...
When Ayika awoke in her family's apartment the next morning she thought for a moment that she might have actually succeeded in acclimatizing her body to continuous late nights and terror-filled flight. Then she sat up from the mat on the floor and her leaden flesh reminded her that such an achievement was not actually possible. Her little brother was still grumbling face down into the shared blanket, muttering nonverbally about morning and sisters. Ayika was tired to her bones but she had a new job to get to.
That small victory of securing employment at Anyakya's laundry had at least managed to cancel out most of her mother's displeasure at her late return to the apartment last night. The chiding had not necessarily lessened but it had at least not increased. Still, Ayika was not at her most alert as she sat at the low family table mechanically spooning precious nourishment into her mouth. This lack of attention was evidenced by the fact that Oakas managed to slip three spare chopsticks into her braid before she noticed. At least she was still fast enough to rap him across the back of the head in the brief second their mother was looking away and to display appropriate confusion at his exclamations when the maternal gaze returned. Then Ayika was out the door and on to her first formal day as an employee at Mrs Anyakya's Super Best Tribal Wash and Cleaning located on the west bank of Left Leg Canal.
Once she arrived there were other challenges. The counter-girl uniform was as embarrassingly tight as Ayika had expected. The blue costume's fake white trim tickled her calves as she attempted to relearn how to walk when she could hardly move her thighs half a stride. Since her own skirts were slit to the extent that they more like two hanging sheets of cloth and were only decent because she wore trousers underneath them, this was quite a change. Still, she didn't think even this uniform was supposed to be quite this tight across the hips. Ayika may not have had much in the way of height but she had received a bit of the so-called Water Tribe figure. At least she'd convinced the woman fitting her to let the top's front out even if the request had earned her a few dark looks. Dark looks were an acceptable trade for being able to breath comfortably.
Then she was set to work. Mrs Anyakya might have hired Ayika because of her relation to Aka of the Bed but she was still expected to perform the normal duties of a counter girl as well as her fake shamaning. The job was simple enough, never be seen sitting, always greet customers with the memorized spiel, and always make a big deal of 'priority cleaning' while failing to mention that this extra charge had no effect on the treatment the clothing underwent in the back of the building. The store manager also advised her to adjust her posture forward in certain places when male customers came in but for now Ayika was choosing to neglect that bit of wisdom. She was admonished once for entering the arrivals in the ledger-book with proper numbers instead of the talley marks the other girls used, but other than that the morning's work was not unpleasant. There were even periods where she forgot how mortifying her uniform was.
It was around an hour until midday when Mrs Anyakya came by on her inspection of the facility. She strode up to the front counter out of nowhere and held out her hand in a demanding gesture that confused Ayika for several panicked seconds until she thought to present the ledger book. Anyakya gave an affirmative snort and began to scan through the entries as her mouth worked from side to side.
Ayika decided that it would not go amiss to ingratiate herself to her boss. "Mrs Anyakya, I would like to once again thank you for this job opportunity. I hope-"
"Bloody government announced curfew restrictions, those idiots," Anyakya interrupted, talking to herself in a loud declarative tone that suggested she was always talking to her self and sometimes other people butted in with their own opinions. Well, Ayika could go with that conversation line instead.
"Yes, I heard a customer talking about that. Supposedly, they're banning all nongovernment passage through the ring gates after dark since those marchers got up into the Middle Ring last night." It was a typical government response. It was very difficult to track down the precise people responsible for a disruption like that but it was very easy to apply general punishment and hope that the common citizens did away with the criminals themselves out of sheer frustration.
Anykya snorted. "Pffa, lucky that's all they're doing. They've got three dead earthbenders up there if there's any truth to it, and lots of tax-paying people injured." She then abruptly started yelling at someone else despite not changing her posture at all. "Kanirrak! How are we for soap? You diluting it enough? No, don't come out you fool, just tell me!"
