by Kylie Chan
‘Emma?’ the Serpent said in its warm female voice.
‘Do not approach the cage door,’ the King said.
‘I’m not planning to. I’m just here to collect the treaty,’ I said.
I went to where the binder was, and stopped when I saw the Serpent. They’d spray-painted over its lidless eyes.
‘I’m here, John,’ I said.
Take care, the Turtle part of John said. I cannot see you to defend you, and there are a great many big demons between us.
‘Hello, Emma,’ the Serpent said. ‘You taste lovely.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘We will get you out. Stay strong.’
It moved towards my voice and blindly slammed its snout on the cage. I winced; I knew how much that hurt. The Serpent moved more slowly, and leaned its head against the inside of the cage. I stuck my fingers through the bars to touch its nose and rubbed its snout gently.
Thank you, it said.
I had a profound feeling of oneness with it; its cloudy eyes saw into my soul, and it was as if I was losing myself into it …
They’ve grabbed me, they’re holding me, John said. Run, Emma.
‘Run, Emma!’ the Serpent said.
I turned, saw the King, and ran to stop him. He had his hands above his head and was crackling with pale blue light; he was in the process of generating a ball of black energy to throw at John, who stood below the dais held by the pair of demon Dukes who had been standing with him.
Even blind, John was more than a match for the two Dukes. He grabbed the left one’s arm, swung it high and used it to slam its body onto the ground. He pulled the right demon down at the same time, flooring both of them in front of him, then blasted shen in a tight beam and destroyed them. He straightened, his hands still glowing with shen, and moved his head from side to side as he blindly tried to predict the path of the King’s energy so that he could dodge it and attack the source.
The King’s face went beatific, and with a whoosh as loud as a jet engine the pale blue energy changed to black. The King lowered his hands towards John and prepared to launch the black mass. If it hit John while he was this close to the Serpent, he would rejoin whether it killed him or not.
I made a giant leap to block the King’s energy with my body. It had to hit me instead of John or all was lost.
‘Mummy, what’s happening?’ a child said behind the dais, and everything stopped.
The King turned to the back of the dais, dropped the energy, and it disappeared. I landed on my side at his feet. I had made no attempt to land gracefully, fully expecting to be dead before I hit. I panted as I pulled myself back to my feet, clutching my bruised ribs from landing on my arm and still holding the claw in my pocket.
The child climbed the stairs at the back of the dais and stood next to the Serpent’s cage. It was difficult to see its gender; it appeared about two years old, wearing a traditional Chinese jacket and pants. Then the shock hit me all the way down to my feet: it was profoundly similar to photos of Simone when she’d been that age. Its hair was a darker shade of brown than hers, but it was obviously half-Chinese and half-European as she was.
The King quickly changed back to Kitty Kwok form. ‘You shouldn’t be here, Frankie,’ she said. ‘You were supposed to stay in your room. Where’s your amah?’
‘Who are you?’ Frankie asked me.
‘I’m Emma.’
The child shook its head, eyes wide. ‘Mummy, stop hurting the big snake.’ It saw John. ‘You’re the same.’
John reabsorbed the shen energy and turned his head from side to side, judging distance and direction from sound. ‘Hello, little one.’
The King sagged slightly. ‘Go back to your room, darling.’ She crouched and put her arms out. ‘Come and give me a kiss, then go back to your room, okay?’
‘I want to stay with you, Mummy,’ the child said, and its voice resonated through me. I’d heard that voice before … in my dreams.
I backed to the cage, leaned against it and put my head in my hands, my throat filling. ‘Holy shit, no. Don’t do this to me, George.’
‘Mind your language in front of my son,’ the King said.
Frankie went to her and she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. She smiled into his eyes with genuine affection and tousled his hair, making him giggle. ‘It’s your nap time and you’re not allowed in here, you know that.’
‘I know. Sorry, Mummy. Amah’s had an … accident. One of the big ones came in. I don’t want to go back there.’
