would do whatever he needed to to make Surpen successful. If Thestran got in his way, he’d eliminate it. James wished there was some way they could connect with Rhen. If Rhen felt like a part of their family, James wouldn’t feel half as stressed. He wondered if he should urge the elfin royals to reach out to Rhen. Surely his brother had to feel some connection to them.

  “Do you ever wonder why Reed, Sage, Charlie and Rhen were born as elves?” he asked.

  Lilly frowned as she considered his question. “I think the elves might be right. It could be a sign that Themrock will soon be returning. How else do you explain the fact that humans had elfin children? It’s medically impossible.”

  James had been thinking the same thing. He shook his head. Things would definitely change if Themrock returned. He pulled on Lilly’s arm as he continued to make his way down the stairs. “Is Ceceta really going to keep Rhen out of their apartment for two weeks?"

  "Worse than that,” Lilly said. “This morning at breakfast, Ceceta told Rhen he couldn’t even hang out with her or their friends for the next two weeks. Jet said that he and Rhen had to eat breakfast with a group of Water Elves.” She reached out for the railing as they came to the bottom of the stairs. “Ceceta’s actions are infuriating Jet.”

  "I can only imagine," James said. "She’s keeping the two of you apart as well.”

  “Yes,” Lilly said softly. “Jet thinks that Ceceta should be proud of the fact that her husband can read minds. He can’t understand why she’s punishing him for it.”

  “She’s always been very odd about it. There’s probably more to it than we realize.”

  “Maybe it’s a Neptian thing?”

  James shook his head. “I don’t think so. Speaking of Neptian, did you see Crystam?”

  “Yes, when we arrived. Why?”

  “She contacted me to complain about Yfetb. It appears the Neptian Delegates’ son has been calling her. So far, she’s been able to hide it from Tgfhi, but she’s worried that if he finds out he’ll go ballistic and cause an incident. I was wondering if she seemed upset to you.”

  “She looked fine to me, but you’d better stop Yfetb.”

  “I will. I’ve got a conference call with him and his father later this week.”

  They walked in silence with their own thoughts until they reached the dining hall. “What are Jet and Rhen doing now?” James asked, while pulling the heavy, wooden door open.

  "Rhen’s meeting with Bosternd and Nk and then they have class."

  “I'm sorry that you and Jet will have to be separated for the next two weeks. Perhaps, Ceceta will change her mind and take Rhen back earlier?”

  "I hope so. I have to admit, I feel the same way Jet does. We’re both a little angry at her."

  James squeezed Lilly’s shoulder to show his support then followed her into the dining hall. He noticed Charlie’s empty seat. He was going to have to talk to his younger brother about his continued absence from their family meals.

  Chapter 29

  Thaster’s Palace – Hell

  Charlie wandered out onto the red stone patio off his bedroom. He hadn’t seen Thaster in a while. Every time he tried to enter Thaster’s private section of the palace, the slaves would pull him away.

  He sat down on the stone balustrade that surrounded his personal patio and sipped his wine then shivered involuntarily and looked at his glass. Thaster had gotten the color of red wine right, but the taste of it was off. Charlie was supposed to be drinking a Merlot, but the wine tasted more like spiked cider and prune juice. It was awful.

  “And,” he mumbled, “it doesn’t even get me drunk.” After a few weeks, Charlie’s body had adjusted to Thaster’s wine, so it no longer had any effect on him.

  Charlie gazed out over the gardens beyond the palace. A couple of days ago, he’d tried to run away. He’d loitered for hours in the gardens while Thaster’s slaves had tended to the plants. When they’d finished, he’d sprinted for a nearby pine tree and used it to haul himself over the ten-foot-high stone wall that surrounded the palace’s grounds. Once over the wall, he’d fallen onto his bottom and had had the wind knocked out of him.

  “What a waste of time,” Charlie said with a sigh. He’d discovered that beyond Thaster’s wall were millions of replicas of the Thestrans’ palace, the elfin castles and Tetong, Themrock’s private palace. It appeared that after the Genisters had locked Thaster in Hell, he’d spent centuries trying to recreate Themrock’s world, only every single one of his palaces was wrong. Thaster had the wrong colors, the wrong designs, the wrong materials, the wrong… everything. Charlie had to admit that the sight of so many broken and decaying palaces was morbid. He would’ve felt sorry for Thaster, but the Genister had broken both of his legs when he’d discovered Charlie missing. Sure, he’d healed Charlie’s legs an hour later, when he’d grown tired of hearing Charlie moan, but it’d still been a horrifying ordeal.

  “I need another drink,” he announced.

  One of Thaster’s slaves approached him with the bottle of Merlot he was drinking.

  “No,” Charlie told the slave. “I’ll try a scotch. Do you have scotch?”

  The slave nodded and left.

  “I’m so bored,” Charlie moaned. He needed a diversion. Anything would be better than this.

  The sound of silverware hitting a plate reached his ears. Charlie’s eyebrows rose. It seemed Thaster was having dinner.

