Iroh and Ozai were still keeping up their rivalry. They'd been at each other's throats, sometimes literally, since the Air Nomads were captured, and she and Jian had their hands full keeping the two from harming each other. They would never fight in front of Azulon, but given that Azulon wasn't around often, that left them a lot of time for fighting. It also left Ozai with several trips to the infirmary to be bandaged.
"Really, Ozai," Ursa said, pulling Ozai out of the office. "You should be happy."
"This is a cause for father to be happy."
"But you get to sit next to him."
"I always sit next to him."
Ursa put her hands on her hips and regarded her husband with a shaking head. They were on their way to the War Room where delegates from Mi Sho were coming to sign what they thought was a peaceful treaty that would get the Fire Nation to leave them alone. She knew Ozai was upset about having to stop his plans, but the past month more than made up for it. He'd been elevated to a position higher than anything he'd held before. As they walked down the halls, more than just the generals loyal to him bowed. And more than just generals bowed; noblemen who'd previously looked at him with disdain, council members who generally sneered, and palace servants who bowed the minimum and hurried away all acknowledged him. They bowed deep in the same way they bowed to Iroh, indicating them as being on the same level.
Chem was standing behind them, where Ozai couldn't see his exasperated expression, but Ursa could. She rubbed her temples.
Ozai reached out to her, and she slapped his hand away. "You cut that out." She crossed her arms. "This is an honor he's giving you. Stop being petulant."
"It's also a slap in the face—"
"Good," Ursa said, walking again. "Then the books balance, and you shouldn't care one way or the other."
Chem was close by her, and Ozai followed at a distance, mumbling that every praise came with a barb for him. Chem handed her a few papers that were meant for Ozai, and she read over them. When she was done, she handed them to Ozai. He didn't question why Chem had these papers, or why his secretaries were being used less and less, and Chem used more. These things were generally beneath his notice. So long as he had someone else taking care of things, and life was running smoothly for him, Ozai could let it slip out of his notice.
She stopped at the door to the War Room, smoothed her clothes, then turned to smooth Ozai's but he kept trying to shoo her away. He started to scold her because the servants were watching, but she shushed him.
"Don't start with me, Ozai."
He knew when to pick his battles, and when she nodded at the guard by the door, the large double doors were opened, and Ursa took Ozai's arm. The room was packed with generals and lieutenants and major and minor public officials and attendants and secretaries and all sorts of court hangers on. Those who were seated stood to bow as they made their way to the front, to the place designated for them next to Azulon.
Eyes followed them, and a few people spoke, but mostly, people were quiet. Ursa immediately picked out the delegates from Mi Sho by their scared looks and hunched backs. Their eyes darted around, having correctly identified themselves as being in hostile territory. They were seventeen, men and women, only a handful of real soldiers amongst them, among at least one hundred Fire Nation soldiers alone. They were quiet and almost apologetic about their presence.
"Ozai," Azulon said, standing to greet them. He gestured to the seat to his right, nodding at Ursa. "Princess."
Iroh, Jian, and Lu Ten sat to Azulon's left. Lu Ten leaned forward and waved at Ursa enthusiastically, but Jian pulled him back, reminding him that this was an important diplomatic meeting, and he should behave accordingly. Iroh completely ignored their side of the table. When everyone was seated, the head palace secretary began the announcements that would precede the signing of the treaty.
"We are here to witness the signing of a treaty between the Fire Nation," a gesture to the royal family, "and Ren Island of the Earth Kingdom," a flick of the wrist toward the stoop shouldered men huddled together. "The Fire Nation is to be represented by most esteemed Fire Lord Azulon. Ren Island and the stronghold of Mi Sho shall be represented by Elder Cal and General Alt. Do both parties agree to this representation?"
"I do," Azulon said. The input of the rest of the family was not needed.
"We do," Elder Cal responded quietly.
Several scribes were marking down the acknowledgment of authority, while several others were bringing forward the drafted treaty to be read and discussed.
"This treaty will ensure that Mi Sho is no longer the subject of attacks from the Fire Nation. A vanguard of Fire Nation soldiers will be stationed at the Mi Sho stronghold on Ren Island, hereby referred to as the island, and will number no more than one thousand seven hundred at any given time. This vanguard will be charged with the protection of the island from outside forces. An Assistant Governor will be established on the island. The Assistant Governor will take no official title, but will aid Elder Cal and the governing body of Mi Sho in managing the vanguard and seeing to the island's well being. Do both parties agree thus far?"
"I do," Azulon said, a sly grin on his face. His arms were crossed, and he was leaning back in his chair.
"We do."
The longer the head secretary talked, the more bent Elder Cal's shoulders became. He wasn't being fooled at all. He was signing away the rights of Mi Sho, and eventually the entire island.
"In return, the entirety of the island shall pay to the Fire Nation the sum of 5,000 gold pieces a year and allow free and unmolested passage of all Fire Nation vessels of all classes through the territorial waters of the island. No Fire Nation vessel of any class can be turned away from port for any reason. As the Fire Nation vanguard will be taking over all duties of protection for the island, all military forces—including those in all villages outside of the stronghold of Mi Sho—will lay down their arms or send their soldiers to the commanding officers of the vanguard for placement within the Fire Nation army. Ren Island is not to raise its own armies, and all current armies must stand down. Do both parties agree thus far?"
"Without hesitation," Azulon said.
