"I've been invited to offer my account of the invasion of the Northern Watertribe a the university," I mention, curious to see Ranra's reaction. And her eyes sharpen even more.
"Now that is an interesting opportunity," she says. "To write history."
...
She understands the impact this could have, the accounts of what we are capable of when facing the Fire Navy in our territories with sufficient preparation.
"Speaking of writing," Hana says, "Ranra has offered to introduce some people as teachers."
Which means that they can spread the word through the children. We are working on establishing a system of support and long-time education centres in order to better the lives of all people within Ba Sing Se, and shift power into the populations hands.
"That's good news. I'd be interested in speaking with them. You never know what you might learn," I say, and we all know it's to vet their intentions.
"I'll arrange a meeting, then," Ranra says, "I own a tobacco shop. Why don't we hold it there? Bring some friends."
We trade smiles. I do like where this is going.
I wonder what she stands to gain, personally. Her shop would be at risk from the Dai Li. But she seems like the kind of person who likes to know exactly what's going on.
...
I am cooking dinner when Mai and Circus Girl burst inside the flat like someone has lit a fire beneath their butts.
Peter is with me, looks up from his book about the Seiou period, a few hundred years ago and the founding of Ba Sing Se. It's largely propaganda material, but it is always good to know what the rulers have to say about themselves, in order to subvert the message they want to imbue – even if it is mostly always along the same lines.
He's been quite enthusiastic about spreading knowledge. In order for him to do that, he must acquire some first. So he is improving his reading, soon his writing and sooner his skills of teaching, so that he may impart his wisdom.
"Is there something wrong?" I ask, when all the women do is catch their breath.
Circus Girl glares. Mai is the one who answers – as always. "There was a noble. He wanted- he wanted to take us to the upper ring. For entertainment. He just ordered his guards to take us!"
That catches Peter's attention. "What."
I don't wait for Mai's reply to her brother's outrage, "Did they follow you?"
"No, we got away," she replies. "I can't believe- this would never have happened in-"
She cuts herself off, Peter scoffs and I send her a long, measuring look. She catches both, frowns and turns away. She knows it would have happened in the Fire Nation. Perhaps not so obviously. Perhaps more officially legitimised, perhaps through brothels or human trafficking. But it is everywhere. It doesn't look as crass as this incident, either. Usually, a lone and often shy woman will be approached, her trust gained, her self-esteem bolstered – under very specific conditions.
And soon, the affection and other support mechanisms provided to her will be slowly withdrawn, the human trafficker will ask a favour, something that she would not ordinarily do, except she desires the love and affection that was earlier provided.
And once she has done what was asked, she will be rewarded with it. this pattern intensifies and continues. Of course, it can also look exactly like a slave-pen. But both are examples of human trafficking.
Mai and Circus Girl must have really stood out as exotic for a noble to decide to just take them. In broad daylight, no less.
"It's good that you got away unhurt. Where was it that this happened?" I ask as I turn back to the stew I'm preparing.
"Fukujou, one of the roofed markets where the bars and brothels were just opening up. He must have been waiting for-"
At her renewed silence I look up to see their faces. Angry, frustrated.
"Until we have secured a better network here where people have more effective means of defending themselves from such things, you might want to think of ways that will prevent this from happening again."
"What… do you suggest?" Circus Girl asks, suspicion in her voice, the scratch of it pronounced.
They're already wearing relatively dirty clothing, even if it isn't as threadbare as that of most of the population of the lower ring. Their faces are already framed by hair that is not as clean or luscious as it once was. If a noble tried to take them, looking as they do now, more physical veiling will not help much. Their pale skin stands out, their faces are clearly foreign, their features visually pleasing.
"We should think of deterrents that are visually obvious," is all I say. I don't want to be the one to suggest things like stuffing pillows in the fronts of their clothing to pretend pregnancy and so on. There's other kinds of discrimination that come with being a young woman, pregnant and without the markers of marriage, like rings, hair insignia, necklaces, wrist of ankle bracelets, depending on which part of the country you married in. In the rare case of a marital tattoo, they are worn on the forearms. The nobility of Ba Sing Se wear hair ornaments and clan symbols. The lower ring is a mixture of all of the above.
"You. What are you suggesting?" Circus Girl asks.
"What would prevent a noble from attempting what he did today?"
Tense silence is the answer to my question. I stir the pot. They know what is needed, and as undignified as it may be to have to denote one's status as 'taken' when one is not, when one is free and desires to remain that way, this is for their safety.
There are few things that are respected almost everywhere. Even nobles will be more hesitant to take someone's wife if she's not wearing rags. There might be trouble.
I cook in silence, Mai talks quietly with Peter and Circus Girl stares at me with hatred.
Some time later, Gorou, Ebisu, Fon and Dionu show up from their outing to the docks.
All of them note the tense atmosphere, but only Dionu asks. "What is it now?"
The exasperation in his voice would be amusing, if it weren't as though he is treating us like we are immature children.
"There was an incident of attempted kidnapping with the intent of rape afterwards on Mai and Ty Lee," I say, filling a bowl that Gorou is helpfully holding steady and handing to Fon. "We were thinking of visual deterrents for that sort of thing."
"Short of facial scarring," Dionu says, hanging up his jacket and letting down his hair, "You can either go with pregnancy or signs of marriage."
Then he comes to me with his own bowl. "Thanks," he murmurs, more out of habit than anything else, I think.
I hum an acknowledgement. Then I fill four more bowls, leave three by the pot for the women to take and Peter to have brought to him, the little prince. I settle by the window, on the wide ledge where I watch the street below.
It would be a slightly tense silence that we eat in, if Mai didn't march over, hands on her hips, in the middle of the living room of our flat. "Who'll be my husband, then?"
Fon chokes on his mouthful, Ebisu laughs, Gorou doesn't give a reaction and Dionu just shakes his head like he's done with all of us. It is this moment that Haruto chooses to stumble through the front door.
"What's going on?"
Mai stares at him. "Not you." She looks at each of us men in the room and lands on me. Her eyebrows rise demandingly.
Ah. Well. I suppose it does make sense for us to all pretend the charade, to give it some substance. I imagine Yue's face at the notion of my betrothal to a Fire Nation noble. "Alright, I'll have something for you tomorrow."
Gorou chuckles, low, dark eyes dancing with sadistic mirth.
"How about you make betrothal bracelets for yourself and Ty Lee then, Gorou? Since you find pretend betrothals so amusing," I ask, and his mouth firms into a harsh line to glare at me. But we only stare at each other for a few moments, before he begins to laugh again.
"Fine."
"What?" Haruto asks. He makes his way over to the stew and ladles himself a bowl. Then he comes to sit by me to get an explanation.
"They were accosted in a market today, almost taken to the upper ring to be forced into prostitution. We decided that visible symbols of marriage would be better deterrents than facial scarring."
"Ah."
And that is that. Because we're going to be here for a while yet. Until I have managed to set up that system, at least. Then we might move on and gather more forces with military experience. But that is at least a month and a half away. Hopefully, we can get someone into the Dai Li by then.
...
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