‘I’ll look after you.’
‘That would be good.’ He looked up at the King with adoration. ‘Can I stay with you for a while? The big one was scary.’
‘Yes, of course, darling.’ The King spoke to me over his tousled downy head. ‘Take your treaty and go. Go now, and I won’t touch you.’ She sat on the throne and lifted Frankie into her lap. ‘Say goodbye to Emma, Frankie, she’s going. I need to talk to the ladies standing at the front of the crowd here for a while.’
The Snake Mothers retreated from the dais, some of them hissing with fear.
Frankie turned to me and smiled, a sweet expression full of good nature. ‘Goodbye, Emma.’
I could barely choke the words out. ‘Goodbye, Frankie. I hope I see you again soon, because I’m your —’
‘Shut up. That won’t be happening,’ the King said, talking over me. ‘You have two days. Take your treaty and leave my dominion immediately.’
The words had the weight of an order. The Celestial’s agreement to give the King dominion over his side of Hell still held and I was bound by it. I swiftly took the binder and carried it towards John. I hefted it under one arm and took his hand.
He gazed down at me, unseeing. That child just saved your life.
‘I know,’ I said. Let’s get the hell out of here.
The hall disappeared around us.
I woke to find John dozing in one of the chairs next to the fire with the treaty binder open in his lap. Simone was sitting next to him and leaning on his shoulder as she read a book. She saw I was awake, closed the book and smiled. ‘You okay?’
I sat up. ‘I’m fine.’ I saw the clock above the fireplace. ‘I’ve been out for nearly two hours?’
‘Edwin says it’s exhaustion and to slow down.’ She gestured with her head towards John. ‘Him too.’
‘I’m awake,’ John said, moving upright and rubbing his eyes.
‘Are you still blind?’
‘No, they wiped the paint off after we left. I was … the Serpent was doing too much damage to itself hitting the walls of the cage.’
I sagged with relief.
‘You were wrong, Daddy,’ Simone said, digging him with her elbow. ‘Emma’s still here.’
He grunted. ‘You’ve said that six times now.’
‘I just like saying it,’ she said with delight. ‘Go back to sleep, Emma, I’ll wake you for dinner.’ She put her hand on his shoulder. ‘You should nap as well, Daddy, you’ve been sleeping there for a while.’
‘Okay,’ I said, and settled back. I patted the bed next to me. ‘Come on, John, nap time.’
‘I have too much to do,’ he said, squeezing the bridge of his nose. ‘We have less than forty-eight hours.’
‘Have a nap, Daddy,’ she said, then went out, closing the door gently behind her.
I sat up. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome,’ the stone said. ‘She didn’t give me any trouble at all. I asked her to leave you and she just went. She knows something’s up.’
‘Have you shown him?’
‘No, I waited until you were awake, and I knew you wouldn’t want Simone to see.’
‘Project it.’
A life-size projection of the child appeared between the bed and the fireplace. Little Frankie stood there, unmoving, his eyes wide.
John dropped his hand and stared at the image. The binder slid from his lap onto the floor and he ignored it. He glanced at me, then back at the child. ‘This is not possible.
’
‘It could be a construct,’ the stone said.
‘It has to be,’ John said.
‘He’s our child,’ I said. ‘They put him into a demon egg to take him to term.’
‘Not possible,’ John said, slumping in his chair. ‘A human foetus would not survive that sort of treatment.’
‘Look at yourself,’ I said. ‘Look at me. Now remember the origins of both of us.’
‘This is not possible!’ John said.
I gestured towards Frankie. ‘He’s been coming to me in dreams ever since I left the UK.’
John dropped his head into his hands. ‘Me too.’ He looked up at the projection. ‘This is a disaster.’
‘Only you would discover that we have a son and call it a disaster.’
‘The King will turn him against you, Emma,’ the stone said, its voice full of compassion. ‘This child has a more powerful heritage than Simone, and look how powerful she is. When grown, he will have the capability to destroy everything.’
