A/N: I have always wanted to dabble into this fandom. I remember wanting to explore the Earth Kingdom royal family and what life was like for a royal of the Hou-Ting dynasty, living in the palace and growing up under the Earth Queen. I wanted the character to be the cousin of Prince Wu, who is his opposite. Someone competent, older than him, an earthbender, someone who values his cultural heritage and wears traditional Earth Kingdom clothes. I wrote this one shot to get a hang of who Lu Jen was as a character and an introduction into life in the royal palace.
The Prince of Ba Sing Se:
"The topiary is covering the koi pond." The queen shrieked at the topiary gardener at the end of her wrath. The topiary gardeners didn't last long in the palace, with how easily scared they were. quivering with fear, as their legs were shaking in front of the queen. It must be hard being a servant of a queen, who makes you want to bash your head against the wall or even question why you took this job in the first place. Working in the Earth Queen's palace will either make you successful or destroy your life.
Prince Lu was standing on the royal balcony, watching his great aunt cross-examining another topiary gardener. The unclipped topiaries were covering the sight of the koi pond, but the pond itself wasn't impressive, unlike the larger the life fountains in the Fire Nation's royal courtyard. He drew an exhale out, knowing he was accustomed to the Earth Queen's tirades, since he was a child. He had to live in Ba Sing Se, unlike the workers, who were fired and were allowed some resemblance of freedom, while the prince was trapped in this palace for the rest of his life.
The prince was fiddling with the overlayers of his pristine gold and green hanfu robes on his person. He groaned at the dress code of Ba Sing Se, as it made him look a stiff. Lu was used to the loosery yishang fashions of Omashu's royal court, and realised the palace garments and overlayered robes of the Upper Ring sucked. He tucked his hands under his oversized sleeved, which were decorated in gold coloured embroidery. It may be hell in the eyes of others, but to Lu, it was normality smacking him in the face.
The lusher, well-crafted topiaries didn't matter to Lu, as all garden pieces didn't. They were a symbol of everything that was wrong with Ba Sing Se and how short-minded Hou-Ting was as a ruler. To the upper crust of the city, they were symbols of artistry made from the hedges but were boring to look at afterwards. When he became king, Lu would want real turtleducks swimming in the koi ponds, but the queen's allergy and hatred of furred animals put an end to those pipe dreams, just like all his ideas on improving the palace. He rolled his eyes at the sight of the shaking Grand Secretariat behind the Earth Queen, but he was used to being Her Majesty's punching bag, since she first came to power as queen.
Gun was never Lu's favourite resident of the palace, but had a small shred of pity for the slimy advisor. He knew Gun lasted longer than other servants in the palace, but it was obedience and fear that kept him with a job and an esteemed place at the Earth Queen's side. The servant wasn't untouchable, knowing Hou-Ting could have dismissed him so many times, and replaced him with a younger Secretariat, who understood the strict, professional boundaries between queen and servant.
The tirade went on for ten minutes. Lu was used to it, as it was another outburst of a tyrant queen, who was deeply insecure. He was going to rule this gold infested place one day, and had ideas of how he was going to change it from the inside and have it spill over into the other rings of Ba Sing Se. He was forced to stand there, being under surveillance from the Dai Li agents, whom were lurking about in the shadows of the city and palace. He had to be careful of what he said and did, and not have it be so obvious that he would get into trouble. As Hou-Ting's heir, Lu had special privileges, but not too much or else the old hag will have him arrested for whatever reason she can come up with in her mind.
"Is there something you want to say, boy?" The queen said, seething with a bite in her tone, especially at boy. She turned to look at him straight in the eye, with that intimidating gaze; it had lesser men running for the hills of the kingdom. The queen always liked making Lu feel less than the man he was, reducing him a child who will obey her out of fear, but he was stronger than he appeared to be, and the fool of a queen never knew the true extent of how steeled he was against her.
Lu cleared his throat. "No, Your Majesty." He said, in the dullest and most sombre of tone. Not too timid and not full of force, where she had a problem with him. It was how he talked to his great aunt all the time, to make himself seem so boring and a stiff, like most of the royal cabinet members. The voice he created was how he survived from the worst of Hou-Ting's temper fits and never had much thrown at him, as he was in the army and away from Ba Sing Se, for four years of freedom and finding his own purpose in life.
