Ursa struggled to maintain her composure, there was something she was missing, it was all a misunderstanding. It had to be. Azulon was a hard man, he was strict and demanding, but not even he could be serious about this. She had never in all her years in court heard the man tell a joke but this had to be one, she could live with her father-in-law having a sick sense of humor. She would talk to him and he would say it was all a mistake, he would call her foolish for being so worried in the condescending tone he had mastered and say that of course he did not expect Ozai to go through with it. He might even scold Ozai for even considering the idea, it did not matter that Ozai was a full grown man with two children of his own; Fire Lord Azulon would think nothing of scolding his son as if the prince were still a child.
"I need to speak to Fire Lord Azulon, privately." She told the guard outside the Fire Lord's chamber. She let her voice reveal how serious the situation was but made sure she sounded calm and composed instead of the panic she truly felt, as if she had just received some word from the front that was to be kept confidential and only known to members of the royal family. With what happened in Ba Sing Se, a major loss in the war effort as well as the death of the second in line for the throne, no one would think twice. It probably only took a few seconds for the guard to enter the chamber and leave followed by the servants that were waiting on the Fire Lord but it felt like an eternity to Ursa. She had expected the servants to wait outside the door but instead they continued down the hall and were followed by the guards, so Azulan wanted to make sure their conversation was kept completely private. Does he know what I've come to talk about? She wondered, the thought made her more nervous, if he had not been serious about his demand then why would he expect her to want a private conversation about it. Pushing the thought away she strode into the chamber.
"I should have known you would have something to say about this." Azulon said, he sat at a chair beside a large table with a map spread across. The map was full of marks, tracking the progress of the army and marking towns that had been colonized. There were also a few other papers of the table, one of which looked as if Azulon had just written it before she arrived.
"I don't want to believe you would seriously ask Ozai to do this. I agree, he was wrong to suggest that he should be given Iroh's birthright but Zuko is innocent." Ursa said, her fear changing to determination, she would not let this happen and anyone who thought Princess Ursa of the Fire Nation was going to sit by and let her child be hurt was insane.
"Innocent." Azulon repeated the word as if tasting it. "Yes, I suppose he is." Ursa wanted to feel relief, the Fire Lord was agreeing with her, wasn't he? Still, there was something in his voice that made her feel it was too soon to let her guard down. "But there is more to it than that. Innocence can be taken care of; the proper education can rid a child of innocence and naivety. There is something else in the boy or perhaps what is not in him; he lacks the ambition necessary to continue the war successfully. My father had to deal with men in his council that were not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve the greatness the Fire Nation deserves."
Ursa knew what he was talking about, her mother told her things about Fire Nation history that none of the history books Ursa had ever read even mentioned. About generals in the military who opposed the eradication of the Air Nomads when Fire Lord Sozin suggested it as a way to prevent the Avatar from stopping the Fire Nations conquest. They were all demoted, called cowards and shamed into leaving the capital city to find small villages to live.
"Zuko is a child; he won't need to think about how to lead a war for many years." Whether he inherited the throne or not, though the former was much more likely now that Lu Ten had died, Ursa knew he would be expected to aid the war effort. She did not like it, especially when she thought about her nephew, the friendly young man she would never see again, it was not a fate she wanted for her son but she had come to terms with it and still hoped the war would end before Zuko was old enough to take an active role. The loss of Ba Sing Se was a bit of a disappointment in that regard, if they had conquered it the entire Earth Kingdom would have followed soon after. But how could any parent be expected to keep up a siege when they had just lost their only child?
"Princess Azula is even younger and she shows greater promise as a leader." Azulon stated coldly. Azula, her little girl, Ursa scowled at Azulon's comment hating how he and Ozai encouraged what Ursa saw as her own personal torment. That thing, that they both admired, was consuming her baby girl, twisting the child into something cruel and uncaring. It was something inside Azula, something Ursa was unable to protect her from, a shadow creeping over her that Ursa was powerless to stop. It hurt to watch, but that was all she could do, she tried to encourage Zuko to spend time with Azula, she tried to make it sound like she just thought brothers and sisters should spend time with each other but her real motive of encouraging the two to play together was the hope that Zuko might rub off on Azula, maybe his willingness to work hard and never give up and his kindness would help Azula fight the thing that was trying to consume her. Azulon continued speaking, ignoring Ursa's disapproving look. "Ozai was wrong to suggest I betray my first born son, but he was right that his line has greater potential. And after some consideration, I had to admit it showed great ambition for him to openly suggest such a thing. Ozai must make a choice, his first born son or the throne. Iroh has proved that such pain is too much for him, he gave up the siege because he was not willing to make certain sacrifices. If Ozai puts power over family he will prove that he will do whatever necessary to bring power to his nation."
