Long Feng

"Your grace." Pleaded the man below the throne, a perfect 100 feet away from the first steps as he fell to his knees to attract as much sympathy as he could from the Earth King's court, no, my court. "My farms are burning. My livestock have been slaughtered. My wife has been raped and murdered, my children taken for slaves."

I knew he was lying the moment he began to speak. I could see it in the way he moved in the beginning. The more grandiose his lie, the more he hid his face. Now he was on his knees, torso to the ground, facing nothing but the floor as he attempted to milk whatever sympathy he could from the king, but he was barking up the wrong tree. It wasn't the Earth King who would decide this man's fate. Not if I could help it.

The man continued with his plea. "All I ask for is a tract of land in the outer district to re-establish my livelihood. To get back on my foot. I would sell food to the city and the city only. We do need food now, with the war, do we not?"

"Yes. We do." Kuei agreed, disappointingly speaking without my go-ahead.

I leaned over to his ear and whispered "The man is lying your grace. He is just a slum-rat looking for free land. He lost nothing."

"Of course he's lost something" he replied, far louder than I'd hoped for. "If what you're saying is true, then he lost when he was born in the wrong part of the city. Our city needs food now more than ever with this war and he can be useful in alleviating this city's problems."

He stood up from his throne, that hideous chair that yet held so much power, and loud enough for the entire court to hear, declared "The thrones grants this man 100 acres to re-establish his livelihood. This war has taken away too many lives at the hands of the Fire Nation, but only through action and generosity can the wounds of this war be healed. I cannot give you back your family or your farm, but I can help you rebuild."

The man stuttered as he attempted to rise to his feet, only stumbling in the process and said "You-you're too gracious. But my wife-"

"Is dead." I interrupted. What more did the cretin want? "You heard your king. You have your land. You may go."

"Th-thank you, your grace. He bowed as he left, stumbling again as he made his way to leave, only remembering to resume his play at grief when he was near midway out of the throne room. Once again, despite my best effort, our king had been played for a fool.

Once the man was gone, and the Earth King moved to rise out of his throne, abandoning his court, I leaned over to him, saying "You shouldn't have given him that land. He was obviously lying. Now you've been played for a fool. He knows it. I know it. You know it. And your court knows it."

"They know I'm a generous King and right now, that's what we need. That land was unused. It's only reasonable to improve it."

"Yes. It is, but we should not be distributing valuable land to nameless peasants. The throne can make a profit off of the land and we'd be foolish to give it away for free."

"Money is the least of our concerns right now. There's an army at our walls and we're under attack. We cannot be focusing on grabs for power and money right now. Not when so much is at stake. I'm retiring for the night. The court is closed. Please announce it to those still waiting."

With that, he left, and I made the announcement as the massive doors to the throne room were shut and another day in the Earth Kingdom had ended.

I rushed to catch up with the King as he made his way towards his personal chambers, pushing my way past through his court, going their own ways about their evening lives, whether be it to parties, their own rooms or homes, or somewhere more nefarious. I knew the lives of the men, women, and children that spent their time in the presence of the king. There was Count Keinu, Count of the Banking district, overly fond in spending his money on more illicit activities in the slums district, particularly the underground fighting arenas. There was Duchess Keiva of the Southeastern Inner Ring, overly fond of young boys, a habit I have exploited many a time in exchange for her vote in vital matters. They were scum, but they were my scum, and so long as I knew every one of their secrets, desires, and vices, they were mine to control.

I caught up to Kuei when we were finally out of the throne room, in the hall leading to the royal apartment, an entire section of the palace housing only the Earth Kingdom. My own domicile was not a quarter the size of the own, but I put up with living in the muck if it meant all the more power outside of it. I managed to keep pace with him, giving me an opening to voice my ever-present concerns. "Your grace. I do recommend that you do not make such, hasty, decisions on your own. It's as you said. There is a war going on right outside our walls. We must allocate resources appropriately to ensure Ba Sign Se, and the Earth Kingdom, remain intact."

