‘Have they tried anything to help you with this?’ I said. ‘Have you talked to anyone about it?’
‘The Lord Bai Hu suggested a few things, stuff they use to control natural stallions. Nothing works. Apparently I’m … what’s the term? Very hormonal. Very horsy.’ He laughed in his throat, a cross between a human laugh and a nicker. ‘I have aggressive urges, and I’m extremely territorial, and I have absolutely no control over any of it.’ He looked into my eyes, his own brown eyes full of desperation. ‘Please talk Simone into letting me be castrated. I’d be a much better companion for her as a gelding.’
I put my hand on his shoulder. ‘That’s a huge decision to make, Freddo.’
‘No, it isn’t. There’s only one thing I want from life and that’s to be Simone’s horse. Lord Bai Hu explained everything: because I’m half demon, I’ll never sire anything anyway. It’s the best course all around.’
‘What about chemical castration?’
He dropped his head. ‘They tried that. For three marvellous weeks, I was everything that Simone would want from me. Lord Bai Hu said that when I was sane, I was the most talented horse he’d ever seen, demon or natural. I memorised and completed a medium-level dressage test by myself; Lord Bai Hu said he’d never seen any horse do that before, that I was unique. It was wonderful.’
‘But?’
‘But it wore off. And then they had to raise the dose to keep it working. Over the long term it would have killed me.’ He gazed out over the mountains. ‘I would love to be that horse again, ma’am. To be able to concentrate and see the world clearly without the haze of hormones making my brain a mess of stupidness.’ He looked at me. ‘A tiny operation, under local anaesthetic, and I’ll be everything that I want to be. But she won’t let them do it.’
‘You don’t seem to be any trouble right now, Freddo. How do you know that with the right training and concentration techniques you won’t grow out of it? You’re still very young.’
‘Ma’am, horses become more hormonal as they grow older. In a year or so, I may be so out of control that I’ll be insane.’
‘I know many stallions who are perfectly calm, sensible rides.’
‘And you also know of racing stallions who are so dangerous they have to be controlled with devices that can only be classed as torture. Even with handling by talented, experienced humans who know what they’re doing, a hormonal stallion is a dangerous thing. And that’s me.’
‘You’re different.’
‘No, I’m not. I’m just like them — an uncontrollable animal.’
I stroked his shoulder. ‘You have something that none of those horses has: intelligence. And from the way you talk, intelligence equal to that of an extremely smart human. Use it.’
‘Freddo,’ Simone said from his other side. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’
‘Oh God,’ Freddo moaned, a low sound of pain. ‘Let them cut me, please. I want to be with you.’
She stood in front of him. He leaned into her and she cradled his head. ‘I don’t want to do that to you. It would make you different from what you are, and I love you just like this.’
‘But you stay away from me.’
‘I won’t any more.’ She leaned down to see into his eyes. ‘You don’t have an erection right now, see? You can learn to control it.’
‘Spoke too soon,’ he said, lowering his head.
She giggled, and he laughed as well.
‘Stone, is the Tiger free?’ I said.
‘No,’ the stone said. ‘But I can relay.’
‘Tiger, Freddo’s extremely intelligent. Could he use human meditation and concentration techniques to control these impulses?’
The stone spoke with the Tiger’s voice. ‘Just cut the little bastard and be done with it. Best solution all around.’
‘I won’t let you!’ Simone said.
‘Oh,’ the Tiger said. ‘Sorry, little one, didn’t know you were there. It is the best thing to do.’
‘How about we get them working with a behavioural therapist for a few months and see if they can’t work this out?’ I said. ‘Don’t treat him like an animal, treat him like a person.’
‘If that doesn’t work, what then?’ Freddo said.
‘Then Simone has to let you have the operation,’ I said.
Simone stroked his forelock and rested her forehead on his. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘I do,’ he said.
‘Compromise,’ I said. ‘Say six months. In six months you’ll be old enough to begin your training, Freddo; that will be moment-of-truth time. I won’t let you carry Simone if you can’t control yourself. Okay?’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ the Tiger said, ‘but you’re paying for the therapist.’
