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Kyoshi closed her eyes against the deep ache. She’d only found out by proxy what had happened at the mansion. “Are there more details?”
“The investigators sent by the Earth King believe that it was an act of revenge by a daofei group. Somehow they found out about an important gathering of sages and decided to strike with a level of brazenness that has never been seen before.”
Rangi’s mother had to have fallen by the same means. And Kyoshi didn’t know who among her former coworkers was still alive. She didn’t know if Auntie Mui was alive. She had to go back to Yokoya as soon as possible.
“What have you heard from Qinchao?” she asked.
Jinpa scrunched his face. The poor monk was taxed by having so much bad news pass through his ears. As a pacifist, he wasn’t used to this level of death and mayhem. “The officers found Master Jianzhu’s body. A couple of witnesses have corroborated your story, that a young man killed him in cold blood. But many of the townsfolk aren’t convinced of your innocence. Nearly all of them maintain that you destroyed the teahouse.”
Kyoshi hadn’t told anyone that it was Yun who’d avenged his own death. Looking back, she was barely certain of it herself. The encounter had been as surreal as the one in the mining town where she thought he’d perished. In both cases she’d seen an entity she had no hope of understanding.
“That’s all right,” she said. “I doubt I’ll be bothering the Chins again anytime soon. Is that the last of the news?”
“Ah, no. Master Jianzhu’s death came with a complication.”
Although it would have been entirely inappropriate, she nearly burst out laughing. Sure. What was another complication, added to the pile?
“It seems that several close associates, including the Earth King and the King of Omashu, held copies of his sealed last will and testament to be opened on the event of his death. It named the Avatar as the inheritor of his entire estate.”
Kyoshi brushed the revelation off. “He was training Yun to be his successor in protecting the Earth Kingdom. It makes sense.”
The monk shook his head. “The will refers to you by name, Avatar Kyoshi. Master Jianzhu sent the copies by messenger hawks only a few weeks ago. In the documents he confesses to his great mistake in wrongly identifying the Avatar and beseeches his colleagues to give you their full support, as he posthumously does. His lands, his riches, his house—they’re yours now.”
Kyoshi had to stop and marvel at how Jianzhu persisted in his methods from beyond the grave. It was so like him to assume the privilege of a sudden course reversal, to think correcting a mistake was the same thing as making amends. In his will, Jianzhu expected that, at his behest, the world would see events the way he did.
“Let me guess,” Kyoshi said. “While those documents completely settled the matter of whether or not I’m the Avatar, now people think I murdered him to inherit his wealth.”
Jinpa could only raise his arms in helplessness. “It is unusual that he was with you in Qinchao instead of his home so soon after the poisoning.”
The other members of the Flying Opera Company would have found it funny. At least getting bequeathed the mansion didn’t violate the daofei oaths she’d taken. She had every intention of keeping to the same Code as her sworn family members, living and dead.
She went silent as they resumed their walk. It was said that each Avatar was born in fitting times, to an era that needed them.
Judging by its start, the era of Kyoshi would be marred by uncertainty, fear, and death, the only gifts she seemed capable of producing for the world. The people would never revere her like they did Yangchen or smile at her like they did Kuruk.
Then let it be so, she thought. She would fight her ill fortune, her bad stars, and protect those who might despise her to the very end of her days.
They reached her quarters. Kyoshi had told the monks she’d be perfectly fine sleeping in the same plain cells as the rest of the pilgrims, but they’d insisted on giving her the room reserved for the Avatar’s current incarnation. It was more of a vast hall by her standards. Orange columns held the ceiling up, giving it the impression of an indoor grove, and the dark wooden floor was carpeted with fine bison wool, naturally shed and woven into patterns of Air Nomad whorls. There were stations for meditative exercises, including a reflective pool and a blank stone surface surrounded by vials of colored sand.
“Is there anything else you need right now, Avatar Kyoshi?” Jinpa asked.
As a matter of fact, there was. “I noticed Master Kelsang’s name in various registers around the temple,” she said. “But in a lower place of honor than his experience would suggest.”
“Ah, apologies, Avatar, but that’s an issue of Air Nomad practices. You see, it’s customary to maintain a level of separation between those who’ve taken a life, directly or indirectly, and those who have remained spiritually pure. It applies to names and records as well.”
So it was a matter of Kelsang being unclean. That was how the Air Nomads had interpreted his efforts to save coastal villagers from the depredations of pirates. She wondered where her mother’s name would be in the Eastern Air Temple. Perhaps buried in the ground with the refuse.
She looked at Jinpa’s round, innocent expression. Her exploits at Zigan hadn’t reached here yet. She thought about how fully in control she’d been when she let Xu fall.
“I’d like Master Kelsang’s name restored to its regular esteemed status,” Kyoshi said. The casual imperiousness came so easy to her. She hated every inch it pushed her toward behaving like Jianzhu. But it was such an effective tool in her arsenal, enhanced by her dreadful reputation.
“The council of elders won’t be pleased,” Jinpa said, hoping that she’d back down.
“But I would be,” Kyoshi replied. “In fact, a statue would be nice.”
He was young and savvy enough to understand the level she was operating at. He chuckled in resignation. “As you wish, Avatar Kyoshi. And if you have further requests, let me know. It’s the least my compatriots and I can do after failing to come to your assistance for so long. We were unfortunately in the dark, along with the rest of the world.”
Kyoshi tilted her head. “The Air Nomads weren’t to blame for my troubles.”
