RHEN (Themrock Series Book 1)

by Charity Kelly

  Last night, Ceceta had confessed to Rhen that she had not only told his family about their past, but she had also allowed them to watch a part of her memory from Punishment Island. She still felt sick to her stomach for allowing the Thestrans to see that part of her life and for letting Rhen down. Ceceta had expected Rhen to scream at her for being an idiot, but instead he had just shrugged and held on to her as she had cried all night long, over the memory of her murdered family and the breaking of his trust.

  “Did you guys see that the Black Angel didn’t save anyone last night?” Tgfhi asked. When neither Rhen nor Ceceta answered, he said, “I wonder why?”

  “Something must have come up,” Erfce said. He was pissed that Tgfhi was talking about the Black Angel, when it was obvious that something major was bothering Rhen and Ceceta.

  Neither Rhen nor Ceceta were looking at Tgfhi, so he mimed to Erfce that he was only trying to help. Erfce rolled his eyes in disbelief before shaking his head. ‘What?’ Tgfhi mouthed back. Erfce mimed back that he should stop talking. Tgfhi stuck his tongue out at Erfce then turned to swipe the dagger that Rhen had begun to dig at the ground with.

  “Nice,” Tgfhi said, examining the weapon. The dagger was small and black. The tip of it curved upward at a slight angle. “It’s heavy. I bet it could do some serious damage.” Rhen nodded and reached over to take his dagger back. “Not just yet,” Tgfhi said, jerking it out of Rhen’s grasp. He flipped it over in his hand and handed it to Erfce. “Check it out.”

  Ceceta started to cry, so Erfce handed the dagger back to Rhen. “Sorry,” he said. Rhen shrugged and went back to picking at the ground.

  Latsoh and Crystam held onto Ceceta, until she got herself under control. In the heavy silence that followed, Rhen cleared his throat and everyone looked at him, expecting him to speak. “No,” he said, pointing at his neck. “Just a little something in my throat.” A moment later, they all laughed.

  “You were lucky you missed class this morning,” Latsoh said, hoping to change the dismal mood that had settled over the group. “Our homework assignment for tonight is to try something new? We have to write a report about it and present the report to class tomorrow morning? How are we supposed to try something new at school?”

  “I know,” Erfce said. “Rhen, can I ride your jet bike? I’ve never ridden a jet bike before.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  Crystam clapped her hands together. “Let’s all do that. Except for you, of course, Rhen. You’ve already ridden a jet bike. What are you going to do?”

  Rhen didn’t care. The assignment sounded stupid to him. Ceceta wiped at the tears that had sprung to her eyes again.

  Feeling uncomfortable, Tgfhi said, “Hey, why don’t you play something for Ceceta.” He pointed over towards the instruments on Mr. Orisco’s bandstand. “That would be something new.” Rhen stared at him. “What?” Tgfhi asked, sounding defensive.

  “It’s too risky Tgfhi. There are too many people who could see me.” Rhen picked up his dagger and poked at a rock, to free it from the grass.

  Narrowing her eyes, Ceceta said. “Do it.”

  “Ceceta?” Rhen asked, raising his head to meet her gaze.

  Ceceta was feeling guilty for doing something wrong, so she wanted Rhen to be guilty of doing something wrong too. “I said, do it. Please Rhen? Play an instrument for me.”

  Rhen studied his wife. Why did she want him to play music, when it was forbidden? They had been playing music in the University’s basement for days now and no one had found out. He had enjoyed it more than he had thought he would. It made him feel free. But, why would Ceceta want him to play it in public? Rhen thought about their last jam session and he felt a longing to let his powers over music out. He’d love to play in the open, even if it was for only one song. Was anyone even around to see him play? Rhen glanced about the University’s grounds for signs of life, but there wasn’t anyone in sight. “Is everyone still at lunch?”

  “Yes,” Crystam told him.

  “Okay,” Rhen said.

  In a flash, Erfce ran over to the bandstand to grab a guitar off the stage. Unfortunately, at that moment, Mr. Orisco was telling the Headmaster about the concert for that evening. They were both looking out the windows in the student dining hall. Mr. Orisco was gesticulating with his hands, explaining his plans for the evening, when he saw Erfce run over and jump onto the stage. “What’s that student doing?” he asked. He knew the students didn’t appreciate him. He had caught several of them attempting to play practical jokes on him. Fearing Erfce was going to try to sabotage this evening’s performance, Mr. Orisco studied him with apprehension.

