Despite AzulaÆs impatience to be off, it would take time for reports on the location of the Avatar to arrive. I took the time to track down some of ZukoÆs former crew, most of whom were generally unhelpful in that wonderfully obtuse way that they had. Silent insolence, I believe it was called at one time. Captain Jee, formerly ZukoÆs lieutenant, was an absolute master of it. It was probably a good thing for them that Azula wasnÆt asking the questions and a better thing for me that she didnÆt hear what I was asking them.
Then again, she had other things on her mind for the few days we were waiting. I was on the deck, working on a little project of mine when she stormed out of her rooms. ôLiao! That little beast bit me!ö
ôGoodness, I canÆt imagine how painful that must be.ö I rubbed my neck and saw her colour slightly. ôLet me have a look.ö She had, indeed been bitten, although not hard enough to draw blood. ôA terrible injury, your highness. May I ask the fate of the perpetrator?ö
ôThe... are you testing me?ö Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
I smiled. ôLife is the test, Azula. Now, you have a prospectively useful minion to recruit. You know heÆs aggressive and until youÆve won him over heÆs going to be snappish. How are you going to handle this?ö
ôI will punish his transgression,ö she told me, turning to walk away. ôHe will never dare attack me again.ö
I kept my voice mild. ôThat is a second-rate solution, Azula. Fear is only half the equation. You know better than that.ö
Her voice was silky sweet, a danger sign. ôPlease educate me.ö
ôAllow me to use your brother as an example.ö I pointed at Azula. ôHe fears you û a perfectly reasonable reaction. And fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. A tool that hates you will turn in your hand, frequently at the worst possible moment. Show weakness, even for an instant, or even the perception of weakness, and your own agents might turn against you.ö And on that basis, I really shouldnÆt try reconciling Zuko to Azula and vice versa after saying that. ôBut how does Zuko feel about your father?ö
Azula was a great many things, but she was never stupid. ôZuko fears our father... but he does not hate him... because Zuko loves him.ö
ôAnd because of that, even now, Ozai would barely have to raise his hand for Zuko to return to loyal service. There is no question that your father is a genius in the field of leadership. It is often sufficient that those below you fear your wrath. But how much stronger than that is the control that you have over your servants if they also desire your approval for its own sake?ö
She blinked. ôAre you sure you just donÆt want me to hurt the mutt?ö
The suggestion elicited a bark of laughter from me. ôAzula, I donÆt even like dogs. For all I care we can spit-roast the little -ö
And thatÆs when she slapped me. I guess that if she was really angry with me I would have been on fire. Women. Who can fathom them?
ôYou are not cooking my dog.ö It went beyond being a statement of fact. It was a decree.
ôAlright, alright. Just a turn of phrase.ö I held up my hands in surrender. No point making a fight over nothing.
She nodded her head approvingly and then reached up to brush at my cheek. ôI see your point about how to train him though. That is quite insightful of you. IÆll sure that father will be very pleased to hear that you hold him in such high regard.ö
No doubt. IÆm sure second-degree flattery will secure me a prestigious promotion somewhere really distant and highly dangerous. ôWell I donÆt like to gush.ö I returned my attention to the improvised oven I was building on the deck.
Azula, feeling suitably mollified, pretended to notice it for the first time. (1) ôWhat in the world is that for? ThereÆs a perfectly adequate kitchen, you realise?ö
ôI donÆt think that the cooks would appreciate what IÆm planning to cook.ö I pointed to the cup-cake shaped patties drying on a platter. IÆd moulded them once experiment showed that mixture had dried enough and hopefully sunlight would further reduce the water content before I placed them in the oven.
