...
Ayika and Mizumi road along in the elevated tram above the Middle Ring rooftops. Bright, riotous parties and dark neighborhood streets flashed below them. On her bench seat, Ayika silently reminded herself over and over that her anxiety at seeing so many spirits roaming tonight really wasn't sufficient reason to keep inching over on the bench until she was rather significantly infringing on Mizumi's personal space. However, as they neared the dark rearing mass of the Noble's Wall Mizumi seemed to be executing her own gradual migration towards Ayika. She looked nervous and Ayika could guess why. Mizumi's passport might have gotten them into the Noble's car and through the Middle Ring but when they reached the gate to the land of the golden blooded nobles they would be relying entirely on the strength of a party invitation to gain them entrance. An invitation that was strictly speaking addressed to the men of the Miohuito family. There was a reason Mua had summoned spiritual aid to get her through the Inner Ring checkpoints.
And even if the guards recognized the invitation, who knew if the old traditions of free traffic through the gates on the festival night applied to foreigners? There had to be harsh penalties still on the books for a Fire Nation woman trying to sneak past that antepenultimate barrier between the King of Kings and the rest of the world. At least Ayika doubted that her own race was explicitly mentioned in those laws but then again that was only because few people in the kingdoms could be bothered to remember the People's existence.
The inner wall was getting big now. In the dark of the night air the long line seemed to vanish twenty meters above the ground only to reappear high above them under the glow of distant lamps that marked out the surmounting guard stations out to each horizon. Their earthbender powered tram continued to rumble towards it, like a skiff over a sea of clay tile waves. The festival's paper lanterns glowed like jellyfish.
Mizumi began to nervously chuckle. "I am now thinking of the fact that Mama Mua is supposedly recruiting spiritual help and enchantment to get herself through this barrier and we are simply knocking on the door, so to speak. Do you think there will be as much trouble as that?"
Ayika could only shrug. "This is as close to the Inner Ring gate as I've ever gone. We'll be on this adventure together."
Their knees were touching side by side, and Ayika could feel Mizumi's leg tense with her as the tram began to slow as they neared the wall. The earthbender adepts in the rear of the cars had ceased their efforts to propel the craft. The tram slid into the tunnel entrance that pierced the vertical stone several stories up the artificial cliff with a sense of finality. Then they stopped completely inside the stone walled chamber several meters inside the wall. Unlike the tunnels through the other walls there was no hint of light piercing through from the other side. Only the lantern lit festival night behind them, stone on each side, and blackness before them.
Their carriage door slid open and a city guard in a badge covered vest stepped aboard, looking at the girls and the few other passengers. Ayika thought to herself that even the greenies had fancier uniforms up here. Mizumi gave a small polite smile as she offered up her passport paired with the invitation to Erliao's party. Ayika found that she was holding her breath. But they needn't have worried. The guard barely glanced over the passport and apparently recognized the format of the invitation in an instant. He gave the documents back, bored again as Ayika and Mizumi apparently didn't fit his profile of potential troublemakers. The expensive silver and gold decorations on their respective costumes probably helped.
As soon as he stepped back out of the tram cabin Mizumi let out a relieved exhalation.
"Ha, for a moment I thought we were...ah!"
The sudden lurch from under the tram shook a small yelp out of Mizumi. Ayika had been expecting something like this but even so it startled her enough that she did not mind giving Mizumi a moment to recover from the embarrassment.
Then she said, "Yeah, that was surprising."
They were moving upwards now, on a slanted ramp through the stony black. The tram echoed with the sound of rock scraping against rock over the grunts of earthbenders powering the mechanism that carried them up through the wall.
After what could have been a minute or eight lifetimes, they smoothly slid forth from the tunnel up into a new light. They emerged in the middle of a cavernous marble floored station larger than the most massive ballroom. In fact it was larger than most market districts. Pillars soared up three stories above their heads to hold the roof over that vast empty space. The tram had only just come to a complete halt when the door slowly slid open and this time a man in a neat uniform of dark green and yellow stepped inside. In concession to the holiday the man had a single blue paper streamer hanging down from each shoulder.
