RHEN (Themrock Series Book 1) Page 5

  Reed walked over and leaned in to look at Lilly’s book as James pulled it closer to him. The page revealed an artist’s sketch of a green, dragon-like creature with pointy ears, sharp teeth, long talons on its front and back feet and small strong-looking wings. It appeared to be hovering in the air.

  “But Max doesn’t look anything like that.”

  Lilly glanced up to find Charlie standing on the opposite side of the desk. His long blond hair had fallen down around both sides of his face as he stared at the open page in Lilly’s book.

  “Charlie,” Lilly said, with a yawn. “Anyone with the right powers could change Max into this God of War creature. Just look at Sage. She’s changed Ryan from a merman, with rubbery skin and a fish tail, into a human with legs for the wedding.”

  “Why Max?” Reed wondered aloud, interrupting them.

  “Come on. Really? Isn’t it obvious?” Lilly asked. When Reed shook his head, she added, “Reed, what’s Max’s middle name?”

  Reed shrugged and turned to James, who shook his head. “I…I don’t remember.”

  Lilly threw up her hands in exasperation. “It’s Rhen.” She’d had to remind her other siblings of this last night at dinner. “Why is it that everyone seems to have forgotten Max’s middle name?”

  “If that’s the case, then knowing this,” James remarked, while pushing Lilly’s book away from him. “It’s obvious his ‘adoption’ was premeditated. I bet Andres was planning Max’s abduction from the moment he first discovered that ‘Rhen’ had been born to the most powerful Queen since the Genisters’ time.”

  Lilly added, “He must have decided the oracles’ predictions were finally coming true, and figured, with proper Surpen grooming, he would be able to turn this Thestran child, through brainwashing or what have you, into becoming Rhen, the Surpen God of War. The King of Surpen has been grooming Max to take over the Universe.”

  “Crap,” Reed swore. Now he understood why James’ oracle had told them they’d have to kill Rhen if they couldn’t convince him to stay on Thestran. If Rhen went home to Surpen, he’d be turned into a God of War and the next time they saw him, he’d be conquering the Universe, killing most of them in the process.

  “He’s been gone for so long,” Lilly said. “We don’t know anything about him. We can’t relate to him. I have no idea how to convince him to stay.”

  “We didn’t even know that he was married until last night,” Reed added with chagrin. “Not to mention the fact that Mom and Dad can’t seem to remember his wife’s name.” Turning to James, he asked, “Do you think we could explain the situation to him? Maybe he’d agree to stay?”

  “No, that’s unlikely,” James answered. “It’s obvious that Rhen considers himself to be Surpen. I doubt he’d agree to stay here for the rest of his life.”

  They heard the sound of metal hitting glass and turned to find Charlie had made his way over to James’ bar. He’d mixed himself a drink and was in the process of stirring it with a spoon. They watched him put the spoon down, then lift his martini glass to his lips. He drank half of his cocktail before lowering his glass and sighing. When Charlie noticed they were looking at him, he smiled. “Why are we talking about changing Rhen to our school system? I thought he liked his boarding school.”

  “Charlie,” Reed groaned. “Haven’t you been listening? We recently found out that Rhen was never in a boarding school on Surpen. It was all a hoax. Rhen was adopted by the—”

  “That’s it,” Lilly yelled. “Charlie, you’re a genius. Rhen’s only 16. He’s just about to finish his lower schooling. We’ll enroll him at the Elfin University.”

  “He’ll never go for it,” Reed said.

  “No, Lilly’s right,” James told them. “But, it’s not Rhen we need to focus on. It’s his wife. I assume you guys noticed last night how infatuated Rhen is with his wife? He couldn’t keep his hands off her. Surpen women are not allowed to be educated, right? What Neptian woman would stand for that? Let’s convince his wife to go to the Elfin University. If my instinct is correct, Rhen won’t want to refuse her request, nor will he want to leave her. When Rhen tells his father that he’s going to the Elfin University, Andres will go ballistic, and if Rhen has any Thestran left in him at all, he’ll want to contradict his father. What teenage Thestran boy wouldn’t?” James leaned back in his chair and smiled. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I believe it’ll work. We will ‘de-program’ Rhen, making him Thestran again, by sending him to the University.”

