Dark_Serpent

14




The movie was a romantic comedy. Simone and Jade seemed to enjoy it, but John and I dozed on each other’s shoulder, bored to death.

About halfway through the film, John had a massive coughing fit, wheezing as if he couldn’t breathe. People around us asked about him, concerned. He pulled himself out of his seat, still coughing, and headed for the door. Once we were all in the lobby, he raced to the bar and I ordered a glass of water for him. It seemed to settle when he had something to drink. As soon as the bartender had moved away, John stopped wheezing and put the glass down.

‘Thanks, Daddy,’ Simone said, grabbing his arm and leaning into him. ‘I appreciate it.’

‘I was enjoying it,’ Jade said, disappointed.

‘Oh, come on, Jade, it was boring,’ Simone said. She saw my face. ‘Sorry, Emma, I didn’t think you’d hear me talking over the coughing.’ She nudged John. ‘Let’s go buy some lanterns up at the market.’

My phone went off with a text message. It was from David. Is he all right?

I replied. He’s fine, it was a sham. They were bored.

The phone dinged again. Damn, should have told us, we could have escaped with you.

Catch you later, we’ll be in touch, I replied.

Gotcha.

‘David wanted to come with us,’ I said.

‘Half the cinema wanted to come with us,’ Simone said. ‘Haven’t we seen that plot in another movie not long ago?’

‘It’s a good story!’ Jade said. ‘And that actor is so cute.’

‘You can go back in if you like,’ I said.

‘No, I want to come to the market with you,’ Jade said. ‘I’ll come back with Winnie to see it another time.’

‘You okay, Daddy?’ Simone said. ‘You can go young again now.’

‘Wait until we’re further away,’ John said. ‘How about we leave the car here and walk down to the market? It’s not far and there’s no parking down there.’

We walked the couple of kilometres along the main road, which was still busy with pedestrians and shoppers even though it was late. Autumn had started, but the weather was still warm and humid with no hint of the coolness to come. The air was thick with exhaust fumes from the diesel taxis and trucks; many of them used cheap contaminated fuel from across the border.

John grew younger as we approached the market, gradually changing his Western suit to a pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt, but leaving his hair long and in a topknot.

We reached the market behind the hospital: a maze of narrow streets, with shopfronts on either side selling brightly coloured fruit and vegetables that shone under the harsh hanging bulbs with their transparent red plastic shades. Plastic buckets and basins hung from hooks on the awning of a kitchenware shop, and fresh fish, still flapping, lay on the ice-covered foam trays of a fishmonger.

We passed a butcher, where glistening arms hung from the vicious hooks, the hands dangling, their fingernails blackened with dried blood. The world lurched around me and I gripped John’s arm to hold me up.

He looked down at me, concerned. ‘Are you all right? Did you see something?’

Simone came around her father to stand next to me and Jade moved to cover our backs.

‘You look like you saw a ghost, Emma.’ Simone glanced around. ‘I don’t see anything.’

‘It’s nothing.’ I released John’s arm and straightened; I wouldn’t let this spoil our evening. I took deep breaths and didn’t look at the butcher stall. ‘I’m fine.’

You will tell me later, John said.

I nodded.

We worked our way around a group of people in front of a shop that sold medicinal soup. A metre-and-a-half tall urn and ceramic bowls stood on a table; each bowl had a plastic cover. Patrons paid for the bowl, drank the bitter, medicinal soup to ward off chills, then returned the bowl to be washed. A sugar-cane drink vendor nearby was grinding cane stalks in his machine to make the hot juice, and Jade quickly pounced on a paper cup. She sipped the sweet juice with pleasure as we walked.

Simone stopped us at a toy shop that was swathed in lanterns, hundreds of them, hanging from the awning in front of the shop as well as stands set up around the entrance. Most were made of inflatable plastic, with a small electric light at the top illuminating them from inside, and a cord leading from the globe to a battery-powered handle that sometimes played a tinny, annoying tune. Others were traditional style: bamboo frames covered in cellophane with simple designs of good-luck fish and animals. Boxes of cheap red candles to go inside the traditional lanterns were stacked around the front door, with a government sign pasted above them warning people about the illegality of burning wax. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, people would stand a whole box of candles in a bunch on the ground and light them all at once so the wax itself caught alight, causing a mini fireball that left a huge molten blob of solidified wax on the ground that was impossible to clean away.

Simone stopped perusing the lanterns and moved her head from side to side. ‘Heads up, demons just up the street,’ she said. She turned to look. ‘The lolis?’

