Finally, they stopped in front of a pair of heavy wooden doors. As everywhere else, two more armed men stood guard at the entrance. They gripped the heavy brass rings of the oak doors and pulled them open in unison.
Emily stepped inside, followed by Cixi, entering a vast sitting room bathed in the warm, golden glow of low-hanging crystal chandeliers, despite the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows flooding the space with natural light.
The room's aesthetic was museum-quality — Persian rugs over dark hardwood floors, velvet drapery, and antique porcelain vases resting on polished mahogany stands.
Cixi was so distracted that her boots almost clipped Emily's heels. A servant, moving silently across the floor, gently touched Cixi's arm, pulling her attention back to the people.
That's when Cixi caught sight of two figures sitting on a white crescent-shaped couch in the centre of the room.
