The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Read online

  “You’ve done a great job getting him to return to Thestran,” Naci said with dripping sarcasm, noting the fact that Rhen’s birth family had been trying for ages to reconnect with Rhen.

  “You shouldn’t even be allowed to communicate with Themrock,” Chaster snapped. His blue eyes flashing. “All you’ve done is screw everything up.”

  Latsoh’s eyebrows rose. She was shocked that Chaster would say that to the Thestran royal family. Ever since Themrock had been locked into a void box by another Genister, the elves had suffered. They’d been persecuted, their castles had fallen into ruin, and they’d been forced to go into hiding. By the time Queen Kate, a human, had mysteriously given birth to an elfin child, they’d been in hiding for so long that most humans had no idea the elves actually existed. It had been Kate who had found them and brought them back. She had used her powers to raise their castles, had given them stipends and had banned discrimination against the elves. She’d even founded a University for them. They owed her everything. Latsoh couldn’t understand why the Thestran royal family wasn’t fighting back.

  “You handed our God, the greatest Genister of all time, over to the Surpens as a mere child and you did nothing to get him back,” Naci said, leaning back in his chair. It seemed his anger was dissipating.

  “Didn’t you miss Rhen?” Plos asked. He had pushed his black hair back behind his sculpted ears. He looked so concerned that Latsoh wanted to tell him everything would be fine. Sarah must have felt the same way, because she reached out to touch her father’s sleeve. Plos patted her hand with his own.

  “If you’d just kept him here on Thestran, Themrock would have been ours. Our lives would have been complete,” Chaster snapped. His son, Jack, had shrunk down in his seat. His shirt with the saying, Air Elves Have More Fun, seemed out of place in the room.

  The Wood Elf King suddenly rose to his feet and hit the table with his hand. “I hold all of you responsible for this. How dare you keep Themrock from us!”

  King James had had enough. He’d been waiting for his parents to respond, because they had been responsible for Rhen’s being left on Surpen, but the elfin royals’ disrespect was too much. As the current King of Thestran, he’d worked hard to help the elves and now they were attacking him? “How dare you shout at us after everything we’ve done for you. My parents made a mistake. They know that. The past is the past. We’ve been trying to get Rhen to—”

  The Supreme Elfin Priest, who oversaw all of the priests within each tribe, raised his hand, interrupting James. “How is it possible that not one of you knew he was Themrock?” Latsoh couldn’t help but grimace at the man. It had been his interpretation of their scriptures that had brought about the new guidelines against elves marrying out of their tribes. The priests she’d listened to as a child had never mentioned the subject.

  “Why are you asking us that question?” James demanded. “Why don’t you ask yourselves the same thing? Your castles are full of paintings and sculptures of Themrock. How could you not have noticed that Themrock was back?”

  “First of all,” Naci said, sitting up in his chair, “Themrock’s eyes are blue. Rhen's eyes are black. All of the portraits of Themrock in our castles show his eyes glowing blue.”

  “Themrock’s powers are blue. The pictures in your castles show his eyes glowing blue with his powers. If you look closely at a few of his portraits, you’ll see that in actuality, Themrock’s eyes are black, just like Rhen’s.” Charlie had spoken quietly from the side of the room, but since no one else was talking, they had all heard him. His words surprised them. How was it possible that Charlie, who was always drunk – even now he was leaning against the wall sipping a cocktail – would notice something they hadn’t?

  Latsoh’s mother cleared her throat. “I don’t understand. Why doesn’t Rhen know he’s Themrock? Didn’t he hear the students discussing the fact that the Black Angel is Themrock at the University yesterday?” The Black Angel had accidentally been knocked unconscious, after fighting to protect Tgarus from the Rasacks. Once he’d passed out, they had discovered he was Themrock. What none of them had known at that time was that Themrock was Rhen.

  “Good question,” a voice said overhead.

  Latsoh looked up to find two Genisters floating gracefully above them in the high vaulted ceiling. Both Gods were lying down on individual floating clouds that marked their colors, their heads propped up by one hand as they watched the mortals below them. It appeared as if they were the Genisters’ entertainment.

