Chapter Twenty-Nine

After four days of silence, Tazia began to feel as if someone was watching her.

It was an irrational fear, and she knew that. If no one had apprehended her yet, her actions at the prison had likely gone unnoticed. Even so, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, knew she was a traitor.

"Princess Azula," she called, standing outside the princess's door. "Your afternoon tea is ready."

"Come in," the firebender ordered. Tazia shifted the tray so it balanced on one hand and reached for the handle, pulling the door open. Azula sat on the edge of her bed, reading through a scroll with avid attention. As Tazia set the tray on Azula's dresser, she saw that it was an imperial edict. She paused, skimming over the first few lines to get the gist of it.

A formal revocation of Azula's claim to the throne, she realized, eyes flitting away from the scroll. She turned and started for the door again.

"Tazia," Azula said.

She turned. "Yes, Princess?"

"You knew my mother, didn't you? Before she was banished."

Tazia tried not to show her shock. "Why, yes, Princess. I was her personal servant."

Azula nodded absently, setting the scroll aside. It was silent for a moment.

"Is there a reason you asked?"

Azula crossed her legs. "I was wondering what happened the night she was banished."

Tazia blinked. "She was caught committing treasonous acts against Fire Lord Azulon. The royal guards took her into custody, after which your father banished her for treason."

"Banished to where?"

Tazia stiffened. "I . . . I'm afraid I don't know."

The Fire Nation princess looked at her with wide, unreadable eyes. After a moment, Azula stood and paced the length of her room. "Why was she banished? Why not have her executed, like a normal prisoner?"

The handmaid relaxed. This, at least, she could answer. "Your father loved Ursa dearly, despite her actions. I imagine he chose to spare her out of sympathy."

"Sympathy," Azula repeated, her voice flat, empty. She turned and walked across her room again. "You think my father spared her out of sympathy?"

"It was only a guess, Princess. My apologies if I have offended you."

Azula was quiet for a moment. She returned to the edge of her bed, picking up the cup of tea on her dresser. Like her voice, her face was carefully blank. "Those are the only questions I had. You're dismissed."

Tazia bowed, then slipped out of the room, moving with the silence of an assassin. The thought made a shudder run down her back. No, not an assassin. Never that.

She hurried down the hall, almost bumping into young Liang Chi on her way to the servants' quarters. The girl glanced up at her, pigtails bobbing. "Ah, Madam Tazia."

She glanced down. "Yes?"

"The Fire Lord wishes to see you at once."

It was strange, how those words sent a quiver of fear down her back. How the hairs on her neck rose as if drenched in ice water. How the blood seeped out of her face.

Like a rabbit caught in the jaws of an armadillo wolf.

"Madam Tazia?"

The sound of her name brought her back to reality. She exhaled loudly, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. "Did he say what for?"

The girl shook her head. "No. He just said he needed to see you." In a whisper, she added, "I think he wants to ask about the princess."

"Oh." Her heart fluttered with relief. That must be it. I have more contact with Azula than anyone else in the palace. Of course that's it. "I'll go at once." She pushed past the young girl, wiping the sweat off her palms. As she walked, she focused on dispelling the signs of anxiety so prominent in her labored breathing, her pale face. If they were going to arrest me, they would've done it days ago. She exhaled, slowly. The Fire Lord probably just wants to hear how his daughter is handling the news, to make sure she doesn't torch any more handmaids. Tazia repressed a hysterical giggle at the thought.

By the time she reached the throne room, she was in better shape. Her walk was purposeful and quick, but not rushed. Her skin had regained a healthy pallor, despite being slightly flushed from her half-formed panic attack. Even her breathing and heart rate had settled to normal levels.

The Fire Lord sat on his throne, looking down from his platform as she entered. She bowed, going to her hands and knees in a gesture of total submission. "I was told you summoned me, my lord." She peeked up through her bangs.

"You are my daughter's senior handmaid?"

"Yes, my lord."

He nodded. "Come forth."

