(King's Landing: 11/5/298 AC) Xai Bau IV
"Any other news," Chi-Ha questioned, as she sliced through the air of the empty tea house with her butterfly swords. The sun had yet to rise, and the hanging lanterns burned low. Three Fire Nation troopers huddled around his table, watching their unit commander in her practice, while another six sat closer to the kitchens, conversing amongst themselves as they drank tea and ate custard buns.
"Yes, you have another hour before the workers start to wake and make the Opal Dragon ready for another day of business," he stated bluntly, causing a man to snort at his table.
"Not that, Grandmaster. What news from Dragonstone?" she continued with her training, ignoring the other man. Even as sweat trickled down her arms and face, Chi-Ha retained her usual dead-eyed stoicism even during her more complex sword katas. Appearing more as a dancer than weapon master, her sleeveless training garb left her well-muscled arms glistening in the low light.
"A rider has been dispatched from Storm's End, with news from Dragonstone, urging the King to make for his former seat. Steffon mentioned that the Fire Lord's letter held no specifics, only that her son and Lord Stark would sail for Storm's End, along with nearly a quarter of the castle garrison to await his arrival there."
"Storm's End? Why? Will the King not return to the capital?" the men at his table asked.
Chi-Ha stopped dead in her tracks, and behind her golden eyes, Xai could see the cogs turning. "The Others?"
"I'm told Lord Stark was adamant about the Fire Lord's plans in response to them, so he forced her to find a quick solution to the bastard problem," Xai clarified, quieting the room and causing the six troopers near the kitchens to trade their seats for ones near his own. The approaching men all wore looks of disgust at the reminder of the Queen's affairs with her own brother. While the news had been nothing new to him, courtesy of the Silver-Tongue, the others had only recently been informed after the Fire Lord had recovered.
'Only tell Chi-Ha's unit and Commander Lee,' he remembered the words they shared in the Grove. 'No one else must know.'
"Well," Chi-Ha frowned, "Stark certainly has boulders for balls."
"Apparently, he has already sent out orders marshalling the North. The letters should be arriving within the fortnight. I imagine the same will be done with the Stormlands, once the King and Lord Renly are brought up to speed," he said, shifting his legs slightly as he began to feel the prickly tingle of lessened blood flow within them. "As for the Fire Lord, she is reportedly stronger than ever, and has plans to take what forces she has mustered on the Island to return here."
"To what end?" the Lieutenant probed.
"For certain, the Lady Sansa is to be escorted back north through White Harbor," he answered.
"What of the city?" a man inquired, his eyes twinkling in anticipation. Chi-Ha sheathed her swords and stalked over to his side like a cat.
"She will secure it in King Robert's name," Xai replied, his mind still wondering on the Fire Lord's state-of-mind. 'Barely out of what may well have been her death bed, the passing of her last remaining friend, and yet she continues without breaking stride. Something is amiss…'
"Under whose authority?" she inquired. "The King has yet to know of this, so it would not be under his."
"You are correct, but the King's Hand does," he entwined his fingers beneath his crimson robe. "And so long as the King lives, the King's Hand has more authority than even the Queen. Stark has issued a written command, to have the Fire Lord act as hand in his stead, until he and the King return," he answered, feeling a tug at the corners of his lips. 'I can't wait to see the look on your face,' the Grandmaster mused on the Queen and the childish tantrum she would most assuredly throw.
"I'm not even going to ask how the Fire Lord convinced him to do such a thing, but… " Chi-Ha retorted, before he cut in.
"She wasn't the one who convinced him," Xai supplied, casting a knowing glance towards the gathered soldiers.
"Ha! There is hope for the boy yet," the woman clapped alongside several of her men.
"So it would seem," he agreed, narrowing his eyes, amazed at how well his protégé could play the Game of Thrones. "However, the only flaw in that," Xai postulated, tightening his jaw, "is that Steffon should've taken into account the type of resistance the Fire Lord would face, being what she is..."
"And what is she?" Chi-Ha squinted her eyes, seemingly understanding his meaning but asking all the same.
"A foreigner, of course, but more than that, she is a woman," he almost winced as the words left his lips. Even though he cared not, about who had what in-between their legs, only that they were competent, he knew issues would most certainly arise the moment word spread of the Fire Lord's newest appointment. "Don't you remember? Those were the same problems she faced when we first arrived."
