Latsoh grunted and moved her hand. Rhen must be awake. Erfce stood up and put his arm across the top of the lounge chair as Latsoh rolled towards him, her eyes blinking. “How are you feeling?” Latsoh’s green eyes lifted to his. She was so beautiful. He couldn’t help himself from reaching out to push a strand of her red hair behind her ear. When she moistened her lips, he bent down to kiss her.
Latsoh pulled back, her eyes narrowing. They hadn’t announced their engagement yet. She glanced around the balcony at the other elves who were moving about. Erfce could see she was worried that they might have seen them kiss. He wanted to tell her it didn’t matter, but he knew she needed to come to that decision on her own. The elves’ priests had been avidly preaching against elves marrying out of their race ever since Rhen had first visited Thestran. When Latsoh’s eyes suddenly lit up and she turned towards him, Erfce smiled. Now she was awake. She’d remembered why she was there. “Is he alive?” Latsoh asked, her eyes searching his face for the answer.
Erfce held out his hand. “He’s sick but alive.” He felt Latsoh’s long, thin fingers clasp his.
“Tell me what happened after we passed out.”
A male elf, wearing a shirt with a waterjet on it, stumbled into the chair Erfce had been sitting on. Erfce figured he was a member of the Water Elf tribe. He had obviously heard Latsoh’s question and was waiting for Erfce to answer it. Since everyone else’s face was also turned towards them now, he assumed they were all waiting to hear what he had to say.
“Rhen is the Black Angel. He is also our Genister God, Themrock.”
Several of the elves gasped in shock. They had known that Themrock had escaped from his prison and was now saving people as the Black Angel, but none of them had realized that the Black Angel was Rhen. Erfce continued. “Rhen doesn’t realize he’s Themrock. Themrock’s reliving his life as a mortal for the fun of it. He’s locked away his memories and most of his powers from his mortal body so he can experience life like we do.”
“Does that mean he isn’t going to give us back our powers?” one of the elves asked.
Erfce wanted to laugh. It was such a stereotypical thing to say. The elves were always talking about how they had once had great powers. They made sure to let everyone know that when Themrock returned, he would give them back their powers. Blah, blah, blah. He was tired of hearing about it. “Not in his current state, no.”
“Why not?” the elf snapped. It sounded like the man was angry with him. Erfce grumbled to himself. Hadn’t the man been listening? He’d just explained it. “Because, as I said, Rhen doesn’t know he’s a Genister.”
“Well, then, let’s go tell him,” a female elf wearing the red and black pants of the Fire Elf tribe said.
“No!” Erfce barked. Why weren’t they listening to him? “It’s against Genister law for anyone to interfere when a Genister is reliving their life. You can’t tell him.” Erfce was stretching the truth a bit, but he had to make the elves realize they couldn’t tell Rhen his identity. “If you tell Rhen he’s Themrock, you’d infuriate him and he may never give you back your powers.” That had their attention.
The elves had lost their powers gradually over the years while Themrock had been imprisoned. Once their powers were gone, Thestran’s humans had persecuted them. Hoping to save themselves, the elves had gone into hiding. It was only recently, when the Thestran royal family had miraculously given birth to an elf, that they had been able to come out of hiding.
“Erfce, what happened after we passed out?” Latsoh repeated. She’d swung her legs to the side of the chair and pulled her hair back into a ponytail while he’d been talking.
Right. He hadn’t explained that yet. “After Rhen fell unconscious, Themrock visited us from the future to give us the medicine we would need to save Rhen’s life. He warned us that if Rhen should miss one of his shots, he will die.”
“Why?” a young elf two chairs away asked. “Can’t Themrock heal himself?”
“Seriously?” Erfce couldn’t believe the boy had asked that. He had thought that everyone knew a Vivist’s poison was strong enough to kill a Genister. The boy looked upset so Erfce added, “When the Vivist injected its poison into Rhen, its stinger broke the seal on the poison of a Rasack bite that Rhen had gotten when he was younger. His body is now being attacked by both poisons. No one can heal themselves from that.” Erfce felt Latsoh squeeze his hand. She was frightened for Rhen. “It’ll be okay. Ceceta has everything under control. Of course, it’d be easier if Rhen could talk but…”
“What?” Latsoh asked. “What do you mean? Why can’t he talk?”
