‘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.’
‘You have to teach him everything,’ the King said suspiciously.
‘The way he’s learning, in six months he’ll be teaching me,’ I said. ‘He is very much his father’s son.’
‘Superior to the girl in every way,’ the King said softly. ‘I wouldn’t say that. Simone has her strengths.’
‘Not with this,’ the King said, gesturing towards Frankie, who had moved into Brush Knee and Twist without being shown.
‘His mother’s a practitioner,’ I said. ‘Hers wasn’t.’ I nodded to Frankie. ‘Let’s go through them again.’
We performed the moves together; he had already learnt as much as I had in my first four lessons with John.
‘You really are exceptional, Frankie.’
‘I want to use the sword,’ he said, his eyes unseeing as he concentrated.
‘It won’t be long before you’re ready for it.’ I spoke to the King without looking away from Frankie. ‘Where are my demons? I could use their assistance in caring for five children, particularly when one of them continually bullies the other four.’
‘You didn’t tell me the littlest one could drive a bulldozer!’ the King said, pulling a chair from the dining table and putting it on the veranda so he could sit and watch us. ‘You can have her as soon as she’s finished in the Summer Palace. Why the hell were you using her as a handmaid when she could operate heavy machinery?’
‘She helped rebuild the Mountain, but she didn’t enjoy driving,’ I said. ‘Too much noise and vibration. She was happier in the Imperial household. It made her feel special to be working directly with the Imperial family.’
‘No wonder you lost the war, throwing away valuable skills like that.’ He crossed his legs, relaxed, as he watched us. ‘I’m looking for the other two, but they don’t believe me and they’re hiding. Maybe make a video and put it on YouTube saying to come in?’
‘I don’t have internet access,’ I said. ‘Give me a computer and I’ll do it. Push your foot further to the side, Frankie. Good.’
‘Good try,’ he said. ‘If they won’t come in, I’ll give you a couple of thralls. The kitchen is disgusting.’
‘I’d rather have my own demons.’
‘Not your demons any more. Mine. Everything is mine. I’ll bring them when I find them. They can’t hide forever.’
He rose and went out.
* * *
Late that evening I’d put Frankie to bed and was cleaning the kitchen again, when the King called my name from the living room. I went in to see him. He had Amy hanging limply off one arm and he was holding Little Jade’s hand with the other. He released Little Jade and she stood silent and terrified.
‘Look after her,’ he said and disappeared, taking Amy with him.
I went to Little Jade and hugged her. ‘Hello, darling.’
She looked around. ‘Where’s Mummy? Mummy was here. Is she okay?’ She sniffled, then wailed, ‘Mummy!’
The King reappeared with Amy and Richie. He released Richie and pushed him towards me, then rotated a still unconscious Amy and dropped her onto the couch. ‘Look after them.’ He disappeared.
‘Mummy!’ Jade screamed, and she and Richie ran to Amy.
She was lying half-off the sofa, so I made her more comfortable, then put my hand on her forehead to check her. Drained, but she would be okay. Little Jade and Richie climbed up on the sofa with her.
‘Mummy. Mummy!’ Little Jade shouted, lifting Amy’s hand to her own cheek.
‘Is she dead?’ Richie said, his voice full of tears.
‘She’s fine,’ I said. ‘She’s just drained from the trip up here. Sit carefully next to her and look after her, and she’ll wake up soon.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely positive.’
Little Jade lay next to Amy, still holding her hand. ‘Please be okay, Mummy.’
The King reappeared on the other side of the room holding my sister Jennifer and Matthew. Jennifer collapsed, and the King dragged her to the other sofa and dropped her.
Matthew hugged her where she lay. ‘Mummy! Mummy! Wake up!’
‘So much noise,’ the King said with distaste. ‘Shut them up, Emma.’
I went to Matthew and took his hand. ‘Mummy’s fine, Mattie. She just needs to sleep for a little while. She’ll wake up soon.’
Amy started to come around.
‘Mummy!’ Little Jade shrieked, and wriggled off her.
Amy sat up, bleary-eyed and confused. She saw Little Jade and Richie and pulled them into a huge hug. ‘My babies. My babies!’
Jennifer came around shortly after, grabbed Matthew and held him tight against her chest. She saw me, and turned away.
‘Frankie, your friends are here,’ the King called without looking away from us.
Frankie came in, saw the children, and lit up. ‘You’re back!’
Everybody ignored him.
‘You should greet your Emperor,’ the King said, but again the children ignored him. ‘All right, time to say goodbye to your mothers, because they can’t stay here.’
The children howled.
‘Don’t send their mothers away, they need them!’ I said.
