“Oh, thanks, love.” Ceceta leaned over to kiss him. “That’s exactly what we needed.” She lifted up the highlighters and shook them. Genisters loved things that were brightly colored. Teasing, Rhen, she asked, “Why’d you get these?”
Rhen hesitated then smiled hopefully. “I thought you might need them?”
Ceceta laughed and signed, Liar. You bought them because they are bright colors.
Mary spit her half-chewed muffin into her napkin then leaned towards Lilly to tell her what Ceceta had signed so she could transmit it to the others.
Guilty, Rhen signed. I found something else I liked, too. Look at these. He lifted up the magazines to show them to Ceceta. She coughed with shock and turned away. Standing up, she walked over towards the cafeteria line. Think, think, think, she told herself as she bought a glass of juice and walked back to their table.
Are you okay? Rhen signed, when she sat down.
“Yeah, fine, thanks.” Ceceta took one of the magazines. “I never realized how popular you would become now that everyone knows you’re the Black Angel.”
What do they say? Rhen signed. He didn’t want anyone to know he couldn’t read.
Ceceta angled her body so that Tgfhi, who was sitting beside her, would be able to hear her without Rhen knowing. “They say… Emperor Rhen.” She held up a magazine that was titled Rhen is Themrock. Ceceta hoped that Tgfhi would tell the others what she was saying. She didn’t want to embarrass Rhen by making it obvious that he couldn’t read, yet she wanted the others at the table to know what she was saying so they wouldn’t counter her explanations to Rhen. “This one says, Our Hero, the Black Angel, is Rhen.” The magazine she held up read, When Will Themrock Restore the Elves’ Powers? “And this one says, How Does the Emperor Rule 30 Solar Systems?” Ceceta held up a magazine that was entitled, How will we Protect Rhen from Therol and Thaster? She was relieved when she saw Tgfhi whispering to Erfce and Jack. Good. The others would soon know what she’d said.
“She’s amazing,” Aaron whispered to Jet, when Shno told him what Ceceta had said. Jet nodded in agreement. He had the utmost respect for Ceceta.
Rhen opened the magazine entitled Rhen is Themrock. “Look at these pictures of me when I was a kid. I don’t remember any of this. It’s weird to see yourself somewhere and not have any recollection of it. You know?” Rhen said quietly. He showed Ceceta a picture of himself sitting in an infant swing. His nanny was pushing him in the swing, while he teethed on the edge of it.
Ceceta chuckled. “You were so cute.” Rhen bumped his shoulder against hers as she added, “Look at your drool. Goober face.” Ceceta took the magazine and flipped to the next picture. It was the one of Rhen walking down to the ocean with his nanny. “That’s a lovely picture. I like your bathing suit. Do you still have it? It probably still fits.”
Rhen narrowed his eyes at her as she laughed then flipped to the next picture. It was a photo of him on a horse with James sitting behind him. He was holding his toy dragon and crying.
“Oh, poor you,” Ceceta said. “James should have taken you off the horse. You were obviously afraid of it.” She narrowed her eyes as she studied the picture. “Wow, look how gorgeous James was when he was younger.”
Rhen peered down at the photo. “He looks like me.”
“I know,” Ceceta whispered. They kissed before flipping the page. In the next picture, Rhen was laughing and running down a hill while his nanny chased him. Rhen turned to the next page to find a photo of himself wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Max’ across it. He was sitting on Henry’s shoulders as they watched Reed doing a flip on his jetbike. Rhen appeared to be about one and a half in the picture. He had chunks of Henry’s hair in his plump, little hands and he was laughing. In the next picture, Rhen was being carried by a young Lilly through the Thestran’s apple orchard. The page after that had a picture of him sleeping on his nanny’s shoulder while she sat in a rocking chair on the palace’s balcony, watching the sunset. “I loved her.”
Ceceta reached out to rub Rhen’s back. “I know. Why didn’t your parents bring her with them, when they took you on their trip?”
Rhen sighed. “I called her ‘Mom’ in front of Kate. She got angry and fired her that day. It was an accident. I knew Kate was my mom at the time. I can’t even remember why I did it. I think I was looking at my nanny but talking to Kate and ‘Mom’ came out. I never saw her again after that.”