“Rachel examined Rhen when he arrived in the medical wing. She discovered that the Vivist injected its poison in such a way that it has affected his throat. Rhen won’t be able to speak until he’s healed.” Since Rachel was considered by many to be the Universe’s best doctor, Erfce knew the elves wouldn’t question him about it.
“Thank the Gods it’s temporary.” Latsoh pushed herself off the lounge chair and stood up, looking down at Erfce. She wondered if Ceceta would relax her rule and allow Rhen to communicate with people by reading their minds, since he couldn’t read or write. On second thought, she thought, it’s probably safer if Rhen didn’t go into their minds now that everyone knew he was Themrock. “So, what are we doing here? Let’s go see him.” Turning, Latsoh started walking towards the glass balcony doors.
“Stop!” Erfce yelled, when the elves moved towards the exit. He stepped up onto the chair beside him so that he’d be visible. Sometimes it was a pain being short, especially when he was surrounded by elves. “You aren’t allowed to visit Rhen unless you know him personally.”
“But he’s our God,” a female elf wearing the green and brown cape of the Wood Elf tribe said.
“Rhen doesn’t realize that. We have to do everything we can to keep him from leaving the hospital room. If he’s surrounded by people he doesn’t know, he’ll take off.”
“Exactly,” someone said above them. Erfce glanced up to find the Genister God Thellis’ green ghostly body floating above him. He breathed a sigh of relief as the elves exclaimed with excitement. They’d never seen a Genister before. Thellis rolled his eyes at their enthusiasm. He was there to set down the rules. “Listen up, mortals. Here’s how this is going to go. First of all, you have just learned an enormous secret. Not a secret like, ‘Whoops, I just told my best friend!’ but a secret like, ‘If you tell anyone, I will kill you and your family.’”
Erfce walked across the top of the lounge chairs until he reached Latsoh as Thellis continued. “Come on,” he said, hopping down to the ground. “We’ve heard this already.” They left the balcony and headed towards the stairs at the end of the corridor.
“Where is he?” Latsoh asked. They’d stayed in the palace with their friends after the Surpen King’s war, tutoring Rhen so he could return to the Elfin University. They knew it well.
“Upstairs in one of the hospital rooms past Rachel’s office.” They passed a conference room, where King James was lecturing the elfin royals on the situation, then ran up the ornate, carpeted stairs and down the hallway past the royal family’s bedrooms until they reached an open door near the staircase at the opposite end of the hallway.
Ceceta had chosen a large, open hospital room that was located above the dining room, the entire exterior wall was lined with windows. There was a second entrance to the room on the far-left side and beside that was a tiny kitchen area, above which were cabinets with hospital supplies. Next to the kitchen was a bathroom. Five hospital beds with white metal bedframes were lined up against the right wall and someone had set up a couple of seating areas in the center of the room. Their friends, Crystam and Tgfhi, Jet and his wife, Lilly, along with most of the Thestran royal family were sitting there talking.
Rhen was sitting on the only bed that had been left near the cabinets. He was hunched over, holding his head in his hands. Oh, Vivist spit, he thought, as he peered through the haze of pain that wrac
ked his body at the black pants he was wearing. He was still in his Black Angel pants, which meant everyone now knew he was the Black Angel. He’d enjoyed saving people in disguise. If everyone knew it was him, it’d be stupid for him to continue. Lifting his head, Rhen groaned inwardly. Why were there so many people in the room and why were they all staring at him? He wished they’d leave.
When Latsoh and Erfce walked through the door, Rhen raised his hand in greeting. They nodded towards him then made their way over to one of the couches where their friends, Tgfhi and Crystam, were sitting. Rhen could hear them discussing his inability to speak and how they might communicate with him until he healed. His not being able to communicate wouldn’t be a problem if Ceceta would just relax her rule and allow him to use his powers to speak with people telepathically. Unfortunately, she was still refusing to let him into people’s minds. Rhen would have argued with her, but he just wasn’t feeling up to it.
