A Game of Thrones
Book 1: Earth
Chapter 1: Prince "Charming"
000
The day to day. There's the common understanding that people tend to rove around on autopilot in their routines, doing the same things, not seeking or desiring change. For Toph it was a little more literal and extreme. Ever since her family moved to Ba Sing Se, Toph had completely lost the freedom of autonomy.
It was bad enough back in Gaoling, where her blindness left her parents overprotective and many menial tasks taken up by servants. However after the fall of Ba Sing Se, and the aftermath that was roughly twenty different Earth Kings in two years while the Fire Nation attempted to turn the entire Earth Kingdom into a puppet state, somehow Lao Beifong became the Earth King.
Somehow Toph's life got worse.
A palace so large she could not walk around without the aid of one of the servants or guards without drawing suspicion. A palace so well guarded by crazy Dirt Ninjas that Toph would most assuredly never manage to leave the grounds without raising an alarm. She couldn't do anything for herself, she was being watched constantly, and she couldn't even sneak away for a moment of quiet.
She was surrounded by dotting servants and somehow completely alone.
The day to day was not run on autopilot. For the last year it was a mindless haze as half the time she didn't even need to do enough to even register time passed at all. She had become numb to existence. In that numbness she found a small amount of zen… and an infinitely greater amount of boredom.
At least she managed to exercise when alone in her room, lord knows she probably would have put on a few if she hadn't.
Naturally, it was a bit of a surprise when she was snapped out of her routine by taking a seat next to her father in the audience chamber. She never went to the audience chamber, that was where people went to meet her father and Spirits forbid people see their crippled daughter.
Toph sucked in a sudden breath and started to pay attention, and it was equally alarming that she realized the man standing at the foot of the throne was not bowing. At least not at first, and not to her father. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Beifong."
I wasn't listening. Who is this guy? Toph bit the inside of her lip to try and recall what had just happened.
"There will be time enough for that later, Prince Zuko." Lao to the rescue, unknowingly, and for once Toph was grateful. "You will be dining with us tonight after all." Her father continued.
"Of course." The boy, and his stature upon closer inspection was that of a boy only barely achieving the mantle of manhood, seemed as though he was about to bow but stopped himself suddenly. "It has been a long journey, so I would be grateful to retire for the evening." Slick lie. Toph held a small amount of respect for the boy who managed to put up the air of decorum. What he actually wanted was a good question, but it was something she could figure out later.
"Of course. Long Feng, can you show the Prince to his quarters?" Lao needed to say little more to receive a stalwart reply.
"Yes, your highness." The vizir bowed deeply before moving to lead the boy and a couple of guards out of the room.
I'm missing something. Toph knew.
"What do you think of him, dear?" The question, the tension, the inflection. Lao had his head turned in her direction and Toph covered her mouth with her sleeve to hide her grimace. He really wanted to know, and she began to hope his reason wasn't the one she had seemed to reach.
"He was very polite." Toph lied, as she would not have known he did not bow without her special skill, and his words were well formed.
"He is quite handsome as well." Poppy added suddenly, and Toph knew she was lying. There was something wrong with him, but Toph could sense his general shape and knew that whatever it was could only be skin deep and would likely remain a mystery forever. "He'll make a fine husband, don't you think?"
Or so she hoped.
Toph took a deep breath through her sleeve. "Of course." What else could she say? What else could she do?
She was as trapped as ever, and the only difference was that she had another guard, and another watcher.
000
Dinner was stifling. Toph found herself seated next to Prince Zuko, whoever he was, and was expected to make some kind of small talk. He seemed just as lost and most of the meal was in silence until he attempted to break it with some awkward comment about the manner of fish he was served, whether the meat was some manner of turtle-duck or turkey-duck, or some other nonsense. The most that got was a polite "What even is a turtle-duck?" out of Toph.
Zuko, of course, brightened when she finally gave him something to work with. "I'm not surprised you don't know. Turtle-ducks are native to the Fire Nation, but there was a small family of them that built a nest in our royal garden. My mother would feed them with me when I was young until my sister…" Zuko began to quiet and an awkward silence reigned.