"Welcome to the Station of Sparkling Waters. Transportation is available to the Guan, Lai, Erliao, and Xie residences."
Ayika and Mizumi got up, exchanging hesitant glances with each other, and followed the man's offered gesture as he exited backwards through the door. At first Ayika had thought that the four households mentioned might have been the destinations of the other passengers. The guards must have somehow communicated that up from the passport check? She'd just been thinking to herself that this was a very fancy maneuver when she noticed that in addition to herself and Mizumi only one man had gotten off at this station. Ayika was still puzzling after this when the rest of the tram rolled off down its new track and she had yet to even finish crossing the vast marble station floor. Through a set of massive doors that were open to the still cooperating autumn climate she saw her first real glimpse of the Inner Ring. It was all she could do not to hold her hands before her mouth in shock.
Those four names were the only four households serviced by this station. Outside the doors of the tram station, gentle grass-covered hills undulated beside dark groves of manicured trees. Shimmering pools reflected faint starlight. Here and there rose the towering roofs of estates whose mansions would constitute a Middle Ring city block even before consideration was given to the sprawling outbuildings reached out to the borders of each property's ornamental walls. Ayika's hometown was in the encircled lands and so it wasn't like she was some Lower Ring citizen who'd never seen a horizon before, but she had never before seen land that was not put to some use. There were no grain fields here. The trees gave no fruit. The hills themselves had been designed and built centuries ago for the sole purpose of pleasing the eye and the roads wound around them, purposefully prolonging the journey.
For a moment she was frozen where she stood. Somewhere faintly in the back of her mind she noticed that in the nighttime distance the mansion lights seemed to get closer together as they drew nearer to the center of the city and the vast walled palace complex that housed the residence of the King of Kings. There must be some trade off in desirability between these plots amid this endless parkland of the ring's edge and proximity to the center of all political power in the world. It seemed unreal that this was all in her city. In a brief moment Ayika suddenly grasped some of Xinfei's simmering resentment towards the government and the rest of high society. These people were higher above her than she'd even dreamed.
But Mizumi smoothly presented the invitation to an attendant just outside the station and their guide was gently guiding them towards a waiting carriage. As they approached the vehicle, another employee dashed forward to place a small step before the door to the carriage. Ayika looked down at the man kneeling down in the dust and as she did so she felt the silver disk of her costume gently swing out and tap against her forehead again. Her hand drifted up to her mask in remembrance that it was still there. None of these people saw Ayika the laundry girl. They saw a woman dressed in shimmering blue and purple and silver. They saw the Moon walking beside Mizumi, the golden Sun. She climbed up the step into the carriage.
As soon as they settled into their seats the driver urged the haltered beasts up to a slow and gentle pace. They'd just barely started to move when Mizumi turned to look at Ayika.
"Erm, you have never been to the Inner Ring before, is that right?"
Ayika could only shake her empty-feeling head. "No. I've never even seen over this wall before."
Mizumi must have heard something of Ayika's overwhelmed emotions because she began to laugh with relief. "I give thanks for that! I was beginning to think that I was going to be alone in gaping like a mountain peasant on her first trip to the city! I...I may understand why so many of those ministers look down on us merchant families from the Fire Nation. This is beyond anything I thought this city had in... Oh for-!" Here Mizumi cut herself off from some exclamation that was sure to have been an exasperated curse as she looked out the little carriage window. "Is that really his house?"
Their path made a gentle curve towards a fitted stone bridge over an elegantly designed stream and as it did so the passengers were afforded a glimpse at their destination. It was big. Despite the thousand lanterns which were lit on every wall, the main building was of such a scale that much of its upper stories vanished into the gloom of night. Ayika could barely make out the yellow roof tiles, that exclusive privilege of nobility.
Mizumi was now muttering to herself. She kicked softly at the carriage wall in front of her seat. "At least they are still using Nation designed carriages, no matter how much they dress them up like some ancient Earth Kingdom contraption. I guess the noble behinds still want our shock absorbers."
