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Miss Ling’s estate sat on the hills to the south of the capital of the Northern Heavens, with large post-and-rail paddocks and a central equestrian complex. She provided riding, racing and war horses for the Celestial community, and had recently diversified into competition horses as well. Her longstanding rivalry with the White Tiger was well-known throughout the Celestial and there were sometimes bets placed on which of the two would win a particular equestrian event.
The foaling yards were close to the main house for easy monitoring. We entered the stable block and Miss Ling guided us to the mare in question; she was located in one of the stalls, its floor lined with sawdust bedding. The foal was with her, gambolling around the stall. Its legs looked impossibly long and it seemed unable to control all four at once; each splayed out in a different direction and the foal glared at them, as if ordering them to behave. The mare watched with bemused tolerance and obvious affection.
The mare was an eventing horse, a thoroughbred that excelled at both dressage and show jumping. Miss Ling had won a couple of Earthly competitions riding her, and there had been much speculation in the Celestial about the price the foal would command when Miss Ling had the mare serviced with frozen semen from one of the world’s top eventing stallions.
‘The stallion that provided the semen was black, with no dilution gene, and everybody knows it,’ Miss Ling said. ‘This mare is bay, and also has no dilution gene, so a palomino or buckskin from the cross is impossible.’
‘My demon stallion is palomino, however,’ Mr Toi said. ‘There was a reasonable chance that he would throw a dilute foal, which would be a loud signal to everybody that my horse was the father. We succeeded: the foal is palomino, red dilute, and a fine little horse. Everybody in the Celestial is aware of the parentage, and they’ll have to get over their prejudice about demon foals if they want to take advantage of this mare’s progeny in future.’
‘It was worth the risk,’ Miss Ling said. ‘We planned to gift this half-demon foal to you; then give a natural-horse foal from one of the Tiger’s stallions to Princess Simone. After that, future progeny will be …’ She searched for the word.
‘A free-for-all,’ I said. ‘Everybody will want one.’
‘We’re hoping that some may even want full brothers to this one as well, since you or the Princess will be riding it,’ Mr Toi said.
‘How dark’s the dad?’ I said. The foal had a cream body with a lighter cream mane and tail; it would take a while for his adult colour to show.
‘The stallion is a very brilliant gold with a completely white mane and tail,’ Mr Toi said. ‘This little fellow will probably be just as rich a colour.’ He leaned on the stable door to watch the foal. ‘My demon stallion is one of the finest mounts on the Celestial — smart, reliable and loyal. If this foal shows any of his traits he will be exceptional.’
‘Sometimes such a mating can produce a fully natural animal,’ Miss Ling said. ‘But we’ve had the foal tested and he has demon essence flowing through his blood.’
‘What are the general implications?’ I said. ‘Will I need to take any special care if I have him as a saddle horse?’
Ling and Toi both shook their heads.
‘My stallion is highly intelligent, to the point of being self-aware,’ Toi said. ‘And this foal seems to have the intelligence of an extremely smart animal. I don’t think you’ll need to give him special attention, and he won’t ever talk —’
‘You stay away from my mummy!’ the foal yelled, sounding like a small boy. He was standing in front of his mother, gangly legs spread wide for support, his tiny carpet-like tail twitching with aggression and his teeth bared.
‘Well, how about that,’ Toi said with amusement.
‘I’m not going to hurt your mummy,’ I said to the foal. ‘I like horses.’
The foal lowered his bulbous forehead, still glaring at me. ‘You look like something that would eat horses.’
I lowered my head as well. ‘Well, I don’t. Usually I take the same form as these two people here, and I look after horses.’
The foal looked back at his mother, who was apparently accustomed to all sorts of Celestial creatures viewing her and was unperturbed by my presence. He glanced from Ling to Toi, unsure.
‘Your mummy isn’t worried about me,’ I said.
‘Mummy’s not real smart,’ the foal said. He backed up slightly so he was closer to her. ‘She don’t talk.’
‘This foal just became worth ten jin of jade all by himself,’ Toi said, still amused. ‘He’s smart and courageous and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.’
‘I can’t take him as a saddle horse now,’ I said. ‘He’s much too valuable as breeding stock.’
Ling and Toi both shook their heads.
‘No, no,’ Toi said. ‘Half-demon horses aren’t useful as breeding stock, they’re always sterile. We can geld him for you and you can use him as a riding horse, no problem at all.’