From that Toph learned two important pieces of information. Zuko was from the Fire Nation, and he was scared to death of his sister.
Lao and Poppy were equally silent, both aware of the awkwardness and unwilling to interrupt Zuko's attempt to 'bond' with his future wife. To which Toph was not grateful.
Prince Zuko, however, regained his composure and immediately switched gears, veering so far off topic he could build dissonance from the previous subject. "So, I heard you can bend..."
Toph felt Lao and Poppy stiffen immediately and a small smile began to creep onto her face. "Oh, yes. I can earthbend a little. I'm afraid I'm not very good."
"On the contrary!" Zuko insisted. "Master Yu has told me you are quite skilled for someone with your handicap." No doubt the man was simply stroking his own ego. Toph knew she never revealed enough skill to make herself seem actually good at earthbending, but even so… she allowed herself to show improvement over the last two years anyway. Just enough to not be terrible anymore it seemed. "Perhaps we could spar some time?"
Toph felt her parents nearly have a heart attack, and in that instant she decided that she did not mind having to spend time with him. "Why… it would be an honor, Prince Zuko."
"Now Prince Zuko, please understand! She has only been taught the very basics for self defense! A bender of your caliber would clearly-." Lao attempted to argue, but was cut off by the Prince's sharp wit.
"Be perfectly capable of holding back." Zuko was confident, Toph could tell he was passionate about bending, and more importantly, respected my word over my parents'.
"My daughter has little interest in such things." Poppy spoke out of turn. "She is a delicate flower who knows little of violence! She should not-."
They were going to dig their own graves, Toph realized, but thankfully Zuko did not seem truly mad. He seemed more confused. Toph decided to bail him out. "It would be rude…" Toph insisted with a smile. "To refuse such a generous offer to spar with the Prince of the Fire Nation."
"I believe the lady has spoken." Zuko agreed.
It wasn't romantic, and it wasn't infatuation, but Toph could not help but feel joy for the first time in a long time. Rebelliousness without having to act of her own accord. Freedom… because of a single man her parents had no choice but to throw at her.
It wasn't love, but it would do.
000
Toph managed to find a moment of respite once she actually decided to look for it. It wasn't like she could slip away, but ordering her servant to fetch her a cup of tea left her the freedom to stand on the edge of the balcony overlooking the palace gardens. Not that she could really tell any better than if she was deeper in the palace, but the fresh air was what she really needed after such a stifling, if unexpectedly enjoyable meal.
She felt the approaching footsteps well in advance and immediately recognized Zuko by his general dimensions and posture. He seemed to be seeking her out because he didn't quite stop for anything.
His approach slowed just before he rounded the corner to the balcony in an attempt to seem less rushed or desperate. "It's an amazing view."
And he led with that. Cute. "I hadn't noticed." Toph turned to face him and waved her empty hand in front of her own face. His quickening heartbeat alerted her to his embarrassment while his empty hand moved to cover his face, hiding a blush in all likelihood.
"Sorry…"
"You have no reason to apologize." Toph admitted. "I was just teasing anyway… it's around time for sunset isn't it?"
"Yeah." Zuko admitted, suddenly at a loss for how to proceed after his amazing first impression.
"So…" Toph dragged out the syllable longer than necessary before asking him point blank what was perhaps the most hurtful question he ever heard. "You seem a little nice to be the Fire Lord's son. Are you adopted or something?"
Of course, he was more taken aback by the idea that it was Toph that had asked it. "I don't… no. No I'm not."
"Hey, don't sound so offended!" Toph raised her hands defensively, although she wasn't quite facing his direction. "I meant it as a compliment. I mean… you do know I was like… fifty-eighth in line for the Earth Throne and your father's made it so I'm now second."
That was a lot of dead bodies, and the saddest part was that it was only a fraction of the casualties that were actually inflicted when the Fire Nation declared war on the world.
"I didn't know about it." Zuko blurted suddenly. "I mean… my mother and I didn't know about my father's coup and his plans for the world until it was too late. I… I confronted him about it, but… he didn't take it too well."
