Another chapter is off the presses! Yay?! Not much to say about this one, except that it takes place during the latter half of "The Earth King," and things rapidly start getting even crazier for our lovers-especially Hong.
WARNING: This chapter contains-
Two characters engaging in mild "pillow talk" after engaging in sexual intercourse.
Two characters sleeping naked together after sexual intercourse.
Swearing.
And that covers it.
Afterwards, a perspiring Rajata let herself roll onto her back as she drew in a long breath, resting her head on one of the tubular cloth pillows. Drained though she was, she still mustered a contented smile as Hong slid an arm underneath her, holding her around her upper back. As he used the fingers of his other hand to softly stroke her long, thigh-length hair, she turned after a few seconds and kissed him on the lips before finding the energy to speak.
"Did you enjoy that, handsome? Tell me the truth now."
He gave her a fatigued, yet satisfied grin, and kissed her back before replying.
"Oh, I most certainly did. You were nothing less than fantastic, in every sense that one could use the word. Who knew having my calf sliced open, and suffering the embarrassment of being bested in battle could have such a pleasant silver lining?" he wryly drawled.
Rajata heard herself giggle in pleased response. "Whatever works to make my brave, strong boy feel better."
Hong faintly smiled, then asked, teeth gleaming in the soft light, "As for me, how did I do?"
"Well, I can now say with certainty that earthbending isn't the only thing you excel at," she hinted knowingly, before lightly biting his shoulder.
He lightly chuckled, grinning over at her. "Is that right?"
"Of course."
He gave her a proud smirk, and grinned even wider before he shrugged, saying, "Hey, nobody does it quite like one of us Dai Li."
Rajata lightly laughed before yawning. "It was a good time for sure, but I'd be lying if I said I couldn't use a nap after that-and you should do the same, especially after your horrid day," she added.
"And a tragic day for us Dai Li in general," Hong said softly, briefly averting his gaze and shutting his emerald eyes for a few seconds.
"Huh? Are you saying one of your fellow agents got kil- "Rajata began in dawning understanding, as a strange, sympathetic pain began to pierce her on his behalf.
Hong gave a grunt and a soft nod of confirmation, briefly closing his green eyes. "Yes. But I really don't want to ruin the mood by talking about that right now. At this moment, I just want to focus on falling asleep happy, holding the woman that I've just had the pleasure of making love to," he told her gently, before clasping her close to his chest again.
"Sounds plenty good to me," Rajata replied quietly, letting her head nestle into the pit of his throat, infused with that wonderful afterglow. "I love you, Hong."
"I love you too, Rajata. My lotus flower," he sighed happily.
They drifted into sleep that way, the fingers of the Dai Li agent and the former slum-dwelling daughter of war refugees delving into each other's loose, long hair.
After some time, Rajata woke up, driven now by the need to pee. She delayed obeying the impulse as long as she reasonably could, reluctant to leave the soft comfort of her boyfriend's bed, the sensation of his arms around her, risk waking him up. But the time soon came when Rajata could put it off no longer.
Carefully, she slid backwards, out of a snoring Hong's limp arms, and raised up the sheets with her back before trying to, slowly, in the fashion of a crab, move sideways over his recumbent body and over the side of the bed without touching him and waking him up. Bending a doorway out of the room's front wall, without the noise disturbing him, would be much more difficult after she'd gotten at least partially dressed-but one step at a time.
She was just starting to slide her legs sideways over the edge of the futon, confident that she actually might get away with this, when Hong suddenly woke up himself. She tensed as he quickly reached out and felt at the gap where she'd just been, then did a half-turn and wrapped an arm around her waist in his half-asleep state, drawing Rajata back towards him as she gave a small cry of surprise and lightly struggled.
"Where are you off to?" he drowsily grumbled, even as his eyes began to open. "You're not going to sneak away and leave your poor injured qinglang without even saying goodbye, are you?" he good-naturedly chided.
