The Surpen King: Part 1 - Return of the Gods (Themrock Book 2)

by Charity Kelly

  Professor Dewey stumbled as he made his way over to Rhen. Returning to Thestran’s gravity made his movements awkward. He stood behind Rhen, taking in the Surpen Emperor’s short brown hair and sculpted ears. Who is this boy? he wondered.

  Reaching out to steady himself, Professor Dewey placed his hand on Rhen’s broad shoulder. When Rhen lifted his black eyes up to the Headmaster, Professor Dewey said, “No, Rhen. We’re sorry. We’re sorry for making you waste so much of your time in a class that taught inaccurate material. Why didn’t you tell us before that the information in the textbook was incorrect?”

  Rhen shrugged and turned back to his meal. He wasn’t in the mood to talk. He’d already done enough damage for the night.

  “Rhen, those lines that appeared in space, what were they?” Erfce asked. He was holding onto the table to steady himself, waiting for his equilibrium to return.

  “Genister mapping lines.”

  Erfce’s head started to spin even more. Genister mapping lines?

  Latsoh squeezed her hands together under the table to keep them from trembling. She could see the others were equally shaken. Last year, Rhen had told them that he’d once met a Genister; he’d even insisted that some of the Genisters were still alive; but Latsoh hadn’t believed him. Now, after seeing the Genister’s mapping lines, she was beginning to wonder if he’d been telling them the truth. Was it possible that the Genisters had returned? “But how did you get the lines to appear? How did you know they were there?”

  Rhen sensed a change in the room’s mood and shrugged. Yet again, his anger had made him slip. He really should’ve kept his temper in check. He kept forgetting that people tended to freak out whenever he mentioned the Genisters. They didn’t know the Genisters were still around. They weren’t used to them like he was. When Latsoh asked him again about the lines, he said, “It’s not that big a deal. A Genister showed me how to do it once. It doesn’t take a lot of power to make them appear. Anyone can do it.”

  “A Genister showed you?” Latsoh asked. “Which one?”

  “Thellis.”

  “The same Genister who gave you the tattoo on your leg?” Erfce asked. “The one you showed us last year?”

  Rhen nodded. “When he finished my tattoo, he wanted to show off his powers, so he took me into space and displayed their mapping lines.” He hoped his answer would end their questions. He’d been wrong to show them the Genisters’ mapping lines.

  Erfce stared at Rhen. He’d dropped his head down, his shoulders were hunched and he was keeping his eyes on his plate. His body language was telling them that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Erfce glanced at Latsoh. She’d closed her eyes to try to calm herself. He was sure she wanted to launch herself across the table at Rhen, demanding answers, but they all knew Rhen well enough to know that he was done with the conversation. They wouldn’t get any more information out of him tonight.

  “Rhen," Professor Dewey said, when no one else spoke. "Would you rewrite our Astronomy textbook to make it accurate for future students?” As soon as he had asked his question, Professor Dewey realized his mistake. He’d forgotten that Rhen couldn’t read or write.

  Rhen shifted in his seat as he tried to think of an excuse.

  “Of course," Professor Dewey added, "you won’t have time to rewrite the book, but maybe you could stop by my office to help me correct some of the planetary measurements?”

  “Sure,” Rhen said, looking relieved.

  “Splendid,” Professor Dewey said. He turned to rejoin the teachers and threw out over his shoulder. “By the way, Rhen, you’ve passed Astronomy with the highest marks. Ceceta, I’m afraid you failed.”

  Ceceta’s mouth dropped open, but she laughed when she saw Professor Dewey wink.

  --

  After dinner, Rhen and his friends went outside. They followed the brick path from the octagonal glass school building, where most of their classes were held, towards the Great Lawn, which was between the student dormitories and the Teacher’s Residence Hall. The grounds were quiet, since the students weren’t arriving until tomorrow. Ceceta took a deep breath and gazed past the dorms towards the lake. “Do you want to go down to the water?”

  “No,” Tgfhi told her dropping down onto the grass. “I’m tired. Let’s stay here.” He reached up for Crystam’s hand and tugged, indicating she should sit. The others sat down on the grass around them.

  “Are you in the same dorm rooms this year?” Ceceta asked.