"So he marries you off to the Earth Princess? He used me as a punishment? That's hilarious!" Toph released a small chortle. "Because who would want to marry a foreign cripple, am I right?"
"Yeah…" A lie. He didn't see it as punishment. Something else was draped heavily over his heart. "He let your family live because they offered to marry you into the family… and put me on the Earth Kingdom's throne when that's all said and done. I don't get to be Fire Lord, but that's fine. I was never supposed to be the Prince anyway." Zuko took a deep breath. "You know that, right? My father overthrew my Uncle to become Fire Lord?"
"Not really. I don't do much reading, and my parents like to spare me the 'barbaric cruelties of the world'. I just know that when that comet showed up, the Fire Lord burned down the Ba Sing Se's upper ring." Toph crossed her arms and turned her head upward. "I'm sorry about your uncle though… it sounds like you really cared about him."
"He was a good man." Zuko agreed, Toph felt Zuko's hand rise to gently stroke under his left eye. "I just wish I could have helped him stand, instead of watching him fall."
And now you're trapped doing whatever your father wants, being who your father wants you to be… Toph understood. She could relate to that at least. At least he tried. She thought bitterly. Here I am wallowing in self-pity and he managed to get himself kicked out of his own country.
Silence reigned on the balcony before the servant arrived with Toph's tea, and then left the two of them alone for some privacy, assuming the subject matter was more intimate. Toph allowed the illusion, for it bought her more time away from prying eyes and ears. "We should spar… I'll show you something really cool."
"If you're sure. I'll go easy on you." Zuko's chivalry was adorable, but Toph couldn't help but return his sincere smile with a malicious smirk.
That's fine. When I'm through with you, you'll never go easy on me again.
000
Nobody knew they were about to spar, and Toph was silently glad even as she removed the outermost layers she had draped over her dress. Prince Zuko sputtered awkwardly for some vision-related reason and Toph only rolled her eyes. My milky, unfocused, worthless eyeballs are up here doofus.
The courtyard was the perfect place anyway, because it was so large they would likely not even be spotted until they really started going at it. As soon as Toph had finished piling up her outer layers -that seemed almost designed to hinder movement- on a rock set aside, she immediately assumed her familiar stance, palms upturned, stance lowered just enough to root her and give her the freedom of movement she needed to counter anything.
Zuko just stood there, as if waiting to see what she could do. "That's an interesting stance… I don't think I've seen it before. Where did you learn it?"
Well, an opening is an opening, right? Toph huffed. You make this too easy. She reared back and pushed forward with one hand, and then pulled it back with a snap.
Zuko was immediately pushed off his feet as a pillar of blunted earth shot out of the ground behind him and struck him right in the back. "Wow, maybe if you last more than ten seconds I'll actually dignify that with a response."
"How did you-?"
Toph slid her foot across the stone walkway, her arms pulled in, and she cut the stone Zuko was only just beginning to rise from and then spun it in place, destroying his balance and making another opening for her to strike him with a jab from the same pillar she used to down him the first time.
Zuko laid on the ground and actually snarled. "I get it. You're using sound to-"
Toph stomped. "Wrong!" And Zuko was launched into the air by a flat-topped spire jutting out right under him. "Don't underestimate me, oh fair Prince." She couldn't help but chuckle after putting sarcasm behind the words.
Toph was more than a little surprised when Zuko landed after her blow, he did so on his feet and was rushing in her direction, finally on the offensive. Toph sighed and slid one of her feet to the side suddenly, pulling the footing out from under him and leaving him both unbalanced and careening past her instead of into her.
"Ow…" The Prince slowly stood, pulling himself from a bush and groaning. "Okay… no more mister ni-"
Toph raised both hands, and in doing so lifted up a wall around the foliage. Then she readied herself to pull the ground out from under him again as soon as he vaulted over the top, which he did by boosting his jump with a jet of fire and a snarl of frustration. In that frustration she heard another burst of cackling flame and immediately changed her stance from 'annoy the piss out of him' to 'don't get burned', stepping backwards with sliding motions as her hands moved to the side and rotated a wall up to block the flame. "Finally taking me seriously then?"