  “And Andres? Won’t he attack?” Reed asked.

  “Risking Rhen’s ire? He needs Rhen if he’s going to conquer the Universe. The oracles aren’t saying Andres is going to do it, are they? No. Rhen is the key factor in all of this.”

  “I don’t know, James,” Reed said. “Rhen seems very Surpen. From what we’ve read, Surpen women aren’t valued and Rhen, as a Surpen child, wouldn’t think of going against his father’s wishes. Your gambling a lot on the assumption that Rhen still has some Thestran in him.”

  “Do you have any other ideas for keeping him here?” When Reed didn’t answer, James reached out to close the books in front of him. “I’ll tell the others our plan. We’ll convince Rhen’s wife to go to the University at breakfast.”

  “And if we fail?” Reed asked.

  “We’ll have to kill him. There’s no other way.”

  “Themrock,” Reed swore softly as the others turned away, feeling ashamed at even considering the possibility of killing their youngest brother.

  Chapter 8

  Thestran Royal Palace

  Rhen hummed a tune that was playing in his head as he and Ceceta walked down the empty hallway towards the Thestran Royal Family’s Dining Chamber. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so happy. After his workout this morning, Ceceta had surprised him in the bathroom. They’d made love in the bathtub and then a short while later on the couch. It’d been an exceptional morning.

  Rhen stopped before the doorway to the dining room just long enough to finish the song he was humming. Ceceta beamed up at him, a light blush on her cheeks. She nodded with approval when he finished, and on impulse Rhen leaned down to give her a quick kiss, then opened the dark wooden door to the dining room. It was heavy and Rhen was tempted to hold it open for Ceceta as he had seen some of the Thestran men do for their women, but he knew he needed to be careful. You never knew who could be spying for whom, and the last thing he needed was for Andres to find out he was treating Ceceta like an equal. He didn’t want to be banned from seeing her as punishment for disobeying Surpen’s laws regarding women. Rhen stepped through the doorway quickly, hoping Ceceta would follow him before the door swung shut. Keeping his face expressionless, he scanned the crowded table before him. There were a lot of elves in the room. From their dress, he could tell the monarchs from all four elfin tribes were present. Good, he thought. There were some things he needed to learn about them.

  Most of the people at the table were staring at them. Rhen was pleased to see from their faces that they were impressed. He knew the royal blue tunic he was wearing was quite beautiful. It had an intricate pattern of green and gold piping around the collar and sleeves and a single row of golden triangles were outlined in the same piping along the bottom hem. He had chosen to wear a necklace of braided gold and silver that was quite valuable, and he had polished his four swords while Ceceta was dressing, so he knew they shone in the morning sun as they hung from his weapons belt.

  Ceceta looked stunning today too. She’d worn a gorgeous assortment of soft orange robes that were decorated with red and yellow piping and she’d left her long blond hair unbound. It hung loosely around her, covering the top part of the bag that hung over her left shoulder.

  Rhen was tempted to read the Thestran’s thoughts, but years ago he had promised Ceceta he would never read anyone’s thoughts. Fortunately, it appeared he didn’t need to read their thoughts, because one of the Thestran women at the table announced them.

  “
Well, one thing is for sure: those Surpens have beautiful clothing,” Lilly told the room as several people nodded their heads in agreement.

  To keep himself from laughing, Rhen thought about his mission. He scanned the room to make sure it was secure, taking in the servants standing at attention by every door, the buffet table located underneath the wall of windows on his left and the enormous table of Thestrans in the center of the room. Rhen figured there had to be close to 80 people sitting at the table. It appeared this morning’s breakfast was a casual affair, since the Thestrans were dressed in pants and shirts with no sleeves.

