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The Earth King’s butler, a rather austere-looking man named Xudong, narrowed his eyes at the painting hanging on the wall. Very carefully, he reached out with his thumb and tilted it to the side, before stepping back to assess his work.
Number 51 (ink and light color on silk) had been a gift to Earth King Kuei from Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe on His Earthiness’ twenty-ninth birthday, and His Earthiness had loved the ‘dynamic’ brushstrokes and ‘abstract expressiveness’ of the painting. He had insisted that it be displayed in a place of honor, and although Xudong was still none the wiser about what the painting was supposed to depicting, or what the new Cactus Expressionism movement was all about, he had done as the Earth King had commanded. Still, what would visitors say if they were to see a painting hanging crooked on the wall? You couldn’t have paintings hanging off-center everywhere you looked. That was hardly befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven.
He stepped forward to carefully adjust it one more time, and now it hung at a perfect right angle. Satisfied, he allowed himself a small nod of approval. That was much more like it.
The Earth Kingdom Royal Palace was one of the great sights of Ba Sing Se, which, of course, meant that it was one of the greatest sights in all the world. A palace of nine thousand rooms had been designed, with its main buildings facing south and the whole complex arranged on a north-south axis. When the collection of materials for its construction began, vast quantities of the hardwood nanmu tree were transported five thousand li from the Guan Bao province. Huge slabs of marble, one of which weighed two hundred ding, were quarried at Qihong and dragged to the site in winter, over surfaces of ice. The labor was provided by a quarter of a million convicts and conscripts, and by ten thousand craftsmen. All this was befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven.
Ever since he had been a little boy, the Earth King had been carried everywhere on a palanquin, for it was considered demeaning for the Son of Heaven to walk. Whenever they saw him, the eunuchs and attendants had kowtowed, kneeling and knocking their heads nine times on the ground as he went by. All this, too, was befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven – or, at least, it had been once upon a time. In celebration of his thirtieth birthday, Earth King Kuei had issued an edict decreeing that from now on, people only had to smile and give him a friendly wave.
Xudong had been extremely upset with him for that, but Huangdi Kuei had overruled his protests by pointing out that if it was good enough for Avatar Aang, it should be good enough for anyone, and besides, it was a lot harder for the servants to do their jobs if they were concussed. Now that he was out from under the thumb of that odious Long Feng, the Son of Heaven could be quite firm when he wanted to be, and so Xudong had hidden his dismay and promised His Earthiness that his wishes would be honored. Still, he couldn’t help but worry. Avatar Aang was polite enough, but the Beifong girl seemed dreadfully gauche. She had even given His Earthiness a nickname – and what was worse, His Earthiness seemed to like it!
‘King Dude’ was not a title befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven!
Still, Xudong had to admit to himself that things could always be worse. The Avatar and Miss Beifong at least seemed to have His Earthiness’ best interests at heart. But if they ever invited him along to one of those ghastly Earth Rumbles… well, Xudong would be writing a sternly worded letter to Xin Fu Entertainment Company Limited telling them exactly what he thought of that, make no mistake about it!
The delicate chimes of a clock startled Xudong out of his reverie. Oh, crumbs – he was late! Quickly, he hurried out of the drawing room, smoothing down his robes as he went.
A few minutes and one quick trip to the palace kitchens later, Xudong knocked on the door of the Earth King’s private study. Such was his agitation, he rapidly knocked on the door three times instead of knocking twice with gravitas. It was a nearly unforgivable breach of decorum.
“Come in, Xudong,” His Earthiness’ voice came from inside. He didn’t sound too angry, and Xudong breathed a sigh of relief. He took a deep breath to compose himself, but as he reached out to open the door, all that composure nearly went out the window as he noticed his shirtsleeves. It was eleven o’clock in the morning and he was wearing silver cufflinks!
Rangi, he was out of sorts today. There was nothing for it. He would just have to hope His Earthiness didn’t notice.
“Your morning tea, Your Earthiness,” he announced as he stepped into the room. He carried the tea-tray over to where the Son of Heaven was sitting at his writing desk and set it down silently. Doubtless, the Earth King was working hard on matters of state policy. In the few short years since the Hundred Year War had ended, His Earthiness had truly embraced the burdens and responsibilities of his station.