‘You lost him six months ago. Look at him, he looks two or three and he’s only just old enough to be born,’ John said. ‘Stone, given his advanced development already, how long before he is equivalent to fifteen years old?’
‘Eighteen months,’ the stone said. ‘Although he may mature more slowly now that he’s out of the egg.’
‘Shit,’ John said softly. ‘I will not do this again.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Because if it becomes necessary, I will.’
John stared at me for a long moment. The image blinked out.
‘You could not kill your own child, Emma. Trust me. I’ve done it.’
‘If it came to this child or everything on the Celestial, I will run a sword through —’
I went silent. Just the mental image of doing that to a child, my child, stopped me dead. I dropped my head. He was right.
‘Good,’ he said. ‘Because if you were to do that, you would be no better than one of them.’
‘You’ve done it,’ I said.
He spread his hands. ‘Precisely.’
‘They won’t use the child in battle,’ the stone said. ‘The King loves him too much.’
‘The stone has a point,’ I said. ‘Kitty’s adopted him and loves him like her own. She won’t put him in danger.’
‘Oh, he’s not there to be in danger,’ John said. ‘He’s not there to be a weapon. He’s not even there to be a hostage against our good behaviour.’
‘Good,’ I said.
‘He’s there to take the throne as the Jade Emperor.’
All the breath left me in a long gasp.
‘I was wondering what the King had planned if the Heavens were to fall. He himself can’t take the throne; his nature is incompatible. This child is the perfect puppet and his lineage is impeccable.’
‘We can’t let this happen,’ I said.
‘Emma,’ John said, and his tone made me turn back to him. ‘You need to accept now that we will never be parents to this child. He will never be ours. If the King wins, our son will be Jade Emperor and we will serve him as the puppet of a cruel master.’
‘That’s not an option —’
‘Let me finish. If we win, this child will want to stay with the only mother he knows, and that is the King of the Demons. Hell is his home. There is a good chance the King will groom him to seize the position of Demon King if he is ever toppled.’
I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face in them. ‘I don’t know which is a more horrifying outcome.’
‘We could also destroy the Demon King — the only mother he’s ever known — right in front of him and turn him against us forever.’
‘That’s the worst.’
‘The best outcome is that we win this war, our son survives it, George keeps our child and loves him, and hopefully one day we will deal with a Demon King who is our own son and hardly knows us. That is the best possible future. Focus on that.’
I grinned into my knees. ‘Calling him Francis was the final twist of the blade.’
‘I know.’ He came to me and put his arm around my shoulders. ‘I’d say let it go, but I know how this is tearing your heart out, because it is tearing mine out as well.’
I grabbed him and held him for a long time. We sat in silence, grieving for a child we hadn’t known we’d had and would never be able to love.
‘War isn’t about big brave soldiers and grand heroism and noble sacrifices,’ I said into his shoulder. ‘War is about hurting children and destroying families.’
‘It always has been,’ John said, holding me close. ‘I only hope that one day there will be no more wars and I will no longer have a job.’
‘We have to tell Simone.’
‘I know,’ he said, his voice low. ‘Will you help me do it? I’ll mess it up.’
‘No, you won’t, but I’ll help you. Hey.’ I wrapped my arms tighter around him.
‘What?’
‘She was right. I’m alive. Your prediction didn’t come true.’
‘Our son doing what he did was completely random and totally unexpected. He is like me: too powerful to be predicted by any of us. He really did save your life.’
‘I hope I have a chance to thank him one day.’
‘You need to rest so you can take the Elixir. Something like this is bound to happen again. Please stop plane-shifting.’
‘I will.’
‘No more, okay?’
‘Okay. No more.’
‘Really.’
‘I mean it!’ I said, pulling back to see his face. ‘Now call Simone, we need to talk to her.’
‘This will not be fun.’
‘I know,’ I moaned.
20
We showed Simone in the living room. She stared at the projection for a long time, her expression rigid with restraint.