"Don't you dare use that tone with me? It may work with the airheads in court, but it will not work with me, child."
Outsiders would have sympathy for the prince's mistreatment, but to Lu it was normal behaviour from his legal guardian. He preferred to live with his father in Bao Yun, a state in the east of the Earth Kingdom, after the death of his mother eight years ago. As a prince of the Hou-Ting dynasty, the queen was his legal guardian and was never allowed to leave the city, unless it was for military service or diplomatic missions on her behalf. For Lu, it was a lonely existence for a prince, who looked to have everything in life.
He was the heir to the most oppressive city in the Earth Kingdom and had a restrictive social life. Lu almost wished he could be someone else, who had a free life and had no worries or responsibilities to a nation. He was happy to shoulder on the burden of rulership, just so his people can have a chance of change and a better future under his rule. Unlike his cousins, Prince Lu saw it all, during his time in the military. The poverty, the crime and the barbarians pillaging the countryside towns and villages. It inspired a seventeen-year-old boy to want to do something and earn his stripes in the army. He wanted to help his people living in strife and put his earthbending to good use. Being in the military gave Lu the opportunity to escape from Ba Sing Se, after boarding school and to be treated as a soldier, not a prince for once.
When the Earth Queen's tirade at the topiary gardeners came to an end, the prince was taking a stroll around the palace, in places where he was not allowed to go. He was to be the Earth King in the future and no one can tell him where not to go or to go at all, unless a Dai Li agent threatened to escort him elsewhere. Luckily for Lu, he won the loyalty of the palace guards, whom had more in their numbers than the Dai Li and were a lot nicer to him. Boredom demanded amusement, and that kind of amusement always equals trouble in the most rational of minds, but Lu had his own way of thinking and needed to find a way to entertain himself other than using his bending.
After his return to Ba Sing Se, after a successful diplomatic tour, Lu was banned from earthbending in palace grounds, as it's not proper for a prince to be throwing rocks about or the amusement of fools. He knew Hou-Ting despised him for being a bender, another thing to mark him as a threat to her rule. The irony was Hou-Ting could never get rid of Lu, no matter how much she hated him. She knew he was popular with the gentry at court and with the people outside of Ba Sing Se; the simpering peasants as she called them loved him too much for him to be done away with. Unlike other members of the royal family, the queen got rid of over the years; Lu had legitimacy and she hated him for it.
The prince strolled past the rooms, belonging to cousins of the Earth Queen, whom she got rid of. He forgot their names to time, but knew the Dai Li were involved in the disappearance of the queen's cousins. He never cared about a bunch of stuck up royals, who only have their places in court because of Hou-Ting's twisted form of generosity. They had to pledge their undivided fealty to Hou-Ting and to obey her, but some of them got to big for their robes and rebelled against her, and the price of rebellion came to one conclusion.
On his diplomatic trip, Lu saw how Republic City was full of life, culture and modern ideas, as it was different to Ba Sing Se, as a president ruled across the bridge instead of another monarch. The president was a smarmy man, who wanted to buy Lu's alliance, but he could never be bought, especially by a man, who was ungrateful and narrow-minded. Any world leader would be appreciative, if the Avatar was a resident in their nations. The Avatar had to live in a city, where the president made her the scapegoat to all his external problems; it was easy to blame a teenage girl for his own failings as a leader of a new sovereign nation.
Life in the royal palace was the same old, same old. A servant or two would be fired, eat dinner with the queen and the rest of the day, he did what he wanted. It was too boring for Lu to handle, but for him it was a golden cage. There was no excitement, unless the Earth Queen had guests for dinner or a vibrant court was in session, inviting all gentry from the Upper Ring, and some from the Middle Ring to court as well. He was the talk of the night, being single and the queen's heir, but brushed off the attention, not wanting to cause a scene or more problems with his great aunt. Lu had to toe the line, even more since he returned and couldn't relish in his new-found popularity in Republic City, amongst the Earth Kingdom nationals who lived there.