“Thank you, Xudong,” the young master said distractedly. “Will you join me?”
Once upon a time, it would have been unthinkable for Xudong to be present as the Son of Heaven partook of refreshments like any other mortal. Today, he only hesitated for a moment. “Of course, Your Earthiness.”
“Thank you,” King Kuei said. He cleared his throat before continuing. “The Oath of Tang says, ‘Then seek a great sage and join with him, using your strength and being of like mind, to bring order to the world.’”
Xudong’s heart swelled to see that the lessons His Earthiness had learnt as a young boy continued to stay with him now. Oh, if only the Earth Queen were still alive to see the man her son had become! She would be so proud of him. “It does, Your Earthiness.”
King Kuei cleared his throat again and sat up a little more in his chair. “As Earth King, I must play my part in bringing order to the world. In their wisdom, the spirits saw to it that I would become the Earth King – and in their mercy, they saw fit to afford me a second chance. It is clear what I must do now: I must seek a great sage and join with him to bring righteousness, justice, and liberty to the citizens of this great Kingdom.”
Xudong fought to keep his emotions under control. Steady on, old fellow. Stiff upper lip, there’s a good chap. “That sounds like an excellent idea, Your Earthiness.”
“Xudong,” King Kuei said commandingly, his voice ringing with authority. “I want you to bring me Mushi.”
For a moment, Xudong thought he had misheard His Earthiness. Or, at least, he hoped he had misheard His Earthiness. Or perhaps not. If he was going deaf, that would certainly make it more difficult to serve His Earthiness in a manner befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven.
“Mushi?” he asked with great trepidation.
“Yes, Mushi,” King Kuei repeated. “The short man with the gray beard. The one who plays Pai Sho with Bosco on weekends.”
It was only years of practice that allowed Xudong to keep a straight face and hide his dismay. “You mean retired general Iroh of the Fire Nation, Your Earthiness?”
“Is that a nickname?”
“… Yes, Your Earthiness.”
“Excellent,” King Kuei sat back in his seat and nodded to himself. “So, you know the man. Xudong, I want you to find this Mushi fellow and invite him to tea.”
“Forgive me, Your Earthiness,” Xudong broke in, unable to bite his tongue any longer. “But General Iroh is not a great sage.”
“Avatar Aang says he’s super smart and really wise.”
Xudong had to concede the point. Those were, indeed, Avatar Aang’s exact words.
“And besides,” King Kuei continued, “Doesn’t Mushi run a tea shop? And don’t all the books say that drinking tea is the mark of a person of great moral integrity and education who is well-versed in literature, the arts, and philosophy?”
“Yes, Your Earthiness,” Xudong admitted reluctantly. “That is what all the books say.”
“Well, there you have it,” King Kuei nodded again in satisfaction. “Long Feng never liked tea, you know.”
Xudong was very careful not to let his distaste show. He’d never liked the man, but His Earthiness had seemed pleased enough with his work, and besides, it was hardly a butler’s place to make such judgements. Still. Long Feng hadn’t liked tea, and nor had he shown any great fondness for the tsungi horn, either. It spoke volumes of the man.
As it stood, Xudong had no idea whether Master Iroh held any strong opinions on the tsungi horn one way or the other, but he didn’t feel particularly inclined to find out.
“If I may, Your Earthiness,” he tried a different approach. “Though General Iroh has gone to great lengths to atone for his past offenses – and has certainly been a vocal supporter of your government’s demands for reparations from the Fire Nation – there is still a minority amongst your subjects who are displeased with his presence in Ba Sing Se and show no compunctions in showing their disapproval. I fear that sending for him may spark unrest. Ehm – no pun intended.”
“What?” King Kuei frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that Master Iroh needed to have the front window of his tea shop repaired after the recent unrest.”
“No, not that,” King Kuei flapped his hand impatiently. “What do you mean, ‘no pun intended’?”
“Ah,” Xudong said. “I used the word ‘spark’, Your Earthiness. I was concerned that you might think I was being flippant.”
“Because you were talking about a firebender,” King Kuei nodded. “I see. And what was that about a tea shop getting their front window repaired?”
“Well, Your Earthiness, you may recall that the city recently held the first annual Ba Sing Se Pai Sho Tournament.”
