Chapter 8
The only thought going through her mind was that she needed to save Ikem whatever it took. This was all her fault. If she had just told Prince Ozai no than Ikem wouldn't have tried to attack him, he wouldn't be in a cell waiting to die. This was all her fault, Ikem had been right, she hadn't taken a stand; she had been so passive hoping that something would happen in her favor. But she hadn't expected this to happen. She couldn't even let herself a moment to stop and think about what she was going to say to Ozai. All she cared about was saving Ikem's life.
The run to the Palace seemed like it took no time and took forever all at once. Ursa felt like she was wasting valuable time. What if Ozai decided that the execution should be sooner? What if she was too late? A million thoughts kept going through her mind and she was unable to stop a single one of them. She hadn't noticed any of her surroundings, it was like her body was on autopilot and she knew exactly where she needed to be. Her entire mind was focusing in on her mission. She didn't care about who she cut in front of or the people that made exclamations of annoyance as she ran. They didn't know that her love was in the tower awaiting execution.
The Palace came into view and she seemed to slow down for a moment. She couldn't fail Ikem and his father, she needed to make sure that Ozai saw reason and allowed Ikem to go. There was no losing. But was she going to be able to do this? What if he didn't listen to reason? What if they didn't let her in to see him? What if Ikem was already dead? But no, he couldn't be. Executions for treason were public, they always happened at sundown. She had several hours to save him, and she worried that she wasn't going to be able to do it.
But she was going to have to be brave. She had to be brave for Ikem. Taking a steadying breath, Ursa ran to the guards, who immediately stopped her. She could feel her entire body vibrating with anxiety and fear. She recognized the guards standing in front of the palace, they had let her in before with very few questions. This didn't bode well for her.
"What business do you have here?" The guard asked her.
"I need to see Prince Ozai! It's an emergency!" She exclaimed, trying to get past the guard.
"Nobody is allowed in the palace," the guard told her, holding her back. She tried to pull away but his hand was firm. "There was an attack last night and nobody is allowed in without clearance."
"I need to see the Prince. Tell him that it's Ursa, he'll let me in, please," she begged the guard, barely holding it together.
The guards looked at one another for a moment and then one of them nodded their head and walked into the palace. Ursa could barely keep herself calm as she waited for the guard to return. What if Ozai didn't want to see her? No, he was going to see her. Why wouldn't he? She couldn't think like that. She had to believe that she was going to be able to save Ikem.
It seemed like it took forever for the guard to return. But when he finally did, he nodded his head. "He said to let her in. Follow me," He said.
"Thank you," she breathed out.
Following him through the halls, she wasn't sure where she was going. Even though she had been in the palace a few times she had only gone to the gardens and the reception room. There had been no need to travel any deeper on the other occasions that she had come to the palace. They made a turn and went down another hallway and Ursa noticed how quiet it was on this side of the palace. She felt nervous and her heart was racing as they got to the end of the hallway.
"Prince Ozai is expecting you."
Ursa hesitated for a moment before she pushed the door open and stepped into Ozai's bedroom. The room was huge, much larger than she expected and she could see Ozai standing near the bed, his back to her. The charred remains of the canopy on the bed were still hanging and it made her stomach drop. Had Ikem done that? Had the attack been in this very bedroom? How had Ikem made it so far into the palace? Why had nobody seen him? What had he been thinking? She felt unsettled as she stood there, waiting for him to address her. Now that she was there, she wasn't sure what she was going to say. She didn't know how she was going to get Ozai to agree to spare Ikem or even how he was going to react to her asking. But she knew that she had to try and she needed to succeed. She couldn't fail him.
"Ursa," Ozai finally greeted, turning to face her. His face was unreadable but he didn't say anything more.
"Ozai," she whispered, looking at him pleadingly. "Please. I—I heard what—"
He held his hand up and she immediately stopped speaking, her heart pounding in her chest. "Your boyfriend came to see me last night."
She felt her mouth immediately dry up and she felt sick. Ikem told him that they were dating. Ozai knew. Suddenly she wondered if she was in danger.
"Prince Ozai, I—I can explain. I wanted—"
"Enough," he bellowed, rushing to her and grabbing her arm. She cried out in shock. "You made me look like a fool! A boyfriend! What were you going to do, Ursa? Play both of us? No wonder you weren't ready for marriage, you were trying to figure out which of us was better."
Tears started to stream down her face as she shook her head. "No, no, you don't understand."
"I understand perfectly," he said coldly. There was fury in his eyes that didn't match the coldness of his tone. "Your boyfriend is going to die tonight. I have half a mind to send you to the tower with him."
