Smiling, Rhen walked up towards the bandstand where Ngi was demonstrating a defensive move. As Rhen passed the students, they stopped what they were doing to stare.
“Do you know why you feint to the left and not to the right?” Ngi asked his class. When no one answered, he looked up to see what was distracting them and spotted Rhen in the crowd. Hiding a smile, by looking at the floor, Ngi emptied all of the emotions from his face. “You!” he yelled, as he pointed at Rhen.
Rhen was momentarily confused. He glanced around at the elves beside him and then back up at Ngi, while pointing to himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Ngi barked. “You’re new to this class so you need to move. You’re standing with the advanced students. Your place is in the back on the left with the newer students.”
“Oh,” Rhen said with a chuckle. Ngi was teasing him. He decided to go along with it. “Thanks.” Rhen moved through the students with his guards beside him. When they got to the back of the class, three Wood Elf girls fainted at the sight of him. Rhen caught one of the girls while Jet and Aaron caught the other two.
“You!” Ngi yelled.
Rhen turned towards the bandstand. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Ngi barked. “Put that woman down and stop fooling around or I’ll send you to the Headmaster’s office.” Rhen grinned. He’d love to see the Headmaster’s reaction to that. Glancing about, he noticed that Aaron and Jet had put their elves down by a tree, so he did the same.
Ngi then instructed the Surpen soldiers, who were dispersed among the students, to begin teaching their groups the day’s lesson. The soldier in charge of Rhen’s group taught them an attack move, then paired the students up to practice. The Water Elf that Rhen was paired with kept giggling every time he brushed up against Rhen as they practiced. Rhen couldn’t understand what was so funny. When the elf threw his fist out towards Rhen’s neck, Rhen captured the boy’s hand, spun him around and then pulled his body up into his own. It was a classic defensive maneuver, but for some reason, the Water Elf passed out the minute he was in Rhen’s arms. Rhen caught the boy and carried him over towards the trees where the Wood Elves were lying unconscious.
“You!” Ngi yelled from the podium. Everyone stopped what they were doing to see what was happening.
“Me?” Rhen asked. He spun about with the passed-out Water Elf in his arms.
“What are you doing to your partners? Come up here at once.”
Rhen handed the boy over to Jet and walked towards the stage with Charlie and his guard elves following along behind him.
“What’s the matter with you?” Ngi asked, when Rhen walked up onto the stage. “Do you think you’re better than the rest of us? Do you think you’re some sort of tough guy?” These were the same words that Rhen had yelled at Ngi when he had trained him. Rhen laughed at Ngi’s turning the tables on him. Ngi’s grey eyes twinkled as he pointed his finger at Rhen and said. “I’m not joking, mister. One more laugh and you get detention.” Rhen dropped his head down and covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. “Now, mister fancy tunic.” Ngi pulled a long sword out of his weapons belt. “Let’s see how you do with someone who’s not impressed by your shenanigans.” Rhen’s eyes widened with anticipation and he broadened his stance. Jet put his hand out to stop the guard elves from intervening. Ngi was simply throwing their Emperor a bone by fighting with him. That was how Rhen played. “It’s fine,” Jet whispered to the elves, who still looked as if it was their duty to stop Ngi.
Aaron was about to shove Jet out of the way, but then he saw the pink and orange Genisters hovering in the air over the stage watching. From the looks on their faces, they were expecting a show. Stepping back, Aaron rolled his shoulders to relax them, then moved over beside Shno for a better view of the fight.
Ngi stepped forward with his sword held out in front of him. He circled Rhen then lunged. Rhen stepped to the side, as Ngi’s sword swung past his body. He slapped out, hitting Ngi on the cheek. Ngi tried to retaliate by swinging his sword around and slicing Rhen’s other side, but he missed, because Rhen had flipped over backwards. As Rhen fell towards the ground, Ngi realized he had the advantage. He brought his arm back to thrust his sword into Rhen’s mid-section, but Rhen tricked him by falling flat onto the floor. He watched as Ngi’s sword flew out over his head, missing him. Rhen rolled to his right and tripped Ngi with his feet. As Ngi fell to the ground, he dove forward doing a somersault. Rhen jumped forward and slapped Ngi across his other cheek, when he rose to his feet. Frustrated, Ngi roared and swung his sword out behind him, hoping to catch Rhen before he could back away. Rhen jumped to the left and laughed. Ngi turned and chased Rhen around the stage, slicing out at him left and right with his sword but never making contact. When Ngi stopped to rest, he asked Rhen, “Had enough yet?”
