Chapter Seven: The Right Words

A quarter mile outside Baolei, two girls slowed from a sprint to a jog, following Azula's lead. The three continued running steadily through the crisp night air, light enough on their feet to barely leave indentations in the muddy grass. About half an hour later, they crested a hill. Breathing heavily, their faces were illuminated by a small sea of torches in the valley below: Azula's army. The three caught their breaths quickly.

The princess thought aloud, "So mister fancy hat has betrayed us. Long Feng has outplayed me, at least for round one. Zuko (and the others) are most likely prisoners. To extract them, we need help, or at least help would be optimal. And if they've escaped, I should tell them that we have as well." Azula looked toward the girl in pink, and sat down. "So what help do I have available?"

"Do you really think this is the time, Azula?" Mai asked irritably, the barest hint of frustration and worry on her face as she paced.

"It's fine. Ty Lee?" Azula prompted as she waved a dismissive hand in Mai's general direction.

"Um, there's the army. I don't see how they could help us extract prisoners though, unless there are talented people I don't know about?" Ty Lee asked, idly stretching and contorting herself.

"No one in this army would be worth bringing along," Azula replied.

"Hmm, well then – uh – the Dai Li!" the acrobat said, springing back to her feet.

"Very good," Azula said. Ty Lee gave a glowing grin at the praise, and Azula allowed herself a small smile in return. "But we do need to act by noon tomorrow, when the councilors will all be in the same place, vulnerable. So how can I quickly get their help?"

"I don't know," Ty Lee said. "Just getting back into the city will be tricky."

"Azula, Zuko is in that city. Can we save the lessons for later?" Mai said with an annoyed expression.

"The two minutes it will cost us will not make a difference." Azula waved her hand dismissively and ignored Mai's brief mild glare. "Ty Lee, how would I pass a simple command, in this case, 'come to me' to the Dai Li in Baolei without risk to myself?" The acrobat looked thoughtful, but didn't have an answer. "I'll give you a hint: I will also tell Zuko and his friends that I've escaped. And I'll do it within six minutes."

Mai raised her eyebrows, as did Ty Lee.

"Watch, but don't disturb me," Azula commanded, standing.

For a few minutes, Azula gathered her power, pumping more and more energy into the small flames around her hands. They grew brighter and hotter, spreading around her palms and fingers like gloves. A shift in will, and the flames left her hands, flowing into a small sphere in front of her chest. She spent some more time directing a stream of fire from each of her hands into it, before shifting the sphere to her left hand. She extended her dominant arm toward the sky and a pillar of blue flame, about as thick as her arm, shone from the ground to the low clouds, hundreds of feet up, illuminating Baolei and the surrounding countryside in a pale, sickly glow.

It took most of her concentration to maintain the signal, but she could still afford to pay some attention to her former handmaidens. Mai had nodded quietly, understanding, and Ty Lee looked amazed. Frustration, then understanding passed clearly across Ty Lee's expressive face, and when Azula dismissed her fire a few minutes later, the acrobat bounded toward her. "That was amazing!" Ty Lee said, wrapping her arms around Azula.

"I know," Azula said, smiling slightly. "How can that have transmitted information though?" the princess prompted, letting go.

Azula saw Mai's impatient expression again, and began walking toward her army. Mai followed, nodding acknowledgement. Ty Lee followed as well, circling the other girls energetically. "Well, it was a… what's the word … high… rhino… over… order… override command!"

Azula nodded. Ty Lee continued, "And Zuko knows no one else could do that, so he knows too."

"Correct. Now, I haven't planned all the contingencies, but there is a possibility that one or all of us will be captured. In that case, kindly remind Long Feng that he is too scared to even talk to me," Azula smirked.

"And this will help how?" Mai asked.

"I know him. I know the right words to say to him to persuade him to release us. Hopefully," Azula replied.

"Alright, I'll do that," Ty Lee said, cartwheeling forward.