  Several of the students in the dining hall heard Mr. Orisco. Curious to see what was going on, they stood up and moved over to the windows. They watched as Erfce returned to the apple trees and placed the guitar he had taken, down onto the ground in front of Rhen. Rhen hesitated a moment before picking it up.

  “Oh,” Mr. Orisco huffed, turning to march out of the room. “If that Surpen oaf thinks he’s going to touch one of my guitars, he’s got another thing coming.”

  As soon as Mr. Orisco said the word ‘Surpen’, the Thestran Royal Family, who had gathered in Rhen and Ceceta’s seats to wait for them, moved to the windows. “There they are,” James said, opening the window in front of him.

  Most of the students in the dining hall were now crowding around the windows. They were eager to see the upcoming confrontation between Mr. Orisco and Rhen. Hopefully, Rhen would head butt Mr. Orisco as he had Mr. Balot.

  James sighed and turned to his siblings. “Will you guys go keep Rhen out of trouble. The last thing we need is to have Rhen attack a teacher.”

  “Sure,” Lilly said.

  As James turned back to the window, an enchanting melody floated into the room. It was a magnificent piece that left him mesmerized. James couldn’t take his eyes off Rhen. The melody flowed in a gentle manner, became complex and detailed then tapered off, turning sweet again. When the piece was over, James realized his nose was pressed against the window’s screen.

  “Oh, Themrock,” he heard Latsoh and Crystam exclaim down below on the grass.

  “Oh, Themrock is right,” James whispered, listening in.

  “That was pure genius. Your music takes my breath away,” Latsoh told Rhen.

  Rhen laughed at the compliment. It seemed odd to him to be getting praise for something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He placed the guitar on the ground and kicked it over towards Erfce. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t play music. I’m Surpen,” he told them, an innocent look on his face.

  Tgfhi couldn’t help himself. He grabbed Rhen’s shoulders and shook him around playfully. Something moved near the school building, catching Tgfhi’s eye. He looked up to find Mr. Orisco rushing down the hill towards them. “Oh, damn,” he sighed. “Here comes the party pooper.”

  Mr. Orisco’s short legs were working overtime as he made his way to Rhen at top speed. “I didn’t realize he could move that fast,” Tgfhi said.

  “I saw that. You have detention,” Mr. Orisco said, his finger pointing at Rhen. “Actually,” he said, “all of you have detention.”

  No one replied. Mr. Orisco began to march around their little group, yelling insults. Ceceta dropped her head, covering her face with her hands. Her gesture made Rhen’s anger flare. When Mr. Orisco was behind him, he leaned back and said, “Who cares.”

  Tgfhi’s eyes widened. He pushed Rhen’s leg with his foot, warning him to be quiet.

  “I don’t like you Surpen. You’re a freak. A freak of nature. You belong locked up. They should have left you on your miserable planet,” Mr. Orisco barked.

  Due to the ground’s acoustics, everyone in the dining hall could hear what Mr. Orisco and Rhen were saying. Several of the students and teachers gasped, when Mr. Orisco continued to shout obscenities at Rhen.

  Taking his time, Rhen stood up and stared down at Mr. Orisco. “I don’t like you either weasel face
,” he told Mr. Orisco while the music teacher was taking a breath between tirades.

  Fury surged through Mr. Orisco. “How dare you speak to me with such disrespect?” Raising his hand, Mr. Orisco slapped Rhen across the face.

  Rhen smiled at Mr. Orisco, daring him to continue. Without another thought, Mr. Orisco slapped Rhen again. “Thestran must have flies Ceceta, because I think I felt one whiz by,” Rhen told her.

  Any sense of control that Mr. Orisco had was now lost. He started to pummel Rhen with both of his hands, hitting him repeatedly as hard as he could. Rhen stood in front of him smiling. With a scream of rage, Mr. Orisco picked up his walking stick from where he had dropped it and raised it in the air to strike Rhen on the head. As he brought the stick down towards Rhen’s forehead, Rhen grabbed it with his right hand and yelled, “Boo!”

  Startled, Mr. Orisco tumbled backwards, falling onto the ground. Rhen dropped the walking stick and bent over to grab Mr. Orisco by his poufy, brown hair. He twisted his grip so that Mr. Orisco’s face was looking up at him, balled his right hand into a fist and raised it above his head. “This, you pathetic fool, is how you hit a man.”

