...
The walk out of the Fire Temple was much quicker than the entry. Even the Islanders seemed intent on exiting those heated confines in a swift and orderly manner. Outside the door Mister Miohuito had several persons among the attendees he wished to speak with, this outing being for him as much for business as it was about religion. The crowd of mourners or celebrants or whatever they were diffused into clumps of conversation in the paved space outside the temple entrance. There were other lesser fire priests wearing unadorned robes, probably junior clergy, standing at attention near the walls and the large brasiers. They were either unobtrusively soliciting donations or making sure none of these merchants or embassy workers stole any carvings or statues off the temple. Then Ayika thought about the political currents within the Exclusion; of the uncertain alliances of power after the death of the Ambassador. Maybe the priests were listening in on the conversation. If Mizumi was right, climate of the Exclusion must be just as uneasy as the town across the moat. Mizumi came in close to Ayika as they moved to the edge of the crowd so they could speak without being overheard.
"So..." Mizumi said as she smiled. With her rolling accent that 'S' sounded like a long 'Z'. "What did you think? Were our ceremonies interesting?"
Ayika replied, "The... I'd never seen an empowering ritual before. Usually the interactions with the dead I've seen are involved with quieting ghosts or honoring the long gone. Grandma Aka never showed... And the Kingdoms priests must have their own versions of those. If what Mua said's true they'll need them as this spirit crisis grows." She started to get deeper into the academic analysis of what she had seen. "I know many of the Government Temples have gods who were once citizens many hundreds of years ago. But I don't know..." Here she suddenly stopped and lightly hit Mizumi on the stomach to attract her attention. "Shh! What's Tailang saying to your father?"
Mizumi had the good grace to not point out that she had not been the one speaking and so Ayika was spared some embarrassment over that unneeded smacking. They both subtly angled their heads to surreptitiously listen in on this new conversation.
Tailang was speaking. Ayika was surprised that he used the Kingdoms' language with a countryman like Miohuito but then the Trade Representative gave a sly glance at one of the junior priests nearby. Ayika guessed that mabey he didn't want his words working their way back inside the temple to the ears of Fire Sage Huitzlan.
"...stickler for formalities. And with all the little accidents I've been hearing are happening within the temple I can see why the staff are on edge. Still, I can not deny that Sage Huitzlan is a genius at understanding the psychology of the masses. His idea to give out..." Here he changed his mind of what he was going to say to Mizumi's father. "He's right, the people of this land value their superstitions and even if they are ultimately self destructive. It is at our own risk that we ignore those beliefs completely. Symbols are very powerful if people believe them to be powerful. In this city they will believe anything if you mention the spirit world."
Tailang re-centered his thoughts, ignoring Miohuito's skeptical frown. Apparently Tailang was fine with one sided conversations. "And that is why I came to this event straight from another fascinating spectacle of my own arranging. I have had quite a day, managing public thought is rather tiring. I was yelled at by local Earth Kingdom priests from the Harbor Town and even a tribal witch doctor for daring to call for a calming influence from the religions leaders of this little section of the city. I am returning to the Trade Mission presently, now that they've had time to stew their heels and get into a more cooperative mood. Hopefully, a few slips of printed money in the right hands will help prevent riots here like in the Middle Ring. The cooperation of community leaders could be invaluable."
Mizumi snatched at Ayika's wrist and hissed in her ear. "Witch doctor. Is that Mama Mua? What is she doing meeting with Tailang? I had thought there was something strange about her being here."
Ayika's eyes were wide. This explained why Tailang didn't want the fire priests to hear. She doubted they'd take kindly to their defacto ambassador becoming so chummy with the local religious figures. She whispered back as she strained her ears to make out Miohuito's reply. "I don't know! Mua didn't say anything about something like this. Her appointment was at the embassy and she didn't tell me?"