A breeze from the open windows made him shiver. Rhen rubbed the center of his chest. For some reason Ceceta had taken off his shirts while he’d been unconscious. He waved his hand at her, hoping to get her attention as she spoke with Jet. Ceceta turned to him at once, the corners of her dark eyes crinkling with concern as she stepped towards him. “Rhen? Are you okay? Do you need something?” Rhen’s pain subsided slightly as he watched his wife approach. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her. Pointing at his chest, he tapped his fingertips against his skin. Ceceta’s brow furrowed as she tried to decipher what he was asking for. Beside her, Jet began to sound out words, as if Rhen were playing charades. Rhen shook his head repeatedly at Jet’s attempts and continued to point at his chest. When they didn’t understand him, Rhen tried again, pointing around the room at everyone else then back at his chest.
“I’m sorry, Emperor. I have no idea what you want,” Jet said.
“His shirt,” Ceceta said, walking around the bed to get it from the brown canvas bag where she had put it. She pulled her bag out from under the wooden night table and tossed Rhen his shirt.
As Rhen pulled on his black t-shirt, he considered putting on the rest of his Black Angel disguise and phasing out of the room, but using his powers right now would only cause the pain to increase and he could barely tolerate it as it was.
“Hey, Rhen,” Tgfhi said as he and Crystam walked over towards his bed. Tgfhi’s blond hair was wrapped into a bun at the back of his head. His planet, Tgarus, was a part of Surpen’s Empire. Rhen had had his work cut out for him when Tgfhi, the Prince of Tgarus, had announced he was marrying Crystam, the Princess of Ventar, which was a planet in Thestran’s Council. There had been quite a few Surpen planets that had balked at the idea of trading with a planet tied to the Council. Fortunately, Rhen had some very talented generals on his payroll and they’d worked everything out to Surpen’s and Tgarus’ advantage. “Nice job saving Thestran. I heard you didn’t even have to fight the Vivist King. He left as soon as you pointed at his spacejet.”
Rhen grunted. That wasn’t exactly how it’d happened, but he was in no position to explain. As his friends chatted about his daring rescue operation, Rhen noticed that Latsoh was holding Erfce’s hand. She was tapping their clasped hands gently against her side as they talked. Latsoh had been reluctant to announce her engagement to Erfce for fear of angering her parents and her tribe. The elfin priests were adamant about not letting elves marry out. Rhen snorted. Guess I’m a bad influence. He glanced over at his Neptian wife, who was folding the blanket at the end of his bed. He loved Ceceta’s deep blue skin. The fact that her lips were a darker shade of blue than her complexion made his heart beat faster. If only he was well enough to phase the two of them to some secluded location.
The door beside Rhen’s bed opened, banging into Tgfhi’s back. Rhen’s older brother, Charlie, poked his head into the room. “Charlie,” Tgfhi growled, stepping out of the way.
“Whoa, sorry,” Charlie said, pushing the door open far enough that he could enter the room.
Rhen hadn’t seen Charlie since he’d saved him from Hell. He hoped his brother was okay. He’d been stuck in Thaster’s Hell for ages. He wondered if Charlie was experiencing any mental issues from his time in Hell then shook his head thinking, Charlie with mental issues? What else was new?
Charlie noticed Rhen sitting on the bed beside him and shrieked. He jumped, launching himself on top of his brother. The two men fell back onto the bed as Charlie hugged Rhen, shaking him back and forth. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had no idea you were the Black Angel. You saved me. Not once but twice. You’re amazing. By the way, I wanted to talk to you about Hell. Could you… ”
“Charlie!” Ceceta yelled. “Get off of him. You’re putting pressure on his wound.”
“Whoops.” Charlie scrambled backwards off Rhen’s bed. Rhen’s eyes were closed and his body lay on the bed shaking. As Charlie watched Rhen tremble, he became worried that he’d hurt his little brother. Please make him okay, he prayed silently to the Gods. I promise I won’t ask him to save Chisten from Hell until after he’s healed if you just make him better.
A few moments later, Rhen rolled onto his right side. He’d been laughing. Charlie’s actions had startled him. His brother was like a puppy. He showed his emotions openly. It was refreshing. Pushing down on the bed, Rhen lifted himself up into a seated position. He wiped a hand across his face and nodded at Charlie.
