Mayumi sighed. Then she raised her voice. "Enter."
The door opened. Zhu Di stood beyond it. In a strange way, it remained uncanny to deal with the more 'amicable' among those who had stained the legacy of Avatar Kyoshi.
"Forgive our intrusion," Zhu Di said, both his hands emerged from the voluminous sleeves of his robes before he performed the traditional fist-and-palm gesture. "The director has humbly invited you to drink tea at the Jing Shan Garden."
Satchiko stared at him. "W-why?" The question escaped before she could restrain it. But the other Kyoshi Warrior immediately felt her spine ran cold upon hearing that specific garden name.
Anyone familiar with the intricate histories of the Earth Kingdom would know that an invitation to drink tea from one's superiors was not necessarily a cause for celebration. There had been Earth Kings in previous dynasties who prefer elegance over brutish spectacle when disposing of those who had fallen from favor.
"And what if we refused the invitation?" Mayumi stubbornly asked. "He might as well as invite us to a feast at the Swam Goose Gate."
Aside from the fact that the particular feast referenced was a about the near-death experience for the founder of the Liu Dynasty, Zhu Di's expression remained pleasantly composed. The Dai Li envoy did not answer forcefully, but his diplomatic manner was accompanied by a small contingent of Dai Li agents, whose presence made rejecting the invitation rather impossible. Even under circumstances such as these, a self-respecting gentleman of Ba Sing Se would apparently prefer the theatre of politeness, regardless of whether his guests possessed any meaningful autonomy at all.
The sisters exchanged a brief glance before reluctantly accepting the invitation. A faint hope remained that perhaps the garden conversation might provide some opportunity to resolve the matter through diplomacy. At this point, even the faintest hope was better than none.
"The director also has another request," Zhu Di added politely.
Apparently, Han Fei had determined that it would be more proper for the sisters to attend the garden discussion without their customary armor and attire. Plain clothing, he suggested, would suffice.
Satchiko's expression hardened. "Our armor is fine as it is." Her answer was stubborn enough to leave no room for negotiation. Even Mayumi, who ordinarily would have been the first to insist upon etiquette and restraint, made no immediate objection to this firmer reaction.
"Very well then," Zhu Di replied with some difficulty. "The director deliberately forbade me from revealing why it would be wise not to wear your identifiable equipment. But if I were you, I would heed the suggestion."
Mayumi shot him a critical glance, though beneath her scrutiny lay a more troubling question as to what his words might imply.
Eventually, the two esteemed guests were escorted from the relatively pleasant building and marched through the innumerable alleys, covered walkways, and winding corridors that constituted the inner palace grounds of Ba Sing Se.
The march was tedious. By now, the sisters could roughly measure the sheer breadth of the royal palace grounds, which seemed capable of swallowing their entire dingy little village several times over and yet they had still not reached their destination in the northern reaches of the complex.
To pass the time, and perhaps making use of his more amicable disposition, Zhu Di offered brief explanations of the seemingly mundane yet ornate corridors surrounding them. In dynasties past, these maze-like passages had been likened to the chi paths coursing through a living body, sustaining its balance and keeping the palace complex functioning as a single harmonious whole. Eunuchs and palace maids once filled these arteries, hurrying along them to attend to the minutest needs of the consorts and concubines who comprised the Earth King's imperial harem.
"Zhu Di," Mayumi warned, bringing the history lesson to an abrupt halt. "Before you speak, carefully consider the context and the situation. Do not make the circumstances more convoluted than they already are. And here I thought Shan was the only one who lacked a certain awareness around here."
The Dai Li, despite its infamous reputation, apparently possessed members of rather exceptional discretion. Zhu Di's initial surprise suggested that he had realized, a moment too late, to have failed to read the metaphorical room.
"My scholarly prowess is of course inferior to that of the famous White Scholar himself," Zhu Di conceded. He accompanied the apology with a respectful fist-and-palm salute, earth-clad hands held before his chest. "Even so, few people in this world would have unrestricted access to the inner palace grounds."
The escorting retinue continued onward, bringing their two unrestrained captives with them. Along the way, they passed several patrols of palace guards clad in the iconic brigandine armor so synonymous to Ba Sing Se itself. As for how long they had been walking toward the northern portion of the gigantic complex, the sisters had long since abandoned any attempt to count.
The succession of walled passages, countless turns and indistinguishable intersections eventually became so repetitive that Satchiko swore they had passed the same places several times already. Zhu Di, consistently insisted that such assumptions are false, attributing their confusion to the natural disorientation suffered by those granted access to the palace grounds.
"I cannot help but notice that this inner palace of yours has no shortage of soldiers," Mayumi remarked as they walked, her observation carrying an implication that needed no further explanation.
