I let out a huge gasp of relief and sagged in my chair, then wiped my eyes. ‘We have to find it.’
‘I will have the stones on the Mountain look into it,’ John said. ‘Oh, I have gained permission for the use of the Crucible. Round up the ingredients, will you? I want this done as soon as possible.’
‘With pleasure,’ Ma said.
‘So: that’s the half-yearly strategic plan done, the situation with the copies clarified, and the Jade Emperor’s pet UN project shared. Anything else that we need to do?’ John said.
‘You need to rest,’ Zhu Bo Niang said. ‘Both of you. Take some time off — down in the Grotto in True Form if it pleases Your Highness. Lady Emma, similar, here on the Mountain. We have guarded it successfully for ten years without you. Let us continue for another week or so while you build your strength.’
‘I will, as soon as I’ve run a sweep for demon copies in the palaces of the other Winds,’ John said. ‘After that, I will retreat for a few days until the demon copy in Singapore shows up again.’
‘Then all is well in the Heavens and Celestial Harmony has been returned to the North,’ Ma said with satisfaction.
‘Very well. Dismissed,’ John said.
As the Generals rose to go, Ma put his arms around John’s and my shoulders and walked us to the door. ‘Normally I’d suggest we stay and play a few rounds, but frankly both of you look totally wrecked. Go get some sleep and we’ll talk later.’
John stopped. ‘I’d love to play a round with you.’
Ma slapped him on the back and pushed him out the door. ‘Go play around with Emma instead, and both of you get some rest. Oh …’ He winked at me. ‘Hurry up and make a son for his Highness — he needs a fully human son for the complete set.’
‘That won’t be happening for a while, Ma,’ I said. ‘There are a few things that have to be dealt with before we can think about it.’
‘Can’t be anything too serious holding you back; you’re on the Celestial Plane,’ he said.
I pulled his arm to lead him into the courtyard outside the hall, then dropped my voice so the other Generals couldn’t hear. ‘I have active AIDS, Ah Guang. If I become pregnant, the disease will progress more quickly and could kill me before I give birth. Also there’s a chance that the child would be born infected. We have to wait until his Serpent returns and clears it from me.’
‘That’s the better option anyway,’ Ma said, unfazed. ‘I’d love to see what sort of child the combined creature would sire on an interesting powerful human like yourself. Or a powerful snake like yourself — now that would be something to see.’
‘You’re not suggesting that I … we …’ I looked from Ma to John, who seemed to be considering the concept. ‘We’re not even sure we know what I am, and you want to make me a mother as a snake?’
‘Your Serpent form is incredibly hot,’ John said. ‘Actually, while we’re talking about it …’
‘Not in front of Ma we’re not,’ I said. I took John’s arm and led him away from Ma and towards the Imperial Residence.
‘Now we know what he really sees in her,’ Ma said loudly, and went back into the War Room.
‘You are thoroughly freaking me out here,’ I said as we entered the Residence.
‘Training room first, there’s something I want to do,’ he said. ‘And I think you’re freaked out because secretly you’re loving the idea.’
I stopped for a moment, then continued after him. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. His Serpent attracted my snake nature in ways that I couldn’t begin to understand; the Serpent’s immense intellect riding on so much raw power made my snake half feel almost predatory.
‘I want to be combined and complete and have you in no danger of being possessed and absorbed though,’ he said, pulling out the demon jar. ‘Also, I want you to be confident that it’s what you want. With most shape-changing Shen, it’s just part of the relationship: we experiment. With you, it may be different.’ He opened the jar. ‘This subject had to be broached sooner or later, and the sooner it is, the more time you have to think about it before it becomes an issue.’
‘When you’re two creatures …’ I hesitated.
‘Hm?’
‘How do you … in True Form … I mean, there’s two of you. How do you …?’
The reptile leaped within his eyes. ‘However you want me to. I can provide you with some truly remarkable experiences — human or animal. Both of me.’
I gasped. ‘Just when I thought I had everything under control.’