Miohuoto sounded less confidant about Tailang's plan to calm the Harbor, though he consented to continue the conversation in the chosen language. "All those inflammatory figures here? Are you sure that was wise? I mean, we of the Nation have not completely escaped damage from the nationalists even if our Earth Kingdom allies have born the brunt of it. I mean, it was just two weeks ago that your assistant was-"
Tailang interrupted with a snap. "Hiro was killed in a mugging. Diplomatic immunity does nothing if you decide to cross through a Lower Ring alley with your purse hanging out. And today is in fact a perfect time to gather inflammatory charlatans. The city is distracted by their holiday. There's enough free food and drink in the Rings that no one is going to want to come out here to bother us. We will find which priests and witches to pay off and then send them out to spread the good word once all the good citizens sober up."
Miohuito looked around, frowning in an unfocused manner at all the other people standing in conversation before the temple. "That can not come soon enough for me. All these Earth Kingdomers out in masks... I was at Aizhang Gaoli's when the mob attacked and I caught a glimpse of those who were leading it. The Ministers and the Public Safety Agency might say they have things under control but there is something going on far greater than upset local craftsmen. One of those secret organizations has become serious."
Tailang snorted dismissively. "Don't you worry about people wearing masks. I have our safety well in hand... even if there was a slip up with the neighborhood around Gaoli," he admitted.
Miohuito continued unmollified. "I would not put it past Chao Erliao to have set it up himself. He was out there that night. Did you know he had the nerve to invite my family to his Inner Ring house tonight? As if I could risk it."
Now Tailang raised an eyebrow. "Really? He sent that invitation to you as well? Several arrived at the Embassy but I had assumed their being sent was another piece of obscure governmental etiquette from this tradition-bound country. But it actually appears that Erliao had high hopes for this party. He must have invited everyone." Now the Trade Representative's smile became wicked. "All the better."
He continued, "It may be a pity you are not attending. I've managed to procure the host a...gift of sorts. I handed out one of his invitations to an interested party. I am sure Erliao will be quiet distracted, as I gather he does not think anyone remembered this particular personal connection to his past life. But I am sure you will hear about what happens tonight soon enough. Such news as what will happen tends to spread quickly."
Miohuito clearly did not know what Tailang was hinting at but the thick implications made him uncomfortable. For a brief moment Ayika was just as confused until Mizumi inhaled sharply behind her.
"He gave the party invitation to Mua. He somehow knows she hates Erliao and he sent Mama Mua up there on her mission of revenge! As some sort of political retribution!"
The thoughts flashed together in Ayika's mind, confirming this leap of logic. Mua had sounded clearer today on the street, more focused and less frustrated. The lashing bitterness that had characterized the woman before had been almost absent. As if something had changed. As if some longstanding obstacle had been removed. She'd seemed purposeful and yet at the same time resigned. Suddenly Ayika knew why. She knew what Mua had decided.
"Mizumi, I...I think she's going up there to kill him."
Mizumi was not immediately horrified at the prospect of the death of the conservative leader but she was concerned. She surreptitiously glanced around to make sure none of the other people standing outside the temple were near enough to hear. "And you still think Erliao was not the one who ordered Lizhen's death?"
"That doesn't matter! I mean..." Ayika pressed her hand against her head attempting to silence the sound of pounding blood there. "We don't know. She's going up there to murder Erliao and we don't know what the truth is. She...I can tell she has hated Erliao for a long time. I don't know why she hates him so much other than that it somehow involved Lizhen years ago. But she had decided on his guilt as soon as she heard that Lizhen was dead. She hasn't really been looking for evidence."
"But you said that she consulted the spirits about the murder and they had provided indication."
Ayika shook her head. "The spirits don't talk like that. They don't speak about guilty or innocent. They don't care about our problems that way. They do not even know who Erliao is, or what a minister or a teacher is. They only see our souls."
While they were conferring it seemed the period of polite chit chat after the ceremony was almost over and people were beginning to depart. The street outside the Fire Temple was gradually melting back to its normal state as a thoroughfare. Mizumi turned and looked away down the street. At what, Ayika could not say.
Mizumi parted her lips slowly. "If Minister Erliao were to die, it...It would be bad. The King's protections for my people might vanish. The people who hate foreigners in this city would be emboldened. Whatever magician leads the masks, it would be a victory for them even if Erliao is on their side. If it is not Erliao himself who is behind all this."