“Me?” Rhen said, trotting back and forth in front of Ngi, daring him to strike.
Ngi took the bait and ran at Rhen. When he got close, he swung his sword around from the left while kicking out at Rhen with his right foot. He had hoped to catch Rhen in the middle, but instead Rhen surprised him by jumping forward into his body. The two men crashed to the ground. Rhen’s weight knocked the wind out of Ngi. “Does this mean I won?” Rhen asked as Ngi gasped for air. He reached out with his hands to tap Ngi on both cheeks before standing up.
As soon as Ngi caught his breath, he started to laugh. Rising to his feet he saluted Rhen. “Emperor, I’m glad you’re feeling better, but why are you crashing my class?”
Rhen rocked back and forth on his heels, his hands on his hips. “I just wanted to see if you were teaching my class properly.”
“And?”
Rhen shrugged. “I hate to admit it, but you’re doing great.”
“Thanks. Now, Emperor, I still have half a period left in which to teach. Would you mind going somewhere else so I can finish up for today?”
Rhen raised his hands in the air. “You’re kicking me out of my class?”
Ngi knew he had to. If word got out that Rhen was visiting his Fight Class, the University would be swamped with people. “Yes. No one can concentrate while Surpen’s Emperor is standing beside them, so…” he flicked his fingers at Rhen, dismissing him, “go away.”
Rhen smiled and shook his head. “See you later, Ngi.” He walked off the stage then followed the path that led to the student common area. Rhen and his guards mounted the stairs to the student lounge and sat down in one of the many seating areas. Several students were checking their news boxes on the right. When they spotted Rhen, they stopped what they were doing to stare.
Rhen glanced to his left and noticed the school store. He remembered that Ceceta had mentioned to him that they needed two notebooks. He had time to waste, so he might as well do their shopping. Standing up, he walked over to the store, opened the door and stepped inside. The young boy at the check-out counter heard the door open, and without looking up from the paper he was reading, yelled, “Read the sign dingbat. We’re not open for another hour. Come back then.” He flipped the page of his paper to see what Themrock was expected to do this weekend.
Rhen hesitated. “Why are you here if you don’t open for another hour?”
“I always come in early to read the news and catch up on…” The boy raised his head to glare at the annoying student who was interrupting him. When he saw Rhen standing in the doorway, his mouth dropped open and his newspaper fell to the floor.
“Catch up on?”
“Uh, uh, uh,” the boy grunted. He wobbled on his stool and the white school-store cap that he was wearing fell off his head allowing his bushy black hair to spring up around his face.
“Do you think he’s going to fall?” Jet asked the others. He stepped past Rhen and approached the kid, placing his hand on him to steady him. Glancing down, Jet saw the news article that the kid had been reading. It was filled with stories about Themrock and Rhen. Oh, Jet thought. He was a fan.
“Are you sick?” Sarah asked the boy, as she approached. J
et shook his head and pointed down towards the floor. Sarah leaned over the counter. When she saw the newspaper, she understood. Turning towards Rhen, she said, “We should come back later when they’re open.”
Rhen turned to go, but the boy yelled, “No!” He cleared his throat and added, “No. You can stay, Emperor. It would be fine for you to stay… if you want to of, of course.”
Rhen looked around the store. “I just need a notebook.”
The boy swallowed and stood up. He shoved his cap back onto his head and walked around the counter. “They’re right over here, sir.” Rhen and his guards followed the boy past the aisles until he stopped and pointed down the one that had notebooks.
“Thanks,” Rhen said, turning down the aisle.
As soon as Rhen passed the boy, his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted. Jet stepped forward, blocking the kid from Rhen’s view, as Aaron caught him and pulled him towards the back of the store.
