If ever there was a moment on the Emperor's Airship I remembered most, it was when the ship took flight. For upon the empire's divine vessel, there were ceremonies and traditions that needed to be attended to. Several hours before departure, the monks prayed and blessed every deck with the sweet smells of incense and scented oils. 

There was a brass signal bell the size of a small house at the center of the main deck, which had detailed images of valleys and mountains molded all along its surface as well as pictures of the sun goddess and the moon god looming along the edge of the base. A mighty hammer was used to sound the bell three times: once to signal that the monks had finished their spiritual preparations, the second to announce that the captain and his men were ready, and a third and final ring to acknowledge that the emperor had given his decree to cast his feet from the earth and make haste for the skies above. 

All but the third ring had been made by the time the rest of the children and I had been ushered above deck to witness the launching. The shyo mu, whose job was to observe the weather, announced that all was clear and calm before heaven’s grace and the chienkuu ko in the glass bubble of the ritual room below rang a chime-like gong that sounded throughout the voice pipes, a sign that they too were ready. Though the children in the ritual room would be tasked with flying the ship, there was an honor to be had among us that was unique only to the emperor's vessel; and that was the chienkuu ko who would stand at the very bow and commit us into the air. For Ai, this was a moment solely bestowed to her. 

The Young Emperor, surrounded by his court, took his seat upon a throne made of brass and mahogany at the highest point of the deck just below the bridge tower. The rest of us stood in orderly rows as Ai, escorted by Master Ichiro, the Boar, regally made her way to the very edge of the bow. 

Secretly, and with much anticipation, I’d been eagerly waiting to watch her perform the elegant motions that I’d seen her do the other day. From the moment I’d witnessed her dance-like movements, I’d felt overtaken, perhaps even weakened by her enchanting aura. However, such a thing was not to happen, for before the Young Emperor gave word to sound the third bell, his voice called out for me. 

"That boy over there, bring him here," he said, pointing in my direction. 

His guards escorted me to his throne, while his court regarded me with stern, judging eyes. A few of the court maidens whispered curiously to each other as if wondering what sort of mischief I’d done to warrant the Young Emperor's attention. He motioned for me to come, and cautiously, as I approached, he held up a golden fan, hiding both our faces as he whispered. 

"The Emperor wishes to know your name," he said.

"My name is Terr, your imperial highness," I answered. 

"Terr, you’ve seen the Emperor's true self, and now, the Emperor wishes to see yours." 

The Young Emperor commanded Ai to step down. She bowed as she humbly conceded her place to both Kassashimei and I. There were some murmurs of doubt among the adults, for the honor of launching the Empire's divine air vessel had always been the charge of the most senior and skilled of us all. Though the request seemed unorthodox, no one questioned the Young Emperor's decision. 

With great care, the Boar mounted my tamma on the pedestal while Ai seated Kassashimei on a small, raised platform behind me. The circle I stood upon was nothing more than a round, smooth wooden board that sat at the very edge of the bow, overlooking the ground below. I shivered in nervous anticipation as the only thing that protected me from slipping over the side was a small railing of metal posts and chains. 

As I looked back at Kassashimei, I noticed that her eyes were avoiding me. She seemed haunted by something she was ashamed of, perhaps some feeling that arose during that evening we shared in the store room. I held my arm, displaying the prayer beads upon my wrist. I was certain that she would be pleased, that I had not forgotten the symbol of good fortune she’d given me. She nodded hesitantly before I turned my attention back towards the bow. 

The Boar was standing to the side with an expression of such certainty, that I felt emboldened, and even started believing that both his and my confidence were the same. However, such feelings were short-lived, for when the third bell rang, I immediately felt such a sickening rush of anxiety, I was afraid my shaking legs would give out and I would fall to the ground like a sheared stalk of wheat.

Ai had already disappeared below decks, and seeing her gone so quickly, humbled what remained of my spirit. When I looked over my shoulder at the rest of the students behind me, I found them frozen like statues with brightly colored eyes glowing in anticipation, as my place of honor at the farthest tip of the ship, somehow justified my skills as being equal to Ai herself. My cheeks grew hot as I wondered what I should do next. 

