A horrendous silence crashed into the room as everyone tried to digest what had just happened. Zuko's face was transfixed in stunned anguish and he choked desperately to voice his outrage. Aang, however, was slightly more articulate.
"WHAT?!" he shouted incredulously as his jaw nearly hit the floor. The Earth King stood up, finally recovering enough to make a coherent statement.
"I trust you have some explanation for this, General How?" he said, incensed with confusion.
"I do, Your Majesty," replied How confidently as he turned to face the King. "This man is the Dragon of the West. He is responsible for a 600-day siege on the city of Ba Sing Se over 7 years ago and there is warrant for his arrest to stand trial for unprovoked aggressions against the Earth Kingdom."
Kuei, having only been informed less than a week ago that there even was a war going on, of course knew nothing of this, and he stood baffled for a moment before turning to Iroh.
"Is this…true?" he gasped, not wanting to believe that this kindly old man, who had helped restore the King to his throne, could be the same person General How accused him of being.
"It is," Iroh replied steadily, without a trace of emotion.
"Well…this is...a shock," the King blanched and he all but plopped back down into his throne as though his legs were no longer capable of supporting him. "I suppose we should…prepare for a trial then," he said weakly.
With the initial daze having worn off, and seeing the seriousness of the situation, Zuko finally found his voice, and it was seething with fury.
"You can't do this!" he challenged Kuei, taking two long strides to the raised dais.
"Zuko," Iroh called loudly, trying to stop the furious prince to no avail.
"You wouldn't even be sitting there if not for his help, and now you're just-!"
"ZUKO!" Iroh shouted sternly. This time Zuko responded by spinning around to face the still block-encased man.
"Uncle, I am not about to let them-"
"That is enough, Prince Zuko!" he bellowed in a commanding tone that at last stilled his nephew's rant. Seeing the pure agony in the boy's eyes, Iroh continued much more softly, "I am willing to accept whatever trial and punishment is required by their laws, and I will not allow you to dishonor yourself by interfering, Nephew."
At this, Zuko let out such a strangled breath that one half-expected to see a physical wound burning on his chest. He stood there for several long minutes with his eyes and fists clenched tightly as he battled for self-control, before eventually turning back to the throne. When he spoke, his voice was strained and taut, like a dagger raking across the strings of a lute.
"I apologize for speaking out of turn," he said with a stiff bow.
"Under the…circumstances, it's quite…understandable," the King replied, trying to sound gracious but failing miserably. Seeing that things were finally coming under control, General How turned to one of the nearby guards.
"Fetch a set of irons and prepare a cell for-"
"No," Kuei stated calmly to the surprise of everyone in the room. With some measure of restored confidence, he continued, "Prince Zuko is right; I owe this man too much to have him treated as a common criminal." He then turned to face Iroh, "General Iroh, I trust that you will make no attempts to escape?"
"As a former general and a prince of the Fire Nation, I give you my word," he replied solemnly.
"Very well," said the King somberly, satisfied with this response. He then addressed Heng. "Escort him to a suitable room and have him kept under guard." As Heng led Iroh out of the room, Kuei regarded Aang and the others with an expression of resigned exhaustion.
"I don't understand how this can be happening," said Aang in a hopeless whisper that echoed awkwardly throughout the room.
"Neither do I, Aang," the King answered honestly. "But unfortunately, I'm not in a position to do much about it. Just because I am the king, doesn't mean I can ignore the law. Now if you will excuse me, I need to see to getting this trial scheduled. A suite here at the palace has already been arranged for you. If you will follow Ling, he will show you to your rooms," he said with quiet finality.
And with that, the teens were shepherded out of the throne room, but none of them looked back to see the Earth King sigh as he placed a mournful head in his hands.
"Well, this is just great," grumbled Sokka.
The five of them were gathered in the lavishly decorated and spacious parlor of their adjoined suite. There were six doors leading out from it into private rooms, one of which was the same that Zuko had been taken to earlier. Aang and Katara were seated on either side of a low, square dining table while Sokka paced in front of them. Zuko was sitting on a corner bench near the door to his room, one foot on the floor and the other on the seat, with his arms wrapped around his propped leg and his back and head resting against the wall.
"Don't act so surprised," said Toph dryly from her pile of pillows on the floor near Aang. She was lying on her stomach with her feet dangling over her back and her head resting on her folded arms, not caring for once that she couldn't 'see' anyone since it gave her a bit of a break from all the tense emotions of her companions.
"Things have been going way too smoothly the past two days for us not to hit a new snag," she elaborated.
"Smoothly?" asked Zuko in disbelief, looking over at the blind earth bender. "What exactly in the last couple of days has gone 'smoothly'?"
"Well, you and Iroh joined us, which means Aang now has someone to teach him fire bending, we saved Hakoda's ships from getting ambushed, got the Dai Li to swear loyalty the Earth King, found Suki, repelled a Fire Navy fleet, and got the King back on the throne. Of course, Azula got away, but really that's about as smooth as things get with this crew."
"But Iroh getting arrested is a pretty big setback," Katara chimed in glumly.
"It can't be any worse than when I had to stand trial, can it?" asked Aang.