  When he’d confirmed that they were safe, he headed over to the buffet table. Ceceta followed along behind him at a respectful distance. Rhen’s swords rested against his thighs as he strode across the room. Years of practice had shown him how to walk in such a way as to keep them from bouncing about. It was a skill he needed in battle. He noted with pleasure that King James’ eyes never left his swords and he wondered what James was thinking. Was he remembering their fight? Was he embarrassed that he had succumbed to Rhen’s skills?

  Rhen picked up a golden plate and peered into the first serving tray on the buffet table. Inside it was a mushy white food that assaulted his nostrils. Cream of wheat. He had seen it before on the Planet of Tgarus. Ceceta looked up at him hopefully as she picked up her plate, but Rhen shook his head. They couldn’t eat it.

  Rhen and Ceceta proceeded down the buffet table peering into each tray. Nothing was edible. When they reached the end of the line, they noticed a few smaller plates of meat and a round bowl with fish swimming in it, shoved behind a platter of green fruit. They both gave a tired sort of sigh. “Clearly our meal was an afterthought,” Rhen whispered to Ceceta in Surpen. “And what’s with the fish? Don’t they realize that fish are revered on Surpen? Why are they sitting next to the food?”

  “Do you think they expect us to eat them?”

  “My God!” Rhen replied, horrified. “You think?” Ceceta’s round eyes looked up at him confirming the idea and the two of them started to laugh. “They really know nothing about us, do they?” Rhen commented.

  “No,” Ceceta agreed. The two of them watched the fish in silence for a few minutes as they swam around in circles in the glass bowl. “They’re so beautiful,” Ceceta whispered, as the four orange and white fish completed another circle of the bowl.

  “Yes, they are.”

  After a few minutes had passed, Rhen heard someone at the table say, “Perhaps they don’t know they can eat the fish? Maybe they think it’s an arrangement?”

  Rhen’s ears twitched as the Thestran words fell into place in his mind. Languages had always been easy for him. He was pleased to know Thestran. It would help his father when they conquered this planet. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Kate shrug in response.

  “Do you think he wears anything under that tunic or do you think he just lets it hang in the breeze?” one of the Thestran men asked.

  Rhen was shocked. Here he was studying their palace for attack purposes and they were thinking about his private parts.

  A small blond-haired girl in a green dress with green ribbons in her hair marched over to the buffet table. She paused beside Rhen as she gazed at the platter of green fruit next to the fish. Rhen watched her push down on her dress to smooth it. She picked up a muffin from one of the platters on the table and looked up at him. Rhen stared at her without any expression on his face. Foreign children made him nervous. They were unpredictable. The girl gave him a bright smile, so Rhen responded with a curt nod before turning back to look at the fish bowl. He figured it was best to dismiss her.

  Realizing that she was being ignored, the girl bent over to look underneath Rhen’s tunic. She wanted to be the one to answer the question. As she leaned over she touched the trim on the bottom hem of Rhen’s tunic.

  Rhen felt it and spun around. He grabbed the girl’s arm and flung her about, twisting her arm up behind her back. The movement sent the girl’s muffin flying across the room, where it smacked into the side of the head of an Elfin King before landing on the ground in a pile of crumbs.

  The girl cried out, more in shock than in pain at Rhen’s handling of her.

  Rhen glared at the room full of people while holding the child immobile. As he stared at their faces, he noticed the overt concern on the elfin man he’d beaten in battle as well as the empty seat beside him. The child must be his. From the Thestrans’ expressions, Rhen gathered they hadn’t asked the girl to approach him. Satisfied that there was no ulterior motive, Rhen shoved the girl away. She stumbled forward and fell to the ground but got up without crying and ran back around the table to an elfin woman.

  “You didn’t have to shove her,” Charlie told Rhen.

  Rhen glanced at Charlie, debating whether he should say something, but changed his mind and turned back to the fishbowl, dismissing the incident.

  As soon as Rhen’s back was turned the table erupted as everyone started to talk at once about how rude he was. As their comments filled the room, Rhen smiled to himself. Good. It was better if they felt this way about him. He didn’t like them, so he wouldn’t have expected them to like him. Besides, it would make it easier for him to conquer their planet if they hated him.

  When the room had quieted down, Lilly asked, “Why aren’t they moving? Why are they just standing there staring at the table?”

