Black Jade

‘You have to teach him everything,’ the King said suspiciously.

  ‘The way he’s learning, in six months he’ll be teaching me,’ I said. ‘He is very much his father’s son.’

  ‘Superior to the girl in every way,’ the King said softly. ‘I wouldn’t say that. Simone has her strengths.’

  ‘Not with this,’ the King said, gesturing towards Frankie, who had moved into Brush Knee and Twist without being shown.

  ‘His mother’s a practitioner,’ I said. ‘Hers wasn’t.’ I nodded to Frankie. ‘Let’s go through them again.’

  We performed the moves together; he had already learnt as much as I had in my first four lessons with John.

  ‘You really are exceptional, Frankie.’

  ‘I want to use the sword,’ he said, his eyes unseeing as he concentrated.

  ‘It won’t be long before you’re ready for it.’ I spoke to the King without looking away from Frankie. ‘Where are my demons? I could use their assistance in caring for five children, particularly when one of them continually bullies the other four.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me the littlest one could drive a bulldozer!’ the King said, pulling a chair from the dining table and putting it on the veranda so he could sit and watch us. ‘You can have her as soon as she’s finished in the Summer Palace. Why the hell were you using her as a handmaid when she could operate heavy machinery?’

  ‘She helped rebuild the Mountain, but she didn’t enjoy driving,’ I said. ‘Too much noise and vibration. She was happier in the Imperial household. It made her feel special to be working directly with the Imperial family.’

  ‘No wonder you lost the war, throwing away valuable skills like that.’ He crossed his legs, relaxed, as he watched us. ‘I’m looking for the other two, but they don’t believe me and they’re hiding. Maybe make a video and put it on YouTube saying to come in?’

  ‘I don’t have internet access,’ I said. ‘Give me a computer and I’ll do it. Push your foot further to the side, Frankie. Good.’

  ‘Good try,’ he said. ‘If they won’t come in, I’ll give you a couple of thralls. The kitchen is disgusting.’

  ‘I’d rather have my own demons.’

  ‘Not your demons any more. Mine. Everything is mine. I’ll bring them when I find them. They can’t hide forever.’

  He rose and went out.

  * * *

  Late that evening I’d put Frankie to bed and was cleaning the kitchen again, when the King called my name from the living room. I went in to see him. He had Amy hanging limply off one arm and he was holding Little Jade’s hand with the other. He released Little Jade and she stood silent and terrified.

  ‘Look after her,’ he said and disappeared, taking Amy with him.

  I went to Little Jade and hugged her. ‘Hello, darling.’

  She looked around. ‘Where’s Mummy? Mummy was here. Is she okay?’ She sniffled, then wailed, ‘Mummy!’

  The King reappeared with Amy and Richie. He released Richie and pushed him towards me, then rotated a still unconscious Amy and dropped her onto the couch. ‘Look after them.’ He disappeared.

  ‘Mummy!’ Jade screamed, and she and Richie ran to Amy.

  She was lying half-off the sofa, so I made her more comfortable, then put my hand on her forehead to check her. Drained, but she would be okay. Little Jade and Richie climbed up on the sofa with her.

  ‘Mummy. Mummy!’ Little Jade shouted, lifting Amy’s hand to her own cheek.

  ‘Is she dead?’ Richie said, his voice full of tears.

  ‘She’s fine,’ I said. ‘She’s just drained from the trip up here. Sit carefully next to her and look after her, and she’ll wake up soon.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Absolutely positive.’

  Little Jade lay next to Amy, still holding her hand. ‘Please be okay, Mummy.’

  The King reappeared on the other side of the room holding my sister Jennifer and Matthew. Jennifer collapsed, and the King dragged her to the other sofa and dropped her.

  Matthew hugged her where she lay. ‘Mummy! Mummy! Wake up!’

  ‘So much noise,’ the King said with distaste. ‘Shut them up, Emma.’

  I went to Matthew and took his hand. ‘Mummy’s fine, Mattie. She just needs to sleep for a little while. She’ll wake up soon.’

  Amy started to come around.

  ‘Mummy!’ Little Jade shrieked, and wriggled off her.

  Amy sat up, bleary-eyed and confused. She saw Little Jade and Richie and pulled them into a huge hug. ‘My babies. My babies!’