"I just need to make use of the nearest squat toilet around here," she assured him as he let her step off the bed, leaning in to kiss his cheek as she did so, "and then I'll rejoin you."
"Well, I'll be waiting."
"Could you make a doorway for me first though? And also, where exactly is the kalipparai in this estate?"
Hong raised his right arm, made a fist, and a tooth-studded gap appeared in the front wall to serve as a doorway with a crackling of breaking stone, as he pulled the stone panel downward and mumbled out directions to the toilet chamber in response.
In the interests of decorum, she got properly dressed first before leaving the room to roam the hallways. When she returned from relieving herself though, she quickly shed her clothes again. This time though, Rajata had to close the gap in the wall herself, raising the buried sheet of stone back into its proper place.
That was thanks to Hong having fallen asleep again in her absence, after having shifted position over to the place on the futon where she'd previously been sleeping herself. He continued to softly breathe, stretched out full length on his side with his back to her, the bedsheets pulled up to his chest, displaying no reaction as Rajata slipped back under the covers beside him, taking care not to accidently catch and yank her hair in the process.
For some time, she stayed that way, head propped on a cylindrical pillow, just listening to the rhythm of his breathing with great affection, regarding Hong in the soft, brassy light, the surrounding room. Just an arm's length behind her, Rajata noticed the stone hilts of a pair of what she assumed were daggers or fighting knives, the blades sheathed in the stone of the wall.
If she felt inclined to do so, those weapons could be in her hands within one instant, and their lethal points penetrating Hong's muscular neck, his upper back, in the very next. Spirits knew there were quite a few women in this city who would no more pass up the chance to do exactly that to one of the hated Dai Li than Rajata would pass up the chance to see the extraordinary, never-ending vastness of water known as the ocean that she'd only ever heard about with her own eyes.
But there was a marvelous trust and understanding on Hong's part which allowed him to sleep so confidently, she sensed, deeply touched, a mutual, unspoken awareness that Rajata would never dream of harming him. Quite the contrary.
She felt deeply connected to him, even more so now that they had just made love. In Hong, she'd found the perfect yang force to compliment her yin.
No longer could she view him as merely another generic, creepy, stolid member of the Dai Li, expressionless face partly hidden by the brim of his hat, ready to arrest her as soon as it suited him or she misspoke-or even as the individual entity of Agent Hong Yan, an elite earthbender who commanded awe and respect, that helped to keep Ba Sing Se peaceful and orderly. Instead, he was so much more than that, when you got right down to the bedrock.
He was at heart, a single man underneath those green and black Dai Li robes, like any other, who had friends and family, knew humor and anger, had a past that he reflected on and a future he looked forward to, had known joy and loss, could be savage and yet sensitive, made beautiful works of art.
And he had an ability to love deeply, to let her know-even without any words, gifts, or saving her from death by snakebite involved-that she was special to him.
Rajata gave a soft smile of awe and warmth as she gently pressed her nude body against his own. Inhaling the odor of his hair, she lightly wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, feeling the pulse of his heart against her bare chest as she slid back into a trusting, contented sleep.
It was winter in Hong's dream, the trees bare of leaves and daubed with the same mantle of snow which covered the ground, the streets, the buildings and homes and looming walls of Ba Sing Se as far as one could see.
And for Hong, that was a pretty big distance indeed, since he'd somehow inexplicably gained the ability to airbend, and was currently soaring a good eight li or so above the city on a glider very like the Avatar's, except this one had a yellow frame with green wings.
This sure was new.
Rajata was up in the air with him, suspended underneath her own glider as she used her own mysteriously-granted airbending abilities to keep pace at his right, her extremely long braid whipping in the chilly breeze as she showed her teeth in a thrilled smile.
The winter air was freezing cold of course, especially so high off the ground, but Hong found it bracing and invigorating as he swooped up, then down in excitement, made sharp turns, chased after hapless birds for several seconds at a time before letting them be.