When Elder Cal didn't immediately respond, all eyes turned toward him. He looked like a man who was trying to make it across the rope bridge before the ties were cut. Cal tried several times to speak, opening his mouth then closing it, but he never looked up at his hosts. General Alt looked pale and tired, but he placed his hand on Cal's shoulder and squeezed. The other members of their party were not allowed to sit too close to them, leaving Cal and Alt in a sea of red. Ursa thought they looked very much like prisoners, and she wouldn't be surprised if Azulon suggested that many of them stay to ensure Ren Island's 'best interests' in the capitol.
"Elder Cal," the head secretary called, "do you agree to these terms thus far?"
"Perhaps our friend would like a glass of water?" Azulon asked, with feigned hospitality. "His journey was long, and I am sure he would not want his hosts to think him ungrateful for this great kindness. Ren is a failing island lost at sea with little trade. Really, we're taking this burden off your hands."
Several of the Ren Island delegates colored at this. One woman, nearly shielded from view by a row of minor officials, turned away. Others hung their heads and clenched their fists. Ren wasn't exactly failing, that Ursa knew of. Jian did say they were rich in coal and served as a port into the Earth Kingdom.
Water was brought for the old man, and though the servant was polite as was required, he made sure to spill a little of the water on the old man. Cal looked close to tears, and Ursa wanted to do something to help him, but this was far beyond her.
"We accept these terms, thus far," Cal said quietly, looking into his cup.
"I'm sorry, my hearing must be going in my old age," Azulon said, and several around him laughed. There were barely any streaks of grey in his hair at all. "And perhaps the people all the way in the back could not hear you."
"That's enough!" Alt yelled, rising from his seat. "We're already agreeing to your damn treaty that strips us of everything we have, you don't need to humiliate us, too."
Ursa tensed. The room tensed. Too late, Alt realized the mistake, and he became all too aware of his surroundings, of the people surrounding him. Slowly, Azulon rose from his chair, and even though he was shorter than Alt, he seemed so much bigger and more opposing. He leaned forward with his hands on the table, eyes trained on Alt. The bigger man shrank back as much as he could, but behind him was a line of soldiers. There was nowhere for him to run.
"I am doing you a courtesy that I do not have to do. I could have had my son, Prince Ozai, invade your pathetic island. I could have given him fifty thousand of our best soldiers, our sharpest weapons, our strongest benders, our fastest ships. I could have given him an army big enough to repopulate your entire island after we exterminated you. And yet, I did not."
He didn't raise his voice, but everything about him, from his posture to the emphasis he put on words, was a threat. Ursa shivered and wanted to pull away from Azulon, but she had nowhere to go, either. She kept her eyes trained on the table, looking at the wood grain. The air was getting warmer, and Ursa shrank in her seat. Ozai squeezed her hand.
"You should sit up in your chair," he whispered. "I know the meeting's long, but they'll cooperate now, and we can get this over with."
"We could have made the terms harsher. We could have made everything worse for you. If you want, we can scrap the treaty and do things your way," Azluon continued.
Before Alt could say anything, Cal raised his head to meet Azulon. "We accept the terms thus far." He said it as loud as he could, his voice echoing off the far walls of the room.
"That is good to hear," Azulon said, returning to his seat, and looking quite pleased. "If we can continue?"
The head secretary continued through all the stipulations of the treaty. The Fire Nation would get a forty five percent share in all coal sales, and a twenty percent share of all other trade coming into the island, which wasn't much. All businesses would pay the Fire Nation for the protection offered, and as further gratitude, Fire Nation soldiers would be housed for free. As the sums Ren Island would pay to the Fire Nation were being read off, Ursa's head reeled. There would be no industry the Fire Nation wouldn't have its hand in. While the yearly sum was relatively small, so was the island, and having to turn over all this money would surely cripple their economy. And there was no choice but to agree.
"Furthermore," the secretary began. They were somewhere in the third hour of the meeting, and Lu Ten was struggling to stay awake. "Mi Sho agrees to aid in the capture of all Fire Nation fugitives, particularly the former Councilman Yi and disgraced businessman Sel. These two are to be turned over immediately to the custody of Crown Prince General Iroh, to be dealt with in the proper manner."
At these familiar names, Ozai's head jerked toward his brother. Ursa made it a point not to look at either of them, but to stare straight ahead. She had suggested to Iroh that he go after Sel, and once she found out that Yi had never answered for his crimes, she knew that Iroh would be looking for him, too. It was too tempting, and it might bring back some favor that Ozai had stolen. She wasn't sure why Ozai was so mad, though. He'd never said anything about going after Yi or Sel, had never shown any interest in it. Besides, it suited her plans just nicely to have Iroh considered the more useful of the two.
With both parties agreed verbally, the treaty was brought out on a parchment for the two parties to sign. Azulon signed with a flourish and a laugh, while Elder Cal scrawled his name with a shaking hand and an undoubtedly heavy heart.
The Fire Nation just acquired another island.
A/N: This is Azulon's idea of a peaceful treaty *nods* Why kill everyone when you can make them pay you not to attack you and get in some good old fashioned humiliation while you're at it? There is more than one way to "conquer" an island, but Ozai wouldn't see it that way, and either Azulon or Iroh would probably rub it in his face. Most likely Iroh because he's mad that Ozai got to bring their father Air Nomads and he didn't. While Ozai might have done good that one time, Azulon probably told him something like "Now this is how you conquer something. Pay attention and learn, boy." You know, I should do a one shot with Ozai and Azulon or something like that. There's so much that's been unexplored there.