‘Can you find us a ball to play with, please?’ I said to the air.
When we went through the moon gate, a number of different balls — from tennis to basket balls — were on the grass.
‘Thank you!’ I said.
‘Can I have a pony?’ Frankie said.
A grey Welsh mountain pony, just the right size for him and complete with tack, appeared on the grass.
‘Wow, this is great. Can I ask for anything?’ he said.
I didn’t answer the question. ‘Is this a Shen or a natural pony?’
‘I want a car!’ Frankie said.
A child’s electric car appeared on the grass next to the pony.
‘You say “please”,’ I said.
‘Cake!’ Frankie said.
A small table appeared with a fruit gateau on it. ‘Damn,’ I said softly. ‘Frankie, stop. Stop!’
‘This is so fun!’ he shouted, running to the pony. ‘Help me on!’
A fairy appeared and lifted him onto the pony.
‘Is that a natural animal?’ I asked the fairy. ‘It’s not a Shen, is it?’
The fairy shook her head.
‘How do I make it go? Make it go!’ Frankie yelled, shaking the reins and tugging on them. The pony shifted with discomfort.
‘Now hold on just a minute, young man!’ I said, and went to him to hold his arm. ‘Listen to me. This is a living creature and you are hurting . . .’ I looked under the pony. ‘Her. Be kind to her, okay?’
Frankie stopped moving. ‘I’m hurting her?’
‘Those reins are attached to a big piece of metal in this poor animal’s mouth. How would you feel if someone started jerking that around on you?’
‘Take me off,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to hurt her.’
‘You’re not now. Provided you’re gentle you won’t hurt her, and she’ll be happy to carry you. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ he said, sobering.
‘Do you want to learn to ride her?’ ‘Yes!’
‘Yes, please. I say it, and you should too.’ He opened his mouth. ‘Emperor or not.’
‘Yes, please, Emma,’ he said.
‘Okay then. A helmet for the Emperor, and a lunge rein, please.’ The lunging equipment appeared on the pony, and the helmet on Frankie’s head. ‘Thank you. Clear the area, please.’ The car, balls and cake disappeared. ‘Good. Now let’s see how sore we can make your bum before the end of the day.’
He giggled. ‘You said a bad word.’
‘You might want to say some too, when we’re finished. Now let go of the reins and hold the saddle. Yes, like that.’
I bound up the reins out of the way, then waved the lunging whip at the pony’s rump without touching it. She moved obediently into a circle.
‘Hold on tight,’ I said, ‘because it’s about to get bouncy.’
Thirty minutes later the Eastern King stormed into the garden in female form, her face a mask of fury. She stopped when she saw Frankie trotting around on the pony with a huge grin on his face.
‘Look at me, Mummy,’ he shouted. ‘I’m riding!’
Her expression softened, and she turned and left.
* * *
Emma?
I shot upright. My awareness flooded with the sense of John through our spiritual link. He was present and alive somewhere on the Celestial, and my heart ached at the sensation; something I’d taken so much for granted in the past.
It was deep in the night, and crickets chirped outside my window.
John? I said.
Another demon Prince is here to let me out. He wants me to destroy the King; he’s unhappy that the Western King is taking over. He spoke with force. Wait, I’m talking to Emma, she’s right there! Emma. The Prince says that the Murasame is in the Imperial Residence. Is it?
Yes. It’s in the entry hall. I inhaled sharply. You can use it to destroy the Kings!
Yes. This is the first time that both of them have been in the same place as the sword. It’s the best opportunity I’ve had so far. I’m not sure I should risk it though.
You must. The Eastern King is planning to sacrifice himself to destroy you.
He knows?
Yes, I said. He’ll make Frankie order you to do it. You have to destroy them now with the Murasame — it’s our only chance.
Then I have no choice, he said, and his voice went tight with effort. He was leaving the cage. Go to our son and keep him out of this. If Frankie orders me to stop, I must obey him.
I levered myself off the bed. May fate walk on our side and keep us safe from the Pits, Xuan Wu.
For the Heavens, he said, and went silent.
