Red Phoenix

turned to me, concerned. ‘Do you mind me asking about it, ma’am?’
    I sighed with resignation. ‘Share your cultures, guys. Just don’t mention this in front of the Dark Lord, or you’ll be sharpening every single weapon on the first floor.’
    The first floor was the armoury. There were well in excess of eight hundred bladed weapons stacked in there, neatly arranged. John could keep his weapons tidy, but his office was always a disaster area.
    ‘The snake soup shop down the street will open soon,’ Alvin said. ‘They close over the summer and open during the winter. They only need to open for a few months of the year, they make enough money.’
    ‘How do you eat it?’ Julie said.
    ‘Usually we eat snake in soup,’ Alvin said, enjoying his rapt audience. ‘Sometimes…’ he began, then changed his mind about what he was going to say. ‘Usually in soup. They shred the snake, and add other stuff to it, like fungi, or chicken, or pig’s ear, and boil it up. It’s actually quite…’ He didn’t finish. He tilted his head and smiled. ‘I won’t go into too much detail in front of the Sifu.’ He froze when he saw my face. ‘I apologise, ma’am, I’ve offended you,’ he said, alarmed.
    ‘No, Alvin, I’m not offended,’ I said absently. ‘I just remembered something.’ I snapped out of it. ‘I just remembered, I have something I need to do. I need to go back to the Academy. I’ll see you later.’
    I rose without checking to see if they’d heard me and went out. I walked into someone coming in, but ignored them. I went straight back to the Academy, went into my office, closed the door and fell into my chair.
    I sat quietly for a long time.
    There was a tap at the door.
    ‘Come in,’ I said without thinking.
    John walked over to the chair across from my desk. I didn’t really see him. He sat without speaking for a while, but I didn’t notice.
    ‘Emma,’ he said brusquely, and I snapped out of it. He smiled slightly. ‘You just walked right into Meredith at the door of the Seven Brand Noodle Shop and didn’t even see her. What’s the matter?’
    ‘Shredded snake broth with sliced pig’s ear,’ I said.
    His face went expressionless. He leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. ‘Took you a while. You seemed to block that one out.’
    ‘You’ve known all along?’
    He stretched his long legs in front of him. ‘You were upset enough as it was after what the stone said.’
    ‘He said he wanted to eat all three of us. You, turtle hotpot. Bai Hu, braised tiger. And me, shredded snake soup.’
    ‘Are you concerned?’ John said, his arms still crossed over his chest and his eyes burning. ‘Yes,’ I choked quietly. ‘Then he has won.’
    ‘He said I was a snake, John.’ My throat was thick. ‘He said I was a snake.’
    ‘He wants to eat you, same as he wants to eat me and Ah Bai,’ he said evenly. ‘And besides, he may be saying that you’re a pig’s ear, anyway.’
    I turned away. ‘You are no help at all.’
    He rose gracefully. ‘Come and let me buy you lunch downstairs. If you don’t have anything to eat, your blood sugar will be so low that the next class you take, you’ll pass out.’
    ‘Don’t go near my second years,’ I said. ‘You don’t want to hear what they’re talking about.’
    ‘They’re talking about eating you,’ he said mildly. ‘Pig’s ear soup.’

CHAPTER THIRTY
    A week before school started, John called me into his study. ‘School won’t start on time unless I do something,’ he said. ‘Typhoon.’
    ‘This late in the year? We’ve already had a monsoon.’ I dropped my voice. ‘Is it a natural typhoon?’
    He nodded. ‘It happens sometimes. The wind changes. The circulation can happen over the sea, even after a monsoon. A very big typhoon will form east of the Philippines, and it will be a direct hit. The eye will pass right over us on the morning of the first day of school.’ His eyes turned inwards as he concentrated. He could see the weather patterns. ‘Really big one.’ He snapped back and shrugged. ‘I’ll make it miss us so that Simone can start school on time.’
    I shot to my feet with fury. ‘Don’t you dare ! Try anything like that and you will be in serious trouble. Leo !’ I yelled without moving.
    Leo skidded down the hallway and charged in. ‘What? What?’ He saw John sitting at the desk, arms crossed and relaxed. He saw me standing on the other side of the desk, leaning on it with one hand,