‘Deal,’ I said.
‘Okay,’ Freddo said.
‘You have to try your hardest,’ Simone said. ‘Don’t play up just so you have to be cut. There are a lot of advantages to staying entire, Freddy-frog, you know that?’
‘You’ll be bigger and stronger entire,’ I said.
‘And it’s cool to ride a stallion,’ Simone said. ‘Prestigious. It’s like being a heroine in a fairytale.’
Freddo raised his head, nearly hitting Simone on the nose. ‘There’s prestige in riding a stallion? The Tiger makes it sound like only idiots use stallions as riding horses.’
‘That’s because it’s true,’ the Tiger said. ‘Stallions are fucking useless as a saddle horse: totally unable to concentrate, particularly when there’s a mare in heat around. You want spirit, ride a mare; you want reliable, ride a gelding; you want to die, ride a stallion.’ His voice became rueful again. ‘Sorry, Simone.’
‘That will be the test then,’ I said to Freddo. ‘In six months, let’s see you do a dressage test with a mare in heat in the next paddock.’
‘Can’t be done,’ the Tiger said.
‘We can do it, right, Freddo?’ Simone said.
‘Wanna bet?’ the Tiger said.
‘Yes!’ she said.
‘What do you bet?’
‘My testicles,’ Freddo said with amusement.
‘All right,’ the Tiger said. ‘You do a test with a mare nearby, you keep your balls. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was just about to supervise one of my own stallions.’
‘You two go and talk about stuff,’ I said to Simone and Freddo. ‘I have work to do. Go and watch a video together.’
Freddo tossed his head at me. ‘Don’t treat me like a human, Emma, I’m a horse. I don’t watch videos.’
‘Olympic showjumping?’ Simone said.
‘Ooh,’ Freddo said, eyes wide. ‘They have videos of showjumping? What about the dressage?’
‘And the cross-country.’ She slapped him on the neck. ‘Come on!’
He pranced, flicking his tail. ‘Cool!’
They ran off together towards Simone’s apartment.
‘And if you need to wee, do it outside!’ I shouted after them.
CHAPTER 12
Clarissa and Michael held their engagement party in a function room at one of the Tiger’s hotels. Most of the guests were their young friends, human and Shen; they played mah-jongg and sang at the karaoke screen in the corner of the room.
Michael met us at the door and guided us to the red-clothed table for VIPs. He gestured towards a Chinese couple sitting with Clarissa. ‘These are Clarissa’s parents, Kevin and Christine Huang. This is Emma Donahoe, my boss, and Simone Chen, and Leo Alexander.’ He sat next to Clarissa and put his arm protectively around her.
‘Mr and Mrs Huang, pleased to meet you,’ I said, shaking both their hands.
Mr Huang was slim and relaxed, wearing a tailored grey silk business suit. His wife was small and round, with a kind, shy smile and an unflattering skirt suit. I sat at the table after I’d moved a chair out for Leo to wheel himself in, and Simone sat next to me.
Kevin Huang beamed. ‘We are so proud of Clarissa. We thought she couldn’t do better than working for such a prestigious company
, and then we hear she’s engaged to a prince.’ He spread his hands and grinned at his wife, obviously embarrassing Clarissa. ‘She deserves the finest!’
I glanced at Michael and he grimaced. Dad pulled the Arab sheik thing, he said.
The Tiger, wearing Arab robes, came over to us and grinned at me. ‘Lady Emma, good to see you.’ He glanced around. ‘Great party, eh?’
‘Hi, Barry,’ I said.
‘Ah, just the man I wanted to see,’ Kevin said, and gestured for the Tiger to sit. ‘I need to ask you some questions about wedding preparations.’
‘Such as, who pays?’ the Tiger said, the grin not shifting. ‘Chinese: the father of the groom pays; Western: the father of the bride pays. You’re probably wondering how we do it where I come from?’
Kevin thumped the table and shouted, ‘Exactly!’
The Tiger spread his arms, nearly knocking over a water glass with his robes, and matched Kevin’s volume. ‘How about we split the difference?’