There were indistinct noises from behind the curtain but they made sense to the boss as she grunted and nodded. "Course any bender who's fool enough to get killed by normal people might not be such a loss. All the Islander-huggers must be crowing over the ministers' reaction. Their smarmy new Exclusion boss too, Tailang or Talilong or whatever. Whoever took over from old Naruhama. People've seen him heading up to the Inner Ring. Bet he gets more than I ever got from the gov, you can count on that. Those damn conservatives've gone too far with their violence this time and made a noose for our necks."
At that moment there was a clacking as the wooden rods hanging over the door were jostled by a new entrant. Anyakya smoothly scooted to the side out of the way of the counter without taking her eyes from the ledger until she spared a look up and saw just who had entered.
Ayika leaped quickly into her speech. "Hello, and welcome to Mrs Anyakya's Super Best Tribal Wash! Our cleaning secrets handed down from the spirits themselves insure your belongings will get as clean as polar ice. How may I help you today?"
The man who entered was better dressed than most of those who visited this premises. However, it was in a strange and formal style that suggested his clothes livery instead of freely chosen wardrobe. He was of the Earth Kingdoms race but as Ayika squinted slightly at his uniform she thought that it might even be in Islander fashions. So, he was an employee sent from the Exclusion. That was interesting.
"Um, yes, hello." He began, blinking as he looked at Ayika before glancing up to meet her eyes with a flash of disguised embarrassment. "Nice, um, place this is. " He gestured vaguely to the water tribe objects decorating the walls. This time Ayika had made sure that all the idols were thoroughly desecrated and powerless. "My name is Fong. I have not been here before, have you worked here long?" He said in an awkward forced casualness.
If Ayika had met him on the street she would have jabbed him in the chest until he admitted what he was on about. This man did not look like the sort for pointless blather. There was clearly some purpose to his forced small talk but today was her first day on the job and her boss was standing in the corner with folded arms. So she only smiled sweetly and replied, "Actually, this is my first day. How may I help you?"
Fong now looked relieved. He quickly said that his employer in the Exclusion had heard about this business and after some dissatisfaction with their own washerwomen was interested in contracting out the laundry duties for the household. This caused Anyakya to perk up. The woman may have held a dim view of Islanders in general but she had no prejudice towards their money. The contract for a full mansion house was a good get. The man was now explaining that the master would appreciate an employee coming back to Exclusion to answer some brief questions.
Anyakya moved forward, tossing the ledger book back to Ayika. "Ah, and I'm so glad you came to my humble establishment. I am Mrs Anyakya, the owner of this shop, and I'd be happy to come answer any and all questions. We can leave right now if you like." She moved quickly to take his arm in an aggressive reversal of traditional manners.
The man from the Exclusion looked very uncomfortable again. He stepped back away from Anyakya but did not make for the door. "Um, I am sure that as a business owner you are very busy and this would be a waste of your time. A simple employee would be perfectly acceptable. How about this girl here?" He gestured with mock carelessness to Ayika who froze in the process of putting the ledger book away back under the counter.
Anyakya leaned back in surprise. She lowered her brow Fong in his livery. "But you just heard that this was her first day. No, I'll be able to answer any questions and indeed arrange a contract on the spot."
Fong sighed heavily and grimaced as he dropped some of his awkward formality. "Look, the mistress gave me specific instructions. I may not understand them but I do not want to go against them, even if what you say makes much more sense. She said to get the newly hired counter girl, so I fetch the counter girl."
Ayika silently groaned. So it was a mistress now. The mistress of an Islander mansion house. Mizumi. This must have seemed like such a clever plan when the young woman came up with it and indeed it probably would have gone smoothly if Mrs Anyakya had not been standing in the very room. As it was, the plan was sinking in deep water.
"Hmmmm." That same Mrs Anyakya's eyes were now narrowed in great suspicion. The whole situation sounded suspect. But at the end of consideration a large profit was in the offering and all she was risking was Ayika's skin by sending her off with this stranger so she begrudgingly consented. She gave Ayika an imperative gesture of the head that managed to include a great number of threats that she be on her absolute best behavior and not mess up this business deal. Ayika would really have preferred to change back to her normal clothes before walking out onto the street but Anyakya already looked likely to smack her with something. So Ayika slid around the counter to make off after Fong who gave no objection to her outfit other than trying very hard to make it clear he was not looking at her up and down.