At the corner of his eye, he saw Jinya, one of the earthbenders, who worked in the palace. She was a comely girl from the Middle Ring, but she was pretty enough to survive in a place like this. Out of all the serving girls, she was one of his favourites and she had a crush on him. Lu was royalty, and was used to girls having crushes on him, and a few boys as well. Who could blame them? As they looked upon him with his long ivory black hair passing his shoulders, but it's always tied and pinned by a royal artefact on his head, and they can't look away from his wide dark brown eyes inherited from his father's side. Lu was a blooming lotus flower, when it came to his looks and how much he has grown, from a shy pre-teen and to an attractive young man. He was not the most muscular of earthbenders, but his slender figure gave him an advantage when it came to metalbending and fighting in the field.
The prince liked Jin well enough, but not enough to start an illicit affair with a servant. He was older and knew better; breaking hearts was immature and not fitting for a future king. Lu had to grow up faster than other kids in his circles, with losing his mother Jiao at thirteen and realising he could have a chance to be named the queen's heir, especially when his other cousins were poor candidates to begin with. He strolled past the bed chambers of his cousin Wu, from when he used to stay here, before he moved out of Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom. It was still in the elaborate colours of his cousin's personality and the silk yellow drapes made the canopies of his bed. The room would smell like the heavy perfumes, the queen's cabinet members would wear to mask the smell of fear of Her Majesty. It was an empty room, just like an almost empty palace.
"This place is isolating compared to the vibrant life in Republic City, where people would kill to even talk to me. In Ba Sing Se, no one will talk to me because they are afraid of the Earth Queen and it's not proper for commoners to talk to royalty freely. No one will willingly stay here, knowing what life in the royal palace is like. It's now barren, as it used to be a political battleground between princes and princesses of the dynasty begging for Hou-Ting's favours and blessings."
Prince Lu sat on the ground, where he stared across into his maternal cousin's empty bedroom. He could still hear Wu's vibrant personality radiating from the place, making palace life less boring, but he was gone and so was Cousin Lian as well, since she was married off to a lordling of the Yang province a month ago. He didn't like the artefact on his head, as it tightened is hair into an undesirable bun. A simple ponytail would have done the job, but the queen hated his loose hair, as she viewed it to be unkempt and not proper for a future king. Lu saw beneath Hou-Ting's manipulative tactics, it was simple. She was jealous of him, as he was a beautiful blooming flower, whilst her own flower was withering away and her reign as a tyrant queen was coming to an end.
As a twenty-one-year old man, Lu still shivered in fear of Hou-Ting, when she did things unexpectedly. Cousin Wu escaped from the tyranny of Hou-Ting, but as the heir, Lu was stuck with her, until her timely death and took the throne for himself. The royal palace was almost barren, as the life from it was snuffed out, the moment Hou-Ting took the throne and the city. The queen crushed any form of vibrant life from the city, as it bent to her archaic politics and way of ruling, just like the unpopular 46th Earth King. It was a place to live in fear of losing your position or be lucky and be a political suck up.
"Your Highness, what you are doing here?" The prince turned to see Jin, one of his favourite earthbenders in the palace. Her brown hair was tied into a style, emulating the haiku girls from the Upper Ring. She was one of the girls, who never had a bad bone in her body, unlike the prince's female cousins, who exuded bitterness and anger within them.
"Nothing, Jin. You off your shift." Prince Lu asked, getting onto his feet. He hated wearing shoes, as it disconnected him to the earth and the spirituality within him. As it was not proper for a prince to walk around barefooted in the royal palace.
"Staring into your cousin's room again, Your Highness."
"It's not the same without him, life in the palace is void of life."
"It's better with you in it."
"How so?"
"I missed you when you were gone. What's life in the big city like?" Jin asked.
"It's different than this place. It's full of life, culture and new ideas. It's an experience I will never forget." The prince replied, with his finger and thumb under his chin.
"I'm glad you are back, everyone else is."
"Same old, same old."
A void of emptiness was what Lu felt, when he returned to Ba Sing Se from Republic City. He hated the boring days that went afterwards. It weighted on his mind how much of a stranglehold Hou-Ting has over all aspects of life, and in Ba Sing Se itself. Life was never the same, after Cousin Wu with his custodian Hideo left for the United Republic of Nations. Lu's female cousins stayed in the royal palace until Hou-Ting found good husbands for them to marry, but the male cousins were dunderheads with no sense of ambition or personal growth whatsoever.