  Charlie turned around and glanced up the palace’s pink stone wall. He could make out the glimmer of a light two balconies above. Should I? he asked himself. He was desperate for something to do. Barging in on Thaster’s meal would at least provide him with some form of entertainment. He knew Thaster wouldn’t kill him for it. For some reason, the Genister wanted him alive.

  Thaster’s slave returned and offered Charlie a glass of scotch, interrupting his thoughts.

  “Thank you,” Charlie said, taking the round, thick glass in his hands. There were two square ice cubes floating in his drink. Charlie took a sniff. It smelled like scotch. Perhaps Thaster had gotten this one right. Taking a sip of the brown liquid, Charlie gagged.

  “No way!” he exclaimed, pouring his drink over the patio railing. He turned back to the slave, who’d brought him his drink. “Do you know what this tastes like?” The slave didn’t respond. “Do you?” Charlie asked. Again, the slave remained motionless. “It tastes like deer shit mixed with lemonade. I’m serious. You may be asking yourself, ‘Charlie, how do you know what deer shit tastes like?’ Well, I’ll tell you. Once, when I was seven, I
was walking through the woods with William. He got mad at me for going too slow so he punched me.”

  Charlie tossed his glass to the slave, who caught it.

  “I was a big seven-year-old so there was no way that I was going to take William’s abuse lying down,” he told the slave. “I jumped forward and grabbed William by the hair. We fought for a while, but in the end, William was bigger. He got me onto the ground and rubbed my face into a pile of deer shit that was on the path. I ended up eating some if it.” Charlie waited for the slave to make some sort of movement in response to his comment. When he remained still, his tiny black eyes focused on Charlie’s face, Charlie lifted his head and screamed.

  “I hate it here! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!” He stomped his feet on the ground in protest.

  “I’m so bored,” he hollered out across the garden. “I want to go home.” Charlie felt tears well up in his eyes. Why hadn’t his family paid Thaster’s ransom? Why wouldn’t Thaster let him go? He just wanted to go home.

  Charlie wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and sniffed. “I need some Tgarus weed.”

  He heard the sound of Thaster’s silverware hitting his plate and lifted his head. Thaster. He’d forgotten that Thaster was on the balcony two stories above him eating dinner. He’d ask Thaster for weed. But how could he get to him when the slaves were keeping them apart?

  Charlie scanned the wall. “Ha,” he exclaimed, spotting what he needed. He waved his hand towards the slave who was standing on his patio. “You can go.”

  The slave turned and walked out of the room.

  Once he was gone, Charlie giggled and climbed up onto the balustrade behind him. He walked along the railing with his arms out. A couple of times, he almost lost his balance and fell, but he caught himself each time. “This would be much easier if I was inebriated,” he said to himself.

  When Charlie reached the palace’s wall, he leapt up and grabbed onto the ledge of the balcony above him, catching it with his left hand. “Crap,” he swore as he dangled ten feet above the ground by one hand. Swinging his right hand up, he worked his fingers slowly over the lip on the edge of the balcony. Once he had both hands on the ledge, Charlie grunted and tried to pull himself up. It was harder than he’d thought. He wished he’d spent more time exercising.

  Five minutes later, Charlie slowly pulled himself up onto the balcony. “One down, one to go,” he mumbled, while lying on the stone floor of the balcony gasping for air.

  Once Charlie had caught his breath, he climbed onto the balcony’s railing and reached up for the ledge of the balcony above, where Thaster was eating his meal. He eased his fingertips over the bottom edge of the balcony and pulled himself upward. Squeezing his eyes shut, he swung his right leg up onto the ledge of the balcony and tried to shimmy up the wall with his left foot.

  “Come on,” Charlie yelled, when his foot slipped and he found himself dangling by his fingertips again. “How can this be so hard?”

  He swung his left foot forward and found a rock outcropping to rest it on. “Progress.”

  With a groan, Charlie pulled himself upward with his hands, while pushing up with his left foot. He was almost there. He could see the legs of Thaster’s table and chairs.

  “Get the idiot,” Thaster said.

  Charlie felt multiple hands latch onto his arms and leg. He glanced up to find Thaster’s slaves staring down at him. They jerked him up over the railing and dropped him on the floor.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Thaster asked. He was tired of Charlie’s antics. “If you’d fallen, you would have died. I can’t heal you from death.”

  “I need weed,” Charlie gasped out. “I need it.”

  “Oh, my,” Thaster said with surprise. “Are you going through withdrawal?”

  “No,” Charlie said, crawling onto his knees. “I need relief. I’m bored. If you’re not going to turn me into a slave, then give me some relief.” He was desperate.

  Thaster’s eyes drifted off towards the red and pink sunset. “Welcome to Hell,” he whispered.

  “Oh, my Gods!” Charlie yelled startling Thaster.

  “What?” Thaster asked. Charlie’s mouth was open and his finger was pointing towards Thaster’s table. “What’s wrong?” Thaster repeated, feeling annoyed. He placed his napkin onto the table beside his plate and rose to his feet. Maybe the boy was having some sort of seizure? He’d read that that could happen to people going through withdrawal.

