We flew a small fleet of sky boats towards the markets at the center of town. Of the boats that carried guards, clerks and a small assortment of servants, mine was mostly empty as it had been tasked to carry the food, supplies and additional purchases. Aside from Kassashimei and Ren Tzu, Ai had chosen to ride with us. She casually offered to fly the boat for me, but I declined as I felt that just having her company would be honor enough. I suppose, considering how much closer we were now, it wouldn’t have been any surprise at all that she had selected my boat out of all the others. Still, there must have been a reason, and it was revealed to me only after we had departed the ship.

"He's lying," Ai said quietly.

Her words had snapped a portion of my focus from the sky, and ever so slightly, I turned my ear towards her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Dae Jung. He was lying. Ren Tzu, I know you to be a good judge of character. Surely you would have noticed a strangeness in his words."

"I cannot judge whether or not the man's words were true or false," Ren Tzu said ", but I do know that he was too bold in his statement. He was confident in some of his words and in others he was not." 

"I never trusted that man anyways," Kassashimei added.

"Kass, you don't trust anyone." She must have felt that I was mocking her, because I heard her snort loudly.

"Not true," she said. "There are some people I trust. Those people I don't mention. It's just a lot more fun to talk about people you don't."

"Well I know for certain he was lying," Ai continued, "I overheard him speaking with the officers during one of their meetings."

Instantly, I knew the meaning of her words. "There is no political envoy is there?"

"No."

"So we're abandoning them? The people from the Eastern Kingdom?"

"Yes."

"Does the Young Emperor know of this?"

"Perhaps. I know he mourns over the loss of Master Ichiro and those that were injured terribly during the battle. He may very well be seeking safety for the princess by letting her go. Whether or not he had a part in it, it must be, that in his grief, he allowed Dae Jung to make the decision."

"Then Dae Jung really does want to get rid of her." I began turning the boat around. "I want to speak to the Young Emperor."

Ai stood up, and with her own abilities, forced the boat back to its original course. She intervened so quickly, that the boat shook violently. I lost my balance and fell backwards. Kassashimei yelped as I fell onto her lap. She made a fist and struck me on the head before shoving me aside.

"Patience Terr," Ai said. "Do not be so quick to draw attention to yourself. We will finish the task assigned to us first, and then afterwards we will speak to the Young Emperor."

We landed amidst a field of other small aircraft, a few looked similar to ours, but were powered with tiny steam engines and had iron tanks filled with the iconic levitating stones known as rose phasia. Most of the others who could not afford the expensive, but convenient mineral were tethered to the ground and equiped with large bags of hot air that bobbed lazily in the breeze. Ours must have looked bare, elegant in its simplicity compared to the other small boats over-burdened with puffing, howling engines and bags of air and smoke that reeked of charred and ashen coals.  

Onlookers watched our arrival with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment. Ai donned a beautifully decorated light, blue satin hat adorned with tassels hanging from its brim. With it, she covered her eyes and most of her face, as was tradition amongst any of us that appeared in public. Kassashimei and I put on ours as well. 

Ours were made of finely woven straw bleached until they were ghostly white and radiating from the center like flower petals were thick, red silk threads that curved around and along the rim.   

Ai, the clerks and servants as well as most of the guards marched down to the market to barter and purchase goods, leaving the children behind with the boats. Three of the guards remained, along with Ren Tzu, who took charge watching over us. 

Much of the afternoon passed with most of us in boredom. Dressed in our best robes and hiding our faces underneath the shadows of our wide-brimmed, gleaming hats we had become decorative symbols, representing the grandeur of the Imperial Family and thus, were forbidden from doing anything other than standing silently beside our boats. The family’s regal presence had to be maintained whenever we left the ship, even if we were doing nothing else, but simply standing idly about. 

But as I watched through the transparent screen woven into the top of my hat, I noticed that not everyone held such traditions in high respect.

Among the people we had ferried from the ship, was a single, particular monk whom I saw in the distance meandering about like a stray dog, looking for its owner. He approached a number of foreigners asking them for something. I suppose he was asking for directions, because one man responded by pointing his finger towards a certain place in town. How strange it was to see a monk wandering alone, separated from the party that had already left for the market hours ago. He nodded to the stranger, then with haste in his step shuffled back to us. 

"I apologize for the urgency," the monk said to Ren Tzu, "but I must take a sky boat immediately to the other side of town." 