The three walked down the muddy hill to the entrance of the camp in silence. A dry moat with stakes wrapped around the army. The only gap was five feet wide, and upon it stood two bored sentries armed with spears.

"Halt! Who goes there?" one of the sentries called out. Then, barely audible, to his partner, "I've always wanted to say that."

"I am Azula. I have some special orders for you." Without waiting for a reply, she continued walking confidently toward them. They let her pass, and she turned around once past them. "There will be pairs of earthbending agents coming here tonight. You will let them pass if and only if they provide the password: Scorched Earth. Resume your duties." The sentries looked to each other, then bowed to her.

The three walked through camp to its center. It was mostly calm, and the few bustling soldiers there naturally gave them a wide berth.

Outside the circus-sized commander's tent was the subordinate Azula had left in temporary command: a young, bearded man, with a couple lesser officers around him and two guards at the entrance. They bowed deeply as soon as they saw her. Azula gestured for them to rise, and they did so. The man spoke, "Princess, there are a couple issues which require your attention. Nothing urgent, but, as I am only acting commander…"

Azula gave him a brief glare of irritation, and he suppressed a flinch. "Use your own judgment, you have my authority. Now, you three, go elsewhere." The officers departed in haste.

"Mai, Ty Lee, wait for the Dai Li to arrive. As soon as one pair has, tell me. Until then, wait outside, I need to plan," Azula said.

A barely noticeable flicker of distrust crossed Mai's face, but she nodded silently and stayed outside with Ty Lee, as Azula entered the commander's tent. She strode to the center of the room, sat down, and began to plan.

Scenario one: leave Zuko and his allies in Long Feng's custody, sail home, and proclaim myself Fire Lord. It will be nearly impossible for him to hold them for any significant length of time, so they would be executed or escape. If Zuko were executed, the full rights to the throne would fall to me. I should be able to get away with minimal rebellions, provided I also execute Father. But there are issues. For one, it's unlikely that Kuei would maintain peace with me. For another, Iroh could decide to press his claim rather than see me rule. And Zuko would be dead. If Zuko escapes and finds that I've taken control, then there will be a full-fledged civil war. I could proclaim myself acting Fire Lord, but then the whole Nation looks weak with its leader in prison, I lose respect with the nobles on the mainland, and the colonies look for opportunities to break away. Argh, and Mai and Ty Lee would behave unpredictably as well. No, there are too many uncertainties. If I ever do take control, it must be quick and decisive.

Scenario two: assault the city. The army was meant to take it by siege, not assault. Even with me augmenting it, it would be too dicey. Still, a valuable card to hold, if not play.

Scenario three: act when Long Feng betrays the Chancellor, or vice versa. That is surely inevitable; Long Feng would never share power. Could work, need to decide on what action, specifically.

Scenario four: allow the betrayal to take place without interference, then negotiate with the victor. If it's Long Feng, he won't be willing to give me anything unless his life hung in the balance. And if it's the Chancellor, I know too little about him to be sure.

Scenario three, version one: break the others out while Long Feng is occupied betraying the Chancellor. "Azula, you made a mistake." Her blood ran cold, and she opened her eyes, certain of what she would see but dreading it all the same.

Her father stood in the tent, arms folded behind his back, a frown on his face and disappointment in his eyes. "Explain to me how you allowed yourself to be blindsided. Were there no clues? Were you facing the absolute master of deception, the likes of which has never been seen before? I think not. Explain yourself."

Azula stood, hands trembling. She averted her eyes, and walked unsteadily to the entrance.

"You never interacted with anyone but the Chancellor. You didn't even check with your local pet earthbenders. And you were surprised by his betrayal?"

Leaden, shaking hands reached for the entrance flap. They failed to find purchase the first time.

"Did it never enter your mind that Long Feng would behave unpredictably? Even when you knew he would know his opponent? You were only saved by intuition, and intuition is a fickle ally. Well? What do you think your punishment should be? Or do you disagree?"