  “You have vodka. Real Thestran vodka. Can I have some? I need a drink.”

  Thaster closed his eyes and laughed. “Unbelievable.” For a moment there, he’d actually been worried about Charlie. Turning towards his slaves, he said, “Get the idiot out of here. Take him to his quarters and don’t leave him alone again.”

  “No!” Charlie screamed as Thaster’s slaves grabbed his arms and legs and hauled him out of the room. “Don’t do this to me. I need relief. Give me some vodka.”

  Thaster watched his slaves as they struggled to drag Charlie off the balcony. When they shut the balcony door behind them, he turned back towards his table. He knew exactly how Charlie felt. The moron had only been here a few weeks and he was already going crazy. “Imagine spending centuries here,” Thaster mumbled. He reached out for the bottle of Thestran vodka that he’d stolen on one of his trips. Pulling off the top, he drank straight from the bottle. The liquid burned his throat, making him feel alive.

  Dropping the bottle back down onto his table, he pushed his half-eaten dinner away. He needed a diversion. Something new. As he watched the sun set, his eyes fell on his gardens. One of his past wives had created those gardens. He’d found it fun designing them with her. He remembered Charlie’s comment about wanting to meet his wife.

  “I should get a wife,” Thaster said to himself. That’s what he needed. He would begin his search for one in earnest.

  Chapter 30

  Te’s Manor House – Neptian

  “King James,” Yfetb said in greeting, sitting down in front of his father’s monitor. He wondered what the Thestran King wanted to discuss with him.

  “Yfetb, I’m sorry to bother you…”

  “You could never bother me,” Yfetb said, interrupting James.

  James smiled. He liked Yfetb. The kid had always been polite and he had a good head on his shoulders, unlike his petulant father. “I’ve heard from some sources that you’ve been courting Princess Crystam. Normally, I wouldn’t get involved in the relationships of fellow Councilmembers, but I find in this case, I must.” He paused when he heard a sound in the room behind Yfetb. When Yfetb didn’t say anything, he continued. “Yfetb, Crystam has pledged herself to Tgfhi of Tgarus. She’s not looking for a husband, she’s found one. It would be in the Council’s best interest if you were to stop courting her.”

  “That’s none of your business!” Te snapped swiveling the monitor away from Yfetb onto himself. “How dare you tell my son who he can and can’t court.”

  James sighed. So that was what the noise had been. “Hello, Te. As I was discussing with your son, Princess Crystam has made her decision. She plans on marrying Tgfhi of Tgarus. She’s not looking to be courted and in the interest of keeping the peace, we would appreciate it if Yfetb would look elsewhere for a wife.”

  “Crystam’s not married, yet,” Te said. “Besides, she couldn’t possibly want to align herself with a member of the Convention.”

  James closed his eyes. How typical of Te. The man couldn’t conceive of the fact that Crystam might be marrying Tgfhi out of love, not to better her standings.

  “Yfetb,” James called out, hoping the boy was still sitting at Te’s desk on the other side of the monitor. “If you can hear me, I’m asking that you please stop. Don’t court Crystam anymore.”

  “How can you ask that of him?” Te demanded.

  “It’s for his own good,” James said.

  Te bristled. “You don’t know what’s good for my son. Only I do. He should be married to the Ventarian Prin
cess.”

  “Why are you doing this, Te? Don’t you realize what will happen if Yfetb doesn’t stop? The Tgarians will take offense.”

  “What does that matter?”

  “I don’t want to go to war against Tgarus,” James stated.

  “You can’t possibly be scared of them,” Te mocked.

  Yes, James thought. I’m terrified. “Te,” he said, “The Tgarians are stronger than you think. I would put them in league with the Surpens. The only reason why they haven’t revolted against Surpen is because their King is smart. Think about it. Who really won the war between Surpen and Tgarus? It was Tgarus. They’ve become the richest planet in the Universe, selling their weed to Surpen, while using Surpen as their bodyguards all the while maintaining their own military force. You don’t want to anger Tgarus, Te. It’s a mistake.”

  Te didn’t listen to a word James said. He cursed James, told him that Yfetb could do whatever he wanted to and disconnected the communication.

  James looked up when someone laughed beside him. “Reed? I didn’t hear you come in.”

  Reed laughed again and sat down in the leather chair across from James’s desk. “Sounds like that went well.”

  James groaned and rubbed a hand across his forehead. “Te’s such an ass. I miss the last Neptian Delegate. He was so much easier to deal with than Te.”

  “Is there anything we can do to stop Yfetb from angering the Tgarians?”

  “No. Unfortunately, not. Until Crystam and Tgfhi set a date, Te will force Yfetb to court the girl.”

  “Te will force Yfetb?”

  “Yes,” James told his brother. “I could see in Yfetb’s eyes that he agreed with me. This whole thing is Te’s idea.”

  “Damn it,” Reed said, shaking his head. “Te’s a monster.” James agreed, but he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He picked up the docket for the day’s meetings and began to review them with Reed.