Bai Suzhen stroked the breast feathers of the creature perched on her right shoulder and murmured a calming endearment. The face she turned toward the people standing between the open French doors held no particular emotion except a suggestion of her usual hauteur. Her almond eyes slid over Kavanaugh and he felt as if he had been stroked by an electrically charged glove from head to toe. Elegant and immaculate as always, Bai Suzhen’s glossy black hair was pulled smoothly back from her face and pinned up at the back of her head by an ivory comb. Triangular jade earrings dangled on either side of her slender throat, encased in the high collar of a blue satin tunic. The tight fabric faithfully molded her high, firm breasts. The slit in the white linen skirt showed a round thigh encircled by a red and gold serpent. She strode toward the verandah, her stilt-heels tapping loudly on the floor. The crowd parted for her as if she were the figurehead of a ship.
