Chapter 27.4- And so the Dragons Danced

“How do you know about Ba Sing Se?” The question made his bones vibrate, such was the way it was screamed from the General right into his ears. If it had not been so loud, he might not even have heard it over the sound of his heart beating in his ears. His life was flashing right before his eyes in real time and he had no idea what to do. This was the kind of situation that he had not foreseen, but should have. He was kicking himself for the foolishness all the while trying to do his best to figure out an escape from what seemed like an impossible connundrum.

“I don’t. I swear I didn’t. I just had a theory and you confirmed it.” He tried to push as much honesty into his voice as possible, but was hit with the sinking feeling that his earlier lying had bought hum little trust when it came to that respect and there was every chance that he was being disbelieved as a matter of principle.

“A theory, huh? Tell me more” He almost sighed in relief at being allowed to keep speaking. Because it meant he was not going tp be killed now. It meant he had a few more minutes left of breathing in him, and the longer he got to keep breathing, the more chances he’d get to keep things that way for the long run.

“You took Omashu, and sat on it for a month. And then out of nowhere your forces get split up, most of the army across the kingdom send the better parts of their forces towards you and you begin to march down East. You burn through the Foggy Swamp rather than going around it like literally everyone else would have. And then you come here. From every sign, your presence here is going to be temporary, and if I were a gambling man, I’d guess that you’d be continuing Eastwards. There’s only one thing you could be going after. The great slayer of Bumi himself. There exists only one prize worthy of your attention. The Walled City herself, Ba Sing Se.” The more he spoke, the more he felt the pressure forcing him downwards reduce in intensity. He was clearly doing something right.

“It seems you have me all figured out, Mayor” The General said while standing up straight. Kinvara waited a few seconds to make sure he was not being baited to his death and then lifted his upper body from the table while taking care in rising to his feet, one after the other.

“But now that you know I don’t have the time to waste, here’s an opportunity for you. You write a letter. You confess to the assassination. Say that Kue Beifong used his wealth and influence to manipulate you in going through with the attempt and that you are very sorry blah blah blah. Your people never much liked Beifong, I suspect. So you use him as a patsy, I place you under official house arrest and you get to live as you just have” Kinvara held his breath all through the offer being given. It was a good offer, he knew. A better deal than he would have given in the General’s place.