  Rhen started to swing his arm down to punch Mr. Orisco but Reed arrived in time to grab his fist with both of his hands. Rhen stopped himself the minute he felt Reed, but the force of his movement was so strong that Reed lost his balance and fell onto Mr. Orisco, causing him to scream out in pain.

  “Sorry,” Rhen said. He held out his hand to help Reed up.

  “Thanks,” Reed said, as Rhen hauled him off the whimpering music teacher.

  Although she didn’t want to, Lilly helped Mr. Orisco up. She listened to his complaints, walking him back towards the school.

  “Pathetic fool,” Rhen said, watching Mr. Orisco’s retreat. “He should’ve been eliminated in infancy.” Reed laughed, but when Rhen frowned at him, Reed realized Rhen wasn’t joking. Charlie and Sage were just sitting down next to Crystam and Erfce, so Reed turned to join them. Rhen hesitated a moment before sitting back down next to Tgfhi.

  “So,” Charlie said. “We heard your piece. It was amazing.”

  “What?” Rhen asked. Charlie was looking right at him, but Rhen couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

  “We heard your piece,” Charlie repeated. “It was fantastic.”

  “My piece?” Rhen asked. A shiver of dread started to crawl up his spine. With increasing trepidation, Rhen asked Charlie, “You heard me play?” Charlie nodded with enthusiasm, pointing up at the windows of the University behind him.

  Rhen and his friends looked up at the school to find thousands of faces in the open windows of the dining hall staring at them.

  “We all heard you,” Charlie told him.

  “Oh, that can’t be good,” Ceceta said, raising her hand to her mouth. She had wanted Rhen to break the rules, but not to get caught doing it. Now he was going to be punished because of her.

  “It’s fine,” Sage reassured Ceceta, when she saw the fear in her face. “We can always say that Erfce was playing. The guitar is in front of him, isn’t it?” Sage’s words were empty comfort. They knew everyone had seen Rhen play.

  “How long have you been playing the guitar?” Reed asked.

  Realizing he had been caught and there wasn’t any reason why he should hide it anymore, Rhen said, “A couple of days?” He glanced at Ceceta for confirmation, and she nodded.

  “I don’t understand. How did you play that piece?” Sage asked. “It was so complex.”

  Rhen shrugged in response. Answering Sage’s question would’ve required him to speak about himself, and he still didn’t like to talk to the Royal Family about his personal life, even if Ceceta had shown them his dirty laundry.

  “The music is always in his head. When he has an instrument, he can get it out. Otherwise, it just swirls around, entertaining him during the day,” Erfce explained. Rhen glared at Erfce and tossed a stick in his direction. It bounced off Erfce’s hand onto the guitar.

  “Can you play other instruments?” Charlie asked.

  “He can play anything and everything, singly or all together,” Ceceta told him. “He’s amazing. In fact, that’s how I first fell in love with him.” She smiled at Rhen. “He was so cute with his little flute. He would play and all of the women would sit around him sighing and looking at him with love in their eyes, but I got him.”

  “Lucky you,” Rhen answered with sarcasm.

  “Well, come on then, forget Debrino’s Code. Get your butt over to the bandstand. Let’s hear some more music,” Charlie said.

  “No,” Rhen said. “I don’t think that would be wise.”

  “They’ve all heard you play,” Tgfhi said, pointing towards the University building. “It’s just a matter of time before your father shows up. Why not enjoy yourself before he comes?”

  It was a tempting suggestion. Rhen glanced over at the bandstand. Turning to Ceceta, he asked, “What’s the punishment for playing music?”

  “Your hands get cut off,” Latsoh told him. After she had first heard Rhen’s music, she had been motivated to find out what the Debrino Code’s punishment was for performing. She wanted to know how much trouble Rhen would be in if he was ever caught.

  “Oh, no,” Charlie grimaced. “Oh, well, I guess we aren’t going to hear you play.”

  Rhen and Ceceta grinned at each other. “Just your hands? Are you sure?” Rhen asked Latsoh. She nodded. Rhen winked at Ceceta. “Well, let’s get going before my Dad gets here.” He shifted his legs to stand up but stopped short. “No, wait. I didn’t wear my shorts today.” With a quick glance at the height of the stage, he said, “I can’t play without them.”

