A white fox comes barrelling out of the cave. From the smell, she’s hulijing. But I don’t recognise her.
The white hulijing circles Tony, sniffing. The air ripples and a young woman appears in place of the fox.
Lord Aengus gasps, stares at her with his jaw hanging wide open. He nudges Tony, and points at me with his chin. ‘Did you know hulijing are alsofoxes?’
I turn away and pretend I didn’t hear him.
‘You have Ca-ra-me-le,’ the stranger announces before glaring at the rest of us. ‘Go away, I don’t want you here.’
‘And who might you be, little fox?’ Lord Black says with perfect civility.
The moment she realises Lord Black is a dragon king, she drops to her knees. ‘Venerable Dragon King, I am Maomao, protector of this shrine. No one may enter.’
Tony fishes in his pocket, pulls out little squares of caramels. My heart pangs. And I’m suddenly very jealous of this little fox.
‘What if I exchanged these for a visit to the shrine?’ He holds his palm out.
The woman contemplates the candies. ‘Those caramels are from France. Are you also from France?’
Marianne stares at the caramels, then at Maomao. She whispers, ‘My father loved those caramels. Never went anywhere without them.’ She turns to the hulijing. ‘Have you met my father, Romain de Durand? We’re looking for him.’
‘You are Romain Gege’s daughter from France? The one who saves kittens?’
Marianne staggers, pink tears pooling in her eyes. Mémère asks something, but Marianne’s mouth opens and closes wordlessly. Tony translates for her.
‘Maomao,’ I say. ‘Did you know my mother, Lady Rey?’
Surprise, relief, sorrow flash across Maomao’s face. ‘Rey Jiejie was my favourite. I helped her look for Romain Gege, even though Niang Niang forbade us. I ran away, kept looking. But by the time I found him, the hunters had killed her. I’ve been waiting a long time for you, Jing Meimei. Come.’ She leaps; with a swish of her thick white tail, she heads back into the cave.
Marianne, Max and Mémère stare after the fox. I’m suddenly fearful.
Lord Black leads the way, and we follow him into the cave. The floor is carved into wide stone steps that spiral downwards.
As we descend, Marianne asks, ‘Is she your sister, Jing? She called you meimei.’
I shake my head. ‘All the courtiers call each other sister. Hulijing only bear whelps once in their lives, so we’re all only children, except for those born as twins.’
We reach the bottom of the stairs and find ourselves in an underground cavern. Thick tree roots hang from the ceiling, plunging into the ground like pillars in a majestic hall. Maomao waits by one of these root formations. Close by is a fog-covered table.
Lord Black slows as he looks at the table; for a split second his expression is inhuman, terrifying in its fury, but it’s gone as quickly as it came. He turns to us. ‘Be careful of the daggers.’
I don’t understand what he’s talking about. But then, I see what he sees.
The table is a flattish section of root. And the fog... the fog is—
The fog is my father. Mist in the shape of a body, trapped in place by talismanic daggers. I sink to my knees, retching at the horror of being held like that for a century.
Lord Aengus curses softly. Mémère’s sob tells me she sees it too. She throws herself at the table, grabs one of the daggers, tries to pull it free. Blisters and angry welts erupt over her palms, spreading over her hands, her wrists, up her arms. She screams as she yanks, but the dagger holds fast. Marianne and Max hold her, or at least they try to, but she is prodigiously strong. They’re no match for her.
‘Tony.’ I turn and am startled to find him staring at me, looking a little sad. He startles as well and I have to take a second to remember my words. ‘Um, can you try to stop Mémère?’
But even Tony can’t stop her.
Maomao steps from foot to foot. ‘I tried many times. They don’t come out.’
Finally it’s Lord Black who lifts Mémère away as easily as picking up a kitten. ‘Attends,’ he says gently.
Mémère slumps against a tree, face red, her arms a bloody mess.