Ayika had made up her mind. "We have to stop Mua. She's my countrywoman. We're the only ones who know what she can do."
"Countrywoman? I thought she was from the central forest tribes, not the North."
Ayika clenched her hands at her side. She looked down the street the main street past the edge of the Exclusion to the distance where the city wall loomed. Already the roads of the Harbor Town were gleaming with colored paper spirit-lanterns as the sky above melted to red.
"She lives in my city," Ayika said, firm enough to even surprise herself. "She's my countrywoman. This is my home and I am going to do anything to keep it together."
A smile spread across Mizumi's lips and reached up to her narrowing eyes. "Then we have a party to get ready for." The rolling timbre of her voice set a shiver in Ayika's heart. As battle cries went, she had heard far worse.
...
Xinfei made his way up the sloped streets that zigged and zagged their way along the side of the Fifth Hill. Even with the employee passport gifted from Lili granting him usage of the tram-lines this trip to the Middle Ring had been troublesome. With the night of the festival of veils fast approaching, the entire city was in motion and it had seemed to Xinfei that a good percentage of it had been in his tram car. Even when he managed to squeeze out at the appropriate stop the population was greatly in evidence, milling through the streets in a flurry of last minute holiday preparations. Even up here on the hill among these merchant's mansions there were people standing on every street-corner. However, here they were armored city guards instead of shoppers.
The path turned a corner and Xinfei ducked his head to not make eye-contact with the two weapon-carrying men who were stationed there. This was the fifth such guard post he'd passed already. The Harbormaster's compound had fewer patrols surrounding it. On his left across the street, a patch of wall sported a fresh coat of paint. Only at the very upper edge showed a hint of the soot-blackened surface that the riot had left behind. Up ahead was a compound gate that had several new boards where damaged pieces had been replaced. Xinfei imagined the rich residents of this neighborhood had said quite a few things to the ministers about the Mask's march. This was the eve of the Festival of Veils, when the entire city would be turned out in disguise and the gates would be thrown open to a mixing of the classes. Whoever had hired these extra guards was taking no chances.
He kept his head down all the way up to the peak of the hill. As he made that last step into the empty square between two hulking mansions a shiver ran down his back. This place looked so different lit by the sun rather than the gas lamps. It was small. Looking at the clean swept stones and little fountain he could barely imagine how so many people could have fit in here on that dark burning night. But then he noticed that the paving stones near one of the mansion gates were of a slightly different character. The earth benders had ripped the old ground supply apart in their attack on the crowd. Also, there were an odd number of gas lamps. The one ripped up by that Mask had not been replaced.
"Just drop off Lili's stuff and get out of here," Xinfei muttered to himself. But despite his common sense he found himself hoping that he would be able to find a few moments to talk with her. It would be nice to talk to anyone he could brag to. Ayika and Maolin were so busy, but for once the wallet hanging under Xinfei's shirt was thick with actual coins and paper. He felt the tug of the cord on the back of his neck. With the first bit of money Lili had loaned him he'd purchased some foreign-made fabrics like her cover story suggested he was doing. Even paying with someone else's money to a seller with dubious rights of ownership, the price had nearly made him feel faint. Xinfei wouldn't claim to be an expert on clothes-making but he remembered of the outfits he had seen Lili wearing and selected patterns that seemed to be variations on those. All the women in the city wanted to look like the rich girls, right?
The process of actually selling the stuff again had been exhausting but there were rewards. It was not until he calculated his profit margin in preparation to repay Lili that he nearly did faint.
Last time up here Lili'd been more interested using him as a mail charier than hearing his exploits, but after he'd handed over Mizumi's response letter Xinfei chose his next product line more carefully. Nothing where he had to make up half the descriptive words and nothing that might accidentally burn his eyebrows off. Something nice and safe with a high profit margin. Those arsenic based face whitening creams were perfect and were just bursting onto the Ba Sing Se fashion scene from the Fire Nation. It was just odd that all the women looked at him strangely when they saw a man selling makeup. He wondered if Lili would like these products better.