  Jennifer came around shortly after, grabbed Matthew and held him tight against her chest. She saw me, and turned away.

  ‘Frankie, your friends are here,’ the King called without looking away from us.

  Frankie came in, saw the children, and lit up. ‘You’re back!’

  Everybody ignored him.

  ‘You should greet your Emperor,’ the King said, but again the children ignored him. ‘All right, time to say goodbye to your mothers, because they can’t stay here.’

  The children howled.

  ‘Don’t send their mothers away, they need them!’ I said.

  ‘You said they didn’t need their mothers, that they’d be fine with you, and you’d provide better care anyway,’ the King said.

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Emma would never say anything like that,’ Amy said.

  ‘Beside the point. Say goodbye.’

  ‘I’m not going,’ Amy said. ‘These are my children and they need me.’

  ‘They have Emma,’ the King said.

  ‘Matthew’s only a baby!’ Jennifer said.

  ‘Time for you to go.’

  ‘What can I do to stay?’ Jennifer said. ‘Do you need someone else to look after them? This is a big house, does Emma need help with the housework? Let me help. I’ll do anything!’

  ‘Me too,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll do anything to stay here.’

  ‘Nothing here for you except distracting my son’s playmates. Go home.’

  The King waved to one of the Dukes guarding the door. The Duke went to Amy, took her shoulder and disappeared.

  ‘Mummy!’ Jade screeched.

  Jen stood up to shout at the King. ‘You already killed one of my sons. The other one’s working for you. Leave one for me! Just one!’ She pulled Matthew into her and her voice was hoarse with tears. ‘Let me have one baby. I have no children left.’ She turned to me. ‘Emma, don’t just stand there, stop them! Do something!’

  The Duke reappeared, pushed Matthew away from his mother, and disappeared with her. Matthew and Richie wailed, then dissolved into racking sobs.

  ‘What a racket!’ the King said. ‘Shut them up, Emma!’

  ‘You just took their mothers away,’ I said. ‘There’s no way I can make them calm unless you bring their mothers back.’

  ‘I told you that their mothers would be a distraction from their real job of playing with Frankie,’ the King said. He gestured towards the children. ‘Stop them.’

  The Western King entered. ‘What is this damn noise? I’ll sort it out.’ He stood over the children. ‘Shut the hell up right now or you’ll get the belt!’

  They ran from him and huddled together in the corner of the sofa, still crying.

  ‘All right,’ the Western King said with grim satisfaction. ‘You asked for it.’ He summoned a leather belt and folded it over his hand. ‘I’ll enjoy this. You little shits deserve it.’

  The children screamed, ducking their heads and putting their hands over them.

  He swung the belt at them but I moved faster. I put myself between him and the children and took the blow on my back. I bent over the children where they cringed on the sofa, taking the blows for them, and they clutched at me.

  The end of the belt missed me and hit them, making them shriek with pain.

  ‘Stop it, you’re scaring them even more,’ I shouted, but the blows didn’t subside.

  ‘Daddy, Daddy, please stop,’ Frankie said, his voice soft
and terrified.

  ‘Francis, stop, you’re not achieving anything,’ the King said.

  ‘I’ll achieve peace of mind,’ the Western King grunted, swinging again.

  The buckle hit Matthew and he screamed through his sobs.

  ‘Stop and we can discuss this,’ I said. ‘All you need to do is talk —’

  ‘Talk!’ he bellowed, and swung the belt again. The buckle slapped the back of my head. He continued hitting us in time to his words. ‘They don’t need talk, they need discipline. A good solid beating now and then never hurt anyone. Spoilt brats.’

  ‘Daddy,’ Frankie said from the side of the room. ‘Don’t hit my friends. Stop hitting them.’ His voice rose in pitch. ‘Stop!’

  The Western King rounded on him. ‘Shut up or you’ll be next. It’s been a while since you had a good thrashing!’

  Frankie cringed away and hid behind the Eastern King.

  The Western King reached down and dragged me off the children. He threw me to the other side of the room with strength I couldn’t fight. ‘Get the fuck out of my way. These pathetic runts need to learn a lesson.’

  The Eastern King put his hand on his arm. ‘Darling, stop. You’ll make little Frankie hate you even more.’

