by Kylie Chan
The King came in. ‘I helped him sleep. Do you want me to do the same for them?’
I looked around at the terrified children. ‘Yes.’
I moved aside as she put her hand on each child’s head in turn, sending them to sleep. She gestured for me to join her in the living room and I followed her out.
She linked her hands behind her back. ‘Well done. I’ll give you your own room in the Celestial Palace as a reward; you won’t have to sleep in the kitchen.’
I suppressed the thrill of joy and gratitude at the King’s kindness and generosity. My own room; what a treasure. I stopped and realised: great, Stockholm syndrome after only nine weeks of incarceration.
It’s not a surprising reaction, Aunty Emma, but I’ll remind you if you start to fall.
‘Thank you,’ I said.
‘Continue to serve the children this well and I may find other ways to reward you,’ she said. ‘You could go shopping again. Or spend a few hours with the Turtle.’ She gazed into my eyes. ‘If you bring Simone in for me, I will reward you handsomely.’
‘If you hear about her, let me know,’ I said. ‘I’m seriously worried about her. I’ve been trying to contact her for ages and she’s not responding.’
‘I will,’ she said. She pointed at the kitchen door. ‘Go back to bed. You’ll need an early start to have everything packed for the move. Do you want me to knock you out as well?’
I backed away towards the kitchen, my skin crawling at the idea of touching her. ‘No, it’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘I’ll put two Dukes on the door for tonight,’ she said, and turned to the bull’s head, taking male human form to speak to him. ‘Now for you.’
The Duke fell to one knee and lowered his head.
‘You jumped in to defend a woman and a child when a demon senior to you — a Prince — attacked them. You had no orders to guard them and no reason to help. That is conduct most unbecoming for a demon of your seniority.’
‘The child is your adopted son and there could be a considerable reward for protecting it,’ the Duke said. ‘It was a gamble.’
‘And then you stayed to guard when I took over, again without orders to do so. Do you have a death wish?’
The Duke dropped his bull’s head. ‘I think there may be something wrong with me, Father. Was my mother part-human?’
‘Stand up,’ the King said.
The Duke rose to his feet and towered over us.
The King generated black energy, glowing above his hands.
The Duke raised his muzzle, ready to die.
‘That’s black chi,’ I said. ‘You can generate it.’
‘Of course I can, I’m the only one,’ the King said, and threw it at the Duke.
‘No!’ I shouted, then stopped, confused.
The Duke changed from a bull’s-head demon to a big brown humanoid. It looked at its clawed hands, one and then the other, then fell to one knee and saluted the Demon King. ‘I will not betray your trust, Majesty.’
‘I don’t know what number that one was, but you can have his number and his Nest. Kill everything in it or you’ll share his fate.’
‘My pleasure, Majesty,’ the Duke said, and disappeared.
‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Black chi promotes them?’
‘Of course it does. Or demotes them, depending how I use it. It can be very destructive if I use too much, but just the right amount and I can turn a thrall into a Mother, or a Duke into a Prince.’
‘And if a Prince takes it from you, they become King,’ I said, understanding. ‘What if you do it to a lesser demon?’
He shrugged. ‘Depends on the demon.’ He glanced sharply at me. ‘Have you seen black chi before? Only the King has it.’
I didn’t reply.
‘The Turtle can generate it? I often wondered if he was a King in exile.’
‘I think it’s part of him as Dark Lord,’ I said.
‘All the more reason.’ He went out into the living room. ‘Go to sleep. Big day tomorrow.’
‘All the more reason for what?’ I said, but he closed the kitchen door on me.
I sat on the floor, tried to generate black chi and failed.
You used to be a Demon King? BJ said with awe.
No, it was residual effects from being merged with Xuan Wu, who, apparently, really is a King in exile.
I wrapped myself in my thin blanket on the floor and tried to work out a way that the Xuan Wu’s nature could be used as a strategic advantage. As long as he was in the cage we were safe, but we would never be free.