  “At the time in question, there weren’t any students around. Everyone had left the University to look for signs of the Black Angel on Tgarus,” a transparent, turquoise colored Genister, whose eyes disappeared and reappeared at random, informed them.

  “Correct,” the Genister with the golden cloud said. Latsoh’s mouth dropped open. She recognized the gold God. It was the Genister known as Thamber. She looked just like the portrait that Latsoh had had of her – the one her father had sold for fuel last year.

  “And earlier today at the University, no one spoke to Rhen, because they were too preoccupied,” Thamber added, her golden powers curling around her like a snake. “But, even if they had talked to him, he wouldn’t have made the connection. Themrock’s been very careful about filtering what his mortal body hears and sees. He doesn’t want to come back yet. He’s enjoying his new life too much.”

  “Which is why none of you noticed he was Themrock,” the turquoise Genister said as her ethereal body passed through the lights that were hanging from the ceiling. “He used his powers to keep you from seeing the truth. As long as you don’t tell him he’s Themrock to his face, we should be fine.” Her turquoise cloud popped out of existence as she floated into a seated position, hovering over the right side of the conference table. “So? Will you elves keep Themrock’s secret? Ceceta asked Thellis to erase your memories, but it’s too risky. Perhaps we should make it impossible for you to say the name Themrock?”

  The Supreme Elfin Priest, who’d been stunned like the others at the presence of the Genister Gods, snapped out of his daze and bowed his head. The wide, white collar of his voluminous robe fell forward. He swept it up over his left shoulder and said regally, “Oh, glorious Genisters. We are honored by your presence and know that we are not worthy to be…”

  As The Supreme droned on and the elves in the room bowed with respect, Latsoh closed her eyes. She wanted to laugh. When she heard The Supreme promise the turquoise Genister that they would follow her rules and wouldn’t say the name Themrock, Latsoh turned towards her brother, Aaron, and said, “That’s ridiculous.”

  “What do you mean?” Aaron asked, looking at her sideways as he kept his head down. He wasn’t sure what she was talking about and couldn’t understand why she wasn’t bowing her head along with everyone else. Latsoh had always been more religious than him. She had to be feeling as awestruck as he was.

  Ceceta had told Latsoh that the Genisters were usually annoying and less than helpful. At this point in time, she had to agree with her. Their idea to take away the elves’ ability to say the word Themrock was insane. Rhen would totally notice it if the elves stopped saying Themrock.

  “Listen,” Latsoh called out to Thamber, since she felt connected to the Genister because of her portrait. Thamber’s pencil thin eyebrows rose as she turned her blue eyes on Latsoh.

  “Silence!” The Supreme Elfin Priest barked.

  Latsoh ignored him. “You can’t take away our ability to say Themrock. Rhen knows we worship Themrock. We say his name all the time. He’d notice that something was off. It’d be better if we just kept things the way they are and limit who—” Pain radiated across her scalp as someone jerked her head back by the hair. Latsoh found herself staring up into the narrowed eyes of The Supreme.

  “Hey!” Aaron barked, standing up beside them. “Let go.” He reached out to squeeze The Supreme’s wrist, his own anger with the priest’s past sermons against elves marrying other elves that weren’t in their tribe
forcing him to act. The Supreme reached out to strike Aaron with his other hand but Aaron grabbed the man’s neck and thrust him backwards until he stumbled into the arms of the tribal priests behind him.

  “Aaron!” Naci barked, his eyes on The Supreme. The Supreme was straightening his robes as the tribal priests fluttered around him. “What have you done? How dare you interfere?”

  Before Aaron could respond, The Supreme shook off the priests around him and lifted his hand, his finger pointing at Latsoh. “She has gone against the teachings of Layla. Women must not speak in the presence of—”

  “What?” the turquoise Genister interrupted. “What did you say?”

  Thamber’s lip curled. “I believe he said, ‘the teachings of Layla.’”

  “He can’t be serious, can he?” The turquoise Genister flew around The Supreme twice, leaving a sparkling trail of her turquoise powers behind her before hovering in the air next to Thamber.

