by Kylie Chan
John glared at him. ‘You are not to have any more contact with demons. That is an order. Am I completely understood?’
‘We can’t run the Mountain with nobody to manage the demons!’ LK protested.
‘Then. Find. Someone,’ John said, very slowly and clearly. ‘You are no longer demon master. I gave you an order. Don’t make me back it up with an imperative.’
LK shook his hands in front of his face. ‘My Lord.’
John stopped for a moment and concentrated, and the order went throughout the Mountain that we needed a new demon master immediately and all applications were welcome.
‘A quick hug, then I’ll go over to the Celestial Palace and announce it there so all the Heavens know,’ John said to me, and put his arms out.
‘No need, my Lord, I’ll do it,’ Franklin said as he scurried across the square towards us.
‘Look at you,’ I said, gesturing at him. He was panting from the mild effort and leaned his hands on his knees. He was completely emaciated, his sallow skin hanging in folds and his dark-rimmed eyes sunken and red. ‘You need to go to the West right now.’
‘I appreciate the offer, Franklin, but it would kill you,’ LK said. ‘Go to the West.’
‘I’m glad I caught you,’ Franklin said. He straightened to speak to John. ‘How long do you think it will take me to recover there?’
‘You need to be there permanently, Franklin. Here is much too far from your Centre,’ John said.
‘But I can do it!’ Franklin said. ‘I want to be useful. If someone can shuttle me back and forth I might be able to — but how long do I have to stay there before I can return?’
John thought about it for a moment, then waved Franklin closer. He held out his hand and Franklin took it.
John studied him, his dark eyes intense. ‘You are very close, Franklin. Three weeks.’
‘Back here?’
‘How long has he been living here, Emma?’
‘Three months.’
‘Three months and you’ve deteriorated to a life-threatening level, but three weeks in the Western Heavens is worth double any stay in the Earthly West. It will be six months before you need to return there,’ John said.
‘Three weeks in the West, then six months here. I can do it, provided someone will take me there,’ Franklin said. ‘It can work!’
‘What do you think, Emma?’ John said.
I folded my arms over my chest. ‘He certainly has the brains …’
Franklin lit up.
‘He has the attitude, he’s a hard worker.’ I shrugged. ‘He’d be perfect if it weren’t for this Centre business.’
‘LK?’
‘Delighted to see a demon doing the job. It’s about time,’ LK said. ‘I know damn well nobody else will step forward. Until I found Ronnie no one showed any interest in the job.’
‘Just tell me what I need to do,’ Franklin said.
‘Very well,’ John said. ‘You can take it on when you return.’
Franklin held his hand out for LK to shake and LK raised his own hands. ‘Sorry, my friend, look at me.’
Franklin dropped his hand, concerned. ‘You’re in a worse state than me. You should show me the job remotely so I’m not too close to you.’
‘Do it over webcam,’ I said.
‘That works,’ LK said. He nodded to Franklin. ‘Come to my office, we’ll set it up.’
‘No,’ John said. ‘No close contact. Have Gold arrange the link. Franklin, pack immediately and I will take you to the West right now; you won’t last the day. You should have told me.’
‘He’s that bad?’ I said.
‘He’s that bad. Franklin, go and put some stuff in a bag and meet me at the entrance to the Folly in five minutes.’
Franklin stood with his mouth open.
‘Move!’
Franklin jumped and scurried a few steps to the demon quarters, then staggered and walked more slowly.
‘Liaise with Gold to set up the webcam,’ John said to LK. He turned his intense dark gaze on him. ‘Under no circumstances are you to have any contact with demons in the next three weeks before Franklin returns. We will manage without a demon master until then.’
‘My Lord,’ LK said.
‘Dismissed,’ John said, and LK headed back towards the administration section.
John smiled down at me. ‘Are you free for about thirty minutes or so when I’m back from taking Franklin to the West?’
‘Oh, absolutely,’ I said with enthusiasm. ‘I can give you a whole hour.’
His smile widened. ‘Good.’
17
The next morning, I was at my desk when the tower bells began to ring. I tapped the stone.