"You mean the one she reduced to a charred corpse?" the Lieutenant's eyes turned dark and the frown upon her face grew deep.
"Takumi was an ambitious fool. He was no Fire Lord and he deserved his fate," he answered. "But that is beside the point. The fact that problems arose from our own people thinking her weak because of her 'disposition' does not translate well to a place such as Westeros."
"I was not one of them," she growled, missing the point, while the others grew silent.
"You are correct, you were not one of them. Just like you are not one of the Lords or nobles in King Robert's court," he countered. "That room of arse-lickers is going to be quite the beast to tame, even for the Fire Lord. All those pampered fools thinking they know better because they're men. She won't be able to just Agni-Kai them all to death without repercussion."
"Well, technically she could," a man muttered.
"Then I would refer you to the Mad King," he retorted, eyeing the man with a baleful gaze. "Do you remember how well that turned out for him?"
"But what if he did know?" Chi-Ha theorized, as she stirred in her seat, causing it to creak. Those gathered fell into a thoughtful silence, himself included, and could only ponder the question.
Before long, the Grandmaster felt himself falling into a deep pit of intrigue and backed away, not having the time to linger on such things. 'At least for the moment,' he told himself. As he turned to look at the others, he saw that the Lieutenant seemed to be thinking the same behind pouted lips. "Perhaps we can all just agree that the Fire Lord is cunning enough to maneuver through such tumultuous waters and leave it at that?"
"Yes, that seems fair," a trooper with a confused face answered almost immediately.
"In any event," Chi-Ha rolled her eyes and straightened herself, casting away the brief moment of distraction like a child dismissing a toy. "Now that the executioner's blade has been raised, is a lion hunt somewhere over the horizon? I would look forward to such a thing…" a feral smirk formed on Chi-Ha's thin lips.
"Here! Here!" the gathered troopers softly slapped the table.
"No specific mention of it was made, so I can only assume that she will leave the imprisoning, or more likely, the killing of them, in the King's hands," he answered, still unsure of what exactly the Fire Lord's impending visit entailed. "That being said, no matter how pleasant King Robert shows himself to be, he has been known to express his house's words in his actions."
Chi-Ha blinked, then grinned. "'Ours is the Fury' expressed by 'the Demon of the Trident?' Not exactly a peaceful combination of words. Lion's blood is all but assured then."
"Huzzah!" a man said.
"Hmm-hmm," Xai nodded. "More than likely."
"So the Fire Lord is waiting for a direct command from the King, and his physical presence by her side, to commence with the arrests and executions," a soldier to his left summarized.
"The King's stupid hunt was ill-timed," another soldier sighed in irritation. "We could have been spared this pause, and gone straight to the killing."
"No, the hunt was a fortuitous turn of events," the small voice of a female trooper spoke out, from the opposite side of the table. "Better to have the King safely away and exposed to the truth in a controlled situation than in the middle of a coup."
"I agree," he praised the unnamed woman's observation, though he quietly suspected that the hunt had not been accidental. To him, the relative proximity of the King's 'untimely' departure had coincided far too well with the Fire Lord's entirely unforeseen incapacitation. "Reveal of our bending must also be done as delicately as possible and with the King's approval. Doing so before he arrives would not be wise, given the superstitious nature of these Westerosi. Adding; 'Murdered the Queen and deposed her children,' to that would not be well-received. It wouldn't even matter if it was done for the right reasons, there would still be uprisings," he further explained, before concluding. "And I only pray that we will be spared a resurgent Faith Militant, once the dust settles."
"Bah! Who cares about the blasted Faith Militant, or those barbarian peasants!? We'll bring them all to heel, just like Maegor the Wise did," a soldier scoffed, crossing his arms.
"Ignoring the fact that Meagor perished under mysterious circumstances afterward, the Fire Lord cares enough to not be as heavy handed," he chastised the middle-aged Fire Nation man with the trimmed beard. "We can't wage war upon the entire continent."
"He's right, you idiot," the scarred woman continued, causing the man to shift in his seat. To his credit, the man remained silent, seemingly embarrassed at his outburst. "We don't have the numbers. The Fire Lord knows this…" she glanced towards him, placing a finger to her lips, and scowled. "I am going to assume that when she returns she will strip the Queen of as much power, as she can, without causing too much of a fuss."