I didn’t bother with a robe; I could move more easily in my pyjamas. I crept out of my room, through the kitchen, and into the living room. The bedrooms were on the right, all opening onto the raised veranda that bordered the central garden. I went out of the living room onto the veranda and crept quietly along it.
I passed the first door; its two guards waved me past to Frankie’s room. Frankie’s door also had two big Dukes guarding it, and they allowed me through and into his room.
I gently closed the red wooden door behind me, and moved as quietly as I could across the hardwood floor to Frankie’s four-poster. He was a tiny shape curled up in the middle of the bed; he’d thrown off the silk quilts in the warmth. His tawny hair lay across his forehead, and his face was angelic in sleep.
I hope Frankie will forgive us for what we’re about to do, I said to BJ, then raised my head. John was nearby: I could feel his cold dark essence. He was on the roof.
Good luck, Aunty Emma, BJ said.
John moved silently, his presence drifting across the roof towards the entry hall where the sword was kept. There were a couple of quiet crunches, almost at the edge of hearing: he was disposing of guards. I watched with my Inner Eye. He was in the entry hall. His essence was mirrored by the Murasame’s aura, and it flared to dark life as he took the sword in his hand. The sword screamed; a terrified sound that cut through the air.
Frankie shot upright in his bed. ‘What’s happening?’
There were shouts outside and guards ran along the veranda.
I sat on the bed to put my arm around Frankie. ‘I don’t know what’s happening. Let’s stay here and the guards will handle it.’
There were more crashes and screams. Someone rang a bell nearby, and guards ran past. The door slammed open, making both of us jump.
Frankie clutched me. ‘Is there another monster here?’ he said, his voice quivering.
Two Dukes came in and took position inside the door, facing away from us.
‘What’s happening?’ Frankie said. ‘Hey!’ he shouted at the guards. ‘What’s going on?’
‘We think there’s a Celestial here,’ one of the Dukes said.
The Demon King charged into the room in her Kitty Kwok form. ‘Your boyfriend will never make it here, Emma. Tell him to give up now and I’ll put him back in the cage.’
John stormed in behind her, and the guards closed ranks. He ran the Murasame through each of them in turn before they could move. He was in Celestial Form and his ugly face was full of grim pleasure at the mayhem.
The Demon King grabbed Frankie and stood with him in front of her as a shield. ‘Take me and you take the child.’
‘Go to Emma, Frankie,’ John said.
‘Tell him to put the sword down and go back to his cage, Frankie,’ the Demon King said.
Frankie didn’t reply to either of them; he just hung wide-eyed and silent in the King’s grasp.
I reached out to pull him away from the King, and she hit me one-handed with a ball of black energy that knocked me backwards into the frame of Frankie’s bed, winding me.
‘You can’t kill me without killing your son, Turtle,’ the King said with malice. ‘Drop the sword. That’s an order from the Celestial Regent.’
John didn’t move. ‘I only obey the Jade Emperor.’
‘Frankie, tell him to drop the sword!’ the King
shouted.
Frankie didn’t speak, frozen with fear.
‘Dammit! Drop the sword or I’ll send Emma to the Pits,’ the King said, desperate. ‘You kill me, you kill the kid!’
‘Frankie, go to Emma!’ John said again.
The Demon King tightened her grip on Frankie and he squeaked with pain. ‘You promised to stay in the cage, Turtle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you break your word before.’
‘I didn’t promise to stay in the cage. I promised to go into the cage,’ John said. ‘I’m not stupid enough to promise to stay in it. I haven’t broken my word.’
‘Excuses. You can’t be trusted to stay put. Frankie, tell him to drop the sword now or I will call your father.’
John hefted the Murasame, disappeared and reappeared behind the King. He raised the sword to take the King’s head off without harming Frankie.
Frankie shrieked and John stopped mid-swing.
The Murasame disappeared from John’s hand and reappeared spearing him through the head, in the front and out the back. The sword grew until its blade was twenty centimetres tall. John’s eyes widened, then he fell onto his back like a dead tree and disappeared.
