Blue Dragon Part 81

'We'll need to tell your students,' Gold said. 'And the staff of the Mountain. So that n.o.body attacks you.'

I shook Simone's hand free so that I changed back. I picked up my chair and flopped into it. I put my elbows on the table and my head in my hands. 'No. Please. I don't want them to know.'

'Don't tell anybody,' Simone said. 'We can fix it.'

'My Lady,' Gold said.

'Geez, this really sucks, Emma,' Michael said.

'What's done is done,' I said. 'Tell me about the Turtle. Under the icecap of the North Pole.'

Gold looked down. 'The Turtle has no memory of what it is. It has no intelligence. It is...' He looked straight into my eyes, his own filled with anguish. 'It is a beast. It has no consciousness, no sentience, no awareness. All it knows...' He breathed a deep sigh. 'All it knows is that it has lost all that is dear to it. It searches through the darkness and cries.'

'No,' Simone said softly.

'At least now he's whole,' I said.

Jade and Gold looked at each other again.

'He did rejoin?' I said. 'He did did become whole?' become whole?'

'No,' Jade said, barely audible. 'The Serpent is swimming in the stormy freezing waters of the Antarctic, half a world away.'

Simone moved to grab my hand again but I managed to avoid her.

'He has lost everything,' Jade whispered. 'Only the Heavens know when he will return.'

Gold looked back at me and his voice became firmer. 'Remember, my Lady. He has promised. He will find you. He will Raise you. He will marry you. And you will go to live on his Mountain with him.'

'Oh my G.o.d,' I said softly.

'What, Emma?' Simone said.

Jade and Gold looked at each other again.

'He didn't think at all when he made that promise to me,' I said. 'He is so stupid sometimes.' I glared at Jade and Gold. 'Why didn't you tell us?'

They both looked down.

'What?' Simone said again.

'He'll have to find find me,' I said softly. me,' I said softly.

'But you're not lost,' Simone said. Then she understood. 'No.'

'It wasn't just an oath, Simone. It was a curse,' I whispered.

'I'm going to be very cross with him when he comes back,' Simone said.

'Wait in line.' I leaned back. 'Well, whatever happens, he'll Raise me and marry me. I don't care about the meantime. I'll just wait.'

'I'll wait with you,' Simone said. 'We'll find a way to fix you up, we'll go and find Leo, and then we'll wait together. We have each other, and we'll be fine, whatever happens.'

She hopped off her chair and climbed into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her.

I changed again. I lowered myself onto my coils, wrapping my tail around so that she could sit on me. She sat on my black scaly body and we held each other close. 'I love you, Emma,' she whispered, leaning her head on me. 'Everything will be okay.'

I buried my face in her hair and held her tight. 'I know.'

I wandered through the darkened office. Neon lights from the Wan Chai street lit up the ceiling. Complete silence. I paused for a moment, enjoying the solitude. Not another living thing; I could sense the security guards on the ground floor, far, far below, but that was all.

I'd stayed late to review the reports for the latest recruitment drive. Gold had done well. Some of these kids would go far.

I sighed. Time to go home. I went to the corner of the building. I couldn't help myself; it was a ritual I indulged in every evening before I went home.

The door was closed. I opened it and went into his office.

The desk was immaculate; I'd tidied the paperwork after he'd gone, to tie up the loose ends he'd left. He wouldn't recognise it when he returned.

I went to the chair, stood behind it and ran my hand over the back, looking out the window. For a moment it was as if he was there with me, searching for me, and then the feeling left me.

Time to go home. The family would be waiting for me. I turned and went out, closing his office door behind me.

Epilogue.

The Turtle surged blindly through the thick water. Its sh.e.l.l sc.r.a.ped the ice with a vibration felt for miles.

It searched through the darkness. It cried. There was no answer.

The Serpent tossed its head above the waves. The sky was roiling and low.

The water was dark and freezing. It cried. There was no answer.

[image]

GLOSSARY.

A NOTE ON LANGUAGE NOTE ON LANGUAGE.

The Chinese language is divided by a number of different dialects and this has been reflected throughout my story. The main dialect spoken in Hong Kong is Cantonese, and many of the terms I've used are in Cantonese. The main method for transcribing Cantonese into English is the Yale system, which I have hardly used at all in this book, preferring to use a simpler phonetic method for spelling the Cantonese. Apologies to purists, but I've chosen ease of readability over phonetic correctness.

The dialect mainly spoken on the Mainland of China is Putonghua (also called Mandarin Chinese), which was originally the dialect used in the north of China but has spread to become the standard tongue. Putonghua has a strict and useful set of transcription rules called pinyin, which I've used throughout for Putonghua terms. As a rough guide to p.r.o.nunciation, the 'Q' in pinyin is p.r.o.nounced 'ch', the 'X' is 'sh' and the 'Zh' is a softer 'ch' than the 'Q' sound. Xuan Wu is therefore p.r.o.nounced 'Shwan Wu'.

I've spelt chi with the 'ch' throughout the book, even though in pinyin it is qi, purely to aid in readability.

Qing Long and Zhu Que I have spelt in pinyin to a.s.sist anybody who'd like to look into these interesting deities further.

Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter: A harbour on the south side of Hong Kong Island that is home to a large number of small and large fis.h.i.+ng boats. Some of the boats are permanently moored there and are residences.

Admiralty: The first station after the MTR train has come through the tunnel onto Hong Kong Island from Kowloon, and a major traffic interchange.

Amah: Domestic helper.

Ancestral tablet: A tablet inscribed with the name of the deceased, which is kept in a temple or at the residence of the person's descendants and occasionally provided with incense and offerings to appease the spirit.

Anime (j.a.panese): Animation; can vary from cute children's shows to violent horror stories for adults, and everything in between.

Bai Hu (Putonghua): The White Tiger of the West.

Bo: Weapon-staff.

Bodhisattva: A being who has attained Buddhist Nirvana and has returned to earth to help others achieve Enlightenment.

Bo lei: A very dark and pungent Chinese tea, often drunk with yum cha to help digest the sometimes heavy and rich food served there.

Bu keqi (Putonghua) p.r.o.nounced, roughly, 'bu kerchi': 'You're welcome.'

Buddhism: The system of beliefs that life is an endless journey through reincarnation until a state of perfect detachment or Nirvana is reached.

Cantonese: The dialect of Chinese spoken mainly in the south of China and used extensively in Hong Kong. Although in written form it is nearly identical to Putonghua, when spoken it is almost unintelligible to Putonghua speakers.

Causeway Bay: Large shopping and office district on Hong Kong Island. Most of the Island's residents seem to head there on Sunday for shopping.

Central: The main business district in Hong Kong, on the waterfront on Hong Kong Island.