IVORY TOWERS


CHAPTER FOUR: The Stolen Moments

I felt like a thief with a bagful of stolen glances.
- Jeanette Winterson


Jinora was only three chapters into book Kai had lent her, and she already adored it. The writing was superb, the characters positively alive and the plot was exhilarating. It had been a long time since she'd read a book so good; in a way, it felt like the book had been made for her, which she knew deep down was ridiculous, but she clicked so well with everything, it felt like it was a book that was already an old favourite of hers. Part of her wondered how Kai had known she would like it so much, and she guessed it was because she had already had such a strong connection with Kai. In terms of clicking, of course, and a budding friendship perhaps.

Her eyelids drooped, and feeling the fatigue weighing heavily on her, Jinora rolled over in bed to blow out her candle, settling down to sleep. And in her dreams a boy and a girl fell into an impossible love, and there were flashes of green eyes and crooked smiles that seemed awfully familiar.

When Jinora woke up the next morning, she didn't remember her dream until Kai gave her a grin across the table laden with breakfast, and a heat rose to her cheeks and crept up the back of her neck. And for once, she was grateful that her suitors were more interested in talking about themselves than actually paying attention to her, for she was sure they would've seen the blush she was trying to fight down.

Kai didn't seem to notice, and had already started to eat his food.

Jinora busied herself too with her meal, grateful when her heartbeat slowed done. That had never happened before.

As she went on her courtship date with one of the princes, she found her mind drifting off to Kai. Had he started the book she had recommended to him? Or was he doing an errand for Sudhir? Or neither? She wasn't quite sure what he did in his free time... oh, Prince Rinzen was talking to her. She made a low noise of agreement when he looked at her, and then allowed him to carry on speaking, but this time she tried to pay attention.

Funny, how she never had any trouble at all listening to Kai. She shoved those thoughts to the back of the mind, where she was determined to keep them. Thoughts like that wouldn't do her any good.


At dinner, Kai noticed Jinora staring at him, and when he met her eyes she flushed but didn't look away. He ignored the way his heart skipped a beat as he gave her a questioning look, to which she shrugged and nodded. But for the rest of the meal, there was a smile on her face.

It seemed like things like that had been happening more and more often. Whenever any of the suitors said something, Jinora twisted it and threw it back in their faces with a sarcastic remark; Kai had never known a wittier person. Or a more patient one. Working with Sudhir was hard enough, but at least the other servants at the castle had shared his misery. Jinora was all by herself, except for the few times during the day when they were able to talk privately.

The library had become their unofficial meeting spot. Whenever there were breaks from the courtship Jinora would meet him there as often as she could. Sometimes she couldn't due to duties or plans she had to go through, and Kai tried to not show how disappointed he was. He was sure Jinora liked it as much as he did. When she wasn't there, he worked through the book she had lent him: a thick volume of the history of her kingdom, and mostly of her grandfather, the Avatar before Avatar Korra, Aang.

Although the former King had been kindhearted and beloved, he had also been extremely powerful. His power hadn't been passed down to his children, and his army had mostly receded. Kai's kingdom, Omashu, had never had a close partnership with an Avatar before, and he was confident that it was part of the reason Sudhir was so eager to marry Jinora.

But from the snippets Jinora had allowed herself to vent to him, Sudhir was the worst of the seven suitors. With only a week left of the first month, Kai felt certain that Sudhir would be the one going home. He would be going home. And whatever was steadily growing between him and Jinora would be ended before it had truly began.

He consoled himself by knowing that with Sudhir out of the picture, Jinora would be happier. Besides, his life back at Omashu, while not perfect, was good. Still, he wished that somehow, there could be more time to get to know her. Jinora was the most fascinating person he had ever met.


Books had been scarce to come by, growing up, and Kai was excited to hear what Jinora thought of The Heart Thief. Or perhaps he was just excited to see her; he figured it was combination of both.

As usual, he found her in the library. He expected to see her browsing the shelves, or already reading a book, sitting in one of the library's squashy armchairs. Instead, she was sitting on the floor next to a bookcase, her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking. "Princess Jinora...?" Kai said slowly, kneeling down to her level on the floor. Part of him wanted to put a comforting arm around her, but refrained; he didn't want to overstep his boundaries.

His surprise showed on his face when she curled into him, his fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt. Automatically, his arms wrapped around her, and he rested his head on the top of her's. Her hair was soft and silky, and it tickled his nose, and she smelled like flowers. She was trembling, her fingers resting right over his heart, which was pounding furiously. "Princess?"

Jinora withdrew, her cheeks aflame, her eyes red and still full of tears. "I'm sorry Kai, I..."

"No," he swallowed hard, "no it was fine, Princess. You have nothing to apologize for." His arms felt so empty, and he was suddenly aware of every space next to him that wasn't filed with her.

Jinora sniffled and wiped her eyes. "The - the pressure's just gotten to me, that's all. All of the princes are such - such pigs. And I'm going to have to marry one of them. I know it's my duty, I've accepted it, but..."

"One thing that's always helped me, is when I'm feeling upset, to remind myself of everything I have to be grateful for," Kai said gently. "After my parents died, before I went to work with King Yon, I was on the streets for a year. I did some things I'm not proud of," he admitted. "Luckily I got help, but I've learned how to make the best out of a situation. Find a prince you can maybe be friends with, at the very least. Besides, your parents seem like good people. I'm sure if you told them how you felt, they'd at least consider picking new suitors."