  “Maybe it’s because his balls are cold,” her brother, William, mumbled to himself.

  Lilly heard him and smacked his arm. “Gods, William! If you’re so curious to know what’s under his tunic, why don’t you just go ask?”

  “Hmm,” William said. He looked up from his plate and noticed everyone staring at him. “Why not? It’s not like he’ll understand me.” Rising from his seat, William tossed his napkin onto his chair and sauntered over to the buffet table.

  Rhen sensed his approach and turned towards him. William was dressed in black and gold, so he was clearly a member of the Thestran Royal Family. Thinking about it, Rhen remembered his Dad had mentioned that Kate had had a set of twins, William and Rachel. William had auburn hair and freckles on his nose. Glancing at the table, Rhen spotted a woman with the same fine features and blue eyes sitting near the head of the table. He’d now identified two more members of the Royal Family. By deduction then, the tall blond, elfin man whose child had approached him was probably Reed and the elfin woman sitting two chairs down, wearing black and gold had to be Sage. The only Thestran Royal he had yet to identify was Lilly.

  Rhen felt a warning prickle run up his spine and immediately turned back to face William. His senses warned him to keep his guard up. Something about this Prince was off. Rhen knew that William was one of Kate and Henry’s younger sons, therefore he would never rise to a position of power. Whether it was for this reason or another, he could sense an undercurrent of uncontrollable rage within William that made him cruel. The man reminded Rhen of Aul, the Surpen who had been Commander of Surpen’s military before him. Aul used to abuse his rank, taking pleasure in tormenting other soldiers and torturing prisoners.

  “Assuming he could understand what I’m saying,” William addressed the dining room, while turning towards the table with his hands out. “How would you recommend I ask the question?” Keeping his eyes on his audience, William leaned his trim backside up against the buffet table. “How about, excuse me little brother, how’s it hanging? Or, do you feel a bit of a breeze under there? You know you’re tall enough that short people can look right up your skirt, is that a problem for you? Maybe I should tell him that I like his jewelry and ask if he always dresses in drag?” William smiled triumphantly as several people laughed. Feeling inspired, he continued, “Or maybe I should just ask… so, little brother, do you get hair in your ass when you ride a horse?”

  “Sit down, William!” James barked. He’d had enough. There was no need for William to mock Rhen simply because he didn’t speak Thestran.

  William chuckled, but it was clear
that he was now uncomfortable. Turning, he found Rhen staring at him with an odd, confused expression on his face. Feeling a rush of anger towards his youngest brother, William reached over and grabbed a fish out of the fishbowl. He slapped it down onto Rhen’s plate. “You eat it,” he snarled, miming the motion of eating.

  Rhen continued to stare at William, only now his face was expressionless.

  Tiring of the situation, William returned to his seat.

  Rhen watched William until he had placed his napkin back in his lap. After William was settled, Rhen picked up the fish on his plate and handed it to Ceceta. “Put it in your bag,” he told her in Surpen. When Ceceta looked up at him with concern, he added, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep them alive until we can release them at home.” Ceceta nodded and waited as Rhen handed her the rest of the fish from the bowl.

  “I can’t believe they were serving us fish,” she murmured with disapproval.

  “Why are they doing that?” Lilly asked as she watched Ceceta take the fish from Rhen and put them in her bag.

  “Who knows,” James said with fatigue. He wanted to get this whole situation resolved and was tired of waiting for Rhen and Ceceta to join the table.

  After Rhen and Ceceta had placed the four fish into Ceceta’s bag, they filled their plates with raw meat and walked over towards the table. A member of the staff stepped forward to pull out a chair for Ceceta. Without any hesitation, Rhen sat down in it, his swords slipping between the back rails of the chair as he pulled it closer to the table to eat. The confused servant turned to pull out another chair for Ceceta, but found she was already seated. Last night, Rhen had given Ceceta permission to sit with him during their meals on Thestran. She was delighted to be included and smiled as she pulled her chair up to the fancy table with its white table cloth, gold silverware and crystal glasses.