Wukong gave the order to let him in, and we were getting ready to greet him in the throne room.
I straightened out his armor as I instructed him on how to handle this meeting.
“Okay, I’ll let you take point here, but remember it’s best to deescalate.
If they give you the title, then the war will end.
If they don’t, we’ll try and negotiate to end the war.
And if he insists on arresting you, we’ll take him hostage and try to negotiate a ceasefire for his release.
You got it?” Wukong smiled down at me as I fussed with his armor.
“I’ve got it Yue, but you’re far too worried.
You saw how I kicked their asses before.
I’m sure we can handle them.” I sighed.
There wasn’t anything wrong with his armor now, I just didn’t want to let go of him.
My stomach was tight with nerves as everything that could go wrong raced through my skull.
“You’re strong Wukong, but I don’t want to push our luck.
Let’s just see if they’re willing to negotiate for real now.” He dipped down and gave me a kiss.
“I promise I’ll follow your guidelines.
Title means no war, negotiate if we can, and take him prisoner if we can’t.
I got it.” I sighed, and finally let him go, turning to our thrones.
Everyone was getting antsy in the palace.
The sooner this ended the better.
“Okay, let’s go.” We sat down, and Beng and Liu left to retrieve Evening Star.
The air was different from how it normally was, all the banquet tables had been cleared away.
Around the edges of the room were soldiers, Ba and Ma sitting to either side of the thrones to protect us in case this was somehow a trap.
The throne room was also much nicer than the last time Evening Star was here, the path to the thrones was carpeted and our Dais was much higher.
I had the room carved out to be bigger, and tapestries, red and long, trimmed in gold, were embroidered with the symbol of our kingdom, a stylized sun with six points, with a four petaled flower in the center.
In the center of the flower was another small circle, to represent the moon.
The sun represented Wukong, and the six points were the six laws he decreed when he first became the Monkey King, to love all monkeys as if they were family, to share in both excess and shortage, to never harm a monkey intentionally, to help others when they need it, to keep living areas clean, and to play and smile every day.
The flower inside represented the people, organized into four points, under the generals, and the little moon inside represented me.
Leadership, and focus, stating that by even having a symbol we moved forward as a civilization.
That, and the generals insisted I be included in the symbol somehow.
Our kingdom had grown by leaps and bounds since Evening Star was last here.
Let’s see how he reacts.
The doors swung open, silent on well-oiled hinges, and Beng and Liu stood to the side as Beng announced him to the room, his voice booming.
“Now announcing the Evening Star, Venus!” Venus walked in, stroking his beard as he took in the room.
A frown etched itself ever deeper into his lips.
Didn’t like that we were more advanced now huh?
Well, tough luck buddy, I wasn’t planning on slowing down any time soon.
He took his time walking to the beginning of the dais before bowing down.
“I greet the Monkey King and Queen.
I have another memorial from the Jade Emperor.
May I read it for you?” Wukong gestured towards the scroll in his hands.
“Please do Evening Star.
I hope it’s good news.” Evening Star unwound the scroll.
He launched into the flowery language I struggled to parse through.
Why did humans have to make this so complicated?
Finally, he got to the important part.
“And so, the illustrious Jade Emperor sees fit to grant Sun Wukong the title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven and grants him a position equal to that of a high official, along with a mansion and many attendants.
Effective immediately as soon as Wukong ceases all hostilities towards the heavenly army.” More flowery language.
But we did it.
We won.
We wouldn’t be going to war with heaven today.
But some parts of the decree still made me concerned.
The Jade Emperor wanted Wukong in heaven.
Where he could keep an eye on him.
And the time dilation… I gripped the edges of my seat.
Was Wukong going to leave me behind again?
I wouldn’t be able to handle being alone for that long again.
Wukong interrupted the decree.
“What about my wife?” Evening Star glanced up from the scroll.
“Come again?” “My wife.
Who I had to leave behind last time.
Is she invited?” Evening Star glanced back over the decree before rolling it up, sticking it under his arm.
“Oh, of course.
