Chapter 15: Kingmaking

"You're certain?"

The Dai Li agent nodded. "Yes, sir. We questioned the mercenary once the princess was gone and confirmed what he told them- Jian Chin is the man who has the Lady Ursa."

"Excellent." Long Feng allowed himself a calmly satisfied smile. "And where is Azula now?"

"She and her companions rented rooms in the local inn for the night. I overheard her telling them that they were going to return to their ship tomorrow and collect more firebenders before confronting Jian Chin."

"Good. Then I should have time for a brief side-trip of my own." Long Feng held out his hand. "Did you learn the location of the warlord's fortress?"

The agent reached into his robe and removed a scroll, which he then unrolled and revealed to be a map of the region. "We took this from Yin Tzu's home, sir. Jian Chin's territory is clearly marked."

Long Feng took the map and studied it. "This should be close enough for us to reach in time- if we hurry. I believe that this warlord and I have matters to discuss."

"Sir?" one of the other Dai Li asked tentatively, "What could this… uncultured barbarian have to offer us?"

"We need Ursa, and he has her. Negotiation can prove every bit as effective as open conflict- and a man like Jian Chin might prove the solution to more than one dilemma facing us."

Mocking laughter rang from the nearby trees. "Of course, everything and everyone are nothing more than Pai Sho tiles to the great Long Feng!" With a rustle Wei Ming dropped from the branches and landed in the midst of the Dai Li. She looked around to the nearby agents and smiled. "I wonder how that makes them feel?"

"Don't get self-righteous with me," Long Feng said coolly. "You're no better. I use you to accomplish my return to power- you use me to achieve your revenge. And as long as we're both aware of that, I don't see why that can't be the basis of a working partnership."

Wei Ming shot him a fierce grin. "True enough. So it seems you're agents know their jobs- they found the same information I did."

"Yes. Azula is now preparing to return to her ship and get additional firebenders- therefore, I am dividing my forces." Long Feng looked at each of his agents in turn. "Two of you will come with me to visit Jian Chin. Two others will return to the port and scuttle the Fire Navy ship- we cannot allow Azula's forces to link up. The remaining six will follow the princess herself and prevent her from joining any survivors." He nodded at Wei Ming. "You, my dear, may of course go with any group you see fit to join."

She surprised him. "I'm coming with you," she said. "I want to meet Jian Chin myself."

Long Feng raised an eyebrow. "Really? I would have thought you would want to take Azula. She is the object of your revenge, after all."

"One object," Wei Ming hissed. "But I have plans too, Dai Li. Don't think you know all of them."

If Long Feng had anything to do with it those plans would never come to fruition, though he was wise enough to keep that thought to himself. "Very well, then," he said. "If you want to come with me I will oblige." He motioned to the two nearest Dai Li, who came to stand at his sides.

They currently stood in the forest halfway between the port-town and Yin Tzu's village, where Long Feng had come to meet with his agents after their shadowing of Azula. Now the minister and his two chosen agents centered themselves and held their hands out over the earth- and then as one jerked upwards. The ground itself rose beneath them, and soon they were standing atop what appeared to be a wave of dirt and stone.

"Climb on- otherwise you won't be able to keep up," Long Feng said rather more stiffly than normal- the earth-wave wasn't difficult, per se, but it did require much of his concentration. Wei Ming scowled and slipped up behind him, seating herself cross-legged on the wave. Then the three earthbenders pushed forward and the earth carried them off to the south far faster than a person could run.

/

It was near the middle of the night when they arrived at Jian Chin's fortress. The castle, which seemed to project an air of brooding, crumbling majesty, perched atop a cliff, and at its feet was spread out a run-down town. Long Feng knew cities, and he could tell at once that this place had a different feel to it than the equally chaotic port- that was a place of lawlessness and disorder, ruled by criminals and thugs. This was simply a place of poverty and despair. Long Feng found himself disgusted by the sheer inefficiency of it. Still, it told him much about the personality of the man who ruled here- clearly Jian Chin lacked either the competence or the initiative to run an actual, effective government. That particular trait fit in with Long Feng's plans rather nicely.