Ren Tzu remained in stalwart silence. My guardian was always careful not to waste words. He would not bother to ask the man why. Instead, he would allow the monk, in his growing uneasiness to explain himself.

"Dae Jung has requested that I fetch something for him," the monk continued timidly. "He commanded that I do this with discretion, so I'm sure you would understand if I don't inform you of the details. Now, I must take a sky boat."

"I will take him," Lai said suddenly.

Ren Tzu looked over his shoulder at the young man who seemed all-too-anxious to carry out the monk's request. Ren Tzu gave a slight, approving nod. 

With little time wasted, Lai and Etsu quickly took their impatient passenger to the air and headed towards the other side of town.

As I watched their silhouette float away, I felt Ren Tzu's hand grasp my shoulder. I immediately gave him my full attention.

He said in a strong, but calm voice, "we must follow them."

"You think there‘s something suspicious about him, don’t you?" I said.

My guardian nodded. "Monks carry out the duties, which are assigned to them by their religion and by their scared orders. Like the one you belong to. Dae Jung represents neither. Ai and Master Ichiro are the only people of proper authority allowed to direct them."

"Then why is he carrying out an order from Dae Jung?"

"He is not. His voice quivered. Monks do not quiver or act unsurely of themselves. He is lying."

"Then he is carrying out an order from someone else," Kassashimei said in earnest. "Ren Tzu is right. Let's follow them."

Ren Tzu ordered the guards to remain while the three of us boarded our boat and proceeded in the same direction as the monk. We traveled for what felt like an hour, searching ahead and the buildings below before we landed in a large alley where we found Lai and Etu's boat. 

It was empty. The three occupants were no where to be found.

"Abandoned," Ren Tzu said. Then he pointed to the wooden pedestal at the bow where Lai's tamma still remained. To leave such an important object behind. . .  something terrible must have happened or at the very least, they left with great urgency. 

We decided to search for them on foot. In our haste, Kassashimei and I momentarily forgot the importance of our customs, and it was Ren Tzu who stopped us before we left the alley and held out our hats. Reluctantly, we donned them upon our heads and proceeded out onto the streets. 

The walkways were covered with strings of people meandering about. All of them wore western style suits and long dresses tied and decorated with frills and lace. Some wore coats made of heavy furs like the one I had seen the Premier wear in Watersbe. Through the transparent screen in my hat I could see their eyes, staring at us in the same cautious, untrustworthy manner as Miss Nishio had done whenever unruly soldiers visited her tea house. I had never felt more out of place than at that moment.

"Stay close," Ren Tzu said quietly. 

Walking beside him, I stole several glances at the sword tied to his hip. I had never seen it up close before. The obsidian-colored sheath seemed smoothed to a fine gloss that glimmered against the afternoon sun like water, yet to the touch it was rippled and rough to assure a firm grip. The imperial crest was emblazoned in the center, carved and painted gold. The blade itself remained a mystery to me. I had recalled only seeing it in the shortest of moments during the few times my guardian saw it necessary to draw his weapon. To me, it was both menacing and elegant, and to find myself near its presence brought a reassuring feeling of comfort and safety that I doubted I could find anywhere else. 

Searching through the endless mass of people was most certainly a challenge, but it did not take long before we saw a small group of individuals, clothed much the same as us, exiting from a building across the way. We immediately knew it was them. The sign above the building entrance was written in a language I could not understand. Ren Tzu however, indicated that he could read the words quite well.

"We've been betrayed," he said.

Kassashimei and I followed as he shouldered his way through the crowd. Lai, Etsu and the monk made their way down the street away from us. The monk had Etsu by the hand. He seemed to be forcing her along while Lai stayed close. Though he was some distance away, I could see a strange look of indifference upon his face.  

At some point, the monk glanced over his shoulder and realized our presence. Pulling the other two along he ducked into an alley. As we rounded the turn we found them gone. Kassashimei and I searched our surroundings while our guardian stepped ahead slowly, his sword at the ready. 

Before long, we heard Etsu scream. Ren Tzu darted towards the sound deep into the alley and rammed open a door with his shoulder. Both Kassashimei and I ran in a moment later, finding ourselves inside of a warehouse and surprised to see the monk clashing swords with our guardian. The sickly screech and clanging metal echoed as both pitted their skills against each other. The monks robe came loose, revealing a uniform underneath.

It was the uniform of Princess Xiangfeng's Royal Guard.