Ayika burst out with sudden laughter. The pettiness of Mizumi's national pride had abruptly turned all that had been intimidating into just more humorous excess. Ayika reached over and grasped hold of Mizumi's hand who returned with a self-deprecating smile flashed from under her golden mask.
Ayika felt theatrical. "Come on now, my lady of the sun, we came here on a mission; to find out more about Minister Erliao and to make sure Nia Mua does not do anything more stupid than necessary."
Mizumi squeezed her hand back. She smirked. "That, and to eat and drink enough that even rich Mister Erliao will feel the cost."
Ayika leaned back in mock surprise. "Mizumi Miohuito, I believe we may make you a Kingdoms woman yet!"
...
The gates to the Erliao estate were tall and strong but on this night both the left and the right portals were flung open for all to enter and leave as they pleased. When they rolled through, Ayika saw the thick timbers were painted gold with large-character calligraphy verse, appropriate for the Sub-minister of Culture and Worthy Expression. As they prepared to exit the carriage, Mizumi whispered that if the staff wanted to announce their introduction upon their entrance she was to let Mizumi handle it entirely. Ayika was happy to agree and as she worried over that possibility she didn't even notice the aristocratic nod that her disguised self unconsciously gave the servant who opened the carriage door for her. Off to the side she caught a glimpse of dozens of empty carriages waiting in the yard as she and Mizumi ascended the wide steps up the front of the mansion.
Once they stepped through the grand entrance Ayika was completely lost. She was used to parties being much louder and much, much more crowded. Luckily, Mizumi muttered that she had some familiarity with this kind of Earth Kingdom party if not with such scale. From the cavernous front hall the Erliao residence seemed to sprawl out beyond comprehension through an endless series of small but high ceilinged inter-connected rooms. Most of the walls between these rooms had been drawn back so that their delineation was now more mental than actual. The foci of this party format, if there was one, seemed to be the many small circles of chairs or couches that were apportioned one or two per room as conversational stations of some sort. The attending population was guided by some unknown circulation mechanism that led individuals to gracefully rise and switch stations every few minutes. The rooms to the left were occupied by men and those on the right by women, a transition eased by mixed gender meeting spaces between them that all must traverse in order to reach their next station in the party. The winding space whispered with the quiet drone of low conversation that vanished out down this central branch of the mansion.
Every guest here was in costume yet despite this it was still easy to pick out the Inner Ring nobles from the often equally rich invitees of lesser pedigree. In fact this holiday made it far easier. Apparently, in these rarified circles of nobility there were really only three or four fashionable costumes for each gender and each of the golden blooded had chosen one of those options. They were all constructed of the finest hand-embroidered cloth and their details varied but seen from across a room they merged into a single costly yet formless blob of interchangeable finery.
Mizumi and Ayika did not experience that problem. From the moment they entered the party they both had eyes on them. The costumes Mizumi had arranged for them clearly operated on foreign sensibilities of fashion which caught everyone's attention. In contrast to the solid and restrained dresses of the Inner Ring women Mizumi's dark red skirt-strips over loose silk trousers were in constant tantalizing motion. Her golden bangles also flicked from side to side with each step and gave even crossing a room the rhythm of a dance. Her tri-pointed golden headdress stood above the crowd like a beacon, a rising sun on the horizon. But even beside her, Ayika was not overshadowed. Ayika felt the stares burning into her. She heard her costume's slitted skirt swish back and forth as she moved. The combination of the silver mask and whatever little touches Mizumi had done to her lips with the makeup brush must have done their job for even as these people noted her skin color there were still several eyebrows raised in appreciation.
Ayika followed Mizumi closely and resisted the urge to cling onto her arm. The merchant's daughter seemed almost at home. She confidently picked up the cues from the attending servants and sashayed over to a nearby seating circle with several empty chairs. Ayika sat down after her and looked at their two newly acquired temporary companions. They appeared to be a rather over-embroidered water spirit and an old woman in Noble Costume Number Two, something unidentifiable in a blueish green. The older woman seemed to have permanently seated herself at the nearest station to ensure she was the first to comment on every guest and that she did not have to walk the length of the mansion to ensure she got them all.