Charlie sighed. The Gods had heard him. “I thought I’d hurt you.”
Rhen shook his head. He was in pain, but Ceceta had been wrong; somehow Charlie hadn’t put any pressure on his wound. She was just being overprotective. Rhen glanced to his left at the door.
“I was thinking,” Charlie said, stepping to his right to block Rhen’s view of the exit. “Since you saved my life, I’m going to do the same thing for you. I’m going to become your bodyguard.” Charlie lifted his chin and rocked back and forth on his heels waiting for Rhen to hug him with gratitude.
Rhen’s eyes widened and he shook his head.
Charlie paused. “No, it’ll be good for you. I’ll be there to watch your back.”
Jet cleared his throat. He didn’t want Charlie getting in his way as he protected Rhen at the University. “Thank you, Charlie. That’s a nice offer, but totally unnecessary.” Rhen nodded emphatically, while pointing at Jet.
“Ahh,” Charlie said, with a wave of his hand. “No need to thank me. I’m happy to do it.”
Rhen glared at Jet, who opened his mouth to decline Charlie’s offer again, but he hesitated when he felt his wife loop her arm around his waist. Glancing down, Jet saw Lilly reach out to pat Charlie’s shoulder. “That’s so nice of you, Charlie. Rhen’s going to love having you around.”
Crap. Jet smiled impishly at Rhen. There was no way he was going to counter his wife after having almost lost her during the recent attack. He shrugged, hoping Rhen would understand.
Ceceta chuckled to herself as she watched them. It looked like Jet had already overcome the whole Themrock thing. He’d rather please his wife than his God. She hoped the others would soon follow suit.
Closing his eyes, Rhen sank back into the pillows behind him. It was hopeless. Here he was, sick on the planet of Thestran, surrounded by Thestrans and elves. On top of it all, Ceceta had told him that he would have to stay in this annoying hospital room until he was healed. He’d come to Thestran as the Black Angel to save his birth family from a Vivist attack, and now, he was stuck there.
Chapter 3
Conference Room – Thestran Royal Palace
Latsoh ran her fingers along the edge of the enormous Ventarian plumb tree table as she walked towards the group of Fire Elves on the right side of the conference room. She admired the symmetrical rings in the top of the table and shook her head. Her dad could have fed their tribe for three years with the number of trade coins a table this large would have cost.
Latsoh winked at her brother, Aaron, as they took seats next to their parents. The elfin royals from all four tribes a
nd their priests had demanded a meeting with the Thestran royal family to discuss the situation with Themrock. They both knew this was going to be a shouting match for the ages and weren’t surprised when their father was the first to speak.
“How dare you abandon our God on Surpen as a child?” Naci yelled at Thestran’s Queen Mother, Kate, and the Thestran Royal Father, Henry. When Rhen was very young, Kate and Henry had left him as a child on Surpen in the hope of convincing the Surpen King to leave the Convention of planets and join with Thestran’s Council. Their efforts had failed and Rhen had been kidnapped by Surpen’s King to be groomed as his heir. “Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve done?”
“Themrock came back to save us and now he doesn’t even like us," the Water Elf King, Plos, said. Latsoh noticed Plos’ daughter, Sarah, was staring intently at her hands. Sarah, Aaron and Jack, the Air Elf Prince, had all gotten close to Rhen during his time at the Elfin University. When Rhen had offered to teach a Surpen Fight Class, they had been the first to sign up. They had excelled under his tutelage, rising to the top of the class.
“Themrock doesn’t even recognize the elfin race. What are we without him? We’re a laughingstock to the rest of the Universe. All because you left him on Surpen,” Naci bellowed. Latsoh peeked over at her father. He was so mad, his face had turned red.
“How could you take him from us?” Chaster, the King of the Air Elves, asked Henry. His short, brown hair appeared to be standing straight up with his anger. “How could you do that to us? He’s our God!”
Naci shook his head. “How could you leave your own child on an enemy planet?”
“Didn’t any of you realize that he was special before you gave him to the Surpens?” Estan, the Wood Elf King, asked, while loosening the collar of his green and brown jacket.
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 2