‘Hm?’
‘The bells are ringing for battle stations. Find out what’s up.’
‘Okay.’
I headed out of my office towards the centre of the administrative section. The weapons master, Miss Chen, was locking up the armoury and I went to her.
She spoke before I was close enough to say anything. ‘Go to the Residence and stay there with the doors shut. Dark Lord’s orders.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Don’t bother looking for him.’
‘Okay.’ I moved to walk around her and continue to the administrative section.
She put one arm out to stop me. ‘No, Emma, damn. Please go back into the Residence and lock up. This is big.’
I ignored her and went towards the southwest corner of the wall where it joined with the administrative section and John’s office, and provided a good view over the mountains.
‘Stone?’
‘Actually, Emma, locking yourself in the Imperial Residence is a good idea. It’s the King himself.’
I stopped halfway over a moon bridge that spanned one of the Mountain’s immensely deep gorges. ‘Here? He’s attacking the Mountain?’ I turned to go to the Residence where I’d be safe. John himself kept the seals on the Residence fresh.
‘To parley.’
I turned around again. ‘Ask John if he needs me.’
‘He’d prefer you stayed in the Residence. Zara will relay to me and you can advise from inside where you’re safe.’
I hesitated, undecided. ‘He needs my moral support. He’s hurting badly, stone.’
‘New message. The King has guaranteed your safety. The Dark Lord and Princess Yue request your counsel in Stone Boulder House.’ The stone’s voice filled with caution. ‘The King says he wants to say hello.’
‘I’ll say hello with the Murasame between his third and fourth ribs,’ I growled, heading for the west gate.
‘You are aware that would be completely ineffective because he doesn’t have a heart?’
‘That has become intensely obvious over the last fifteen years.’
I ran five metres up the wall at the west gate until I was on top of the battlements. I ran an eye over the defending Disciples stationed on top of the wall, then selected two of the finest warriors of their cohort to accompany me.
‘Scotty, Julie, you’ll be at my back while we talk to the Demon King,’ I said.
‘We’re profoundly honoured, ma’am,’ Julie said.
We jumped off the wall to land lightly on the rocks fifteen metres below. They followed me, alert, as I walked down the path to the village house that the Mountain personnel used to meet with demons who were unable to enter the Academy’s seals. The seals that we were pretending still existed.
‘The Demon King’s in there talking to the Dark Lord,’ I said softly as we approached the house. ‘You’re more of a formality than anything. I would lose face by going in alone and we need to put on a show. Station yourselves behind me, weapons sheathed, and be ready for trouble if the demons do something to the Dark Lord. Princess Yue Gui is there; follow her lead.’
‘Ma’am,’ they said.
I took a deep breath to calm myself and went into the house.
John was sitting on one of the couches with Yue standing behind him. She
wasn’t in her usual black and silver Tang robes and hair ornaments; she was wearing a plain Mountain uniform with her hair tied back in a simple bun. The Demon King sat across from John, with his Number One son standing behind his couch mirroring Yue. I nodded to my guards and they positioned themselves next to the wall.
‘Ah, here she is,’ the Demon King said, jovial. ‘Now that the Dark Lord’s brain is here, we can begin.’
‘I needed my brains,’ John said, unfazed.
‘So how are you feeling, Emma?’ the King said as I pulled a rosewood chair closer and sat in it. ‘Sorry about leaving you out in the cold like that, but it was your choice. You look like you’re recovering well.’
‘I’ll get there.’
He leaned one elbow on the arm of the couch. ‘Offer’s still open, honey. I hear you can come and teach now. We’d love to have you.’
I gestured towards John. ‘Talk to my husband. I have nothing to say to you.’
‘You’ll both be in trouble referring to each other that way when the ceremony hasn’t taken place yet. The Jade Emperor is very big on proper procedure,’ the King said. He turned to John. ‘I wish to parley under terms of truce.’
‘Speak your mind,’ John said.
