“No. You have to wear it. If you don’t, your wife will kill me.”
“I refuse,” Tgfhi yelled towards the door, hoping Crystam would hear him. His face was red and his long blond hair stuck out in all directions. “Erfce refused. Now I refuse.”
Rhen crossed his arms. If Tgfhi didn’t wear his tunic, Crystam and Ceceta would probably end up getting mad at him. “You have to wear it.”
“I don’t want to,” Tgfhi moaned, his head and shoulders drooping.
Rhen sighed. He understood. There’d been many times when he’d had to do things for Ceceta just to keep the peace. Suddenly, he had a thought. Maybe they could both have fun tonight. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll change places with you.”
Tgfhi was intrigued. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll swap bodies. You can be me during the party and I’ll be you. I’ll hear everyone making fun of you and you can just have fun.”
Stepping back, Tgfhi tilted his head as he considered Rhen’s suggestion. “You can change bodies with someone?”
Rhen shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He pointed towards Tgfhi’s back. “Your tunic is stuck on the top of your underwear.” Tgfhi pulled his tunic down the rest of the way as Rhen said, “I don’t want to go tonight and neither do you, so let’s make it more enjoyable for the both of us. Let’s have some fun.”
Tgfhi hesitated. It did sound like fun. “Okay, but you can’t kiss my fiancée.”
Rhen nodded. “I’ll only dance with her. And you can’t kiss my wife either.”
Grinning, Tgfhi agreed. This seemed like an excellent prank. “This is going to be a blast. How do we change places?”
Rhen lifted his hands. “Grab my hands and step through me.”
“That’s all?” It seemed too easy.
“Did you want something else? Should we hug and say a prayer?” Rhen laughed as Tgfhi punched his shoulder. A moment later, Tgfhi took his hands and stepped forward into his body.
As Tgfhi passed through Rhen, he felt a strange, sudden chill and then he was looking the other direction. He glanced down to find that he was in Rhen’s body. “Oh, Gods. I’m you! Do I have your powers and stuff?”
Rhen scoffed. “No. You only have my body.”
“This is great. Let’s try it out.” Without waiting for a response, Tgfhi walked back into Rhen’s apartment. He found everyone staring at him with large, goofy smiles on their faces. “Kind of creepy,” he said, with a shiver.
“What, Rhen?” Crystam asked.
“Huh?” Tgfhi felt someone bump into him from behind. He turned around to see himself. “Oh.” He chuckled. He had already forgotten that he was Rhen. Walking across the living room, he took Ceceta’s hand in his then stood beside her, waiting in silence with everyone else. Why aren’t we going to the party? he wondered. It wasn’t until Latsoh started to fidget that he realized they were waiting for him to make the first move. Being Rhen was going to be harder than he had thought. “Shall we?” Tgfhi asked, while gesturing towards the door. Everyone agreed at once.
Tgfhi watched Rhen put his arm around Crystam, as they walked down the stairs to the exit. He checked his body out and realized that he didn’t look bad in a Surpen tunic. He could have worn it tonight without any problem. Crystam had been right.
The band was already playing and people were dancing when they arrived on the school’s lawn. Everyone stared at Tgfhi as he made his way towards the party. Rhen’s body didn’t work like his. It jerked to the right and he felt pain in most of his joints. Also, his stomach hurt, his knees hurt and his shoulders hurt. Basically, Rhen’s body was a wreck. Tgfhi had had no idea that Rhen was in pain all the time. He walked along with everyone else and wondered why they were heading towards the lake and not the party. Suddenly, he realized it was because they were following his movements. Tgfhi turned Rhen’s body to go to the refreshment stand. When the students saw where Rhen was headed, they flocked over to get drinks, hoping for a chance to talk to him. Really, creepy, Tgfhi thought to himself.
He looked behind him and saw that his own body was already dancing with Crystam in front of the bandstand. Rhen was an amazing dancer. He was making Tgfhi look great. Crystam was laughing as Rhen twirled her about. Tgfhi was thrilled to see Crystam laughing. Over the last few days, they’d performed a few experiments and had learned that as long as she stayed within eyesight of Rhen, her powers were neutralized. That knowledge had temporarily lifted Crystam’s spirits. Tgfhi wasn’t sure what they would do after graduation, but he hoped they’d be able to figure something out.