‘You said they didn’t need their mothers, that they’d be fine with you, and you’d provide better care anyway,’ the King said.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Emma would never say anything like that,’ Amy said.
‘Beside the point. Say goodbye.’
‘I’m not going,’ Amy said. ‘These are my children and they need me.’
‘They have Emma,’ the King said.
‘Matthew’s only a baby!’ Jennifer said.
‘Time for you to go.’
‘What can I do to stay?’ Jennifer said. ‘Do you need someone else to look after them? This is a big house, does Emma need help with the housework? Let me help. I’ll do anything!’
‘Me too,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll do anything to stay here.’
‘Nothing here for you except distracting my son’s playmates. Go home.’
The King waved to one of the Dukes guarding the door. The Duke went to Amy, took her shoulder and disappeared.
‘Mummy!’ Jade screeched.
Jen stood up to shout at the King. ‘You already killed one of my sons. The other one’s working for you. Leave one for me! Just one!’ She pulled Matthew into her and her voice was hoarse with tears. ‘Let me have one baby. I have no children left.’ She turned to me. ‘Emma, don’t just stand there, stop them! Do something!’
The Duke reappeared, pushed Matthew away from his mother, and disappeared with her. Matthew and Richie wailed, then dissolved into racking sobs.
‘What a racket!’ the King said. ‘Shut them up, Emma!’
‘You just took their mothers away,’ I said. ‘There’s no way I can make them calm unless you bring their mothers back.’
‘I told you that their mothers would be a distraction from their real job of playing with Frankie,’ the King said. He gestured towards the children. ‘Stop them.’
The Western King entered. ‘What is this damn noise? I’ll sort it out.’ He stood over the children. ‘Shut the hell up right now or you’ll get the belt!’
They ran from him and huddled together in the corner of the sofa, still crying.
‘All right,’ the Western King said with grim satisfaction. ‘You asked for it.’ He summoned a leather belt and folded it over his hand. ‘I’ll enjoy this. You little shits deserve it.’
The children screamed, ducking their heads and putting their hands over them.
He swung the belt at them but I moved faster. I put myself between him and the children and took the blow on my back. I bent over the children where they cringed on the sofa, taking the blows for them, and they clutched at me.
The end of the belt missed me and hit them, making them shriek with pain.
‘Stop it, you’re scaring them even more,’ I shouted, but the blows didn’t subside.
‘Daddy, Daddy, please stop,’ Frankie said, his voice soft and terrified.
‘Francis, stop, you’re not achieving anything,’ the King said.
‘I’ll achieve peace of mind,’ the Western King grunted, swinging again.
The buckle hit Matthew and he screamed through his sobs.
‘Stop and we can discuss this,’ I said. ‘All you need to do is talk —’
‘Talk!’ he bellowed, and swung the belt again. The buckle slapped the back of my head. He continued hitting us in time to his words. ‘They don’t need talk, they need discipline. A good solid beating now and then never hurt anyone. Spoilt brats.’
‘Daddy,’ Frankie said from the side of the room. ‘Don’t hit my friends. Stop hitting them.’ His voice rose in pitch. ‘Stop!’
The Western King rounded on him. ‘Shut up or you’ll be next. It’s been a while since you had a good thrashing!’
Frankie cringed away and hid behind the Eastern King.
The Western King reached down and dragged me off the children. He threw me to the other side of the room with strength I couldn’t fight. ‘Get the fuck out of my way. These pathetic runts need to learn a lesson.’
The Eastern King put his hand on his arm. ‘Darling, stop. You’ll make little Frankie hate you even more.’
‘Good!’ the Western King said. ‘You spoil the child. Look at him — he’ll grow up weak and indulged. By the time I was his age, I’d already killed twenty nest mates.’
‘You have what you wanted,’ I said, and pointed at the children who were huddled in the corner of the couch, wide-eyed and silent. ‘They’re quiet now.’
The Western King stormed back to the children and prepared to hit them again.
‘No, Francis, not in front of Frankie,’ the Eastern King said.
The Western King slapped Matthew’s shoulder and he started to cry again. The other two children jumped off the couch to run away, and the King grabbed them and threw them back on.
The Eastern King took True Form: blood-red and skinless, with a snake tail. He towered over everybody, his head nearly touching the ceiling. The children shrieked with terror.
‘Francis, stop this now or I will make you stop!’ he roared, his voice deep and resonating.
The Western King hesitated, his face a mask of rage, then he cuffed Little Jade on the side of the head and charged out.
