Chapter 49: Mai and Ty Lee

After the clash with the Southern Water Tribe representatives, my journey to the capital was quite taxing. Azula decided not to hand all the prisoners over to the prison. Some of them remained in the hold of our ship. And I spent my days busy extracting information from them. During this process, they shared not only their knowledge but also, for example, teeth, fingernails, and other bodily parts. I knew how to torture, though I did not enjoy the process.

The idea that we should keep some of the prisoners on the ship wasn't proposed by me, or even Azula herself. It was the lieutenant, who watched with sadistic pleasure as the representatives of the Southern Water Tribe broke.

I did not allow Azula to take part in the extraction of information from the prisoners. It seemed to me that her psyche had been severely shaken lately. It was unknown how the sight of torture would affect her mental health. And she is still… a child to me. Smart, strong, but a child. Children shouldn’t see things like that.

Simply killing a person by striking them with lightning and painstakingly, methodically torturing them are completely different things.

Surprisingly, I didn't dirty my hands for nothing. I learned interesting information: the location of a secret prison for Fire Nation soldiers. That is, it turns out that in the eyes of the members of the Southern Water Tribe, I truly am a monster, a demon, because I killed an opponent not only during the fight but after he had already been defeated. They, themselves, had been handing captured Fire Nation representatives over to this very prison.

After listening to the report on where the prison was located and the approximate number of soldiers confined there, Azula mused thoughtfully:

“The plan is starting to come together more or less. You worked well, Long. It’s a good thing you handled this personally. Interrogators in prisons would have taken a very long time to extract such vital information, if they were able to do so at all.”

This "good work" had a downside: my reputation among the ordinary soldiers dipped slightly. They started to fear me. But the lieutenant… He practically idolized me now. Sometimes I think that the number of psychologically healthy people among the officer corps of the Fire Nation army is distressingly low. I'm not even sure of Ozai's sanity… The main thing is not to look in the mirror, lest I catch the eye of the most mentally deranged person in this world.

Princess Azula followed the Fire Lord's order: she did not appear in the capital. She literally did not step off her ship. She sent soldiers with a message to the people she needed.

A few hours later, a palanquin appeared in the port, which was obviously carrying a person of status. Not only members of the royal family used this mode of transport, but also much of the Fire Nation elite, which most likely included Princess Azula's friends. She had once mentioned that she studied with them at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. They don't take people off the street into this educational establishment. Children of commoners receive their knowledge in regular schools, usually mixed, without gender separation.

A young girl, who appeared to be roughly the princess's age, emerged from the palanquin, pushing aside the curtain. She was slightly taller than Azula, but significantly thinner. Her sharply defined cheekbones practically screamed the girl's thinness. After a while, Azula’s friend boarded the ship, holding a scroll with the message. Boredom and a hint of irritation were etched on the aristocrat’s pale face. It didn't look like she wanted to be here at all.

“I’m glad to see you, Azula,” the girl said, utterly devoid of joy in her voice. “Why did you call me?”

At such blatant behavior from the princess’s friend, many soldiers aboard the ship were stunned; some even opened their mouths in surprise. A few began praying to the spirits for the soul of the "foolish girl," as the princess's temper was relatively well-known to them. But Azula, to everyone's surprise, only smiled faintly at her friend's words.

“You haven’t changed at all, Mai.”

“Was I supposed to?” the girl, whom Azula called Mai, asked with the same bored look. “We last saw each other not that long ago.”

“A couple of months passed,” Azula noted.

“Did it? Fine… So, why did you call?” Asking again, the princess's friend crossed her arms over her chest.

I heard a faint chime. I immediately stepped in front of the princess and signaled the soldiers to surround her friend. I should have noticed this earlier. Mai was slightly hunched, which was odd for a person of her background. Additionally, her gait seemed too heavy. A girl's step is usually lighter, different from a man's. And then that barely audible chime… This girl was simply laden with a pile of weapons hidden beneath her voluminous robes. That was why she was slightly hunched and walking quite heavily, in my opinion. She was conserving energy.

“It is very impolite to board a princess's ship with a pile of weapons on your body.”

My words surprised Mai for only a moment. Then, she hid her gaze behind her fringe. Incidentally, her hairstyle was not entirely standard. Mai’s hair was gathered in two buns on top of her head, with the rest falling below her shoulders.