"I… shit." Zuko stood on the other side of the wall and wilted. "I didn't mean to…"
"You didn't mean to consider me a threat?" Toph attempted to cut him with the words. "Sorry, if you'd like I can keep humiliating you."
"No I meant… fire is dangerous, okay? If you hit me with a rock, I'll bruise sure, but if I hit you with fire you get burned. Burns don't… they don't heal like bruises do." Zuko took a deep breath. "That flame could have seriously hurt you. That's why I am apologizing. However, I am not going to underestimate you anymore. I'll just… turn down the heat a bit."
"And have an excuse when I continue to kick your Princely bum across the courtyard? Yeah no… see, I'm better than you think." Toph began to grin. "Why, back in Gaoling I took over an entire underground fighting operation by the age of thirteen… don't tell my parents by the way. They thought I was sleeping."
"I see…" Zuko took a deep breath. "Then you're not the little flower they think you are." Toph could tell by the way he said it he actually understood. "Good. I was worried I'd have to feel guilty for how my father is forcing you to marry me. Instead, I can know that there is no way to force you to do anything. You're pretty good at earthbending, better than most. I'm not sure I understand how you compensated for your lack of sight but… I can tell that you have."
Zuko finally entered a real stance. "Kid gloves are off. Show me what you got."
Zuko began a measured assault, but Toph was determined to not give a single inch. The earth around her became a constantly shifting circle, an invisible fortress that could rise and fall with the barest of motions, and every time Zuko attempted to press the advantage, an arsenal that could strip him of his balance and push him back.
At first his flames were weak, but as his confidence that she could dodge or block his assaults grew, so too did his willingness to push harder and faster to try to break through her defenses.
Toph couldn't help but grin but continued to maintain her focus on the fight and her defenses. "You know… I think I figured out fire's weakness. Your stances are so offensive that they're unbalanced. It's like… I don't know the right analogy."
"A flickering flame." Zuko provided while attempting to leap over one of Toph's walls, only to watch it grow higher under him and he grabbed hold of the top just before Toph launched the entire wall away from her.
"I guess that works. I wouldn't know. I can't feel out fire." Toph admitted. "I can hear it and feel the heat, but I can't really get a good idea for the shape."
"I've noticed you're blocking rather than dodging." Zuko admitted. "You don't know the actual reach and shape of the flame, so you block it with a wall that's as wide and tall as you are."
"Yup." Toph pulled up another barrier just in time to block an incoming flame but felt heat as the fire rushed past her anyway.
"You might want to make bigger walls. Now that I know that, I can make the flames curve around them." Zuko warned.
"Noted." Toph jumped up and spun in place, and as she hit the ground she tore into it like a drill, emerging moments later from the same spot completely covered in an armor of stone.
"Okay…" Zuko growled. "That solves the problem in a very annoying way… if I was trying to kill you it wouldn't help, but…"
"Kind of a low blow I guess…" Toph admitted and removed the armor by sending it flying in his direction. "Guess I'll just have to get creative." Toph began to smile again. "Maybe I'll go on the offensive? I've been wanting to try this one for a while."
Toph changed her stance, and lifted both hands and pulled a small amount of stone to each. The result was a replica pair of Dai Li gloves. "I've been feeling these Dirt Ninjas practice their stupid grabby hands technique for months… and I'm pretty sure I can do it better."
Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Aren't the Dai Li…" Elite?
"Think fast Prince Sparky!" Toph thrusted with an open palm, and the glove flew.
000
Toph breathed heavily, ragged from exertion and inhaling a small amount of smoke. She was covered in dirt she couldn't be bothered bending off of herself, and no small amount of ash from the burned bushes and the slightly singed dress she wore. The courtyard was fairly well ruined, pillars, spikes, walls, and a great number of stone hands utterly transformed the location into a maze. The fact that Zuko managed to avoid even half of them was impressive.
Near the middle of their battle he had resorted to keeping himself off the ground almost entirely on jets of flame from his feet and hands. He had figured out her trick, but extra walls and keen ears were enough to prevent him from completely owning her. Plus, Zuko was no airbender, and he couldn't stay off the ground indefinitely with only firebending.