Kevin laughed loudly and artificially. ‘Works for me!’ He turned to me and pointed at the Tiger. ‘This guy is great. I thought that Clarissa would have to cover herself up, but he’s terrific.’
‘I know!’ the Tiger said expansively.
‘Wait,’ Kevin said. ‘Lady Emma? More royalty?’
‘No, no, no,’ I said. ‘It’s just a joke amongst them. They say I’m so bossy that they have to call me that.’
He started theatrically and glared at me. ‘Bossy woman no good.’
‘She’s my boss, she’s allowed to be bossy,’ Clarissa said.
Kevin made a show of being taken aback. ‘You are boss of Chencorp?’
I nodded. ‘Simone owns the company. I run it for her until she’s old enough to take control herself.’
Kevin turned his attention to Simone. ‘I have a son who would love to meet you.’
‘Oh, Dad,’ Clarissa said, reaching past her mother to tap him on the arm. ‘Cut it out.’
‘You have a brother, Clarissa?’ I said.
‘Yeah. He’s in Canada studying, he’s eighteen. He didn’t come, he has exams, but he’s promised to come to the wedding.’
The Tiger stood again. ‘Come and play a round with me, Kevin. Winnings can go towards the wedding, and you can tell me about business in Canada.’
Kevin rose, and tapped the table next to his wife. ‘Get me some more tea.’
Christine nodded silently. When they were gone, she smiled at me. ‘What sort of business are you involved in? Kevin just said it was big.’
‘We’re mostly a holding firm for a large portfolio of investments, but we do have some sidelines,’ I said. ‘It’s complicated. When Clarissa and Michael are married, we’ll explain in more detail for you.’
‘And both of them are working for you? Last time Clarissa talked to me, she and Michael were working for a big American bank.’ She turned to Clarissa. ‘This only happened a few weeks ago?’
‘Michael’s known Simone’s family for a long time,’ Clarissa said. ‘They helped him out when he was younger; Simone’s father is like Michael’s uncle. Michael had an offer from his father’s firm in the Middle East, but he decided he’d rather work for Emma instead. I joined as well. She’s given me a big portfolio to manage by myself.’
‘Clarissa’s very smart and talented, Mrs Huang, you should be proud,’ I said.
Christine nodded and her smile grew wider. ‘I know.’
‘So what do you do, Mrs Huang? Michael told me your husband was in plastics. Are you in the same business?’
‘I run the engineering part of the company, Kevin runs the rest,’ Christine said. ‘He’s the boss; I just manage the machines.’
‘Don’t sell yourself short, Christine,’ Michael said. ‘Without you the company wouldn’t run at all.’
Christine shrugged.
‘Mom owns three patents for plastic extrusion processes,’ Clarissa said. ‘She’s a leader in the field.’
‘Doesn’t mean much here in China,’ Christine said. ‘Other factories have already stolen our technology. But it doesn’t matter provided we make a good turnover for our children.’
‘Your factories are in China?’ I said.
‘Yes. We manufacture here, and ship to Canada and the US. I spend about half my time running into Shenzhen to fix things, and Kevin runs things back home.’
‘It’s exhausting for them,’ Clarissa said.
‘Worth every second,’ Christine said. ‘Building a future for you.’
‘I hope you’re not boring everybody with stories about plastic,’ Kevin said as he and the Tiger returned to the table. He put one arm around Clarissa’s shoulders and squeezed her. ‘Your fiancé’s father just lost enough to pay for the wedding anyway.’
The Tiger waved one hand at Kevin, grinning broadly. ‘He cleaned me out.’
‘We were just talking about how living in Hong Kong has changed you,’ Kevin said to Clarissa, still holding her. ‘How it’s made you more confident.’
‘Hasn’t changed me at all,’ she said, extricating herself from his grasp and taking his hand to hold it. ‘I’m just the same.’
‘No, darling, he’s right,’ Christine said. ‘You seem so much more confident and sure of what you’re doing — it’s great to see.’
‘See? Even your mother noticed,’ Kevin said.
‘I don’t feel any different,’ Clarissa said.
‘Oh, shit, here’s trouble,’ the Tiger said softly.