The Murasame returned to its normal size, and reappeared floating in front of me with its tip a centimetre from my chest.
‘Are you all right, George?’ the Western King said from the doorway.
‘Yes. We handled it,’ the Eastern King said. ‘Frankie, say “Xuan Wu is ordered to return to the jade cage”.’
Frankie clutched her and whimpered.
The Western King strode over and slapped Frankie on the side of the head. ‘Do as you’re told!’
‘Xuan Wu return to . . .’ Frankie said. ‘What’s next?’ He ducked when the Western King raised his hand again.
‘The jade cage!’ I said. ‘Don’t hit him.’
‘The jade cage,’ Frankie moaned.
The Eastern King lowered Frankie and concentrated, listening.
The Western King linked his hands behind his back. ‘George won’t hold back on punishing either of you for this,’ he said to me. ‘I think I will enjoy this very much.’
‘It worked. He’s back in the cage on Level Nine,’ the Eastern King said. She focused on me. ‘Now what do I do with you, Emma? You must pay for putting my darling son’s life at risk, but sending you to the Red-Hot Grates in Level Seven would break your mind. I want you fully aware of everything that’s happening to you.’
‘Break her mind anyway,’ the Western King said with malice.
A Duke appeared on the other side of the room and fell to one knee. ‘Majesty.’
‘Take her to Level Eight,’ the King said. ‘Put her in the lake.’
‘Yes,’ the Western King hissed under his breath.
‘No!’ Frankie said, clutching the Eastern King’s legs. ‘Don’t send her away!’
‘She was working with the big dark man,’ the Eastern King said. ‘They were about to kill us.’
‘I want her here, Mummy.’
‘Thank you,’ I breathed.
Frankie glanced at me, his face unmoving, then back at the Eastern King. ‘I like her looking after me.’ He gazed up into her eyes. ‘You’re the best mummy in the world. You’re so strong, nobody can beat you. I love you.’
Her expression softened. ‘I love you too, little Francis.’
Frankie hugged her. ‘Leave Emma here with me? Please?’ He pitched his voice higher, wheedling. ‘She can’t do anything while the sword is here, look at it. Leave her here. Please?’
‘Repeat after me and I’ll let you keep her,’ the King said, and tousled his hair. ‘Xuan Wu is ordered to stay in the jade cage.’
‘Spoilt brat,’ the Western King said, and went out.
‘Xuan Wu is ordered to stay in the jade cage,’ Frankie said.
‘Good boy.’ The King glared at me. ‘Try anything like that again and Frankie will not be able to talk me out of punishing you. You lose your bedroom. You’re sleeping on the kitchen floor again.’
‘I understand,’ I said. I nodded towards the Murasame where it floated in front of me, its point a centimetre from my breastbone. ‘Can you call off the sword, sweetheart?’
Frankie’s face was rigid with restraint, his mouth a firm line.
‘Are you controlling it, darling?’ the King said. ‘I’m so glad it’s protecting you, but you can send it back to its stand now.’
‘Promise to start teaching me the sword tomorrow,’ Frankie said to me. ‘I want to learn to use it and defend myself.’ He glanced up at the King. ‘And my mummy.’
‘I will. I promise,’ I said.
‘You’re the best little boy in the whole world,’ the King breathed.
The sword disappeared, and a dark flare in the entry hall indicated that it had returned to its stand.
‘It was never this powerful when anyone else had it,’ the King said with pride. ‘You really are exceptional, Frankie.’
Frankie didn’t reply. His head nodded with exhaustion.
‘Sleep time,’ the King said, and helped him to climb back into bed. She spoke to me without looking away from him. ‘Go to the kitchen and meditate on your crimes.’
I bowed to her and went out, propping myself against the wall as I made my way back to the kitchen. I’d suspected for a while that Frankie was more aware of the situation than he seemed, but now I was sure of it. I pulled some blankets onto the kitchen floor and curled up in a corner next to the cupboards. I wondered exactly how aware he was.
30
Early the next morning I went to the entry hall and crouched next to the Murasame where it sat on its stand. The King had lied about there being a matching wakizashi for the dark katana; the Murasame was one of a kind.
