I did not cry, but I was surprised, shaken by a mixture of sadness, anger and regret.

"You stupid, worthless child," she said sharply. "Your sister gave up everything for you, including her life; and this is how you honor her? She gave you a chance to learn in the finest school in the Empire, to serve in the Imperial court, and you tossed it away because you let your anger and your pride get the better of you.

Do you think that Rune is the only village suffering right now? The plague is all over the country. Hundreds of people are dying everyday and yet, you selfishly think that you are the most unfortunate of them all.

You are lucky to be alive. And you are even more lucky that I do not toss you out onto the street. If Master Hotaka had asked me to give back the money the temple paid me for finding and delivering you, I would have already done it. Both he and Master Ichiro have asked that I save what little future you have as a chienkuu ko in return for allowing me to keep the earnings. I will train you, and you will work hard. Honor your sister. Do not shame everything she has done for you."

Her words rang like ripples upon a pond, shattering every hope I had of ever seeing my sister again. Confused, wrecked and torn, I knew at that moment of only one thing; that somehow I must pickup the pieces one by one, and see what kind of person I would become.

Kassashimei had not said anything. Nothing at all. What could she say? Even as the servant led us to our rooms on the third floor, she kept silent, like a solemn priestess at a funeral procession. We were given separate rooms. Mine was hardly larger than a closet. It was drab and filled with dust, a sign that it hadn‘t been used in quite sometime.

I laid on my futon, nursing the sting on my cheek as I looked up at the ragged, wooden ceiling, barely able to think. My sister, my village, everything that I had known or held dear was gone. What lay before me still lay hidden, shrouded by the whims of an uncertain fate.

I heard the faint patter of footsteps approaching my room. The light from the hallway lit the outline of a girl’s silhouette against the paper and wood door. It was Kassashimei.

"Terr, I wanted to tell you that I knew you weren't going to cry. Even when she slapped you, you didn’t give in, " she said in what sounded like the first caring voice I’d heard since leaving the temple. "I take back everything I said about you being a coward. I would have broken down in an instant if I knew my family was gone. And don't you dare worry about me, or apologize for everything that has happened. I never liked that drafty temple or its teachers. Besides, I have a feeling that being around you is going to be a lot more interesting."

She stood there for a long while, perhaps wondering if I was going to reply. But after a few more silent moments she wished me good night, then scuffled away.

Morning in the capital was nothing like the temple. The ringing of the sunrise bell, the hustle and shuffling sounds of students waking up, the morning caller, making his rounds as he rang his chimes and called out the hour of the rabbit; none of that happened. Instead, I woke up to an eerie silence, one that seemed so still, I could almost hear the dust settle.

For a moment, I thought that I was still dreaming.

Then, as if someone knew that I was awake, the sound of footsteps rustled to my door. I gave a start at the snapping sound the door made as it swiftly slid open. It was the servant woman. She immediately pulled away my bedding and told me to get up.

I did exactly as she told, but she continued to regard me with a very impatient look on her face.

"Well?" she said. "Do you expect me to clean up after you? Put away your bedding."

I was startled again by the snap of her voice and, feeling embarrassed, did as she commanded. She put down a new set of clothes and proceeded back towards the hallway.

"Open the window. Get some air in here. Brush yourself off. You look like you slept in a dirt pile. After you get dressed, come down stairs, and don't forget your tamma."

My new clothes were hardly new. They looked worn and heavily used. The loose-fitting, dark blue trousers and shirt were both made of cotton and had lighter patches where the color had faded from long exposures to the sun. The only decoration was a bright blue tiger lily sewn onto the left breast. Though the clothes were hardly pristine and looked extremely old, they were clean and seemed well taken-care of for their age.

Kassashimei met me down stairs on the second floor where she too was dressed in the same clothes. She had her familiar annoyed look on her face, one which I had come to know quite well. An elderly girl, dressed as a waitress stood behind her, hastily tying her hair into buns.

Someone took me by the arm and yanked me to the side. Again it was the servant woman. She forced me still and studied my appearance.

"You will call me Madame Quoli, or Madame," she said. "Do you understand me?"

I nodded, but she tilted her head, unconvinced.

“Yes Madame, I understand,” I said.

She maintained her doubtful look, then turned her attention to the elderly girl.

"Meng, hurry with her hair. They leave in a few minutes."

"Yes Madame," the elderly girl said.

Madame Quoli glanced disapprovingly at me before leaving the room.

"You need to show her a lot more respect than that," Meng whispered.

"Why should I?" I replied.

"Haven't you been listening? She's a Madame. That means she's a tea house mistress, the mistress to this tea house, second only to Miss Nishio."

"I thought she was just a servant woman."

"I thought so too," Kassashimei said. "She dresses so plain. She certainly doesn't look like a business owner."

