by Kylie Chan
‘At best his twin brother.’ I turned away. ‘Do me a favour, George, and don’t let my family see them. It would break my sister’s heart.’
‘But I’m bringing her son back. What mother wouldn’t want to see her baby again?’
‘It’s not her son. It’s a copy.’
‘Close enough. I don’t understand you. This is a huge breakthrough in cloning. I don’t need the other boys now I have this. I’m giving you your nephew back alive, and instead of being happy about it you look sick. What the hell is wrong with you?’
‘I don’t think you’d ever understand, George.’
Has Simone replied yet, BJ?
No, Aunty Emma, she’s disappeared completely.
I don’t know whether that’s a good or a bad thing.
I said out loud, ‘While we’re here on the Earthly, take me shopping to buy stuff for the kids. They need educational enrichment.’
His face grew cunning. ‘Agree to training the clones when they hatch, and I will.’
‘It looks like your son will not be reaching his full potential then.’
‘He’s your son too, sweetheart. And the others are your little nephew and the children of your stone Retainer. You have a duty as their Lady to provide them with the best of care. Agree to teach the clones as well and I’ll let you go shopping with an unlimited credit card.’
I hesitated, looking into his blood-coloured eyes, then sagged with defeat.
‘Good,’ he said.
‘Send Colin’s body home to his family so they can give him a proper goodbye,’ I said.
‘No need, because he’s not dead!’ the King said. He slapped one hand on the autopsy table, making Colin’s white flesh jiggle. ‘If these clones work out, there’s an unlimited supply of them from the original corpse.’
I wiped my hand over my eyes and tried to control my voice. ‘Give him back to his family.’
‘I need material to work on. Would you rather I used the other boys? Alive?’
I shook my head, speechless with dismay.
‘You really are incredibly ungrateful,’ the King said. ‘As bad as the workers in the factory. None of you understand the lengths I go to to keep you happy.’ He turned to the Duke. ‘Take her shopping wherever she likes. If she gives you any trouble, call me.’
‘What if she tries to escape?’ the Duke said. His expression grew hungry. ‘How hard can I punish her?’
‘Heh. She won’t. She gave her word, and I have her child.’
The Duke bowed to the King, obviously disappointed. ‘Majesty.’ He put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Where to?’
‘The big Kinokuniya on Orchard Road in Singapore,’ I said, and the lab disappeared.
* * *
The Duke watched with disbelief as I added the last DVD to the pile on the counter. ‘This is nearly five hundred dollars’ worth!’
‘Check with your father that it’s okay,’ I said.
‘No need.’ He handed the credit card to the smiling assistant.
‘Thanks,’ I said to her. ‘You’ve been a terrific help.’
‘My pleasure,’ she said, and added it up. ‘He’s right. Five hundred and twelve, twenty.’
‘Crazy,’ the Duke said as he put the PIN number in.
The assistant put the books and DVDs into three big bags and turned them around so the handles were facing me. ‘I hope you come back when next term starts. It’s so encouraging to see a teacher like you who buys art supplies for creative work as well as books for spelling and maths.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, and reached to take the bags.
‘No,’ the Duke said, and shoved my hand away. He turned to the assistant. ‘Hold them for me. I’ll come and collect them later.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘No, I want to take them back now.’
‘Please don’t argue with me,’ he said, menacingly polite. ‘I will return with them later today. They’re too heavy for you to carry on the train.’
I opened my mouth and closed it again.
He turned back to the assistant. ‘Put them under the counter under the name of Miss Kwok, and I will collect them later.’
‘I understand, sir,’ she said, writing a note to attach to the bags. ‘I’ll hold them for you.’
‘Miss Black,’ the demon said, gesturing for me to go.
I clutched at the opportunity for some normal human interaction, not wanting to leave. ‘Thanks again,’ I said to the assistant.
‘See you next term!’ she said cheerfully as she placed the bags under the counter.
‘Miss Black. Now.’ The guard was a threatening presence behind me as I walked to the door.