True to her nature, Rajata was even more energetic in how she reveled in the wild freedom of flight, spiraling around Hong's glider, doing full barrel rolls, making reckless, seemingly suicidal dives right for the ground that made Hong's heart catch in his throat before she expertly pulled up right at the last moment and rose back up to rejoin him in the air, darting underneath his glider in an upside-down position as she grinned up at him.
They were gleefully spiraling up into the clear winter sky together at a good clip, Hong's hot breath puffing out as mist, the chill wind produced by his movement tugging at his queue and blowing over the glider's green wings, Rajata whooping with delight, when he suddenly saw the figure of the Avatar rapidly flying towards them on his own glider, with its distinctive orange color. He didn't seem happy.
Obviously here to interfere with their fun, Hong sensed in irritation. Just like he interfered with everything else.
Rajata looked on, her dark face quizzical, as the Avatar arrived, snapping out at them, "How dare you! Those gliders are intended to be used by my people only, the Air Nomads! You two need to find a place to land right now, give both of them to me-and then get out of my city!"
"Watch your mouth, Baldy!" Hong growled back. "And Ba Sing Se is our city, the Dai Li's-to say nothing of its people's. I don't care if you're the master of all four elements, that still doesn't make you the master of all you survey, you delusional punk!"
"Hear, hear," Rajata firmly concurred. "And for Matangi's sake," she added, "we're not bothering anybody, just flying around together and having a good time. I thought you Air Nomads were all about doing those sorts of things?"
"Exactly," Hong agreed. "So how about you just go buzz off now, and leave the two of us be, little Avatar?" he suggested with a smile of mocking friendliness.
Avatar Aang said nothing in response. Instead, to Hong and Rajata's mutual horror, his eyes and arrow tattoos suddenly shone blindingly white, as the boy went into the Avatar state. Unstoppable power exploded out from and swirled around his glowing form as Aang hung suspended in the air, a whirlwind of cold air and snow and frozen dirt and chunks of rock bursting up from the ground below to meet him.
It sucked Hong and Rajata in before they could even contemplate fleeing, Hong desperately snatching for her with one of his rock gloves as Rajata squealed in helpless terror, the two of them being flung about like fallen leaves, Hong sickeningly aware they were both now as good as dead at this point-
The sound of grinding stone brought him back to wakefulness. He heard Aiguo's voice timidly yet clearly urging, "Master Hong? Master Hong, you need to get up!"
Fury blazed through Hong, heating his face and setting his jaw as he slid out of Rajata's arms, turning onto his back before springing into a seated position on the futon, briefly cringing and hissing as the movement generated a flash of pain from his bandaged calf.
Glaring at the wrist-thick hole his servant had just bent into the stone wall which sealed off his bedchamber, an enraged Hong snarled, "You'd better have a damn good explanation Aiguo, for why you saw fit to disturb your master right now while I'm sharing my bed with a woman-and give it quickly! And may Guanyin help you," he added, his tone terrible and low, "if you were up to any observing."
His movements had woken Rajata up as well at this point, her brown eyes blearily blinking in confusion as she also sat up beside him, automatically yanking the bedsheets up to her collarbone in a gesture of modesty.
"Who's observing?" she asked thickly. "What's going on?"
"That's exactly what I'd like to know too," a peeved Hong coolly replied, pushing his hair back from his face.
Other members of the Dai Li had been known to kill one of their servants where they stood for lesser offenses, and Hong had little doubt that Aiguo was cringing in fear, sweating over that very possibility right now on the other side of the sandstone barrier. His voice was certainly strained as it came through the hole.
"Deepest of apologies, Lao Yan, Guardian of Harmony, but you have an important visitor in the reception hall, who wants to speak with you in private."
That gave Hong pause, and he stared at the wall with a mixture of suspicion and bafflement, even as Rajata pressed her slender body against his right side, clearly realizing this was her last chance to get some physical affection in before they had to part ways. In response, he wrapped an arm around her, without really thinking.