In return to that inquiry, Zhu Di merely replied that the additional palace guards stationed within the more secluded grounds were a consequence of a successful assassination attempt upon a late dowager. In its aftermath, the secret police had been supplemented by the palace guards, who can bring forth their armor and numbers.
Satchiko readily accepted the explanation without further deliberation, as her own life is more immediately at stake. But anyone possessing even a modest understanding of palace protocol might have noticed the peculiarities of the arrangement. There are simply too many soldiers in a place where there shouldn't be any at all.
Mayumi carefully examined another patrol as they passed. Once again, she saw no scurrying eunuchs, diligent palace maids, nor any servants save for gardeners and artisans repairing damaged walls and rooftops.
At last, the entourage arrived at a small walled gate. Two stone camelephant flanked the stone-paved path beyond, their weathered forms standing like ancient sentinels. Beyond the gate lay a place of which Mayumi was not entirely ignorant. Anyone possessing even a vague familiarity with Earth Kingdom history gleaned from books would know something of this place and also about the last Earth King of the relatively recent Zhu Dynasty.
"I see Han Fei has a strange sense of humor," Mayumi said scathingly, anger simmering beneath every word.
Satchiko glanced toward the gate and then back at her sister, still uncertain what had provoked such a sudden rise in her temper.
They proceeded through an immense garden, where meticulously maintained ponds reflected the pale sky between clusters of carefully cultivated plants. Decorative stones of every conceivable shape had been arranged throughout the grounds, each seemingly positioned according to some aesthetic principle known only to its gardener.
Yet one tree stood apart from the rest.
A pagoda tree. Its leaves remained green, but its ancient bark had darkened with age, bearing the weathered scars of countless seasons. It seemed less like a part of the garden than a relic that had simply refused to die.
"The director awaits," Zhu Di reminded them.
Their destination proved to be a small pavilion situated at the centre of a tranquil pond. The structure stood upon the water like a carefully placed ornament, reached only by a single wooden bridge.
The sisters immediately noticed the precautions. The pond was not particularly immaculate while the bridge was narrow. And the pavilion, along with the bridge itself, had been constructed entirely from wood.
A sensible safeguard against Earthbenders. Provided of course that they were not permitted to carry any earth with them.
The bridge sentries appeared to have considered the same possibility. As the sisters were escorted onto the wooden crossing, they became acutely conscious of the dozen Dai Li agents standing motionless beside the guardrails. Their expressions remained impassive, and postures unnervingly still.
Perhaps the younger sister's status as an Earthbender was considered sufficient reason for such caution. Or perhaps they simply understood that the director was knowingly placing himself in reasonable proximity to danger, and had therefore demanded a more substantial guard.
Even so, twelve elite Earthbending secret police standing watch over two captives seemed almost restrained compared with the hundred who had responded to the breach of their training compounds. If not for the oppressive tension hanging over the afternoon, the idyllic garden would have been an excellent place to enjoy tea.
"I suppose this is an auspicious afternoon," Han Fei remarked as the two sisters were finally escorted to the pavilion's shade. "Even the weather of Ba Sing Se is fine to my liking."
A serene pond and lush garden. The distant, peaceful chirping of birds. Everything seemed almost deliberately arranged to irritate the two sisters, who are about to face judgement for intentionally breaching Dai Li training grounds. Such a grievous offence against the city was seldom forgiven. Even the Avatar could scarcely expect to escape the machinery of Ba Sing Se's justice forever. Unless, some sufficiently prominent figure like the Earth King decided otherwise.
Of course, the two sisters were hardly figures from some legendary tale. Being the daughters of a village chief amounted little in the great cities of the Earth Kingdom. Even had they been prestigious heiresses born to some powerful household whose name carried weight in the courts of Ba Sing Se, Han Fei would not have granted them special privileges merely because of the circumstances of birth.
The two additional seats at Han Fei's table made their purpose plain enough. Mayumi and Satchiko took them, though neither could quite shake the feeling that they had been summoned into the presence of something they did not yet fully understand.
"Han Fei," Mayumi spoke first, her eyes narrowing upon the statesman. "What exactly are you scheming?"
"Be assured, young ones," the director replied calmly. "As you can see, I have afforded you both sufficient time to comprehend the gravity of your crime. Yet, considering your wish to invoke the name of Avatar Kyoshi, I was prepared to grant you a measure of leeway, insofar as the city's penal code permits."
A Dai Li agent approached without a word and placed a tray upon the table. Resting upon it is a fine porcelain flask and a single small cup.
"You are still young, and I understand that wine may not be your preferred beverage," Han Fei said to Satchiko. He took the flask himself. With deliberate care, pouring a modest measure into the cup. "Never in all my years did I expect a young student to see beyond our philosophy's reputation and still willingly study beneath its values. It is almost lamentable, considering how many affluent scions of the Upper Ring would recoil in disgust the instant they discovered what we truly are."