Azula stuck her head out, barely maintaining balance. One of the two guards stationed there spoke to her. She didn't register the words. "Bring me Ty Lee. Now," she commanded.

The guard who had spoken raised an insolent eyebrow, but hurried to do her bidding after a quick glare.

Azula withdrew her head, and sat down gracelessly on the cold ground. She tried breathing deeply, to no avail.

"Azula, answer me. Or I will take it as a sign of … defiance." It was the soft, threatening tone that had always preceded harsh punishment.

Don't panic. It is not possible for him to be here. He's in the spiral tower, back home. He can't really be here. He cannot really be…

Ty Lee bounded in, bring with her the usual effortless cloud of cheerful energy, and the specter vanished. The pink-clad girl looked down to Azula, frowning. "Azula, you have something on your face," she stated uncertainly. Azula raised a hand to her cheek. How odd. Tears. A quick pulse of will boiled the residue away, and Azula was back in control. "No, I don't," she stated, technically correct.

Concerned, Ty Lee knelt down, wrapping her friend in tight embrace. Azula returned it, hoping Ty Lee wouldn't notice her still-racing heart or trembling hands.

Strange, I haven't drawn comfort from another since… No, now is not the time for that particular thin sheet of ice. I will maintain control.

"What did you want?"

"Just sit with me."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about? I can't believe a man in that hat turned out bad. I mean, can you? Why do you think…"

"Quietly."

"Okay!" Ty Lee sat down and began fidgeting.

Scenario three, version one: break the others out while Long Feng is occupied betraying the Chancellor. Resume the siege, keep Kuei informed, call in more troops, and just take the city. The main problem is that the city hasn't rebelled against the Earth Kingdom, so it would be an act of war to resume the siege, and Zuko wouldn't allow it.

Scenario three, version one, permutation two: break them out, and negotiate with whoever ends up ruling the east. Their leverage would be quite limited without prisoners, and I should be able to get a public alliance with the earth capital. It is, after all, mutually beneficial. Then again, whoever wins will have strong motivation to eliminate witnesses. And if Long Feng wins, he will have vastly increased resources with which to enact revenge on me. But the Chancellor will, again, be unpredictable. And the backup plan does not apply to him.

Scenario three, version two: break the others out while ensuring Long Feng wins. Then I can be sure, or at least reasonably sure, of an out if captured. He's already proven to bow to practicality to save his life, so should things go according to plan he should be reasonable in his allegiance.

Azula yawned and stretched, finished.

"Azula, being quiet is hard. Are you finished yet?" Ty Lee had paused her nearly incessant stretches.

"I have. Come with me," she commanded, standing.

Before she could leave, Mai and a pair of agents entered. The Dai Li bowed.

Azula's voice was completely level. "Listen very carefully. You will go to the harbor wall, making a stable hole ten feet below the waterline and thirty feet from the near shore. My brother Zuko, along with the Avatar and four others, are imprisoned somewhere in the city. Find out where they are. Start by looking in the Chancellors dungeons or in the network of catacombs near the harbor. Once you've found them, wait. I will meet you by the west-most dock half an hour after curfew lifts. This has absolute priority."

The agents bowed again, and departed, sliding along the ground on masterful earthbending.

"So, what is the plan?" Mai asked.

Azula folded her arms behind her back, and looked to her companions calmly. "We don't have the resources to prevent Long Feng's takeover, but we can try to use it to our advantage. We are going to break Zuko and the others out of prison while Long Feng is busy betraying the Chancellor. We'll get everyone out, and negotiate with him once he has control of the city. He is a rational man, after all, so our mutual enmity does not preclude successful negotiations."

"You were wrong about him before, and the Chancellor. Are you sure about this?" Mai asked bluntly.

Azula gritted her teeth, but replied in the affirmative. "Now, let us get some sleep. I have one thing to do first, but you both should go to bed."