The two of them exited through the door and though Ayika was now free of Anyakya's glares she now felt a hundred other eyes on her on the crowded street. She fought the urge to pull down on her dress where it rode up towards her thighs with every step. Her guide clearly didn't have the patience to stop and let her adjust her clothes every three paces. He was anxious and looked around these Harbor Town streets as if he very much wished he was not on them. Ayika could understand why. If she could identify his outfit as Exclusion livery then others could too and today that seemed a bad label to have attached to you. The road was filled with people standing close to each other and muttering, a great difference from the normal City tradition of conducting a private conversation by shouting from opposite ends of the street. People going about their business seemed to be walking a little faster and clutching their bundles a little tighter.
However, one person stood out in this tense milieu, at least to Ayika's eyes. Just off the nearest corner a spiky-haired young man with limbs like a stork was crouched by a bundle of little paper packages spread out on the bricks before him. Great, Xinfei was still out selling his matches instead of working his job down at the docks. At least the little paper boxes no longer showed the Fire Nation symbols. He must have turned them inside out and refolded them. Ayika sighed as she tried to reach down to her knees in mid-stride to smooth down that irritatingly clingy fabric once again. Xinfei would of course say it was a coincidence that he was on this street but she knew he had stationed himself here so he could fulfill a noble-hearted desire to guard her. The gesture was unnecessary and wrongheaded, but sweet. Sweet even if throughout their childhoods she was pretty sure she'd protected him more than the other way around. When she had passed by, Ayika briefly swung her head around and saw him scrambling to gather up his merchandise, presumably to follow along after her.
It was only a few minutes before the tiled spires of the Exclusion began to loom before them. Then Fong and Ayika's path took a quick jag to the right and passed where a basket seller had claimed most of the width of the narrow street for his oversized woven wares. Just a little further on they passed under the kissing eaves of close-pressed buildings that formed an unplanned gateway and they were on the road beside the moat that separated the kingdom from this transplanted Fire Nation town.
Tensions may have been rising in the City but this wide strip of water was still filled with a hundred canal boats weaving across to do every manner of trade with foreign pockets. Here on this side of the water the stone-walled bank was sheer and vertical so the boatmen tossed goods up and down from boat to shore. On the Exclusion side, the Islanders had constructed innumerable tiny docks clinging to the edge of the water under their tall narrow buildings decorated with red pillars. They chose to do their purchasing on a more personal level. That was a clear sign of who was afraid of whom, despite the population difference. However, today Ayika glanced over at of the Kingdom side and saw a knot of rough-looking men leaning against the wall hurling dark glares over the water. She wondered if any of those Islanders were new rethinking that confidence in their security.
The man Mizumi had sent to fetch her, Fong, had been perfectly polite during their short walk but when Ayika froze at the foot of the Bridge of Fire he clicked his tongue with exasperation. Ayika knew perfectly well that her reaction was ridiculous but she had never before set foot on that span, the only solid path to the isle of foreigners. Ahead loomed the narrow spindly heights that gave the Exclusion the air of a large town somehow severely compacted in area without losing any mass. Even with the sun nearly overhead the glass windows gleamed and sparkled under the sharp eaves that rose like the wings of flapping birds, another symbol of the lurking wealth.
At once a thought leapt unbidden into Ayika's mind. Was she a traitor? That idea was completely ridiculous if she put any thought to it but the idea still lurked and tickled her perception. She'd worked all her life to be seen as a citizen of the Kingdoms and not another foreign immigrant, and now when the citizens of the Kingdoms were turning against the foreign Islanders she was allying herself closer and closer with a Fire Nation girl. Of course, Mizumi had proven herself by now. But why had she been so quick to trust Mizumi? Why was she so sure she wanted that woman to be impressed with her? Why did she...