Jinora nodded, taking his words to heart. "Do - do you mind me asking... how they - your parents, died?" she said hesitantly. Kai looked away from her, his smile turning sad. He took a deep breath. "I - I'm sorry," Jinora said hurriedly, "I shouldn't have asked, I mean, it's such a personal question, I wasn't thinking."

"No," Kai chuckled shakily, "no it's okay, Princess. I - my mother got sick, very sick. We struggled to buy the medicine, but eventually she died, and we were left in mountains of debt. My - my father blamed me for the debt, said that if I - if I had never been born they would have been able to afford the medicine. He turned to alcohol and one night he drank too much... and he never came home. I was seven."

When his eyes finally met hers, they were unusually bright, but he held Jinora's sympathetic gaze. "I'm so sorry Kai."

Kai cracked a weak smile. "It was over thirteen years ago, I've made peace with it now," he shook his head, still with that feeble grin on his face. "You know, I've never told the full story to anyone before... it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, do you know what I mean?" He managed a real smile. "Thank you, Princess Jinora."

Jinora smiled warmly at him. "I think I do. I know it isn't the same, but having someone who's willing to really listen about my problems is... refreshing, to say the least." She leaned in towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think I should be thanking you, Kai."

Jinora realized how close their faces were and took a step back, clearing her throat. "So," she gestured helplessly with her hands, hoping to diffuse the sudden awkwardness, "the book?"

Kai cleared his throat. "So, the book? What did you think of the villain?"

Safe, common ground once again. "It was great. I loved the villain, his motivations were very realistic, even if his actions were horrible..." Kai happily listened to her talk, glad for a reason to look at her for once. "I especially liked the heroine, Kida."

Kai they shared a grin. "I thought you would, Princess Jinora. She was always my mother's favourite character as well."


Jinora didn't know what it was exactly, but from that day on something changed. Jinora found herself subconsciously seeking Kai out in rooms, wanting to share a glance, a smile, anything, because it made her smile no matter how much of a jerk any of the princes were being. She noticed more things about him, too; the way he'd bite back a laugh when she made a sarcastic comment, the way his face lit up when he saw her smiling at him. (Which was happening more and more frequently.) The way she could read him across the table during a meal, when she was being bored to death, and if he quirked his eyebrows when Sudhir said something so stupid, as if to say, "Can you believe this guy?" it'd pull a completely unbecoming giggle she'd try to pass off as a cough, or when he offered her a sympathetic look, she'd readily take it and it'd brighten up her mood.

Kai, in general, made her feel happier in a way that no one else ever had. It was exhilarating, frightening, and potentially dangerous.

She found solace in The Heart Thief, rereading to catch the foreshadowing she had missed the first time, initially. Instead, she found herself relating less to Kida this time, and more to the boy Kida fell in love with, Johnny, especially as the two's relationship evolved from a petty thief and a victim to friends to people who lived for those stolen moments where they could be together.

Dangerous thoughts. She felt grateful that Poppy or Mako hadn't started to pry. Yet, anyway.

Besides, those worries fell away when she caught Kai's eye, and all she could hear was her heart pounding against her rib-cage as though it wanted to break free from its prison. From her prison.


If Kai hadn't already known, he never would've pegged Mako and Bolin as brothers. While Mako was one of the head knights, Bolin was a lower ranking one, courting one of the noblewomen, Opal BeiFong. That was the extent of Kai's knowledge of Bolin, until the two ran into each other in the gardens one day.

"Hi!" Bolin said brightly, offering Kai a friendly smile. "You're Kai, right? Sudhir's servant?" Kai nodded. "Mako, my brother, told me about you."

Kai hoped Mako had only said good things. "What are you doing in the gardens?" he asked.

"Looking for flowers, for Miss Opal BeiFong," Bolin said cheerfully. "A way to a girl's heart is through what she loves, and Opal adores flowers."

Jinora loves books, Kai thought, but he shoved it away. Jinora was friend. Just a friend. And a princess. Kai made a low noise of agreement. "I didn't realize the knights got breaks."

"Most of the time, no," Bolin said, and his brow furrowed, turning serious. "But most of the knights are patrolling the borders, there's not too much for us to do here. The Red Lotus is becoming a much bigger threat than in the past."

"The Red Lotus?" Kai had a feeling this time Bolin wasn't talking about a flower.

"A group of anarchists," Bolin explained. "Skilled and dangerous. They've been growing in strength for a while, but King Tenzin isn't too worried about them because if push comes to shove, we have Avatar Korra on our side."

Kai filed away the information, knowing it was something to keep in mind. "Oh? I suppose having another ally on your side would help too; King Sudhir has a large army."

"I don't think that's going to help him win Princess Jinora's heart," Bolin said, sniffing a large pink rose. He snapped it off the stem and twirled in between his fingers. "From what Mako tells me, he's a real jerk."

"He is," Kai agreed.

"And Mako also says that the princess has shown quite an interest in you?" Bolin had a wide smile, eyes eager for a juicy piece of castle gossip.

Kai flushed. "Well, er - we talk, sometimes? Princess Jinora's a very nice girl," Kai stammered, flustered and struggling to regain his bearings.

"Oh really?" Bolin needled, raising his eyebrows.

"I recommended a book to her," Kai said, throwing his hands up helplessly. "That's all."

Bolin's grin never faded. "I guess that's all then." But he knew Bolin didn't really believe it.

Kai thought back to what had happened in the library yesterday, how he had trusted Jinora, how she had curled into his arms, and it had felt so right. Maybe Bolin was right; maybe there was more to it.

He stole a glance at Jinora at dinner, and his heart got jammed into his throat when she caught his eye and smiled at him. He gulped: there was definitely more to it, and there was no going back now.