As they approached the outskirts of the town the minister nodded at his agents. Together they released their wave and allowed it to sink back into the earth. Long Feng looked over his shoulder. "We're here," he said.

"I know." Wei Ming was standing at his shoulder, her eyes glittering in the darkness. As usual she was slightly unnerving, but Long Feng didn't allow her the pleasure of seeing that. He simply nodded once and motioned for her and the two Dai Li to follow. Together they crept into town.

All four figures were well-accustomed to stealth, and they passed between rows of dark, run-down buildings without disturbing a soul. Occasionally guards in mismatched armor would walk past, but they saw nothing but shadows. Long Feng and his Dai Li might not have Wei Ming's uncanny ability to blend in with the darkness, but they knew full well how to conceal themselves from prying eyes.

They came to the base of the cliff and Long Feng looked up towards the fortress. Going in the front gate wouldn't do at all- he needed to get inside in order to make sure that no idiot night guard would turn him away before he had a chance to see Jian Chin, and he certainly didn't want to earn the warlord's ire by being forced to kill or maim any of his staff. Breathing deeply, he centered his stance and slammed a fist into the rock.

Long Feng prided himself on being one of the few earthbenders to master the art of reading vibrations within the earth itself. He couldn't do it at will the way the Avatar's companion Toph Beifong could (what a warrior she would have made with Dai Li training!), but with effort he could still perceive the world through the rocks. Furrowing his brow, Long Feng concentrated and felt the echoes from his punch pass through the cliff and bring him information about the shape of the fortress above.

Then his eyes widened slightly. "Fool!" he hissed. "The fool lives in a fortress that's built atop a whole network of caverns! This whole area is unstable; any skilled earthbender could bring it all down."

"Yes," Wei Ming said in a soft, dreamlike voice. "I can feel it too- there are places down below us that have never known the light of the sun, and the darkness runs deep and thick."

Long Feng felt a shiver run up his spine, but he ignored it. "It's of no importance," he said. "We're directly beneath one of the walls- we should be able to climb here. Follow me." He pressed his hands against the rock and felt the earth give beneath them, forming itself into hand-and-footholds. Using these he began to swiftly ascend, the two Dai Li agents following behind in the same manner. Wei Ming leaped lightly onto the cliff side and began to climb swiftly like a spider, without any apparent need for earthbending to help her way.

They reached the top of the cliff swiftly, and after a brief pause and stretch continued up the wall. Long Feng noted a window about halfway up and motioned for the others to follow him. One after another they leaped through and found themselves in a dark hallway.

The corridor was empty except for statues and tapestries lining the walls, arranged seemingly at random. It did not escape Long Feng's notice, though, that all of these pieces of artwork depicted scenes and figures from the Earth Kingdom's glorious history, with a disproportionate number featuring Chin the Conqueror in some form. The former Grand Secretariat noted with a wry smile that part of one tapestry had been crudely torn off just before it could depict Chin's legendary humiliation and defeat at the hands of Avatar Kyoshi.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway, and Long Feng held up his hand for silence. Two bored-looking men in the same armor they'd seen in the town below came around a corner, talking to each other in low voices. They nearly walked directly into Long Feng before stopping and staring in utter shock, then hurriedly they drew their swords. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" one of them demanded.

"My name is Long Feng," the head of the Dai Li said calmly. "I'm here to see your master, Jian Chin. Could you tell me where he is?"

"What are you, an assassin or something?" the guard demanded, pointing his sword threateningly at Long Feng's throat.

"If I was an assassin I wouldn't be standing here talking to you about it," Long Feng said with a sigh. "I want to make a deal with Jian Chin that could benefit us both. Now, could you kindly point me in his direction?"

The first guard turned to the second. "You stay here, and make sure they don't leave. I'll go talk to His Lordship and see what he says." The guard hurried off, leaving his companion looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

They stood in the corridor for some time, no one speaking, the guard looking nervously from Long Feng's steady gaze to the blank expressions of the Dai Li to Wei Ming's predatory smile. Finally the first guard returned. "His Lordship says he'll see you, Long Feng," he said. "The other three will have to wait below."