"Azula, you really aren't making it easy to trust you," Mai glared at Azula briefly.

"Oh, you can come with me if you'd like, I was saying you might as well get some rest," the princess replied, in a casual tone.

"I think I will," Mai said.

"Good night, both of you! Sweet dreams!" Ty Lee walked away.

Azula strode quickly a little ways across camp to the man who had been acting commander, finding him in a clear area outside an officer's tent by a fire. He bowed as soon as he saw her. "Princess, I have completed-"

"Tell me tomorrow." Azula interrupted, "For now, you are to wait at the camp entrance and give the following message to any earthbenders who give the password:

"Your orders are simple: find Long Feng, tell him you have remained loyal to him, and help him defeat the Grand Chancellor. Some people in his employ should be watching the network of catacombs by the harbor. This has absolute priority."

She glanced at Mai, who nodded, but looked slightly confused.

"Um, how long do you expect me to wait?"

"All night. Proceed," Azula said, and the man departed.

"Yes, Mai?" Azula asked, responding to Mai's questioning expression.

"Why are you helping Long Feng?"

"It is vital that he control the east and not the Chancellor," Azula replied, impatience biting into her voice.

Mai shrugged, said "Fine," and departed with an annoyed glance.

Azula went back to the commander's tent, removed her crown, boots, and bracers, and settled into her bed. She was asleep within minutes.

She was sitting in her father's lap, listening attentively. "You've done very well in training. You are a better firebender than I was at your age, and I'm proud of you." Ozai chuckled. "Don't tell him I said this, but I think you're better than my esteemed father was, as well." Azula smiled up at him, and he continued, "Now, I'm going to teach you the second lesson. It's very simple: don't panic."

She was waiting in an alley for the unofficial royal assassin of the Fire Nation. He emerged silently from the shadows, a very tall, muscular man, with two limbs of metal and a tattoo on his forehead. He inclined his head impatiently, and she explained, "I don't have a target for you. I have a simple task, entirely legal, with no risk to yourself, and I will pay you in full. You have a unique skill. Teach it to me." After a brief puzzled expression, the man nodded, and the thirteen-year-old princess smirked.

She was reclining peacefully against a tree in the royal garden, still full from her sixth birthday party, contentedly stroking her year-old cat and watching the sun set. It had been a fun day, the whole family taking a break from their duties to indulge her. Father had been in a good mood all day, and had had mock fire battles against her and Zuzu working as a team, even allowing them to win some of them. But his expression was serious as he approached her now, and he glanced disapprovingly at Candle. "Tell me the first lesson, Azula." "Compassion is weakness," she replied. "Very good. Now, your assignment: make this creature" he gestured towards her cat, "fear you."

Azula's woke up surprisingly refreshed. A few reddish beams of the rising sun were visible through the entrance flap, and Azula set to work quickly. Checking with the acting commander, two pairs of agents had arrived and departed. Curfew lifts in half an hour.

About an hour later, all the cavalry in her army rode out, to ride around the city walls out of range of any weapon, and her war balloon was in the sky, piloted by one of the smarter officers. The balloon approached from over the water, naturally drawing the eye of every sentry.

Hundreds of feet below, three elite warriors entered the water. The pink one came up gasping. "Cold! Really cold! Azula, do we have to go in this way?"

"Yes. Just stay close to me, and the temperature won't be an issue." The three exchanged glances and dove under, Mai and Ty Lee five feet behind Azula, the princess heating the water all around them to a comfortable level. They swam up to the harbor wall, and waited for the signal. Two minutes later, the balloon began launching fireworks, and the girls dived under again, swimming through the gap left by the first pair of Dai Li.

Quickly and without issue, they arrived at the pristine stone dock, climbing out of the sea on a rope ladder. The two Dai Li waiting under the dock slid around and up, joining them.

