Chapter Six: Minister Wu

Minister Wu stabs his chopsticks into his rice angrily.

"Dad, stop it," his older daughter turns to him, gently putting her hand on his arm, her voice lightly scolding, "it's terribly impolite."

He only grunts in response – how comes his daughter to scold him, anyway -, and continues to eat that way. He couldn't care less whether he is offending the Fire Lord right now or not.

If it was only up to him, he wouldn't have come to the wedding in the first place. True, he was obliged to be there for the ceremony – all ministers and high ranking officials were -, but he could have skipped the whole reception without regrets. Honestly, he has better things to do than wear a fake smile for hours, and pretend that he is happy and grateful for a marriage he has been opposing from the very start. But then his family spoke up, both his daughters and his wife expressing their wishes to be there, and, of course, a week ago a letter came as well: the Fire Lord especially required his presence at his wedding. So he came.

Minister Wu grunts again.

It is a punishment, he knows; he hasn't been very secretive about his dislike towards the new Fire Lady, so it has reached the ears of Fire Lord Zuko as well – that's exactly why he insisted on Wu being there.

Thank Agni that his family is seated quite far from the main table where the Fire Lord, his wife and their family is sitting – but not far enough that he can't hear the occasional laughter rising from that table.

He jabs into his bowl again, the chopsticks slipping on the porcelain. His wife looks at him disapprovingly, and he sees in her eyes that he is going to get a nice lecture when they get home, but he ignores her. He has every right to be upset, damn it!

Why did Fire Lord Zuko have to go and get a foreign wife? What was the problem of all of his own nation's daughters for he couldn't choose from them? True, Minister Wu admits, there have been too many marriages between members of the royal family in the last few decades, but that doesn't mean that one has to go and bring a bride from another country. There are still many beautiful, competent girls in the Fire Nation who could have been excellent Fire Ladies and who are not at all not related to the Fire Lord – for example his daughters.

He won't deny it: ever since Prince Zuko became heir apparent at the tender age of ten, he has been hoping that one of his daughters would catch his eyes – or, more likely, the eyes of his father, since there was no love needed for a good marriage -, and that she would become the next Fire Lady. He has raised his daughters in this manner: they have been taught how to behave in high circles, when to cast their gazes down and when to speak up; how to pour tea and how to handle delicate problems, for example court scandals or even incidents where the whole nation is at risk. Both of them are quite pretty, too – alright, not the most beautiful ones in the capitol, but still rather easy on the eye. And anyway, when a man wants to have a sensuous woman in his bed, he doesn't marry her; no – that's what concubines are for, especially for men in such high position as the Fire Lord and, of course, Wu himself.

It's no secret – Minister Wu has never tried to make it one – that he has a concubine; he has had several over the years, even before his marriage. He treats concubines almost as one treats an ostrich horse: they are precious creatures, something to be pride of if you have an excellent one, but no matter how extraordinary they are, you toss them aside when they get old, and put your hands on a newer, younger one. His current concubine is a fine and young woman, with admirable body, and with whom he likes to spend a few hours every week, but nothing more. It's nothing to be ashamed of, at least in his vocabulary. You marry for money, for politics, for good connections; you keep a concubine to keep yourself entertained – which brings him to the question: if the Fire Lord is so eager to bed this Water Tribe girl – and if the rumors are true, he is rather eager – then why haven't he simply made her a concubine, and married someone from his own league?

It makes no sense in his mind.

Minister Wu spends the next half hour with listening to the babbling of his wife and daughters about how beautiful the ceremony was, how touching the reaction of the Fire Lord was during the uproar on the coronation plaza and the way he defended his wife's honor. He listens to them, giving them only half of his attention, but when they start to analyze the bride's dress, he withdraws even that from them, choosing to inspect the guests instead.

He sees a few grumpy faces, jut like his – all of them are high ranking officials, who are, just like him, not happy about this union at all, but they mostly keep silent – none of them wants to fall out of favors. But, much to his dismay, his brothers of view are heavily outnumbered by the guests happily chatting, flirting, teasing, dancing around him. They are the fools, as Wu likes to call them: the ones who are more than content about this new regime, about the change of ways – about a Waterbender joining their royal family.

He spots Lady Ming in the crowd – she, in his opinion, is one of the worst of all. He had the misfortune to carry on a conversation with her earlier that day. The old lady couldn't stop praising the choice of Fire Lord Zuko, listing all the advantages and alleged virtues of Lady Katara: how beautiful, smart, kind, generous she is – after all, she knew her that well, having spoken to her a few times -, how well she is going to balance out Fire Lord Zuko, what a great Fire Lady she is going to be, how she and Fire Lord Zuko have destined to find each other from the very start… Her babbling made him feel sick, so he excused himself on the first occasion he could.

And now he can only hope that Lady Ming won't spot him in the crowd now, coming to him and wanting to torment him with all her sweet talk again.

He is so preoccupied by trying to hide behind his wife (impossible task; at first, he would have to loose his pauch), that he doesn't notice the servant standing next to him at first.