"An important visitor?" he repeated. "The Avat-?" he wondered out loud, before swiftly cutting himself off. But he'd said too much already. In his peripheral vision, he noticed Rajata's drowsy eyes regarding him with a mixture of both perplexity and keen interest. Schist.
He knew that she was not only hoping this was her chance to at least see the master of all elements in person, but was thinking along the lines of, Why would the Avatar come to the house of a Dai Li agent, one of the very people who he'd view as opposing him? Does he somehow know that Hong just got injured? And if so, how…?
While Hong had the sense that his three companions weren't nearly as sympathetic in nature, it would certainly be like the young monk to just feel awful afterwards about seeing one of his own attackers suffer harm during a battle, and later track them down to apologize, ask how they were doing, express regret.
"No, it's Agent Zai Tian, Master Hong. He says he urgently needs to speak to you, to inform you about developments of great importance."
Hong felt his stomach drop as he sat up straighter. Oh Goddess, he thought miserably. These days, 'developments of great importance' among the Dai Li had generally proven to be bad news. Ultra-bad news.
Once again, the awful, raw fact of Fan's death mere hours ago by drowning rose up to slap him across the face like a stone glove with grief and loss.
He reluctantly sighed. "Tell him I'll be coming very soon. I just need to take a few minutes to make myself halfway presentable first."
"I shall, Master Hong," Aiguo replied, as the hole sealed up with stone.
Rajata didn't need to be told that their liaison was over, and was already turning to place her feet down on the tatami mat. "Sorry sweetheart, but Dai Li duties call," Hong shrugged regretfully. "I wish you didn't have to leave either."
She nodded. "But it sure was fun while it lasted," she replied with a knowing grin. "But yeah, it's definitely high time that I get going either way, check in with the rest of my family before they start thinking I've been kidnapped or something."
Hong felt the right side of his mouth curve upward into an amused smirk before he threw the covers off and beckoned Rajata over for one final embrace and kiss. The touch of her lips was soft and warm, and made him lightly smile as they parted.
He pulled on a pair of mint green, linen pantaloons with their frilled ankle cuffs, and pulled his hair back into three parts to braid it into a queue again by feel, before tying it off with a simple green strip of cloth.
But Hong didn't go any further with the process of getting dressed until Rajata had finished doing so first, enjoying one final look at her beauty.
She humored him by putting her choli blouse on last.
Even semi-formal clothing was probably a bit excessive for merely greeting his brother, Hong decided, so he strode into the reception hall clothed simply, in a pale brown cotton shirt and the pantaloons as he favored his injured leg.
When he saw his brother seated in one of the chairs, the expression on Zai Tian's broad face grim and weary, for an uncharacteristically cowardly moment, Hong had the powerful urge to just turn around and stride back to his room, or flat-out tell him to leave, because he didn't want to hear the news.
But earthbenders faced things head on, he reminded himself, and he might as well get this over with.
His brother stood up and greeted him with a slight bow and saying "Hey there Hong," before sitting back down, asking as he did so, "How's your leg feeling, first of all?" giving a glance at the bandaged limb.
Hong shrugged. "It's tender, stiff, starting to itch now as time goes on. But I can still bear weight on it just fine, uncomfortable as it might feel," he replied, even while he gingerly walked to the nearest chair and picked it up, preparing to carry it the short distance to where Zai Tian was sitting.
"Do you need help with that?" Zai Tian asked in concern, already starting to rise to his feet to lend a hand.
"No, I can manage," Hong said, shaking his head, even as the weight of the wooden chair made him briefly grimace with pain while he moved it a few paces, setting it down a couple paces away from his brother before taking a seat, facing him. "How are you feeling right now? And your partner?"