  “I’ll get them,” Ceceta said. She jumped up and ran towards their apartment. Ceceta had been waiting for this moment for a long time. She couldn’t wait. Now everyone would know how gifted Rhen was.

  No one said anything while they waited for Ceceta to return. In boredom, Rhen leaned over and scooped up the guitar that was resting on the ground in front of Erfce. The movement caused his tunic to hitch up and Reed noticed a black mark on his thigh. “What’s that?” he asked.

  Rhen nestled the guitar on his lap and looked over at Reed. “What?”

  “That on your leg,” Reed said, pointing towards Rhen’s thigh.

  Putting the guitar back on the ground, Rhen pulled his tunic up to show his upper thigh, which had the tattoo of a dagger.

  “Wow,” Tgfhi exclaimed, leaning over to look at it. “It’s amazing. It looks exactly like your dagger.” Tgfhi snatched up the dagger from beside Rhen and held it next to the tattoo on Rhen’s thigh. The two were identical. In fact, they looked so much alike, it was hard to tell which one was the real dagger and which one the tattoo. Latsoh felt like her eyes were playing a trick on her. Without thinking, she leaned over and touched Rhen’s thigh. Rhen laughed at her as she snatched her fingers away from his warm skin. “What, did you think it was real?” he teased.

  “I can’t believe it’s not. It looks so real. Can I touch it again?” Rhen shrugged in response, so Latsoh reached out to touch it again.

  “My turn,” Tgfhi said. He reached over and tapped Rhen’s tattoo with his fingertips. Soon everyone was touching it. The thing was too realistic to believe.

  “Damn that’s good. Who did it? I want one,” Tgfhi said.

  “The person who did it isn’t doing tattoos anymore,” Rhen told him.

  Tgfhi frowned. “That’s too bad. If they were still doing tattoos, I would’ve gotten a picture of the Black Angel.” Rhen laughed and Tgfhi flushed with embarrassment. “What’s the matter with that?” he asked, sounding defensive. “The Black Angel is amazing. He’s a much better tattoo than a stupid dagger. Why did you choose a dagger anyway?”

  Before Rhen could answer, Ceceta raced up to them panting. She tossed Rhen’s military shorts onto his lap and glanced down at his tattoo. Crystam was poking at it with her finger, so Ceceta realized Rhen had been telling them about it. “That�
��s cool, isn’t it? I loved it when he showed it to me.” She plopped down onto the ground next to Rhen to catch her breath. Her golden robes looked disheveled as they fell to the ground around her. “I once asked him to keep taking daggers out of it to see if it would ever run out. We had 3,865 daggers before we finally just gave up.” She laughed at the memory. “There were daggers everywhere. We didn’t know what to do with all of them. Rhen hid some of them in our bedroom, until the King found them and thought he was stealing daggers from the armory.” Ceceta smiled and shook her head. When she glanced back up at her friends, she found them staring at her with confused expressions on their faces.

  Rhen rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I didn’t show them that part, dear,” he said.

  Ceceta gasped. Guilt washed over her again. Her guilt turned to anger and she poked Rhen in the ribs to indicate he should show them what she was talking about.

  Rhen slapped Ceceta’s hand away and sighed. “Okay,” he told them. He dropped his hand down towards his tattoo. “It looks realistic because it’s… well, like magic.” Rhen’s hand had been resting against his tattoo. He twisted his wrist, so his palm was facing upward. A black dagger rested in the center of his hand. The dagger in his hand was the same as the one that Tgfhi was holding.

  “No way,” Tgfhi yelled. “Do it again.”

  Rhen gave the dagger he was holding to Ceceta and dropped his hand back down to his tattoo. He twisted his wrist to reveal a new black dagger resting in his palm. His friends laughed with surprise at the sight of it.

  “Okay,” Reed said. “How does that work? I’ve never heard of ‘magic’ tattoos before.”

  There was nothing to do but tell the truth. No one had ever heard of magic tattoos before, because they didn’t exist. Reed and the others would realize Rhen was lying, if he fabricated some story. Rhen knew he would be opening up an enormous can of worms, when he told them the truth, but for some reason, he didn’t care. Maybe it was because he was about to break one of Debrino’s Codes by playing music, maybe it was because his 18th birthday was tomorrow, maybe it was because last night Ceceta had opened the door to his life for the Thestrans to walk right in, whatever the reason, he realized he didn’t care anymore.