25
The next day the King came early in Kitty form, with a few thralls to carry the boxes and bags. I had packed for everybody and our suitcases were in the living room. All the children sat on the couch, waiting for transport.
‘Oh, you stupid woman, why did you pack up the other kids?’ the King said. ‘I never said they were coming. They’ll come later when I bring their mothers down to take them.’ She glared at the children. ‘Take their bags into their rooms and unpack. They’re coming later.’
Didn’t the King say the other kids were coming? I asked BJ.
Processing . . . yes. But she didn’t say when. She’s trying to make you distrust your memory. She’s brainwashing you, Aunty Emma, be careful.
The small demons picked up the other kids’ bags. One of them grabbed my striped canvas bag and I stopped it.
‘That’s mine.’
‘Nothing’s yours,’ the demon said, and backhanded me away, but left the bag.
‘All right, Frankie, are you ready?’ the King said, her hands clasped in front of her with forced delight.
‘I want my friends,’ Frankie said, unsure. ‘I don’t want to leave them here if it’s dangerous.’
‘They’ll be fine,’ the King said. ‘They’re coming along in a couple of days, after I have their room fixed up. The Dukes will guard them.’ She put her hand out to Frankie. ‘So let’s go, eh? Come and see your house in Heaven.’
Frankie went to her and took her hand.
‘Emma,’ the King said, and gestured with her head. I put my hand on Frankie’s shoulder and everything disappeared.
* * *
I woke and had a moment of disorientation. There were no black and silver silk swags on the bed above me, it was bare ceiling. I was still on the Celestial Plane though, so I was either in our Northern Heavens Residence or the apartments in the Celestial Palace . . . I looked left and saw a plain wall. John wasn’t there. I was on a small hard bed in a single room. Infirmary? Had I been injured?
John?
The bed filled the room from one end to the other, jammed against the wall, with a window above it. I reached up and opened the wooden venetian blind, to see the courtyard where John and I had spoken with Er Lang and the Jade Emperor all that time ago. I was in the Jade Emperor’s own Residence in the Celestial Palace . . . It all rushed back to me and I bent with pain, then took some deep breaths to calm myself.
I couldn’t open the window — it was sealed shut — so I pushed my battered bag to the side to give me enough space to put my feet on the floor. I went out of the room into the kitchen. The surfaces were dull and some of the metal was rusted; the Celestial Palace’s fairies were obviously not present.
I took another deep breath of the almost dizzyingly pure air and watched dust motes dancing in the beams of sunshine coming in through the window. I reached across the sink to open the window. A peach tree swayed on the other side, green against the impossibly blue sky with its fluffy white clouds. The Celestial breeze brushed me again and I inhaled deeply, then staggered back into my room, fell face-first on the bed and wept with joy and misery into my pillow.
Aunty Emma, BJ said five minutes later. Aunty Emma, are you okay? You’ve been crying . . .
I know, I said. It was too much.
I sat up and looked around. A small thin towel lay on the end of the bed and I used it to wipe my face.
I’m fine.
I rose and went back i
nto the kitchen. It was devoid of food; I’d need to make a shopping list for the demons. The refrigerator wasn’t working — it had a block of ice in a plastic bin on the top shelf to keep it cold — and there were gas camping lanterns on the benchtops. With no Palace fairies present, there was obviously no electricity. I would have to do everything the old-fashioned way.
I went out of the kitchen into the dining room, which contained a six-seater rosewood table and a display unit that had housed vases from all dynasties but was now empty. I went through the living room and stopped at a sliding wooden door fitted with paper screens between the decorative red slats.
It was a courtyard house, with a small garden containing a fish pond in the middle. I hesitated, then carefully slid my foot outside the door and onto the raised veranda that bordered the garden.