‘They’re ours,’ I said. ‘They live in our building in Spring Garden Lane.’

‘Oh,’ John said, understanding.

‘I’ve never seen them before; I didn’t even know we owned a building there,’ Simone said. ‘They are so cute! I wish I had the nerve to dress up like that. Ha! They’re stopping traffic.’

The demons were two girls in their late teens or early twenties, both wearing knee-length dresses with so many petticoats underneath that they looked like Little Bo Peep. One had on a bright pink curled wig, and her dress was cream with small strawberries all over it and a multitude of pink petticoats underneath. The look was finished off with a long hot pink pair of Doc Martens boots. The other loli was full-on goth: she wore a black wig with a tiny top hat perched on top of it, a black lacy ruffled dress with black lacy petticoats, thigh-high purple and black stockings and chunky platform mary janes.

The lolis really had stopped traffic. The narrow street allowed parking on one side and was blanketed with cars, leaving only one lane for the taxis and trucks to creep through. An old woman had stopped to berate the lolis; she was wagging her finger at them, unaware that she was blocking a taxi from passing by. Eventually one of the lolis pulled her gently to the side and waved to the taxi driver, who cheerfully waved back.

The pink loli saw us and hesitated, then she nodded and both of them turned and smartly walked away from us, their full skirts swinging.

‘Oh, I wanted to say hello, and ask where they bought their dresses,’ Simone said, disappointed.

John made a show of looking at the lanterns. ‘We should buy some for Amy and Gold’s children, and your children too, Jade.’

‘My children are spending the festival with their father, so you don’t need to buy them any,’ Jade said.

‘Are you going too?’ I said.

‘No,’ Jade said, studying the lanterns.

‘It’s a holiday, there’s nothing to stop you from spending the time with the father of your children.’

She frowned. ‘I wish everybody would stop trying to throw us together. It will never happen and he knows it.’

‘What, you and Qing Long?’ Simone said with horrified fascination. ‘How could you even think of having anything with him? He’s so …’ She searched for the words. ‘I don’t know how you can have kids with him in the first place, Jade.’

Jade raised her eyebrows at me and I shook my head slightly. Simone didn’t know about the Blue Dragon’s true nature; that the self-serving a*shole thing was just an act.

‘That’s right, Simone, not happening,’ Jade said, turning back to the lanterns. ‘My children don’t need any, but Gold’s little ones are just old enough to understand, and they should enjoy it.’

‘What do you think they’d like?’ John pulled one out. ‘That’s boring, it’s just a yellow rectangle with a big face.’

‘Spongebob, little Richie loves him, we should get it,’ Simone said.

‘The demons are coming back,’ Jade said. Her voice became more urgent. ‘They can’t run in those shoes!’

She was right, the lolis were tearing down the street towards us, the one in the mary-janes having some difficulty with her platform shoes. We moved into the street to see what was chasing them. The demons reached us and both hid behind me, one on either side. I put my hands on their waists to steady them and they grabbed my shoulders.

A couple of beautiful tall women in designer suits strolled down the street, pointedly ignoring everyone. The crowd parted around them, people grimacing with discomfort if they got too close. The women stopped when they saw us, and looked the lolis up and down.

‘We’ll find you later,’ one of them said. She grinned with menace. ‘You look like strawberry candy.’

The lolis crowded closer to me, wide-eyed.

‘Find them and I will find you,’ John said.

The Mother glanced from the lolis to John. Her eyes widened as she realised who he was and she stepped back.

The other Mother wasn’t as intimidated. ‘You can’t be there all the time.’

‘Beside the point,’ John said. ‘If you hurt them, I will find you and destroy you. They are not worth the price. Go find something easier to kill. The soccer pitch at Southorn Playground is full of small demons.’

The Mothers shared a look, and one of them shrugged. They stuck their noses in the air and sauntered away, heading towards the Southorn sports centre in the centre of busy Wan Chai.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,’ I said.

John was gruff. ‘Return to the house in the lane, you’ll be safe there.’

The two demons were obviously still frightened, but they moved away from me and pulled themselves together.

One of them nodded to John. ‘It was a bad idea to dress up and come out. We thought it would be fun.’

‘If you want to do it again, let me know and I’ll come with you,’ Simone said, patting one of them on the shoulder. ‘I’ll look after you, and I think you look so cute!’

‘Really?’ the strawberry loli said, smiling shyly and tilting her head to one side. ‘You would do that for us?’

Simone leaned in close. ‘Only if I can find a dress too. Where did you buy them?’

‘I make them,’ the goth loli said.