The Eastern King shrank back down to human form. ‘I will be so glad when Frankie’s finally on that damn throne and we can start rewriting the rules,’ he said, his voice mild. ‘The first thing we’ll do is order everybody to love him and be happy to obey his every wish.’ He nodded to me. ‘Sort them out, but leave the best bed for Edu, I’m bringing her tomorrow. Come on, Frankie, bedtime.’
‘Okay, Uncle George,’ Frankie said, his huge glazed eyes speaking volumes about how the Western King had been treating him. As the King led him out, Frankie looked back at me, his eyes still unfocused.
I sat on the floor with my back to the couch and wiped my hands over my eyes. I turned to put my hand on Little Jade’s face; she was all right. Matthew had a couple of scratches where the belt buckle had broken the skin, and I healed them for him.
‘Can you bring Mummy back now, Aunty Emma?’ Matthew said. ‘Can we go find her?’
‘Oh, darling,’ I said. ‘I need to explain some stuff for you.’
* * *
Matthew, Little Jade and Richie took a long time to fall asleep in the room next to Frankie’s. Once they’d settled, I left them in their bunks and went next door to check on Frankie. The King was gone, and Frankie was sitting up in bed looking at one of his picture books.
He closed the book. ‘Are they okay?’
‘They miss their mummies. They’ll be sad for a while,’ I said.
‘I understand. Mummy says that when I’m Emperor, she’ll bring friends for me who are more fun.’ He looked away. ‘But I like these friends. They’re nicer.’ He dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘Edu’s mean. I don’t want Mummy to bring her tomorrow.’
‘I don’t either,’ I said, my voice low.
‘Would the other children still be my friends if I brought their mummies back?’ he said.
‘They would love you forever, I think,’ I said. ‘They’ve been having fun playing with you when they’re not sad about their mummies. If they could be with their mothers, I think they’d still come and play with you. They like you.’
‘Mummy says that when I’m Emperor, people will have to do what I tell them, and I can make them love me.’
‘Yes. I hope you won’t hurt people.’
‘I don’t want to make people love me. I don’t want to hurt people. I want everybody to be happy,’ he said. He sighed with misery. ‘But it seems whatever I do, people are hurt.’
‘So young to be so wise,’ I said. ‘I can help you. Advise you.’
‘That’s what the . . . she . . . I thought,’ he said.
‘The Lady said that?’ I said softly.
He nodded, then looked around. ‘Be careful.’
‘I will.’ I put my arm around him. ‘You will have to be very careful as well. When you’re Emperor, if you want something to happen, it will happen.’
He watched me silently, obviously not understanding the full import of my words.
‘If you want it to rain, it will rain. If you want the children to love you, they will love you. If you want someone to die, they will die.’
‘I could make people die?’ His breath caught. ‘What if I’m mad with someone?’ He clutched me. ‘I don’t want this!’
‘Wise,’ I said. ‘I will help you to control your power. Learning to use your sword is a good start.’ I gave him a squeeze. ‘You and me together, we can do our best to make everybody happy.’
‘Thanks, Emma,’ he said, his voice small. He brightened. ‘Can I stop Daddy from hitting my friends?’
‘No. You’ll only be able to order people from this part of the world. He’s not from here.’
‘Well, poop,’ he said, and we chuckled together.
I kissed him on the forehead. ‘You are a very special little boy and I love you with all my heart.’
‘I love you too.’ He nestled down under the silk quilt. ‘Can you stay while I go to sleep?’
I brushed my hand over his forehead. ‘I will be here for you forever. You are my whole world.’
My heart ached. That was the first time he’d said that to me. I felt a small moment of triumph, then resolved to make sure that the Demon King never took him away from me. Frankie and I would have to be careful not to be too affectionate in front of him.
* * *
Late the next morning the Zhu sisters — Bo Niang and Bei Niang, two of the Generals from the Thirty-Six — came in the front door accompanied by a Duke. They were both in their mid-teens female forms and wearing the black-and-white of servants, the same as me.
‘You’re kidding,’ I said. ‘He said he’d give me demon servants.’
‘Things are all topsy-turvy, Emma,’ Bo said. ‘The humans are servants, and the demons are masters.’
‘New servants?’ Frankie said, watching us.
‘This is Comet,’ I said, gesturing towards Bo, ‘and Esteem,’ I indicated Bei. ‘Or Bo and Bei. They’re strong and smart and really cool.’
‘You’re here to help Emma?’ Frankie asked them.
Bei went to him and knelt before him. ‘And you must be Frankie.’
Frankie nodded.
‘Where are Gold’s kids?’ Bo asked me.
I gestured with my head. ‘Watching television.’
We all went into the living room. Edu had once again taken the entire couch and forced the other children to sit on the floor.