"She dresses however she pleases. Miss Nishio trusts her with handling the money and organizing the nightly events. She doesn’t appear in public much, except to discuss business deals with other clients. Miss Nishio is the true face of this tea house. So, unlike Madame Quoli, she has to dress up nice and appear presentable to all the guests."

"And here I thought she was a fortune teller," I added.

"And she's a tea house owner, and a minor government official and a seeker who finds children like you. She has many identities, some secret, some known to the public. Some say she’s the most powerful woman in the city. But if that were true, I imagine she would be able to afford a much more luxurious tea house than this broken down old building."

Meng motioned at the stains on some of the walls and at some of the mendings and patches on the paper doors where the fabric had torn and the wood frames had snapped.

Kassashime grunted, sounding hardly impressed. "So the mistress disguises herself as a servant and the owner pretends to have other identities. I guess that means you're not a tea house waitress. For all we know, you might be the Emperor's daughter."

Meng laughed. "No, I'm not anyone special I'm afraid. I'm just a live-in servant. The other waitresses, the cook, even the musicians, they all make enough money to live in their own apartments, but I won't be able to afford a place of my own until I pay back my dues to Madame Quoli. My parents couldn’t afford to raise me, so they sold me to her when I was five. I’ve been paying off my debt to her ever since."

"Oh how tragic," Kassashimei said teasingly.

"And I suspect your life has been so privileged," Meng said, offended by the girl’s tone.

"Why yes it has. As a matter of fact, Terr and I come from the Imperial Temple, where we’ve been living the life of royalty for the past couple months. I come from a family who are among some of the most honored priests and priestesses in the country."

"Kass," I said interrupting her. "I don‘t think we‘re in any position to brag."

"And why not? I'm important, you're important. We’re both children of the sky. We make ships move through the air, we can see and change things that other people can't. We’re worth so much more than this waitress. Why we're even worth more than that hag you all call a madame."

Meng pulled at one of her hair buns, shutting her up just as Madame Quoli and Miss Nishio came into the room.

"Are you done with her hair?" Madame Quoli asked.

"Yes Madame," Meng replied glancing spitefully in Kassashimei's direction before gazing submissively at the ground. "She’s ready."

Following Miss Nishio, we left the tea house. Kassashimei and I wore horn hats this time, which were similar to the bamboo hats we donned the night before, except it had a much more narrow shape, and formed a long, curve-like cone towards the center. The brim was still exceptionally wide and it had a curious design as it curved downwards like an upside-down bowl. It was evident that the both of us felt awkward wearing them. Often, it felt like we were balancing a small umbrella on our heads. For our convenience, there was a small rectangular hole cut out of the hat just above our eyes, covered with a thin, translucent cloth that allowed us to see ahead. I was grateful for the added accessory, as it allowed me to take in the sights of the city without having my vision completely obscured.

Miss Nishio strolled beside us in a magnificent red-silk robe, which was adorned with white lilies and flowing wing-like leaves along its length. Her hair pins had strips of gold that dangled from tiny chains, which shimmered wildly in the morning light. Amongst the droll hustle of peasants and the bland, concrete color of some of the buildings, Miss Nishio stood out as quite a sight to behold, like a single flower perched atop a muddy potato field.

"Where are we going?" Kassashimei asked.

The smell of grilled fish and steamed rice tingled my senses and I suspected it had the same effect on her as well, because she asked, "are we going to eat breakfast?"

"No," Miss Nishio replied.

"And why not?" she asked defiantly.

"You may think that you’re special, but you are not. Do you know why? Because you do not possess the skills to make money. You are hardly even an apprentice. You should be grateful that I even considered feeding the both of you two meals a day, the same as Meng. Start making money, and I will think about adding a third."

"Then where are you taking us-"

"No more questions. Just stay with me and keep quiet."

Kassashimei seemed put off by Miss Nishio's tone. She lowered her head grudgingly, then vented her frustrations by giving me a quick shove. I gave an annoyed gasp, but did nothing more as I tried my best to stay obedient and submissive.

We boarded a rickshaw and rode to a carriage station further across the city. We then took the carriage to another district until we arrived at the airship docks.

It was there that I realized how small and insignificant Kassashimei and I truly were.

We stood on the edge of a wooden platform, which peered over a flat, paved piece of land far below that seemed to stretch far into the horizon. Littered in neat rows across this landing strip were almost a hundred airships, standing majestically like a herd of mighty animals puffing out clouds of steam and smoke. Above them were still more airships either circling, cruising or landing.

Until that moment, I’d always thought that I was part of a small, contained world. My life at the Temple and my home village had left me with only the narrowest insight as to how expansive the outside world was.

And then, standing out there at that moment, that very day, my eyes and my perception of things seemed to open just a little more. Presented with such enormity, I started to hope, or rather, dream, that I could somehow become a part of it all, however small that part might be.