Nothing happened, so I walked out onto it and leaned against the railing. The sunlight hit me and I raised my face to its warmth. I couldn’t help myself: tears ran down my cheeks, cool where the Celestial breeze touched them. It was nearly three months since I’d last felt the sun’s warmth.
The air was fresh with the scent of grass and trees, and birds sang nearby. A fish splashed in the pond, and the sound of the water filled my heart with joy and pain.
John?
No reply.
Simone?
No reply.
BJ, can you contact —
Hello, Emma, Gold said. Give us a moment.
Dad and I are arranging a time for you to talk to your family, BJ said. It will have to be later this evening when you aren’t being watched.
I bent my head to my hands and wiped my eyes, then ran my hand through my hair and retied my ponytail. Thank you.
It feels good, doesn’t it? BJ said.
You should come out now. You don’t need to be in my neck any more.
I had a moment of disorientation, the floor swerving away from me, then everything righted itself.
I think I do, BJ said. Turn around.
The Demon King was standing in the dining room in male form.
‘Don’t try to go out the front door,’ he said. ‘The guards will stop you.’ He gestured to my left, where the wing of the house had three doors opening onto the veranda. ‘The first room is mine. Don’t go in there either, unless you want a faceful of me doing a couple of Mothers.’
He came to me, took me by the elbow and walked me along the veranda. Two Dukes were stationed outside each door, and they nodded to the King.
‘The second door is Frankie’s room. He’s in there taking a nap right now; he’s had too many trips up and down and it’s wearing him out. The third door will be for his friends when I bring them up.’
‘I understand,’ I said.
He released me and walked to the room at the far end of the veranda. This was the Jade Emperor’s small hearing room, again stripped of everything valuable. Only the three rosewood couches and the coffee tables between them remained.
‘Where’s the screen?’ I said, gesturing towards the centre couch.
‘It was too . . . bright,’ the King said. ‘I’m having something more suitable made.’
He walked through the hearing room to the entry hall, where another pair of Dukes stood on either side of the double front doors. The Murasame stood next to the wall on its ebony stand. A pale rectangular patch on the wall showed where one of the Jade Emperor’s ink paintings had been removed.
‘Don’t go out,’ the King repeated.
‘I understand.’
‘Is that the only thing you can say?’
‘Can I go into the courtyard?’ I said.
‘You can’t go out of the house, I just told you that!’ he snapped.
‘No.’ I waved one hand towards the fish pond. ‘I mean this courtyard. The grass here.’
‘Of course you can; what a stupid question. I said you can’t go out, and that’s in.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘You need someone to buy food. The house is empty.’
‘I know that, stupid. I’ll have a couple of servants stationed here.’ He lit up with a cruel smile. ‘How would you like your little demons back?’
My heart leapt. I hoped that Er Hao was still hidden away, but I had no idea about the other two, and I’d been concerned for them. ‘Yi Hao and Smally?’
‘Whatever their names are. Do you want them?’
‘Yes, please,’ I said, trying to hide my delight.
‘Yes, please, Your Majesty. Say it and they’re yours.’
‘Yes, please, Your Majesty.’
‘Kneel and say it.’
I stared at him. ‘You said —’
‘Kneel!’
I hesitated, but if I brought my demon staff here, they would be safe and protected. I fell to one knee.
‘Both! Head on the floor!’ he said with vicious glee.
I hesitated again.
‘Do it and I’ll give them to you. Or don’t, and I’ll bring them here and destroy them in front of you. Your choice.’
I pulled my other leg down and kowtowed to him. ‘Please, Your Majesty.’
‘Suck my dick while you’re down there and I’ll give you time with the Turtle.’
I didn’t reply.
‘Whatever.’ He turned away. ‘Give the guards a shopping list. Make sure all of Frankie’s favourite food is on it, and include a couple of hearts for me.’
I pulled myself to my feet, thrilled at the thought of my demons being stationed with me. ‘I will.’
‘Yes, Majesty.’