The earthbender never understood the monarchists, whom have a disturbing way of worshipping the Earth Queen, as if she did anything to deserve such loyalty from the people she subjugated and put into slums in the first place. The queen's grand portrait loomed over those, who entered the royal palace and the Upper Ring itself. It was of a cold, frigid queen. The photograph did Hou-Ting no real justice, which gave people a false idea of what their queen was like, when she was an insecure tyrant, who knew her reign was going to end sooner rather than later.
"I'm glad to see you back, Your Highness." Jin said, bowing before him in a stiff manner. She knew better to bow before royalty, even though Prince Lu was friendly with her. Jin was proper in a way, raised by an average Middle Ring family, which made her luckier than most who worked here.
"I miss this place, in a strange way. It never changes, even when I have been away for almost a year. Not a stone unturned." Lu replied.
"Your cousins are rude and lacking in any manners, it seems the queen encourages the grandsons of her cousins to act poorly."
"I am worry for them, the disgraces of the dynasty."
Jin smiled and chuckled lowly; she knew the Dai Li were watching inside and outside of the palace. The Earth Queen forbad anyone from having any joy or laughter, apart from herself and her favourite puppets of the dynasty. Lu liked Jin's smile, as it brightened his very bleak day. She was a breath of fresh air to be around, after being around Republic City's people for the majority of his tour there and for the Oma and Shu festival, which was celebrated by majority of Earth Kingdom nationals, as it was highlighting the foundation of earthbending and the creation of Omashu, as a city of united and peace between two warring villages, and it was said Oma became Omashu's first ruler.
Lu knew a lot of Earth Kingdom tales are steeped in wars but had peaceful resolutions. It was a part of his culture and his heritage. A heritage the Fire Nation couldn't destroy or oppress from his people. He was glad things were getting better, but the scars of the Hundred Years War were still there, and the rule of nonsensical monarchs didn't make things better. Lu didn't care because he was ready to change things and to push new ideas onto his nation. His first rule of thought is to renovate the military and the kingdom's armies and navies as well. He could see the potential of the Earth Kingdom becoming a unified arsenal capable of protecting his people from the rogue bandit groups and the nation prospering under his rulership.
The day was long, but Prince Lu had it side-tracked from his mind of the dinner party tonight. Lady Tsung and her two daughters were coming to dinner with him and the queen. It was a way for the high lady to show of her daughters in front of the Earth Queen and make a grand impression on her sovereign. After Lu's return, he knew it was time for the gentry of Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom to bring their unflowered daughters to court, towards the future king ready for future marriage. It was all about securing political power after Hou-Ting's death and when Lu ascended to the throne. He was sick of the schmoozing fests from last year, with girls being thrown in his face, especially when they would suck up to him and or are as narcissistic as their ambitious parents.
Lu was twenty-one with an established military career and diplomatic status as well. It was time for Hou-Ting to search for an eligible bride for him to marry and become his consort in the future. No girl will stand a chance, unless they could survive the Earth Queen and all her flawed temperament. He didn't like the idea, but it was his duty to secure the future of his dynasty for the next generation and to secure his own rule after the queen's death. He was ready to become a man and to accept the arranged marriage made for him, by his great aunt because a man takes on responsibility and not be the renegade lothario as he once was.
"The dinner will be interesting with Lady Tsung. I met her husband in Republic City and the family is loyal to the monarchy. The daughters are pretty enough, but I would not want one of them to be my future wife at all. They follow the herd and don't have individual personalities of their own. They do as their parents command them to do, but the only thing unique about them is how they dress differently from each other as sisters."
The prince was being dressed for the occasion, as any monarchist is a welcome guest by the queen. He was enrobed in white and green layers, as it was shaped like the royal robes of Omashu. At least, he didn't look like the jolly and over-friendly Huang Fu, who ruled the expanding kingdom in the southwest. The prince's hair is braided and carefully pinned, as not a single hair could come out during the dinner. Lady Tsung is a woman, who prides herself in very high standards and is just as picky as the Earth Queen, when it comes to jewellery and expensive clothes. As a lady in the high society scenes in Republic City and Ba Sing Se, Luan Tsung is always a face the press knew about in the high society columns of local papers.