When we were through the door, I rounded on him. ‘What’s the point of buying all that stuff if you won’t let me give it to the kids? There’s no need to clear it. You saw for yourself what I bought.’
He put his hand on my shoulder and the world disappeared. We landed in the living room, where the Demon King in his Kitty Kwok form was sitting with the children, who were all crying. Frankie sat in the King’s lap with his face buried in her chest. The room reeked of burning plastic, but there was no smoke.
I ran to Little Jade and Richie to hold them but Little Jade pushed me away.
‘Why’d you break everything?’ she said.
‘I didn’t break anything,’ I said, bewildered.
‘Look!’ the King said, and pointed the remote control at the television.
A grainy black-and-white image of the living room appeared. It was night. I walked onto the screen, went up to the children’s toy box and pulled out the dollhouse I’d been using to teach them about human lives. The image of me on the screen smashed it into pieces.
The children wailed louder.
I watched with horror as the copy of me took everything out of the toy box and destroyed it. She tore all the books apart, shredding them, then smashed every other toy. She broke all the pencils and crushed the crayons under her heel. She couldn’t break the Lego, so she took it into the kitchen.
‘Why’d you do that?’ Richie cried.
‘That was so mean,’ Frankie said.
‘You went into the toy box and broke every single toy they own,’ the Demon King said over the top of Frankie’s head. ‘Then you melted the Lego on the stove. Why would you do such a thing?’
Frankie’s sobs grew louder and she held him closer.
‘I didn’t —’ I started.
‘You did!’ Frankie wailed. ‘We can see you!’
I opened and closed my mouth, lost for words. Eventually I managed to squeak out, ‘Why?’
‘You tell us!’ Little Jade shouted, and ran out of the room into the bedroom. Her brother followed her.
BJ . . .
I’ll talk to them when they let you touch them. What will you do about Frankie? I can’t talk to him, he can’t know I’m here.
There’s nothing I can do.
‘Frankie, I’m sorry. I’ve just bought you books and videos,’ I said.
He turned to see me. ‘What? What did you buy? Where are they?’
‘She’s lying again,’ the King said. ‘Look.’ She gestured, and the Duke came in holding the shopping bags. ‘Look what I bought you, my darling. All these wonderful things for you.’
Frankie stopped crying and went to the bags to look through my purchases. ‘Ponies!’ He held up a picture book of farm animals. ‘So many new things!’
‘Don’t you dare damage any of these new gifts,’ the King said to me. ‘You can teach the children without being mean to them. You’re a monster!’
‘I won’t be mean. I’ll never be mean. I love them. I love Frankie,’ I said.
‘You say that now, but we’ve all seen the video of you destroying the toys. You can’t be trusted,’ the King said. She crouched to speak to Frankie as he went through the books. ‘Is this good enough? Do you need more?’
Frankie looked up at her, and a swift expression of fear swept across his face. ‘No, thank you, Mummy, this
is more than I could ever want. I don’t need more than this. Can I share them with my friends?’
‘Of course you can, my darling. And I’ll make sure that Emma can’t break anything again. I’ll keep a guard on her room to stop her from doing it. I was silly to trust her. She’s a mean person, not sweet and nice at all.’
Frankie glowered at me from under his long fringe. ‘Thanks, Mummy.’
‘A most productive day, I think,’ the King said, rising. ‘Well done, Emma, you helped enormously. Next time think about how close you are growing to my son.’ She bent and hugged Frankie. ‘I’ll be back later to have dinner with you.’
‘Really?’ he said, gazing up into her eyes with adoration.
She kissed him on the cheek. ‘This time, really, I will. I need to see what toys were broken so I can replace them.’
He kissed her back. ‘Thank you, Mummy. I love you very much.’
‘I love you too, sweetheart,’ she said, rose and went out.
I fell to sit in a chair, dumbfounded, trying to work out a way to tell Frankie the truth. The Duke was standing next to the door, enjoying my discomfort. I shook my head and wiped my eyes. There was no way I could tell him when the evidence was right in front of him.