"Declawing and defanging her before turning her into a rug?" the unnamed female soldier chuckled. "As humorous as that sounds, I do not believe Cersei will go quite that easily," she waved her hands, before resting her elbows across the table.
"Neither do I," he replied.
"You'd be better off giving her 'the Dragon's kiss' and leave her drooling in the Red Keep," the woman continued with a dark chuckle, referencing a procedure, developed by Qyburn and Sanro, meant to pacify individuals.
In that moment, his mind travelled back to the caverns where he had seen the old Maester maneuver a thin spike around the back of a subject's eyes, before hammering it into the skull.
"Gah! Don't even mention that. I still have nightmares about it," a trooper shook his head, before they all heard the door to the servants' chambers open.
"Grandmaster?" he heard Maerros' respectful tone. "Apologies for the interruption, but it is time to prepare for the day. If you wish, I could tell the others to wai…"
"No need for that," Xai looked towards the red priest, then back to the gathered men, who had all taken their cue and had begun standing to recover the weapons they had left laying at the foot of their original seats. He rose, ushering the troopers out of the dining area once they had gathered their bearings. Xai marched them past the kitchens and down into the bowels of the Opal Dragon. There, the smell of incense and scented candles permeated the walls, as a means to hide the smell of the grimy tunnels beneath. He opened the hidden door, which was disguised as a crate, nestled in the back area of the storage room.
"One good thing about the Fire Lord sweeping this damned city clean of enemies, is we won't have to use these shit tunnels anymore," Chi-Ha grimaced.
"Keep telling yourself that, Lieutenant," he sighed, knowing the Fire Lord to be too cautious to not keep utilizing them even after her enemies were destroyed.
"It's the small victories that matter, Grandmaster," she grinned, before turning to see the lights of the others fading from view. "I shouldn't have left," a sad look crossed the otherwise stony face. "I could have killed that thing before it came within an inch of the Fire Lord and the others."
"I'm sure you could have," he said, unsurprised at her sudden gentleness, and placed a hand upon her shoulder.
"Don't patronize me, Xai. Don't make me regret confiding in you. You stood closest to the Dragon. To the father of my love, and for that you have my trust, but don't push it," she narrowed her eyes and stood tall. "I'm not in the mood."
"I did not mean as such," he corrected, raising his hand. "Your bending is adequate, but in close quarters you surpass all others save Lee. Had you stood at Steffon's side, I am certain you could have achieved the kill before things got out of hand."
"Hmmm," her eyes softened and she slumped her shoulders. "It's just that the Overseer. I could have saved her. Just like I could have saved him," she struggled at the last.
While they had rarely spoken, Chi-Ha had confessed to him the respect she had held for the Overseer's quiet diligence and hard edge. He knew the Fire Lord's friend had not been too keen on establishing bonds during her brief life, and had instead chosen to cultivate an image of a private, but stern, unforgiving perfectionist. To most the Overseer had always lingered in the background, serving as the Fire Lord's shadow, but to the few who knew her, she was loyal and that was enough.
"No good will come out of such thinking. I speak from experience," he remembered his wife and the fever that saw her waste away before his very eyes. "We cannot change what has happened," Xai Bau blinked away the memory, though it still tugged at his heart. "Overseer Mai was loyal, she was diligent, and she was Fire Nation. That is all. We can only hope to have such an epitaph when our times come," Xai stated, in as comforting as a tone as he could muster. As he spoke the words, the image of Chi-Ha was replaced by that of his daughter. 'Jun,' he said to himself.
"I know," she turned, staring out into the inky blackness of the tunnels. "But she was like him, and that's what makes it hurt the most," Chi-Ha whispered. "Goodbye, Grandmaster," the woman muttered.
"Farewell, Lieutenant," he answered back.
Silently, the woman lit up a small flame in her hand and proceeded down the tunnels leading to the Manor. Once her light had dimmed to near-nothingness, he slid the crate back into place.
Looking up, he began to hear the familiar, albeit muffled sounds, of clattering dishes and light footfalls of his workers. "So begins another day," he sighed.