There was a bemused murmur through the crowd as Martin came into the room. He was wearing traditional robes and armour, with his long hair in a topknot and the Silver Serpent in its scabbard in his right hand. He staggered slightly when he stopped in front of us, then fell to one knee and nearly toppled over. Leo jumped out of his wheelchair to catch him.
Up close it was apparent that Martin was injured: his armour was hanging off him and dark with blood. The Tiger’s sons who were present quickly came to the table and stood around us.
Martin was breathless, barely getting the words out. ‘Attack on the Gates of Heaven. Guan Yu needs reinforcements.’ He tried to salute me and failed, dropping his sword and leaning on Leo. He clutched Leo’s arm. ‘We have Disciples heading that way but the Princess and some Horsemen are sorely needed.’
The Tiger rose and concentrated. ‘Why are we blocked in here?’ He looked around. ‘What the fuck?’
‘You are unreachable here,’ Martin said. ‘My Lords, my Ladies … help them.’ His breath left him in a long gasp and he collapsed into Leo’s arms.
‘Still alive, unconscious,’ Leo said, and glanced up at the Horsemen. ‘Someone take him to the lake in the Northern Heavens; he needs to be a turtle in the water.’
One of the Horsemen nodded, reached for Martin, and they both disappeared.
I rose. ‘Michael, grab a couple of your brothers as guards and stay here with the humans. Simone, take me to the Gates. Tiger, round up your Horsemen and get yourself out there too. Stone.’
‘What’s going on?’ Kevin said weakly.
‘Heaven’s under attack, and it won’t make any difference to you because in an hour you won’t remember anything about it,’ Michael said grimly.
‘Yes, Emma?’ the stone said.
‘I want you to stay here and find the cause of that blockage. See if there’s been a Six-type stone planted here, and then find out where it came from. Michael, help it. As soon as we’re clear of the blockage, I’ll have Gold come down to assist. Let’s go, Simone.’
The stone floated out of my ring and changed to human form. Simone took my hand and everything disappeared.
We landed on top of the Gates, with the battle raging below us. An army of about a thousand demons — mostly humanoids, with flyers sweeping overhead, and a few nasty lizard things — had engaged the gate guards. Pennants held on pikes showed where the Generals fought, and the battle was particularly thick around them. It was hard to tell our own troops because they were blackened with demon essen
ce from those they’d destroyed.
‘Stay up here and relay what’s going on,’ Simone said.
‘Ah geez, I can’t,’ I said. ‘I don’t have the stupid stone.’
The stone appeared in front of me with an audible pop. ‘Zara’s handling things there, I thought you’d need me.’ It flew into the setting on my ring. ‘I was right.’
Simone took Celestial Form and summoned Seven Stars. She filled the sword with energy, then dived off the edge of the gate, somersaulting a couple of times with her dark blue robes flying around her before landing in a thick cluster of demons at the back of the formation. She used shen energy and Seven Stars to cut through them and the air around her became black with demon essence. The gate guards saw her and cheered, fighting with new energy.
I didn’t have the strength to jump off the Gates myself. I summoned the Murasame and fidgeted with frustration at not being able to join the battle below.
‘How many Horsemen is the Tiger bringing?’ I asked the stone.
‘Two hundred.’
‘Bah, that’s not many. Tell him to bring them in at seven o’clock from where Simone is. They’ll form the third point of the triangle, and the joint forces can crush them.’
The Tiger appeared at the back of the demon army in huge True Form; he must have been at least ten metres long from his whiskers to his tail. His Horsemen appeared around him, all mounted and with spears, but nowhere near where I’d said to go. They threw themselves at the demons.
Liu appeared next to me.
‘How many do we have ready?’ I said.
‘Two hundred Disciples.’
I inhaled sharply. ‘I don’t want to see mortals pulled into this!’
A group of Wudang archers appeared on the roof around me, moved into position, and used energy arrows to take out the flyers.
‘Lives will be lost this day, Lady Emma, we have all foreseen it,’ Liu said. ‘That is what the Disciples are here for. It is what they live for, and hopefully we will see one or two Raised.’