"Ok follow me Hedaru." I lead him through the maze of a palace until we reach the inner gardens. When we go into the garden however, there is no sign of Qijun.
"Stay here." I order Hedaru. "Qijun? I'm here!" I shout, and wait for a response. Instead of my brother, all I see is an envelope attached to a stump. Curiosity consumes me, and I pick it up. To my shock it's addressed to me. It reads,
To her Majesty Princess Melusine of the House of the Rock
Greetings your majesty, as I am positive you have noticed, your brother is not in the garden. However he does require your assistance. He is being held captive by our group, composed of some of your father's enemies. We would like to offer a trade. If you offer yourself in his place, then we would be more than happy to release Master Qijun. We are going to send a representative to the Herb Lore Tea Shop. Please realize that we bear no ill will towards you or your brother, as the two of you are simply a means to an end. Please note that if you do not come alone, your brother will suffer the consequences.
In hopes of meeting soon,
There is no signature, in its place a picture of the earth kingdom's emblem crushing our family emblem. Their audacity shocks me, however their ability to overcome Qijun scares me more. A prodigy in earthbending, he is capable of defeating masters twice his age. Either this band of… of… "terrorists," I think with disgust, is high in numbers or possesses an impossibly skilled earthbender.
Deciding to keep this news to myself, I head back over to the garden entrance as if I didn't find anything. "Hedaru," I proclaim, "Please escort me back to my quarters, then return to your post." While he looks puzzled at my sudden change of heart about being escorted, he still does as requested. I allow him to lead me to my quarters, although in his nervousness he makes no less than four wrong turns. After I return to my room he lingers for a moment, wondering what is wrong. I attempt to not give anything away on my face.
After he leaves, I turn the tub back on. Instead of submerging my entire body this time, I only dampen my hair. I wring it out, careful to retain some of the moisture to keep my hair darkened. Once this task is accomplished, I change back into my training garb. The black tunic and pants are loose fitting, but flexible. I ensure that there is the proper amount of lighting, then escape my room via the window.
I land on a bush, then crouch behind it in case a guard was alerted of my mission through the rustling of the bush. When no guard comes over, I bolt across the palace grounds. After years of being cooped up in the palace as if I were a china doll, I finally learned how best to sneak out. Learning where the guard is least heavy was the hardest part, as I was unable to see the perimeter of the grounds from my room. However I eventually perfected my escapes.
I find the Herb Lore Tea Shop almost immediately. The establishment is a fixture in Ba Sing Se, as everyone one who has ever lived in the capital has been there. The Feng family has owned the shop for generations and will pass on the ownership to their children for generations to come. After being admitted, I rush to the bathroom to re-wetten my hair.
As I wait for the "representative," I decide to order some jasmine tea. My tea arrives and still the contact has yet to reveal himself. I'm standing up to leave when I feel a hand on my arm.
"You get stood up too?" I hear a low voice venture. I turn around to see a smirking lithe dark-haired male of about 16 years. He stands as he addresses me, his form much taller than mine. When I look at his face, I notice that his eyes are almost as black as my training garb.
Unsure whether this is who I'm supposed to meet or not, I answer cautiously, "In a way, yes I have."
"I'm sorry. Would you like to share a pot of jasmine tea and woes?"
"I'd be charmed to join you."
Once I sit down, he summons a server and requests the pot of jasmine. When he reaches for the teapot, I notice his sleeve button. The same emblem that ended the letter is engraved on it.
"What was your name?" I question, "I don't think I caught it."
"I don't think I gave it," comes his response, the smirk deepening. "But it's Hameng"
"All right Hameng, shall we get down to business?" I question the youth as soon as the server leaves.
"I was hoping to have at least one cup before any of the unappetizing trade talk." He replies, no disappointment on his face in spite of his statement.
As I open my mouth to reply, I feel earth grip around my wrists. Hameng stands up, his earthbending keeping my hands bound. He grabs just under my shoulder. I'm pulled out of the tea shop, but Hameng makes it look like I'm being escorted. In the pitch black of the night no one takes notice of the two of us.
Before we travel to the terrorist den, I'm blind folded, and picked up. Hameng puts his hand on my waist as I'm slung over his shoulder to try and keep me in the proverbial dark as to our location. I do know when we arrive however. The amount of noise around us increases and we descend underground. I can just barely make out footsteps trailing Hameng's when we enter what sounds like an rally against my father. I barely bounce against his shoulder when it feels like he's climbing a pair of stairs. Realization seeps over me and I'm immensely happy that I'm not in a skirt.
I'm thrown against a pole and the rocks reform around it before I'm able to react. The motion of being thrown down has caused me to make painful contact with the pole. All of a sudden I can't think straight, and I lose a major amount of connection with reality. There's sounds of confusion as people try to figure out who I am. Since my hair has yet to dry, my captor is forced to remove my blindfold to reveal my bright green eyes. The lights, although from dim torches, hurts them.
After another eternity of speeches and anti-patriotic chants, they bring out Quijon. At least I think it's Quijon. As far as I know it could be Rava herself and I'd be none the wiser. Realizing that I need to be fully aware for this, I try to shake off the haziness. I just manage to regain my sense of vision when Quijon is attacked. Instead of trying to hurt him though, the attacker targets Quijon's limbs, mainly his arms. When the attacker steps back, Quijon can't bend.
This must have been how they captured him in the garden. No respected bender need learn another fighting style, so without his bending, Quijon would be powerless to fight. I'm just plain powerless because I can't earthbend, and I won't be taught anything else to defend myself. As they blindfold Quijon and take him outside, I try and reach for my element. I feel it, but can't bend it. Then everything goes black.