Mizumi gracefully nodded her head to the two women and said, "Warmest hello on this holiday night. I hope it finds you well." At a loss for something else to do Ayika mimicked her nod.
"My, my," the old woman said. "Just look at you two. How exotic! I feel like I'm at an occidental exposition." Apparently, she did not feel the need to match introductions.
The woman in the water spirit dress took up the lead in niceties by introducing herself. "Lipu Qi. What lovely costumes you both have."
"Why thank you," Ayika broke in with a smile. The Impenetrable City Legacy School for Young Ladies had an exhausting number of classes on proper etiquette. Ayika had learned enough by observation to know how this bit worked. "May I have the privilege of offering us all a drink?" She confidently waved her hand and a servant with a tray of small cups appeared at her side. Until lately she'd filled that roll, performing similar tea serving duties when Headmaster Gang had entertained a parent he wished to impress with the school's cosmopolitan demographics. She nodded deeply to the old woman as she indicated to the delicate porcelain cups. "May you honor me by accepting?"
Before the old noble woman could respond Lipu hastily stood up, "I'm afraid I must decline. There are several greetings I must yet make. I hope you can forgive me."
Mizumi waved her hand permissively. "Not at all. It was wonderful to meet you Lipu Qi. I hope we can speak again later tonight." As Lipu left Mizumi turned back to the noble. "I am afraid we may have driven away your friend!"
The old woman gave a small laugh, "Ha! You allowed her to escape is more like it. The girl couldn't leave me alone until someone else arrived and of course a thing like her did not come to a party to talk to the likes of me. But I suppose I can touch these old lips to porcelain for a foreigner who's taken the time to learn good manners." The servant poured out a tiny measure of lightly colored liquid into a cup and offered it over. The woman took it and as the servant turned to do the same for Mizumi, the noble raised an enigmatic eyebrow. She said, "And a Tribal as well. Gracious, Sub-Minister Chao is going out of his way to make this an interesting affair, isn't he? How exactly are you familiar with the Erliao family?"
Mizumi answered quickly, "My father's company operates an import licenses though the Kuang River Harbor. Minister Erliao and he are politically aquatinted."
The woman chuckled at the finer details this description glossed over. "Aquatinted. Oh, that's putting it mildly, I imagine. I do try to keep out of politics but one does still hear things. Knowing Chao I assume that's not a great deal of love with a man such as your father." Having said this the woman turned her eyes on Ayika, inviting her to provide some equivalent explanation for herself.
As a casual stalling technique Ayika took a sip of the cup she had received and then spent a great deal of mental energy maintaining her composure. That was not tea. From the warmth now lightly burning in her stomach she was just thankful that she hadn't taken a large swig of what turned out to be rather strong liquor. But she maintained herself and before Mizumi could interject Ayika decided to take charge of her own introduction.
She leaned forward ever so slightly as she adopted a slyly conspiratorial tone with her noble interrogator. "I realize I haven't mentioned my own name yet but then again, tonight's the Festival of Autumn Veils. Would you please forgive me if I take advantage of the occasion to experiment with a little mystery? After all, a night like this only occurs once a year. Surely you can understand the desire to walk unknown for one evening?" She finished with a knowing smile, drawing attention to the old woman's own failure to introduce herself.
Ayika felt Mizumi tense up beside her. However, the noble woman's face cracked with a hint of a smile. "Oh, I certainly can." She shook her head. "To be young again. Even disregarding those ridiculous rumors, as of course one must, I think I understand why Chao Erliao might have invited you. Even if that Middle Ring peddler seems intent on ruining things with his insinuations."
Ayika raised an eyebrow at that cryptic statement but the noble woman did not seem inclined to explain herself. Instead she looked off behind the girls and continued, "Ah, it looks like Shuhua Zou has arrived. That poor woman, two daughters in a row and then twins! And not a son among them, dear me. Well, I'll let you two girls get on to more age-appropriate interests than talking with me. It is not for me to stop the motion of the Moon and the Sun!" She tittered with polite laugher at her turn of phrase with their costumes. Ayika suspected it was a quote from something cultured and clever.