The Demon King leaned back and studied John, his eyes full of amusement. ‘Looking good, Ah Wu. I hope you’re feeling better — we didn’t know your poor snake’s tail was infected. The antibiotics fixed it right up, it should be fine. Can you grow it back? We want to do that again, it was great fun.’
‘I doubt it will grow back.’
‘How far up did it go on you? Did you lose your feet entirely? Your ankles as well?’ The Demon King grinned. ‘I’m surprised you’re not bleeding all over the place, to be honest. Tremendous force of will to keep your poor sore feet whole like that, must be exhausting.’ He leaned forward to speak intensely, the grin growing vicious. ‘You stood silently by and watched as this was done to women for a thousand years. You still stand and watch as they’re mutilated today. We would cut your dick off as well if we could. How does it feel when it’s happening to you?’
‘Do you have a point, or are you just here to taunt me?’ John said. ‘I have places I need to be.’
‘Oh, come on, Ah Wu,’ the Demon King said, spreading his hands. ‘It’s not every day we can share a cup of tea like this.’ He swept one hand over the coffee table and tiny cups of black liquid appeared. ‘Or even better, something to banish the winter chills.’ He raised one of the cups. ‘Yum sing.’ He downed it quickly.
Yue shot me a look. John sat unmoving. The black liquid in the cups was snake bile, harvested from the snake as it writhed in its death throes, and drunk, as the Demon King said, to banish winter chills.
John rose and bowed slightly to the King. ‘I apologise. I am vegetarian. I cannot share your hospitality. If this is what you came for, I suggest we not waste each other’s time.’
‘Damn. Emma is so much more fun than you are,’ the King said. ‘Okay, okay, sit down, playtime’s over. Let’s put the deal on the table.’ He gestured and the snake bile disappeared, to be replaced by a stack of ordinary A4 paper. ‘You know damn well you nearly lost Hell the other day, and it’s only a matter of time before we wear you down. Once we have Hell, the rest will be easy. But we can end this now. Nobody else needs to die. You can keep your half of Hell, and we stay on our side. Sign this now and the war is over. We can shake hands and go home, and your precious Celestial Plane is safe.’
‘If I give you the Earthly, you will raise an army and try for the Celestial anyway.’
The Demon King put one hand on the stack of paper. ‘You can’t have seen this yet. How do you know it gives us the Earthly?’
‘I know you. You’ve been trying to retake the Earthly ever since I drove you off. This treaty probably forces us to relinquish the Earthly Plane to you with no restrictions. In return, you give us guaranteed safety on our side of Hell and everything on the Celestial Plane. But there’ll be a loophole in the treaty that allows you to raise an army on the Earthly and make a try for Heaven.’
The Demon King’s eyes went wide with admiration. ‘Damn, Ah Wu, you are seriously good.’
John flicked one hand over the stack of papers. ‘How long would it keep you out of the Celestial before you tried us?’
The King hesitated, then said, ‘Three years.’
‘Plenty of time for you to raise an army on the Earthly. We’re better off taking our chances now.’
The Demon King tapped the treaty with his index finger. ‘Are there any changes we could make that would result in a signature?’
‘No time limit. No loopholes. You give us the Celestial, we give you the Earthly in perpetuity,’ John said. ‘Hell we divide as it’s always been.’
‘You’d sign that? You’d let us out onto the Earthly with no restrictions on harming humans?’
‘Only the Jade Emperor would have sufficient seniority to sign such a treaty, but we’d definitely give it serious consideration after what happened in Hell. Redraft it and halt your attacks for a week while we look at it.’
‘Stalling? I don’t think so. I’ll give you forty-eight hours to look at it,’ the Demon King said.
‘I want a ceasefire while you draft it and while we look at it.’
‘Done,’ the King said. ‘I’ll send you a revised treaty in twenty-four hours. You have two days after that to make your decision.’ He leaned forward to speak intensely to John. ‘Understand, Ah Wu, we have the Western horde as well as our own. What you saw in Hell was nothing; it was just our weakest and most expendable.’ He leaned back. ‘And we nearly had you. If you lose Hell it’s all over, my friend, so let’s finish this now. Agree to the new treaty and we can be friends again. No one else need suffer. The Earthly is the world of ruin anyway, it’s not worth your time to defend it. Stay up here where it’s pure and bright, and leave the humans to their hatred, greed and corruption. It’s their world anyway, and they’re making such a mess of it that they deserve to have us among them.’