He took a bead out of the jar and approached me with it. ‘I am yin, the force of chaos. Things always go out of control around me — get used to it.’ He held the bead out towards my arm. ‘Hold your arm up.’
I did as he asked, and felt a pull towards the demon bead.
‘Fascinating,’ he said. ‘Appears to be made of the same stuff; the demon essence has been compressed into the arm. If I moved it close enough, your arm would probably absorb it.’
He put the bead away and sealed the jar; then waved one hand and it drifted into the corner. ‘I need to make some more. I believe there are only about ten still in existence on all Planes.’
‘Why are you the only one who can make them?’ I said.
‘Because I am what I am.’
‘When I was full of demon essence, I could do it too.’
‘Did the Dragon wet himself?’
‘I think he nearly did.’
He took my hand and guided me back towards the stairs. Everybody was still playing games; Martin had joined in and they were laughing at a four-player party game on the Wii.
‘We’re going to bed,’ John said. ‘Don’t stay up too late.’
‘We’ll move it over to my house then, so we won’t disturb you,’ Leo said.
‘You really should move in here, Leo,’ John said. ‘We have another room free, and we can always add another floor.’
‘Actually, we’re planning for Michael to move in here, and for Leo to take Persimmon Tree Pavilion,’ I said.
‘You’re putting Michael back on here as a Retainer?’ John studied Michael. ‘Is that what you want? You could be a senior single-digit son if you wanted.’
‘Dad offered me Number One,’ Michael said.
‘Whoa,’ Justin said softly.
‘I turned it down, too much politics. Emma said I can stay here.’
‘Wise choice. So Michael here, and Leo at Persimmon?’ John grinned at me. ‘The Empress is doing a fine job of managing the domestic household.’
There was a moment of complete silence as everybody looked from John to me, waiting for the explosion.
‘He’s joking, people, hear the sarcasm,’ I said.
He raised his hands. ‘I was female myself a couple of days ago, remember?’ He held one hand out to me. ‘Come on, Emma, come to bed. Don’t stay up too late, children, school tomorrow.’
‘Yes, Mother,’ Martin said, and everybody laughed.
Simone jumped up, ran to John and hugged him. ‘Good night, Daddy. Sleep well.’ She hugged me too. ‘Get some rest, Emma, you look terrible.’
‘Thanks very much,’ I said, and allowed myself to be guided to the bedroom.
John stopped just inside and eyed my closet. ‘Is there enough room in there for your things? Michelle always said it was too small.’
‘I think I’ll use about a third of that space.’
I went into the bathroom to prepare for bed. When I came out again he was already in bed with only his tangle of hair and dark eyes visible above the covers.
‘You cold?’ I said.
‘Cold-blooded. Come and be a mammal under here and warm me up.’
‘Lies,’ I said, crawling over him and under the silk quilt. ‘You’re a mammal yourself right now.’
‘Oh yeah?’ He slipped one hand under the top of my pyjamas and I yelped when I felt his frozen fingers against my skin. ‘I hope you don’t mind: I skipped all the human “getting ready for bed” n
onsense. Michelle appreciated me making the effort but right now I’m exhausted and frankly I couldn’t be damned.’
I wrapped myself around him. He wore a plain pair of black pyjama pants with no top, and the skin of his back and stomach were ice-cold. ‘I think we both just need to sleep. A lot.’
He pulled me closer and spoke softly into my hair. ‘Sounds like an excellent idea.’
‘Are you permanently male now?’ I said, holding him tight.
‘I spent the time while you were gone mostly in the Grotto, not talking to anyone. I slip out of the form when I’m very tired, but I can hold it most of the time.’ He nuzzled my hair. ‘And right now I think you should sleep. You’ve been through a lot.’
‘Um,’ I said.
‘Um?’
‘John, I won’t be able to sleep unless you raise your body temperature. It’s like being in bed with an ice block. My boobs are going numb here.’
‘Well, we can’t have that; let me warm up for a couple of minutes,’ he said.