She looked them over suspiciously. ôWhat are they?ö
ôCaked black powder.ö
Very slowly Azula stepped back from them. Firebenders tend to be naturally just a little bit wary around that stuff since itÆs quite possible, if embarrassing, to create fire or sparks unintentionally. I seriously doubt Azula had ever done that without being in full control, but even so... ôFireworks?ö
ôWell, thatÆs where I got it from, yes. It has other uses.ö
ôThat doesnÆt include eating it.ö
ôEat... ah. No. IÆm not precisely planning to cook it. And all things considered, this is something I want to have a lot of room around me for. And possibly something to hide behind. If IÆm correct, then once itÆs dried out and ground up, what is left will be quite a bit more potent than it was before. Concentrated, if you will.ö
Azula stabbed her finger towards the cakes. ôSo after baking them in your oven, youÆre going to grind them to powder? Something that could cause incidental sparks right in the middle of your concentrated black powder. How can you possibly construe that as anything but recklessness?ö
ôI do have some fairly substantial precautions in mind.ö
She took a deep breath. ôI absolutely forbid you to do this on my ship. I will have servants carry out anything even remotely hazardous about this, while you will supervise from a safe distance.ö
I considered that very carefully. ôCan we qualify that down to them doing anything hazardous to me? I was rather hoping to hurt some people with this.ö Possibly including your father, but letÆs not dwell on that detail.
.oOo.
Unfortunately, before I could resume my experiments at a new and more acceptable to Azula location, news arrived that the Avatar had been seen trying to cross the Kolau Mountains. Trying, because most of the army that had taken Omashu was still in the area and had managed to put enough flaming boulders into the sky to drive him back north again.
Eventually, he would either go somewhere else or find a way around the mountains. Or, as was actually the case, go under them but there wasnÆt much point revealing that to anyone, was there? But that left a window of opportunity and so we had to rush south quickly.
For a given value of quickly, of course.
Even the gruesome twosome of Li and Lo had noticed this, and as we stopped û again û for camp when it was barely approaching twilight, they voiced their concerns.
ôWhen tracking your brother and uncle, travelling with the royal procession may no longer be an option.ö
ôMay no longer be wise, if you hope to keep the element of surprise.ö
Azula was looking quite sinister. This might be because she had the sheep-dog puppy curled in her lap and was petting it in a way that Blofeld would have died envious of. ôYouÆre right,ö she agreed. ôThe Royal Procession is deadweight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble.ö Her eyes flicked to me. ôI need a small, elite team. Liao, itÆs time for me to introduce you to some old friends of mine.ö
ôSchool friends?ö I wasnÆt guessing, of course. ôOmashu.ö
ôI donÆt like that name.ö She ruffled her petÆs wool casually. ôIÆll have to do something about that while weÆre there. Conveniently however, another friend of mine is also in the area. Have you ever been to the circus?ö
LiaoÆs memory indicated yes, so I nodded. ôNever with you though, which will make this time far more memorable than any other.ö And then I remembered how sheÆd persuaded Ty Lee to join her. Ye gods, what if she took my words as encouragement? ôIs there something particular about circuses that you enjoy?ö
ôJust one of the performers. I believe I may have mentioned Ty Lee to you once or twice.ö
ôOh yes. One of your conquests.ö I arched one eyebrow. ôShould I be jealous? There are all those fascinating tales about the Royal Fire Academy for Girls and what the students get up to.ö
ôYouÆll have to share some of them with me at some later date. But thatÆs rather like me asking about your adventures as a cadet in the army. I assure you we girls were always happy to entertain ourselves by imagining what you young men got up to together.ö Her cheeks were somewhat pink, although I was uncertain of the precise cause. ôShould I be the jealous one?ö
My impulsive tongue decided to get me into trouble. ôOh it doesnÆt count if youÆre cadets, your highness. Everyone knows that.ö AzulaÆs eyes went wide. Looked like IÆd gone outside her comfort zone there. Hmm. Probably best to reel that back in. ôIt builds character and self-discipline, doing close order drill with a raging,ö I trailed off for just a touch longer than taking breath would require, letting her mind meander through the blanks. ôHangover.ö
AzulaÆs eyes were just a hair wider than she probably thought that they were. She managed to avoid squeaking out an enquiry, probably because Li and Lo were cackling shamelessly. I turned and eyed the two old women with a look of innocent confusion. ôWas it something I said?ö
.oOo.
Ah yes, the ineffable scent of the circus. Magical. In the same sense that the scent of the sea is in fact the smell of rotting vegetation along the shoreline. I tried very hard not to pay attention to the sources of the various odours that assailed us as we made our way through the pink tents (2). It was quite early in the day, so most of inhabitants were more concerned with maintenance than entertainment.
