Earth to Hell. Kylie Chan
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said.
‘Yes. Jade took the young man to a plantation owned by a Shen. You might say the Shen had inherited the plantation when his demon master was destroyed. The Shen, being just as naïve as the young lady, provided Mr Fortune with seeds, plants and tame demons to cultivate them in the British Imperial Territory of India.’
‘Demon master?’ Simone said. ‘Gold was bound to a demon?’
‘He lost a bet and was bound into the demon’s servitude,’ the Emperor said. ‘The demon was destroyed, Gold was freed and he escaped with the deeds to a tea plantation the demon owned. He gave Robert Fortune the tea — directly in defiance of an edict issued by me that no Celestial was to interfere in human affairs during that time of conflict.’
‘The economy collapsed when the tea trade dried up,’ I said. ‘And opium addicts with no supply filled the streets. It caused the Boxer Rebellion.’ I inhaled sharply as I understood. ‘The Boxers worshipped John. They believed that Xuan Wu made them invincible. Gold helped cause the Rebellion. The civil war afterwards brought down the freaking Qing dynasty.’
‘And led to a century of turmoil that our nation could barely afford,’ the Jade Emperor said. ‘If we had retained control of the tea trade, it is possible we could have salvaged minor economic independence. As it was, we were at the mercy of the rest of the world. The West and Japan both moved in and carved us up. When they left, there was civil war again. You know the story.’
‘Gold did this,’ Simone said. ‘He gave Robert Fortune the tea.’
‘And Jade helped him,’ the Emperor said. ‘I knew what I was doing when I issued that order. They should have known better than to defy me; I work only for the best interests of my human subjects.’
I straightened. ‘Right. I understand now. They’ve been in servitude, what? Nearly a hundred years?’
‘Not nearly long enough,’ the Tiger said.
‘Ah Bai’s right,’ I said. ‘Leave them in my service until they have completely atoned.’
The Jade Emperor gazed at me with wonder. I glanced at Simone, she had the same look on her face.
‘What?’
‘You are so much like Ah Wu sometimes, it’s uncanny. Are you sure you’re not his Serpent?’ the Emperor said.
I sighed. ‘I have no idea what I am, Celestial Majesty.’ I looked up at him, full of hope. ‘Could you have a look at me? You might know what I am.’
‘What if she is his Serpent?’ Simone said. ‘If he comes back and they rejoin?’
‘Then she’d probably disappear completely into him. You’d lose her, and gain his yang side.’ The Emperor smiled at his tea. ‘Not an ideal situation for those who love you, I think, Lady Emma, whatever your feelings on the matter.’
Simone glanced sharply at me.
I shook my head and looked down. ‘I want it, Simone. I want to be part of him, to join with him. I want it more than anything in the world.’ I sighed and looked into her eyes. ‘I want to be his Serpent.’
‘You aren’t,’ Bai Hu said. ‘We’ve seen it. The Serpent shows up occasionally, wreaks havoc with the weather and then disappears again.’
‘That’s true, it’s highly unlikely,’ the Jade Emperor said. He sipped his tea. ‘Even I don’t know what you are. I have never seen anything like you before.’
‘I thought you knew all,’ I said with humour.
‘I know all in the Eastern Plane. Something about you is not part of this Plane and therefore beyond my knowledge,’ he said. ‘Maybe it is part of your Western or Southern heritage. When Ah Wu returns and we have our conference we can find out more.’
Simone leaned over the table and whispered, ‘Please don’t be Daddy’s Serpent. I couldn’t bear to lose you when he returns.’
‘I’ll try not to be, Simone. That’s all I can promise.’
‘Are we finished?’ the Jade Emperor said.
‘Thanks, Celestial Majesty,’ I said. ‘I appreciate your time.’
He waved it down. ‘Not a problem, Emma. I nearly came down to see you anyway; I was sick to death of hearing about Leo.’
The Jade Emperor rose and we did as well. Simone hesitated, then went to him and embraced him. She kissed him on the cheek.
‘Thanks for everything,’ she said.
He smiled up at her; she was about five centimetres taller than him. ‘You’re welcome, sweetheart. Thanks for showing me your Celestial Form, it’s spectacular. Now.’ He put his arm around her waist and glanced from her to me. ‘I’d like to give you two some little gifts I have for you, but I want to do it with all the Imperial bullshit in front of everybody. Do you mind?’
‘Do you have to?’ Simone whined.
He squeezed her around the waist. ‘Oh, come on, make an old man happy.’
‘Promise you won’t make me take serpent form,’ Isaid.
‘Cross my heart. I never wanted to force you into serpent form; I just wanted you to show them that defiance is the right path to take when it is with good reason. But Simone,’ he looked up at her, ‘it would be a good idea to take the full version of your True Form. Scare any potential suitors half to death. Pull in all the yin you can, wrap it around you. Make your eyes huge and black, your hair as well if you can. Be as scary as possible. Make them think twice about doing anything stupid to make me give them your hand. Carry Seven Stars, the blade bare. Have you tried to load it with energy?’
‘I’m not game.’
‘Don’t worry about it then. Just take your biggest, scariest Celestial Form.’
‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘Do it, Simone.’
‘What are you going to give us though?’ Simone asked.
‘Just a couple of little things,’ the Emperor said. He squeezed her again. ‘You’ll do it for me?’
She shrugged. ‘Okay.’
CHAPTER 7
General Qin announced us again. ‘Bodhisattva Kwan Yin. Lord Bai Hu of the West. Princess Simone. Lady Emma Donahoe.’
Why does he keep doing us in the wrong order? Simone said. You have precedence over Uncle Bai.
I raised my hand to hush her and we walked down the carpet again. Even more Celestials had turned up. The hall was nearly full.
We did the obeisance thing at the base of the dais, and this time the Emperor quickly told us to rise.
We stood and waited.
Er Lang raised a scroll and read from it, sounding unhappy. This time he was in human form, appearing as a normal, good-looking young Chinese warrior. His third eye was closed and undetectable. ‘Lady Emma Donahoe, step forward.’
I moved to the base of the steps that led up to the throne.
The Jade Emperor rose from the throne and raised one hand. ‘Approach, Lady Emma.’
I bowed slightly, then climbed the stairs to the top. A young woman in a floating pink robe appeared behind the Emperor holding a black and silver cloisonné casket. The casket was about thirty centimetres long.
At the top of the stairs I fell to one knee and saluted again.
You are very good at this, the Emperor said.
I winked at him on the way back up.
He gestured for