They travelled quickly to the nearest Dai Li safehouse, an abandoned warehouse, where the girls dried off and the agents relayed what they had found: "The six prisoners you discussed are being held in the catacombs. We found the best place to tunnel in. From there, we will only need to deal with a group of four guards, followed by a pair. Once we get past those six, there will be another group of six, each assigned to one of the prisoners."

Azula nodded, approving the plan, and they waited until noon, when the Chancellor and Long Feng would be occupied with eliminating the council and each other.


They tunneled directly from the safe house, closing the ground behind them, until the earthbenders opened a round hole leading to an illuminated marble hallway.

The five dropped down silently, and advanced down the hallway. The leading agent held them up with a gesture. "Around this corner is a thirty-foot hallway. There is a pair of guards at the end. Halfway down, it leads into another hallway, and another pair will be at that intersection," he whispered.

Azula commanded, "You two each take out one of the nearer pair. Ty Lee, run toward the nearer pair, I'll take out the farther pair. Mai, troubleshoot. In five seconds, go." She slowly and gracefully moved her arms in wide curves, gathering power.

Five seconds later, the group turned the corner, Azula releasing lightning at the farther pair of guards, the Dai Li knocking the near pair over. The far pair fell, and Ty Lee was on the others before they could get back up, paralyzing them with a flurry of quick strikes.

The group advanced to the T-intersection, and the Dai Li bound the guards in stone. A look of concern flickered across Ty Lee's face. "Shouldn't we restrain the other pair, too?"

"No, they'll be unconscious for too long to matter," Azula lied.

They moved on to the end of the hall, finding a stone slab blocking their path. The two agents quickly removed it.

The five entered an octagonal room of faded marble, with a stone slab door on each face and a green torch in every corner. The room was empty save for a throne in the center, a passable imitation of the one in Ba Sing Se. One of the agents turned around, entering an earthbending stance to close the door behind them. The stone slab slid upward with a rough, loud scraping sound. Azula instinctively turned to look at the source of the noise. In her peripheral vision, she saw the other doors slide open, allowing nearly fifty earthbenders into the room.

Azula turned around. The other agent had already reacted, and finished trying to bend at her. Fast as he was, her handmaidens were faster. A delicate hand landed on the offending shoulder, effectively cancelling the attack. Mai, meanwhile, had begun throwing knives into the nearest group.

The agent near her would need a split second to do anything after closing them in, and she didn't give him that time. An arc of fire at chest height, focused on blunt force, sent him flying back, and also impacted several of the ambushers.

The ambushers not interrupted by fire or blade launched the first volley of boulders. Azula ducked, rolled, and smoothly got back to her feet.

Her breath left her and blunt pain shot through her body as a boulder hit her torso, knocking her onto her back.

She immediately took a gasping breath and tried to rise normally, but someone had bent earth around her right hand, pinning it to the ground.

She called a sphere of flame with her left hand as she awkwardly rose, twisting, using the same motion to blast the rock off her right. She had staggered back to her feet and was recovering balance when the second boulder hit her back.

Her face smashed against the floor, and a fresh wave of pain coincided with the taste of blood. Someone heavy pinned her down, putting his weight on her forearms.

Azula heated her bracers to unbearable, and the weight left her wrists with a scream. She twisted onto her back, seeing a large earthbender kneeling astride her. Someone bound her right hand again, and the man twisted out of the way of the jet of fire from her left.

He struck her chest and stomach with a brutal downward blow, knocking the last bit of breath from her. A stone arm reached out from the ground, restraining her left hand. The man reared up for another two-fisted blow, and there was nothing she could do to evade it. Pain threatened to disrupt her concentration.

Her legs had been bound in stone by now, and stone bands settled across her chest, a crushing pressure which prevented her from drawing any but the shallowest breaths.

Azula's stomach lurched as the ground she was bound to lifted into a vertical slab, and she nearly gagged as stone flowed into her mouth.

She saw two stone cubes, each about seven feet wide, presumably holding her friends.