Bile rose in her throat and she felt like she was going to vomit. She hadn't known what to expect but she didn't expect him to react like this. Ursa hadn't thought that he would be so angry. Where had the gentleman gone? She had started to think that the rumors were wrong about him, that perhaps he had just been misunderstood by the people around him. But this version of Ozai was terrifying; the anger in his eyes, the way that he was gripping her arm scared her. His threats of sending her to the tower shook her to her core. If he killed her would he hurt her family too? She couldn't imagine her parents, locked in the tower with her siblings. Sweet Eska didn't deserve to be punished for her mistake. Ikem didn't deserve to get punished for her mistake. She had misjudged Ozai and it was her fault. She needed to get them all out of this.
But how could she protect Ikem and her family from Ozai's fury? Ikem had made a mistake to reveal their relationship, she was sure that Ozai wanted to kill him for his closeness to her, not just because he had tried to attack him. It had just been a few days prior that Ozai had asked her to open her heart to him, something that she had felt that she couldn't do because of her love for Ikem. Why had Ikem been so stupid? Had he been drinking? She couldn't understand why he had thought that he could win against a Prince of the Fire Nation. Everyone knew that they were strong benders, much stronger than Ikem who had learned in school but barely used his bending, and he especially didn't fight. It was something that she had always loved about Ikem that he wasn't a fighter, that he was a passionate lover and a good person. He was so different from Prince Ozai, and he didn't deserve to die, to be executed by the Prince.
She realized that to save Ikem she needed to distance herself from him. If she could convince Ozai that nothing had ever happened between her and Ikem and that they had just been friends, than perhaps she could convince him to let Ikem go. It broke her heart to have to deny her relationship with Ikem but there was so much at stake. She couldn't let Ikem die because of her. And if she had to live the rest of her life never getting to see him again but it meant that Ikem got to live and have a family one day, than she would do it. She would do it every time.
"He's not my boyfriend," she stated, surprised by how strong her voice sounded despite the terror in her heart. She looked up into Ozai's eyes. "You need to understand our relationship. We were friends from childhood and he has always been obsessed with me. I turned him down every time that he asked me on a date. Maybe I went on a few with him out of pity, but we certainly weren't dating, Ozai. I promise you that. When I told him about us after we ran into each other at the market that day…he was drunk and he was furious. He didn't like the thought of me liking anyone other than him. But I promise you, Ozai, that I never had a relationship with him. He's just…a misguided boy that thought that he loved me."
Ozai was quiet as he looked down at her, his eyes searching her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she hoped that he couldn't hear it. Everything was riding on Ozai believing her, and then her being able to convince him to free Ikem. She had promised Arik that she would save his son and she had every intention to. Especially now as she distanced herself from her love for Ikem. It would all be for nothing if she couldn't get him out of the tower.
"Are you lying to me, Ursa?" Ozai finally asked.
"No," she replied, her voice steady as she looked up into his eyes hoping that he would see the sincerity in them.
"Then prove it."
"How? What do you want me to do?"
"Marry me."
She felt her stomach drop; she had known that he would push for marriage. And she didn't know how she could refuse him without exposing herself and her relationship with Ikem. But the thought of marrying him now that she had seen his temper scared her. But she didn't see any other choice than to say yes, to agree to marry him. If she said no than she would probably end up in the tower alongside Ikem. Would he have them executed together? Or would he make her watch as Ikem died first and then she joined him. No, she couldn't let her mind go any further. Neither of them were going to die.
"Release Ikem and I'll marry you," she said softly, looking up into his eyes. "Please. I can't stand the thought of him dying because of me. He's his father's only child, the only one that he has left. I swear if you let him go, I will never see him again. Just please, let him go."
Ozai was silent for a few moments. "You will never see him again," Ozai stated.
Ursa nodded her head. Ozai pursed his lips for a moment. "Alright," he relented. "I won't execute him."
She didn't even think, she just wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Ozai stood there stiffly, not moving his arms; he just let Ursa hold onto him for a few moments. When she realized that he wasn't reacting to the hug, she had pulled away, her cheeks burning red. He looked down at her, uncertainty in his eyes and she looked back at him, confused. Had he never been hugged before?
"We don't…" he said uncomfortably, fidgeting with his collar. Ursa had never seen him unnerved like this. "We don't do that. We bow. You know that."
"I'm sorry, I lost my head for a moment," she replied, her cheeks still red.
Her children would know what it was like to be hugged. She realized now that her children would be royalty but they would grow up with a warm and caring mother and hugs and being children. She made that promise to herself right now. She wasn't going to let her children grow up to be emotionally stunted like Ozai. It was a promise.
