Red Phoenix. Kylie Chan
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on the door downstairs. John nodded to Monica, who went to open it.
John rose and stood to one side, his face fierce. He gestured for me to stand next to him, and I did.
Monica led a Taoist priest up the stairs. He wore the full regalia of a senior practitioner: vividly coloured robes with yin-yang symbols on them, and a high, square black hat. The face under the hat was mid-forties, with a kind, jolly expression, and I liked him immediately.
When he reached the top of the stairs he took two steps into the room and then fell to his knees and touched his forehead to the floor. ‘Man shui, man shui, man man shui.’
‘Hei sun,’ John said, his voice clipped.
The priest rose, then bowed slightly from the waist, very serious. ‘Celestial Highness. Welcome.’
John gestured towards me, still very formal. ‘This is my chosen, Lady Emma.’
The priest bowed slightly to me as well, saluting. ‘Ma’am.’
Simone didn’t bother with the formalities; she ran to the priest and raised her arms. ‘Uncle Ming!’
The priest lifted her, sat her on his hip, and kissed her on the cheek. He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a bun for her, which she accepted with delight. It was one of the buns from the three bun towers outside the temple; it had been stamped with a red good-luck motif. He carefully lowered Simone.
John gestured towards the couch and we all sat. Monica brought tea, and the priest poured. John nodded as he was served. Now the formalities were over we could all relax.
‘It’s a tremendous honour to have you back here with us, Highness,’ the priest said. ‘It’s been a while.’
‘Circumstances are quite difficult right now,’ John said. ‘Even worse than ’78. But in a couple of years I will be gone for a very long time.’ He lifted his tea cup and gestured towards me with it. ‘Emma will be Regent.’
The priest was obviously taken aback. ‘The Celestial will permit a wedding in these circumstances?’
‘No. But she will be Regent regardless.’
‘You always were one for breaking the rules, Highness,’ the priest said, shaking his head with disbelief. He smiled at me. ‘Did you have any idea what you were getting into?’
‘No idea whatsoever, until it was too late.’ I shrugged. ‘And now it’s definitely too late.’
‘Kwan Yin herself has sponsored the Lady Emma,’ John said. ‘She is one of the most talented practitioners of the Arts I have seen in centuries. She loves Simone as her own. She is my chosen.’
I glanced at John, but he concentrated on the priest.
The priest bowed his head slightly to me. ‘I will be honoured to serve you, my Lady.’
John relaxed almost imperceptibly. He’d obviously been worried about the way the priest would receive me, but there didn’t seem to be a problem. I was relieved as well.
‘Come up to the temple after the noise has died down and we’re not so busy,’ the priest said. ‘Say hello to the acolytes. The renovations are finished, as well.’
‘Do they know too?’ I said.
The priest smiled. ‘I’m the only one who knows, my Lady. It is a trust handed down to each senior priest of the temple as they take the post.’
‘One of the most fun parts of the job,’ John said with amusement.
‘Oh, definitely,’ the priest said. ‘My Master took a photo when the Dark Lord revealed his true nature to me, and had it over his desk for a long time.’
‘That was the look I normally get,’ John said.
I was dying to ask about the arrangements that John had with the temple but it wasn’t the polite time to talk business yet. Small talk for a while, still.
‘How go things on the Celestial?’ the priest said.
‘All is well. But,’ John leaned back slightly, ‘there is a particular Demon Prince, number One Two Two, who has decided to make a bid for my head. His human name is Simon Wong.’
The priest’s face went rigid as he thought about the consequences.
‘I will give you an identikit photograph that Emma has created, and we will reset the seals on the temple every six weeks. I don’t want any of you held as hostages.’
‘My Lord,’ the priest said, nodding. ‘How powerful is this particular demon?’
‘Right now, not a threat,’ John said, raising his tea. ‘We will have to wait and see what his plans are.’
Okay, now I could talk business. ‘Exactly what arrangement do you have with the Dark Lord regarding the management of the temple?’ I asked. ‘I’ll be helping out after he’s gone. You said the temple had just been renovated? It looks terrific, they did a great job.’
The priest smiled with appreciation. ‘I think I will enjoy working with you, Lady Emma. Let me tell you about the management of the temple, and what your part will be.’
John sipped his tea, his eyes sparkling over the rim of the tea cup as we talked about administration and funding.
Simone was still heady with excitement as we took the boat back to Hong Kong Island. It was well past midnight, but she was full of nervous energy.
She eventually couldn’t hold it any longer and whispered in my ear, ‘Now?’
I nodded and she wriggled with delight. She went to the galley of the boat, opened a cupboard and pulled out a red-wrapped gift.
She took it to her father and held it out to him.
‘Happy birthday, Daddy,’ she said, very serious, then kissed him on the cheek.
John shot me a delighted glance and then grinned broadly at the gift. ‘I think this is the first time for me.’
‘Open it now, Western-style. We want to see your face,’ I said.
Simone came and sat next to me to watch. ‘Yeah, Daddy, open it.’
I quickly pulled a camera out as John proceeded to undo the tape that held the gift wrap. He pulled the wrap away, held the box up, turned it the right way up, then stared at it with shock.
I took a photo just as he lit up with a huge delighted grin and then roared with laughter. Got it.
‘Do you like it, Daddy?’ Simone said. ‘You can put it on your desk next to your computer monitor.’
‘Was this your idea?’ John asked Simone, still grinning broadly.
Simone glanced at me then back to her father without saying anything.
John turned the Ninja Turtle figure around so that we could see it. In Hong Kong the Ninja Turtles were called the Hero Turtles; the word ‘Ninja’ had too many unpleasant connotations. It meant ‘assassin’ in Japanese and was associated with stealthy murderers with no honour, completely at odds with the Western image of the powerful Ninja fighter.
‘Two swords,’ he said. ‘I only have one sword.’
‘You have two,’ Simone said. ‘Seven Stars and Dark Heavens.’
‘I suppose I do.’ He turned the box back around and studied the turtle figure. ‘It looks just like me.’
‘That’s the idea.’ I couldn’t hold it any more. Simone let go as well and we clutched each other and giggled with delight. That photo was very, very precious.
The minute we were home John took the turtle out of the box and put it carefully next to his monitor. It stayed on his desk, guarding his mess, for a long time.