Xinfei froze as he raised his hand to knock on the small side door set into the Gaoli compound's wall. Even the servant's entrance of the Gaoli mansion was absurdly fancy. Stalling for time he rechecked the paper wrapping around his bundle of goods all ready to be rejected and felt it to verify that the letter was still safely tucked inside. Mentally he prepared the speech that would get him to actually talk with Lili herself instead of handing off the package with the butler and waiting for it to be returned. Then he tapped his knuckle against the green painted wood.
His fourth knock fell on air.
"You're here!" Lili Gaoli was suddenly in the doorway just as the door abruptly was not. Xinfei jumped back as he jerked to avoid rapping on the rich girl's forehead.
Lili didn't notice; she was already talking. "Oh, thank the King's good grace you are here right now. This opportunity's not going to be open for all that long! How are you doing? Have you been well since I last saw you? We'll have to move fast to slip out, of course once we do so we should be golden until tomorrow morning the way things tend to go here."
Xinfei opened his mouth. He had some important things to say about this very rapid series of mixed pleasantries and conspiracy but the words could not seem to find their way past his eyes. Lili was wearing a costume.
There seemed to be two layers. Underneath she wore a simple dress of cream colored silk that shimmered with every fold. It lay very close against her skin. Over that was what he could only describe as armor made of pale green lace. The woven patterns of fabric flowers and leaves and swirls were stiff enough that they stood away from the body a little bit culminating where it rose up behind her shoulders in small projections that gave the impression of soft wings. In honor of the festival she wore a mask. It was green as well, brilliant green like the buds of new leaves and made of lace-like embroidery that wove its way up from low on her cheeks to continue up over her sleek black hair to where it met the golden flower ornament holding her bun.
"Haiguh...," was what Xinfei managed to say.
"Hmm?" Lili made a politely inquiring noise. When Xinfei did not manage to elaborate in the next few seconds she continued. "You were right about trying to track down those student nationalists from the riot and my little efforts have paid off. I received a letter from a Danqiao Ming who had heard from... You know, it does not particularly matter. The result is that I have found some information about the whereabouts of a certain Zhangyi Mao, Chonglong Yu, and Jiang Li. And tonight my father's off at some Inner Ring party for the holiday. I can easily slip away for several hours."
"But won't someone notice you are gone?" He noticed that at no point in this did she phrase anything close to a request.
Lili smiled in a crooked way that managed to be something akin to a wolfish grin without a hint of teeth showing between her lips. She looked up at him and said, "We're hosing a party tonight and I've been playing coy with my mother about my chosen costume for the holiday. I told her we would make a game out of her picking me out of the crowd of tonights party in the house. The guests are arriving any moment. Through some artfully phrased letters I've convinced every one of my similarly aged acquaintances to wear an identical face-concealing costume and sport the same hairstyle. Not that they know they'll all be doing that. The confusion of that confrontation alone should utterly disguise my absence and once resolved will provide ample excuse for my supposed hiding away within the mansion." She paused. "Really, it is tempting to stay just to watch the screaming unfold. But civic duty calls."
"Huh," Xinfei said. "You really are an agent of chaos aren't you?" As soon as the words left his mouth he was already inwardly beating himself for insulting her. He also noticed that he had yet to point out that he hadn't agreed to any of this.
Lili's face lit up with genuine appreciation. "Why thank you, Xinfei Bao! Don't worry, I am sure you'll get plenty of opportunities to prove yourself the same. The Festival of Veils in the Middle Ring is... an interesting time."
Xinfei rolled his eyes before he could catch himself. This rich girl really did not understand the lower rings if she thought this place was wild. He then mentally kicked himself as he realized that apparently actually going to go along with this insane plan. He had a bad habit with girls and plans.
He sighed, "Yeah, sure the Rings are crazy. Well, I'll keep an eye out for you but I don't really think some drunk merchants up here are going to shock me. If we're really doing this then we should hurry out and so we can get back as quick as possible." He started looking down the alley to be sure that there were no guards watching their potential exit. The sun was dipping down in the sky and the compound walls that still caught the light were assuming a red tinged air.