‘I will give you my answer in three days,’ John said. ‘Until then we have a ceasefire.’
‘Done,’ the King said. He rose and put out his hand.
John eyed it without moving from the couch. ‘Seriously?’
‘Good faith Western-style,’ the King said. ‘I know you are a creature of your word.’ He smiled slightly. ‘You’re not the only one dipping into the pleasures of the West and learning a whole new set of skills.’
John rose, shook the Demon King’s hand, then sat again. The King and his Number One left.
‘Number One, escort them from the Heavens,’ John said without looking up.
‘My Lord,’ Yue said, and went out to join them.
Emma, you chose two Europeans as your honour guard, John said. Think more carefully next time.
‘Oh damn,’ I said softly. ‘It never occurred to me. I just selected the most talented two that were there.’
‘I can see that,’ John said. He sighed, leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands over his face. ‘If I give him the Earthly, the war will be over. Many lives will be saved.’
‘That’s not an option, is it?’ Julie said from her post next to the wall. ‘Really? Because my mom —’
‘I know, Julie. We know,’ I said.
‘If it came to all-out war, could they beat us?’ Scott said, his voice weak. ‘He said they could win.’
John looked at them, his gaze fierce. ‘It would be a close thing. But if it comes to war, win or lose, many lives are destroyed.’
‘And if they take over the Earthly?’ Julie said.
‘It’s hard to imagine which is a worse option,’ I said.
‘We have a very tough decision to make,’ John said.
‘I’m glad I don’t have your job,’ Scott said.
‘It’s not a job I’d wish on anyone,’ I said.
John waved the Disciples closer. ‘Come and I’ll wipe your memories.’
/> ‘No need,’ I said. ‘They’re senior Disciples. Neither of them will share anything they learned here today.’
‘I know, because I’ll make sure of it.’ John stopped and concentrated for a moment. ‘Yue says that the King really is leaving; he’s keeping his word about the ceasefire. Let’s use these three days to prepare.’ He nodded to the Disciples and they approached him.
‘Don’t do this,’ I said.
Julie and Scott fell to their knees in front of John. Julie turned on her knees to speak to me. ‘It’s okay, ma’am, it’s definitely for the best. I shouldn’t know about this.’
‘She’s right,’ Scott said.
‘They’ll forget everything up until what Julie just said,’ John said, putting his finger on Julie’s forehead. ‘They’ll remember agreeing to have it done.’
I leaned on the wall and crossed my arms. ‘It’s wrong. You shouldn’t mess with our own people’s heads.’
‘I don’t need to do it often, because I’m aware of security,’ John said, unfocused. He changed to Scott, and Julie rose to stand next to me. She patted my arm.
‘It’s part of our duties, ma’am. If the Dark Lord doesn’t want us to know, then we shouldn’t know.’
John finished Scott and helped him to his feet. ‘Both of you wait outside.’
After they’d gone out I asked him, ‘Have you ever made me forget anything I shouldn’t have heard?’
He rose from the couch and went to the door without looking at me, his expression full of restraint.
‘You have?’ I said with horror.
I tried to push past him to go out, and he turned to stand in front of the door and leaned on it, blocking me.
‘Emma, stop. No. I haven’t. Never.’ He pointed at his nose. ‘Look at me. No. I never have.’
I looked up into his eyes and saw the honesty there. ‘Never?’
‘Never. Trust me.’ He uncrossed his arms and sagged. ‘You’ve given your permission every time we’ve been inside your head.’ He made a helpless gesture. ‘That’s one of the reasons why I don’t like doing it. You’re correct: it’s wrong.’
‘You had no trouble doing it to them,’ I said, pointing at the door.
‘And next time you won’t bring low-security humans along when we have a high-security meeting.’