Ceceta felt a burning sensation in her eyes. Kate had fired Rhen’s nanny because she’d been jealous. If Rhen’s nanny had been with them, they never would have been left on Surpen. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She was off the bench and out of the room before Rhen could stop her.
Rhen continued to flip through the pages in his magazines. He found a few pictures of himself as a child on Surpen. The contrast in his demeanor between his childhood on Thestran versus his childhood on Surpen was striking. When he compared his facial expressions, it was obvious that he hadn’t been happy on Surpen. He felt himself getting angry. He hadn’t realized how unhappy he’d been growing up on Surpen. He closed the magazine he was holding and tossed it across the room into the trash can. Rhen looked around for Ceceta then picked up his next magazine. After glancing at a few of the pictures, he threw it into the trash can, too. He picked up his third magazine, and without opening it, threw it into the trash then searched the room for Ceceta. Eventually, he leaned over to Crystam. “Where did my wife go?”
“What?” She’d been fighting back tears ever since she’d heard Rhen tell Ceceta about his nanny. Things would have been so different for Rhen if she hadn’t been fired.
Rhen noticed her eyes were moist and grew concerned. “Are you okay?”
Crystam laughed. “Yes, sorry.” She dried her eyes with a napkin, while Tgfhi leaned over to put his arm around her.
Rhen assumed she was upset over her powers. He felt bad for her. Glancing around the room, he saw that some of the students had passed out. Poor Crystam. Her powers were already starting to overwhelm people. Jet leaned over to tell Rhen that Ceceta had gone to the bathroom and that she’d meet them at class, so Rhen and his guards rose to go.
Crystam watched as they left the room. She knew she should probably head to class too, but she wasn’t in the mood. Tgfhi tightened his grip around her waist. Crystam looked up to find him beaming at her. “Your laugh,” he said excitedly. “It didn’t cause anyone to faint.”
Crystam didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”
“While you were with Rhen, your powers weren’t working. I’m sure of it. You laughed twice and no one around us fainted.”
“But what about them?” She pointed at the students who were being attended to by the University’s staff.
“They fainted because of Rhen, not you.” He kissed her then whispered. “Remember how Erfce told us his powers didn’t work when he was around Rhen? I think you might be experiencing the same thing. I think something about him is nullifying your powers.”
Crystam gasped and a student, who was walking past their table with a tray of food, fainted. The tray clattered loudly to the floor as his food splattered everywhere. One of the University’s staff members ran forward to help him.
“If that’s true–” she began.
Tgfhi nodded vigorously. “Let’s go.” He reached out to help her off the bench. “We need to talk to the Headmaster to see if we can switch into Rhen’s classes and still graduate.” Tgfhi knew it wasn’t much help, but at least it was a start.
Chapter 15
Classroom – Elfin University
Yfetb sat alone on one side of the circular desk in the basement classroom where the Elves for Themrock Club was holding its meeting. When he’d entered the room, the elves had glared at him. Whether it was because they hadn’t expected a non-elf to join their Club or whether it was because they’d heard that Rhen had yelled at him, he couldn’t tell.
He leaned against the back of his metal chair and crossed his arms over his chest
. It seemed that most of the University’s students knew about his confrontation with Rhen. He’d been walking down the hallway to class when Rhen had come out of nowhere and grabbed him. Rhen had lifted him into the air by the front of his shirt and said in the most terrifyingly intense voice imaginable that he didn’t know why Yfetb had left his school for the Elfin University, but if he came anywhere near Ceceta or his friends, he’d personally rip out Yfetb’s throat.
Swallowing, Yfetb reached up to rub his neck. He’d never been so frightened before in his life. He had hoped to have a chance to tell Rhen what his father was up to, but that was no longer a possibility. If only he had found proof that Loreth was back. He’d searched his father’s office and bedroom before coming to the University, looking for something to bring to Rhen, something that would prove that Loreth had returned, but he hadn’t been able to find anything.