‘That is not going to happen, Simone,’ John said, his voice stern. He spoke to the demons. ‘Bring a guard next time if you must do this stupid thing. Jade, escort them back to the house.’ He gestured towards the lolis. ‘Go.’

‘Hey, I was talking to them,’ Simone said.

‘No, the Lord is right,’ the strawberry loli said. ‘You shouldn’t be seen with people like us. You’re a Princess.’ She nodded to John. ‘We’ll return to our shop. Our apologies, my Lord.’

‘What?’ Simone said, confused. She glared at her father. ‘If I want to spend some time with them, that’s my choice, Daddy. They’re just tame demons. It’s not as if they’re bad or anything.’

‘Jade,’ John said.

‘My Lord,’ Jade said with obvious distaste as she guided the girls away.

They held hands and walked with her, looking behind them as they went, then they turned into a side alley, heading towards Spring Garden Lane.

‘You will not seek them out again,’ John said.

Simone put her hands on her hips. ‘Why not?’

‘We will explain later.’ He turned to the lanterns. ‘So the rectangular yellow person for Richie?’

Simone spun and headed up the street, in the same direction as Jade and the demons. She stopped and shook her head — John was obviously talking to her — then headed off again. He must have finally told her what they were, because she stopped dead about ten metres away, stood for a long moment looking after them, then returned to us, her face expressionless.

‘Why do we have tame demons working as hookers in the House of the North?’ she said softly and fiercely.

‘We will discuss this later,’ he said.

‘No, we’ll discuss it now,’ Simone said.

Everything around us went still. There was complete silence.

‘Impressive. I didn’t know you could do that,’ he said.

‘I didn’t either.’ She poked him on the arm. ‘You have prostitutes making money for you? I cannot believe this.’

He stood silently and I could see his mind working furiously.

‘It’s their choice, Simone. It’s what they did before they were tamed,’ I said. ‘They like having plenty of money to buy cute stuff, and doing what they’re doing is about as lucrative as you can get.’

‘Convert it to a hostess bar, something less demeaning for them,’ Simone said.

John spread his hands. ‘That’s the same thing. Everybody just pretends it isn’t.’

Simone rounded on me. ‘And you’re in on this?’

‘If the demons want to do it, then having us protect them is way better than working any other way,’ I said. ‘They’re actually all very happy doing it, and they keep most of the proceeds. Some of them will retire before they’re thirty years old.’

‘That’s very young for a demon,’ she said more softly.

‘Most of them tire of the work and come to the Mountain. Many of the nuns in the temple used to work here,’ John said.

‘There aren’t any humans, are there?’ Simone said.

I didn’t reply.

‘That’s just wrong.’

‘Same thing: they want to do it,’ I said.

‘Then they’re stupid,’ Simone said, and disappeared.

The market came back to life around us.

‘Why does she have this big thing about sex?’ John said, confused. ‘Just the mention of it sets her completely off. She’s old enough to be interested, not afraid.’

‘You are so strange sometimes,’ I said. ‘It’s because of what happened on that boat.’

‘Which boat?’

‘The one where a kid from her school before CH tried to drug and rape her, and she blew the boat up, killing him.’

‘It affected her that badly?’

‘You really have no idea sometimes.’

He took his hair out of its tie and retied it, exasperated. ‘I know. She’s my first human child. Help me.’

‘I’m doing my best.’

John and I stayed at the market and bought two of every lantern. It was quite common for cheap novelties like this to have faulty parts, and even buying two was sometimes insufficient insurance to ensure a working set. It was a waste of time taking them back if they didn’t work; the stallholder would accuse us of breaking them and trying to cheat her.

It was late evening when we returned to the Mountain. We retreated to one of the pagodas high on a peak with a pot of tea. It was much cooler on the Mountain. The lights of the Academy below us shone from the doors and windows, lighting up the ground and trees with a golden glow; and the stars above blazed in the clear autumn sky. The constellations were the same as on the Earthly; they just seemed bigger, magnified by the clarity. John’s symbol of power, the Big Dipper, was particularly magnificent in the centre of the sky.

For the hundredth time I made a quiet vow to myself to ask an expert about the physics of the Celestial Plane, and then realised that, once again, I would probably never get around to it.

‘What?’ John said, seeing me smile and shake my head.

I gestured towards the Big Dipper. ‘That constellation never moves.’

‘Don’t ask me, I don’t know how it works,’ he said, wiggling down into his chair to sit more comfortably and hanging one arm over the side. ‘I’m just here and the stars do their stuff.’ He gazed into the sky. ‘Isn’t that the essence of being alive?’

