Avatar Chapter 7
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
It was hot, almost unbearably hot in the throne room. To those who had to kneel before the throne the heat and the imposing wall of flame was an intimidating barrier between themselves and the one who sat upon the other side. However, it was said that even those who sat upon the throne felt the weight and intensity of the room, the responsibilities and pressures of an entire nation.
Regardless of any rumors or sayings the man currently sitting on the throne was completely at peace. Fire Lord Ozai was currently enjoying a very fine pot of fire lily tea, undisturbed by the blazing inferno in front of him. Today there were no war meeting to attend, no conversations with his advisors or generals, no today was completely free save one appointment.
In roughly half an hour his daughter would be here, for her quarterly review. "Princess Azula, high ruler of roads and ferries, such a waste of her talent." Ozai was not pleased that his daughter, a prodigy in every respect was forced to dedicate her time and effort to such a simple matter but traditions where clear.
He thought back to when he was twelve and was presented with a list of organizations to choose from to "refine oneself" and "gain the experience of lordship". Like now the options were not glamorous, nothing involving the war or anything that could not afford a few screw ups. It was a rite of passage for royals, he had done it, as had his brother, father and every member of the royal family since even before Sozin.
From the years of twelve until one reached fourteen, they had all overseen very small sections of the government. The two years were necessary as they allowed potential rulers to come to grips with their strengths, weaknesses, habits and most importantly, learn who was best kept close and listened to and who should be ignored. None the less Ozai did not enjoy the knowledge that Azula was dedicating her talents to making sure the impearl roads were kept clean, she should be on the Fire Nations finest warship, interacting with admirals and generals, planning battle strategies.
"Perhaps I should have suggested the metal works, at least she could see some aspect of the war effort but I suppose I should be grateful she did not follow Irohs example and choose the ministry of agriculture, his weight gain had to start somewhere and I'll be dammed if she starts adding padding to her middle."
Of course her talents being wasted was not the only thing to change with her last birthday. No, Azula's turning twelve had unleashed a great plague upon Ozai: Suitors. He took a sip of the calming brew to keep himself in check. This was an issue of particular annoyance to Ozai, almost daily now he received letters from nobles, merchants and generals who wished to provide either themselves or their sons for consideration as a husband to the Princess.
"They're a determined and insatiable lot I'll give them that, but I will be throwing rocks at the walls of Ba Sing Se before letting them steal my legacy away, I wonder if it possible for me to banish the lot of them, with my foot, off a cliff, into a volcano." Ozai smirked at the mental image of certain people burning in a pool of lava, but that was probably not going to happen.
Ozai sat and tried to think the situation through, Azula would have to marry eventually and to one of respectable station, that was a given. But what boy (he refused to consider the requests from anyone old enough to be her father or even grandfather) could possibly put up with her. He suspected that even the bravest ones would not last long, grown men nearly fainted under her glare and Ozai suspected some pompous noble's son would wet himself before even looking her in the eye.
Of course even if there was someone courageous or clueless enough to not run away in terror after more than ten minutes with her, there was the issue of the future of both them and their children. Ozai had already decided that Azula would be Fire Lord after him, unless Zuko actually found the Avatar or redeemed himself in another equally prestigious feat, of course it was more likely that Ozai would grow gills and become king of the sea.
Thinking of Zuko made a number of emotions rise up in Ozai, his son was soft that was the extent of it but he knew Zuko had the potential for greatness and perhaps if he had taken more time with him he could have hammered in the traits that Azula naturally developed in spades. "Bah, why do I worry myself with him if he redeems himself fine, but until then he is not worth my time"
Thinking back to his daughter he was reminded of just that, Azula was female which presented him with a problem. Of course he had no time for the sexist attitudes of some in his court, especially since it was so prevalent in the barbaric nations his nation fought, and it had cost them dearly; no matter how large or experienced the Earth Kingdom armies or Water Tribe raiders they would always be half the size of what the Fire Nation could field.
None the less titles, inheritance and family were still passed down through males lines, which meant that even if Azula sat upon the burning throne her children would be of the buffoon she married. The wall of fire rose in anger as Ozai thought about his grandchild being known as the child of an extremely wealthy cabbage merchant or overweight armchair general. It was unacceptable, any future ruler of the Fire Nation should trace their heritage back through him, his father and grandfather not through the line of some lesser house or lucky merchant.
Ozai placed a hand on his forehead, as much as he despised it the fact was there was little even he could do. His train of thought was disturbed by a messenger entering the throne room, it could only mean one thing.
Before the servant could say a word Ozai spoke "Send her in" the man was unsurprised, he bowed his head and retreated out of the room. The Fire lord calmed himself and waited for the Princess, as Azula entered and confidently walked towards the throne he reached to his side and picked up one of many scrolls, all of them containing details of his daughters past few months.
