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Breaking the seals and opening the case felt like damaging a historical artifact. Kyoshi kept as much of the wax’s original shape as she could and unfurled the scroll inside.
The writing was direct and to the point, devoid of the flourishes Earth Kingdom officials thought were necessary to curry favor with her. Lord Zoryu needed the Avatar’s assistance on a matter of national importance. If she would come visit the royal palace as his honored guest to celebrate the upcoming Festival of Szeto, a significant holiday in the Fire Islands, he could explain further in person.
“What does it say?” Jinpa asked.
“It’s an invitation to visit the Fire Nation.” A debut on the world stage. She swallowed the nervousness that had suddenly clumped in her throat.
Jinpa saw her hesitation and clasped his hands together, beseeching. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Avatar. The Four Nations aren’t going to let you remain out of the public eye forever. Please don’t tell me you’d snub the Fire Lord, of all people.”
Kyoshi mulled it over. She doubted the ruler of the Fire Nation would waste her time with a frivolous request for help. And her frustrations with her own country were threatening to push her past her breaking point. A change of scenery might be called for.
“And it’s a holiday festival,” Jinpa added. “You might even have fun. You are allowed to enjoy yourself from time to time, you know.”
Leave it to an Air Nomad to fall back on fun as the last argument. “You can write back and tell the Fire Lord I am honored to accept his invitation,” she said. “We’ll start planning the trip tomorrow. I don’t think I can handle any more business for today.”
Jinpa bowed solemnly, hiding his satisfaction that finally the Avatar was stepping up to her responsibilities. “No one needs their rest more than the Avatar.” He left the room for the office they’d set up down the hall.
Alone, Kyoshi stared at the cream-colored paper in silence. She hadn’t mentioned to Jinpa the portion of the letter that tipped the scales in favor of the visit.
It was a very specific piece of news at the end of the Fire Lord’s message. The former Headmistress of the Royal Academy had returned home after a long convalescence in Agna Qel’a, the capital of the Northern Water Tribe. So had her daughter. Perhaps the Avatar would like to see them, given the three had been acquaintances in Yokoya? They certainly wished to see her.
Acquaintances. Kyoshi didn’t know it was possible to feel such relief and distress at once. She wasn’t in the Fire Nation yet and already she could picture who was waiting for her, the walking blaze of pure heat and confrontation. In the darkness of her exhaustion, a point of shining light beckoned.
Rangi.
Kyoshi carefully folded the paper and tucked it into her robes, close to her thumping heart. Despite her secretary’s wishes, she was not going to be getting much sleep tonight.
PAST LIVES
Jinpa’s bison Yingyong had only five feet instead of the usual six. As a calf he’d been attacked by a predator and lost his left forelimb. As an adult, the injury caused him to list slightly to the side when he was flying, which required Jinpa to give a gentle tug with the reins in the opposite direction every so often to maintain a straight course through the air.
Kyoshi had gotten used to traveling in Yingyong’s arcs. Kelsang’s bison Pengpeng was busy raising calves of her own at the Southern Temple in a well-deserved retirement, and Kyoshi had never expected their relationship to be permanent. Pengpeng might have been willing to put up with her, may have even liked her, but only a single Air Nomad could truly partner with one of the great beasts for life.
She and Jinpa flew a little lower than usual on their way to the Fire Nation, close to the green waters of the Mo Ce Sea, where the air was warm and easy to breathe. The beautiful weather allowed it. Scoops of clouds drifted overhead in the blue sky, providing little pockets of shade for them to dip between.
If Kyoshi missed anything from those days after she fled Yokoya on Pengpeng’s back, it was these little in-between moments of travel. Most people would have assumed that floating on a bison with the breeze against her face was calming, but for Kyoshi, the upside was very different. Taking to the air gave her the assurance that for once, by default, she was doing the best she could. There weren’t any faster ways to get from one point to another than a sky bison. She had no other options to fret over.
An unsecured bag began to slide from one edge of the saddle to the other. Jinpa gave the reins another little yank, and Yingyong righted himself. Kyoshi caught the sack and tucked it under a lashing. “Is he okay?” she asked. “Does he need to rest?”
“Nah, he’s fine,” Jinpa said. “Lazy boy got distracted by a school of winged eels. Didn’t you, boy? Who’s a lazy, distracted boy with a poor attention span?” He gave Yingyong an affectionate scratch behind the ear. “But if you do want to stop, there’s an opportunity up ahead with an interesting piece of history. A small island where it’s said that Avatar Yangchen performed her first act of waterbending. Want to see it?”
She did, honestly. Kyoshi held an intense curiosity about one of the greatest Avatars in history, her predecessor from two generations ago. Yangchen was the woman who’d done everything right. She was the Avatar whom, to this day, was still invoked by people for protection and luck. Kyoshi often wished she understood Yangchen’s leadership like a real scholar. She’d been making do with her commoner’s knowledge of the blessed Air Avatar who’d successfully kept the world in balance and harmony.
She would study Yangchen’s work more the next time she returned to Yokoya. There had to be useful materials in the mansion’s great libraries. Right now, though, she was in a hurry. “We don’t need to land. I’ll take a look from above.”
“Of course, Avatar. I’ll let you know when it comes up.”
Kyoshi settled back into her seat. The letter under her jacket made a slight rasp against the fabric and a loud scrape against her nerves.
She hadn’t communicated with Rangi in a long time. Messenger hawks had trouble withstanding the extreme cold of the north, where her mother Hei-Ran had been recovering. As a new Avatar, Kyoshi was always on the move. The mansion was as far away from the Northern Water Tribe as a point in the Earth Kingdom could be. It seemed like the world had conspired to keep them apart and mute their voices.
She wanted to think about something else. Or talk to someone else. She still found it hard to make casual conversation with Jinpa, and a bison saddle was a large, empty seat for one person. She was more accustomed to fighting for space with at least four other people, jostling shoulders, complaining about whose breath stank from eating too much pungent food.
After a while she felt Yingyong turning into another roll, sharper this time. “So . . . where’s this island?” she asked Jinpa as she balanced herself against the rail. The sea was a flat sheet with nowhere to hide for a landmass.
Jinpa leaned into the circle and examined the water. “Hmm.
Everything I’ve read said it should be around here. I don’t see anything but that dark patch under the surface.”