‘Thank you for looking after Frankie,’ I said to it.
Its aura was completely blank. It seemed a lifeless piece of metal.
‘I would never let anyone hurt him either,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you’re there to help me protect him.’ I put my hand over it without touching it. ‘Can you talk to me? If we can talk, we can work together.’
I received nothing from it.
‘Do I need to touch you to communicate? Is that okay?’ I smiled. ‘We shared a great deal of blood and mayhem together, Destroyer. I hope they were good times for you too. We have a bond that nobody else can match. Talk to me.’
I placed my hand on the handle and jerked it back as the pain flashed through it. I turned my hand over: the sword had cut a large shallow slice in my palm without moving. Fortunately it wasn’t deep enough to take out any tendons.
I concentrated and healed the wound. ‘I guess that answers that. When Frankie said that you bite, he wasn’t wrong.’
The sword still seemed a completely lifeless hunk of metal; even its dark aura was gone.
‘Well,’ I said, ‘if ever you feel the need to work with me to protect Frankie, just scream again like a thousand tortured souls. That was horrifying.’
The sword didn’t respond.
I rose to return to the kitchen, but stopped when Frankie shouted. He was in his room and in pain. I took a step back, then jumped the ten metres across the courtyard and skidded to a halt outside his door. The Western King was shouting angrily and unintelligibly inside. Frankie wailed in return, and the Eastern King spoke, placating both of them. The Western King shouted loudly again, there were crashes and Frankie screamed.
When he screamed again, I took three steps back to shoulder charge the door. I ran into it just as they opened it and hit the edge of the door, stunning myself.
The Eastern King was in Kitty Kwok form. She grabbed me by the shoulder as I fell and pushed me away. ‘This is none of your business. Go back to the kitchen.’
‘Stop hurting my —’ I began, but the Eastern King punched me in the face.
‘Shut up!’
Frankie started wailing again. The Western King slapped him and he dissolved into sobs.
‘Stop hurting him, I’m here!’ Si
mone shouted from inside Frankie’s room.
Simone, I said. Run. Run now. They’ll destroy —
Don’t talk to me! she shouted into my head.
They’re going to destroy your father! I said, but she didn’t hear me. She’d shut off communication.
‘All right, if you must do this stupid thing, let’s do it,’ the Western King said. He added under his breath, ‘If I didn’t love you more than my life, I would kill you myself.’
The Eastern King went into Frankie’s room and pulled Simone out by the upper arm.
‘Simone, run!’ I said. ‘They’ll use Frankie —’
‘Do not talk to me!’ she shouted.
‘Both of you shut up or the boy gets it again,’ the Western King growled.
‘Don’t hurt him. I’ll do anything you say,’ Simone said. ‘Emma, shut up.’
‘Where’s your Number One?’ the Western King said.
‘Andy will meet us there,’ the Eastern King said. She smiled at Frankie, and spoke with forced cheer. ‘Be a good boy now, because we’re going to your new capital. You have your own house there too. Won’t this be fun?’
The Western King dragged Frankie out of the room. Frankie stumbled beside him, trying to wipe the tears from his face. The side of his eye was swollen; he was already developing a black eye. When I saw the blood on his chin, I ran to him and knelt in front of him.
‘He’s bleeding!’
‘Just a scratch,’ the Western King said, and pushed me away. ‘He’s fine.’
‘Let me heal him,’ I said.
‘That would defeat the purpose of the punishment,’ the Western King said. He nodded towards the Eastern King. ‘Go to Kitty.’
I hesitated.
‘Come to me now!’ the Eastern King said.
Forced to obey, I went to her. She took my shoulder, still holding Simone with her other hand. ‘We should have done this a long time ago, Francis.’
Simone, if you won’t listen to me then listen to them, I said. They’re going to destroy —
She sent the mental equivalent of loud feedback into my head and I bent double with pain.
‘I agree with Andy. I’d prefer we didn’t do it at all,’ the Western King said.
‘After what happened last night we really don’t have a choice, my love.’