Mizumi nodded warmly as she rose to head off to the next table-station and Ayika had a momentary panic as she rushed to down the rest of her tiny cup before she committed a grave offense by abandoning it undrunk. That faintly burning warmth slid down with the smell of flowers and money. These rich parties were a little more challenging than she'd expected. She gave some thank you to the noble woman before rushing along to stick with Mizumi.
The path of the party now carried them to the first of the mixed gender rooms placed between the two respective flows of traffic. Across it, Ayika saw Lipu Qi in her river costume discontentedly being led off to the next sitting room while shooting a glare back across at the male attention gathered by Mizumi's entrance. Clearly among a certain set of female guests these mixing rooms were the chief objective of attendance. There was still no sight of Minister Erliao or of Nia Mua. However, Ayika's search was quickly cut off as she was sucked into a swirl of beautiful ladies and well-dressed men. The flow of conversation here was elaborate and obtuse but to her own surprise, Ayika found herself navigating it well. She just let her anxieties sink below the personality of her costume. That masked, powerful woman in silver and blue was not anxious at all and even these nobles seemed to respond to that. From time to time she noticed Mizumi looking at her with a curious smile at the corner of her lips. Ayika only hoped she wasn't being an embarrassment without realizing it.
Then they escaped the swirling mixing room in the continued search of the party but though the next ladies sitting room was quieter it was not by much. Of the women already making up this chattering group, two were easily identifiable as Inner Ring residents by their unoriginal costumes. The third had put more thought into her display but was now discovering to her irritation that she was perhaps not as unique as she had expected to be. This stare Ayika found focused on her was not as pleasant as the others.
This rich young lady was dressed in a parody of Water Tribe ceremonial wear so overdone with stereotype that even Mrs Anyakya would have raised an eyebrow. Unfortunately, the poor imitation also did not exactly match the lady's kingdoms native coloration. Behind her white-fur edged mask and low cut blue dress she frowned at Ayika for the affront of showing up in her natural skin that automatically undercut the display. Ayika's normal reaction to such an appropriation would have been to wipe her face blank and continue with her job. However, tonight her job was to mingle like a proper high class lady. And besides, at least this woman was showing some appreciation of the People, however misguided. There was no need to expose her ignorance when she was clearly trying to overcome the transition from the Middle Ring to the Inner Ring herself. Ayika flashed the girl back a warm and welcoming smile.
This earned a quickly suppressed chuckle from one of the noble ladies. Yet despite her misgivings, girl in the Tribes costume jumped into offering a round of drinks for their newly enlarged circle. Ayika accepted hers graciously, if with some hidden hesitance this time. These nobles were certainly lush but if she and Mizumi managed to stay at this circle for a long enough time to consume the offering by a hundred little sips she should do fine. In fact, she was feeling confident enough to initiate this session of party banter.
Ayika smiled as she offered a compliment to the false Water Tribe girl. "I love your costume! The workmanship really is excellent. I assure you, you'd blend right in with the migrant districts!" She chuckled and continued jokingly. "I suppose that on this night we're countrywomen. Perhaps we will ally together against these..." Ayika glanced to the side and realized that she could not deduce what the two noble girls were dressed as. The fashionable Inner Ring costumes were abstract enough to verge on the nonrepresentational. One might have been a tiger-lion, or a teapot. Ayika gestured her hand vaguely into the distance. "...the wild spirits in the night. Tell me, have you had a chance to visit this estate on a previous occasion?"
The woman in the blue and white dress eyed Ayika very suspiciously like a general watching an enemy cavalry force marshaling on the hill above. The noble woman on her left was trying to disguise a delighted gasp and Mizumi was for some reason failing to keep a smile off her face. Ayika didn't know why. Her little speech had been perfectly polite. She took another sip from her tiny cup.
