John and I took Frankie and Simone down to the Peak the next morning, then I went to see Black Jade in the Celestial Palace where the Jade Emperor was keeping her.
BJ was sitting on the bed, despondent, and the Jade Emperor and Gold stood on the other side of the invisible barrier that contained her. Two of the Jade Emperor’s adult children in their Imperial Elite uniforms stood guard either side of the door.
‘Try to think back,’ Gold said. ‘You were held by Six when you were a baby. Did he do it then?’
‘I don’t know, Dad,’ BJ said.
My stone took human form and stood next to Gold. ‘Was it when you were at Lombok? You disappeared for twenty minutes.’
‘You were bait, Grandpa,’ she said, smiling sadly. ‘They needed me back to add new programming. They froze the Dark Lord’s assets so Dad would be stuck in Hong Kong sorting it out, and the family had to send me.’ Her expression went strange. ‘So it is there, in bits and pieces.’
‘You were already theirs when you went to Lombok,’ Gold said.
‘Apparently. I think I’ve been theirs for a long time.’ She wiped her eyes, and her voice went hoarse. ‘I’m so sorry. I’ve failed you all.’
‘The current Demon King — he was Number One then — he did this to you?’ my stone said.
She nodded. ‘You should tell Nanna. She needs to know. The whole stone network needs to know — we’re still at risk.’
‘The Grandmother will be here in three days to collect you,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘She will take you into her heart and attempt to fix what has been done to you.’
BJ bent over her knees with emotion. ‘Thank you.’
‘Jade Building Block,’ the Emperor said, and put his hand out.
My stone took his hand and the Emperor concentrated, examining the stone.
‘I see,’ the Emperor said. ‘I cannot repair this. Have you asked the Grandmother?’
‘She can’t repair it either,’ the stone said, and folded up to return to my ring. ‘I want to stay with . . . Emma, this is a wedding band! You’re married? It is Lord Xuan, isn’t it? Tell me you two finally made it!’
‘No, she married me,’ BJ said. She stood and her face went fierce; her whole attitude changed from defeat to aggression.
‘What?’ the stone said. ‘You married Black Jade?’
‘No,’ Gold said softly.
‘Emma, return to the Northern Heavens,’ BJ said. ‘Don’t tell anyone we’re married. Tell them that you ran from the wedding, but you’re back now and ready to marry the Dark Lord.’ She held her empty hand out to me. ‘Take this piece of silk, and keep it with you at all times. I will be in touch shortly with more orders.’
‘No,’ I said.
‘Emma, you vowed to obey me!’
‘Under duress,’ I said.
‘You have to obey me,’ she said. ‘You promised.’
‘That may have worked if the Demon King was still in charge,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘You could have controlled the Dark Empress. But I have returned to my throne and my Edicts are in force.’
‘She’s my wife!’ BJ shouted. ‘You have to respect the bonds of marriage. It’s one of the basic rights of the Celestial!’
There was a commotion outside.
‘Let him in,’ the Jade Emperor said.
Justin charged in and stopped, panting. ‘It is you.’
BJ sagged with misery and wiped her hand over her face. ‘Hi, Justin,’ she said. ‘Go home. I’m not what you think I am.’
‘I think you’re cute and smart and funny and extremely cool,’ he said.
‘And married.’ She gestured towards me. ‘Meet my wife.’
‘I am not your wife,’ I growled.
She became aggressive again. ‘You said the vows and promised to obey me. I don’t know why you’re fighting this!’
‘BJ, it’s us,’ Gold said. ‘Try to remember who you are.’
‘You shut up. This is between me and my wife,’ BJ said.
‘Black Jade,’ the Emperor said with a sad smile, ‘look at yourself. You identify as female. You have always identified as female, even when under the Demon King’s control. And same-sex marriages on the Celestial are not permitted. The marriage was invalid, and the vows are void.’
Her eyes widened and she flopped to sit on the bed.
‘She’s not really controlled, is she?’ Justin said. ‘She can’t be an agent of the Demon King!’