"We are at war, Long Feng. Our nation does not have time for political intrigue. We must be ever diligent and hard at work. I've proposed many times that we split the outer district to the peasants and have them farm the whole of it, but you don't listen."

"If we assign that land carelessly, we will lose millions."

"Millions of gold pieces will not matter if these walls fall and millions are subsequently killed by the Fire Nation. You run the government in my stead, but I have authority to overrule your decisions. Our people require food. Our food lanes are being blocked and Water Tribe fish is coming in more and more infrequently. I'm afraid, Long Feng, that I must go against your counsel and enact the Farmland distribution bill."

I was aghast. Ever since the siege had begun, I'd been losing influence on him, but now, now this was more than I had ever anticipated. "That would be. Most unwise, your-"

"I heard you the seventh time, thank you. You may go home, Grand Secretariat. We will discuss this further on the morrow."

By then, we had reached his room and he shut the door behind him. I could now feel the heat rising to my face. This war has been nothing short of disastrous for Ba Sing Se. This siege all the worse. When there was no war directly threatening Ba Sing Se, Kuei was nice and easy to control, but now, now he was letting his concern for his nation get the best of him. It would lead to nothing but ruin for this nation. I retreated back down the hall, through the now empty throne room, through the golden doors to my domicile, through the back door, and into the inner garden.

He was waiting where he was every night: in the center of the garden, fully uniformed, staring at the same flowers until I approached him: Captain Kaizar of the Dai Li.

"What do you have for me?" I asked only after scanning the garden for any onlookers, taking a position next to him, looking at the same flowers, avoiding all forms of eye contact.

"The Fire Nation has taken our listening post south of the city."

That was disturbing. It was our main source for intelligence on Fire Nation movements and was the only thing halting their advance. Now, though, with the coming of the 5th Corps and their unification with the Dragon's army, well, an assault on the city was near inevitable.

"Would you like preparations on the wall, sir?" he asked.

"Yes. I want more Dai Li on the walls, inner and outer. Ensure the tram security is replaced by Dai Li agents and give all passengers going in or out proper security checks. The Fire Nation will attempt to infiltrate our city to ease their assault on them. We won't let them get that far. Increase presence in the inner city as well. That means more patrols and security checkpoints, increasing in number as you approach the palace. Do we have the men to spare?"

"A new division just exited training in Lake Laogai this week. 500 police."

"Good. Use them to check the walls. I want veterans in the streets and in the tram checkpoints. What's your report on the city populace?"

"They're calm. They don't yet know about the loss of the listening post, nor will they as they never knew of its existence."

"Good. Have any of the survivors from the battle made it back to the city as of yet?"

"No sir, but we expect the first group of survivors may arrive tomorrow if they hadn't been caught during their retreat. Would you like for them to be intercepted before returning home?"

"Yes. Bring them straight to lake Laogai. Let nobody see your men."

"To Lake Laogai? For what purpose if I may ask."

"I cannot tell you yet but understand this city must remain calm during these times of turmoil. The city will be attacked soon and the last thing we need is open revolt in our streets. I cannot tell you what I have in mind but inform Joo Dee that I have need of her. Understood?"

"Understood. Any final orders?"

"How many troops do we still have near the 5th Corps' camp?"

"Around 50. 20 of them Earth Benders. Orders?"

"Destroy their artillery. Send the message through our tunnel crawlers and tell them to destroy the camp's siege batteries at whatever cost."

"Yes sir."

He left as discretely as he had been standing by the flowers to the point that when he was gone, I wondered if he had even really been there. They were the Dai Li. That was their purpose, and they were damn good at it.

I waited another 5 minutes then left myself. The sun may had set on the Earth Kingdom, but the day was far from done. The day ended when the next sun rose and not a moment sooner. Anybody who thought overwise had no care for the world they failed to see, but that world was one I knew. This city would be attacked soon, and only the worlds of the day and night combined could save this nation.