Heaven to Wudang (46 page)

We're basically accused of doing something stupid
, John said.

I shrugged almost imperceptibly.
Tell him, guilty as charged
, I said to the stone.

Yep. Time to be brave
, John said.

‘Lord Xuan. You had a whole army and thirty-five mighty Generals at your command,' the Jade Emperor said. ‘Why did you rush in with the weakest of your Retainers after six of the most powerful Generals had just been destroyed?'

‘My daughter was held by the demons,' John said. ‘There is nothing on any Plane that will keep me from her when she is in peril.'

‘No, it was me, I was rushing in,' I said, interrupting. ‘He tried to stop me, Majesty, but when Simone is in danger nothing will stand between me and her.'

‘Did you try to stop her, Xuan Wu?' the Jade Emperor said.

For God's sake, make him tell the truth
, I said.

He must anyway in this place
, the stone said.
You just did him a huge favour.

John hesitated for a long moment, then dropped his voice and said, ‘Yes, I did. I asked her repeatedly not to do it, and gave up and went along when it was apparent that she was determined.'

There was a ripple of consternation through the hall.

‘There are mitigating circumstances, Majesty,' John said. ‘The Demon King held her for years before she came to me, and her personality was altered so that she would do exactly as she has done. She was changed so that if my daughter was in danger, she would rush in without thought or fear to assist her.'

The Jade Emperor glared at John. ‘You allowed a creature modified by the Demon King to enter your household?'

‘The modifications were almost undetectable, and enhanced her courage and love for my daughter,' John said. ‘They only made her a stronger ally.'

‘Did the Demon King at any time have control over her actions?'

‘No, Majesty.'

‘So she has done this stupid thing, disobeyed you and rushed in unprepared, entirely of her own accord?'

There was another rustle of noise through the hall.

‘She loves my daughter more than her life. She would risk anything to protect Simone.'

‘And I love her,' Simone said from somewhere in the crowd to the left of us.

‘If she had not thought quickly and killed my Turtle half, both of me would be imprisoned,' John said.

‘That will be taken into consideration,' the Jade Emperor said. ‘Lord Xuan, you are not to be corrected, but be warned that if this happens again your position will be in jeopardy.'

John fell to one knee beside me. ‘I understand, Majesty.'

The Jade Emperor raised one hand towards me. ‘Lady Emma. Plead your case. Give me one good reason not to execute you.'

The hall went very still and quiet. I started to talk, but my voice wouldn't come out. I gulped and coughed, then started again.

‘I do not defend my actions,' I said. ‘I will do anything to protect Simone. I admit that I've done something stupid that has imprisoned Xuan Wu and put all the Celestial at risk. Punish me as you see fit, Majesty.'

No, Emma
, John said.

I ignored him. ‘I take full responsibility. He tried to stop me and I rushed in regardless, arrogantly over-confident in my abilities. The Demon King has been assisting me all along, and I was unprepared when faced with the real threat. I am a small human in a world of mighty demons and Shen, and I have been given a fast, hard lesson in humility.'

‘Oh, Emma,' Simone said.

‘You are a profound demonstration of the value of
the Tao — the way of detachment — in making us better able to deal with matters of importance,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘I will spend more time in meditation upon the Way, Majesty.'

‘That is certain, madam, because you will not be doing anything else.' The Jade Emperor held out his hand and a scroll appeared in it. He passed the scroll to Er Lang, who opened it to read it.

‘Emma Donahoe,' he said, his voice fierce.

I dropped so that I was on both knees with my hands in my lap and my head bowed. ‘This small human is present and honoured, my Lord.'

‘You are hereby removed from all duties. You will have no title, no responsibility, no seniority, and no position on the Celestial at all. You may not teach, attend or contribute to the administration of either Wudangshan or the Northern Heavens. You may not advise the Dark Lord in matters of policy or protocol. You may not sit as his rightful partner until your marriage to him is formalised. Until then you are to take the position of servant to the Dark Lord in all public engagements. You are stripped of all rank and precedence, and banished from the Court until further notice.' He rolled up the scroll. ‘Ten thousand years.'