“Would you like a drink, Emperor?” Jet asked. Tgfhi turned to find Jet lingering beside him. He’d love a drink, but Rhen still hadn’t removed his bloodworms. He could feel them wiggling around inside his body. For a moment, Tgfhi thought he was going to vomit from the sensation. Since Rhen had bloodworms, he could only drink blood. Yuck! Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. As Jet waited patiently, Tgfhi realized that Rhen would probably want a drink so he said, “Okay.”
The band’s singer announced Rhen’s presence. Someone swung a spotlight onto him and Tgfhi nodded in response, as he thought Rhen would have. When the music started up again, Ceceta asked him if he wanted to dance. “Sure,” he told her, lacking enthusiasm.
Rhen and Crystam were now dancing near Reed and his wife. They seemed to be having a great time. Tgfhi’s body was swirling Crystam and Reed’s wife around and both women were laughing. Tgfhi felt himself growing jealous.
“Is everything okay?” Ceceta asked, sounding wary. She was stepping back and forth in the same place to the beat. “You don’t seem like yourself tonight.”
“Everything’s fine.” As they started to dance to another tune, Jet returned with their drinks. “Thanks,” Tgfhi said, taking the cup from him. He took a sip and grimaced. The blood tasted disgusting and he could feel the bloodworms inside him lapping up the liquid before it could even hit his stomach. How did Rhen deal with this? It was horrible.
Ceceta watched her husband drink with a pained expression on his face. That’s odd, she thought. Turning, she noticed that Tgfhi was dancing like a God while the Genisters hovered nearby. Oh, no, she thought, Rhen traded places with Tgfhi. He’d done it once before for fun and it had made her furious. She’d asked him not to do it again but he’d clearly ignored her request. Ceceta decided to teach Tgfhi a lesson. “Listen,” she said, stepping closer to Tgfhi and kissing him on the ear. “Let’s go make love, right now. Just freeze time, phase us to our bedroom on Crithnians and we can make love for hours. Nobody will ever know.” She kissed his cheek then put her hand on his crotch. Rhen couldn’t freeze time but Tgfhi didn’t know that.
“Ah!” Tgfhi exclaimed, swinging his hips away from Ceceta’s touch.
When he didn’t say anything else, she continued. “Or we could make love on Tgfhi and Crystam’s bed like we did earlier today. That was fun.”
“What?!” Tgfhi cried out. He tried to cover his reaction by pointing over towards the band. “What a great song this is.”
Ceceta slipped her hand into his tunic. “I have a better idea. Let’s sneak away with Crystam and you can have another threesome. We haven’t done that in a while.” Ceceta watched her husband’s face turn red. Good, she thought. Stepping closer, she whispered, “You’re playing with fire, Tgfhi. Neither Crystam nor I appreciate your changing places with Rhen. Don’t expect it to go over well when she finds out.”
Tgfhi had never been so relieved before in his life. Ceceta had been baiting him. “How did you know it was me?”
“I’ve been married a long time, Tgfhi. I know Rhen. I can always find him. Also, look at how you’re dancing with your wife.” Tgfhi glanced over to find Rhen tossing Crystam into the air.
“Oh.” He’d been stepping back and forth in the same spot as he danced with Ceceta. “Yeah, I guess I’m not really a dancer.”
“No,” Ceceta agreed. She watched as Rhen dipped Crystam then swung her up around his shoulders. They seemed to
be having a blast. “Tgfhi, did you change places so you could have fun tonight?”
“Yes.” He reached out to take Ceceta’s hand in a lame attempt to spin her.
Ceceta stepped over his foot to keep herself from falling. “Since you and Rhen are both going to be in trouble later, why don’t you have some fun before we go home? Let’s not dance, because you’ll only give yourself away. Let’s mingle. You’ll have fun with that, right?”
Tgfhi nodded and the two of them walked over towards the Air and Fire Elf Kings, who immediately launched into a conversation with them. Tgfhi tried to act like Rhen, but he wasn’t very good at pretending to be aloof. When he accidentally responded to one of Naci’s questions, the elfin kings became excited. They pressured Tgfhi, hoping to get him to say more. Without meaning to, Tgfhi found himself answering more of their questions. “Tone it down a little, Tgfhi,” Ceceta hissed in his ear. Tgfhi gave her a helpless look. How did Rhen do it? He was finding it almost impossible to be unresponsive while being grilled by the elves.
Things got worse when the band stopped playing and the lead singer invited ‘Emperor Rhen’ to sing a few songs for the audience. Oh, crap! Tgfhi was horrified. What was he going to do? Out of the blue, he felt Rhen’s body moving towards the stage. He glanced towards the dance floor and was relieved when Rhen winked at him. Rhen made his body walk up onto the stage. He played five songs and then walked himself back to Ceceta.