  “Yes,” Crystam said. “How about you? Did you get the same apartment in the Teacher’s Residence Hall?”

  “Yes,” Ceceta told her. “One of the perks of being a married student.” She patted Rhen’s chest. “Let’s hold our study groups in the apartment again this year.” Her friends immediately agreed. They’d enjoyed the privacy of studying in Rhen and Ceceta’s apartment.

  Tgfhi lay down and stretched. Since the dorms were dark, he had a great view of the stars. “That was fun, Rhen. Can you take us back into space again sometime? I loved the feeling of being weightless.”

  “Sure,” Rhen said while reaching up to hide a yawn. He decided Tgfhi had the right idea and lay down beside Ceceta.

  Erfce glanced at Latsoh. She clearly wanted to find out more about the Genisters. He wondered if Rhen would be willing to talk a little bit more about them. Perhaps he could steer the conversation that way? “Why didn’t you float around like the rest of us?”

  “I didn’t feel like it. I thought the teachers would take me more seriously if I was standing still.” Rhen turned his head to check on Ceceta. “I’d almost given up on them. I’d thought that they were too stubborn to admit their mistake.”

  “I kind of wish they were too stubborn,” Ceceta moaned. She placed her hand on Rhen’s stomach. “Now all of my answers on the exam are wrong. Everything they’ve taught me is wrong too. Do you think they’ll force us to take Astronomy over again once Rhen has corrected the text book?”

  “Probably,” Crystam said. She rolled over on top of Tgfhi to kiss him.

  Erfce turned his head away from them, feeling uncomfortable. He stared up at the sky over his right shoulder, wishing he was cuddling up into Latsoh. His powers to see the future had shown him that the two of them would become engaged while they were still at the school, but it wouldn’t happen if he didn’t find the courage to ask Latsoh out. He had to do it soon. He knew that if he could get Latsoh’s portrait of Thamber for her she’d definitely say yes when he asked her out. Speaking of the Genisters, he had forgotten he wanted to steer the conversation towards them. “So, Rhen, have you been to all of the planets that we can see now?”

  “No. Most of these are owned by Thestran. If we were on Surpen or one of my other planets, then yes. I’ve been to all of the ones that you can see in my territory.”

  “Wow. I bet that took a lot of time,” Tgfhi said.

  “It did.”

  “Have you ever been to Ponto?” Erfce asked, realizing he’d never invited Rhen to his home planet.

  “No.”

  Crystam slid off Tgfhi and sat up. She pushed her hair out of her face as she considered Rhen. He was lying on the grass with his eyes closed, rubbing his hand back and forth across Ceceta’s back. “Have you ever been to Ventar?”

  “No."

  “Have you ever met my mother?”

  “No,” Rhen said, hiding another yawn behind his hand.

  “I can’t believe you’ve never met my mother. She talks about you all the time, as if she knows you intimately.”

  “Intimately?” Rhen asked, opening his eyes. He smiled over at Crystam and lifted himself up onto his elbows. “How intimately?” Ceceta slapped him across the chest. Rhen laughed and lay back down on the grass beside her.

  “Not that intimately,” Crystam clarified. She was thoughtful for a moment. “Although, the way she’s always carrying on about you, one might think that she was interested in you in that way.” Rhen laughed again, thinking Crystam was joking, but Crystam wasn’t so
sure. She felt herself getting queasy at the idea.

  “Don’t laugh," she whispered to Tgfhi, when Erfce started to talk about the Genister temple in his palace, "but I just realized that my mother, the Ice Queen, has a crush on Rhen. Can you believe it? The God of War and the Goddess of Love?”

  Tgfhi shook his head and silently mouthed, “No.”

  “Don’t you remember the last few times we were with Mom? She kept asking us about Rhen,” Crystam said. "She had us talking about Rhen for hours. My mother never asks about men. Never! She’s always hated men, until now.” She rolled away from Tgfhi to think about it some more. In the distance, two men, dressed in formal clothing, were exiting the main University building. They paused outside to search the school’s grounds. When they spotted Rhen’s group on the lawn, they started walking towards them.

  “Uh oh,” Crystam said. “Rhen, it looks like you’ve got company.” She had thought they’d finally get a chance to spend some time with him.