‘Not enough. We want her head!' someone shouted from the back of the hall.

I touched my forehead to the floor and tried to keep my voice steady. ‘This small human thanks his Majesty for his merciful correction of her erroneous ways.'

‘Dismissed,' the Jade Emperor said.

‘Ten thousand years,' John and I said in unison, then rose and backed out of the hall.

Our staff gathered protectively around me outside the Hall. Occasionally, a Shen hissed something threatening as they went past.

‘I really don't know what I'm going to do with you,' John said. ‘There was absolutely no need for that.'

‘We need to get her out of here before she's lynched,' Gold said.

‘I'll take her,' John said. ‘Let's go back to the Mountain.'

Simone moved in front of me and put her hands on my arms. ‘Are you okay, Emma? You look like you're about to pass out.'

I ran my hands through my hair and retied my ponytail. ‘New me, I guess. I honestly thought I'd be executed.' My eyes filled with tears and I wiped them. ‘I just want to go home.'

John crushed me into a fierce hug and teleported me down to the gates. Once we were through them, he summoned a cloud and we took off.

‘You have the choice,' he said. ‘I can wipe your memory, change your face, and you can return to your parents as if you had never met me. It would be as if all of this never happened.'

I took his hands and wrapped them around me. ‘Do you still want me, Xuan Wu?'

‘More than anything.'

‘And I want to be with you. More than anything. I miss my family, but I want to be with you.'

He relaxed behind me. ‘I don't think you've changed that much.'

‘I was completely terrified in there.'

He squeezed me gently. ‘So was I. For a moment I thought he would order your execution.'

I leaned back into him. ‘Enforced holiday. What am I going to do with myself?'

‘Do your PhD. They keep sending you letters offering one.'

‘Fat lot of good that will do me when I can't work with you.'

‘The sentence isn't forever, Emma. One day you'll be able to take your place by my side assisting me to run Wudang, and that is a day to heartily look forward to. Take this as an opportunity to gain mastery of the Arts and the Throne. Because the minute I've Raised you, you're standing next to me.'

‘Will the Jade Emperor still let you do that?'

‘Of course. I promised. It will be.'

‘You still have to find me.'

‘I already did.'

‘You sure that was it? Cheung was the one who really found me.'

He was silent for a moment and I knew I was right.

‘Whatever,' I said, holding his hands. ‘Minor setback. We'll get there. And when the Demon King comes to try to take over, we'll fight him and take him down.'

‘You haven't changed at all,' he said with quiet delight.

We approached the Mountain, and John slowed the cloud so we could admire it. The banners snapped on top of the walls: half of them plain black, the other half black with the Seven Stars motif. The black buildings and green pines were covered in a light dusting of snow, making them gleam in the sunlight. A fresh breeze, full of the scent of the snow and pines, lifted our hair.

‘That is so beautiful,' I said.

‘I am so glad I can share it with you,' he said.

‘It's home,' I said. ‘Home with you and Simone.' I squeezed his hands where he held me. ‘Let's go home.'

G
old, John and I were in John's office discussing the limits on my activities when there was a commotion outside.

‘I don't care if he's in a meeting, he's seeing me now!' Qing Long yelled.

The double doors flew open and the Dragon planted himself just inside. He pointed at me, his finger quivering with rage. ‘This … thing is your downfall, Turtle, and you need to stand down. You are no longer capable of running the Heavens, and I do not acknowledge you as Sovereign.'

John rose, his voice mild. ‘Ah Qing, think carefully before —'

Qing Long cut him off. ‘You should be thrown from Heaven! Do you know how many of us are signing a petition to the Jade Emperor?'

‘Gold,' John said, ‘go and check this with the Celestial bureaucracy, please? Find out the details of the petition.'