  Thamber shook her head with dismay. “Mortals,” she breathed out with contempt. She found the idea that they were following anything Themrock’s wife, Layla, had said repulsive. It was time to go.

  Turning to Latsoh, she said, “You have a point. Taking away your ability to say Themrock would be less than ideal. We will limit who he has contact with instead.” With that, both Genisters disappeared.

  The Supreme wasn’t finished. He reached for the priests behind him. “Take her. She must pray before Themrock for violating the scriptures.”

  James didn’t know what they had planned for Latsoh, but it was obvious it wasn’t good. When two of the priests stepped forward to take hold of Latsoh’s arms, he shouted, “Stop!” He waved his hands around in looping circles then sent a wave of his shimmering, mirage like powers into the room, forcing everyone except for Latsoh to stand still. Although the Genisters didn’t need to gesture with their hands when using their powers, everyone else did. “Leave Latsoh alone. She knows Themrock better than any of us. She’s the closest elf in this room to Themrock. If you jail her, you will make an enemy of my brother and you will lose the support of my family.”

  “He’s right,” Charlie agreed from his spot against the wall.

  Latsoh stared at the angry faces around her and found her temper growing. The elves appeared to be furious with her and James. They were more interested in fighting with her than working to resolve the situation. Damn them. She knew more about the Genisters than anyone else in the room, but they wouldn’t listen to her because she was a woman. Latsoh was done following their rules. She loved Themrock and Erfce and that was all that mattered. Shoving her chair out of the way, she marched towards the exit. She was going to find Erfce and tell him it was time to set a date for their wedding.

  “Latsoh,” James called out, releasing everyone from his powers. He shook from the chill that always accompanied it. “Are you okay?”

  Latsoh opened the door and nodded. “Thank you, James.” She glanced over her shoulder at her father and found Naci glaring at her. Aaron was standing behind him. From the miserable look on his face, she knew he had guessed her thoughts. He raised his hand in parting. Latsoh gave him a half smile then turned and left the room.

  ***

  “What date were you thinking?” Erfce asked, when Latsoh opened the door to the spare room down the hall from Rhen’s hospital room. The Thestran royal family had suggested Rhen’s friends use the room to store any personal belongings they might need while they were in the palace helping Rhen.

  Latsoh paused in the doorway. She’d been looking for Erfce for a while now so she could tell him she wanted to set the date of their wedding. The fact that he already knew what she was going to say made her chuckle. It appeared he’d foreseen this moment. Erfce was an oracle. His visions, when they came, were usually right. “Don’t you already know?” she asked in a teasing voice.

  Erfce grinned and dipped his head, looking guilty. His eyes were glowing. When they had become engaged, Erfce’s large eyes had started to glow, matching his opalescent skin. He’d explained that it was a genetic trait that showed his happiness. “I like your idea of a spring wedding,” he said so softly that Latsoh almost didn’t hear him.

  “Indeed.” Latsoh walked over to the long table that had been set up on the left side of the room. She picked up her night bag. A spring wedding? That was a fabulous idea. Crystam had asked her to pick up her bag too, so Latsoh slung its strap over her shoulder. She debated whether Sarah might want her bag, which was sitting on the table beside Aaron’s. Turning, she found Erfce beside her with a glass of water in his hand. “For your throat,” he explained.

  “Now cut that out,” Latsoh snapped. She swallowed and noticed her throat was dry. Taking a sip of water from the glass Erfce had handed her, she realized she was actually rather pleased that Erfce had been kind enough to get her a drink. Her eyes spotted a blue dragon as it flew by the window. Ever since Rhen had been brought into the palace, dragons had been congregating on the lawn outside his room’s windows. “Will Rhen be okay?”

  Erfce closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. “I can’t say. My visions of him aren’t clear. Although, I do have a bad feeling in my gut. I don’t think he’s safe yet.”

  “And us?”

  Erfce grunted and leaned forward, indicating he wanted a kiss. Latsoh bent down to oblige. They pulled apart when Charlie entered the room. “Like I said before,” Erfce whispered against her lips. “We’re going to be great.”

  Latsoh reached out to pull Erfce into her arms. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Charlie sang out before Erfce could reply.