  “I know,” he told her, sounding fatigued. “They’re late. They’ve been lost in the University for over an hour.” Ceceta laughed and Rhen reached out to squeeze her hand.

  Erfce sighed. It looked like he wasn’t going to get a chance to ask Rhen about the Genisters.

  Latsoh hadn’t said much since dinner. He hoped she was doing alright. She loved the Genister Gods more than anyone he knew. It had to be tearing her up inside not to be able to grill Rhen about them.

  When the men were within five feet of Rhen, they stopped and bowed down before him. “Excuse me, Emperor Rhen?” the taller man asked.

  Rhen sat up. “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you Emperor, but we’re having trouble with one of your fellow Convention members, the Vivists. We would prefer to remain independent planets, but the Vivists have been implying that if we don’t…”

  “I know, I know,” Rhen interrupted, as he rose to his feet. He stretched his arms into the air and sighed. “Okay, we can’t solve your problem here. Let’s go back to your planet and I’ll talk to the Vivists.”

  “Thank you, Emperor,” the men replied, while bowing repeatedly.

  Rhen bent down to kiss Ceceta on the top of her head. “See you later, love.”

  Before she could answer, he disappeared with the two men, who were still bowing.

  Latsoh blinked her eyes. She knew Rhen could teleport wherever he wanted to, but since he rarely used his powers, his actions still surprised her. “So,” she said, turning to Ceceta. “Who were they?”

  “How the hell should I know?” Ceceta snapped.

  “Whoa,” Latsoh said, raising her hands defensively. “Sorry I pissed you off.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Ceceta said, rubbing a hand down her face. “It’s not you, it’s them. Some royal jerk shows up almost every other hour to ask for a meeting. They should go through Bosternd and Nk, but they think they’re too powerful to talk to Rhen’s seconds so they barge in on our life. Most of the time, they aren’t even a part of our Empire. It’s really annoying. Rhen shouldn’t have to deal with them. If those Kings have a problem with the Vivists, they should bring it up at one of the Convention meetings or join Thestran’s Council for support. They shouldn’t come running to my husband.”

  “That sucks for Rhen,” Tgfhi said.

  Ceceta snorted. “You have no idea.”

  They sat in silence for a while, gazing up at the stars. Eventually, Crystam asked, "Do you guys want to go to my dorm room to check out the photographs I printed from our stay at the Thestran Royal Palace?"

  "Sure," Ceceta said. She felt bad about ranting in front of them earlier.

  Crystam shared a dorm room with a girl from the Water Elf Castle named Jenni. Jenni loved the Black Angel and had posters of him all over their room. "Ignore Tgfhi,” Crystam told the others as she sat down on her bed with her pictures. “He usually teases Jenni when he visits by moving her Black Angel posters around the room.”

  Tgfhi walked over to the poster of the Black Angel that was hanging over Jenni’s desk and reached out to take it down. He was surprised to find a different poster hidden behind it.

  “What are you doing?” Crystam asked, when she noticed that Tgfhi wasn’t switching out the posters. Instead, he was staring at the wall. She passed a few of the photos that she was holding to the others.

  “Did you guys know that we’re famous?” Tgfhi asked. He turned around to face them, hiding the new poster behind his back.

  “What are you talking about?” Erfce asked.

  With a wicked grin, Tgfhi stepped aside to reveal the poster behind him. It was a picture of Rhen’s concert at the University last year. In the photo, Rhen was standing between Latsoh and Erfce on stage. Behind them, Tgfhi was playing the drums. They must’ve been harmonizing when the picture was taken, because all four of them had their mouths open as they sang.

  “No way!” Erfce said. He jumped off Crystam’s bed to take a closer look, while wondering if he could get a copy of it for his dorm room. Latsoh looked amazing.

  “I had no idea they were selling posters like that,” Latsoh said. She was shocked to think that a picture of her might be hanging on a student’s wall.

  “Me neither,” Tgfhi said. He smiled at the joyous look on his face as he played the drums.

  “That’s a great picture of you, Latsoh. You look beautiful,” Erfce said. He was proud of himself for telling her but didn’t have the nerve to turn around and look at her while saying it.