Ayika shook her head and strode forward. Out of one corner of her eye she caught sight of Xinfei sliding through the crowd on the canal bank behind her. He would probably still be waiting for her there by the bridge when she left. He might have a docked ship to work later in the day but there was no way Mizumi could be planning take her away from work for that long. At the far end of the bridge stood red uniformed guards wearing top knots in their hair that glistened with strands the color of russet silk. Those foreign eyes glanced over Ayika without concern as she walked forward. Now she was deep in the shaded paths of the Exclusion where lantern flames burnt even in the day.
...
When Fong led her through a big set of doors just off the narrow Exclusion main street, for a moment Ayika thought he had taken a wrong turn or was stopping on some other strange errand on the way to Mizumi's. This building-front was ornate but it was small, far too small for a rich merchant's house. It sat squashed between two larger, taller structures whose first two floors were filled with assorted shops and businesses. Nearly every building bore signs in the Islander language that used just enough of the Kingdoms' familiar characters to make Ayika think she had suddenly forgotten how to read. Mizumi would live in a grand mansion, not somewhere as small as this.
However, once Ayika hesitantly stepped inside the proffered door she found herself not a normal room in a strange entryway to a long hallway. Somehow, what she took for the front of a small building was just a connecting passage to the true house deep within the block. Suddenly, there was a liveried servant at her side placing a pair of slippers on the elevated wood floor in front of her. For a moment Ayika just stared at them in confusion until she realized that she was being provided a pair of house slippers and that her shoes would not likely be stolen if she left them here.
Fong's raised eyebrow seemed to share her opinion that this level of treatment was unusual for her. Ayika assumed that under normal circumstances tradesmen and servants entered through another backdoor somewhere. She'd seen none outside, but if the Miohuitos had managed to hide an entire mansion in a four-meter wide address then Ayika was willing to give them credit for hidden doors. The hallway leading from that entry space was the longest uninterrupted room Ayika had ever experienced. Every so often there was an ink-brush painting hanging on the wall, blank but for a minimalist image of a single flower or small bird. These alternated with alcoves that held a small glass sculpture or pale white ceramics. Then she and Fong reached the far door, her guide gesturing for her to go through.
The Gaoli mansion in the Middle Ring had been spectacular, but at least it was a natural exaggeration of the pretensions that Ayika saw in every city building with a little extra money. Here wealth expressed itself to a foreign tune. The entire structure seemed to be composed of innumerable levels. This space she had entered was a large, tall room whose upper reaches broke through into several floors above, visible behind the railings that wrapped around. A carpeted staircase occupied one wall and even the ground floor of the great room existed in broad square sections that differed in elevation by a single step or two so that no group of chairs or ornaments stood at the exact same level. The furniture was ornate almost beyond the point of comprehension though Ayika didn't know whether that was a sign of foreign fashion or simply expensive quality. There were no windows on the lowest walls but glass panes punctured the walls of the second floor and beyond.
Suddenly a familiar and cheerfully accented voice called out. "Ayika! You are here! I...wow."
Mizumi was in the middle of her decent on the main staircase when she froze. Color rapidly bloomed into her cheeks as she apparently struggled to get the next word to exit her mouth in the correct language. Ayika was confused by this reaction for a moment until she remembered the costume she was wearing. That uniform really was ridiculous. She knelt down slightly so she could grab the lower part of the dress as she wiggled her hips to make it hike back down. When she looked back at Mizumi was even redder. Ayika felt equal mortification blushing across her face.
"Ah, yeah, um sorry! This is the uniform for my new job. I kind of forgot to warn you how embarrassing it was."
Another voice came from the second floor landing. "Ooh, you have a new uniform? Let me see, let me see!" Lili popped suddenly into view over the railing. Apparently the other girl had not yet returned to the Middle Ring since last night. She raised a single appraising eyebrow at Ayika. "Well, you shan't be suffering for customers. Er, it was a laundry you said you were working at, right?"