He suddenly felt a smooth hand against his cheek. "Oh, my brave friend. Tonight will be an eye opener for you. The most repressed are the most wild when the masks come down. And speaking of which, you need a costume! Luckily, I guessed your size. It's a talent of mine."
Xinfei gulped. He was not sure he liked that twinkle in Lili's green eyes. A little part of him was wishing that there was a guard nearby to stop them. A much larger part of him grinned right back at her.
...
When Mizumi had announced that tonight they would be attending Minister Erliao's party in pursuit of Mama Mua she'd spoken like a general declaring war. And if that was the case then the wardrobes she led Ayika to upon their return to the mansion were her personal armory. Certainly a small battalion could be outfitted for the value of what Ayika saw hanging here. Even though Mizumi might prefer to dress in practical outfits more influenced by military uniforms than high fashion she was still a rich lady and so had options sufficient to dress twenty women for a fancy party. Then she announced that they were disregarding all of that because she'd already chosen costumes for them.
After exiting for a brief moment to dress, Mizumi returned in a festival costume of deep burgundy mixed with ornaments of gold. The skirt was in fact more like a large number of broad overlapping cloth strips that hung down over loose trousers of a lighter color. Each strip of the skirt had a sinuous line of gold stitching running down it. Her top continued the same trend of shades of red and shinning gold ornaments and though it was rather too short in the torso at least she was wearing a, rather tight, shirt underneath it for decency. Still, that undergarment did not quite reach up to the rather precipitous neckline. Ayika's eyes did snag there but she managed to wrench them upwards where Mizumi's painted lips and blackened lashes accompanied another eye-widening sight.
Mizumi was wearing a fantastic headdress. It was shone with gold and was composed of three points like the horns of an unknown beast or the crown of an ancient foreign king. The back was twisted out of colorful cloth all the colors of fire. Wearing it, Mizumi looked like a sun god descended to earth.
"Wow," was all Ayika could say.
"It is the Festival of Veils and we ride to battle. I thought we should have appropriate armor." Mizumi smiled. "I have gotten a costume for you as well."
A few minutes of changing later Ayika opened her eyes to look at herself in the dressing room mirror. She spared a distant thought to consider that it was the largest flawless glass mirror she'd ever seen. What it held within was more remarkable. The dress was rich, and made of some fabric weave that presented impossible qualities. When looked straight on it was a brilliant blue like the deep cloudless sky, but where the fabric twisted it turned dark and almost purple. Silvery thread marked out crescent lines in the natural folds of the dress across her chest and below like ripples of a reflection in the water. It was just above this that outfit parted alarmingly in the front but that allowed it to showcase a large flat circle of a pendant hanging from her neck. Ayika saw its gleam and feared the necklace was pure silver. A smaller disk hung down from her hair against to rest against her forehead above the thin silver mask that was fastened over her eyes and cheekbones. This costume should have been scandalous. She should have been mortified. But the face looking back was not hers. It couldn't be.
The mask only stretched from the cheek to the forehead, though it sprouted winglike flanges on each side. In the steady light of the oil lamps it glistened like silver turned into ten thousand shards of crystal. This set off the smooth dark skin and the gentle curve of the lips below. Those lips were held ever so slightly apart in an expression of astonished pleasure and accented with the sweep of the makeup brush. And the mask still showed her eyes. Eyes that glared out command and confidence from behind the sparkle of silver. The woman who wore this was beautiful. This woman was powerful. This woman did not look up to see the entirety of society walking above her not even noticing her home and family down so far below the level of the ground. This woman didn't need to be afraid.
Mizumi was beside her and the heat of her body pressed against Ayika's arm. "I have heard that in the Festival of Veils, celebrants often create allusions to certain spirits in their costumes. I know that La the moon spirit is especially important to your people. And also, silver and gold? It means that we match! The night and the day!" Suddenly, she grew worried. "It is not disrespectful I hope? I know that I do not know much about the culture of the Water Tribes and-"
Ayika felt to the side and somehow fumblingly caught hold of Mizumi's hand. She clutched it tight as she continued to stare into the mirror. That unknown and powerful woman stared back from its depths. "It..." She could not find the words willing to come out of her mouth. And somehow Mizumi understood.
...