Korra leaned against Tenzin as they walked down the hallway. They had wanted her to stay in bed for longer, but she was not going to let them keep her from attending the war council. Begrudgingly, Tenzin had agreed to help her into the meeting. The guards pulled open the doors for them and Korra glanced around the room. Her father sat at the head of the table. To his right she recognized Prince Wu. Next to him, however, was a woman she had not yet met. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a braid. Her leaf-green eyes held Korra's gaze in a way that was almost demanding.

"Korra!" Tonraq stood and moved to her other side.

"Father, I'm fine." She waved him away and Tenzin helped her into a chair. "See? I'm sitting."

"Princess Korra, I'm pleased you felt well enough to join us," Prince Wu said. Korra resisted the urge to wince.

"As Knight-Commander I felt it is my duty to be here," Korra replied. She turned to the other woman. "I don't believe we've met."

"I am General Kuvira." She bowed her head slightly.

"I don't recall seeing you in the lists for the tourney," Korra said.

The Earth Kingdom General shrugged and sat back in her chair. "I have never enjoyed jousting. I find it outdated and barbaric."

Korra frowned. Kuvira was clearly using the statement to claim superiority. She wouldn't let her do so without a challenge. "It is a time-honored tradition used to test skill."

Kuvira smiled at her. "Please, it is not so much a test of skill as a measure of how big your lances are."

Korra growled and leaned forward in her seat. She wanted to reply, but Tonraq interrupted. "Ladies, we did not come here to discuss jousting."

Kuvira allowed her smile to linger a moment longer before turning away from Korra and giving Tonraq her full attention. "Apologies, your Majesty."

Before continuing, Tonraq gave both of them a stern look. When neither offered anything else to say, he pressed on. "As we all know, Zaheer and his companions were able to escape. We have intelligence that suggests they are all members of the Red Lotus." Tonraq sighed. "Which is cause for concern. For them to have assassinated such a high ranking official in broad daylight, in front of so many people, means that they are preparing for a larger assault."

"Do we have any idea what their group wants?" Korra asked.

"We know that the Red Lotus' goal is to revert the world back to it's supposed natural order, chaos." Tonraq met Korra's questioning gaze. "And that could very well mean that they seek to eliminate the ruling classes."

"So you could be next?" Korra gripped the arm rest of her chair. "They could still be here in the castle somewhere, or hiding in the wilderness, waiting to take you down."

"If I had been their intended target, I would be dead. They certainly had their chance to kill me."

"So why spare you?" Korra asked. Why spare any of us?

"If I may?" Kuvira interjected. Tonraq nodded. "Tensions between our two kingdoms has always been strong. You may not be aware, but the Earth Kingdom is no longer united under a single banner. Wealthy land holders squabble among themselves and now with no Queen…" She shook her head. "It will be a blood bath. Peasant armies pit against one another, fighting over scraps of land. Killing the Earth Queen here, on Water Kingdom soil, makes you a target."

"You mean me," Korra said.

"Korra, no one here blames you," Tenzin said gently.

"No one here, perhaps. But what about out there?" Korra pointed out the window. "You think I don't know what they say about me already? I'll wager some of them are saying that I was in on it all, and I was poisoned to avoid suspicion." She took a breath to calm herself. "We need to take action. We need to show the Earth Kingdom that this action will not be ignored." She met her father's eyes. "You need to send me after him."

Tonraq frowned and shook his head. "Korra, you're still recovering."

"By the time we gather enough intelligence for me to follow him, I'll be fine," Korra said. "If you send anyone else, they'll think you're not taking the threat seriously."

Tonraq thudded his fist on the table. "You are not going alone!"

Korra nodded. "I'll take Mako and Bolin with me, and Kai of course."

Tonraq shook his head. "That's not enough."

Korra frowned as she thought it over. "Tezin could come with me."

Tonraq crossed his arms. "Tenzin is staying here to educate Prince Wu for his coronation."

Korra shrugged. "Then we'll make due without him."

Tenzin cleared his throat. Everyone in the room looked to him. He raised a brow and folded his hands together. "Jinora should go in my stead," he said quietly.

Tonraq frowned. "Are you certain she is ready?"

Tenzin nodded. "As much as I wish she could stay my little girl forever, it is time she had a trial. This task will more than fulfill that requirement."

"Would that be satisfactory, General?" Korra met Kuvira's gaze. "Or were you going to volunteer to travel with us?"

Kuvira's smile did not quite reach her eyes. "I have my own matters to attend to, princess. I will be doing my best to once again unite my people, and try to prevent a civil war."

"So then, I will set out with my small group to track and kill Zaheer and his followers. We're all in agreement?" Korra asked. Eventually, everyone at the table gave their consent.

Asami frowned as she looked into the empty bedroom. She had hoped to try to talk some sense into Korra after the hot-headed woman had been given a chance to calm down. She walked through the halls, surprised when she nearly stumbled into the Queen.

"Your Majesty!" Asami bowed. "My apologies."

When she looked up again, the Queen smiled at her. "Asami dear, how many times have I asked you to call me Senna?"

"Too many." Asami smiled and straightened. "Have you seen Korra?"

"Korra is in a war meeting with her father." Senna gestured to a chair as she seated herself. "Was there something you needed?"

Asami sighed and sat across from her. "I had hoped to speak with her, both of them actually."

"You have business with the King?"

Asami hesitated for a moment before replying. "Korra and I had a...disagreement."

Senna grinned. "Ah, I see."

