Dragonkeeper 2: Garden of the Purple Dragon by Carole Wilkinson Page A

glancing in Ping’s direction, he went over to the low table and studied the things laid out on it. Ping felt very uncomfortable. Herwhole life was spread out on that table, all her hopes and secrets were there in full view for anyone who took the trouble to interpret the items. He reached out to pick up something.
    “I advise you not to touch the items, Your Imperial Majesty,” Dong Fang Suo said.
    “Why not?” asked the Emperor.
    “There is some sort of enchantment on the sorceress’s things.” The Imperial Magician’s smile looked dangerously close to fading. “Two imperial guards who touched her belongings immediately fell to the ground in a faint. One of them woke after a few days, the other is still unconscious. Physicians have been unable to rouse him. Let someone else pick up the items for you, Your Imperial Majesty.”
    The Imperial Magician moved to pick up an object for the Emperor, but changed his mind and waved a servant over to do it instead. The terrified servant reached towards Ping’s comb with a trembling hand, but snatched his fingers back before they touched it.
    The Emperor let out an impatient sigh. He picked up the comb and the jade pendant. He looked at all the items and then picked up one of the pieces of dragon stone. He held it up to the light.
    “Is this a piece of the stone that the dragon hunter tried to take from you on Tai Shan?”
    Ping nodded. Liu Che had witnessed her battle with Diao from a distance. He had seen her defeat the dragonhunter, and then watched as she picked up the dragon stone and escaped on the old dragon’s back.
    “What happened to it?” he asked.
    “I dropped it,” Ping replied. “It broke.”
    He put down the shard.
    “You no longer have the seal of the Imperial Dragonkeeper,” the Emperor said angrily.
    “Yes I do,” Ping said, pulling the white jade seal from her pouch.
    Liu Che waved Dong Fang Suo to take it from her. The Imperial Magician wiped off the caterpillar innards and insect legs that were stuck to it and put it in the Emperor’s hand. The Emperor examined the seal, rubbing the chipped corner with his thumb. Ping wished she’d taken greater care of it. He put the seal on the table with the other things and reached towards the folded leaf. He opened it out. Ping’s cheeks burned. Inside was the pressed magnolia petal on which the Emperor had shown her how to use the Dragonkeeper’s seal. Ping had kept it as a souvenir of that happy time. He turned the brittle petal over. It was a fragile thing and would have crumbled if handled roughly, but he put it back between the folds of the leaf undamaged.
    The Emperor turned to Ping.
    “Your possessions are puzzling,” he said.
    He picked up the soup ladle on the table and examined its dragon-head handle. Then he looked at the ladle on Ping’s arm.
    “My spies tell me you have been living on Tai Shan in a cave.”
    He moved over to stand in front of her as he spoke.
    “Why did you find the need to have two such expensive bronze soup ladles?”
    With the Emperor standing so close, Ping couldn’t think of an answer. He reached out to take the ladle from her arm.
    “Don’t touch it, Liu Che!” Ping cried, jumping to her feet and holding back the Emperor’s hand.
    There was a sound like a brief, sharp wind, as every single person in the hall gasped in astonishment. Ping had dared to touch the Emperor … and to call him by his personal name. Most people weren’t even allowed to hear the imperial name, let alone speak it. But before the guards had a chance to drag her away, the soup ladle on Ping’s arm started to shimmer. Its colour began to change from dull bronze to purple. The gasps turned to cries of real fear. There before the eyes of twice-ten or more witnesses the soup ladle turned into a small dragon.
    The ladies-in-waiting screamed. A servant dropped a wine jar. The ministers and guards jumped back in astonishment—except for Dong Fang Suo who chuckled heartily to himself, as if