The noble who was not dressed as a tiger turned to the tribes-dressed woman. "Behave, Heying. She's not the one who decided you should come dressed as garishly as an actor. Besides, it's your fellow ring dweller Mister Gaoli who's your costume's principle obstacle tonight. If what Xiao'en told me about what he's saying is correct, as you move through the deeper halls you will encounter the ground unfortunately disposed against your outfit. It seems there is a rumor afoot!" This lady hit a practiced tone to sound at once horrified and delighted at this prospect.
"Gaoli? Really?" Mizumi injected herself into the conversation. "I know of an Aizhang Gaoli from the Middle Ring. He has business dealings with my family. What is it that he is saying?"
The noble lady-tiger muttered to herself just loudly enough to be heard by all. "Of course he has dealings." Someone did not think highly of those who obtained their money through business instead of inheritance. Or of Fire Nation people, it was hard to tell.
Her companion ignored that comment. "Oh, it's nothing credible in the specifics, but it apparently unburied an old accusation that the good Sub-Minister of Culture and Worthy Expression was once...inappropriately involved with foreign cultures." From her expressions she was trying to fit a lot of meaning into those few words.
Ayika thought she was beginning to understand. Apparently, Lili's father was at the party and for his part of this reformer/conservative feud he was making something of Erliao's old friendship with Professor Lizhen, the infamous multiculturalist. Mua had said that Erliao had once been a student of Lizhen's, going with him down to the Harbor and other foreign quarters around the city. Those studies of Lizhen's were how Mua met both men all those years ago. Ayika supposed that a decade old fascination with the foreign customs Erliao now railed against would be somewhat embarrassing to him. Still, as a scandal, studying foreign temples in collage seemed lacking a punch. If that was the talk of the party then there was no way Mua was here yet. Ayika felt a tense part of her core relax.
Heying Tonight-of-the-Water-Tribe, hadn't been paying much attention to this rumor talk and was instead looking off though the open passageway to the next mixing room. "Oh, is that Zhe Wei all by himself in there? I had no idea that Lord Wei's family would be attending. Ladies, if you don't mind terribly, might we traverse over as a group and entertain the poor man?" Her voice was light and casual but there was a clear hint of focused energy. This woman was obviously on a mission tonight and it was fairly clear what the objective was.
However, none of the other women here had any real objection to moving deeper through the party so all five of them rose. Ayika noted with a flash of panic that they had all left their drink cups back on the small table while she was forced to carry her still half-full cup with her, urgently sipping on it when she could. Hopefully she'd be able to finish it and pass it off to a servant soon enough. She wasn't about to be outmatched by a bunch of prissy rich ladies.
There was indeed a servant standing at attention in this next parlor though it was empty of people to serve save for two men in standing discussion. Ayika assumed Heying had meant Zhe Wei was 'alone' only in reference to the absence of the feminine energy she hoped to provide for the younger of the two. However, Zhe Wei did not seem interested in female companionship at the moment. The young man in a gold coin patterned costume was in the middle of an intense conversation with a middle aged man who looked regretful that he had ever gotten involved. However, by the time the women started filtering in, another man in his twenties or early thirties came up from another part of the party and seemed to have redoubled Mister Wei's energy.
The newcomer was nodding in agreement with Wei's pervious statement. "There is a lack of faith in the godly spirits of our Kingdom. Tradition's no longer respected. The only thing captures the mind of the public these days is some curséd idea of modernity, which is to rightly say blind self-loathing adoration of the Fire Nation."
This new support caused Zhe Wei to redouble his intensity towards the older man. "It's not just a lack of respect for tradition, there is a lack of faith in the government and in the temples. The wartime leadership of our generals and the Dai Li collapsed and since then nothing has taken their place for inspiring the public's loyalty. The core strength of our culture has been wounded and these foreigners are the infection that has taken hold." Nearby, Heying was attempting to subtly pose herself in Wei's eye line, to no avail.
The middle aged man made a vacillating grumble in between these two young ardents. "Come now. Isn't that a bit alarmist? There's plenty of good work coming out of Ba Sing Se these days. Did you hear about the... what was his name? Professor Song? The fellow who's doing those breakthroughs with galvanics? Brilliant work I'm told. And you can not deny that there's a minor literary flowering occurring."
