Chapter Sixteen: Do Not Scream

"You must bend your knees more!" Master Long moved along the line of his new students with a rod in hand. Even the twins Chen and Sun, had joined in for a bit of fun. Everyone was grunting and sweating as they strained to hold the horse position.

Long stopped in front of MeiLan, whose face was pale as she trembled with the effort. She was dressed in men's clothes again, while the maid Anak had tied her skirts together between her knees. "Tighten your buttocks! Keep your back straight!"

He continued to move down the line, using the stick in his hand to poke and prod. Only Emilian seemed to settle comfortably into the form, as though his muscles remembered, even though his mind could not recall. Long examined him critically and nudged him in the shoulder to check his stability. "Well done," Master Long gave him a nod of approval.

While Long was correcting one of the twins, MeiLan's weak legs gave out, and her knee buckled, sending her sprawling in the grass. Anak immediately abandoned the pose and hurried to kneel beside her. "Miss! Are you hurt?"

Master Long came over and frowned down at his disciple. "This is unacceptable Zheng MeiLan!"

Anak jumped up, her face flushed with fury. "How dare you scold the Mistress! Don't you know she has been weak and ill since she was a child? Did you come here to bully her? You are really an unreasonable man!"

MeiLan struggled to sit up in the grass. "It's fine, Anak. You do not need to scold Master Long on my behalf. I am the one who does not know my own limits. Will you bring my walking staff?"

Emilian hurried to help her to her feet while Anak ran to the stone table where she had left it. MeiLan leaned heavily on her stick and used the back of her sleeve to wipe the sweat off her upper lip. "My apologies Master Long, please continue the lesson without me."

"Ridiculous!" Long spat. It was unclear if he was referring to MeiLan's weakness, or the idea of continuing the training session without his main student. "You are dismissed, all of you! But Lady Zheng, I must have a word with you in private." 

MeiLan sighed heavily and motioned to Anak to leave her alone with the white-haired man. Although Long sometimes behaved strangely she was pleased to find that, after all, she felt no real fear of him. He just seemed to be a confused gentleman. It was not yet clear, however, whether he was a good teacher or not, or whether humoring him would be either good for him or her. 

Once they were alone Master Long walked a slow circle around the young woman who was sagging against her walking staff. "This is my fault," he said, rubbing his smooth chin, his brow furrowed.

"Don't take it to heart, Master Long." MeiLan offered with a tired smile. "As Anak said, I've been afflicted since I was a child." 

"You were under my protection!" He said harshly. "I have failed in my duty, but I will rectify that right now."

MeiLan was confused by his words and his reaction and was even more startled when he approached her swiftly and lifted her into his arms. "Wait! Master Long, I can walk! It is not appropriate for a man to touch a woman!"

Long looked down at her with an intense look that made her words die in her throat. "You were promised to me, Lady Zheng, therefore it is my right to touch you, and in fact it is necessary. Be still and do not scream."

He strode to the garden bench and sat her down and then unexpectedly knelt there at her feet. She tried to squirm away, but he commanded "Do not move!" With so much authority that she was frozen to the spot. He laid his large hands around her ankles first, and then moved slowly up her calves. "Mr. Long! Stop, please!" His hands continued to slide up until they reached her knees. She tried to pry his fingers away from her legs, but even with both hands, she could not budge even one of his steely fingers.

"Listen to me!" His voice still held such command that she stopped clawing at his fingers and stared into his dark eyes. Again, she imagined she saw something strange reflected in his dark irises, something red and flickering like a flame. She could not look away, even if she wanted to. "Do not move, and whatever happens do not scream. I promise you, it's for your good."

She shook her head, frightened by his words, even more frightened by the intention behind them. His hands slid further up her thighs until they reached midway, and then his fingers clamped around the muscles like a vice. MeiLan had never been touched in that way in her life, but before she could register anything, heat started to seep into her body through Master Long's hands. At first it was warm and soothing, and the warmth seemed to chase away the constant ache in her muscles, but it continued to grow in intensity until she gasped. "Master Long! It burns!"

Her vision grew hazy, and she began to see strange things. An ethereal white light seemed to swirl around Master Long, moving and twisting like a serpent, growing larger and more beautiful as the heat in her legs grew unbearably hot. She imagined that the white light was a dragon, with whiskers that swirled around its body as it twisted around Master Long sensually, until she could no longer tell which was Long, and which was the dragon.

Just as it felt like her blood was about to boil, something like red, odorless smoke began to ooze out from her skin and through her dark clothing. She wanted to scream then, but she remembered Long's warning, whatever happens do not scream! So, she stuck her knuckle in her mouth and bit down on her own skin to stop the scream from working its way out of her throat. She was burning on the inside, and the pain was unbearable. Tears leaked from her eyes, and her sight began to blur, darkness crept in from the edges of her vision until she could barely see Master Long. He was very, very far away.

When she lost consciousness she fell forward into Long's arms, but Master Long also had no strength, so he could only just barely keep her from falling on the ground. "Emilian!" Long called out, "I know you've been hiding there in the bushes! Come out and help me!"

There was a rustling from the nearby bushes, and a shaking Emilian emerged. He too had seen the strange white aura around Master Long, and he had seen the red gas that came off from MeiLan's body. He had wanted to jump forward and rescue her from whatever strange torture or witchcraft the white-haired man had performed, but he found himself unable to move a muscle until the moment that Long called out to him. Finally released from the fear that had paralyzed him, Emilian rushed to the bench. "Take her," Long said with a groan, still struggling to hold her weight in his arms. "Take her to her own room."

Emilian lifted her weight easily, even though she was still limp and unconscious. He spared only a glance for Long who had collapsed back into the grass with his eyes closed. He didn't care what happened to Long, Emilian only wanted to protect his young Mistress. He hurried back through the garden to MeiLan's courtyard and shouted for her maid. "Anak! Hurry!" 

Anak came out of the house with a towel still in her hand. When she saw the unconscious woman in Emilian's arms, she dropped the rag and ran to meet him. "What happened? MeiLan, Miss, please wake up!" MeiLan's eyes remained closed, her face slack. "Take her to the bed!"

Emilian carried her to the neatly made bed and set her down carefully. Anak pulled off her shoes and arranged her arms and legs. "She's burning up with fever. What happened?" 

"I–" Emilian shook his head helplessly. How could he explain to Anak exactly what he had seen? Although Long had sent them away from the garden, he had crept back to spy on them, just to make sure that MeiLan was not being harassed by the crazy man. When he found them, MeiLan was seated on the bench, and Long was on his knees, with his hands on her legs. How could he tell the simple maid that Long had been glowing with a strange white light that was bright and visible even in the morning sun? How could he tell her that MeiLan had begun to smoke like burning incense inside her clothing? Who would believe him? "She was talking to Long when she fainted," he said weakly. "Long called me to carry her back."

Anak clicked her tongue in disapproval. "That Long is nothing but trouble! He has pushed her too hard, and now she's got the fever again. She hasn't had a fever in months, this is terrible." She pressed a hand against Meilan's pale forehead. "I better inform Madam Yongli to call for the physician."

"Is it very serious?" Emilian asked nervously.

Anak gave him a sad, serious look. "It is always serious when she falls ill. We never know if she will recover."