"Fair enough," Long Feng said. The guard motioned and led the Dai Li and their companion down to the ground level of the fortress and a large, open audience hall. More guards waited there, and at a nod from their leader the two agents walked over to stand with them. The first two guards led Long Feng to a door in the back of the hall and opened it. He stepped through.

This room was relatively small and decorated with weapons and hunting trophies. A burly man in gaudy clothes and a too-small crown waited there, looking at once irritated and intrigued. "They say you got in through a top-story window," he said in a rough voice. "Only an earthbender could've done that. You look a little skinny to be an earthbender, though. I bet I could break you in two without even trying."

"Jian Chin?" Long Feng asked evenly.

"You found me," the warlord said. "Now what do you want? My man said that you want to make a deal. What are you offering?"

"My name is Long Feng, formerly Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se and head of the Dai Li. You probably haven't heard of me before, but at one time I was the most powerful man in this entire Kingdom."

Jian Chin stroked his beard. "Dai Li? I've heard of them. I guess you are an earthbender then, if you're telling the truth. So what's the head of the Dai Li doing all the way out here? Lose track of your city or something? I hear that Ba Sing Se's pretty hard to miss!" The warlord laughed heartily at his own joke.

"In a matter of speaking," Long Feng replied, refusing to rise to the bait. "I am currently looking for a way back into power, and I believe that you can help me on that front."

"Really?" Jian Chin asked. "And how exactly could I do that? And why would I?"

"I believe that you currently have a hostage in this very fortress- the Lady Ursa. If I was to return the Lady to her son the Fire Lord, I believe that the reward would be most handsome." Long Feng looked the warlord straight in the eyes. "I want her."

"No!" the other man almost shouted. "Ursa is mine! You can't have her!"

"Not even if I offered something of greater value in return?"

"Greater value?" Jian Chin demanded. "Like what?"

Long Feng allowed himself a tight smile. "The Earth Kingdom."

Jian Chin stared at the minister for several moments, then burst out laughing. "Seriously, what are you offering?"

"I am deadly serious, Jian Chin," Long Feng said. "I was the Earth King's most trusted advisor, and I know secrets of Ba Sing Se that even he could only guess. There is a series of tunnels beneath the city that lead directly into the Earth King's palace. Some of those loyal to the king know of them and have doubtless tried to block them off- but only I ever knew the entire network. Using those tunnels I could smuggle you and your men into the city and then you could seize control of the palace in less than a day. With the apparatus of government under your control, Ba Sing Se is yours- and the rest of the Earth Kingdom will swiftly follow."

"And I suppose the entire city will just roll over and accept this?" Jian Chin asked.

"They will if you reinstate the Dai Li as the backbone of government. I devoted my life to maintaining order in Ba Sing Se- with the government and Dai Li once again under my control, I could have the entire city eating out of your hand in days."

The warlord nodded. "That might work, but I've got to wonder one thing- if you knew about these secret passages all along, why didn't you off the Earth King yourself a year ago?"

"Because I am a planner, Jian Chin, an administrator, not a conqueror. I can run a government, but I have no interest or need to become its public face." Long Feng smiled again. "But if I had someone like you who could do that for me- well, you would get all the credit without having to do any of the actual work. Think of that, my friend- all the glory of the Earth King's throne is yours, and the only price you have to pay is to give up Ursa to me."

"I admit, I like the sound of that." Jian Chin's face turned concerned, and he leaned close. "But there's one more problem- the Avatar. I don't want to fight that if I can avoid it. You have an answer to that, clever man?"

"Avatar Kyoshi was the first of the Dai Li," Long Feng said. "My goals and the Avatar's are the same- balance, stability, order. I admit I miscalculated in my dealings with him in the past- I underestimated him, treating him as a child." He winced slightly and rubbed the leg that had been bitten by a several-ton sky bison a year and a half ago. "I learned my lesson on that occasion. This time, however, we will have no reason to quarrel. The current Earth King knows nothing about actually ruling a nation- your kingship and my return can only improve matters. I will make him see that the Dai Li are the backbone of Ba Sing Se, and always have been."