The Duke went out. I sidled to sit next to Frankie and he went rigid beside me.
When I reached for one of the books to read it to him, his little face screwed up. ‘Don’t break them!’
I drew my hand back. ‘Okay, Frankie.’
‘Jade and Richie have no more toys to play with and it’s all your fault,’ he grumbled while he went through the contents of the bag. He raised the coloured pencils and looked at them with wonder. He tried to open the box and failed. I reached to help him and he snatched them away. ‘Don’t touch anything!’
‘I’ll open the box for you. I won’t break them. I promise.’
He eyed me suspiciously.
‘I keep my promises,’ I said. I dropped my voice. ‘We have a secret and I’ve never told anybody.’
He watched me for a long moment.
‘I promise,’ I said.
He hesitated again, then handed the box to me. I smiled with relief and opened it. ‘There’s drawing paper in there as well. How about we draw some animals?’
‘I want to see what’s in the rest of the bags,’ he said. He snapped his chin up. ‘Bring my friends in here, I want to show them.’
‘You don’t order me around,’ I said.
‘Mummy says that when I sit on the throne, everybody will have to do what I tell them. So start now,’ he said.
‘Mummy’s not teaching you right,’ I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet to go and find Jade and Richie.
* * *
Later that evening, I tucked Frankie into bed. He’d started to forgive me, but the King was obviously holding back on replacing all the broken toys to make his point.
When I opened the book of farm animals, he took it from me. ‘I’ll look at it myself. You go out.’
‘Are you sure?’ I said. ‘I can read it to you.’
‘You’ll break it. Go out. I’ll read it myself for a little while.’
‘I won’t break anything, I promise.’
He shook his head and turned away.
‘All right. I’ll come back in five minutes and turn the light off.’
‘Go away and let me read!’
I gave up and went into the living room. The other children were already asleep — I’d saved the pleasure of putting Frankie to bed for last — and the house was quiet. The guard demon was a dark presence outside the front door.
I proceeded to put the toys away and heard a soft voice in Frankie’s bedroom. I raised my head and listened; again a soft voice. I sent out my awareness and didn’t sense anything. The realisation hit me: I didn’t sense anything — not even Frankie. I rushed into his bedroom. He was sitting alone, reading his book.
He glanced up at me. ‘Let me read some more.’
I concentrated, sending my senses out, and everything seemed normal. He glowed like a small dark star in front of me.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked him.
‘Go away, Emma,’ he said, turning back to the book.
‘Was someone in here?’ I dropped my voice. ‘Was the Lady here?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ he said loudly. ‘Nobody can come in.’ He wiggled on the bed so he was turned away from me. ‘Leave me alone.’ He turned back and glared at me. ‘And Mummy’s watching you. If you break anything else you’ll be in big trouble.’ He waved the book at me. ‘Go. Away!’
‘Five more minutes until I turn your light out,’ I said.
He didn’t reply, making a show of studying the book, and I went out, defeated.
* * *
It was 11 pm before the kitchen was clean enough to satisfy the King’s exacting standards. I curled up in my thin blanket on the kitchen floor and propped myself against the cupboards.
Okay, BJ, I said.
Only you can see this, she said.
The projection was like a small television screen in front of me. My mother was on the screen, but she wasn’t in Persimmon Tree any more; the family had been moved to the Mountain’s student barracks. The barracks were full of people — there were mattresses on the floor between the beds and in the aisles as well. The place held four times the number of people it had been designed for.
‘Okay, go,’ Gold said. He was taking the recording.
‘The King brought Mandy and Jen back, love,’ my mother said softly. ‘Jen’s not talking to anyone, and there are no Immortal staff here to help her out. Andrew’s looking after her, but he’s as wrecked as she is. She’s lost her husband and two of her sons. She’s destroyed.’
I told her that Matthew’s okay, BJ said.