She approached the platform until she felt the heat of the flames on her face. The Fire Lord beckoned her closer yet, until sweat started dripping from her forehead.

"Your name was Tazia, yes?" the Fire Lord asked.

Her lungs convulsed as if they were about to implode. "Yes, my lord."

"Ah, good. I have the right servant, then." He looked to the corner of the room. "Guards, arrest her."


Azula rolled up the scroll, the words blurring together after her fourth time reading it. She rubbed her eyes. I need something new to read, she thought, setting the scroll next to the empty cup of tea at her bedside. "Tazia," she called, hoping the handmaid would be stationed outside her door, as she usually was. Given that she'd dismissed the woman for the day, she couldn't act on her irritation when no one answered back. "I guess I'm going to the library myself," she muttered.

She abandoned her room, walking purposefully so no one would bother her with inane conversation. Luck was with her—she didn't catch sight or sound of anyone until she heard voices coming from down the hall. Azula was about to continue on—the library was still another minute's walk from here—but she paused when she realized it was her father speaking.

Azula was not a cautious person. She'd never needed to be, since her firebending skill and battle experience were sufficient to keep her out of danger. So rather than shying away from the voices, she turned down the corridor and walked to the throne room, hoping her father was in as much trouble with the noble families as Tazia had implied. It would serve him right, Azula thought.

Footsteps echoed from the throne room, a dozen pairs all moving in disarray. The frequency of the footfalls was too rushed to be that of a noble family. Azula clung close to the wall, listening more intently as she edged toward the door.

"Let me go!" someone screeched. Recognition flashed through Azula, harsh enough to make her flinch.

"I'm afraid we cannot allow traitors to walk the palace unpunished," her father said. Azula peered in through the door, knowing she wouldn't be visible from the throne.

The royal guards had swarmed around one flailing figure, grabbing her by the arms in an attempt to restrain her. Many of the guards were new, sworn into service after the food poisoning incident. Azula recognized none of them.

A tall shadow moved against the wall, thrown into relief by the flames. Azula stiffened, recognizing the broad shoulders of her father. "Such a pity. You were one of Ursa's favorite servants."

Azula flinched. Father never mentioned her mother in front of others.

"I suppose that's what spurred you to become a traitor like her."

"I am no traitor!" Tazia cried, struggling against the shackles being wrapped around her ankles.

"Yet who else but a traitor would free the Dragon of the West from captivity, so soon after he was apprehended?"

"I did nothing of the sort!"

Uncle is free? Azula thought, wondering why no one had bothered to tell her.

"I have many eyes in the Fire Nation," Fire Lord Ozai said, his shadow moving back toward the throne. Pacing. In the flickering light, the shadow was much larger than the man himself. "Enough eyes to ferret out traitors within the castle."

Tazia's protests were muffled by the metallic scrape of armor. Azula stared at the developing scene, fixated.

Through the shuffling feet and moving guards, Ozai gave an order. Azula watched as half the guards stepped aside, leaving only two pinning Tazia down. They brought the brown-haired woman to her knees, applying pressure to her elbows so she wouldn't be able to move without breaking them. Another guard stepped in front of Tazia, brandishing a shiny, silver halberd.

The line of fire dividing the throne from the rest of the room flared.

The guard swung his halberd in a wide arc, putting all his strength behind it.

Something round fell from Tazia's shoulders. It tumbled across the floor, bouncing twice, then rolling toward the door. Drops of red marred the metal wherever the round thing hit. A lake of crimson spread out beneath Tazia's knees.

It wasn't until she saw Tazia's sightless brown eyes staring up at her that Azula realized they'd chopped off her head.


Author's Notes:

Again, I apologize for the slow updates. I haven't been feeling very inspired lately, and given that I'm in the middle of six stories right now, updates are a little delayed.

I'd planned to put this scene later in the story, but it fit just as well here, and I needed something to get the plot moving forward again. Hopefully, this will spur me to write another chapter soon. In any case, thanks for reading.