‘My Lord,' Gold said, and went out.

‘Come now, old friend, there's no need for this,' John said, closing the office doors.

The Dragon moved to John, quickly embraced him and kissed him on both cheeks. Then he moved back to the doorway and yelled, ‘Don't tell me to calm down!'

He came to me and patted me on the back. ‘Don't look like that. I know what I'm doing.'

‘What
are
you doing?' I said.

‘It's a petition to have him thrown from Heaven and you executed,' Qing Long said, lowering his voice so that only we could hear. ‘Based on the argument that you're an agent for the Demon King and he let you into his household fully aware of it.'

‘That'll be thrown straight out of court, because we have proof that I'm not an agent for the Demon King.'

‘Precisely,' the Dragon said. ‘And no other petitions can be put forward while this one is grinding slowly through the wheels.'

‘Brilliant,' John said. ‘I owe you.'

The Dragon moved back to the door to yell again. ‘I will see you thrown from Heaven and this bitch executed. Any Sovereign is better than you — hell, I'd rather serve the Demon King himself. You have failed, Turtle.'

The doors flew open to show a large group of horrified spectators standing outside.

Jade stormed in to stand in front of the Dragon and glared up at him, furious. ‘You are petitioning to have the Dark Lord thrown from Heaven?' She looked from the Dragon to me. ‘And Lady Emma executed?'

‘Lady Emma no more,' the Dragon said, glowing blue against her green. ‘They are a disgrace to the Celestial and need to be removed.'

‘Come on, everyone, there's no need to fight like this,' I said, closing the doors again.

Jade took the Dragon's hands in hers. ‘I'll marry you,' she said. ‘I'll come and live with you in the East. Anything. Just don't do this to them, please. Haven't they suffered enough?'

His expression softened as he gazed down at her, holding her hands for a long moment. ‘And now she says yes,' he said with heart-breaking gentleness.

‘He doesn't mean it,' I said. ‘He's creating a dummy petition that will automatically fail so that no real ones can go up.'

Jade's mouth opened into an ‘O' and stayed there.

He lifted her hands. ‘Will you still say yes?'

She didn't reply; she just threw her arms around his neck, pulled him down and kissed him hard.

I had to interrupt them after a couple of minutes. ‘Uh, we can't leave you two alone without opening the doors. And then everybody will see you.'

They broke apart and gazed into each other's eyes for a long time, still holding each other.

‘Is that a yes?' the Dragon said.

‘Let me think about it,' Jade said. She turned and went out of the office, closing the doors behind her.

‘I will do this!' the Dragon shouted. ‘The Winds will have a new Sovereign and you will return to Hell!'

‘I think that's enough,' John said.

The Dragon quickly embraced both of us and left. We could hear him shouting as he made his way through the crowd.

‘There goes a true friend,' John said as he returned to sit behind the desk. ‘Gold is on his way back with the petition.' He smiled slightly. ‘He says it will be thrown out of court. What a shame.'

 

Gold and Amy's wedding was held midwinter, and the day was clear and bright. The dragons resident on the Mountain had ensured that the weather was fine for the wedding of one of their own. The Mountain's paths and courtyards were cleared of snow, but the trees, roofs and peaks were covered in a white blanket. Jade had decorated the Hall of Purple Mist for the wedding ceremony: it was bedecked with wide red ribbon with rosettes on every corner and pillar holding gold ‘double happiness' circular motifs.

Gold was in human form, wearing a Mountain uniform, with red ribbons draped across his chest and held with a rosette in the middle. He waited at the top of the stairs with John and the parents: my stone in human form, and Amy's mother and father. Amy's father, a dragon, was in human form: a short, round middle-aged Chinese man with a jolly smile. Her mother was human, an art gallery owner from Sydney; she was slender and elegant in a beautifully tailored pale blue suit. My stone had outdone itself; it wore a green embossed silk Chinese robe, which highlighted its pale European skin and shock of white hair.