  ‘Good!’ the Western King said. ‘You spoil the child. Look at him — he’ll grow up weak and indulged. By the time I was his age, I’d already killed twenty nest mates.’

  ‘You have what you wanted,’ I said, and pointed at the children who were huddled in the corner of the couch, wide-eyed and silent. ‘They’re quiet now.’

  The Western King stormed back to the children and prepared to hit them again.

  ‘No, Francis, not in front of Frankie,’ the Eastern King said.

  The Western King slapped Matthew’s shoulder and he started to cry again. The other two children jumped off the couch to run away, and the King grabbed them and threw them back on.

  The Eastern King took True Form: blood-red and skinless, with a snake tail. He towered over everybody, his head nearly touching the ceiling. The children shrieked with terror.

  ‘Francis, stop this now or I will make you stop!’ he roared, his voice deep and resonating.

  The Western King hesitated, his face a mask of rage, then he cuffed Little Jade on the side of the head and charged out.

  The Eastern King shrank back down to human form. ‘I will be so glad when Frankie’s finally on that damn throne and we can start rewriting the rules,’ he said, his voice mild. ‘The first thing we’ll do is order everybody to love him and be happy to obey his every wish.’ He nodded to me. ‘Sort them out, but leave the best bed for Edu, I’m bringing her tomorrow. Come on, Frankie, bedtime.’

  ‘Okay, Uncle George,’ Frankie said, his huge glazed eyes speaking volumes about how the Western King had been treating him. As the King led him out, Frankie looked back at me, his eyes still unfocused.

  I sat on the floor with my back to the couch and wiped my hands over my eyes. I turned to put my hand on Little Jade’s face; she was all right. Matthew had a couple of scratches where the belt buckle had broken the skin, and I healed them for him.

  ‘Can you bring Mummy back now, Aunty Emma?’ Matthew said. ‘Can we go find her?’

  ‘Oh, darling,’ I said. ‘I need to explain some stuff for you.’

  * * *

  Matthew, Little Jade and Richie took a long time to fall asleep in the room next to Frankie’s. Once they’d settled, I left them in their bunks and went next door to check on Frankie. The King was gone, and Frankie was sitting up in bed looking at one of his picture books.

  He closed the book. ‘Are they okay?’

  ‘They miss their mummies. They’ll be sad for a while,’ I said.

  ‘I understand. Mummy says that when I’m Emperor, she’ll bring friends for me who are more fun.’ He looked away. ‘But I like these friends. They’re nicer.’ He dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘Edu’s mean. I don’t want Mummy to bring her tomorrow.’

  ‘I don’t either,’ I said, my voice low.

  ‘Would the other children still be my friends if I brought their mummies back?’ he said.

  ‘They would love you forever, I think,’ I said. ‘They’ve been having fun playing with you when they’re not sad about their mummies. If they could be with their mothers, I think they’d still come and play with you. They like you.’

  ‘Mummy says that when I’m Emperor, people will have to do what I tell them, and I can make them love me.’

  ‘Yes. I hope you won’t hurt people.’

  ‘I don’t want to make people love me. I don’t want to hurt people. I want everybody to be happy,’ he said. He sighed with misery. ‘But it seems whatever I do, people are hurt.’

  ‘So young to be so wise,’ I said. ‘I can help you. Advise you.’

  ‘That’s what the . . . she . . . I thought,’ he said.

  ‘The Lady said that?’ I said softly.

  He nodded, then looked around. ‘Be careful.’

  ‘I will.’ I put my arm around him. ‘You will have to be very careful as well. When you’re Emperor, if you want something to happen, it will happen.’

  He watched me silently, obviously not understanding the full import of my words.

  ‘If you want it to rain, it will rain. If you want the children to love you, they will love you. If you want someone to die, they will die.’

  ‘I could make people die?’ His breath caught. ‘What if I’m mad with someone?’ He clutched me. ‘I don’t want this!’

  ‘Wise,’ I said. ‘I will help you to control your power. Learning to use your sword is a good start.’ I gave him a squeeze. ‘You and me together, we can do our best to make everybody happy.’

  ‘Thanks, Emma,’ he said, his voice small. He brightened. ‘Can I stop Daddy from hitting my friends?’