While she is not specifically mentioned in the decree, I am certain she is invited as well.
You’re being granted a high position after all.” Wukong frowned and looked over at me.
Shit.
Do we take it?
Wukong and I would both be in heaven, in enemy territory.
But I really didn’t want this to end in bloodshed.
I was certain if this turned into a protracted conflict, we would lose.
We still haven’t seen the full extent of heaven’s forces.
I bit my lip.
We had to take this deal.
If we went to heaven, we’d be watched.
But we could also watch them.
Our intelligence on heaven’s influence and strength was minimal.
If I went there myself, I could learn as much as I could in case it ever did come to war.
I slightly nodded and Wukong turned back to Evening Star.
“Then we’ll gratefully accept.
Please, stay awhile and let’s throw a banquet to celebrate our peaceful resolution and my new position.” Evening Star shook his head, already turning to leave.
“No need, as we really must leave for heaven as quickly as possible.” What?
But we needed time to prepare.
I needed to talk to the generals and discuss our plan to disengage our troops.
Fuck, heaven did the exact same thing last time!
Insisting we leave immediately without giving us time to plan and discuss.
I leaned over and whispered to Wukong.
“You make him stay for a banquet.
I need to go talk with the generals before we leave.
Keep him here until I get back.” He nodded and gave Evening Star another smile, this one a little more mischievous.
“I really must insist you stay for a banquet.
It’s not every day we get to entertain someone such as yourself!” As Wukong distracted him, I whispered to Ba, to the right of my throne.
“Get the other generals and tell them to meet me in the offices.
We need to plan for me and Wukong being away for several years.” Ba nodded, and together, we quietly took our leave, heading for a door of the side of the dais as Wukong ordered the soldiers to bring in the tables and chairs again, and to fire up the ovens for a party.
Evening Star Venus was still trying to refuse, shaking his head, but when Wukong hopped down and grabbed his shoulders, laughing and pulling him along with him, I knew he was stuck.
Wukong could be very distracting when he wanted to be.
The door shut with a heavy thud, and I let my shoulders fall.
Here we go, I guess we were going to be living with a bunch of humans in heaven after all.
“Your Majesty?” Ah.
I looked back up at Ba, who was concerned for me, his hand half-outstretched.
Right.
Not quite done being queen for the day.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders.
“Grab the generals and the department heads.
Meeting Room Moon, as soon as we’re all there we’ll start the meeting.” He turned but hesitated another moment before turning back.
“Your Majesty, I… Even if you and the king leave, please know you two will always be the leaders of Aolai.
The generals and I will always be your faithful servants.” I felt the ghost of a smile on my lips.
“I know Ba.
You all have no idea just how thankful I am for all of you.
I know I can count on the four of you to keep things progressing and orderly while I’m gone.
And don’t worry.
I doubt we’re going to be in heaven forever.” He bowed, forming a fist over his heart to salute me.
“As you wish Your Majesty.
We look forward to the day you’ll rejoin us.” He peeked up from his bow.
“To be honest, I think I’ll miss you a little more than I’ll miss the king.” I threw my head back and laughed, his honesty working in cheering me up.
“Oh, I know.
Wukong is strong, but his leadership skills aren’t quite… there yet.” That was putting it lightly.
Leading an army into battle or fighting off our enemies he was good at.
But handling domestic issues?
Poring over reports and making plans for the future?
That was all me.
Ba straightened up and turned again.
“I will meet you in Meeting Room Moon as soon as I have alerted everyone.
I hope you and the king will remain cautious in heaven.
While it may be luxurious and fantastical, it is still enemy territory.” “I’m not sure about Wukong, but I will Ba.
Thank you.” I walked with him out of the hallway, and we split up, him heading around to reenter the throne room and I headed towards the offices.
I had already determined something, when I was thinking about heaven’s proposal.
This would just be a temporary move.
Eventually, Wukong and I would come back to our true home on Flower-Fruit Mountain.
I would make sure of it.
And I’d steal as much knowledge from heaven as I could before that.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.