The palanquin holding Amy arrived, also decorated with red ribbons and gold ‘double happiness' motifs and carried by dragons, one in front and one behind, both brilliant crimson with gold fins and tails. Jade walked alongside the palanquin in True Form: a glittering green dragon, four metres long, with gold fins and tail.

Meredith and I were on babysitting duties for Amy and Gold's little ones. I was holding Richard up to see the spectacle, and he seemed to be enjoying it, crowing loudly with delight at the dragons. Little Jade, in Meredith's arms, was fast asleep.

The palanquin stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Amy stepped out. The students of the Mountain burst into spontaneous applause when they saw her, and she blushed. She wore a traditional wedding dress: a slender, fitted red silk cheongsam that featured a dragon on one side and a phoenix on the other, each brilliantly embroidered in gold, silver and brightly coloured thread. She wore a similarly embroidered short red silk jacket over the top — against the cold — but had broken with tradition in not wearing a red silk veil over her face. Her hair was pinned up into a bun decorated with red beads and silk flowers.

Jade changed to human form, in a plain green cheongsam, and guided Amy to the top of the stairs. She bowed to John and the parents, then went back down the stairs.

John stood at the front of the terrace to face the gathered crowd, with Amy and Gold on his left and the parents on the right.

‘Amy Wu, child of Richard and Veronica, has agreed to wed the Golden Child of the Jade Building Block.' He nodded towards my stone. ‘Do you agree to this union, Jade Building Block?'

‘I agree. They are well matched,' the stone said with pride.

‘Master Richard, Madam Veronica, do you agree to your daughter undertaking this union?'

‘I agree,' Richard said.

‘I'm not a Madam,' Veronica said with dignity. ‘And I agree.' She wiped her eyes. ‘He is a fine young man.'

‘Uh …' John approached her and said something softly to her.

‘A thousand years old?' Veronica said loudly with shock. ‘A thousand?'

Gold winced, and Amy put her hand on her forehead.

‘I still agree regardless,' Veronica said. She glared at Amy. ‘And we are talking about this later.'

John moved back and waved one hand, and ebony Ming-style wooden chairs with red silk cushions appeared behind himself, the stone and Amy's parents. They all sat. Jade floated up the stairs holding a tray containing four teacups. She gave the tray to Gold, kissed him and Amy on the cheek, said something inaudible to them, then floated back down the stairs.

Amy and Gold held the tray between them and went to stand in front of John. John's face was full of delight as he accepted the tea from Amy and Gold. They knelt before him, he took a cup and sipped it, then they stood
again. They turned to serve tea to Amy's parents, who sat with their hands on their knees, both obviously bursting with pride.

As Amy and Gold were serving tea to my stone, John's face went completely ashen and he toppled sideways off his chair.

Amy and Gold stood there stricken. The stone went to John and knelt next to him.

He's severely injured
, the stone said in broadcast mode.
Get medical help.

Meredith and I raced up the stairs, and quickly handed the babies to Amy and Gold. I pushed my way through to John. His breath was short and shallow and he didn't seem able to see us.

Someone turned him onto his back and we all gasped: his side was black with blood. I opened the top of his robe to see, but the toggles and loops wouldn't open far enough. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a burn on his side, but the robe wouldn't open, and it went all the way down to his feet so I couldn't pull it up.

‘What happened?' Meredith said.

‘Don't worry about what happened, get him to the infirmary,' the stone said.

A few people lifted him and carried him quickly to the infirmary, the rest of us following. He made a few soft noises of pain as they moved him, and I nearly cried out with him.

‘How did this happen?' I said as we entered the makeshift ward. ‘John, what happened to you?'