“Of course!” King Kuei nodded proudly. “And Bosco made it to the quarterfinals!”
Xudong was aware that three of Bosco’s opponents had surrendered as soon as they had found out that they were due to face the Earth King’s pet bear, but he suspected that those technical victories were more due to Bosco’s intimidatingly sharp teeth than any talent Bosco may or may not have had for Pai Sho.
“Yes, Your Earthiness,” he agreed. “And as it happens, Master Iroh won the tournament. However, as he is originally from the Fire Nation, his victory was not particularly well-received with certain elements in the city.”
“Ha!” King Kuei laughed. “Good one, Xudong! I’ll have to use that one myself in the future.”
“Very good, Your Earthiness.” Xudong had no idea what the Son of Heaven was talking about, but he managed a polite smile all the same. “But if I may return to the matter at hand: the Jasmine Dragon tea shop needed to have their front window repaired after it was damaged by a group of miscreants protesting against General Iroh’s continuing presence in the city.”
“Oh,” King Kuei’s brow creased. “That seems like a rather unkind thing for them to do.”
“I quite agree, Your Earthiness.”
King Kuei tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. “Are they allowed to do that?”
“No, Your Earthiness,” Xudong said quite primly. “And they were promptly arrested for their troubles.”
“On what charges?” King Kuei’s eyes flashed, and he removed his glasses to fix Xudong with a hard stare. Ever since Long Feng’s treachery had come to light, the Son of Heaven had taken a much closer interest in how the law was enforced and justice was meted out in his great city.
“Criminal damage, Your Earthiness,” Xudong supplied obediently, “And causing a public nuisance.”
“And what was their punishment?”
“I believe Master Iroh asked that they attend three of the Five-Seven-Five Society’s poetry sessions as part of the rehabilitation process.”
“Aha!” King Kuei clapped his hands, looking very pleased. “You see, Xudong? That’s exactly the sort of concern for the education of our citizens that I would expect from a great sage!”
“Yes, Your Earthiness,” Xudong tried one more time, “But I feel that it would be remiss of me not to say that Master Iroh –”
“Oh, for Koh’s sake, Xudong, don’t be such a scaredy-crococat,” King Kuei said impatiently, and Xudong nearly fainted at the sound of such language. “I want to speak with Mushi and I want you to arrange it, and that’s that. We’ll invite him to tea sometime this week. Perhaps Shuǐyàorì evening?”
Xudong managed to recover himself and tried his best to remember the Son of Heaven’s schedule. “On Shuǐyàorì evenings, you have your night classes at Ba Sing Se University, Your Earthiness.”
“Some other time, then,” King Kuei waved his hand. “Now – onto other things. Would you like a cup of tea, Xudong?”
“Allow me, Your Earthiness,” Xudong said hastily. He shuddered to imagine what his father would say if he ever cared to look out from the Spirit World only to see the Son of Heaven serving the butler.
“I received correspondence from Avatar Aang this morning,” King Kuei announced, apropos of nothing. He gestured at his desk, and Xudong let his eyes flick down to the papers His Earthiness had doubtless been perusing before Xudong had interrupted his work. He thought he could identify the Avatar’s letter; it was likely the one written in orange ink.
“Avatar Aang has invited me to visit Kyoshi Island as part of a diplomatic exercise in strengthening the Earth Kingdom’s ties with our autonomous territories,” King Kuei continued as Xudong served him a cup of jasmine tea. “He also sent an egg custard tart. It got a bit bashed about on the journey, but it was still very good.”
“Oh,” Xudong said as he began to pour another cup for himself. He didn’t mean to sound so surprised, but in his experience, Avatar Aang wasn’t typically so interested in Earth Kingdom politics. “A diplomatic excursion to Kyoshi Island sounds like rather a good idea, Your Earthiness, if I may say so myself.”
“I agree,” King Kuei nodded vigorously. “And this whole part about riding the elephant koi sounds like terrific fun!”
Thirty-five years of experience meant that Xudong didn’t spill his tea over his robes, but it was a close thing. He managed a tight, stiff smile as he began mentally drafting a strongly worded letter to Master Oyaji of Kyoshi Island explaining which tourist activities were and were not befitting the dignity of the Son of Heaven. “That sounds like quite the adventure, Your Earthiness.”