I didn’t reply.
‘Say it!’
‘Yes, Majesty,’ I said with defeat.
His expression was full of satisfaction. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’ He pointed at the living room. ‘Frankie’s toys are in the boxes. Sort them out and have them ready for him when he wakes.’
‘Yes, Majesty.’
‘See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Continue to behave and I might even give you access to the bathroom and you can have a shower.’
I tried to control my expression as the shock of pure joy ran through me. Washing with a washcloth in the kitchen sink had been adequate, but a shower with hot water would be wonderful.
I had a better idea. ‘If I continue to behave, will you give me my stone back?’
‘I don’t have your stone.’
‘I know you do. You have to. You have everything in the Heavens.’
‘As soon as Frankie’s on the throne, he can order the stone to go to you. It’s sworn to the Celestial, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘There you are. Continue to show sufficient respect and I’ll give it back to you. You are doing very well. Now start work on those toys,’ he said, and went out the front doors, the Dukes saluting him as he passed.
I headed to the living room to sort out the boxes.
Stockholm syndrome, BJ said.
Shower syndrome, I replied with amusement. Don’t worry.
You don’t hate him, Aunty Emma. You don’t seem to feel much at all. I’m concerned that his manipulation is working.
I’m working from the inside while Simone works from the outside, I said. Just keep reminding me that I’m not actually on his side.
See? Not time for me to leave you yet.
Thanks for being here.
She sounded amused. No problem at all.
* * *
After I’d read Frankie a bedtime story, I turned the light off and went out of his room, through the large kitchen and into my servant’s room. I sat on the bed.
Okay, BJ, put my dad through.
Hello, love.
I bent with agony and tried to stop my eyes from filling. I gave up and wiped them on the thin towel. Hi, Dad.
Are you okay?
As well as can be expected, I suppose, I said, his compassion breaking me even more. You’re all safe, right? He hasn’t done anything to you?
No, we’re fine. All good. We have enough to eat and a roof over our heads, which is better
than many. There’s talk that the schools may reopen, and David can leave the worksite and go to school.
I wiped my eyes again. That’s good to hear. They have you working?
We’re building a new palace here in the West. I’m one of the lucky ones — I’m wiring it up. Other people are lifting rocks, and I’m taking it easy putting in light fittings. It’s a god-awful ugly building. People are saying something about a palace built by someone called Cixi.
Empress Cixi, I said. She ruled through her son, a puppet Emperor.
Another one, he said. And you’re with the Emperor? When are you coming to see us?
Yes, I’m looking after him. I’m not allowed out of the Imperial Residence, but I hope I may be able to visit you eventually.
Can you talk to your mother? he said.
I don’t know. BJ?
Not right now, she says she’s with a lot of people. Maybe later.
Thanks, love, my father said. If you do contact her, tell her that I miss her, and that when this work is done I hope we can be together again. And ask her how all the kids are. Jen was in a bad way when I was taken from them. His voice became urgent. And keep fighting, Emma! They’re coming, I have to stop. I love you!
26
‘So raise your hands like this,’ I said, demonstrating. ‘Then lower them gently, like they’re on strings.’
Frankie’s little face filled with concentration. He did the move, then his expression went strange and he went straight into Holding the Ball, then did the next four moves flawlessly.
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘You’ve been learning already. Who’s been teaching you?’
He dropped his hands. ‘Nobody. It just . . . came.’
‘Not really surprising,’ I said. ‘Okay. Let’s do those four moves —’
‘Why isn’t he learning with the training sword?’ the King said from the dining room.
‘Because he’s not ready yet,’ I said, showing Frankie how to do Grasping the Bird’s Tail.
He had it first try.
‘He’s tall enough now, isn’t he?’ the King said. ‘He looks about twelve!’
‘He’s tall enough, but he doesn’t have good enough coordination. He needs to learn the moves slowly without a weapon before he learns them fast with one.’