“Was he moving you just then?” Ceceta asked, when Tgfhi stopped in front of her.
Tgfhi snorted. “Of course. I have about as much musical talent as I have dancing.”
Ceceta laughed. She noticed that Tgfhi’s body was staring at them and decided it was time to teach Rhen his lesson. Jumping into her ‘husband’s’ arms, she gave him a big kiss.
Tgfhi didn’t know what to do. He’d told Rhen he wouldn’t kiss Ceceta. She’d surprised him when he wasn’t looking. The horrified expression on his face was seen by the members of the Elves for Themrock Club. It was all they needed to validate their plan to remove Ceceta from Rhen’s life.
When Ceceta noticed Tgfhi’s body was frowning at them, she stepped back and tucked her arm into her husband’s. Mission accomplished, she thought as she guided Tgfhi over towards Latsoh and Bosternd.
“See,” Latsoh said to Bosternd, as they approached. “Most of the women here are wearing Surpen tunics.”
“Hey, Latsoh,” Ceceta interrupted. “Where’s Erfce?”
“He went off to find Charlie. He said there was something he needed to ask him.” She turned back to Bosternd. “What do you think about the latest fashion?”
“It’s very nice,” Bosternd replied diplomatically. “Don’t you think so, Rhen?” He saluted his Emperor then watched as Rhen paled. A moment later, Rhen performed a terrible rendition of a Surpen salute. Immediately, Bosternd turned on Ceceta. “What’s going on?”
Ceceta snorted. It figured Bosternd would notice. “They changed places.”
“Who did he change places with?” Bosternd asked, his lips thin with disapproval. “You know, it’s really dangerous for him to be playing games like this.”
Ceceta flushed with anger at Bosternd’s comment. It wasn’t like she had been in on it. If anyone knew about keeping Rhen safe, it was her. “I know. You don’t have to lecture me. And as for who, look into the crowd and see if you can figure it out yourself.”
Bosternd glanced over at the bar then scanned the dance floor before turning back to Rhen’s body. “Tgfhi, why did you change places with Rhen?” Latsoh’s mouth dropped open.
“I didn’t want to wear that stupid Surpen tunic that Crystam bought for me, so Rhen said he’d change places with me. That way, I wouldn’t have to hear everyone making fun of me.” The glare in Bosternd’s eyes had him adding, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Bosternd turned and motioned for Jet to join them. “Not good, Jet. I expected more from you.” Jet had no idea what he was talking about. “You’ve lost the Emperor. Your job was to stick with him unless he phased away. I’m not happy with your performance.”
Jet stared at Rhen. He couldn’t understand what Bosternd was talking about. Tgfhi felt sorry for him so he said, “Sorry, Jet. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. I thought it would be fun.” When Jet still seemed confused, Tgfhi explained, “I’m Tgfhi.” Jet gasped and turned towards the dance floor in time to see Tgfhi’s body swirling Crystam and the Genister who glowed silver in circles.
“That’s how you can dance so well,” he said, as it all became clear. “It’s because you’re… I mean, Rhen’s controlling your body.”
“Jet,” Bosternd said. “I understand that Rhen is slippery. But if you lose him again, you’ll lose this post. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Jet said, coming to attention.
Latsoh didn’t think it was fair of Bosternd to discipline Jet, when Rhen had tricked all of them. “It’s not his fault.”
“No, it is his fault,” Bosternd growled. “He’s in charge. This is his post. He agreed to it. If he can’t handle it, then he’s out.” Latsoh looked as if she were going to contradict him. “Listen, Latsoh,” Bosternd said, “this isn’t a joke. He’s extremely important. We can’t take chances with him.”
Latsoh’s Fire Elf temper flared. “You don’t have to tell me how important he is. He’s Themrock! He’s my God. We live today because he gave us life. Without him, we wouldn’t even exist. I’ve been praying to him every day of my life. Don’t you ever tell me I don’t know how important Themrock is!”
Latsoh’s father had approached their group to apologize to Latsoh, but when he heard her speaking, his eyes widened in horror. His daughter was telling Rhen that he was Themrock! “What are you doing?” Naci howled. “You just told Rhen that he’s Themrock. How could you have done that?” His yelling attracted James’ and Reed’s attention.
“No, Dad,” Latsoh said as James and Reed joined them. “Stop jumping to conclusions. You don’t have any idea what we’re talking about.”