He set the flask aside and reluctantly slid the cup gently across the table, leaving it within Satchiko's reach.
"This was produced by one of the finest breweries in the entire Earth Kingdom," Han Fei emphasized. "And although you are admittedly far less refined than most students of Ba Sing Se in the three scholarly perfections, I will concede that you have conducted yourself with admirable diligence as a student of my star pupil. So please, consider this wine an expression of my gratitude, but also an apology."
Satchiko stared at the cup. She had never possessed much fondness for wine, nor could she discern why Han Fei had gone to such elaborate lengths to present it to her. Before she could ask what hidden meaning lay beneath this strange courtesy, Mayumi suddenly erupted.
"You can't do this!" The older Kyoshi Warrior's hand moved toward her sheathed blade. Whether she intended to strike down Han Fei outright or seize him as a hostage in one final, desperate gambit, the opportunity was gone the moment she yelled.
A stone hand shot across the pavilion. One of the Dai Li agents bent the earth on his hand with effortless precision, wrenching the moving blade and driving it against one of the pavilion's supporting pillars. Two more Dai Li quickly restrained the swordswoman, using their earthen gloves to mold solid cuff to immobilize Mayumi's wrists, forcing her to kneel down beside the wooden table and the startled Satchiko. Yet even restrained, Mayumi displayed a frightening level of strength. The two sentries struggled to keep her knelt to the floor, their otherwise effortless composure briefly betrayed by the sheer violence of resistance.
"Sister, don't drink that!" Mayumi shouted. "That wine is—"
"I know," Satchiko's sudden reply was enough to both silence and pacify Mayumi, who is surprised by this rare moment of perceptiveness.
As for Han Fei, he is likely torn between either being impressed or saddened that the teenager discovered the beverage's true purpose.
Upon being inquired, Satchiko responded accordingly. "I didn't study under Shan for nothing," she said with no bravado in her voice. "I'll admit that my Earthbending and my skill with the ink brush are both quite lacking. But that doesn't mean nothing valuable was taught to me. Han Fei, perhaps you have underestimated your own star pupil somewhat?"
There was little eloquence in the teenager's retort or carefully constructed philosophical argument. And yet Han Fei fell silent, even if only for a few moments to contemplate the rigor of the doctrine he himself upheld. Had he been an orthodox Earth Sage, one who championed the traditional morality of the Earth Kingdom with its reverence for family, loyalty, and filial obligation, the sisters' actions might have been interpreted quite differently. Breaching a military facility to repay a debt owed to another, when viewed under such principles, would have been regarded as an act of virtue. A pardon would have swiftly followed, perhaps even immediate emancipation and some bending of the strict law in recognition of noble intent.
But Han Fei and those of his ilk are no such fools. To them, true fairness is not compassionate, it is merciless. The law existed precisely because it was not supposed to bend for bloodlines, rank, wealth, or affection. Fair punishment had to remain indifferent to the circumstances of one's birth. Otherwise, justice became nothing more than another privilege purchased by the powerful. Without an exceptional circumstance sufficient to justify practical emancipation, absolving Satchiko of her crimes would make Han Fei no better than the pompous sovereigns and the Avatars, many of whom dispensed selective mercy and favors according to personal whims. Thus, allowing their sense of indulgence justice to tear this realm into pieces, an offering to the altar of comforting delusions.
"You know what would happen if you drank this wine?" Han Fei asked, wishing to know whether Satchiko truly understood the weight of what stood before her. "I was hoping you wouldn't."
Of all the gruesome punishments reserved for grievous crimes, beheading and public flogging, there existed another method rarely extended to common criminals. It was reserved for those considered worthy of a more dignified end. At times, issued directly by sovereign decree to high-ranking members of society, a final punishment designed to induce as little pain as possible, granting the condemned a tranquil passage into death. There is a certain element of elegance to it. In certain literary interpretations, it could even be regarded as a peculiar honor.
Just from Shan's historical lessons alone, Satchiko knew enough, but it did little to soften the fear. If anything, it made the porcelain vessel seem heavier than iron. Still, she refused to let that fear show to Han Fei, who went through the effort to orchestrate this entire charade.
"My sister, she'll be spared death, right?" Satchiko asked carefully, much to Mayumi's silent horror.
"The Inquisitor has granted the informant permission to enter our facilities in exchange for serving as a mole, so technically yes," Han Fei replied.
The director had only just begun to disentangle the finer legal intricacies of the matter, and why Mayumi's status as an informant coupled with her altogether different intentions had spared her the execution ordinarily reserved for someone foolish enough to attempt a suicidal rescue. Satchiko's right hand closed around the cup of wine before he could finish.