"Well done, Prince Ozai," Fire Lord Azulon praised, looking down at his son from the throne. He looked pleased at the news, that his son had finally convinced the girl to marry him. He was unsure of her, but she came from a decent line and her grandfather was Avatar Roku, which hopefully meant that Ozai and Ursa's children would be strong benders. They wouldn't inherit the throne, of course, that would be Lu Ten, but he liked the thought of having multiple grandchildren.
"I am halting the assassin's execution," Ozai said, a smirk on his lips.
"What?" Azulon thundered, the fire from the torches behind him growing larger. "How dare you—"
"If you would let me finish," Ozai said, interrupting his father, his voice loud. "I think that it would benefit us all if we sent him to the front line to fight. He'll probably be killed anyway, but why waste a fire bender when our troops need more soldiers. I'll put him under General Zhao. He's ruthless and I trust him not to let the prisoner escape. And if he does…well, Zhao will know what to do," Ozai said.
Fire Lord Azulon was quiet for a few moments as he took in his youngest son. He had always believed that Ozai's head wasn't in it, that he was more interested in frivolity and power. He couldn't deny that his son had the same passion that Azulon had had as a youth. Perhaps Ozai wasn't such a waste after all.
"Very well," Azulon acquiesced to his son's idea. "I approve. I would like you to join me in the next war council meeting, Prince Ozai. I think that we could use some new ideas around here."
"Yes father," Ozai bowed his head, hiding the surprise in his eyes. He had never thought that he would be invited to a war council meeting. Iroh had been going to them for as long as he could remember and it used to make him so angry that he wasn't included. But now his father was noticing him, was realizing the asset that he would be to the war and to the throne. It only took agreeing to get married for his father to praise him. And his bride was far superior to Iroh's dead wife. She had practically been a commoner compared to Ursa. His father would see in time that he was the superior son, that everything that he had thought about him had been wrong. He would convince his father, in time, that he would be a better Fire Lord than Iroh. That his children would be stronger than Lu Ten and Iroh's bloodline. He would come out on top. He was sure of it.
"Invite Ursa and her family to the palace for dinner in two days. We have much to discuss about the wedding. And write to your brother to inform him. He should return home to be at your wedding."
Ozai nodded his head. "It's done, father."
When Ursa returned home she was bombarded by people and voices. It was disorienting and she felt sick to her stomach. She felt like she had made a deal with a dragon and now she had no choice but to follow through. She had saved Ikem's life but she would never see him again. She wouldn't risk it. Not after Ozai's threats. She looked at the faces of her siblings and knew that she could never do anything that would endanger them. If something happened to them because of her, she would never be able to live with herself.
"He's safe," She told Arik, who immediately collapsed onto a chair, tears streaming down his face. Jinzuk rubbed his back comfortingly. "I'm…I'm going to go to my bedroom for a little bit."
She climbed the stairs up to her bedroom and carefully shut the door and collapsed onto her bed. All of the emotions that she had been holding in were let out as she started to sob. It was hitting her that she was never going to see Ikem again and if she did see him, she needed to pretend that she had no idea who he was. She couldn't let Ozai know the truth. He could never know. She realized now that Ozai was a dangerous man, just like she had initially thought, but she had also seen something in him when she had hugged him. Perhaps he just wanted someone to care for him the way that his father hadn't. Ursa knew that she would have to be careful with him. Her love for Ikem couldn't exist in a world where she married Ozai. There would be no room for both of them and she had picked Ozai to save Ikem, her family, and herself.
Ursa hadn't noticed Rina pushing the door open and crossing the room to her bed. Her mother carefully started to stroke her hair and back as Ursa sobbed.
"What's wrong Ursa? What's happened?"
"I'm marrying Prince Ozai," she blurted out to her mother. Rina's eyes widened in shock and an imperceptible smile formed on her lips. "To save Ikem I agreed to marry Ozai."
Rina leaned forward and kissed her daughter's forehead. "It will be okay, Ursa, you will see. I promise you that things are going to work out the way that they are supposed to."
Rina carefully closed the door not making a sound. Ursa had fallen asleep after they had talked for some time. Now that she was away from Ursa, she couldn't contain the smile that formed on her lips. Her daughter was going to be Princess of the Fire Nation. Their family was finally restored to their rightful place. She had known that her daughter would eventually see sense and agree to marry the Prince. She did wonder how much of her words to Ikem had spurred him to attack Ozai, but regardless it got him out of the way, marvelously. Ursa would be a Princess just as she was always meant to be, and Rina? Rina's grandchildren would be heirs to the Fire Nation throne. Nothing could be more perfect.