"Terr," Kassashimei said quietly. "It doesn‘t do us any good to show your fear."

I nodded, then shook the beads on my wrist as I faced the daunting sky. 

"It would please the Young Emperor if you would take the ship to the air now," Dae Jung called out from across the way, his voice tinged with a bit of impatience. 

I went through my motions, scanning my surroundings with my second sight as I formed an empty sphere around the ship, pressing back against the invisible ether. The ship responded with a heavy groan, as if waking from a deep slumber. I felt the entire weight of metal and wood beneath my feet slowly begin to loosen from the earth, and then teeter ever so slightly from side to side. Then all at once, the invisible bindings that kept us shackled to the ground were released and like paper to a gentle breeze, we floated skyward. We drifted lazily at first, hardly the height of the tallest reaches of a tree. The muffled bark of the steam engines hummed to life, and then, like a crane scaling the wind, the ground dropped away and we took to the waiting, distant clouds. 

I was intensely proud. 

Never had I launched a ship so smoothly. Like an artist confident in his brush strokes, my body moved in a way that I felt was natural and unhindered. The will of the ether seemed to bend at the slightest motions of my arms. Kassashimei was so in tune with my forms that I almost believed that she was reading my mind rather than my body. 

Such perfection at first surprised me, then after a while, it began to worry me. It wasn‘t long before I came to realize the truth. 

I was not the one moving the ship. 

"I know it was you," I said to Ai as she gathered the children and I for training the next day. 

Ai regarded me firmly, as if with her blind eyes, she could see the stern expression on my face. She then told Lai, whom she had made the senior of our group, to take everyone above deck and lead them in breathing and stretching exercises. After everyone had left, she took Kassashimei and I to the ritual room and politely asked us to sit down on the wooden benches in the back near a peaceful looking monk who was supervising the two children on duty. 

"You knew it was me?" she asked.

"I did," I answered. "The way the currents changed; the way the ether ebbed and flowed, it was too perfect. I know the flaws in Kassashimei's skills. I see them whenever we perform, whenever we’re on the sky boats. They weren’t there on the day we launched."

"Terr, what are you talking about?" Kassashimei asked.

"And you should have known Kass. Couldn't you see that you and I were not in control of the ship? How could you not have known?"

Surely she must have noticed, but all I saw was a face that was utterly clueless. Though she tried to hide it, her reddened cheeks and sullen eyes made her that much easier to read. Knowing that she was one to never back down from an accusation, I expected her to speak her mind, but after a short moment, and to my surprise, she turned her head away in defeated silence. 

"I will give my life for the emperor," Ai said in a soft, but stern voice ."Can you say the same? Can you say that with sincerity, with every fiber of your heart and soul? You can’t can you? Until you can, until you are willing to die for the divine leaders of our nation, then you do not deserve the honors granted me. That is why I went below to this very ritual room yesterday and launched the ship myself. That is a task given to me by Dae Jung and no one else. You have only earned what I have granted you. Nothing more. 

The Young Emperor does not yet know any better. He still has a few more years to grow and mature, before the burden of a nation can be placed on his shoulders. Until then, whatever the Young Emperor wishes of you will only be carried to the satisfaction of both Dae Jung and I."

"That Ai, such a pompous idiot," Kassashimei growled that evening in our quarters. "She pretends to be better than you, and you just stand there and take it."

"If I remember," I said, lying down on my futon. "You didn't say anything. You just stood there with that dumb, sad look on your face. Besides, the Young Emperor doesn't know what happened. The more I think about it, the more that I'm glad she launched the ship instead of us." 

"I suppose you want her to spoon feed you too? Maybe hold your hand when we're on the main deck so you don't fall off?" Kassashimei sat up from her futon, rolling a small handful of beads in her hand. I suspected it was another one of her superstitious rituals. 

"Of course not. I just don't want to make anyone angry. It is our duty to do whatever she and Dae Jung pleases."

She flung the beads in my face. 

I sat up and glared at her, but she’d already laid herself down and turned her back towards me, all the while giving an accusing grunt. 

"You're weak if you think that following the commands of self-centered people will make our lives any better."