The elf in charge of the meeting started to talk about Themrock’s history. He went on at length about how Themrock belonged to the elves. Some of the other students verbally attacked the Thestran royal family for abandoning Rhen on Surpen. Their conversations seemed to be the same old thing they always were, so Yfetb zoned out.
The room they were in smelled musty. There were boxes of books lined up against the back wall. Yfetb wondered whether the books were new and hadn’t been opened yet or if the University was shipping off old books to other, less fortunate schools. Speaking of schools, he should hear from the Neptian City Law School’s admissions office in a few days. He hoped they wouldn’t give him any trouble for changing universities.
When the Club’s treasurer mentioned the financial support they would be getting from The Supreme, Yfetb cocked his head. Who was The Supreme? It wasn’t until they began to discuss The Supreme’s displeasure with any elf who married out of their tribe that Yfetb realized they were talking about their religious leader.
It was at that point that the meeting took an odd turn. Two elves started to criticize the Fire Elf Princess, Latsoh. Yfetb was surprised by their venom. They were furious with Latsoh for even considering marrying an outsider. They were also outraged that a woman would defy The Supreme’s law. When an elf with straight black hair suggested they do something to hurt Erfce so he would be forced to return to his own planet, the Club President brought the meeting back to Themrock, silencing the students who were agreeing with the plan.
Yfetb blinked his eyes. Had that really just happened? Wasn’t anyone going to stick up for Latsoh and Erfce? He was shocked.
The elves discussed the differences in Themrock’s personality that they saw from his being raised on Surpen versus what they knew about him from the past. A few of them wanted to go after the Surpens for forcing Themrock to eat meat and kill. No one had thought an elf could digest meat until Rhen had shown up. They wondered what Themrock would have been like had he been left on Thestran.
Suddenly, the Club President faced Yfetb. “If you’d married Ceceta like you were supposed to, Themrock would be with an elf right now, not an underform,” he said, using the elves’ derogatory name for non-elves. It implied that since Themrock had made the elves first, and they were taller than other species, he hadn’t cared enough to spend the time to properly form other mortals.
Yfetb was dumbfounded by the comment. “Um…” Before he could say anything, a few of the elves started to mock him.
“Quiet,” the President said. Turning back to Yfetb, he added, “You caused this. How are you going to fix it?”
Again, Yfetb was speechless. His father had forced him to break off his engagement with Ceceta. He would have married her. He’d always liked her. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the right thing to say.
“Tell us what’s important to Ceceta,” the Vice President of the Club said.
Yfetb frowned. “What?”
“What does Ceceta like?” the elf asked.
Yfetb shook his head. “I don’t really know. I barely knew her.”
With that, the elves turned away from him. He was useless to their cause.
Yfetb sank down in his chair with relief. But it was short-lived. He found himself growing tense as the elves debated what they should do to break up Rhen and Ceceta’s marriage. It seemed they felt they should attack Ceceta, belittling her until she realized she wasn’t worthy of Themrock.
Yfetb watched the elves leave the room at the end of the meeting. No one spoke to him. He leaned forward and put his head on the cold wooden desk in front of him. What the hell? He couldn’t believe he’d joined such a horrible group of people. Why had his father been so insistent on his becoming a member of this club?
Yfetb jerked upright. Loreth. This Club had to have something to do with Loreth. He’d been planning on dropping out of the Club, but now he knew he had to stay in it. If Loreth was involved with the Club, he’d finally have proof, then Rhen would have to listen to him.
***
“I don’t want to go,” Rhen said, pulling on his red tunic, with the black piping. He reached for his weapons belt and tied it around his waist.
“You don’t have a choice,” Ceceta called out from their bathroom. She was brushing her hair in front of the mirror. “The Headmaster told us that all of the University’s weekend events are now mandatory. If we don’t go, we won’t graduate.” She didn’t add the fact that it had been the elfin kings’ idea. They were hoping to socialize with Rhen.
“It’s going to be so annoying,” Rhen moaned. He flopped down onto their bed. “I’ll show up and half of the students will faint and the other half will stare at me with their mouths hanging open.”
“They’re getting better.” Ceceta stepped out of the bathroom and chuckled at the sight of him spread out on their bed.