She slowly reached toward the sleeve of her robe. I almost engulfed her in a wave of flame, but Azula managed to grab my arm. The girl extracted a throwing knife. Tilting her head to the side, she asked Azula:

“Did you tell him about my hobbies?”

“No,” the smile on the princess’s face became more noticeable, “Long is just a very capable Captain. So much so that I consider him my right hand. Try not to be angry at him, Mai. Long served as Lu Ten’s bodyguard for some time, so every now and then, his old instincts kick in to protect his charge, whom he habitually considers to be a person of royal blood.”

“It’s still not normal, Princess, to allow a stranger onto the ship who is weighed down by that much weaponry,” I spoke quietly so only Azula herself could hear. I think I managed to convey all my displeasure through my tone.

“Thank you for your concern, Long.” It truly was concern on my part. I didn't want to lose Azula, on whom I had placed my bet. “But Mai is my friend.”

Next, the princess addressed Mai herself:

“Don't you want to go for a bit of a trip? Aren't you tired of sitting around the capital?”

“Where are we going for this trip?”

“To the Earth Kingdom. I have some small business there, and I will need your help in carrying it out.”

Azula’s friend didn’t even bother to clarify anything, just nodded, agreeing to accompany the princess. She only requested one day to gather her things, which we had to spend in the capital port.

“Mai,” the smile disappeared from the princess’s face. Azula's voice became displeased and slightly petulant. “Do you know where Ty Lee is? I sent a messenger with a letter to her, just like I did to you, but he was sent back, told that Ty Lee isn't home right now. And even her parents don't know where she is at the moment.”

“She left home. She wrote to me once that she no longer wanted to be one of many. She wants people to see her as an individual, and other such nonsense… Now, apparently, she’s traveling with some circus. But I’m not sure. Her letter was too long and expressive. It tired me out. I just burned it without reading to the end.”

“A circus… I think I know where she is,” Azula nodded to herself, and then directed her gaze at me. “Long, find out where the best circus in the Fire Nation is currently performing. Her skills should be enough to get her into it.”

An aristocrat went to work in a circus? The princess's friends were very strange individuals…

The universally acknowledged best circus in the Fire Nation, according to the official schedule I obtained, was due to perform for three consecutive days in Fire Fountain City. One of the country's industrial settlements, whose main attraction was a statue of a bender that shot fire from his hands and mouth. A pointless waste of resources, but it seems this city could afford such a thing.

The journey to the necessary island, where Fire Fountain City was located, took a day. We managed to arrive just in time for the last day of the circus performance. I hoped the princess's friend truly would be in this circus and that the precious time wouldn't be wasted.

At first, they apparently didn't want to let us under the circus tent, as the performance was already underway, and it didn't look like we had tickets. But one of the guards recognized Princess Azula and bowed deeply, managing to bark at his younger partner to urgently run for the manager.

We had only just reached the tent when the agitated and slightly pale circus manager came out to us.

“How may I assist such an honored guest?” he asked the princess after bowing, completely ignoring her entourage.

“Not yet,” Azula replied and stepped forward.

I forcibly pushed the manager, who became even paler, out of her way and opened the tent flap, following immediately behind Azula and Mai.

The performance was indeed in full swing. And despite it being the third day the circus was in this city, all the seats were occupied. Along the edges of the circus arena, a dozen people were skillfully juggling everything from ordinary balls to knives and burning torches. In the center, several men and women performed various acrobatic tricks. But the attention of most spectators was not directed at the arena. Many people watched the aerial acrobats performing under the circus dome, holding their breath.

I immediately guessed who we had traveled all this way for. One girl stood out against the backdrop of the other aerialists. The tricks she performed were much more complex, her body far more flexible, and she possessed greater endurance and strength, for even despite the more difficult stunts, a smile never left her face.

We were late and arrived almost at the end of the circus show. Soon, the girl, whose name was most likely Ty Lee, began to descend into the arena in a spinning hoop, waving hello to all the spectators who were showering the circus performers with applause. For a second, her gaze caught sight of us, the people standing near the entrance. The smile on the girl's face wavered. Ty Lee clearly recognized her friends.

I felt a slight jab of an elbow in my side.

“Don't stare at other girls,” Azula said, slightly jealous, realizing that Mai wasn't paying attention to us.

“I wouldn't dream of it, Princess,” I answered her with perfect honesty.

Azula watched me with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, then snorted and directed her gaze back to the arena, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ll believe you this time,” the princess said.

“Did you say something, Azula?”