White Tiger

it to me.’
    ‘I wanted to do it myself,’ he huffed. ‘Traditional. Oh.’ He smiled slightly. ‘A diamond is traditional in the West. Do you want one?’
    ‘I don’t need anything,’ I said, leaning across the table to gaze intently at him. ‘Your promise is more than enough for me. You didn’t even need to ask me out loud; you know we don’t need words.’
    Jade sobbed loudly, leapt to her feet and ran into the house, tears streaming down her face. We watched her indulgently.
    ‘Now that you wear my ring, all will accept you as my equal,’ he said. ‘Jade will ensure that everyone in the Heavens is aware of our pact by nightfall. She is absolutely the worst gossip on the Celestial Plane.’
    I studied the ring on my finger. ‘What’s so special about it, John?’
    ‘This ring was made for the Yellow Emperor himself; his Empress wore it. It is as old as history; it is a Building Block of the World. It is sentient, and its size and shape are dependent on its use. It has been sleeping for nearly five hundred years, but it may wake for you if you wear it constantly. The setting is at least two thousand years old. Don’t lose it.’ He raised his hand. ‘Don’t worry; if it wakes you won’t be able to lose it. It will find you.’
    ‘What about training?’
    ‘Remove it for physical training; it will not mind.’
    ‘How about I wear it on a chain around my neck for training?’
    ‘I think you are smarter than me, Emma.’ ‘Maybe it’s just that you’re cold-blooded—your brain is slower.’
    He laughed quietly at that. ‘What about energy work?’
    ‘Leave it on for energy work. If it doesn’t like the sensation, it will wake and tell you.’
    I studied the ring. ‘It can talk? Does it have a name?’
    ‘It has not spoken in more than five hundred years,’ he said. ‘It once said that it was above such banalities as names; it was much too important to need one.’
    ‘So I have an engagement ring with attitude.’
    ‘Yep. You’re a matched set.’
    I raised my hand to shove him and changed my mind. He grinned.
    Before we returned the rest of the jewellery to the casket, I selected a light plain gold chain, in eighteen carats. It had a traditional spring clasp rather than the bendable hook for pure gold that would break with too much use. I popped it over my head to hold the ring when I was training.
    John closed the casket and placed his hand on top of it. ‘Keep it all. You might as well.’
    I put my hand on the casket next to his. ‘I’ll keep this for Simone until you come back.’
    ‘Keep it as my Lady until I come back, and when I return, I will fill it full for you.’
    ‘No need,’ I said. ‘Having you back would be all that I would need in the world.’
    ‘Enough.’ He pulled his hand away. ‘You’ll make me rush inside like Jade.’
    I raised both hands in surrender. We sat silently together and shared the tea.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
    I swung my sword at Leo’s head and he blocked me. We moved closer, our swords locked at the hilts, and he grinned. He threw his arms out into a massive push and flung me almost to the other side of the room. I landed smack on my behind and we both laughed.
    John had come in without us noticing. ‘Come on, Emma, you can do better than that.’ He closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching us. ‘That was absolutely pathetic. Stop trying to match Leo’s strength, you know he is much stronger than you. Match him with skill.’
    Leo lowered his sword, came to me and put one hand out to help me up.
    When I was on my feet I readied myself again. ‘Can you look after Simone while we’re at the ceremony tonight?’ I asked him. ‘I don’t think she should go along.’
    Leo lowered his sword. ‘Why not? They’ll all take True Form. She loves it when they do that.’
    ‘She’d really enjoy it, Emma,’ John said.
    ‘John, they’ll be discussing your oath. They’ll be talking about you going and about you coming back.Do you want to have to explain that to her right in the middle of the ceremony?’
    John and Leo shared a look. ‘She’s not completely aware that you’ll be leaving her, my Lord,’ Leo said.
    ‘You’re probably right, Emma,’ John said. ‘Leo?’
    ‘I’ll mind her. She’ll be fine here.’
    ‘We’ll have to tell her eventually, Emma.’
    I sighed. ‘I know.’
    ‘But you should be the one to choose the time. I trust you.’
    ‘Good idea, my