Mizumi by now had managed to stop making a faint noise like steam rattling the lid of a pot. "Yes, Ayika! I...I am so glad you were able to come. I was not sure that Fong would be able to find you. Apparently, there are several Mrs Anikya's laundries and I did not know which one you were at. Oh, thank you so much Fong!" The man behind Ayika gave a small bow with a straight and calm face that Ayika recognized as a servant's replacement for rolling one's eyes. Mizumi continued to speak with Ayika, attempting to return to a calm demeanor and only half failing. "Be coming in, we can continue talking in the upper parlor."
Ayika hurried to comply only to discover that climbing stairs had an even greater effect on this cursed dress' exploratory tendencies. She managed to grab it down before the hem reached up above her knees but Mizumi was red with mortification again even as she tried to look straight ahead and Lili was letting out barely suppressed giggles. Ayika sent her a dark look to which the tall and slender girl replied with a playful wave of her hand.
"Oh, don't be like that. That dress may be a bit much but the places it's giving you problems should make me hate you much more than the other way around."
From that landing the three of them went through a set of doors and located another staircase to ascend yet again before they entered another room of near equal opulence, now with bright glass windows on two sides. They were already three floors above the street and Ayika had the impression that the mansion continued still further above. The compact space of the Exclusion had influenced the Islanders' architecture in a very vertical way. Mizumi and Lili casually sprawled onto seats of expensive polished wood and intricately stitched cushions. Ayika sat at the very edge of the plainest chair and tried not to touch anything.
She said, "Um, I'm not going to be able to stay long. This is my first day and I can't afford to lose this job." The last sentence involuntarily possessed the faintest air of a bitter twist for directing it to two girls who would never work a job in their life. Luckily neither of her new friends noticed this involuntary slip.
Mizumi said, "I am sure that it will be fine. I am truly going to follow through on the excuse that got you to come here. And I will give your employer ten percent over whatever she is asking for on the contract which should be enough to excuse any manner of lateness. Be relaxed." She made a dismissive gesture and then winced as her other hand shot towards her arm. There was a bandage on her forearm under her sleeve.
Ayika kicked herself mentally for forgetting Mizumi's injury at the hands of the waterbender last night. "Are you ok, Mizumi? I'm so sorry, I forgot to ask about your arm! Is everything-"
Mizumi smiled, if a little tightly, and shook her head. "All is well. It only hurts a little."
Lili chimed in. "More than a little I should think. I don't know how you stood it. I had to look away when that old man came with his needle and..." She shuddered, crossing her arms and hunching her shoulders against the thought.
Mizumi continued, "I am just lucky that my father has barely been home since last night, else he would have noticed something was wrong and tightened my restrictions on me still further. As things are he will assuredly give me punishment for running off from the Gaoli mansion into the night. The only reason he has not done so yet is he has been with Trade Representative Tailang for all of this morning. My grandfather is the only one who knows about my injury and he will not say anything to him."
Lili said, "Your grandfather was an... interesting old man. I do not think he spoke more than twenty words of our language and ten of those were filthy. Still, he seemed nice."
Mizumi very gently rolled up her sleeve to show Ayika the bandage. "He learned the Earth Kingdom tongue in the army along with his wound care. During the war. He was discharged with honors which he says was a miracle after how he behaved. He told me that this will likely leave a scar but he also said that no one can find a lover until after they get their first scar." Here Mizumi suddenly clipped off her speech as if that was not an appropriate anecdote. Ayika had heard far worse.
Lili was not paying attention to those digressions. "Luckily, both our fathers seem to have believed our story that their little girls 'panicked' and ran out the back of the mansion when the guards started moving up the hill to clear the streets. Erliao was vague enough with his explanation of the events in the fog that the fathers received the impression of a time frame that would have not exposed us to any real danger. Just two fools running to the men in uniform. In any case it's better than the truth of our little excursion. And speaking of crazy ex-Dai Li and minister Erliao..." Here she leaned forward with elaborate seriousness. "We're alone now. Can we talk about what by the name of the first king happened last night?!"
