White Tiger

him.’
    ‘How I feel?’ she said, confused.
    ‘I know you disliked me since I started teaching Simone, and you were jealous of me and him.’
    She smiled broadly. ‘I could never be jealous of you, I could never feel that way about him, he is far too terrifying.’
    ‘He’s not terrifying, he’s gentle and kind.’
    ‘You haven’t seen his True Form.’
    ‘So why did you dislike me so much?’
    ‘Mrs Chen was a truly wonderful woman and I thought that nobody would ever be able to care for either of them as well as she did. When you arrived I thought you were trying to take her place, and hated that. Now I know that I was wrong, you are worthy of both their love.’
    ‘I’m worthy?’
    ‘Yes. Now try the dress on.’
    She held it out to me and I took it. ‘It’s so perfect I can’t believe it.’
    It was cut conservatively, with low splits up the sides and a high, stiff mandarin collar. The silk toggles and loops were gold, and the ends of the three-quarter sleeves were trimmed with gold. It swept to the floor, and the golden chrysanthemums shimmered as I moved.
    Jade guided me to sit in front of the mirror. She pulled my hair up into a high bun. ‘I will do your hair on the night. I have some elegant antique hair ornaments that my grandmother gave me; they are well over a thousand years old and the colour is perfect. Do you have any gold jewellery? It would not be fitting for you to attend without any pure gold on you.’
    ‘Twenty-four carat gold? One hundred per cent pure? We don’t have that in Australia, Jade. Most of our gold is either nine or eighteen carat. The first time I saw really pure gold I didn’t even know what it was.’
    ‘No pure gold?’
    ‘Not a single bit,’ I said. ‘Not part of the culture.’
    ‘That is entirely not good enough,’ she said. ‘We must at least find you a nice bracelet.’ Her eyes unfocused.
    ‘Don’t you dare!’ I shouted, but it was too late. There was a tap on the door and she flitted to open it. John came in, obviously uncomfortable aboutinvading Girl Space. But when he saw me he stopped dead. I rose to show him the dress.
    ‘Exquisite. I love the colour.’
    ‘Do you have anything suitable?’ Jade said.
    ‘Not here. I have some on the Peak, but the main collection is on the Mountain. Go and fetch it for me; you can move much faster than Gold in True Form. Carry it, don’t try to bring it directly. Some of the pieces are extremely fragile and could be damaged by the transition.’
    ‘My Lord,’ she said, and bowed. She went out.
    He gestured for me to follow him to the window. ‘Come and watch. She doesn’t often travel like this, and it will be a thing to see.’
    I moved to stand beside him.
    ‘That dress is superb,’ he said quietly without looking at me. He was very careful not to touch me.
    We looked over the lawn at the front of the house. Jade rushed out the front door, then stopped and lowered her head.
    She changed into a dragon.
    She was about two metres long, glittering with green scales. She had gold claws, and gold fins on her tail and behind her legs. She raised her head, her green eyes flashed, and she launched herself into the air. She didn’t have wings; she flew like a swimming snake, whipping through the air. She accelerated higher until she disappeared.
    ‘That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen,’ I said.
    ‘I agree,’ John said, but he was watching me. ‘She will be about half an hour, Emma. Come down to the garden and have some tea with me while we wait for her. Then you can choose something suitable.’
    Half an hour later Jade plummeted from the sky in dragon form, a small rosewood casket held in her frontclaws. She landed lightly on the grass and bowed to us. Then she changed back into a woman. She placed the casket on the table between John and me, then sat next to me and poured herself some tea.
    I leaned to speak softly to her. ‘Where do the clothes go, Jade?’
    ‘I conjure them as I change,’ she whispered. ‘I make them as I need them.’
    ‘Your dragon form is beautiful.’
    ‘Thank you. But I am a very small dragon. Wait until you see Qing Long.’ She gestured towards the casket. ‘Now, let’s see what sort of collection the Dark Lord has. This should be interesting.’
    ‘Not very much, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been one for collecting gold. I bought some for Michelle—’
    I cut him off. ‘Please don’t ask me to wear anything that belonged