"That's right!" exclaimed Sokka with a burst of hope, "We got Aang of the hook. Surely we can do the same thing for Iroh."
"Sokka, Aang was found guilty in that trial," Katara reminded him grimly, "and the only reason he didn't get boiled in oil is because that sorry excuse for a mayor changed the sentence at the last minute so Aang would get rid of those rhino riding guys. So unless Ba Sing Se gets attacked and Iroh has to fight them off, I don't think we can count on the same outcome."
"Ok," he conceded, "so the evidence we got then didn't work, but that doesn't mean we can't find something to prove Iroh's innocence."
"I highly doubt that," Toph countered, "The siege on Ba Sing Se is very well documented. It's practically legendary. I mean, it was quite an impressive feat, after all."
"Impressive?" piped Aang. "In what way?" he asked curiously, as he turned to look at Toph.
"He went about it with a persistence that would put most earth benders to shame," she replied with an almost reverent tone. "No snazzy drill, no sneaky schemes, just a bunch of metal rams. His army pounded on the outer wall day and night for almost two solid years until they smashed right through it. In fact, I've always wondered why he didn't take the whole city back then. He certainly could have."
"Lu Ten died," Zuko explained softly, not looking at any of them.
"Who?" Sokka asked.
"My cousin Lu Ten," Zuko clarified.
"His son," Toph breathed sadly with sudden comprehension. She remembered now that Iroh had mentioned it a few days ago.
"Oh…"
There was a long silence as the weight of that explanation settled over them.
"Well," Aang hesitated to speak at last, "maybe we can talk to the Earth King and-"
"He won't see you," said a voice from the door. All five teens started in surprise as they suddenly noticed Heng standing in the room. Even Toph hadn't sensed his approach due to the mound of plush cushions she was laying on.
"Gah!" gasped Sokka as he fell back a few steps. "Can't you knock or something?"
"The door was already open," he explained mildly.
"Yeah well, since you're loyal to the Earth King now, do you really have to keep up with whole mysterious and stealthy Dai Li agent thing? It's downright creepy!"
"Why won't the King see us?" asked Aang as he got to his feet.
"Because this is considered an international case, which means the Earth King will be presiding over it personally. Therefore it would be…inappropriate for him to speak with any of you until the trial."
"And when will that be?" inquired Katara.
"Three days," he answered, "which is actually much sooner than it would normally be. The King is pushing General Iroh's hearing through as quickly as he can; even ahead of Long Feng's come to think of it."
"Oh, well that's awfully nice of him," drawled Sokka sarcastically.
"Shut it, Snoozles," Toph snapped before addressing Heng again. "So, will we at least be able to see Iroh in the meantime?"
Heng looked from one expectant face to the other before his eyes finally settled on Zuko, who was resolutely looking away. The Dai Li agent's normally calm demeanor softened a bit.
"I'll see what I can do," he replied gently, and then left the room.
"You are certain a fixed trial is the only way to go about this?" The Earth King asked as he looked doubtfully at the five men standing across from the massive desk where he sat. The plan they had just presented was a hard pill to swallow, and his fingers were pressed together in front of his mouth in an almost prayer-like fashion as he listed to General How's response.
"Indeed I do, Your Majesty. Word of the Fire Nation Princess's near take over of the city has already reached the lower ring, despite all efforts to keep it under wraps. And while, thankfully, no panic has broken out, the outcome of this trial is crucial to restoring the people's confidence in you."
"And you all agree on this course of action?" the king asked of the other council members, to which each of them nodded. He was about to say something else to the generals but when Heng entered the room, he addressed the head of the Dai Li instead.
"How are they?" he asked with a peculiar note of concern.
"As well as can be expected, Your Majesty," he replied. "They've requested permission to visit," he paused for a moment as he threw a hard look at General How, "…the prisoner."
"I don't think that is wise," protested General Sung. "General Iroh may have been able to placate the Prince, but I doubt he has the same sway over the Avatar and the others."
"Maybe not," said How thoughtfully, "but I do know Iroh to be a man of his word. Even if they tried to attempt a rescue, he wouldn't leave with them. Although I would still feel better about it if he were in the prisons, to appease the public if nothing else."
"The citizens of Ba Sing Se do not need to know where we are keeping The Dragon of the West, only that we have him in custody, and once the judgment has been passed, it will hardly matter anymore," returned the King with a regal show of irritation. "And I agree with you, General How; I do not think he will make any attempt to escape. Permission is granted," he said to Heng wearily. And then, addressing the Council of Five, he concluded, "The rest of you are dismissed."
Once the two of them were alone in the room, Heng turned to the King with a heavy sigh.
"Is all of this truly necessary, Sire?"
"Captain Heng, you should know better than anyone that while Long Feng may have been able to keep me in the dark about this war, the rest of the people in the city are well aware of what's going on outside the walls. After all, you yourself played no small part in making me look the fool to my subjects," he reminded Heng objectively, then continued with a true note of regret, "If I am to regain the faith and loyalty of my kingdom, then this trial must go as planned despite my personal misgivings."
Heng bowed his head with a grim but resigned frown, "Understood, Your Majesty."