Azula stepped just beyond the closest pillar and bowed down to the floor, Ozai smirked he was the only one she would ever show that much respect. "Tell me Azula, how have you found your new authority it has not challenged you much I suspect"
Ozai already new from the reports that she was having no trouble, every road from the smallest dirt path to the widest trade route was clear, every boat connecting the islands of the Fire Nation was on time, she had even surprised him by personally meeting with some ambitious engineers who claimed to have a revolutionary new kind of transport, they called it a "train."
"Not at all, I believe I have made substantial improvements to the organization and the experience has proved most enlightening" Azula's refined and textbook answer meant she was not being challenged at all, and after only three months there was very little that could be drastically changed.
Honestly Ozai had no idea why he had to personally meet with his daughter, the reports at his side told he everything he needed to know about Azula's activities. Of course they had barely seen each other since her birthday celebration, so perhaps these evaluations served to maintain the social relationship between the Fire Lord and his kin.
"Speaking of which" Ozai reached over and picked up a very thin scroll, opening it revealed the individuals who were advising the Princess. This was arguably the most important scroll in the pile as it showed who Azula had chosen to place her trust in. Ozai smiled at the short list of names "Trust nobody, I have taught you well." Looking at the first name, or names to be exact, he asked "Your studies and training are proceeding nicely I expect, Li and Lo appear to have no serious complaints."
"Yes father, my skills are developing far beyond what is expected me, obviously" Ozai smirked, "With those two I should expect nothing less, ancient and peculiar as they are" Li and Lo had been serving the court since his father's time and Ozai knew that as…difficult as Azula could be, her academy reports were still in his office, Li and Lo could deal with anything she could throw at them, fire or words.
Aside from her teachers Azula had a skeleton crew of attendants, liaisons to the ministry, messengers, servants, guards. She would of course need to build a much larger group of retainers as she came of age, a personal doctor and food taster would be useful… and perhaps a poison master and assassin or maybe a torturer, or executioner.
"Perhaps a vicious beast she could sick on her foes would be a good birthday gift, ah so many good memories" Ozai stopped himself from revelling in the memories of his youth and returned to the scroll, where one name stuck out.
"Princess Azula, I am positive you have your reasons but please enlighten me on why this "Ty Lee" is acting as your right hand" Ozai was incredibly curious of his daughter's first choice of retainers especially since, if memory served, the girl appeared rather simple.
"Ty Lee is very capable I assure you, I admit she may not look it but she does process skills that will prove to be of great help in my duties" Azula had obviously thought this threw, and was very aware of what she said, or more precisely what she did not.
"Skills eh? I wonder if she omitted the specifics because they are complete tripe, or perhaps this girl has some value she wants to keep to herself; my my Azula your trying to hide things from your Lord andfather are you?...your diffidently my daughter"
Ozai leaned back and thought back, he remembered the Lee girl as the daughter of a noble house, Lord Uzars to be exact, a well-established, very loyal household with a large number of members and vast wealth. The girl was apparently an old school friend of Azula, an odd choice back then since unlike that blank faced girl, Mai was her name, with apparent skills with blades the pink wearing, overly cheerful girl seemed out of place with no apparent skill or value.
Of course aside from their names and households Ozai had never given much thought into the children Zuko and Azula interacted with in their youth, the most interested he got was the tidbit of the Mai girl having a crush on his son. "Ursa was already imagining their wedding when she found out. At least if Zuko somehow proves himself he will have potential bride waiting for him"
Pushing aside the duel thoughts of his son and marriage bleeding into each other, he returned his focus to the girl his daughter had chosen to be her personal attendant of all things. That position gave the girl an enormous amount of authority, through his daughter yes but none the less that was a great responsibility to place in the hands of one who apparently sprung up out of the blue one day.
Ozai's spies had no idea how the girl got into the Palace and Azula's quarters nearly two months ago, but the Princess had quickly settled Ty Lee into adjacent quarters and the girl had been practically stuck to the Azula's side ever since.
There was most likely more to the how and why but Ozai was not about to spend more of his time then he needed. For all he knew his daughter simply needed a fellow noble to converse with to keep from going mad as unlike him she could not speak to the small army of advisors that helped Ozai run the nation.
None the less the girl was an odd placement in Azula's otherwise completely logical lifestyle, and before Ozai took an action he needed for information. "You may rise Azula, I am satisfied with your results" His daughter rose and gave him a perfect salute "Thank you father, I will continue to excel in my duties and studies"
"I expect nothing less of you, you are dismissed" Ozai watched as his daughter turned and made for the door.
"Oh one more thing" Azula stopped in her tracks "When you leave send in this Ty Lee, I wish to…evaluate her"
Azula was deep in the shadows and her voice did not waver but Ozai knew by the half second of hesitation that he had caught her off guard "Very well my lord." Her pace did not change as she continued on her way but Ozai was certain she was playing out every possible outcome of the next few minutes "Well Lady Ty Lee let me see what my daughter sees in you, for your sake it had better be impressive"