‘Aunty Bei! Aunty Bo!’ Little Jade shouted, and ran to them. ‘Where’s your cool armour?’
‘Hello, little dragon,’ Bei said. ‘And little Richie. Hello, Matthew. Who’s this?’
‘This is Edu. Human spawn of the Demon King himself,’ I said.
‘I’m a Demon Prince and I’ll be Empress,’ Edu said. ‘And when I am, I’ll kill —’
‘Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,’ I said.
‘I’m terrible with kids, but it looks like you do need help,’ Bo said to me.
‘I don’t mind helping out with the kids,’ Bei said. ‘Bo can help out around the house.’
‘You’re Celestial Generals,’ I said, exasperated. ‘You shouldn’t be doing housework!’
‘Caring for the next generation is the highest honour anyone can attain,’ Bei said with dignity. ‘Now show Bo where the laundry is. She’s good with machines and stuff.’
Bo nodded. ‘Leave the kids with Bei, and show me what needs to be done.’
I hesitated, then said, ‘I really appreciate it, guys.’
‘When the Little Emperor is crowned and the Celestial Palace returns, we’ll probably be back to laying bricks in the new Western Palace,’ Bo said as I guided her to the overflowing laundry. Five kids generated more dirty clothes than I could keep up with, particularly when I couldn’t go outside to hang them to dry. She saw the pile. ‘Oh, my. Go look after the little ones, Emma, let me handle this.’
‘I really appreciate it, Bo.’
‘The Demon King’s an idiot,’ Bo said. ‘I’m terrible with children. I have no affinity for them and I’ve never wanted any of my own. Marshal Xiao adores kids — he’d be a much better choice — but the Demon King brought us purely because we’re women.’ She lowered her voice. ‘That’s Lord Xuan’s son? And yours?’
‘Yes. But I’m not allowed to tell him.’
‘I know, I was told that too.’ She smiled and patted my arm. ‘He seems a nice kid. I look forward to telling him stories about some of the crazy shit the thirty-seven of us pulled together.’
‘I can’t wait to hear them too,’ I said.
She gave me a gentle push. ‘Go look after the kids. It’ll be fine.’
* * *
Later that day the King came in male human form, with a Duke holding a digital tablet.
‘Take the children outside,’ he said, and I rose. ‘Not you, Emma,’ he said. ‘Here.’
He gestured towards the dining table for me to join him. The Duke passed him the tablet.
The King gestured dismissively towards Bei. ‘Take them outside. I want to talk to Emma without any of them present.’
‘As you wish,’ Bei said. ‘Mei Mei!’
‘Coming,’ Bo said. She came to the kitchen doorway, saw the Demon King and scowled.
‘Take the children out,’ the King said again. He saw Bo’s face. ‘Do as you’re told!’
She sneered. ‘Majesty.’
She and Bei took the children out the front doors with a Duke accompanying them. The children yelled with delight as they took off running. I winced. They didn’t spend enough time outside.
‘Right,’ the King said, all business. ‘I need your advice here.’
He flipped through the tablet until he came to a photograph of a blonde fourteen-year-old girl. She had strong cheekbones and a light dusting of freckles under her mischievous blue eyes.
I took the tablet from him, trying to remember where I knew her from, and then it clicked. ‘Kimberley.’
‘Yes. Your dead friend’s daughter. What was her name?’ He checked the tablet. ‘Louise. One of the Tiger’s wives. This is Princess Kimberley, daughter of the Bai Hu, a mortal human. She’s also the daughter of your dead friend, so you’ll want to look after her.’ He looked up at me. ‘What do you think?’
‘What do I think about what?’
He sighed with exasperation. ‘For Frankie!’
‘For Frankie what?’
‘Are you completely stupid? I told you about this before. He needs a wife from each of the Bastions to seal his reign. If he marries a daughter from each Bastion, and has Edu as his Empress, nobody will ever stand against him. So what do you think — Kimberley from the West?’ He cocked his head to study her photo. ‘A bit white for me, but pretty enough.’
‘You can’t be finding wives for him — he’s two years old.’
‘I know, it should have been done before he was born. Okay, no objections to Kimberley; what about Eva?’ He showed me a photo of the Phoenix’s half-human daughter Evangeline, whose African-American father had given her a glowing dark complexion, rich brown eyes and afro hair. ‘Nice counterpoint to the white one. Eva can work energy and fire, and there’s talk she may be able to manipulate yang. She’s a sweet girl as well, and I think she’s already friends with Simone.’
‘Frankie doesn’t need wives, George.’