"Excuse me, my lord," he starts, bowing to his direction, startling Wu completely; his younger daughter giggles into her sleeve seeing his discomfort, "but his Majesty has noticed that you have yet not come before him and Fire Lady Katara to pay your respect to them. With all due respect, my lord, his Majesty would like to ask you to come to his table."

Wu's blood freezes and boils in his veins at the same time. Freezes, because he is afraid; he knows that the Fire Lord knows about his dislike of his marriage; boils, because he also knows that the Fire Lord will want to humiliate him because of that. It's a situation he can't escape from: if he doesn't comply, he'll offend the Fire Lord and Lady. But if he does go before them… well, that won't be nice either.

He slowly rises from his seat.

"Watch your tongue!" His wife warns him sternly. "And don't forget to add our best wishes!"

He makes his way to the main table slowly, way too slowly; his knees are starting to shake – he doesn't know if it is because of fear or anger, but when gets to where the royal family is sitting, he bows deeper than he usually does.

"Your Majesties…" his voice is weak, almost lost in the background noise.

"Ah, Minister Wu," the Fire Lord's voice is way too cheerful, so familiar to his uncle's. He is mocking him. It's a strange game they are playing, full of roles and acting. The Fire Lord knows that Wu is against his marriage, and Wu is well aware of this. Fire Lord Zuko could easily challenge him on an Agni Kai because of it – and beat him in mere seconds – but he chooses to humiliate him instead.

Wu dares to look up at him – the table he is sitting at is slightly raised - , and sees the well-veiled anger in his Lord's eyes. He knows he is in trouble. "We have been missing you all evening, haven't we, Katara?" He turns to his new wife.

Wu glances at the woman – Agni, how he detests her – and notices that her hand is placed gently on the knee of the Fire Lord, as if soothing him, keeping him back.

"We haven't been officially introduced, but it's an honor to meet you, Minister Wu," this is all she says, with a gentle nod of her head. She, unlike her husband, doesn't seem to be that mad at him.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lady Katara," his voices shakes, the lie is uneasy, and he knows that it was a mistake to address her improperly as soon as the words leave his mouth. "And I must apologize for staying away for so long. My family…" he starts, but he can't think of any suitable excuse. "It was very rude of me to keep you waiting." He bows again. "May Agni smile upon your marriage, your Majesties, and bless you with strong heirs." It's a very standard wish at a wedding, but he hopes it will do. He doesn't raise his head again, but takes a steps backwards, hoping the Fire Lord will let him go now.

"Oh, don't leave just yet," he hears the Fire Lord say and he freezes in mid-step. "We still have to talk about your promotion."

"Pro… promotion, my lord?" He stutters; he knows it's a trick and that he won't be happy about this 'promotion'. Maybe he is going to be named as governor of a remote province, as far from the capitol and every important position as possible. He couldn't even marry off his daughters to a good family from there. Or, even worse, the Fire Lord wants to send him to the South Pole as an ambassador – to a place where he will be most likely hated, because there is now way that they would be unaware of his hatred towards the new Fire Lady. He fears what the Fire Lord is going to say, but he tries not to show it.

"Yes, of course. We – Fire Lady Katara and myself – have talked a lot about you, and decided that your current job is not fitting for your qualifications. For some time, I considered naming you my wife's private secretary, but after a thorough conversation we both agreed upon that wouldn't be the best decision we could make."

Wu understands the underlying message: Lady Katara wouldn't have him working directly under her, not after what he has told about her to certain parties, on who, he thought, could rely on. He tried to avoid the eyes the Fire Lord, but in his attempt to do so, he only finds himself facing the father of Lady Katara, chief of the Southern Water Tribe, looking at him like he could kill him on spot.

"But then we found the perfect position for you: the Gates of Azulon needs a new warden; somebody to keep things organized, the immigrants and the import of goods under control… well, what do you say, Minister Wu?" The Fire Lord's smile is sickly sweet, full of malice.

"That… that would be a great honor to me, your Majesty," he says at last in a small voice. It's not a promotion, not at all, but a reduction. The warden of the Gates of Azulon spends most of his time outside the capitol, far from the politics; technically, he has no power, and even the salary is lower. But he won't voice his thoughts; no, he will keep them to himself, and will bear it with dignity. He won't please the Fire Lord by showing his anger. And anyway, all he could achieve would me even more trouble. "Now, if you would excuse me, I would like to retreat to my family, your Majesties."

The Fire Lord nods, with the expression of complete victory plastered on his face.

"Of course, go on. It was a real pleasure talking to you, Minister Wu."

"I am pleased to have met you, Minister," Lady Katara chimes in, too, and Wu takes it as his cue to leave.

"Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko… Fire Lady Katara." And, with a bow, he leaves.

His family interrogates him as soon as he is back at their table. He can't avoid their questions; so face flushed, beads of sweat rolling down on his nose, he answers them, telling them the whole truth, including his new job.

He expects them to sympathize with him; to tell him that he is right, and that the Fire Lord's decision is completely unfair, but they surprise him. His younger daughter, the one he has always found the smarter and more beautiful of the two, therefore the one with higher chances to be chosen as Fire Lady, furrows her brows, looks at him disapprovingly, and says:

"Well, dad, you have had it coming." Then she turns back to her plate.

Minister Wu has never felt so defeated before.