  Erfce ignored him. He enjoyed feeling Latsoh’s arms around his body. She lowered her chin to the top of his head and said, “Spring vacation,” confirming the date of their wedding.

  Erfce nodded, his cheek rubbing against her cleavage. “Perfect.” That should give him enough time to get Latsoh’s portrait of Thamber back. He wanted to give it to her as a wedding present. Erfce glanced at Charlie, wondering how he could ask him for the picture. He and his friends had snuck into Charlie’s room last semester and they’d seen Latsoh’s painting of Thamber on his wall. None of them had mentioned the incident to Charlie because they’d all felt it had been wrong of them to be snooping in his room while he’d been suffering in Hell. So, how was he going to ask Charlie for the portrait if he wasn’t supposed to know that Charlie had it?

  “Spring vacation, what?” Charlie asked, grabbing some cookies off one of the platters that had been set up by the windows.

  “We’re getting married.” Latsoh lifted her chin defiantly. If he told her not to marry out, she was going to pummel him.

  Charlie laughed, surprising them. “Of course, you are. Congratulations.”

  Latsoh felt oddly upset that Charlie was the first one to know their plans. “Come on.” She pulled Erfce towards the door. “Let’s go tell your parents and then we can let everyone know.”

  ***

  “Hey, Charlie. Thanks for your support in there.”

  Charlie turned from his bedroom door to see his brothers, James and Reed, walking down the hallway towards him. From the number of dossiers they were carrying, it appeared they were heading towards Thestran’s Council Chamber for a meeting. He hoped their next meeting would be better than their last one with the elves. “Any time,” he said. Charlie turned the golden handle to his bedroom door.

  He wanted to be alone. He was still angry with the elves’ priests for their behavior during the meeting. Even though he was a member of the Thestran royal family, he was also an elf, like Reed and Sage. Naturally, he felt some loyalty to his people, although not as much as he had before. The priests were making it hard for him. He’d never picked a tribe to belong to like his siblings had and now he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to.

  Reed paused beside him. “How did you know Themrock’s eyes were black?”

  Charlie hesitated, wondering how to respond. Now that Themrock was back, perhaps it was time for the t
ruth. He stood up straight and tossed his head to get his dirty-blond hair out of his eyes. “I enjoy studying the Genisters’ portraits. I find it educational. You can learn a lot about the Genisters if you just take the time to look.”

  James laughed when Charlie said ‘educational.’ Charlie never took anything seriously, especially education. “Yeah, good one, Charlie.”

  “No, really, James. I’m serious. For example, did you know that Themrock and Therol used to be friends? It’s painted on the walls of…”

  “Charlie,” Reed said admonishingly. “You should have stopped while you were ahead.”

  Charlie could see from their faces that they didn’t believe him. Oh, well, he’d tried. Lifting up his hand, he brought a beer bottle to his lips and drank. When he was done, he dropped it back down to his side and said, in the goofiest voice he could imagine, “And there’s this man, cat-like beast that hangs around saving Themrock when he gets himself in trouble. You should see it.”

  James nodded. That was the Charlie they knew. He patted Charlie’s shoulder then continued down the hallway, ignoring Charlie’s remark about the man-cat that hung out with the Genisters.

  “James?” Reed said, as they approached the stairs on their way to the Council Chamber. “Did you see Charlie holding a beer bottle when we stopped him?” James shrugged. As far as he knew, Charlie was always holding a drink. “It’s weird,” Reed added, “but I could have sworn his hand had been empty and then a moment later he was holding a bottle.”

  “Must have been the light playing tricks on you.”

  Reed nodded and followed James into the Chamber, where the Council Delegates were waiting.

  Chapter 4

  Delegate Te’s Manor House on Neptian

  Te looked up from the papers on his desk to see his advisor, Loreth, step into the room through a swirling cloud of purple flashing lights. “Loreth?” He rose to his feet in greeting. He hadn’t seen his advisor since their plan to take over Ventar’s trade routes had failed in Thestran’s Council. He’d been worried that Loreth might have chosen another planet to work with. Loreth had made Surpen into an empire and Te was hoping he’d do the same for Neptian. The fact that he had returned was a good sign.