As the last of Lu's overlayers were put on, the serving boys had finished dressing the prince immaculately for tonight's dinner party. Lu knows every dinner party, the Earth Queen hosts is important; he must attend, as the queen's heir and the next in line for the throne. With Lady Tsung's daughters attending, the dinner subject will no doubt be about marriage and eligible brides, but Prince Lu thinks the queen of the Earth Kingdom will turn the subject matters onto herself, as she loves herself too much to allow anyone else to be the centre of attention, even if it's her own great nephew.
The prince passes through his chamber doors, to see the dark green hatted palace guards standing in the doorway, ready to escort him to the expansive dining room, where Hou-Ting, Lady Luan and her daughters will be waiting for him or will the other guests be late before him. He must be careful with the ornaments suck to his hair and around his neck, wrists and the rings on his fingers. Lu was not much of a jewellery man, but Hou-Ting would not want her heir to look less than absolute royalty, especially when impressing future brides. The queen will only choose from the old money royalist families in the Earth Kingdom, as their bloodlines are just as prestigious as Omashu's royal Fu dynasty.
Lu is fiddling with the gold bracelets around his wrists, as there were three on each wrist, and a total of seven different coloured rings on his fingers. After the dinner party was over, the prince wouldn't waste a single second taking every piece of jewellery off, as each piece symbolised the greed and the vanity of the gentry of the city, especially when his people across the Earth Kingdom are in poverty and are turning to crime to survive, whilst the rich get greedier and fancier like the Earth Queen.
The prince passed through the long-view palace mirrors, as it was something the queen didn't like, as the mirrors showed her unflattering sides. The hallways were long, and expansive as it was to exemplify the grandest of the royal palace and how superior it was to the Fire Nation palace. Anyone could get lost in the palace, but it was perfect for shadow men, like the Dai Li to operate knowing how many tunnels and secret passageways they use to spy on the inhabitants of the city and inside the palace. The palace had many doors of green and gold, but it was confusing for new residents, as for the old heads, they knew where to go.
Prince Lu didn't mind the palace guards, as there were more of them than the Dai Li. They were more concerned with the safety of the crown prince, than the men who spy on the city. Hou-Ting's control over the palace guards was loose, as her concern was more towards replenishing the Dai Li as an organisation, after her father Kuei dismantled the organisation after the war was over. An insecure queen needed spies and needed to feel secure on her throne, knowing a younger and better ruler was waiting in the shadows. Her own royal cabinet, the palace guards and the servants waited to rejoice when Hou-Ting was finally dead.
The west wing of the palace was more foreboding, as the walls were in a darker shade of green and the door handles were all in solid gold. It was where Hou-Ting's influence crept in more than the throne room, but it was where the lavish dining room was and where the queen's guests were waiting for him. Being late to a dinner party had its own problems, it showed Lu was being deliberately disrespectful towards his great aunt for showing up late and it was not proper behaviour for a future king to be late to a dinner, where guests were waiting to see him.
A grand dinner was the reason why Lu was attending in the first place. The Earth Queen never served the best cuts of meat, roasted and seasoned side vegetables, the best rice grains from the north and succulent desserts for the finale, unless guests of honour were invited to eat with the queen. To the old money monarchists; it was considered a great honour to be invited to a dinner party by the Earth Queen, and it was a great opportunity for Hou-Ting to meet with her most loyal and wealthy supporters face to face and to cross-examine them to see how loyal they are to their queen, especially in these hardened political times.
Out of the blue, Grand Secretariat Gun burst out of the double doors incrusted in gold in a panicked mood. To Lu, it was normal for Gun to panic, and shake as if he is the one being taken to the lower cells. He was a man willing to do anything to keep his position close to the Earth Queen. He stood in his dignified manner, when seeing Lu approach with four of the palace guards at his side. The royal garrison were stone-cold men, who were unbothered by anything and were here to serve and protect members of the Hou-Ting Dynasty.
"Your Highness, you are here. Lady Tsung and Her Majesty just arrived in the dining room." Gun said, in his most stiff tone, "Come along, you wouldn't want to keep the queen and her ladyship waiting."
Prince Lu rolled his eyes, at the thought of this smarmy man treating him like a child. He was an earthbender and how the ability to stuff Gun inside any section of the walls and never let him out, unless the Dai Li rescued him. When he became king, Gun was going to be out, after the miserable toad crowns him in the end. A younger secretariat wasn't a bad idea, but it was because Hou-Ting liked the idea of making people into how she wants them to be and hates it when people have a voice against her. Lu knew the reasons, as some of the older servants tell him how his great aunt had a difficult time in her first two years in power because of the men in her father Kuei's council refused to work with a woman, even though the Earth Kingdom had it's share of queens in history, but none of them were as terrible as Hou-Ting the 53rd monarch.