Mizumi had all ready filled Lili in on their previous encounters with Ma'er and the Masks, but she had no insight to offer on the mysterious waterbender who had attacked them or why she had accused Erliao of Lizhen's murder. On the truth of that accusation, Lili was in inclined to believe the mysterious would-be captor's claim while Mizumi thought that Erliao's reaction to the accusation was not that of a guilty man. While the sub-minister's politics might align with the conservative Masks, he had seemed very afraid of remaining near them. And he had sounded genuinely surprised to be accused of murder. For the mystery of the nationalists and the Initiated themselves, Mizumi and Lili had come to the conclusion that the Masks must be unitizing some strange bending technique to explain their seemingly supernatural strength. They differed in the specifics but neither had even mentioned spirits in any capacity other than sacrilegious profanity. Ayika decided not to offer her own thoughts on that.
But there was another bit of information else Ayika could offer; something she had mentioned last night but had gotten lost in the confused exhaustion of the flight back to Kuang Harbor. "The waterbender was the same woman whose face was painted on the card in Lizhen's office. Mizumi, you saw it when we searched the place. I've got a likely suspect for who she could be. There aren't many waterbenders in the city and most are men from the north employed with one of the Ice Seller clans. But I've heard of a Mama Mua, a healer and fortune teller on Flowing Water street. She's rumored to be a bender."
Mizumi furrowed her brow. "You do not know for certain? And why do you think this person is the woman in the fog?"
Ayika's thoughts answered silently: Because that woman could command spirits and people have been going to Mama Mua for spirit charms. Mrs Anyakya had been complaining about her workers going to the fortune teller. Because the only other woman of the tribes I know who claimed to speak with the spirits was my own grandma and this woman seems to have taken her place in town.
She instead said aloud, "That wasn't northern tribes waterbending. I've never heard of anyone using fog to fight like that. And Erliao was right, the north doesn't really train their women in combat. But I've heard this Mama Mua is from the lost tribes down in the hot provinces. Who knows what they teach their benders there in those swamps and rivers?" Did they teach them how to command the spirits? Did they know why the spirits would stop when an unimportant laundry girl told them to?
Lili looked skeptical but willing to take Ayika's reasonings at their face value. "Hmm, that's not a lot to go on. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pay her a visit." She tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "If it isn't the same woman then we can just get our fortunes read and be on our way. It could be fun to slum it a...um, to explore the Harbor Town."
Mizumi jerked back in surprise at this casual attitude to the mystery fog bender. "That tribal bender was dangerous! She was trying to capture a government official in the street. You saw that she did slice up three of the men with swords. She tried to go after me and Xiaobao! You want to sit across from her and ask for a fortune?"
Ayika shook her head. "She didn't want to..." Here she looked at the bandage peaking out under Mizumi's sleeve and changed what she was about to say. "I don't think we were part of the woman's plan. She'd come to confront Erliao. In the thick of it I don't think she realized Xiaobao wasn't one of his guards. Even if she was controlling the fog it would've obscured her sight just as much as ours once she stopped drawing it back into that clear air bubble thing. But whatever the danger, she knows something about Lizhen's murder. I think it's worth it to check her out." She threw up her hands. "We've got no other leads. If the Masks are growing bold enough to attack Lili's house in the Middle Ring then the entire city's in danger, not just us. Someone has to figure all this out."
There was a little knock at the open door of the parlor, a quiet noise that startled Ayika more than a large sound would have. She had never lived anywhere that did not share at least three thin walls with other families so these mansions were unnervingly quiet. Fong the servant was standing in the doorway. "Miss Gaoli, a message has arrived message for you from your father."
Lili held out a hand to her side without getting up from he seat. "Yes, I expected this." Fong moved in to place the letter in her palm. He gave Ayika a brief look which said he did not approve of someone like her sitting like a guest in his mistress's house. But he was too much of a professional to let Mizumi see any hint of that disapproval. Instead he said to Lili, "The men your father sent are awaiting outside in the carriage yard."