‘I don’t feel good about doing that to a sentient creature,’ I said, watching the foal.
He overcame his fear and approached me cautiously and with curiosity, although his tiny tail still flapped with agitation. ‘Are you talking about me?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘We think you are very beautiful and all of us want to own you when you grow up into a fine, strong horse.’
He stared at me with round, liquid eyes. ‘You think I’m beautiful?’
I lowered my head even further so my nose was level with his. ‘I think you’re the most beautiful little horse I’ve ever seen.’
‘Aww, gee.’ He dropped his head and turned away. He skittered back to his mother, butted her belly a few times with his nose, and began to suck noisily, his tail going round like a propeller.
‘He may not need gelding if he gets the right training and the hormones don’t fill him full of attitude,’ Toi said. ‘We’ll just have to see how he goes. If by six months he’s attacking people on sight and mounting everything he can, you can make the decision then.’
‘He’s a total sweetheart,’ I said.
‘So, would you like to take him as your own and give Simone the next one?’ Mr Toi said. ‘We’ll have the mare covered by a natural horse that’s the right mix of quality and temperament to give Princess Simone a saddle horse that’s smart, reliable and has enough talent to do anything she likes with it.’
‘She may want this little guy,’ I said. ‘I’m not too fussed either way. Let’s see what happens after she’s taken a look at him.’
Ling and Toi both stood formally with their hands in front of them and bowed their heads to me.
‘Ma’am, you have done a great thing here. With both you and Simone riding horses that are half-brothers from this mare we will finally be able to destroy this prejudice that exists about half-demon animals,’ Toi said.
‘I can’t believe anybody would be prejudiced against something as exceptional as this foal,’ I said as we made our way to the main house.
‘He is exceptional, ma’am,’ Ling agreed. ‘It is very unusual for a half-demon horse to talk.’ She nodded to the demon servant that opened the door for her. ‘Most half-demon horses are small, weak and dull. But Mr Toi’s stallion is different, and I hope all his progeny turn out to be as exceptional as this little one.’
‘Where did the demon stallion come from?’ I said.
‘He just turned up,’ Toi said.
We sat on the rosewood couches in the living room and a demon servant brought tea. Miss Ling poured.
‘I was demon-hunting in the mountains of Fukien when I came across this stallion,’ Toi continued. ‘He was injured, and appeared to have been pierced by some sort of lance several times. I tamed him and brought him here. He’s been a fine, intelligent and brave steed for me and is now my preferred mount when demon-hunting. He is completely fearless.’
‘He talks too?’ I said.
‘That he does, ma’am,’ Toi said.
Miss Ling shrugged. ‘We took a gamble that Mr Toi’s stallion would sire something special. This is his first covering and the results are beyond expectation.’
‘Our plan worked out far better than we could have hoped,’ Toi said, and he and Ling shared a smile.
‘If the Dark Lord were still ruler here, would you have discussed your plans with him from the start?’ I said.
They both paused for a moment, thinking, then Miss Ling nodded. ‘Probably. He is always straightforward in his dealings and works hard to overcome prejudice in all its forms.’
‘But because I’m a woman, you felt you needed to play this charade?’ I said.
They both appeared concerned and I rushed to reassure them. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not upset about this. I just want you guys to feel that you can approach me the same way you could approach John … Xuan Wu. I want to build a good relationship with the citizens of the North.’
‘It was more that you are from the Earthly, ma’am, and Earthly politics usually involve manipulation instead of honest dealing,’ Toi said. ‘You are not resident on the Celestial and not an Immortal. People on the Earthly are usually out for themselves first, working to promote their own interests.’
‘Well, I’m not like that,’ I said. ‘I work for the good of the citizens of the Heavens first. I don’t feel I’m doing a terribly good job, but hopefully by the time Xuan Wu returns I won’t have made a complete mess of it.’
I lowered my snout and delicately sipped my tea; it was sow mei, my favourite. I felt a quiet rush of satisfaction at managing to drink it without spilling any.
‘What the Dark Lady is trying to say,’ the stone added, ‘is that none of you need to play games to get things done. All you have to do is contact her, say what you need and she’ll work hard to get it for you. You should pass the word along.’
‘Uh … yeah,’ I said.
One of the demon servants, appearing as an elderly man in traditional black and white, came to us and bowed. ‘The Princess of the Northern Heavens is here.’
