Page 105 of The Cinders
THE NEWyear, already so violently begun, only darkened further, just a few brief steps beyond the theatre’s doors.
‘Sir William, what are you doing here?’
‘Prince Xian.’The Englishman’s wide grin accentuated his high cheekbones.He looked more put together than he had just a short while ago, with eyes clear and vibrant, steady on his feet.‘I didn’t think you had such fight in you.’
Xian stared at him.‘You saw what happened, with…’ He couldn’t bring himself to say the man’s name.‘You saw and did nothing to aid me?’
‘Did you need my aid?It appeared you had matters in hand.’
Furious, Xian sought to push past him.But William moved fast and loomed large.
‘Stand aside, daemon.’Xian glowered, impatience and anguish forming a foul mix in his mind.
‘Easy now.I understand you are rattled.I’ll not lay a hand on you.There’s been enough of that done for one night.Just wait.’
‘Do you think I’m a fool?’Xian dragged his breath between clenched teeth.‘Wait so you can betray me completely?Keeping me here whilst you wait for the guards to arrive and put me in chains?’
William huffed.‘Why would they put you in chains, when it was that bastard who deserves them?No one is coming.They are all intent on more exciting things than a tiresome vulpine.’
‘How could you stand there and do nothing when he attacked me?Have you no decency?’Xian shouted beneath the spray of fireworks that loosened overhead; a spectacular bloom of golds and greens.
William’s lips, damp and full, parted, then closed.He seemed irritated, barely able to look Xian in the eye.‘You were supposed to…I thought maybe you would…I do not know how to ignite a huli jing, I could only go by what I know as a daemon…’ He flung up his hand.‘Fine, I should have stepped in earlier, there you have it.But a dramatic event can be helpful—’
‘Helpful in what?’Xian cried.
‘In bringing on the first change.Never mind, it didn’t work, and by the time I’d decided things had gone far enough, you decided to finally show your teeth, and fight for yourself.’
‘First change?What are you…’ Xian held up his hands.‘No, wait.Don’t say another word.You have told so many lies this evening I couldn’t believe a single thing that comes out of your mouth.Get out of my way, daemon.’
‘You know I could click my fingers and have you eyes melt in their sockets, for such insolence.I don’t think you understand who you are dealing with.’
‘And I don’t care.’Xian shouldered his way past the infuriating man.‘Go back to your madak, Sir William, and leave me alone.’
‘Are you pissy because I denied that I ever granted you a wish?Dear boy, you are no fun at all.’
The sky thundered, and the colours rained down their hues on a city where people shouted their delight into the night, and music tried to outplay the fireworks.
Xian rounded on him.‘Youdoremember.’
‘Of course I bloody well remember, I’m not an ancient imbecile.But I’m not a pleasant fellow, I wasn’t bred that way.’He hesitated, looking as abashed as Xian imagined the man could look.‘I thought it would be amusing to goad you, to see what happened when a fox was taunted.I like to be amused, it’s a distraction from the unpleasantries of my life.But apparently, when I combine madak and Moutai, I also become something of a cunt.’Xian frowned.The last word spoken in English made no sense to him.
‘If that means you are a shameless hùndàn who is wasting my time, then we agree.I’ll not stand here with you any longer.I will leave tonight with Song Lim, with no help from you.’
Another chorus of fireworks erupted, drawing Xian’s gaze skyward.
When he looked down, William was there, right in front of him.
‘No help from me?You rude little dog.I’ve done all this for you, and for what?To think I almost wasted my time feeling guilty a moment ago, for the lies, and the standing by while you were assailed, but I am quite over that now.’
‘Shut up!Move!’Xian pushed at William’s chest.And unsurprisingly found him immovable.But where his hands rested against the Englishman’s chaofu, Xian noted how the fireworks played with the light, giving his skin an orange-red tinge.Beneath his skin, the spirit strained, stretching itself against the confines of flesh and bone.
‘Very well then.’Sir William stepped back and turned on his leather heels at the precise moment the sky exploded with another calamitous display of brilliant colour, paired with more ominous booms.Sir William flicked his coat, and the crack of exploding gunpowder marked the moment exactly.
Above, gold and emerald points of light flickered like a swarm of fireflies gone mad.
The daemon raised his hand and jabbed his finger into the air.
Another great boom, another shock of illumination.