But Zhe would have none of this. He wrinkled his lip in disgust. "Research submitted to be published in a Fire Nation journal of Natural Philosophy, and populist writing mimicking the style of those Islander serials. Indulgent drivel that they insist on calling realism. It's street theater in written form. No, any flowering you see is that of a parasitic vine that is wrapping around us tighter and tighter. Minister Erliao is right. The so called reformers wish nothing less than to destroy our cultural soul."
"Hold now Zhe, I think you may have gotten a little ahead of yourself. And there's a young lady here who might have some insight." The middle aged man gestured off to Mizumi with a smile that held barely concealed relief for her presence. "Forgive us Miss, politics do have a way of drawing out heated conversation. I'm positive no offense was intended."
Mizumi politely waved away his concern as she walked up and the golden fringe of her maroon sleeves glinted exotically.
"No forgiveness is necessary. You should hear what we say about you all when we are back home. Or what we say about ourselves for that matter." She ended with a laugh that encouraged some of the other men to join in. She was clearly well experienced in such elevated conversation. She was even conducting them in a language not hers by birth.
However, by now Mizumi was sucked into a conversational circle that was already quite overfull with Heying trying to insert herself beside her hoped-for male companion. The noble woman dressed as a tiger saw that Ayik had been separated from her companion and drifted over to recite a few pleasant sounding platitudes as a simulation of conversation. However, it was very clear that a woman of her breeding saw speaking to one of the People of the Tribes as far beneath her even if the etiquette ingrained on her bones would not let her show it. To avoid this two-fold irritation Ayika made some excuse and left that woman with her social equals as Ayika drifted over to the room's open balcony.
Standing there beside the railing, Ayika could see across the mansion's dark central garden and into other bright rooms of the mansion where the party continued its sprawling path. Presumably there would be some final point of coalescence where the host would be able to see all his guests but she'd yet to find it. She'd also failed to see Erliao or Mua anywhere. It seemed this whole plan was needless after all and now she and Mizumi would just have to enjoy a fancy party. Ayika found a small smirk on her lips even as a shiver ran up her back. All these people were so convinced of the innate superiority of their blood but here was Ayika, navigating through their ranks behind a silver mask.
"You wear that face well."
Ayika nearly jumped out of her own skin when she realized that she was not alone on that balcony. There was a man standing off to the side of the door, his black costume and full face mask causing him to blend into the shadows as long as he remained still. Evidently, Ayika wasn't the only one who needed a break from the party guests now and then. Now that he turned, she saw that the man's mask was as silver as hers though it instead covered everything under his hood in a curious arrangement of metallic strips. Ayika wondered who he was supposed to be.
To gain herself a moment to calm her heart rate from that embarrassing fright Ayika casually sipped from the cup she still carried. She was beginning to be thankful for the fortifying warmth of the alcohol. "Thank you. It was a gift from my friend. I will pay the compliment forward."
The man in black chuckled, causing his metal textured mast to shift in an odd way that made faint sounds of metal on metal. "That one too. But I'm afraid your friend is drawing close to danger."
Ayika glanced back to Mizumi. There was still no sign of Mua, and now Zhe Wei did not seem to be having as enjoyable a time was he was before the Fire Nation woman started to talk. Ayika smiled.
"She can hold her own in politics. If anything I'd fear for the men she's talking to."
"Yes, it doesn't take much to see the fierceness in that fire. But there are dangerous ones here. Not all show themselves so easily. And those newcomers owe you no favors."
Ayika frowned at the man in black. He was still standing back in the shadow away from the wavering light of the nearest oil lamp. There must be even more metal strips dangling from his costume somewhere as she could hear faint sounds of steel on steel as he moved. This guy also spoke like he'd drunk more far more of these little cups than Ayika had. She could hear the accent of someone struggling to make a mouth form the words properly. He was getting overly familiar which she decided to put a stop to.
"I take it you're not among Minister Erliao's conservatives. But if you're planning on making a scene please don't involve me or my friend. I'm very squeamish about conflict." Ayika knew how to lie when it suited her.