Zai Tian lightly shrugged underneath his citron yellow cotton robe. "I'm doing okay. Battered and bruised to Koh's lair, of course-and my pride is certainly in tatters- "he fumed, "but other than a few cuts, and tears to my uniform's robes from flying rock shrapnel, I'm fine. Shuqing though…his left shoulder was dislocated by a blow back there, and one of the healer's assistants told me he has a trio of broken ribs on his right side."
"Ouch," Hong winced in sympathy. He'd experienced the grating pain of broken ribs himself a few times in the past. "That's going to hurt like a bitch whenever he breathes for quite some time, the poor guy. And a dislocated shoulder-sounds like he won't be carrying around anything sizable with both hands anytime soon."
"Yeah, no kidding," Zai Tian solemnly agreed. "He doesn't seem to have any damage to his lungs or any other internal organs from what I was told though, and was behaving as normally as could be expected when I said goodbye to him. And as we both know; we people of the Earth Kingdom are renowned for being able to heal up amazingly fast-at least from moderately serious injuries."
Hong nodded. "That's for sure. We're quite different now from the fragile creatures that our oral history says we once were-and that the archeological digs by both the Curation Department and the university have confirmed as fact-many thousands of years ago, not only before the badgermoles and Hou-Tu gave Oma and Shu the ability to earthbend, but for centuries afterwards, with bones that were easily crushed and snapped by hits from bent rocks."
"Yep. It's hard to imagine," Zai Tian mused, "that there was once a time when our people didn't have that thick strip of tough cartilage and muscle which helps protect our spines, isn't it? Or that it took close to a whole month for a bone to fully knit together after being broken? Now, it happens in a little less than a week and a half. Still," he added quietly, "my partner got off lucky."
There was a sudden tightness in Hong's chest. Grief? Fury? A mixture of both? He wasn't sure. "Especially when compared to someone else we know," he solemnly agreed, not quite ready yet to start referring to Agent Fan in the past tense. Before his brother could respond, he asked, "Do you know if any of the other Dai Li have gone to tell Fan's family as yet, or sent a runner with a message?"
Zai Tian shook his head. "I have no idea. Captain Li Jun might've already made his way there by now, or at least sent a messenger. Junjie is certainly in no state of mind right now to do it himself, as you can probably imagine. Either way, I'm selfishly thankful I'm not the person who has to tell his kin the devastating news-his wife, concubines, and children most of all."
"So am I. Poor Meigui. At any rate," Hong sighed, "I guess it's time to hear some bad news of my own from you-very likely about how the fucking Avatar has caused things to go from bad to worse and upset our plans ever further after escaping on his giant flying cow," he growled.
"Pretty much," his brother confirmed. "But before I start, speaking of luck…I happened to see your new crush walk past here in the hall shortly before you came-and she struck me as having a distinctly satisfied, pleased look about her."
Zai Tian arched his eyebrows and slyly grinned.
"Should I take that as an indication that you and Rajata had your first romp in the sheets together just now? I sure hope my blundering ass didn't interrupt anything."
Hong gave his brother an expression that was part proud, masculine smirk, part affectionate, fond smile. "We did," he freely admitted. "It was more for mutual comfort then anything else, but it was wonderful, a delightful time either way. She's a delight," he said, with a small smile. "And no, we'd finished well before Aiguo woke us up with news of your arrival, so don't worry about it."
"I'm happy to hear that. Did she leave you wanting more?"
"Oh, very much so," Hong smiled. "But we can discuss my first time getting lucky with her later. Anyway, how much deeper of a pit have the Avatar and his pals gotten us into in the meantime, and how bad is it?" he asked, meshing his fingers together as he sighed. Like they didn't have enough to deal with already.
Please let the four of them have been content with getting the bison back, please tell me they've left Ba Sing Se for good, he silently prayed.
Zai Tian took a few seconds to carefully scan every part and corner of the grand reception hall, stare intently at the pillars, listen for any sign of someone lurking by the doorway. "Are your servants the type to ever eavesdrop?" he asked in a low tone.