He was grounded by the end of the battle, and stood only a few feet from Toph, bruised more than burnt, his topknot had come undone and his armor lie abandoned after the leather began to tear.
He took another step and Toph defiantly attempted to bend the earth under his unsteady feet.
Only a layer of loose dust moved.
Zuko tapped her on the forehead. "I… win…"
Toph couldn't help but begin to laugh and fell forward, only instead of leaning on him she sent him toppling to the ground with her. "Man I am so out of shape… stupid castle… I'm so glad that this will be impossible to hide."
"Out of shape?" Zuko asked suddenly, gasping in what sounded like more terror than surprise. "If this is you out of shape... I do not want to fight you in top form."
"I'm… literally… the greatest earthbender in the world." Toph grinned. "I learned from the badgermoles that lived under Gaoling… and I practiced earthbending by competing in Earth Rumble. I was the reigning champion for four years and then took over the whole tournament and didn't compete in the fifth."
"Hostile takeover?" Zuko wondered aloud.
"Nah… Xin Fu wasn't making as much money off it because the result became too predictable. So he challenged me in a final gambit, and when he lost he sold me the whole thing and went to set up a different branch elsewhere." Toph chuckled. "I bought it with my pocket money."
"Your family is stupid rich." Zuko laughed. "Probably more so now that you inherited the throne."
"Yeah…" Toph quieted. "Someone's here."
Zuko looked up and saw Long Feng staring at the ruined courtyard and the two of them. "What… exactly… am I looking at here?"
Toph pushed herself up into a sitting position and while she did not meet his gaze, because it would be pointless, she did gesture broadly. "Someone who's sneaky subtle and managed to hide this level of skill for a whole year without you knowing."
Long Feng huffed. "I had suspected there was something to you…"
"I'm calling bull-pig shit." Toph argued. "But I'm giving you an opportunity here. Help me clean this up, and we'll talk shop."
"I will humor you, Princess." Long Feng agreed. "Come with me, and we will discuss this over some tea in my private office. The Dai Li will clean up the mess…"
000
"And that's why I'm awesome." Toph concluded, unaware of Long Feng's disbelieving stare and more aware of Zuko's 'there you have it' gesture to indicate she was legit.
"So you expect me to believe a blind girl has fought to a draw against the Prince of the Fire Nation, who my sources say is quickly approaching the level of mastery." Long Feng took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And that this is after she has spent a year 'losing her touch'."
"Sounds about right." Zuko admitted. "Of course… there are things beyond mere masters out there… my father and sister are proof of that."
"Of course." Long Feng agreed. "Grandmasters, like King Bumi of Omashu, are extremely rare. You believe, Prince Zuko, that Lady Beifong is one of those benders?"
"I believe she could be." Zuko admitted. "And I'll be honest… you could kill her and frame me and clean up this whole mess instead of following her orders… but if you do, it will just restart the war with my father, and I think we both know that without the walls of Ba Sing Se to protect you, my sister would siege your stronghold and tear it down in an instant."
"You are correct." Long Feng agreed. "I lost too many men to Sozin's Comet three years ago. I can't afford to antagonize the Fire Nation with such a ploy. I can't even risk attempting to bring you around to our way of thinking, for even the brief absence required to do so would be too great a risk."
"So as far as you're concerned, Grand Secretariat…" Toph kicked her feet onto the table. "I'm already Earth Queen, and you get to be top dog while I don't care about it at all. I'll be your puppet queen so long as you keep Ba Sing Se safe and the world sane."
Long Feng froze. "You're serious?" I spent years… years of my life carefully manipulating Earth King Kuei and crafted him into the perfect, ignorant puppet king, and here this girl would do it willingly?
Toph huffed. "Yeah, I don't care much for politics… besides… Ba Sing Se needs a guy like you to get it back on it's feet. If I give you that power legitly, through myself as a proxy, I trust shady business won't be as necessary… you can't lie to me anyway even if you want to." She grinned. "Do you have another secret base?"
"No."
