Page 49 of Skulk of Foxes
Liung shook his head. ‘Only I am capable of that.’ He gave a nasty smile. ‘Unless you can find yourselves another dragon. With Chen gone, I think I’m the only one in this country, however, so good luck with that.’ He sniffed. ‘But bring me the sphere and I will dispose of it for good.’
‘Pinky promise?’ I asked.
Liung folded his arms across his chest. ‘I give you my oath. I do not … pinky promise,’ he sneered. ‘Next time you need my help, don’t wait so long to contact me. Untold damage could have occurred because of your delays.’
‘Oi!’ Jodie said. ‘It’s not like we knew you existed! You could have called us!’
‘I was busy. And you must have known I was here. Everyone knows who I am.’
‘No-one knows who you are, mate,’ Timmons scoffed. ‘This world isn’t for the likes of you. This is a human demesne.’
Liung’s face darkened. ‘It ismydemesne.’
‘No-one knows you’re here.’
‘I am famous! I am George Liung of the Liung dynasty!’
‘This is almost like hearing my own personality echoing back at me,’ I said in an aside to Morgan. Then I addressed Liung. ‘I am Madrona Hatter of the Madhatter dynasty and I’ve never heard of you either!’
Liung stopped puffing out his chest and stared at me. A moment later he let out a loud cackling laugh. ‘You? You’re Madrona?’ he laughed harder. ‘You’re the one who’s responsible for all this in the first place. It was your actions that trapped your kind here.’
I shifted uncomfortably. ‘I don’t remember.’
He snorted. ‘Sure you don’t.’
‘I’ve got amnesia,’ I informed him sniffily. ‘Anyway, what I did or did not do in the past is irrelevant. We are concentrating on the future.’
The dragon’s lip curled. ‘If you have one.’
‘If I don’t have one,’ I shot back, ‘then neither do you.’
‘Mbongo spice and avocado seeds.’
‘Huh?’
‘You heard me. Mix three parts to one and then you’ll have the cure you need to remember everything.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Of course, remembering might not be particularly pleasant.’
It occurred to me that Liung was the only person I’d met who hadn’t been sceptical about my amnesia when I first mentioned it. My eyes scanned his face. He seemed smug and self-satisfied but I’d lay money on the fact that he was telling the truth about the memory concoction; he wanted me to remember because he wanted me to suffer from those memories.
‘I told you already,’ he said softly, ‘I’ve been around for five hundred years. I remember everything I ever did – every nasty word, every mistake, every terrible thing. Why do you think I’m still awake? You lot have only decades of problems to mull over in your beds when you can’t sleep. Imagine what it’s like for me.’
‘My heart bleeds,’ Timmons said. ‘Maybe the solution is not making mistakes or doing terrible things.’
Liung smiled. ‘I hadn’t realised I was in the company of saints. That has not been my experience of your kind in the past.’ He glanced at Jodie. ‘Or of humans. Or vampires. Or werewolves.’ He sighed and briefly stroked his moustache. ‘Or dragons.’
‘I’m not afraid of my past,’ I said. ‘I’ll freely admit to my mistakes.’
‘Good for you,’ Liung returned. ‘Just remember you said that. You got the chance to wipe the slate clean and you started again. Very few people have that opportunity. It’s a blessing, not a curse.’
I licked my lips. I was fairly certain I already knew the worst of what I’d done but I didn’t know the details. I didn’t remember the pain of abandoning Morgan for Rubus. I didn’t remember the guilt of realising I’d been the one to force the borders to Mag Mell closed. But I wasn’t a coward; I didn’t want to be afraid of who I’d been or who I’d become. Our memories made us what we were, warts and all. I’d stopped worrying about my amnesia days ago but now Liung made me want to resolve the issue once and for all.
Morgan got to his feet, apparently concerned about the turn the conversation had taken. ‘We shall retrieve the sphere and bring it to you. You will destroy it.’
Liung remained seated. ‘And you will sort out the infernal magic that’s causing all these problems.’
‘We will try.’
He sniffed disdainfully. ‘I don’t like people whotry. I like people who do.’ He cast us another disparaging glance. ‘Then again, I don’t like faeries either.’