"No, they know far better than that-especially when it comes to things above their clearance level. Not that I ever give them much of a chance to listen in in the first place."
"I'll take your word for it then." His brother paused. "There's no easy way to tell you this, but here goes. First of all, just keep in mind that I didn't personally witness myself any of what actually went down between Minister Long Feng, the Avatar, our captains, and Kuei, in the throne room or any oth- "
Hong felt his stomach seem to plummet like a stone as he instantly went rigid in his chair, his bare feet slamming a good hand's width down into the floor from shock and disbelief, squiggly cracks bursting outward in all directions.
But Hong didn't care about the damage right then as he exclaimed, "Throne room? The Avatar managed to get access to the Earth King's throne room?! Oh spirits."
His brother nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, yes. Him and his companions."
Hong's mind was reeling, struggling to comprehend. "But-but how were they not stopped long before that point?" he asked, baffled as he thought of the squadrons of royal guards they'd have to plow through.
While his own skills as a bender might surpass those of any one of the guards on an individual level (and he could vouch for that from experience, thanks to several occasions during his career in which he'd needed to sort out a royal guard who, either as a result of having had too much to drink or simply because they were a cocky moron, had gotten it into his head to pick a bending fight with Hong), and there was little doubt that he'd present more than a match for perhaps as many as three or four in a dust-up, Hong was also still quite aware that the Imperial Guards had very much earned their positions and reputation for a damn good reason.
He certainly wouldn't have been able to fight his way through so many at once, even with a few companions for backup.
"He had to have been in the Avatar State to have pulled that off," he said flatly, suddenly both very relieved Long Feng had told him to just go home after their utter failure of an arrest attempt, and wondering if the Grand Secretariat was even alive anymore right now. "He had to."
"That's the incredible thing," his brother said, shaking his head. "He wasn't! Four teenagers and a flying bull-four children for Wu Sheng's sake! -managed to just pulverize and scatter at least seventy trained Imperial Guards in their determination to see the Earth King-some of which were fatally injured in the process."
Anger swelled up within Hong again. He really wanted to break something all of a sudden. Instead, he forced the ire down, and distracted himself by smoothing out the damage to the stone floor. Briefly closed his eyes, he took a long, deep, quivering breath before saying coolly, "Am I right to assume that the Avatar not only managed to speak to Kuei then, but despite Long Feng's best efforts-made him aware of the truth?"
"The worst has happened," his brother confirmed quietly.
"Screw me with a saw blade," Hong helplessly droned as he facepalmed. "How did you find all this out? Has anyone been arrested? Goddess, Kuei must be trying to throw as many members of the Dai Li in jail as he can at this moment!" he cried, getting to his feet in sudden agitation.
"There's no need to panic," Zai Tian quickly assured him. "At least, he's not doing that just yet. He's had Long Feng arrested and hauled off to the palace jail for his treachery though, and that's plenty bad enough."
Hong felt himself gaping in shock.
Quickly, his brother filled him in on the general outlines of how all their carefully laid plans and seemingly perfect control of both the Earth King and Ba Sing Se, in preparation for the rapidly approaching day that the comet arrived, had come tumbling down around them while Hong and Rajata had been blissfully sleeping together in more ways than one-and how he, Zai Tian, had been informed of these events.
So much for finishing first, Hong thought in mingled fury and despair.
Apparently, Zai Tian had still been at Lake Laogai, finally changing out of uniform in his barracks room alone after having had his superficial injuries treated, and checking on Shuqing out of concern. Then, from out of nowhere, Agent Chaoxiang, had rather rudely came and opened the stone door without any sort of forewarning, which hadn't been very helpful for Zai Tian's already frazzled state of mind.