The prince was escorted through the open double doors, as his eyes widened at the sight of the servants in emasculate, new clothes for the occasion. The playing of the traditional nine string guzheng illuminated the room, with the large gold laden chandeliers lighting the room. He cringed at the sight of the over extravagance of the party, with the sight of a few Dai Li agents patrolling around, as it was their job as the queen's spies and guards to maintain order. The presence of the agents always made the queen's honoured guests uncomfortable; as they didn't know it was a show of power and deep insecurity within the Earth Queen. At first sight, there were small fry at the lower end of the dinner table, as those people were the courtiers of the Badgermole Throne Room.
The grandness of the dining room and the set up was all too much for Lu, as it wasn't right to show of such extravagance when half the kingdom is being pillaged by bandits and rebels. Gun was always cut loose whenever guests were here for a dinner party, but he was not blind to see the crown prince wondering, like a lost turtleduck in his soon to be dining room. At the head of the grand table sat Hou-Ting, the absolute ruler of the Earth Kingdom in robes of green and gold but were more lavish than her day to day ruling robes, with her fingers adorned with the best jade and sapphire rings on her fingers, over the long nail guards in unburnished gold. Her new gold and sapphire dangling earrings were upon her this evening, along with the Earth Queen's favourite badgermole shaped goblet, filled with the finest wines from the east of the Earth Kingdom.
A dining table filled with succulent appetizers, from small crab meat filled pastries in the shape of flowers to the sesame prawn toast pieces. Lu's stomach grumbled at the sight of the food on the table; he was fortunate because the queen's dinner parties were the only time, when he could eat whatever he wanted, without the queen scrutinising him. The prince was escorted to the high end of the table, by one of the palace guards in the room this evening. He was dismayed to see the sight of Lady Tsung, already in her cups before the main course had been brought in.
The high lady dressed for the occasion with her hanfu robes in a shade of fuchsia pink and gold on her layers. Her jade earrings were in the shape of eelswans, with heavy makeup applied her face and the faces of her daughters, who sat by their mother. Her hair was done in one of the traditional styles of women in the Upper Ring, especially married women with most of the hair tied in a large bun and placed with a pink and yellow headdress on top of her head to signify her status in the room. It took a while for Lady Tsung to acknowledge Lu was there, which made her face drop into one of embarrassment for her forgetfulness.
The daughters of Lady Tsung were dressed the same as their mother, but their hairs were done differently, as maiden girls of the city. Their hairs were braided and tied into a bun behind their heads, their headdresses were like their mother's, but were longer and had pink roses in the middle of them. The two girls were silent, as it was expected of Upper Ring girls from wealthy old money families. It was the code of conduct and the rules, since the rings were established in the first place. One of the daughters looked across the table to see Prince Lu, sitting at the table at the queen's right-hand side, as it was where the heir sat, with the girl whispering to her sister, who sat on the girl's right hand side.
"Your Highness, it is great to finally meet you. My husband has said nothing, but good things about you." Lady Tsung spoke, with her words slurring, due to being slightly drunk from the wine.
The Earth Queen frowned, clutching onto her favourite goblet with the tapping of her nail guards on the gold cup. "You think it is a good idea, to speak towards my heir first, rather than your queen, Lady Tsung."
"No, my apologises, Your Majesty. It was a foolish error." The high lady replied, with her head lowered.
"A grievous mistake for others, but it was only a mistake. A mistake easily made by a lady, as empty-headed as yourself."
The high lady stood up from her seat at the table and commanded a clicking signal of her fingers for her daughters to do the same. "Bow to Her Majesty and show your best features in front of His Highness too." The lady said, with a sneer in her tone. Her daughters bowed effortlessly, as if they have been court trained their whole lives to do so. The Tsung family consider bowing to a monarch to be the most honourable thing to do, as a family from old money, since the era of Avatar Kyoshi and when the heinous 46th Earth King was in power.