My mother continued. ‘Mandy’s okay, I suppose. Mark isn’t doing well — the whole demon thing is pushing him into flashbacks again.’ She smiled sadly. ‘We thought he’d finally recovered from it and it’s all come out again. He can’t sleep, and when he does he wakes up screaming, worse since David was taken.’
David was taken? I asked BJ.
‘Your father and David were taken away, along with all able-bodied men and strong women,’ my mother said. ‘Gold tells us that they haven’t been hurt, they’re just working on a project for the Demon . . .’ She looked around. ‘For the Celestial Regent.’
The Western Palace is being rebuilt, BJ said.
Jade’s daughter, Jackie, came to my mother. She sat next to her on the bed and took her hand.
‘Lady Emma, I haven’t heard from my mother. They took her . . .’ She choked, then recovered. ‘They took her with the other Immortals. Lord Gold tells us that you’re . . . you’re in Hell. Have you seen my mother? You’re there too. If you see her . . .’ She turned away and wiped her eyes, then turned back to Gold. ‘Please tell her I love her, and I really miss her. I’m . . .’ She lost her voice again. ‘I’m all alone.’
‘I’m here for you, love,’ my mother said, and Jackie leaned her head on my mother’s shoulder. My mother put her arm around her and squeezed her tight.
‘Guards are coming,’ Gold said. ‘I have to go.’
‘Tell Emma that we love her, and that we’re counting on her to free all of us,’ my mother said. She spoke more quickly. ‘And find Simone!’
The little television screen disappeared.
So my father and David are being used as slave labour. My mother’s looking after my sisters, who have broken down with good reason. Mark’s broken as well, and Andrew’s having night terrors, I said.
None of this is your responsibility, BJ said.
My family is destroyed, in pieces all over the Planes. I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. I failed them all.
Not your fault —
They are my family and my Retainers. All have suffered because I have failed. I buried my head in my knees. I will find a way to make this right.
I’m here with you, BJ said
.
I nodded into my knees. Thanks, BJ. And thank your father. I heaved a deep sigh. Where the hell is Simone?
BJ didn’t reply.
24
Frankie stood against the door frame in the kitchen, his chin up. I marked the frame level with the top of his head, and he turned to see it. ‘I’m taller than Richie!’
‘You grow so fast,’ I said, studying the marks. ‘You’ve grown ten centimetres in two months.’
‘I grow faster than Jade and Richie,’ Frankie said. ‘Mummy said it’s because I’m better than them.’
Nobody is better than anybody else, I said. Being better comes from treating other people better — that’s what’s important.
He shook his head. ‘Talk to me out loud or Daddy will be angry.’
‘Okay.’
There was a squeal from the living room: Little Jade again. I stormed in and grabbed Edu by the scruff of her neck to pull her off the smaller girl.
‘Let me go!’ Edu shouted, kicking me.
I held her tight and glared into her face. ‘We talked about you hitting people.’
She swung her little fist and punched me on the face, a stinging blow.
I shook her in reply. ‘Into your room for time out. Now!’
‘You can’t make me!’ she yelled. ‘I’ll be Empress one day and then I’ll skin you alive!’
I lifted her, took her to the bedroom she shared with the human children, pushed her inside and closed the door on her. She knew better than to come straight back out, but she kicked the door furiously, screaming and cursing me on the other side.
She suddenly went silent.
‘Mummy’s here,’ Frankie said.
The children scattered, hiding in the kitchen and bedrooms. Frankie stood in the middle of the living room to wait for the King. I held his shoulder and stood next to him.
The King opened the door in Kitty Kwok form. ‘Hello, Frankie darling.’
‘Mummy!’ Frankie yelled, and raced to her.
She put her arms out and he threw himself into them, and they had a long embrace.
‘It’s time for the rehearsal,’ she said. ‘Are you ready?’ He appeared confused. ‘What rehearsal?’
She glared at me. ‘You were supposed to be coaching him for the rehearsal.’