But before he could angrily chew Chaoxiang out, the other agent had said firmly, breathing hard, "Captains Li Jiu, Tengfei, Hyun, and Seok just came back from the royal palace. They want all agents still present here at headquarters, and who are still in fine fettle, to immediately attend an emergency meeting and debriefing in Training Chamber #3. No exceptions," Chaoxiang had added before continuing on, not even bothering to shut the door in his alacrity.
That obviously didn't sound good, and Zai Tian had already felt a sinking feeling develop in his gut as he'd hastily made his way to the training chamber, a deep conviction that the Avatar and his friends had not only decided to go stake a wild gamble, but that they'd just given the entire game away to the city's monarch. And he was all too correct.
Members of the Dai Li, especially those at the top of the group's ladder, were seldom the type to waste either time or words, and once enough of their subordinates had gathered in the training room for their liking, the four captains hadn't delayed in letting them know that the worst-case scenario had come to pass, with either Captain Seok or Li Jiu doing most of the talking.
The assembled agents were informed about just the general gist of what had happened in the Earth King's throne room between him, the Avatar's gang, their leader, and said captains. Then they'd been told that His Majesty was coming to Lake Laogai to see the truth of the Avatar's claims for himself right now, and they had direct, immediate orders from both Long Feng and Commander Quan to basically smash up and fill in all the hatches, entrance tunnels, and part of the halls they directly led into as a way of hurriedly covering their tracks, except for the one which was linked to the underground tram route.
They couldn't collapse and destroy the underground base entirely-that would both be impossible to do in the limited time they had and awfully wasteful, to say nothing of presenting all kinds of thorny logistical issues, such as where to move their prisoners, the classified reports and paperwork. But their captains were still pretty confident that such drastic efforts on their end would be enough to foil even the uncannily acute senses of the blind Beifong girl-and even more crucially, convince King Kuei on his arrival that the youths had led him down a false trail.
Zai Tian had asked no questions of course, made no protests over this task, but just rushed to the nearest access tunnel with some colleagues and gotten to work with brute-force earthbending.
Mother of Kyoshi, no wonder you look so worn out, Hong thought, once more feeling strangely guilty that he'd been here bedding Rajata, instead of sticking around to help lend a hand during those stressful hours.
But Hong was also greatly relieved to hear Zai Tian tell him that the Earth King had evidently fallen for the gambit, as he'd already halfway figured, and nearly gone right back to his palace with his contingent of guards, fed up with all these preposterous claims and disruptions to his afternoon. There was one stroke of luck, at least.
It turned out though, that nearly was the crucial word here. Exhausted, Zai Tian had sat and rested for a time, covered in sweat and rock dust, on a simple, squat pedestal he'd bent out of the floor of a storage chamber after the tunnel blocking had been completed, not far from the underground tunnel which led to the tram line.
He'd just been about to stand up and head for home on one of the route's trams himself, when Captain Guai and the bearded Agent Chun had come from that direction, faces grim as they moved at a purposeful clip.
While it was Guai's fellow Dai Li captains that the pair's news was primarily meant for, neither he nor Agent Chun made any real attempt to keep the facts about the events which had just taken place on the Outer Wall hidden from the ears of any rank-and-file agents which were still around-and there were a good deal-as they spoke.
And so Zai Tian had overheard the cold truth of how the Dai Li had finally and completely lost any remaining chance of control, of how their king had seen the conclusive proof of the collapsed Fire Nation drill from above, how their leader's skill at misdirection and persuasion had finally failed him, and Guai and Chun, in the cause of keeping up appearances, had been forced to imprison him under an irate Kuei's orders.
The situation had already gone from bad to worse. Now, in spite of everyone's best efforts at damage control, it had become abysmal.
Once his brother's recital of the disastrous events was over, Hong was silent for a while as he tried to process everything.
"Oh Goddess, we are in such deep schist," Hong finally, unhappily sighed.
"Up to our chins," Zai Tian agreed.
Next chapter, some "Dangerous Ladies" enter Hong's life...
Kalipparai=Tamil word for toilet.
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