The man in black laughed. Ayika audibly sniffed in disapproval as she punctuated her posture with another sip from her cup. The man's cloaked costume continued to click and scrape with the faint sounds of metal on metal.
His voice murmured as a faint night breeze picked up. "Lies are welcome guests here. But they do little good against those drawn by the fire. Remember who you truly are and you'll find your way through. Your bloodline is strong, Kuangdaughter."
Her frown deepened even more. Even the most reformist Kingdomers never wanted her to forget her foreign blood. She'd never even seen outside the city walls but that never mattered. Ayika turned to step off the balcony. "I think I'll leave you to your own company. You appear to prefer it." The man made no sound to correct her.
Mizumi came across the room and took Ayika by the arm. She leaned in to whisper as she led them both away, "It took far too long but I now know how to locate Erliao in this maze of a party. And if we get cornered again there is no need for you to stand off on an empty balcony. I know you can hold your own with the best of these people."
"No, there was actually another guest out there who I was talking too. He just really blends in with his all black costume." Ayika turned back. She had already lost sight of the man. Contrasted with the brightly lit interior of the mansion the balcony seemed only inhabited by shadows. Then she abruptly realized that he'd referred to her home without Ayika ever mentioning it. How had he known her? Who was he? Wait, or had she said something? It was difficult to remember. There were a limited number of city districts where the Water Tribe settled, perhaps it had just been a guess. Once again the back of her neck prickled and the party had once again transformed into a fearsome unknown jungle.
But Mizumi was intent on chasing after this new trail to Erliao and while Ayika concurred she still frowned a little before she hurriedly drank the rest of her little cup, silently cursing these etiquette rituals. Things were happening here and she wasn't at her best. As they got up to continue the circulation path she leaned over to Mizumi. "At the next sitting room, could you find some trick in the etiquette to avoid the round of drink pouring? If our goal here's to be sharp and on our toes, a full night of that won't help."
Mizumi waved off this concern. "It is not as bad as that. One small sip in each room will not..." She stopped and looked over at Ayika. "Wait, have you been drinking the entire cup?"
Ayika began to feel a sinking sensation that descended to meet the pleasant limb-suffusing warmth rising up from her stomach."...Wasn't everyone?"
Mizumi cut off her laughter before it began. "It is fine. You know now and two cups is not very much if you fake sipping for next hour. That is acceptable too."
Ayika was comforted. Her worries of just a second ago now seemed ridiculous. "Yeah, right. It's fine. Ha! You had me worried there for a second. I'm fine."
However, Mizumi was still looking at her. "Ayika, are your cheeks...? You have consumed alcohol before in the past, correct?"
Now Ayika did laugh. People must have been eavesdropping because Mizumi flinched as quite a few party goers looked over at them. "Of course I have. Just don't listen to Xinfei's teasing. He's always trying to tell people that I'm a lightweight when I'm not. He just likes making up stories." Ayika's anxiety departed as quickly as it had come and left only the warmth and confidence.
Mizumi's smile was now a bit more rigid for some reason. "Of course he does. How about when we see the next servant we get you a nice big cup of tea."
"Ooh, yes. And don't worry, I'll just fake taking little sips. Or no, wait, I mean the other thing. Let's go find Erliao!" Ayika was feeling much better about their prospects for success, even if Mizumi had curiously developed cold feet. It didn't even seem like Mama Mua was here at the party. All the guests they had spoken too had clearly reacted to Ayika like she was the only woman of the Tribes here. Then they needn't have worried at all. Mua got stuck or gave up somewhere. Erliao was safe from misguided reprisal for tonight.
Ayika was still confident when a sudden rush of chatter behind them signaled the entrance of a new guest. Ayika slowly turned to see a woman walk through the front hall. She wore a dress as colorful as poisonous flowers and a skull shaped mask of blue beads. What's more, to Ayika's eyes there was an orange spirit composed entirely of feathered wings drifting above the woman's head. Even as Ayika noticed it, the spirit was already dissolving out of the world, its bargain now complete. It was impossible to miss who was under that disguise. Nia Mua had come for her prey.
...