White Tiger

that about?’ I said. Mr Chen didn’t reply. ‘Jade? Gold?’
    Gold shook his head in wonder. ‘If one such as he swears such an oath, Lady Emma, then the Heavens and Earth will be moved if necessary to ensure that it comes about.’
    Mr Chen smiled. ‘It will happen, Emma.’
    Gold retrieved his chair, and he and Jade sat, still shaking their heads.
    ‘I never thought I would see such a thing,’ Jade said. ‘A solemn oath by the Sovereign of the Four Winds, the Dark Emperor himself. It is something to tell my grandchildren.’
    Mr Chen and I looked at each other across the table.
    ‘I will be waiting for you,’ I said.
    ‘You may have to wait for some time.’
    Leo turned away.
    ‘That’s all of them,’ Gold said, tapping the stack of papers on the table. ‘I’ll see to it that a copy is sent to the Celestial and one is sent to the Hall of Records. We’ll keep a set on the Mountain as well, for reference.’
    ‘Good, my arm is ready to drop off,’ I said. ‘Can we get back to training now?’
    ‘We have to do the Oaths of Allegiance,’ Gold said. ‘Everybody who is a sworn servant of the Dark Lord must swear allegiance to you.’
    ‘Okay, let’s do it,’ I said. ‘I don’t like the idea of you two going down on your knees to me, but if we do it, we do it. I just want to get it over with and return to the training.’
    ‘It’s more than just us, my Lady,’ Jade said with a small smile.
    ‘Gold, the Tiger’s here at the front gate,’ John said. ‘Let him in.’
    Gold lowered his head and disappeared. He returned a few seconds later with Bai Hu.
    Bai Hu saluted John. ‘My Lord.’ He saluted me. ‘My Lady.’
    My mouth flopped open. ‘Oh my God.’
    ‘Is there a problem, Emma?’ John said.
    I pointed at Bai Hu, then remembered and dropped my hand. ‘No. No way. The other three Winds as well?’
    Bai Hu threw himself to sit at the table and grinned at me. ‘I think about two hundred people will be swearing allegiance to you, my Lady.’ He winked at John. ‘I felt that oath all the way from the Palace. Way to go, Ah Wu. I couldn’t have thought of a better solution. How long will she have to wait?’
    ‘Between ten and a hundred years,’ I said. ‘ Two hundred people ?’
    ‘I’ll take Simone outside to play; this has nothing to do with me,’ Leo said. He saluted John. ‘My Lord.’ He saluted me. ‘My Lady.’
    ‘Don’t leave me to handle this by myself!’ I shouted. He ignored me and went out. I ran my hands through my hair with exasperation. ‘No way .’
    ‘Use my hotel in Guangzhou,’ Bai Hu said. ‘The ballroom’s free, plenty of space. When do you want to do it? You’ll need to give everybody a couple of days to get organised. How about the day after tomorrow?’
    ‘I do not believe this is happening,’ I moaned quietly.
    ‘Sounds fine,’ John said. ‘Jade, could you take Emma upstairs and help her find something suitable to wear? If you can’t find anything, we’ll need to contact Mr Li in a hurry.’
    ‘You all hate me.’
    ‘Only if you want to, Emma, sorry,’ John said. I threw myself to my feet. ‘Come on, Jade. Mission Impossible.’
    ‘You are quite correct, my Lady.’
    We went into my room and shuffled through my disaster area of a wardrobe together.
    ‘It doesn’t matter what you wear, my Lady, Western or Chinese,’ Jade said.
    ‘Please, Jade, just Emma.’
    ‘I’m sorry, my Lady, you’ll need to get used to it.’
    I sighed and pulled out my cheongsams. Both of them were falling to pieces from being worn so much. They were all I had apart from a couple of plain dresses and my jeans and shirts.
    ‘Do you have anything in black?’ Jade said. ‘If you and the Dark Lord were to wear his colours together, you would make a most striking couple.’
    A couple. ‘I wish, Jade.’
    ‘It will happen. Even if Heaven and Earth must be moved.’
    I sighed. ‘I wish I’d had a dress made out of that black fabric at Mr Li’s. It would have been perfect.’
    Jade held her hands out and a box appeared in them. She put the box on the bed, lifted the lid and pulled out a gorgeous black cheongsam. ‘You mean this?’
    ‘Where did you get that?’
    ‘I had it made anyway. He had your measurements, so I just ordered it for you.’ Her voice softened. ‘Now I know why you didn’t want it at the time.’ She smiled gently. ‘And I understand.’
    ‘I’m glad you’re happy for us, Jade,’ I said. ‘I know how you feel about