Edwin pushed us aside as soon as John was on the bed. He cut away John's robe and pulled his cotton pants down slightly over his slim hips to see the damage. One side of his body, all the way down the side of his abdomen, was blackened as if burnt to a depth of two to three centimetres. The skin of his chest and upper
arms was covered in shallow cuts, some fresh and bleeding, some half-healed.

I sank into a chair, dizzy with shock.

Edwin hissed when he saw the injuries and quickly put himself in John's face. ‘Are you in pain, Lord Xuan?' he said urgently. ‘Do you require painkillers?'

John nodded, his face a fierce mask of concentration.

Edwin turned to the drugs cabinet and quickly pulled out a vial and a syringe. He injected John and then waved us all back. ‘Emma and Meredith can stay. I want everybody else out.'

‘Come on, Simone,' Leo said.

‘I want to stay with Daddy!' Simone yelled.

‘I need space to work. I'll call you back in when I'm done,' Edwin said, and Simone went out with Leo.

‘Thanks,' I said, moving to sit next to John's head and hold his hand. ‘John, what happened?'

He spoke through his teeth. ‘Demon King … playing … with a blowtorch.'

‘Oh, dear Lord,' Meredith said. She moved closer to John. ‘We can send you down to Court Ten —'

‘No!' John raised his head then dropped it again. ‘If you kill me now, while the Serpent is in so much pain, I'll rejoin with it. You have … to keep me … alive!'

‘I'll do my best, my Lord,' Edwin said. He put a saline bag on a drip stand and inserted the needle into John's arm. ‘These don't look mortal.'

John yelled with pain and arched his back, then threw himself onto the side that wasn't burnt. He gasped a few times, breathing heavily, then stopped. He flopped onto his back again and I saw that the scorched area had grown. The room filled with the smell of burnt flesh.

‘I can manage,' he said.

Edwin ran out of the room. Meredith and I sat together, stricken, watching John. Edwin returned with
some damp sheets of what appeared to be skin. He sprinkled antibiotic powder over the burns and then put the sheets over them.

‘Thank you,' John said. ‘I think he's finished for now. Any more and the Serpent will die too.'

I touched John's chest, making sure to stay well away from the burns. He was covered in small cuts. ‘He's been torturing you for a while.'

‘Yes. His timing is impeccable, to do this during the wedding.'

‘Would he know the wedding was on?'

‘The whole of the Celestial is out for it; he'd know.' He cried out and arched his back again. ‘He just kicked me in the burns. Damn!' He panted a few times, his eyes closed. ‘He had to open the door to the cage and come inside to do that, but I'm too incapacitated to get myself out. I can't move worth a damn.' He relaxed slightly. ‘Whatever Edwin gave me isn't working too well.'

‘Should he give you enough for the Serpent too?' I said.

‘No, that'd probably kill me.' He stiffened and his eyes snapped open.

‘Stay with us, John,' I said, clutching his hand.

‘I'm trying.' He smiled but it was almost a grimace. ‘He's worried now: he may have killed the Serpent. I die, and it's all for nothing.' He relaxed. ‘Oh no, just leave me here and let me die. No need to treat it; I won't hold it against you. No hurry, take your time.'

‘We won't let you —' I began, but Meredith stopped me.

‘That's the Serpent speaking,' she said.

John continued without hearing us. ‘Feel free to leave the door open when you go out.' He appeared to be looking at something that wasn't there, and winced a few times, then breathed out a huge sigh. ‘That's better. I don't suppose a painkilling injection would be on offer
as well? Sure. Heads. Oh, I hadn't thought of that; I'll ask one of the vets on the Celestial and see.' He came back to us. ‘That is a very unusual feeling. I need to find out what sort of painkillers work on snakes. I won the toss, but human pain relief probably doesn't work on a reptile.'

‘You should have told us, my Lord,' Meredith said.

‘I didn't think he'd take it this far. He was having fun just slicing at me through the bars,' John said. ‘Getting a blowtorch was a stroke of genius: the flame goes all the way through the cage and I can't move away from it.'