Azula stopped suddenly and turned to face one of the tents, outside of which a young girl was in a handstand. No... a fingerstand, one finger from each hand. Was that even possible? Granted she was a bitty little thing... ôTy Lee. Could that possibly be you?ö The question was evidently rhetorical. And that answered my question: her fingers were probably so reinforced with chi that she could drive nails with them.
ôAzula!ö She smiled with every sign of actual joy, flipped to her feet, pirouetted and sank to her knees, grovelling. The motion made it clear if I hadnÆt noticed before that she might be a small girl, but she wasnÆt a little girl. A moment later she bounced out of that and jumped forward to embrace my fiancÚe. ôIt is so good to see you!ö
ôPlease, donÆt let me interrupt your... whatever it is you were doing.ö
Ty Lee didnÆt seem at all upset by AzulaÆs dismissive words, instead bouncing happily into another gymnastic posture, one that IÆm sure would have cracked my spine if I tried it. Imagine lying on the ground, propping your chin on the heel of both hands and then curving your legs back until one is pointed directly forwards over your head. Ouch.
ôTell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here? Certainly our parents didnÆt send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in -ö Azula sighed in distaste. ôPlaces like this.ö Given the direction of her attention û upon two men trying to move a reluctant mother platypus-bear wearing a red vest and a cap away from her cub û I could see her point.
ôI thought they sent you there for the usual educational reasons: turning you into carbon copies of themselves.ö I smirked sideways at Azula. ôWhat? ThatÆs the usual purpose of the institution.ö
ôYou say that as if itÆs a bad thing.ö
ôWell that depends on which parent youÆre expected to emulate, doesnÆt it.ö
She frowned, thought about my words for a moment and then shook her head. ôTy Lee, this is my fiancÚ Liao Quan. IÆm sure you remember him.ö
Her face scrunched up and there was one hundred percent less squee than I had, on some level, expected. ôIÆve never met him before, Azula.ö Then she smiled brilliantly. And, I feel, less than entirely sincerely. ôBut I remember everything that you told me about him.ö She folded her other leg forwards and planted her feet on top of her head, then gave me a slightly dubious look. ôI thought youÆd be glowing with the light of ten thousand suns. She said that about you, you know.ö
I did. AzulaÆs idea of a romantic letter had settled down a little from that level of purple prose, over time, but it was still memorable. ôShe merely saw herself reflected in my eyes.ö
Azula responded by shifting ever so slightly closer to my side and squeezed my hand. ôAre you sure youÆve never met? YouÆre cousins, after all.ö
ôThe opportunity never seemed to arise,ö I murmured. ôWell met, my cousin.ö
ôYeah, sure!ö Chirpy, happy... and just that little undertone of distaste. Okay, seriously. How had I managed to get on Ty LeeÆs bad side? I mean, as best I recall she hardly had one!
ôAnyway, IÆm terribly glad I found you, Ty Lee.ö AzulaÆs smile grew predatory. ôI have a proposition for you. IÆm -ö
I coughed.
ô- weÆre hunting a traitor. You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, donÆt you?ö
ôOh yeah, he was so funny!ö
ôAh... heÆs thrown me into the sea at twice so far,ö I pointed out. I decided the fact that Azula had gotten the same treatment didnÆt need to be raised.
ôReally?ö There was absolutely no need for Ty Lee to sound so enthusiastic about that detail.
Azula smiled. ôI would be honoured if you would join us in our mission.ö
To my surprise, Ty Lee seemed genuinely torn. IÆd expected her to be less happy about the idea. ôObviously, it would be dangerous. Why donÆt you think it over? We want to see your show, after all. Azula tells me that itÆs not to be missed.ö
Just for a moment, while Azula was giving me a significant look whose meaning I really couldnÆt decipher, Ty Lee looked daggers at me. ôSure, youÆll have a great time.ö I didnÆt miss that she said nothing about her enjoying having Azula in the audience though.
.oOo.
(1) If anyone thinks for an instant that anything happened on the ship that she didnÆt know about it, I have a bridge to sell them at a bargain price.
(2) IÆm not sure why they were pink. Possibly theyÆd once been red and simply faded. Possibly Ty Lee won a bet. I was rather afraid to ask.