He slipped out of bed, changed to Turtle form, and lay on the silk rug in front of the fire, his eyes closed with bliss. I moved to sit next to him, leaning on his shell and feeling it gradually grow comfortably warm as we watched the flames.
I fell asleep over his shell and didn’t know when he carried me back to bed.
I left John sleeping the next morning and joined Leo, Simone and Michael for breakfast. All three of them were subdued.
‘You look like something terrible happened,’ I said.
‘It did,’ Simone said. ‘I broke Justin’s arm.’
‘What?’
‘You know how we never permitted any sort of horseplay, any physical rough-and-tumble?’ Leo said. ‘With skills like ours, it could lead to —’
‘Broken arms,’ Simone said. She leaned her chin on her hand. ‘Justin got excited when he won, went to tickle me or something, and I guarded, twisted his arm and pushed him away without thinking about it.’ She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. ‘Broken in three places, and a dislocated shoulder. It hurt so much he screamed. A lot.’
‘You should have woken me,’ I said. ‘I could have healed him.’
‘We healed it enough that it stopped hurting and didn’t need to go into plaster,’ Michael said. ‘He’ll be fine.’
‘The worst part is that he kept apologising,’ Simone said, wiping her eyes. ‘He yelled at himself for being such an idiot and not realising I could do that. He even apologised for underestimating me; he said of course I’d defend myself, being who I am.’
‘He understands, Simone. That’s a good thing.’
‘And now I have to go to school,’ Simone said, her voice breaking. ‘Everybody will know.’
‘I doubt it,’ I said. ‘My bet is that he hasn’t told anyone. And you need to talk to him and let him know — after you hurt him so much — that it’s okay and you forgive him.’
‘I want him to forgive me.’
‘Then you can meet up before class and forgive each other. Have you spoken since he went home last night?’
‘No.’
‘When does school start?’
‘First lesson’s at eleven, but I want to visit Freddo before I go up.’
‘Can he meet you at Freddo’s stable in the West?’
She winced. ‘He can’t fly. He can’t teleport. He can’t do anything terribly special, actually. He has to be carried to CH to go to school. One of his brothers helps him out — but sometimes he forgets and leaves Justin stranded.’
‘Not uncommon for a half-dragon to show no talent,’ I said. ‘He’s a smart kid, he’ll do well anyway, and it may come out later.’
‘He’s not half,’ Leo said. ‘He’s full-blood dragon. His mother’s a dragon too.’
‘Whoa, really?’ Michael said. ‘That’s extremely unusual — is he sure that Qing Long is his …’ He realised what he was saying and closed up.
‘Yes, he’s sure. His mother’s as confused about it as he is. His father’s even had tests done to find out why he’s like this,’ Simone said. ‘They can’t find anything.’
‘God, life in the Eastern Palace must be absolute hell for him,’ Michael said.
‘It is,’ Simone said.
John came in. ‘Why doesn’t he move out from there?’
‘Because he loves the technology, and the Tree is really nice to him.’
John sat at the table and concentrated, and Er Hao brought him a bowl of congee. ‘Should we bring him over here and start an IT research establishment of our own?’
‘I don’t recommend it, Highness,’ I said. ‘We do the Arts of War. The Tiger researches demonkind. The Dragon handles the technology. The Phoenix’s people are materials specialists. Provided we share the information, having the groups centralised works well.’
‘Noted and ratified,’ John said. ‘I’ll be visiting the Eastern Palace today. Do you want me to talk to the Dragon about better treatment for the lad?’
‘Don’t you dare!’ Simone said.
He bobbed his head. ‘As you wish, Princess.’
‘Oh, cut it out, Daddy,’ Simone said. ‘I get enough of that from the boys at CH.’
‘Do you want me to talk to —’
‘No!’ She glared at him. ‘Don’t talk to anybody! The last thing I need is you throwing your weight around to get me special treatment. That would make me really popular.’
John sipped his congee, his dark eyes amused over the bowl. ‘Forgive me, Simone, it’s been a long time since I’ve been human and it will take me a while to grow accustomed to social niceties again.’