"Your daughters will make great courtiers, better trained than my own useless handmaidens," The Earth Queen said, in an iron tone. "Do you forget yourself, Lady Tsung, your husband's family may be rich, but do not disrespect me at my own gathering."
"I will never do such a thing, Good and Honourable Queen." Lady Tsung said, explaining herself, "My daughters were excited when I told them of the invitation to come to the gathering."
"Nonsense, they only wanted to come to gawk and stare at the successor to my throne. A pretty boy, he may be, but bending rocks occupy his time more than finding a suitable bride."
"I will assure you, Your Majesty. One of my daughters will be the best future queen for the kingdom than other families loyal to Her Majesty."
The Earth Queen wrinkled her nose at the thought of it, one of Lady Tsung's daughters wearing her robes, her jewellery and her headdresses to court in the future. "Your daughters will be no more than trophies for my great-nephew, he will rule this kingdom as well as I. No daughter of yours will be a true queen. Only a consort."
Prince Lu couldn't hide his delight at the ambitious lady being scolded by the queen tonight, as many of Hou-Ting's courtiers were looking on and whispering amongst themselves about what happened. The lady's daughters sat down at the table and did nothing, as it was hard being a young girl and having your dreams crushed because of the greedy ambition of the parents involved. The appetisers were delicious, as the crisp pastries was Lu's favourite to eat at these gatherings. A steady flow of wine kept the queen's dinner guests talkative, but not too much to disturb Her Majesty, the Queen and her guests of honour at the high end of the table. The daughters of Lady Tsung were quiet for the rest of the evening, which was for the betterment for everyone else, including themselves. The less they talked, the less of a chance for them being humiliated by Hou-Ting or their mother again.
This evening was one of the rare nights, where Gun was not being yelled at as usual, as Hou-Ting has new targets for the night. The meat centred main courses arrived on time, but Lu could see his great aunt was irritated at the thought of a main course being late, especially if it had the finest cuts of meat, coated with dripping meat juices, it was the queen's favourite course of any dinner party. The Earth Queen may be the host of the gathering, but most of the eyes were on the prince, who was going to rule the Earth Kingdom after her. The platefuls of beef, chicken and pork were adorning the tables of the room, including platefuls of the best cooked rice from the kingdom as well. The vegetable side dishes came afterwards, with more wine cases as the queen ordered more wine for the evening. The lines of smoke rising from the food pleased Her Majesty, as it meant the food was hot and ready for consumption.
"The cooks were not kidding, when they made the main course. A meat heavy course is sure to keep the queen occupied. The poor girls didn't deserve to be humiliated, but it's their mother's fault for bringing them into this place. Lady Tsung is wilfully ignorant to place one of her daughters at my side, as a queen in the future, but with the way the evening is going so far, Hou-Ting might consider marrying me off to the King of Omashu's eldest daughter to keep the royal families tied together."
"My daughters know what happened to Lady Vong, Your Majesty. Such disrespect and poor conduct at the dinner table." Lady Tsung said, attempting to start a conversation with a queen, who openly hated her ladyship and her daughters.
"Everyone knows what happened to her. She deserved to be moved to the Middle Ring for her disrespect and poor manners in front of me, her queen." Hou-Ting replied, with a bitterness on her tongue. Prince Lu knew what happened at the last gathering a year ago, when Lady Vong's clumsy handmaiden spilled wine on the Earth Queen's new clean robes for that evening, in front of all the guests that night and in front of him to see as well.
"It is a shame, my husband could not join us for dinner, business in Republic City called his attention."
"Your husband is a traitor to his kingdom and his queen, Lady Tsung." The queen snapped at her.
"Your Majesty, my husband has been nothing, but a good servant to you, Good and Gracious Queen. He has been expanding your influence through the United Republic's gentry network and the Earth Kingdom nationals, who live there."
"Tell me Lady Tsung, in front of my distinguished guests and my heir. Who is your husband willing to pledge his loyalty, the simpering United Republic president or his rightful sovereign?"
"For you, Your Majesty. My husband's family have been loyal to the monarchy for centuries and his loyalty doesn't shake, even living in such a place."