“He’s not Rhen,” Ceceta told the newcomers, while pointing at her husband’s body.
“I’m Tgfhi,” Tgfhi admitted, with a goofy smile on his face. “Rhen and I changed bodies for fun. Bosternd’s upset because he thinks it’s a safety risk.”
James recovered first. “Well…” He glanced over at Tgfhi’s body as it danced around the dance floor with two Genister women. Crystam could be seen walking towards the bathroom in the distance. “That explains a hell of a lot.” Tgfhi did a flip in the air then pulled both women in towards him, as they shrieked with delight.
“It is a safety risk, Tgfhi,” Bosternd said. “You can’t play games with Rhen. What if someone wants to talk to you tonight about Rhen being Themrock? Did you think about that?”
Tgfhi grimaced. “No. I forgot about that.”
“He’s not a toy,” Bosternd told him.
“We know,” Latsoh snapped. “You don’t have to treat us like children.”
“Yes, I do,” Bosternd growled. “If you don’t watch him more carefully from now on, I’m going to pull him back to Surpen permanently.”
They knew he meant it. They also knew that there was nothing they could do to stop him.
Rhen’s guards, the elfin royals and the Thestran royal family were all informed about Rhen and Tgfhi’s little prank. For the rest of the evening, they gave Tgfhi’s body the breathing room it would normally get from them as they hung out around Rhen’s body.
Later that night, when Crystam told Rhen she was tired, he took her hand and walked her over towards Ceceta and Tgfhi. “Hey, Rhen,” he said, glancing at the crowd that was standing around his body. He was glad he’d changed places. There were too many people hovering over him. “Crystam’s tired, so I think we’ll be going back to our apartment. How about you?”
“Yeah,” Tgfhi said with a nod. “We’re tired too. We’ll walk home with you.”
Back in his apartment, Rhen waited in the living room ar
ea, his back to the half wall that opened into the kitchen, for Tgfhi to ask him for a word in private. But Tgfhi didn’t say anything. Instead, he sat on the couch, staring at the bookcase for what seemed like an eternity. Crystam pulled on Rhen’s arm. She wanted to go to bed, but Rhen kept delaying her. He glared at Tgfhi, as Tgfhi sat brooding next to Ceceta on the sofa. “Um, Rhen, can I have a word with you in private?” Rhen said through clenched teeth. He was annoyed that Tgfhi wasn’t moving it along. He wanted to get back into his body.
“Oh,” Tgfhi said, which made Rhen roll his eyes. What the hell was the matter with him? “Yeah.” Tgfhi stood up and brushed down on his tunic. “Let’s go… in here.” He crossed the living room and opened the bedroom door.
Rhen walked into his bedroom behind Tgfhi and found Bosternd and Jet sitting on his bed playing cards. “What are you doing?” Rhen snapped, but then he realized that he shouldn’t have said anything because he was in Tgfhi’s body. “That’s Rhen’s bed,” he added.
“It’s okay,” Tgfhi said casually. “I don’t care.”
Rhen glared at his body. What was wrong with Tgfhi? He never would have said something like that. It was like Tgfhi wasn’t even trying to be Rhen. “Oh, well, if you don’t mind, then I guess I sure don’t. Because why would I care, if they’re lying on your bed.” Rhen felt like smacking Tgfhi on the head. He was going to suggest they go into the bathroom, but Ceceta had just gone in herself. Glancing behind Tgfhi, Rhen noticed Charlie taking things out of his dresser. Charlie pulled out his markers and tore open the packaging. “What are you doing to my stuff?!”
Charlie lifted his head, his eyebrows raised. “Excuse me, Tgfhi? What did you just say?”
Rhen narrowed his eyes. Did they know? He glanced around at everyone and found them smiling at him. Unfortunately, they always smiled at him. “Come on, Rhen.” He pulled Tgfhi across the hallway into Tgfhi and Crystam’s apartment. As soon as Rhen stepped into Tgfhi’s living room, he noticed his four guard elves lounging about on Tgfhi’s couch. Rhen hesitated. Why were his guard elves in Tgfhi’s apartment? Turning, Rhen pulled his body back towards Jet’s apartment. Perhaps he and Tgfhi could change bodies there. He opened Jet’s bathroom door to find Lilly changing her baby’s diaper. “Oh, sorry,” she said. “Almost done.” Rhen was about to open Jet’s bedroom door, when Jet pushed past him. “Excuse me, Tgfhi,” he said, closing the door in Rhen’s face.
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 16