‘I’m sorry, Justin,’ BJ said. ‘I really liked you but I had no choice. They did things to me and I have to obey the programming.’
‘The Grandmother of All the Rocks will be here in a few days to take BJ into her heart,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘She may be able to return Black Jade’s free will.’
‘I’ll wait for you,’ Justin said to BJ.
‘It will take some time,’ Gold said.
‘I’ll still wait.’
‘Geological time, child,’ the Jade Emperor said gently.
Justin’s face fell. ‘Oh.’ He looked up at the Jade Emperor. ‘Can I go with her?’
‘Just leave me,’ BJ said.
‘No,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘But as she said, she has been programmed. I suggest you and the Golden Boy investigate ways to reprogram her — or more accurately, deprogram her. You are a programmer, right?’
‘I am,’ Justin said.
‘You think we can?’ Gold said.
‘You can fix me?’ BJ said, full of hope.
‘We can try,’ Justin said.
BJ hopped off the bed and approached him carefully. She put her hand up and rested it on the invisible barrier. ‘Thanks, Justin.’
He put his hand against hers. ‘Whatever it takes.’
Gold put his arm around Justin’s shoulders. ‘We will fix this.’
‘I love you, Dad,’ BJ said, her voice hoarse.
The Jade Emperor gestured for me to follow him out of the room, leaving Justin, Gold and BJ to talk under the scrutiny of the Elites.
‘Please notify Prince Ming and Lord Leo that the restriction on same-sex marriage has been repealed, and I want to be invited to the wedding,’ he said.
I bowed to him. ‘Majesty.’
‘Dismissed.’ He turned away, then turned back. ‘Oh. Your teleportation restriction has been lifted as well. You can go where you please.’ He disappeared.
‘Bastard!’ I said, and teleported with no difficulty whatsoever to the Peak apartment to tell Leo and Martin.
I arrived in the kitchen to find John in Turtle form eating cat food out of a bowl on the floor. Frankie was crouched next to him, watching with fascination.
‘You teleported yourself?’ the Turtle said through a mouthful of pilchards.
‘We were right, that bastard restricted me.’
‘We will have our revenge later,’ he said with relish. ‘He didn’t keep the Jade Building Block with him?’
‘He said nothing could be done for me, my Lord,’ the stone said. ‘I will just have to live with the damage. Permission to return to duties assisting the Dark Lady.’
‘Dark Empress now, old friend,’ John said.
‘Who’s talking, John?’ Frankie said.
‘The stone in my ring’s talking, Frankie, it helps me out,’ I said.
‘A stone? Like Jade and Richie’s dad?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, okay.’
‘This is the child!’ the stone said. ‘Your son! You’re married and have your son back? When did this happen? Good Lord, you are too. I missed it! Was I asleep? Wait . . . my time stamp says that I’ve lost months. I’m seriously damaged.’ Its voice went weak with misery. ‘What happened to me?’
‘You were damaged by the demons, stone,’ I said. ‘Just take your time and rebuild yourself. We’ll look after you. Ask Gold or me what happened if you can’t remember.’
‘I see. You should replace me, my Lady. The damage will interfere with my ability to perform my duties.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said with scorn. ‘As long as you wish to be my engagement ring, there’s a place for you here.’
‘Thank you, Emma. It will take me a while to sort out my matrix. I need to mark the edge of the damage, and link up to the remains of the network to download a summary of events. Give me a day or so, and then I can come back to work for you.’
‘Take your time.’
I looked around for everyone. Leo and Martin were downstairs with Buffy; Yi Hao and Er Hao were at the markets, buying for both families and giggling together; and Simone was in Japan. I could even sense Smally, who was keeping the households on the Celestial maintained while we were on the Earthly.
‘Where’s the Serpent?’ I said.
‘Wellington Road,’ John said.
‘Did we regain ownership?’
‘Yes. The basement was infested, so I’m clearing it out.’