‘But he does. This is politics. We need to seal the empire, and if he fathers grandchildren for the Four Winds they’ll never rebel against him. You’ve obviously no problem with Eva either. How about this one?’ He showed me a photo of Jackie. ‘Granddaughter of the Dragon King, daughter of the Blue Dragon, so royal dragon both ways. Lovely pure-Asian girl. No attachments; both of her parents are Immortals held in the cells in Hell, and both her nest mates are dead.’
‘I know who Jackie is — her mother is the Jade Girl. She’s part of the family,’ I said.
‘Even better.’ He flipped through more photos on the tablet. ‘Now I need your help to find the last wife.’
‘He’ll marry all of them?’ I said, incredulous.
‘One from the North,’ he said. ‘I’m doing you a favour here, allowing you to care for your friends’ children when he takes them as wives. So do something for me.’
‘I don’t know anyone suitable in the North that Frankie isn’t related to on his father’s side,’ I said.
‘Yeah, the only one is the black kid, Buffy, but she’s fully human and adopted. Might as well be a servant. So the first choice is Simone.’
All the breath left me in a long gasp. ‘She’s his sister!’
‘I know. I checked the genetics and it turns out they’re too closely related. You and Simone’s mother had a great deal of genetic heritage in common.’ He sighed with feeling. ‘Such a shame, she’d be perfect. If they were pure demon it wouldn’t be an issue, but humans are trouble. So I need you to contact Simone and bring her in for me.’
‘She can’t marry him, so you don’t need her.’
‘That’s exactly why I do need her. Her half-demon daughter would be good enough.’ He smiled. ‘They’d be perfect. One of my spawn for the fifth wife and we have the complete set. Like a winning hand of cards.’
I jumped to my feet. ‘I will not bring Simone here for you to rape her.’
‘I’m not into rape, you know that. She’ll be perfectly willing once Frankie takes the throne and is giving the orders.’
BJ, tell Simone. Tell her to run from the East right now.
‘Good. You’re talking to her. Now tell me where she is,’ he said.
I’m sorry, Aunty Emma, she doesn’t answer, BJ said. Nobody in the stone network has seen her.
‘She doesn’t answer me. I have no idea where she is.’
He studied me.
‘I’m telling the truth,’ I said.
‘Fine.’ He stood. ‘As soon as Frankie’s enthroned and has control, he’ll order her to come in and we can start the procedures anyway.’
For god’s sake, BJ, tell Simone to run!
I am, BJ said with misery. But she’s still not answering.
The King handed the tablet to the guard Duke. ‘Those children were thrilled to be allowed outside,’ he said to me. ‘You need to take them out more.’
‘I can’t. I’m not allowed out of the house.’
‘Yes, you are,’ he said. ‘Take them out every day.’
‘You ordered me to stay inside.’
‘Well, now I’m ordering you to take the children outside!’ he said loudly. ‘There! Does nobody listen when I give orders?’ He went to the door. ‘Try to run away and I will make these children suffer.’
‘You don’t need to worry, I’ll never leave my . . . Frankie,’ I said.
‘Good,’ he said, and went out.
I moved to follow him through the front doors, but the Duke blocked my way.
‘You heard him,’ I said. ‘Let me out!’
The Duke hesitated, then opened the doors for me.
‘Assign me a guard,’ I said to the King. ‘A Celestial may take exception to the fact that I’m working for you.’
‘Good point,’ the King said, and gestured for one of the other Dukes to escort me. ‘And it’s Celestial Regent.’
The guard escorted me through the front doors and along an alley with three-metre-high red walls on either side. It was a defensive feature to protect the Jade Emperor in case the Celestial Palace was assaulted — which hadn’t worked. The Northern Imperial apartments were on the other side of that wall, and I remembered the courtyard where John and I had sat on the grass all that time ago, enjoying the sunshine together. I wondered if the demons had taken down the Xuan Tian Shang Di sign that hung on the wall over John’s desk; a gift from the Jade Emperor in his own hand. Probably destroyed.
I made a mental note to have a calligraphy teacher assigned to Frankie the minute his characters were fluent. At present they were the clumsy attempts of a young child, but he was learning quickly.
The wall opened to a moon gate to our left: the entrance to the staff quarters. A large grassy court was on the other side of the wall, with a couple of wide shady mulberry trees; natural ones, not Shen. This was the relaxation garden for the human and Shen staff when their employers visited the Palace. The quarters were deserted, and the children were running and shouting on the grass, sharing a game with Bo and Bei.
I sat on a stone bench to watch them, and the Duke stationed himself next to the moon gate. The children saw me and waved, but didn’t stop running. It was probably the first time they’d had a chance since they’d been taken to Hell.
I breathed deeply of the Celestial fresh air and enjoyed the peace. The coronation was in two days, and then everything would change.