‘I guess it is.’

‘What happened in the market?’

‘Just a flashback,’ I said. ‘I saw arms instead of pork hanging from the hooks.’

He was silent for a long moment, looking at the sky. ‘You are too small to be forced to deal with this.’

‘I’m ten metres long.’

He shook his head and gazed at me over the rim of his teacup. ‘Very small.’

‘Screw you.’

He smiled slightly. ‘What, up here? Isn’t it a little cold?’

‘Yeah, let’s wait till we’re back home.’

He sighed gently. ‘Thank you.’

‘What for?’

He poured both of us more tea. ‘You and Simone have brought me so much joy. The past twenty years have been full of more happiness for me than the previous four thousand.’ He raised his cup to me. ‘Thank you.’

He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked through the garden on the ground floor back at the Imperial Residence, then stopped. ‘Simone isn’t home,’ he said. ‘It’s nearly midnight, she should be here.’ He went completely still for a moment, and when he spoke again his voice had an edge of urgency. ‘She’s not answering!’

He released me and turned to run out of the Residence.

I put my hand on his arm to stop him. ‘Before you panic, let’s try something low-tech.’ I pulled my mobile out of my pocket and texted her. You okay? You’re not home and your father is frantic.

John paced in small circles. ‘Those Mothers have her. She has no yin because I took it from her, she won’t let me make a weapon for her, her skills are horribly rusty because she refuses to train … I knew this would happen!’ He stopped and concentrated. ‘I’m pulling in Leo and Ming, they can start searching for her.’ He paced in circles again. ‘A geomancer may be able to find her, but it could take hours. Where’s my copy of the I Ching? I can use that … I cannot believe she went off by herself like this.’ He spun to stare at me, horrified. ‘What if she went down to Hell to face the King?’ He shook his head and paced again. ‘Without her yin she doesn’t have a chance. I should have given it back to her when she asked for it … Where the hell are Leo and Martin?’

My mobile pinged and I checked it. ‘It’s a message from her.’

He ran to my side and watched the phone as I brought the message up.

I’m fine. Tell him not to worry, and they’re not prostitutes, they run the tea house on the ground floor! They’re so sweet. I’ll be home in half an hour or so, I’m helping them to close up.

‘She’s working at the building in Spring Garden Lane?’ John said. ‘I don’t know which is a worse idea.’

‘What, that or her going to Hell?’ I said, amused, as I put the phone away.

Leo and Martin appeared next to the turtle fountain and ran to us.

‘Where do you want us to start looking?’ Leo said.

‘We found her,’ I said. ‘False alarm.’

‘Go down to Eighty-Eight Spring Garden Lane and escort her home,’ John said.

‘What the hell is she doing there?’ Martin said.

‘Helping the two demons who run the tea shop on the ground floor to close up,’ I said.

‘Why?’ Leo said. ‘Is this some sort of “I want to be normal so I’ll take a part-time job” thing?’

John focused on Martin, who nodded. ‘I’ll explain on the way,’ he said, and took Leo’s hand. Both of them disappeared.

‘Come sit with me,’ John said, leading me to the ceramic outdoor table and stools next to the fountain. ‘I won’t be able to sleep until I’m sure she’s home and safe.’

‘What will you do when she goes to university?’

He put his head in his hand. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I’d better find something to distract you with, then.’

‘I don’t think anything will stop me from worrying about her.’

‘Oh,’ I said, raising my teacup, ‘I’ll think of something.’

He glanced at me, his expression full of hope. ‘Are you …?’

I shook my head and touched his arm. ‘No. But it’s just a matter of time. I started a course of fertility drugs.’

‘Then I’ll have two of them to worry about,’ he said.

‘Michael’s right. Teach her to dance the stars and ride the wind. If she can reach Immortality on her own through internal alchemy, you won’t have to worry about her.’

‘I’ve been trying, but she doesn’t have the patience to learn,’ he said. ‘I’d give her the Elixir, but only enough for one person can be made at one time.’

‘Make hers first,’ I said.

‘You’re older and more fragile.’ His voice dropped with misery. ‘Humans age so quickly.’

‘Is my life speeding past while you watch?’

He nodded. ‘It’s like that for all of you.’ He glanced at me. ‘You should be offended at me calling you old.’

‘Sometimes I feel old.’

‘Your mastery of energy makes you look much younger than you are, believe me.’

‘How much longer before the Elixir is ready?’

