Chapter 3: Golden Dragon

Iroh's head adviser, Hamin Jaxus, was trudging behind him as they pushed their way through the crowd. The Prince ignored him for the most part, instead trying to keep my eye on the floating fire lily that was on the back of Little Fox's hair. She moved through the crowd almost like water. It was hard to keep up with her lithe form.

"Sire, must you follow the girl? She humiliated you in one of your own villages."

Iroh sighed. The old man had been by his side since the heir had been born. He'd taught Iroh the ways of state and court. Hamin had even taught him some Firebending when they were away from the capitol. His father had died at a young age, but Hamin kind of filled that role. In an old, cranky, uptight sort of way.

"Not many women who know who I am dare speak to me that way. It's refreshing, in all honesty." The lily disappeared into a giant golden tent. Iroh recognized the tent; it followed the festival around and married up local women to some of his newly-signed men and even veterans. "And she's looking to marry, apparently."

"The makeup and outdated costume didn't give that away?" the old man asked. His sarcasm never got old.

"These people don't have much," Iroh said softly. "That's probably her best outfit." He went into the tent. Golden Dragon tents had a separate side for men to watch through a one-way window. If the men like what they saw and heard, they could put their names in for an instant marriage proposal. The proposals could go either way, but usually they went through. While outdated, it was a great way to snoop on the fox.

Iroh was upset that he'd missed her name, but he still got a chance to see how she acted in a more mature setting. The room was small with but a tea table in the center and a tea set on top of that. Outdated draperies hung around. A small chandelier of candles lit the room.

An old, overweight woman with a mole on her face slowly circled the fox. "Too skinny," she said as she marked down something on her clipboard. "Not good for carrying sons. Wide hips, though, good for birthing them." Iroh grimaced at the tone the woman used, as if Little Fox were a piece of cattle. "Good bone structure, healthy hair and skin. Pour me some tea while I appraise the rest of you."

"Yes ma'am."

"Talking without permission..." The woman made another note on her clipboard.

Little Fox's ears, which weren't covered by makeup, flared a light pink in what the prince guessed was fury. Still, she tempered it as she had earlier with him and started performing a traditional tea ceremony. This surprised him. Most peasants Iroh knew would not be able to perform such a feat, especially not as well as she did it. Between her outdated robes and the way that she performed the ceremony, he decided that she must have been part of a noble family that had fallen during his grandfather's reign. Noble traditions would have filtered down through the generations, perhaps even as far as three generations.

"Very good. It is unusual to see such finesse out of a backwater girl. We'll need to temper that tongue a little, but it isn't the worst I've heard." Little Fox's ears were now a bright red. Still, she held her tongue and sat down after the bitter hag had taken her first sip. Then she poured herself a cup and daintily took a sip. "Now, I assume you aren't a Firebender—"

"Yes ma'am, I am." Iroh was surprised yet again by this girl—not many of the citizens on the outskirts of the Fire Nation were Firebenders. And, if they were, they were usually sent west to become part of the military. Something wasn't adding up in the prince's mind.

The woman raised an eyebrow and marked something on her clipboard. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about Little Fox interrupting her. "Ah. I see. Unusual. And how long have you been practicing?"

"My great-grandfather told me that women are not allowed to practice Firebending." Iroh could see that her hands were clenched around her teacup. While it was an outdated view, many still thought that women shouldn't fight now that the war was over. Even during the war, only noblewomen were allowed to fight in the military. "I mostly use it to start lights and warm food." Somehow he knew that that was a boldfaced lie.

The woman made another annoying mark on her clipboard. "Good breeding stock, then. Men want strong, Firebending sons. There are plenty of eligible men here at the festival, you know. Prince Iroh has been recruiting men for his armada. Most of them want to take a wife before they go away for a year. Someone to keep house for them and to get with child before they leave for training in order to continue their line...just in case they don't come back, of course. They should come back whole."

Steam was rising from Little Fox's teacup but the old woman didn't seem to notice. The candles in the room flickered dangerously. "Of course. What else are women for, besides breeding and keeping house?"

The hag didn't seem to notice her sarcasm. "It is good that you think so. Just a few more questions and then we'll be done. I'm sure that there will be a match before the end of the day. Now, are you pure?"

"Excuse me?" Her ears had dimmed from their earlier flare ups, but now they were bright red again. It was actually adorable how flustered she got at such a simple question. The matter of a girl's virginity was how she survived in court. If it were known that a woman wasn't pure, she was instantly shamed and sent away. Who knew, then, if the child she bore was her husband's if she wasn't taken by the husband and only he?

The woman lowered the wireframe glasses on her nose and looked Little Fox directly in the eye. "Your virginity. Is it still intact?"

"Y-yes, it is!" the girl stuttered. She grasped onto the jade pendant that hung from her neck, just as she had when she and Iroh had talked. It seemed to keep her from saying something that she would later regret. "I don't see how that is any of your business, though!"

The hag gritted her teeth and braced herself against the table. "You are mine right now, girl, and you had best show me respect! Your virginity is a matter of dire importance to any man you marry! If you are to wed someone above your class, it is imperative that you retain it."

"So men get to whore around while women have to stay pure? That hardly seems fair." The sarcasm dripped from her lips like venom. Hamin next to him scoffed and Iroh couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sire, we really should be getting back to your pavilion," his adviser said with a frown. Iroh unfortunately missed whatever the old hag had to say about Little Fox's little outburst. "Hasn't this gone on enough? You can't wed her anyway and this is a waste of time."

"Like I said, Hamin, it is incredibly refreshing. Still, you are correct. We should—" A blood-curdling scream from outside cut him off. Flames erupted against the tent's fabric. A body of one of his closest Firebenders fell into the tent, tearing it as the body fell to the ground. Iroh bent down and rolled him over, hoping to find him still alive. All it showed was that the Firebender's throat had been slit.

He was dead.