Jian Chin nodded. "All right." He held out a meaty paw and Long Feng took it. "We have a deal then, Dai Li. I'll give you Ursa- but only after you make me a king."

"Excellent." The warlord and the minister shook. "I believe that our alliance will be most profitable for us both."

/

Long Feng stepped out into the audience hall again and found his agents standing silently among Jian Chin's soldiers. "Come with me," he said to them, and they quickly fell into step behind him. "The warlord has agreed to give us Ursa- but first we have a final loose end to tie up. We're going to rejoin our comrades and take Azula."

"You mean kill Azula," Wei Ming's cold voice said from Long Feng's side.

"I mean take," the leader of the Dai Li said. "I thought that you might want the honor of the actual kill."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to it," she said. They walked down the corridor in silence, and then Wei Ming spoke again. "I'm surprised by you, Long Feng. I wouldn't have thought that a cultured city man like you would be willing to make this back-country bandit Earth King."

"So I take it you were eavesdropping on our conversation?" Long Feng asked, rather unsurprised.

"Of course. I was in the room the whole time." She turned to look at him. "You didn't answer my question."

Long Feng glanced to make certain no guards were in earshot. "The Earth King is not practically relevant to the government," he said softly. "A trained hog-monkey could perform his duties. The monarchy is the embodiment of the State, its beating heart- but while the heart is necessary for life, it is the mind that controls the body; the Grand Secretariat is the mind, and the Dai Li are the limbs, of the state. Jian Chin is a fool, and it won't be difficult to convince him that he is important when in fact he is no such thing. I think he'll make a fine king, actually, once I convince him to change his clothes and take a bath."

The minister shook his head. "And if he fails miserably, he will take the fall and all the blame- while I still have Ursa and the Fire Lord's favor. I have nothing to lose from promising him the throne."

"You are truly devious, Long Feng," Wei Ming said in a tone at once admiring and contemptuous, if such were possible. He paid her little attention. Her purpose was to kill Azula for him- after that, the Dai Li would kill her as well and keep her vengeful and erratic nature from threatening his schemes. He stood poised now to gain the favor of Fire Lord Zuko and quite possibly a position within the Fire Nation government- and, in the event that Jian Chin's kingship actually worked out, a stranglehold on the Earth Kingdom government as well.

Then the Dai Li would have accomplished through guile what Sozin and his heirs failed to do through brute force- the world would be united under ordered rule, even if it didn't know it. Long Feng couldn't think of an idea that he found more satisfying.

/

And so our three main villains have now met up and formed an alliance (even if Jian Chin is, for the moment, unaware that he has two partners instead of one). Long Feng is, as ever, careful, cunning, and patient, but it should be fairly obvious that his plan would never work out in the long run because he still lacks perspective. Specifically, he doesn't really understand why Aang and friends opposed him in the first place; he thinks his mistake was treating Aang like a child to be shoved to the side rather than an equal to be treated with, rather than, you know, being a manipulative and repressive shadow-dictator whose regime actively hindered the Earth Kingdom's efforts against the Fire Nation. Getting the Avatar on his side this time around wouldn't be as easy as he thinks. Of course, that's small comfort for Azula, who's about to find herself in the rather more immediate crosshairs of his scheme.

The earth-wave the Dai Li use to take themselves to Jian Chin's fortress was based on the technique Toph used after escaping from Xin Fu and Master Yu in "Crossroads of Destiny", by the way. It also made sense to me that the Dai Li would be able to use a version of Toph's tremorsense, as that ability would be incredibly useful for their work in various ways, but even Long Feng, the most skilled of them, can't use it on nearly the level she can. Keep those caverns Long Feng and Wei Ming mentioned in mind, by the way. There's a reason those got brought up here…

-MasterGhandalf