"Lie." Toph decided. "That one was obvious though… what about… Joo Dee? Mind control happening around here? Brainwashing?"
Long Feng kept his mouth shut for a few moments before huffing. "Of course not. They're just-."
"Lie." Toph clarified. "I can read your pulse through the earth, I can feel the tension… I know when you lie, Long Feng. I just don't actually care. We'll work out the details as necessary after we've established exactly what we're going to do, because some of your paranoia and brainwashing craziness isn't actually necessary."
Zuko nodded. "My father won't press his heel into the Earth Kingdom any more than necessary. There's already way too many revolts and too much unrest. Let's try to keep the peace and give the people a king that lasts more than three months and a reason to believe the oppression is over for now. They can sweat it out while waiting for me to be Earth King, but until then Lao Beifong will protect their culture."
Long Feng nodded slowly. "I understand… this will do… for now."
"And you're not lying!" Toph cheered. "Win for everyone!"
"Not exactly." Long Feng continued. "You see… I still don't understand what the good Prince gets out of this?"
Zuko closed his eyes and huffed. "I don't know… I guess I'm being dragged along for the ride."
"He came pre-whipped." Toph added with a smirk.
"Very funny." Zuko's sarcasm sounded a little too huffy to belong to someone who wasn't silently bitter about it.
"It's actually pretty simple." Toph admitted. "We're not rebelling against the Fire Nation or anything. That would be crazy in our position. Besides… now correct me if I'm wrong hubby, but I don't think Zuko and I even know what we really want. So it's a simple exchange. You keep my secret and you get to call the shots in Ba Sing Se. My father already trusts your council more than is healthy and I'm not going to question you… much."
Zuko nodded. "Yeah… sure, I guess."
Long Feng shrugged. "Fine. This will work then. I'll have you escorted to your chambers and we'll move on. I'll be sure to inform you if anything… comes up."
"I was just about to say." Toph considered. "Speaking of… anything else we should know about, like… now?"
Long Feng averted his gaze but sighed, knowing full well she could tell if he lied. "A sky bison was spotted near the city. We believe an Air Nomad is… visiting."
"And by visiting you mean trespassing, because as a Fire Nation puppet state Air Nomads are to be arrested on sight as enemies of the state." Toph corrected. "Neat."
Zuko growled. "Perfect… there's what? Eight Air Nomads left? Can you just leave it alone and pretend it's not a problem? I mean… even if all of them are here, what harm can a few airbenders do?"
000
It was a bit of a sight, seeing three not-quite-Earth-Kingdom people attempting to blend in near a fruit stall. Naturally, as was the way of Ba Sing Se, most just took that as a sign to avoid them and pretend they didn't exist. Even if eyes lingered slightly too long on the darker skinned man and young woman dressed in ever so slightly too festive greens. The pale girl between them was more sensibly dressed for the lower ring, but the way she spoke made her more privileged upbringing evident.
"Do you have any idea how hard it used to be to get into Ba Sing Se?" The girl was lecturing him again, and Sokka really did not appreciate it.
"I'll be sure to count the blessings bestowed upon me by the crazy Fire Lord and his insane ability to burn down rocks." Sokka didn't even dignify the girl's growl with anything resembling an apology. "I mean, we're here. Yay. Now what?"
Katara rested her hand on her chin. "Well… there's no shortage of earthbenders in Ba Sing Se… I don't actually know where we should start?"
The two turned to look at the girl that stood between them, the girl who was nearly six years Sokka's junior. "Don't look at me! I've only been here once. When I was four. I don't remember anything, and even then-."
"That's fine." Sokka interrupted. "I didn't want an answer, I wanted an idea. You're the guru, where should we look?"
She visibly wilted. "I… didn't think this far ahead… I'll have to meditate on it… ask the spirits."
"Take your time." Katara put a hand on the girl's head. "After all, we've got ninety seven years before the comet comes again. There's no rush Jinora."
Jinora nodded slowly and took a deep breath before smiling. "Then… let's find someplace quiet to stay and see where that takes us."
000
AN: What's worse than eight Air Nomads? A Sokka, a Katara, and an Air Nomad.