Rhen glanced up at her and smiled. Her shoulder length blond hair glowed in the light and she’d tied an orange scarf around her neck as an accessory to her brown robes. “You’re beautiful.” Ceceta snorted and rolled her eyes. “I love the color of that scarf against your skin.” He rolled over and patted the bed beside him.
“We don’t have time.” Ceceta walked to the closet to put on her shoes. Rhen groaned and dropped his head onto his forearm. “Stop it,” she chastised him. “We’ll have fun tonight. The students aren’t as bad as they used to be. They’re finally settling down and accepting the fact that you’re just a normal person–well, if anyone could call you normal.”
“Ha, ha, ha,” Rhen said sarcastically. He tossed his pillow at her then sat up. “I don’t know why they’re making such a big deal about the fact that I was the Black Angel.”
“Really, Rhen? What did you expect? You saved thousands of people. For Gods’ sake, you did so much they thought you might be a Genister. Of course they’re going to be overwhelmed by the whole thing.” Someone knocked on their door.
“Are you guys ready?” Latsoh called out. “I want to get going. The band’s supposed to be amazing.”
“We’ll be right out,” Ceceta told her. She waited until Rhen was by her side before opening the door to their living room. They paused at the sight of Latsoh. She was wearing a Surpen robe of deep purple. Ceceta cleared her throat. “What are you wearing?”
“It’s the latest fashion.” Latsoh lifted up her arms and spun about in a circle to show off her outfit. “Don’t you like it?”
“Yes,” Ceceta lied, as Rhen nodded his head obediently by her side. “But, you look rather… Surpen. Don’t you think you should be wearing something more Thestran?”
“No,” Crystam answered, strolling into the room from the hallway. She was dressed in Surpen robes of yellow. Rhen and Ceceta took one look at her clothing and grimaced. “Stop that,” Crystam scolded them. “You’re frowning. That’s not nice. Just so you know, everyone’s dressing this way now. It’s all the rage. I bet all of the women at the party tonight will be wearing Surpen clothing.”
“And the men?” Rhen asked.
“Well,” Tgfhi replied from the doorway, sounding reluctant. When he stepped into view, they s
aw he was wearing a blue tunic that had red piping along the edges. It was obvious his tunic was a Thestran knock off, since it didn’t have any of the intricate seamsmanship that a true Surpen tunic would have.
“I… I like your legs, Tgfhi,” Ceceta offered. “They’re very… blond.”
“She means hairy,” Rhen said as Ceceta smacked him on the arm.
“Hey,” Tgfhi snapped. “It takes a lot of guts to wear the latest fashion. I think you both should show me a little respect for pulling it off.” He hadn’t wanted to wear the tunic, but Crystam had made him. Erfce had flat out refused to wear the tunic that Latsoh had bought for him.
“Right,” Jet said, chuckling from his adjoining living room. He was holding his baby on his shoulder as he patted her back to burp her. “I don’t know boss, maybe you should give up a few solar systems. This ‘Surpen Rules’ craze might be going a little too far if we have to look at legs like Tgfhi’s in public from now on.”
Rhen laughed, causing Tgfhi to turn on Crystam. “See?” he barked, before marching back to his apartment across the hall to change his clothes.
“Rhen,” Crystam hissed. “I went to a lot of trouble convincing him to wear the latest fashion and you’ve just ruined it for me.”
Rhen couldn’t tell if she was mad or teasing. “Sorry?” he told her hesitantly. Ceceta gave him a shove towards the door. Rhen sighed. “I’ll tell him not to change.”
Rhen opened Tgfhi’s door without knocking and found him struggling to remove his tunic. It was stuck around his shoulders. “Tgarian balls, how do you get dressed in these clothes every day?” he snapped.
Rhen felt the same way about the Thestran’s clothing. He lifted his chin towards Tgfhi. “Nice underwear.”
Tgfhi bent over to see what he was wearing. His blue boxers were decorated with flowers and bees. “Crystam gave them to me.” Rhen crossed the room and pulled down on Tgfhi’s tunic. “No, I want to take it off,” he growled, lifting the hem to pull it over his head.
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 15
