Chapter 4

Ursa had been lying in bed for the past few hours, unable to sleep. She hadn't said a word of what had happened between her and Prince Ozai to anybody, not her mother or father, and especially not Meiko who had glared at her for the rest of the party. She had begged her mother to leave the moment that it was socially acceptable to go, and she and her father had walked home, leaving her mom at the party. She didn't fault her mother for wanting to stay, she had been in her element and she was so happy and Ursa couldn't ruin it for her mother. So she had lied and said that something had upset her stomach and her father, who had seemed more than ready to leave himself, had escorted her home.

When she had arrived at home, she had been glad that Mura was asleep so she didn't have to recount the details of the night, but she knew that she would have to come morning. She had taken her dress off by herself and she made sure to hang it up again not wanting it to be ruined and she had taken her makeup off and let her hair down and crawled into her bed.

But sleep didn't come. I would like to get to know you better Prince Ozai had said. To her! She wasn't like those other noble girls, she was as much a commoner as Ikem or Elua. How she wished her best friend was home. She knew that she should be getting back from Ember Island soon but it wouldn't be soon enough. Ursa couldn't speak a word of this to Ikem and she wasn't going to tell her mother. She knew how her mother would react. Rina would be horrified that she had run away from the prince, she would have wanted her to encourage Prince Ozai, to make him think that there was a chance that she would be interested in him.

Ursa knew that her mother wasn't a bad person, but she wanted her old lifestyle back and she wasn't going to stop at anything to get it. She had known that about her mother for years. It had been hard on her to lose their status in court, but Ursa frequently wanted to remind her mother that she had done so willingly, at least partially. She had married Jinzuk knowing that he was a poor noble with little status at court. But she supposed her mother had thought that Fire Lord Azulon would continue to favor them, even with the marriage. Ursa worried that Prince Ozai's interest in her would make her mother think that there was a chance that Ursa would leave Ikem for Ozai. There wasn't.

But why was Prince Ozai interested in her? And what was going on with Meiko? Why did she threaten her? Meiko's father was a famous general at court, if she wanted to marry Prince Ozai than surely she could. Ursa knew that if Prince Ozai got to know her than he would not be interested in her. Not like he thought that he would be. It was hard to imagine that they had much in common, and even still the rumors that surrounded him scared her.

Ursa and Ikem had managed to find some time to take a walk together during the day. Ikem's father had closed the shop down early and Ursa was supposed to be helping out with her father but he had sent her away when Ikem had showed up. She knew that her mother wouldn't be too pleased but her father had said that it would be their little secret.

Walking hand in hand along the dock, Ursa loved the smell of the ocean. It comforted her and made her feel like she was at home. She couldn't imagine living more inland away from the ocean. They had stopped to watch one of the ships coming in when Ursa noticed two fishermen standing nearby as they heaved fish and crates down. She supposed that the fish would be brought to the different markets in town.

"Did you hear about Prince Ozai?" A fisherman asked one of the other workers. "I heard from my cousin who works at the palace that he burned a servant who merely gave him the wrong drink. He was dead in an instant. They had to scrape his remains up off the ground."

"No way!" the second fisherman exclaimed as he heaved the net full of fish over his shoulder. "She's lying."

"She swore that it was the truth! And I've heard stories like that about him from other servants too. He's a monster, I'm telling you. A monster!"


Ozai was furious. He spent the rest of his party angry and brooding over what had happened. How dare Meiko interfere with his wants? She knew better. She always looked the other way when he strayed to one of the other noble women. What made this girl different than all the others? Ozai didn't care. Meiko would bow down to his whims as she always did. As she always would do.

He was pacing in his bedroom, waiting for her to come. He didn't care if she had gotten home already after the party she would turn right back and come to him. Her family's villa was nearby; it was partially why he had chosen her out of all the other noble girls. Her father's position as a general meant that his father wanted him to be close by. And Ozai wanted his mistress to be close by as well. Fire Lord Azulon had no idea what was going on between him and Meiko, and Ozai preferred to keep it that way. He was sure that he would pressure him to marry her and Ozai had no interest in that. His father wouldn't rule him. He had spent his childhood years fearing his father and doing as he asked but not anymore. Ozai knew that his father was getting older and weaker. The time would come for Ozai to strike and take his rightful place as Fire Lord. Nobody would get in his way.

When the door opened and Meiko walked in, bowing to him, he was in front of her in a flash pinning her to the door. He was careful not to hurt her, at least not enough to leave any marks, but enough to remind her that he was in charge and that she would be foolish to do anything to anger him.

"Wha—" She managed to get out before his look silenced her.

"You will not meddle in my affairs again do you understand me?" He hissed out, glaring at her. "Your position here at court is to make me happy. And do I look happy? Do I?" He shouted.

"N-no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry Prince Ozai," Meiko whimpered, fear in her eyes. Good, she should be afraid, Prince Ozai thought. Afraid was good. It made her more compliant.

"If you're not careful you will be on a one way trip to the colonies do you understand me? I hear that the men there would love a pretty thing like you," he said, his voice quiet and dangerous. If she upset him again he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of her. It would be a shame because she was so good in bed and she knew what he liked. But others could be trained. She was replaceable.

"Y-yes," Meiko replied. "Please, I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you ask Ozai. Please don't send me away," she begged tears in her eyes.

Ozai relented and stepped away from her, feeling like he had gotten his message across. He walked over to his bed and sat down, ignoring her rubbing her wrists where he had been holding them. How he was glad that his rooms were on the opposite side of the palace away from his father. His servants knew better than to turn him in to the Fire Lord. They were easily replaceable as well. Most of the people around him were, besides Lee that is.

"Get me some wine and come sit. You're going to help me strategize," Ozai commanded, watching as Meiko went to his wine rack and poured two glasses.

She walked over to them and handed a glass to him and then sat down on the bed, arranging herself so she was facing him. "How can I help?"


Walking down the steps, Ursa was exhausted. She had barely slept at all and when she did she kept seeing Ozai's face in her dreams. She could hear her brothers arguing about something and she rolled her eyes.

"Boys come on," she chastised them, shaking her head.

"Morning Ursa!" Ukano exclaimed, smiling at her.

"Morning," she said, kissing his head and walking into the kitchen where she found her mother with a cup of tea. She had hoped that her mother was still sleeping after the late night out. She wasn't ready to face her mother after what had happened.

"How are you feeling?" Rina asked her daughter, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Better," she replied, pouring herself some tea and joining her at the table. "It had come out of nowhere. I'm not sure what I had that caused it."

"I heard something last night," Rina said, bringing her cup to her lips. Ursa's stomach dropped. Had Prince Ozai sought after her mother to talk to her? Agni please no, she thought.

"Heard something?" Ursa asked, doing her best to look confused. She felt the pit in her stomach growing larger by the moment.

"Prince Ozai would like your father to start teaching him sword fighting lessons."

"What? That's wonderful! Father must be so happy," Ursa said, feeling some relief, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more.

"Oh, he is," Rina said and Ursa noticed for the first time that her mother looked happier than she had lately. "It looks like our luck may be turning around, Ursa. Let us hope that things start to change for the better."

"Yes, that would be wonderful," Ursa agreed, feeling relief that her mother didn't know what had happened, that Prince Ozai or Meiko hadn't opened their mouths about what had transpired. But she couldn't help but wonder why Prince Ozai wanted to take lessons from her father. It made her uneasy and she worried that she hadn't seen the last of him.

Author's Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I know that this was a bit of a shorter chapter but I hope that you're excited about where this story is going! As always I would love to hear your thoughts!