‘Don’t tell anyone he exists,’ John said. ‘If they find out, there’ll be constant petitions to have us removed from the war effort because our allegiance is compromised.’
She looked at us, from one to the other. ‘Is it?’
‘No,’ we said in unison.
‘Stop doing that. Did you talk to him?’
‘We said hello. That was about it,’ I said.
‘Does he know who he is?’
‘No.’
‘You didn’t tell him? Offer him an escape?’
‘We never had a chance,’ I said. ‘I was shocked speechless, then the Demon King threw us out almost immediately. Your father was blind, so he didn’t know who your brother was until we came back.’
‘Can you talk to him now, Daddy?’
‘No.’
‘I see.’ She straightened. ‘And he’s too powerful to be predicted?’
‘Yes,’ John said.
‘Am I? Can you look into my future and see what I will do?’
John leaned back. ‘There was a time when your future was bright and easily visible. As you have matured and grown into your power — no. You are as primal and chaotic as me. And him. You cannot be predicted.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Is there any way at all we could get him and the Serpent out?’
‘The long answer to your question is: going down there to the centre of their power and attempting a rescue would certainly fail and cost the lives of everybody involved as well as my freedom. The short answer is: no.’
‘So we need to win this war, then we can pull your Serpent and my little brother out.’
‘He may not want to be taken from the only home and mother he’s ever known,’ John said.
‘Then we have to win this and then convince him that there’s a better life for him here in Heaven.’
John and I both nodded a reply.
Simone rose and gestured angrily towards us. ‘Now you’re moving in synch as well. Stop it! Keep away from that damn Snake, Emma. And I changed my mind. Leave it in Hell!’ She stormed out.
‘You worry me, Emma,’ he said mildly.
‘Don’t ask me for a separation,
we’ll be at war in two days.’ I shrugged. ‘And we’re both so busy we hardly see each other anyway.’
‘True.’ He rose. ‘You’re right. I have too much to do and I can’t sit around here with you, much as I would like to. You, on the other hand,’ he gestured towards me, ‘take the afternoon off, and that’s an order. I will not risk you like this again. You are resting until you are well enough to take that damn Elixir whether you like it or not.’
‘An order, eh?’ I said.
He smiled slightly. ‘A request?’
‘Deal.’
I flopped back on the couch, unwilling to tell him that after the energy calming I was having trouble staying awake. But I was sure to have caged snake dreams later.
‘Muu … ummy.’
‘Frankie!’ I ignored the fact that he still appeared as a foetus in a demon egg and slithered to speak to him. ‘Stay here and talk to me.’
The hard bright eyes didn’t blink and the gills opened and closed. ‘Mummy?’
‘I’m your Mummy. I’m your real mother.’
‘But you’re a snake.’
‘Yes, I am. I’m a snake and a human and I love you with all my heart and I want to be with you.’
‘But you left me. Why did you leave me?’
The egg turned blinding white, and suddenly he was his small male human form, standing alone in the huge dark space, wide-eyed and frightened. I wanted to approach but my snake form might scare him into wakefulness.
‘They stole you from me, Frankie. Remember yesterday when the man and woman came into the King’s throne room?’
‘The King? Who?’
I tried to explain as quickly as I could before we lost contact. ‘The woman you call Mummy.’
His face twisted.
‘I’m your real mother,’ I said. ‘That woman you call Mummy, she stole you.’
He stared at me, unconvinced.
‘God,’ I said, and dropped my head. I put everything I had into changing to human form, and couldn’t do it. ‘Damn.’ I raised my head. ‘I’m the human woman who came to get the papers. I’m Emma. The man with me was your real father.’
He watched me silently.
‘Frankie, if you ever get out of Hell, find us. Contact us. Call for me — I’m Emma. Or call your father, Xuan Wu, and he will hear you. We will care for you and love you, and you have a family in Heaven who will all look after you. We love you. We all love you.’