  ‘No. You’ll only be able to order people from this part of the world. He’s not from here.’

  ‘Well, poop,’ he said, and we chuckled together.

  I kissed him on the forehead. ‘You are a very special little boy and I love you with all my heart.’

  ‘I love you too.’ He nestled down under the silk quilt. ‘Can you stay while I go to sleep?’

  I brushed my hand over his forehead. ‘I will be here for you forever. You are my whole world.’

  My heart ached. That was the first time he’d said that to me. I felt a small moment of triumph, then resolved to make sure that the Demon King never took him away from me. Frankie and I would have to be careful not to be too affectionate in front of him.

  * * *

  Late the next morning the Zhu sisters — Bo Niang and Bei Niang, two of the Generals from the Thirty-Six — came in the front door accompanied by a Duke. They were both in their mid-teens female forms and wearing the black-and-white of servants, the same as me.

  ‘You’re kidding,’ I said. ‘He said he’d give me demon servants.’

  ‘Things are all topsy-turvy, Emma,’ Bo said. ‘The humans are servants, and the demons are masters.’

  ‘New servants?’ Frankie said, watching us.

  ‘This is Comet,’ I said, gesturing towards Bo, ‘and Esteem,’ I indicated Bei. ‘Or Bo and Bei. They’re strong and smart and really cool.’

  ‘You’re here to help Emma?’ Frankie asked them.

  Bei went to him and knelt before him. ‘And you must be Frankie.’

  Frankie nodded.

  ‘Where are Gold’s kids?’ Bo asked me.

  I gestured with my head. ‘Watching television.’

  We all went into the living room. Edu had once again taken the entire couch and forced the other children to sit on the floor.

  ‘Aunty Bei! Aunty Bo!’ Little Jade shouted, and ran to them. ‘Where’s your cool armour?’

  ‘Hello, little dragon,’ Bei said. ‘And little Richie. Hello, Matthew. Who’s this?’

  ‘This is Edu. Human spawn of the Demon King himself,’ I said.

  ‘I’m a Demon Prince and I’ll be Em
press,’ Edu said. ‘And when I am, I’ll kill —’

  ‘Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,’ I said.

  ‘I’m terrible with kids, but it looks like you do need help,’ Bo said to me.

  ‘I don’t mind helping out with the kids,’ Bei said. ‘Bo can help out around the house.’

  ‘You’re Celestial Generals,’ I said, exasperated. ‘You shouldn’t be doing housework!’

  ‘Caring for the next generation is the highest honour anyone can attain,’ Bei said with dignity. ‘Now show Bo where the laundry is. She’s good with machines and stuff.’

  Bo nodded. ‘Leave the kids with Bei, and show me what needs to be done.’

  I hesitated, then said, ‘I really appreciate it, guys.’

  ‘When the Little Emperor is crowned and the Celestial Palace returns, we’ll probably be back to laying bricks in the new Western Palace,’ Bo said as I guided her to the overflowing laundry. Five kids generated more dirty clothes than I could keep up with, particularly when I couldn’t go outside to hang them to dry. She saw the pile. ‘Oh, my. Go look after the little ones, Emma, let me handle this.’

  ‘I really appreciate it, Bo.’

  ‘The Demon King’s an idiot,’ Bo said. ‘I’m terrible with children. I have no affinity for them and I’ve never wanted any of my own. Marshal Xiao adores kids — he’d be a much better choice — but the Demon King brought us purely because we’re women.’ She lowered her voice. ‘That’s Lord Xuan’s son? And yours?’

  ‘Yes. But I’m not allowed to tell him.’

  ‘I know, I was told that too.’ She smiled and patted my arm. ‘He seems a nice kid. I look forward to telling him stories about some of the crazy shit the thirty-seven of us pulled together.’

  ‘I can’t wait to hear them too,’ I said.

  She gave me a gentle push. ‘Go look after the kids. It’ll be fine.’

  * * *

  Later that day the King came in male human form, with a Duke holding a digital tablet.

  ‘Take the children outside,’ he said, and I rose. ‘Not you, Emma,’ he said. ‘Here.’

  He gestured towards the dining table for me to join him. The Duke passed him the tablet.

  The King gestured dismissively towards Bei. ‘Take them outside. I want to talk to Emma without any of them present.’