‘We finally found enough cinnabar to make the recipe. The Dragon had it in his strongroom, and was mortified that he’d been slowing things down by not offering it.’ He spoke with more enthusiasm. ‘We’ll be in Britain when it’s ready. I’d give it to you there, but it’s impossible to drink the Elixir outside the Centre it’s made in. We’ll have to wait until we’ve returned. I can hardly wait to see the effect it will have on you. After you’ve taken it, your serpent nature will emerge more strongly and you will be able to work with shen and learn some really advanced stuff.’

‘I’m reminded of what happened to Rhonda …’ I said, my voice trailing off.

‘You’re worried that the Elixir might destroy you like it did her.’

‘It’s just that Rhonda … her last name was MacLaren, John. The judge who exiled my ancestors from Wales was called MacLaren.’

‘You are linked. I wonder if she was something similar to you.’

‘Whatever she was, drinking the Elixir killed her.’

‘Did it smell good or bad to her?’

‘Oh, I remember that very clearly. It obviously smelled bad: she made a face before she drank it.’

‘Very interesting. The judge, MacLaren, was somehow demonkind and able to sentence the serpent people to exile in Australia. And Rhonda was descended from this judge, as you are descended from the serpent people. I wonder what else we will find there.’

I took a deep breath. ‘Kwan Yin said I was like Rhonda — an example of overcoming my nature.’

‘I know about that,’ he said with amusement.

‘She also said that if the demon essence was removed, the Elixir wouldn’t kill me. Are you sure she’d never lie?’

‘Then we have nothing to worry about. She will always tell the truth.’

I sighed with feeling. ‘Okay.’

Simone appeared on the other side of the courtyard and stormed up to us. She leaned over her father, furious. ‘You sent Leo and Martin to bring me home? I am not a child!’

‘You’re behaving like one,’ he said, perfectly calm. ‘You have duties and a standard of behaviour to uphold as Princess of the House, Xuan Si Min. You will not consort with prostitutes, you will not be seen in public in ridiculous costumes, and you will on no account ever work in a tea house for demons. All of this is totally unacceptable.’

‘You know what? I’m nearly eighteen, and when I turn eighteen I’m an adult and I can do what I like,’ she said. ‘They aren’t prostitutes. If they were, they wouldn’t dress like that. Lolis get enough shit from people who think they’re dressed up as sex dolls, when they really dress that way to make themselves feel pretty and special. God.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘A girl dresses up and all the men think it’s about sex. It’s not; it’s about being pretty!’

‘It doesn’t matter what it’s about, it’s not appropriate for you.’

She swiped one hand through the air. ‘I know that, I know what’s expected of me. I understand my position. I know I have to set an example. But they’re not prostitutes! Is there any way we could work around this so that I can spend time with them? I won’t wear a costume, I understand about that. I just think they’re sweet.’

John thought about it for a moment. ‘As long as it’s in Number Eighty-Eight, I don’t think so.’

‘Can we move the tea house to another of our buildings?’

‘Of course.’

‘Could I visit with them then?’

‘Yes.’

‘Emma?’

‘They may not want to move,’ I said. ‘They might be friends with the other girls and boys there.’

Simone thought for a moment. ‘If that’s the case, it would be unfair for me to ask them to move away from their friends just so I can see them.’ She took a step back. ‘Could you ask them if they’d move?’

I shrugged. ‘They’d immediately say yes, they’re demons.’

‘Don’t tell them it’s for me. Just ask them if they’d like to move from Eighty-Eight.’

‘Deal.’

‘Thanks.’ She turned to head up the stairs.

‘Simone?’ John said.

She stopped and turned back to us. ‘Hmm?’

‘The other Winds have an abundance of children to help manage their realms. I don’t, and I appreciate your …’ he searched for the word, ‘willingness to be what the North needs you to be. It’s a big responsibility for one so young, and you’ve taken it on without complaint.’

She gestured towards me. ‘All my life, Emma’s explained what it means to be born into royalty. It’s not a privilege, it’s a lifetime job that you don’t have a choice about. A lot of people need us to be strong and set an example.’ She straightened. ‘And I intend to help those people as much as I can.’

‘You are a credit to both of us,’ he said.

She bowed slightly. ‘I thank you, Highness. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.’

Her huge grin of delight was visible as she turned away and trotted up the stairs.

I yawned and stretched. ‘Me too.’

‘You go,’ he said. ‘I’ll be along after I’ve walked the battlements.’

I patted him on the shoulder and followed Simone up the stairs. As I went around the balcony towards our bedroom, I saw him sitting in the garden, still drinking his tea.