Lili was already reading the message. "Hmm? What? Oh, that's fine I...Shoot!" Now she hopped out of her seat and began pacing while waving the paper around in a way that expressed her frustration but also made it very difficult for her to finish reading. "My father demands I return back to the Middle Ring immediately. He says it isn't safe for me to be outside the compound. As if those same gates were not just attacked last night! Mizumi's place didn't get mobbed by anyone! Your people would have set them all on fire! How can he think trekking back across the city right now would be safer?"
Mizumi wrinkled her mouth at the insinuation about her people's propensity to violence as Ayika chimed in to calm Lili's worries. "Emotions on the street've died down a bit for today. Things like last night take a while to build up pressure for so you'll be fine just going up to your place. Promise."
"But I was going to go with you to the tribal fortuneteller! Now I have to walk back through the streets unguarded all the way to the tram station!"
Mizumi said, "I will send you off in a carriage to the transport line and Fong just said that your father sent down several men to watch over you."
However, Lili was not to be quieted. "Great!" she said sarcastically. "Do those men know what Ma'er looks like? He threatened to kill us! Or would they spot that waterbender, or have they seen what the Masks can do? We have a lot of enemies, apparently!" She flounced down onto her seat again as her apprehension slowly built. "I guess I was counting on you and your gongfu skills, Mizumi. You actually fought that tribal woman hand to hand. It was amazing! I don't want to be alone with people who have no idea what is going on."
This perhaps overgenerous estimation of her combat abilities amused Mizumi but before she could speak Lili had another idea. A thoughtful smile ticked at the edge of her mouth. "Say, Ayika, where's that big strong dockworker fellow from last night? He lives in the harbor, is that not right?"
"Xiaobao?" Ayika chuckled at this description of him. Some things never changed, and Lili had lingered a bit when she accidentally touched his chest last night. "Not going to get a hold of him today, he's probably at the water waiting for the Miohuito ship to come in." Lili put her head in her hands at this newest hope being crushed quickest. "But..." A thought came to Ayika, one that might ease the minds of two overanxious figures. "His brother should be right outside the Exclusion bridge. I saw him selling his matches there as I came in."
Lili looked up hesitantly. "The skinny one?"
Ayika dismissed this. "Don't let him fool you. Xinfei works the same strenuous jobs as Xiaobao." When he showed up instead of going off on schemes. "You can't make your money on the docks without being strong. And if you want someone for sniffing out intrigue, well, Xiaobao's pretty...straight-forward. Besides that, the only difference between the two of them is about four years. Take that away and they could'a been twins." She could not predict the future but Xinfei's frame had to fill out one of these years. And it was truthful to say the brothers had once looked very similar before Xiaobao's teenage blossoming.
Lili took a sip of her tea as she made a noncommittal but intrigued noise. "Hmm?"
Ayika smiled inwardly. Xinfei, you owe me for this. Talking him up as a protector for a nervous, pretty, rich girl should cancel out a few of their recent arguments. Ayika knew what boys liked. If nothing else Xinfei and lili had equally troublesome imaginations and might serve to keep each other out of greater trouble. Or they would start trying to tear each other's hair out in fifteen minutes. Ayika was willing to take those odds.
Lili was still apprehensive as Ayika and Mizumi walked down with her and past the main hall to see her into the carriage that would carry her to the tram station. As the conveyance rolled away Ayika began to feel a twinge of fear despite herself. What if Lili's fears about traveling were not unreasonable? If not for her then perhaps others. Mizumi was clearly an Islander. Would it indeed be safe for her to walk across the Harbor Town with tensions the way they were? But when she tried to raise these concerns to Mizumi the other girl seemed almost amused.
"Oh, I agree. It would no do to be in a situation where we would be surrounded by large crowds. Fortunately, there are other roads around here. You should know that, Ayika."
...