Rhen wandered down the aisle then stopped. He opened a few of the notebooks to look at their pages. He couldn’t remember what kind of notebook Ceceta liked. Aaron returned to stand beside Shno and Jack. “This is going to be a problem,” Shno whispered, while tucking his brown cape behind his green Wood Elf jacket. “Too many of the students are passing out around Rhen. Eventually, he’s going to figure out that something’s going on.”
“It’s just the shock of seeing him. They’ll come around,” Jack said.
Jet joined Rhen and asked him quietly, “What kind of notebook do you need?” He could tell that Rhen was having trouble.
“The kind that Ceceta uses?” Rhen suggested with a hopeful smile. Maybe Jet would know. He had seen her writing in her notebooks many times.
“Ah,” Jet said with a nod. “She likes the single subject notebooks with the rip out pages.” He walked further down the aisle, scanning the merchandise, before stopping to pull a notebook that looked familiar to Rhen off the shelf.
“Yes, that’s what I need.” Rhen reached out to take another one from the shelf. “Thanks, Jet.”
Now that he had what he wanted, Rhen decided to wander around the store. They still had some time before they were supposed to meet Ceceta for breakfast. Rhen continued down the aisle and then looped up the next one. In that aisle, he found textbooks that looked familiar, but he hadn’t any idea what they were for. He headed down the next aisle where he found rows of folders and binders. The guard elves were following him as he walked up and down the aisles.
Jet walked over to the front of the store to check out the latest news reports. He glanced over at Rhen and watched him as he walked the aisles with the elves following along behind him like ducklings. How long was it going to take before the elves learned to relax around Rhen? Glancing to his right, he spotted Charlie. Charlie was relaxed. He was sitting in the cashier’s seat looking very impressed with himself. He had put on the school store’s cap and was holding up the newspaper that the boy had been reading earlier.
Charlie watched Rhen as he walked up and down the aisles. He really needed to talk to him about returning to Hell to save Chisten. The problem was going to be finding some alone time with him. Charlie had half a mind to zap everyone in the room with his powers, putting them to sleep, but if he did, they’d know he had powers, and he wasn’t ready for that yet. No, he’d have to wait until Rhen was alone, whenever that was going to be. His mind drifted to Mary and he smiled. While Rhen and Ceceta had been gone, they’d finally had a chance to go on a date. He sighed and punched at a few of the keys on the register in front of him. There was no doubt about it, he was in love, and if his Genister senses were right, so was she.
Jet finished the article he was reading and glanced up to see that Rhen was still wandering about. “Are you searching for anything in particular?”
“No. I’m just looking. I’ve never been in here before. Usually Ceceta does our shopping.” Rhen stopped by some brightly colored markers and picked them up. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with them, but he figured he’d think of something. Moving on, he headed up the next aisle.
Jet shook his head and turned back to the news reports on Themrock.
The boy in the back of the store groaned and stood up. He wandered down the aisle towards the front of the store while rubbing his face with this hands. “Hey,” he said, when he saw Charlie on his stool. “What are you doing? Get off of there.” Charlie frowned but slid off the stool. The boy grabbed his paper out of Charlie’s hands. “What are you doing in here anyway? We don’t open for another hour.”
Jet walked over towards them. “You let us in.”
“Why would I do that?” the boy snapped.
“Because you liked us,” Jet teased. He leaned forward and whispered, “You especially liked my big friend over there in Aisle 5.”
The boy glanced up and spotted Rhen’s head over the aisle partitions. “No way,” he breathed out. “You mean it… it wasn’t a dream?”
“Nope.” Jet turned and walked back to the news stand. The kid was safe. He obviously loved Themrock and wouldn’t do anything to upset him.
Rhen stopped beside a rack of magazines. He liked magazines. Reed had been giving them to him in the hospital. He looked for pictures of jetbikes, but couldn’t find any. As he stared at the magazines, one picture stood out. Rhen reached out and plucked a magazine from the rack. He flipped through it and laughed. “Unbelievable. They have pictures of me from when I was a kid in here.”