Asami glanced out the door, making sure no one approached the room. Since they were alone, she continued. "She seems to think that, after what happened, it would be damaging to my reputation to be around her." Some of the tension in her body eased. It felt good to talk with someone about it.

Senna raised a brow. "Even though the entire castle thinks you two are already lovers?"

Asami blushed. "I don't think she's aware of that, actually."

Senna chuckled and motioned for Asami to continue. "Well, either way, what did you two 'disagree' about?"

"She's determined to go off to war and just...forget about everything."

"And you don't want her to go?"

"I know she'll have to go. That's what she does. But to rationalize not giving us a chance just because of what people think, or what might happen..." Asami closed her eyes and tried to quell her anger. "Sometimes I just want to throttle her."

Senna smiled. "I frequently feel that way about her father."

Asami laughed softly. "I believe it."

"You know," Senna stroked her chin thoughtfully. "It seems to me, that if Korra were to go on a long journey, it would be very difficult for her to maintain her armor."

Asami's eyes widened as she caught the meaning in Senna's remark. "She does tend to treat her armor roughly."

"I know I'm not a warrior, but it would make sense to me to have someone along on the journey that could repair their armor and weapons." Senna raised a brow. "And what if their horses throw a shoe?"

"Your Majesty...are you suggesting that-"

"Oh, I'm just idly talking, dear. I would never suggest to the King that he should send a blacksmith along. After all, we'll need your father here to help fortify our defenses. We couldn't possibly spare a blacksmith."

Asami smiled. "But I'll bet you could spare his apprentice."

Korra looked over the activity near the stables. Servants were nearly done packing their belongings into the wagon. They led two strong work horses and began securing them to the hitch. Mako and Bolin were finishing up with their horses. Korra spotted Jinora walking toward them with her pack.

"Korra!" Jinora waved. Kai poked his head out of the wagon and beamed.

"Jinora!" he called. He waved at her. She giggled and waved to him as well.

Korra rolled her eyes. Great, I'm going to have to spend half the trip being a chaperone. "Do you have everything ready to go?"

"I do. Am I going to be riding in the wagon with the supplies?"

Korra nodded. "You know how to drive a team of horses, right?"

Jinora nodded and tossed her pack into the wagon. "Yes, but wouldn't Asami be better suited to drive the horses? I mean she's had more experience with driving a wagon team."

Korra frowned. "Asami? What do you mean?"

"Asami told me she was coming with you." Jinora furrowed her brow. "Is she not?"

Korra instinctively placed her hand on the grip of her sword. "Not if I can help it."

Someone spoke up from behind them, "Well, it's not really up to you."

Korra turned to find Asami loading a pack, and what looked like blacksmithing tools into the front of the wagon. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Following orders." Asami finished stowing her gear and rounded on Korra. "Orders from the King. If you have a problem with this, take it up with your father."

Korra stared at Asami. Her jaw moved as if she were making words, but instead she only voiced incoherent sputtering. She turned away and stormed out of the barn. She didn't have to go far before she ran into Tonraq and Senna.

"Korra, I was just about to see you off." He paused and regarded her cautiously. "Is something the matter?"

"Asami's coming with us?"

"You need someone to look after your armor, shoe your horses, mend your weapons." He counted the duties off on each of his fingers. "Also, I hear she's a fairly accomplished cook." He nudged Korra with his elbow.

Korra gritted her teeth. "No one thought I should know about this?"

"She's the only one who could do this job other than her father, and we need him here." Tonraq shrugged. "And besides, we thought you'd welcome the ability to spend more time with Asami."

Korra pinched the bridge of her nose. "You do realize you are sending a civilian on a highly dangerous mission."

"You didn't mind Jinora coming along," Senna countered.

Korra groaned and massaged her temple. "She's a mage! She's been training for this kind of thing!"

"Are you saying I can't handle myself?" Asami moved to stand by Korra and crossed her arms. Her glare made Korra wonder how much she had heard.

"Korra, Asami is well-known as a hand to hand combat expert. It's not as if we're throwing her to the wolves."

Korra glanced from her mother, to her father, and then to Asami. "You all planned this, didn't you?" she accused. "This was all decided behind my back and the only reason I learned about it before we were physically leaving is because of Jinora!"

"Maybe if you were speaking to me I would have told you," Asami shot back.

Korra threw her hands into the air. "Fine! Come with us, get yourself killed. See if I care." She leaned in close to Asami. "I wanted to spare you this," she said.

"Spare me what?" Asami asked, raising a brow. "Getting my hands dirty? Having to fend for myself? Ruining my good reputation? I'm not some noblewoman, Korra."

"That's not what I meant." Instead of explaining further, Korra left for the barn, ignoring any farewell her parents might have given her. When she reached Naga's side, Jinora approached her.

"You know, Asami will be just fine," she said.

Korra shook her head. "That's not what this is about, Jinora," she said. she straightened the packs on her horse one more time. "I know she's strong, I know she can fight. But not everything that we're going up against out there can be fought with your fists." Korra tightened the straps on her saddle. She met Jinora's gaze. "How am I supposed to protect her from that?"

With a sad shrug, Jinora replied, "You can't."

A/N Sorry about the late update today. Michelle and I are taking some relaxation time now that the week from hell is over. Those of you who read Conflict Resolution, WE ARE GOING TO KEEP WRITING IN IT. I don't know how many times I can say this in how many places, but it IS going to happen. The updates are not going to be as frequent as Blacksmith, and I'm sorry about that, but we're doing the best we can.

As always Michelle and I will be streaming on Fridays at 5pm Pacific time on the Twitch channel Luraline. Come hang out with us!