Ursa stood staring at the man, he was serious, he wanted Ozai to kill Zuko. She could not believe it. "He's your grandson!" She fought to keep tears from her eyes as she tried to make Azulan see reason. She did not bother to hope that Ozai would make the right choice; she knew he would do anything to become the Fire Lord, so she had to make Azulan change his mind.
"What is a grandson but an heir? Princess Azula pleases me as an heir more than Prince Zuko, without him Ozai can inherit the throne, he will rule well doing all he can to advance the war and then Azula will inherit the throne from him and follow in his footsteps, just as Ozai will follow in mine and I have followed in my father's."
"So you've told Ozai that he has to kill his own son if he wants to inherit the throne and then Azula can inherit it from him?" Ursa asked trying to get a hold of reality to figure out what she could do, the problem was this was madness and nowhere near reality.
"I have told Ozai that I will send my revised will to the Fire Sages if he sacrifices his son." With that he lifted the paper on his table, Ursa skimmed over it quickly. It simply stated that Azulon wished for his second son to succeed him upon the time of his death, there was no caveat or requirement mentioned, the only reason the Fire Sages would question it was because it lacked the Fire Lord's seal. Of course, he doesn't want the people to find out that he had even suggested that his own grandson be murdered so that part is just a spoken agreement, something that will never make it into the history books. Ursa thought to herself; in a way, that was better because it would be easier to undo something that was never actually made official and it explained why he had sent the guards and servants away to make sure they would not overhear the conversation. Everyone in court knew once a secret reached a few servants it would not be secret for very long.
"I won't let you do this." She said, her voice hard and uncompromising. "It won't happen."
"There is nothing you can do, Princess Ursa." He replied she could hear the way he said 'princess' he was reminding her of her place, that he outranked her. "Your son will die and the Fire Nation will be assured of having a line of strong leaders."
Ursa did not even hear the last part of his sentence; it did not matte; nothing mattered except the fact that he had threatened her child. She did not care that he was her father-in-law or the grandfather of her children and she certainly did not care that he was the Fire Lord. No one threatened her children! Without thinking she slapped him hard across the face, the old man stumbled back, surprised by the force of her strike. He backed into the table, the corner of it meeting his back causing him to fall and flipping the table over so that everything on it scattered across the floor.
Ursa sat bolt upright in her bed, no matter how many times she had the dream it still disturbed her. It worked out for the best. She tried to let the thought comfort her; it had assured Zuko's safety. But it also had meant that she could never see her children again, knowing they were safe helped, but it was not the same as being with them. Would she even recognize them if she saw them after all these years?
Knowing she would never get back to sleep, Ursa looked at the paper resting on her nightstand. It was an announcement that Fire Lord Zuko had declared the war over and that he and the Avatar would work to restore peace and balance to the world. Fire Lord Zuko. She was proud of him, it had taken a week just for that little detail to reach the small isolated village she had come to live in. Of course they heard that the war was over fairly quickly, but Ursa had been left to wonder how it had ended, she had been full of questions no one could answer, and few others would care about. Had the Fire Nation itself been attacked? The capital? What had become of the members of the royal family? The latest news had helped, it told her Zuko was safe, not just safe, he was the new Fire Lord and planned work to heal the world his predecessors had hurt but it mentioned nothing else.
She was proud of him, she had always believed Zuko could be a good leader. He had a strong sense of right and wrong, for the most part anyway. Living in the Earth Kingdom had shown Ursa how much of the things she had been taught, and had then allowed her children to be taught, had been pure propaganda. Still, if Zuko was going to heal the world then surely the skewed view of the world he had been raised on had not done too much damage. She had been afraid what would become of him, with Ozai clearly favoring Azula and her natural talnts and promoting the ruthless, sometimes sadistic, tendencies that Ursa would have liked to guide her daughter away from. She had feared that without her to praise his perseverance and pure heart he be susceptible to the same thing that was corrupting Azula. She could only hope he had remembered her last words to him, but whether he did or not this new bit of news suggested he was still her Zuko and the Fire Nation would benefit from his leadership. Still, she could not help but wonder what happened to Ozai, she had never been in love with the man her father had arranged for her to marry, but he was still her husband so she would have liked to know his fate. And what of Azula? Had she beaten that thing that Ursa had been forced to watch consume her child? She hoped so, but knew the chances were slim with Ozai always promoting it, he would have had the girl willingly surrender to it. Until more news reached her, she would just have to hope and continue for a little longer keeping her past a secret from the other villagers.