Dr. An returned to her office shortly after the announcement and told Kia Min and Darting Lynx that the new empress would be addressing her people within the hour. Dr. An brought new clothes for Kia Min from the Imperial Arena, generously donated by a student from the Black Leopard School, for her clothes were much too torn and much too bloody.
"He was a kind-hearted student," said Dr. An, "and one who frequents the arena. He didn't ask twice when I told him that I had a patient in need of clothes."
"Thank you," Kia Min managed, and as she changed into the borrowed robes she wondered where she had heard Black Leopard before. Was it back in One Stone, or in the passing through Golden River or Tien's Landing? No, it could not have been recently, it seemed too much like a distant memory. Two Rivers, then? Or...
Wen. Kia Min froze. He had family here in the Imperial City, she remembered him saying. Family who had sent him to Two Rivers to be safe from the politics of the Imperial City.
She quickly shook it off, and Dr. An said, "I suggest that we go to the ceremony. It's been a long time since we had one of the Sun family make a public appearance like this, since the empress was a child, if I remember correctly. Darting Lynx, do you think that you could fix Kia Min up in a good disguise to keep hidden from the Lotus Assassins?"
Darting Lynx opened her mouth, but Kia Min cut in, "Dr. An, I really can't go. I shouldn't go. I have to-"
Dr. An smiled. "I know. You want to find Wu the Lotus Blossom. And it would be a good time, too, since everyone in the Imperial City will be at the ceremony. But don't you think she would be there too?"
"We could also hide from the Lotus Assassins easier," said Darting Lynx.
Kia Min shook her head. "No. I've waited too long, wasted too much time... what if she leaves during the ceremony?"
"For what purpose?" asked Dr. An. "I doubt she has reason to leave the Imperial City so surreptitiously. Or obviously. Darting Lynx has a point. It will be easier to find people who aren't at the empress's address, and the Lotus Assassins know it, and Wu the Lotus Blossom knows it. Who says she's not trying to keep from being noticed, either?"
"Kia Min, let's just go to the address," said Darting Lynx. "At the very least, maybe we'll get some of our questions answered. I'm particularly interested in why none of the Sun family can seem to stay alive, and why the empress's uncle took succession before she did. And I know you have a lot of your own questions to be answered as well."
Kia Min shot a glare at Darting Lynx, but she said nothing. She did not like this, but both Darting Lynx and Dr. An made sense... for anyone but Wu the Lotus Blossom. If Wu had something to do, she would do it now rather than later. Now, while everybody in the city was distracted; now, while no one was looking except for the Lotus Assassins, and she would find a way around them as well. Wu was too stubborn to do anything else.
The problem was that Kia Min had no idea where to begin. The Imperial City was big, so she heard from Wen and Darting Lynx and many merchants traveling through One Stone. Wu could be anywhere, for any purpose, and Kia Min could not start just anywhere.
But if Kia Min had this habit of walking into her answers, maybe this address would be another one of those opportunities.
"Alright, fine," she said. "I'll go to the ceremony."
Kia Min waved off Darting Lynx's help for a disguise; she knew exactly what she had to do to make the Lotus Assassins recognizing her difficult. She already had a change in outfit, and though she had little love for the idea she decided to keep her bamboo staff in Dr. An's office. At the very least, she had some knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. For the final touch, Kia Min lifted her heavy hands to the buns on her head and let them down.
As she strung her hands through the strands and tied them back into one bun at the nape of her neck, she thought about how those many buns had made her so noticeable in Two Rivers from the day she arrived. Her mother wore her hair like that in order to attract customers, so others in One Stone could easily point at the Kia stand for quality goods. Kia Min arrived at Two Rivers with that same hairstyle as a reminder of home. And now... gone.
One Stone was not home anymore. One Stone had not been home for some time now, and Two Rivers had quickly replaced it. Yes, she had her beloved father and mother and brother in One Stone, but in Two Rivers she had a multitude of friends, mentors, teachers, a future, and Ni Joh. Two Rivers was home.
She could not pin her hair up like that ever again.
Kia Min sighed. Dr. An had already left, and Darting Lynx was waiting for her at the door. Kia Min pursed her lips at the sight of the acrobat. What happened with the farmers was not her fault, Kia Min knew, but nonetheless she pushed right past Darting Lynx and headed for the crowd of people all drifting in the same direction towards wherever it was Empress Sun Lian would make her announcement.
The square of what Kia Min quickly learned was the Market District was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder, with children having difficulty squeezing past legs to get as close as they could to the staircase leading to where a handful of Imperial guards stood to keep the commoners away from the Heavenly Lily. The empress herself was not yet before her people.
Kia Min glanced around, and she recognized no one around her. She would never find Wu in this mess. Darting Lynx as well was lost behind her somewhere, and Kia Min had little interest in discovering where. She sighed. This was a mistake.
The doors at the top of the stairs slowly swung open, and all Kia Min saw was a splash of yellow before she joined the others in bowing solemnly before their sovereign. Her heart pounded; why was she so excited? Perhaps this was the true power of royalty.
"My people," Empress Sun Lian began, "today begins a new era in the Jade Empire. My uncle, Sun Li the Glorious Strategist, is dead. Once again there will be free travel throughout the empire, but that is not the only change that is brought before us today.
"You deserve to know the truth about what has been happening at the very heart of our beloved empire, and I will share that knowledge with you today. Twenty years ago, the Long Drought ended, but it should not have. My father, the late Emperor Sun Hai, stepped beyond his station to bring that tragic chapter of the Jade Empire to a premature end. The ghost stories you have heard from the far reaches of the empire are all true, and they are all the result of my father's actions.
"The heavens were challenged, and there was only one who could make things right. She was known as the Scourge of the South by the Lotus Assassins, and she rose to fame in the Imperial Arena as Silver Phoenix. She challenged Sun Hai, and she won, only to be cut down by her master, the Glorious Strategist, alive and well, hiding until the right moment to take the throne away from his brother.
"But the heavens would not hear of it, and she came back to challenge Sun Li, who, in his brief reign, fared no better than Sun Hai. He used the same corrupt methods as my father, the same corrupt henchmen, and he stepped further beyond his station than Sun Hai ever did.
"And so she prevailed, and balance has been restored to the Jade Empire, though there is still much work to be done. My people, I stand before you to promise you that this empire will be rebuilt the right way, without resorting to rebelling against the gods, while maintaining harmony throughout the land. Death's Hand is no more. The Lotus Assassins will be disbanded, and the Lotus Monks shall return in their place as peaceful, spiritual guardians of the Jade Empire.
"Now I present to you, my people, the hero of the Jade Empire, the last Spirit Monk, and her followers. Let her name resound throughout the land and throughout our history. Long live Wu the Lotus Blossom!"
Kia Min froze as cheers and hollers erupted around her.
Wu?
Slowly she lifted her head, and the celebratory arms of the people flailing in front of her only let her catch sight of others in the party. There stood a large man with bloodied axes dutifully at his side, a man in blue gazing at the center of the stage with a proud, charming, and glowing smile. And then another arm waved, and she saw the other side, and there was Dawn Star.
Kia Min stopped breathing.
And then, finally, she could see all who stood before the masses, and in the center, at long last, was indeed Wu the Lotus Blossom.