One of the ambushing earthbenders commanded as he indicated the boxes and Azula in sequence, "Hold them with the others. Take her to the cell we prepared."

She was taken to through two slab doors, into a small natural cavern, its only entrance a stone slab. The earthbenders reinforced her bonds.

They left her in solid blackness, standing vertically, with her limbs spread and each one bound halfway up to the forearm or thigh in solid rock.

A soft voice carried clearly in the black. "Azula, if your previous actions were mistakes, this is just sloppy. You didn't notice one of your agents had been replaced by a different person. You blindly followed his lead right into an earthbending ambush. And now all Long Feng has to do to defeat you is not come in to gloat."

Azula closed her eyes, and she could see her father again, pacing in front of her with his arms behind his back. Her heart raced and suddenly the tiny bits of air her restraints allowed her were nowhere near enough.

"Quite simply, you were outplayed at every turn, and I do not tolerate failure."

Azula struggled futilely against her restraints for a moment, then reason asserted itself.

Second lesson: don't panic. "Let's see you do better," she would have said, if not for the stone in her mouth. A brief look of anger and genuine frustration crossed her father's face, and she took her chance. She closed her eyes and asserted reason again. When she reopened them, he was gone.


She became progressively more sore as hours passed, but her mind suffered no further threat.

Then she heard the soft patter of footsteps on stone, and the low drone of conversation. Her "door" opened, and a tall man with a small, pointed beard, drooping mustache, round face, and green robes slid into the room. Long Feng also sported a scar, now, a thin dark line from the center of his forehead through his blind right eye. Her traitorous agent and his false partner flanked the former commander, bearing green torches.

Azula relaxed, allowing her restraints to hold her weight, and would have smirked if she could. I win.

"Well, well. Despite your best efforts, and the interference of your friends, I now hold the east, undisputed. Thank you for the agents, by the way. I didn't really need them, but they certainly removed any chance our adorable Chancellor had against me. Now, you. You got lucky last time, but luck was all it was," Long Feng said, walking toward her. He met her eyes, and she did her best to look condescending. His gloating smile switched to a grimace of rage, and he gestured toward her.

The rock holding her shifted, and pain lanced through her body as her arms were forced painfully back. Her head was forced forward and down, restricting her field of view to Long Feng's boots and the surrounding ground.

"And now you kneel before me." His tone was triumphant, overconfident. "What was it you said? That I was 'never even a player.' Well, what does that make you?"

Azula almost gagged again as the stone in her mouth flowed out, but she took a deep breath as Long Feng relaxed the stone vise on her chest. She replied, "The victor."

She smirked and looked up at him with a steely gaze. "Long Feng, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

His eyes widened briefly, then his remaining pupil dilated fully open, and his face froze in the middle of switching from a smug to panicked expression. "I am honored to accept his invitation," he recited in monotone.

"Release me, kill them," Azula commanded.

Long Feng gestured, and the restraints on Azula's arms released themselves and flew toward his two escorts. They reacted quickly enough to deflect the attack, but not to dodge Azula's jets of fire.

They fell, dead, with burned chests. Pity it had to be quick. But I was still vulnerable.

Long Feng turned back towards her, and the restraints on her legs faded to sand. She stood, stretching, her smirk still on her face. "You didn't really think I'd let you walk out of my city without taking precautions, did you? Now, you are going to let me, my companions, Zuko, and your other prisoners out, maintain your secret control of this province, and publicly ally with Ba Sing Se. But you'll answer to me."

"Of course," he replied in monotone.

"Now, where are the prisoners?"

"Your friends are here in different cells; the others escaped while we captured you."

How irritating. "Very well. Bring them to me, allow the three of us to depart unhindered, and give the following order to your organization: Zuko and the other escaped prisoners are no longer our enemy. If you see them, do not engage, but give this message: 'come to the army, Zuzu.'"

Long Feng nodded.