‘Well, hurry up and do it, because Hongie will probably call you in to say hello,’ Simone said. She rose and hugged her father around his shoulders, kissing him on the top of his head. ‘I’m off to see Freddo, then on to CH. I’ll see you guys later.’
He patted her back without rising. ‘I’ll be here when you get home.’
That stopped her, and she smiled. ‘That’s something I’ve been wanting to hear for a very long time.’
She disappeared, and John turned to me. ‘Do you want to come with me to the other three Bastions while I check their populations for demon copies?’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I haven’t said hello to the Tree in a long time. But I can’t go to the Phoenix’s palace, it’s too hot.’
‘I can leave you with your parents at the West while I do hers.’ He turned to Leo. ‘It is very strange to have you still here after Simone has gone. I keep having the nagging feeling that she’s been left undefended.’
‘I have that feeling all the time,’ Leo said. ‘I still can’t get used to it.’ His expression darkened. ‘Michael, if you’re done, could you go find something to do?’
‘I can see I’m not wanted,’ Michael said, and disappeared.
‘What, Leo?’ I said.
‘Give me a date and time so I can put my affairs in order.’
‘Let me build up some energy first,’ John said. ‘If I were to attempt this now it is possible I would drain anybody within a twenty li radius.’
‘Then do it somewhere away from people.’
‘I won’t take that risk.’
‘Don’t you dare make excuses for putting this off!’
John opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and smiled wryly. ‘Very well, Lion. After I have spent a few days in the core of the Mountain, we will arrange something.’
Leo saluted John and disappeared.
I pulled Leo’s newspaper closer to my tea and toast and opened it.
‘There was an explosion at Town Hall MRT station in Singapore last night!’ I said. ‘That has to have been Emily. Why haven’t the Thirty-Six been in contact with us about this?’
‘They have. I keep forgetting you don’t have your stone to relay messages for you,’ John said. ‘They told me a while ago. They’re searching the area for the nest entrance and will update us when they have more.’
I closed the paper and lea
ned on it. ‘We need to go. Right now.’
‘No, we don’t,’ he said, placidly stirring his congee. ‘Trust the Generals; they can be relied upon. We have more pressing issues.’
‘Make sure they let us know when they find the nest. I want in on that action.’
‘That may not be such a good idea, Emma.’
‘I don’t care if it’s the stupidest idea in the world. I want to be there when they pin that Mother down.’
‘I will let you know the minute they find something.’
‘Even if you’re busy in one of the other Bastions?’
‘Of course.’
I flipped through the rest of the paper. Much of it was shrill journalistic wittering about the ‘terrorist threat that had finally come to Asia’. They had no idea.
‘The Lius wish to speak to us before we head out,’ John said.
‘Okay,’ I said, and we finished our breakfast together in companionable silence, both thinking the same thing: it is the smallest times together that bring the greatest joy.
We met the Lius and LK in John’s office. The Imperial office sat at the far southeast corner of the complex: a five-by-five-metre building separate from the other buildings in the administrative centre. Two sides of the office were flush with the corner of the wall, and John could walk through French doors onto the top of the wall whenever he wished. From behind his desk he could look out over the wall to the mountains beyond.
I stopped at the entrance. ‘How many days have you been back?’
‘Five. No, six,’ he said, sitting behind his massive ebony desk and checking his email.
I waved one hand at the pile of papers in danger of spilling onto the floor. ‘I do not believe this.’
‘He won’t suffer a secretary either,’ Liu said, sitting at the small conference table. ‘Talk to him, please.’
John glared over the desk at Liu. ‘I’ve had secretaries in the past. I can never find anything. No more.’ He picked up his diary and pen — green and gold with the Xuan Wu animal on it: a special limited edition made by a Japanese pen company — and joined us at the table. ‘Is everything under control?’
‘We still have funerals to hold down on the Earthly,’ Liu said. ‘We need to restart classes to keep the students busy.’