"You better hope for the sake of your lavish house in the Upper Ring and the reputation of your family. If your husband so much as become friendly with the president, your house and your daughters' futures in court will come into question."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The prince didn't pay attention to the scolding, as he was occupied in stuffing his face. The food was plentiful and expensive cuts of meat and grains of rice were never served, unless the Earth Queen had a dinner party going on or she ate with the princes and princesses of her dynasty. He was full, but still desiring the dessert platters that were yet to come. It was the grand finale of any dinner party, and it was his favourite course of anything, as dessert was not to full of juices or oily to his tastes. The rotation of courses was a lot faster than the last gathering, only because the servers from before were dismissed because of tardiness and taking too long to bring the food to the tables. Lu could see from the corner of his eye; the rich daughters of courtiers looking at him from the other table and giggling amongst themselves. He was used to it.
He was no stranger to attention from girls, but since he returned to Ba Sing Se; it was different and unusual. His return signalled to the Upper Ring and other wealthy families of the crown prince being single and a bachelor, since the summer marriage season was about to commence. For royalty, arranged marriages were as old as time in the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe, as it was a way to secure alliances with other families, especially the old money families. It was tradition and the norm for the gentry to marry off their pretty, maiden daughters to the best suitor available to them; to secure the honour and future of their families for the next generations to come.
For Lu, it was different for him because he was the highest-class bachelor there was in the Earth Kingdom. The great nephew of the Earth Queen and the next monarch to rule afterwards; he had everything set up for him to have a great reign ruling, but a bride willing to marry him and tolerate Hou-Ting's tirades and abusive behaviour. To him, none of Lady Tsung's daughters had the steel or the fortitude to even survive in a competitive royal court, let alone be his consort. The wine did everyone a favour, as the Earth Queen was more tolerable when under the influence of her favourite wines brought in for her as tribute gifts to her.
"Isn't it a shame, Your Majesty. Your great nephew returned ready to embrace his responsibilities, as a man and a future ruler, unlike the Fire Lord, who can order her soldier boy to come home and stop playing in another nation's military." Lady Tsung said, with a snigger in her tone.
"A shame indeed, I am glad General Feng has disposed of the last of the United Invaders of my kingdom at last, before his unfortunate retirement from the field." The queen muttered, not aware of the guests around the dining room. "I may not show the boy much, I am proud of him for returning, realising the seriousness of ruling a kingdom and not wasting his time bending rocks for a living."
The high lady should not have spoken about General Iroh or the United Forces in front of the queen. It was in poor taste as the lady knows perfectly how the Earth Queen and the staunch royalists despise this group of soldiers, who protect and defend the United Republic. Lu was tapping on his wine goblet, as it was tempting for him to throw it at Luan Tsung's face with the makeup running from her face. How dare she speak about that firebending moron in front of him, especially when her husband puts money into the United Forces, a traitor to his nation and his queen. It makes Lady Tsung look, just as bad as her cutthroat husband in front of the queen she is trying to impress with her daughters tonight.
Prince Lu had zero love for Iroh, especially what his soldiers did to him in the bamboo forests years ago, as the burn scars on his left arm are evident of what firebenders did to him in the forest. The Fire Nation prince claim he didn't mean any harm but did and Lu never forgave him for it. The prince knew his manners and was nice to the general in Republic City, especially during the grand festival celebrating his kingdom and the patron founders of Omashu. He wanted to get that out of his mind, it was as if the United Forces general didn't exist, until Lady Tsung mentioned him. Lu smiled in Iroh's face and shook his hand, but never let him forget what he and his soldiers did to him in the forests.
It was unusual for Gun not to be by Hou-Ting's side, but it was one of the rare occasions he was not needed. She had the Dai Li and the palace guards, as her eyes for the evening. With the way palace life and high society was; it made Lu think about his future and how things would be if he ruled. Lu would never treat guests the way Lady Tsung and her daughters were treated tonight, they had status, even though they were not the greatest of moral characters. The prince didn't want to be a duplicate of his great aunt's archaic way of ruling, but to establish a great legacy for him and his future progeny of the dynasty.
A/N: I hope you enjoy reading it, as I had writing it. I plan on writing a full story about what happened to Prince Lu on his diplomatic tour in Republic City or write more short stories and oneshot stories like this in the future. The Fu Dynasty are the descendants of King Bumi, who are the current royal family ruling Omashu in this story, as I wanted to add more about Omashu and how it became a prospering kingdom. Jinya/Jin is the name I gave to the random earthbending topiary girl in The Earth Queen episode.