I stopped for a moment. ‘I’m sorely tempted to join you there. I haven’t had breakfast yet.’
‘Plenty of rats for both of us,’ he said.
‘No, I have something else to do. You’ll like this.’ I turned on the kettle and found the teapot.
Frankie pointed at John. ‘He says he can give me rides on his shell, Emma.’
‘He’s too slow to be any fun,’ I said as I made the tea. ‘Your nanna will have ponies for you to ride with your cousins next week; we’ll go and spend a day on their farm.’
He ran to me to lean on my legs. ‘Yay!’
Leo, please come up and bring Ming Gui, I said. I have news.
Majesty, he said.
Leo, Martin and Buffy came up the stairs and entered the kitchen.
Buffy stopped and her eyes went wide when she saw John. She looked back at Martin, then at John. ‘Two of them?’
‘That’s your Yeh Yeh,’ I said as I poured water into the teapot. ‘He’s a turtle too.’
‘Oh, okay,’ she said, and went to the fridge. She pulled out a box of lemon tea and stuck the straw in.
‘Get one for me too,’ Frankie said.
‘Okay,’ Buffy said.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Frankie, you ask nicely and say please.’
‘Can I have one too, please?’ Frankie said.
Buffy didn’t reply, she just pulled another box out for him.
‘Yum,’ he said as he took it and stuck the straw in.
‘Thank you,’ I said sternly.
‘Thanks, Buffy,’ he said. ‘When’s lunch, Emma? I’m hungry.’
‘Nothing to do with me,’ the Turtle said, at the same time I said, ‘It’s something to do with your father, I swear.’
‘You wanted to see us, my Lady?’ Leo said.
‘Call me Majesty again and I will inform the Jade Emperor of your blatant disrespect for the Celestial Throne,’ I said as I poured tea for him.
‘I apologise most sincerely, Your Highness,’ he said, bowing to me as he took the teacup.
‘That’s more like it.’ I poured a cup for Martin, and took one myself. ‘The restriction on same-sex marriage is rescinded. Don’t rush off and do it right away; take your time.’
Leo and Martin both grinned, then embraced and shared a quick kiss.
‘Daddy and Ba Ba can get married now?’ Buffy said.
I nodded.
She put her little hands on her hips. ‘Can I be a flower girl this time?’ she said with exasperation. ‘I want to do it!’
‘It will have to be on the Earthly so Buffy can be the flower girl,’ Leo said.
‘Western-style,’ Martin said. ‘A celebrant and wedding vows. No tea ceremony.’
‘Okay, but on a beach, not in a stuffy hall,’ Leo said.
‘Pink. Because,’ Martin said.
‘Cliché,’ Leo said with scorn. ‘Black for the House.’
‘My livery’s green and brown.’
‘My livery’s black.’
‘Green and black?’
‘Hmm.’ Leo went thoughtful. ‘I think we can make that work. Jade will kill us if we don’t have a bouquet for her to catch.’
‘Buffy can carry one.’
‘Yeah, that works. But what colour?’
‘Go and talk to Jade the Wedding Planner,’ I said. ‘I’ll mind Buffy.’
They didn’t need prompting; they both disappeared.
‘I’d better be a flower girl or else,’ Buffy said sternly.
‘You shouldn’t have sent them off,’ John said. He finished the pilchards, changed to human form, and washed his bowl in the sink. ‘I wanted to hear the argument about who will be best man.’
‘Well, of course it has to be you,’ I said.
‘Leo will argue that you should be best man. He will want me to give Martin away like an old-fashioned father, and Martin will refuse very loudly.’
‘Damn, you’re right. That will be the argument of the century.’
‘Hey! You were supposed to give us rides,’ Frankie said.
‘Please,’ I said sternly.
‘Please, John?’ Frankie said.
John grinned at him. ‘In the living room.’
‘Yay!’ both children shouted and raced into the living room.
They’ll be fine with me, John said. Still plenty of rats if you’re hungry.
Deal, I said, and teleported down to Wellington Street.