  “Thanks,” Latsoh said. She moved over to stand beside him. After studying the poster for a minute, she said, “It makes me feel odd, you know? To see a poster of me on someone’s wall.”

  Erfce nodded. He was relieved she hadn’t laughed at him for telling her she looked beautiful. “Yes. I’m not sure that I like seeing myself on someone’s wall. I wonder how many of these posters were sold.”

  Ceceta had glanced briefly at the poster, before continuing to flip through the photos that Crystam had given her. "Crystam, these are really good pictures. It looks like you found your way into every single room in the private part of the Thestran Royal Palace."

  Crystam ducked her head looking guilty. “I may have broken a few of the Thestran’s rules while I was living there. I just couldn’t help myself.”

  Tgfhi walked over to the Black Angel poster that was hanging near Jenni’s closet. When he took it down, he found a poster of Rhen underneath it. Rhen was jumping into the air, while belting out a song. Tgfhi cleared his throat and Crystam, Erfce and Latsoh turned towards him. He pointed at the new poster. The four of them glanced over at Ceceta to see her reaction, but she wasn’t paying any attention to them. She was focused on Crystam’s pictures.

  Tgfhi went over to the Black Angel poster that was hanging on the back of the room’s front door. He hesitated. Instead of taking the Black Angel poster down, he stuck his finger behind it, to feel if there was another poster hidden underneath. Sure enough, he could feel a second poster. Turning to Crystam, he nodded to indicate what he’d found.

  Frustrated, Crystam marched over and pulled down the Black Angel poster on her door. The poser behind it was of Rhen standing on stage without his shirt on. He was laughing and pointing towards something you couldn’t see. Crystam remembered the moment well. Rhen had taken off his tunic because it was too hot. Erfce had offered him his t-shirt, but it’d been too small for Rhen to wear, so he’d tossed it back to Erfce then teased him about being tiny.

  Moving about the room, Crystam took down all of the remaining Black Angel posters. Behind every single one of them was a picture of Rhen performing on stage. Crystam stared at the others with her mouth open.

  "I'd heard about some posters," Erfce said, while gesturing about the room, “but this is ridiculous.”

  Just then Ceceta glanced up to find Rhen staring at her from behind a microphone, his right hand was holding a sword and his left hand was pointing towards her. She put down Crystam’s pictures and walked over to examine the poster. “Hmm
, he was sweating a lot during that picture, wasn’t he?” Turning, she discovered Crystam’s room was full of posters of her husband. Pointing at the one where Rhen was holding a guitar, while singing to Crystam by the piano, she said, “Oh, that was a lovely song."

  “Yes, it was,” Crystam agreed. The others were silent as Ceceta continued to inspect the posters of her husband that adorned Crystam’s walls. “Ceceta,” Crystam began, “I had no idea my roommate had these pictures. I’m sorry.”

  “What are you sorry about?” Ceceta asked, giving Crystam a smile, to show she didn’t mind. “Come on. I’ve seen Rhen’s picture on people’s notebooks during class this year. I know the students have been buying his music. I even heard that someone’s been selling pictures of him that were taken during his concert. There’s nothing wrong with it.” She paused to study the picture of Rhen without his shirt on. “But, I do think he should be more careful the next time he’s on stage, especially now that he’s Emperor. I mean, you can’t have the Surpen Emperor parading around in his underwear and not experience some… repercussions from it.” She reached up and poked Rhen’s face in the poster.

  Erfce shifted the poster that he was holding in his hand and it caught Ceceta’s eye. It was a picture of the Black Angel saving a woman and her child from an explosion at a factory.

  “Now, that,” Ceceta said, pointing at the poster Erfce was holding. “That’s a good poster. Forget my good looking, half-naked husband singing on stage. Focus on the Black Angel. He’s the one who’s important. He needs to return to us. Don’t you think?”

  “Oh, yeah!” Tgfhi said. “As President of the University's Black Angel Club, I can definitely agree with that. We need him to return.”

  Ceceta appeared pensive, her eyes staring at something the others couldn’t see. “What if he’s not coming back? What if he’s decided to give it up?”

  Tgfhi felt his heart stop. What did Ceceta just say?

  “Do you think there’s anything we can do to convince him to return?” Crystam asked, when she saw the look of horror on Tgfhi’s face.