‘Show her in, don’t make her wait!’ Miss Ling said, gesturing quickly with one hand.
Simone came in and leaned over the back of the sofa to kiss the top of my serpent head. She smiled at Ling and Toi. ‘Can I see the baby?’
They both rose and formally bowed to Simone but she waved them down. ‘Please, you know I don’t like this formal rigmarole. I’d just like to see the foal, if I could.’
‘You’re supposed to be in school,’ I said.
‘They won’t notice I’m gone if I run back quick enough. It’s nearly lunchtime anyway.’
I slithered off the couch and onto the floor. ‘Do you mind if she takes a look too?’
‘Not at all,’ Miss Ling said, and guided us back out to the stables.
The foal was curled up at his mother’s feet, dozing. He pricked up his ears when we entered but didn’t open his eyes.
‘He’s so pretty,’ Simone whispered.
‘Would there be any issue with him travelling between Heaven and the Earthly if Simone decided to take him?’ I said.
‘He was born here so can travel to both Planes when he is old enough,’ Toi said. ‘He can be tamed with the Fire Essence Pill if he shows demonic tendencies.’
‘Then he would probably be a better match for you, Simone,’ I said. ‘I can only ride on the Earthly, so I might as well get a natural horse.’
‘Can I go in and pet him?’ Simone said.
Miss Ling nodded, smiling slightly. ‘Of course. Take care of his hooves when he tries to stand up.’
She opened the stall gate and Simone carefully approached the foal. He opened one eye and looked at her with curiosity. ‘You smell nice.’
‘He talks?’ Simone said in disbelief.
He dropped his head, shy. ‘Is that wrong?’
‘No, no,’ she said. ‘It just means that you’re special.’ She kneeled and raised one hand cautiously towards him. ‘Can I touch you?’
He raised his nose to sniff her hand, then licked it. ‘You taste good too.’
She carefully ran her hand over the soft hair of his mane between his ears and down the front of his face. He nuzzled into her hand. ‘You feel nice. I like you.’
Simone’s face softened.
‘I can’t take him now,’ I said with amusement. ‘She’s smitten.’
‘When you grow up to be a big, strong, beautiful horse,’ Simone said gently to him, ‘will you let me ride you and take you all over the place and show everybody what a special horse you are?’
He studied her appraisingly. ‘You won’t be too heavy?’
‘Not when you’re all grown up,’ she said.
He pulled himself clumsily to his feet and she quickly moved back to avoid his tiny, sharp hooves. He stood and watched her, his tail flicking, then he glanced towards me, Ling and Toi. ‘Do I get to choose who rides me?’
Simone put her hand out towards him. ‘I think you can choose between me and the snake lady, who loves you just as much as I do.’
He shoved his forehead into her hand. ‘Then I choose you, ’cause I really like you.’
She bowed her head as she stroked his ears. ‘My name’s Simone.’
He licked her hand again. ‘I don’t have a name.’ He dropped his head and eyed her shyly. ‘Can you give me a name? I’d really like that.’
‘I’ll have to think of something that’s as impressive and handsome as you are,’ she said. ‘I can’t just call you Freddo Frog or anything.’
‘Freddo Frog! I love that!’ He gambolled around the stall, flicking his tail. ‘I’m Freddo Frog, the wonder horse. I belong to Simonny, the wonder girl!’ He turned to her and reared, then dropped and kicked out his tiny back feet. ‘Freddo Frog and Simonny!’
Simone fell to sit on the straw, hysterical with laughter. Freddo lay down next to her and rested his head in her lap, gazing up at her. ‘Thank you, Simonny.’
She cupped his head with both hands. ‘You’re welcome, Freddo. Can I come and visit you every day?’
‘I’d like that,’ he said.
Sorry, Simone mouthed to Miss Ling over the top of his head. She switched to silent speech. You should choose a stud name for him; you can’t call him Freddo Frog!
‘Ling’s Golden Freddo (DX) it is,’ Miss Ling said.
‘DX?’ Simone said.
‘It’s an indicator we put at the end of the stud name to show demonic offspring,’ Miss Ling said. She turned to me. ‘What does Freddo Frog mean anyway?’
‘It’s a small chocolate bar that you can buy in Australia,’ I said. ‘Simone loves them.’
Ling gestured with her head towards Simone and Freddo. ‘I think this is love as well.’
‘You have to go back to school, you know that, Simone,’ I said.