The elves, who had been behind Rhen, surged forward as Jet jogged down the aisle towards them. On the rack in front of Rhen were more than fifty magazines and every single one of them screamed out the words: Rhen, Themrock, and Black Angel.
Rhen held up the magazine he had chosen to show them the picture. “Why would anyone want to see this?” In the picture, a two-year old Rhen was walking down to the beach with his nanny to go swimming. Rhen was pale and skinny. He wore a bathing suit that had jets on it. He was carrying a toy dragon and a tiny bucket. The picture had been sold to the magazine by a tourist who had taken it when they’d visited the Thestran Royal Palace years ago.
Charlie appeared out of nowhere and snatched the magazine out of Rhen’s hands. “I bet Mom doesn’t have this picture. I’m going to get this for her.” He handed the magazine back to Rhen and pulled out a fresh one from the rack.
Rhen wanted to ask them why his picture was on all of the magazines, but he didn’t want them to know he couldn’t read. He picked out a selection of magazines then headed over to the cash register. The check-out boy turned red, as Rhen put his things onto the counter. “You can have them,” he told Rhen in a high voice.
“How much?”
“No, no, just, just, just take it,” the boy stuttered, waving his hand at the magazines. “No, no charge.”
Rhen hesitated. He knew you had to pay for stuff. At least, that’s what you did on Surpen. He vaguely remembered hearing Latsoh complaining about the cost of supplies at the school store to Ceceta, so he knew that the Thestrans had to pay for stuff as well. Frowning, he repeated his question. “How much?”
Charlie saw the problem and stepped forward. “Can I ring him up?” He snatched the school-store cap off the boy’s head, put it on his own and pushed the boy aside. “I’ve always wanted to use one of these cash registers.” Grinning, he made a big deal every time he pushed a key on the register. “27 trade coins, please,” he told Rhen, extending his hand for payment.
Rhen pulled some money out of his belt and handed it to the boy standing beside Charlie. Charlie’s hand whipped out and grabbed Rhen’s money then placed it into the cash register before handing Rhen his change. “Thank you for coming,” he told Rhen in a falsetto voice. “Please come back again real soon.” Rhen picked up his purchases, said thanks to the dumbfounded boy, and left the store. He walked over to the student dining hall and sat down in his usual spot by the windows. The students who were already in the room had been expecting this, so they’d squeezed themselves into the rectangula
r tables around Rhen’s, trying to get as close to him as possible.
Opening one of his magazines, Rhen flipped through the photos. There were pictures of him doing everything from singing in concerts to walking down the hallway at the University, but the pictures that Rhen found most fascinating were the ones of him as a child. He didn’t remember his childhood on Thestran. His memories began after his parents had abandoned him on Surpen.
An elfin woman wearing a red Fire Elf jacket placed Rhen’s food down on the metal table in front of him. Rhen thanked her absentmindedly as he studied his magazine.
The elfin royals entered the room to check in on Rhen. As they walked past the unconscious students, who were being carried out of the dining hall by the University’s staff, they worried that Rhen might realize he was Themrock. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice what was going on. When they reached Rhen’s table, they found him studying a magazine that had the title Rhen is Themrock in large captions on every page. “Crap,” Naci said under his breath as he and the others sat down to wait for Ceceta. They had no idea what to say about the magazine and hoped Rhen wouldn’t ask them about it.
Rhen dropped the items he had purchased onto his lap, when Ceceta and their friends arrived at the table. “How was your class?” he asked, as Ceceta sat down beside him. She was carrying her food tray and talking to Latsoh about early Surpen architecture.
Ceceta flushed a beautiful shade of dark blue. “Oh, Gods,” she said with a laugh, “It was amazing. There are tons of students taking Surpen. You wouldn’t believe it. I was concerned at first, but then the Headmaster hired these guys,” she pointed at their friends, “to help me teach. We are going to have the best time.” She picked up her fork and speared a sunberry. “So, what did you do for your free period?”
“I went to my fight class. Ngi is doing a great job, but he kicked me out. After that, we went to the school store.” Rhen pulled the notebooks and highlighters up from under the table. “I got you these.”
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 14
