Chapter 16: Fire and Earth
I turned round and headed towards the window I'd climbed through. Since the tile roof was lower than the floor this made getting back through the window much more difficult. Eventually I managed to climbed back through the window. I then headed towards the door and put my ear to it to see if I could hear anyone outside (I didn't want to run into any guards who had missed my performance on the roof, since they wouldn't know who I was). As I couldn't hear anything outside I unlocked the door and stepped into the hall.
The hall was deserted. Good, this would make moving about easier. Though I wanted to know how the soldiers had become so powerful I knew that if I ran down to them I'd end up so tired that I wouldn't be able to stand. An entrance like that would make me look weak and cause the soldiers to question my leadership ability. If I wanted to make a dignified entrance I would need to walk to them. While this would take longer I knew that they would wait because they had come to see me and wouldn't leave until we had met.
After I'd gone down two flights of stairs and was walking along the corridors I heard some people coming towards me. Perfect, this will be a good test of their loyalty. I stopped in front of one of the doors, opened it, then moved to the centre of the hall to wait for who ever was coming towards me. While I was confident that they would show proper respect and obey my orders it would be unwise not to have somewhere I could dodge into should they attack me. When the guards came round the corner I shouted at them.
"Why do you not bow before your princess!"
This seemed to confuse the two guards, since they weren't expecting me to be here. I took a step towards them and looking angry I said.
"Why are you not showing proper respect?"
The guards and I stared at each other for a few seconds then the one on my left asked.
"Are you the real Princess Azula?"
Though this was a perfectly reasonable question I needed to make them feel that they shouldn't be asking questions but should instead be doing my bidding.
"Of course I am. Didn't you see my blue fireball I fired from the tile roof."
The guards looked at each other, then the one on the right spoke.
"Can you create another blue fireball, without wearing your vambraces?"
A simple request that I could do with ease (though I don't know what difference my vambraces are supposed to make). Though I could comply with this a princess doesn't take orders from guards. I'll refuse and demand they obey me, when they promise to obey me if I can produce blue fireballs I'll comply and gain two new servants.
"What right do you have to ask anything of your superiors," I said angrily.
"We merely want some proof that you are the real princess. There are a lot of girls outside who also resemble her." said the guard on the right.
"If I do this will you swear to obey me?"
"Of course," they both replied.
Now that I had established my superiority I just needed to show them my abilities. As they requested I took off my vambraces and handed them to the one on the left. The one on the right also requested that I roll up my sleeves. When I questioned him about this he said that they wanted to ensure I wasn't using any tricks. I complained but rolled up my sleeves (there must be no doubt in their minds that I am the real Azula). I then fired a fireball into the wall on my right. After seeing this they showed that they believed who I was by bowing down.
After I'd put my vambraces back on I ordered them to escort me to the courtyard. As we walked to the courtyard I asked them about the soldiers who had broken through the outer wall. The one on the right said they were waiting outside; however I could tell he was lying. If this was a lie then either he, the other guard, or both of them were the soldiers that had broken through the wall. I proceeded to ask him about how Firebenders could become more powerful but he didn't seem to know and he wasn't lying. Before I could ask his companion about this we had reached the courtyard.
The courtyard was a mess with guards lying unconscious and large pieces of stone everywhere. It seemed that the soldiers that had broken through the wall had easily beaten the guards. I looked round and saw that the girls and boy were behind a stone wall. This was odd since that wall hadn't been there earlier and it seem to have ground out of the ground, as if it was made with Earthbending …. That's it, they're Earthbenders! That's why they were able to break down the stone wall without any specialist equipment. They'd not powerful Firebenders, they're Earthbenders in Fire Nation armour and I just showed them proof that I'm the person they're hunting. I need run now. No, I need to calm down. I can't let them know that that I know who they are. I need a plan. Okay, I'll convince the two Earthbenders to move away from me then run into the castle, throw off my armour, change into anything else I can find, and pretend to be another captured girl who just looks like Azula. Fortunately for me another Earthbender was approaching us. As soon as the two Earthbenders I was with walked forwards to talk with him I ran back into the keep.
Though I tried to run away from them as fast I could I was still much too slow. Before I could even get to the end of the corridor a wall appeared before me. I couldn't escape and I couldn't fight. Since I had no intention of surrendering my only option left was bluffing. Though I was weak and not in control of anything they didn't know this. If I could convince them that they'd lose against me in a fight and that capturing me would cause them to be attacked they'd let me escape. Although the information I'd got from Ty Lee about the rebel army was sketchy it provided enough details for me to make creditable threats. I turned round and to face the Earthbenders (there were three of them) and moved into a battle stance.
"Foolish Earthbenders do you really think you can beat some who once defeated the Avatar. If you even harm a hair on my head my army will destroy your entire village." I spoke in a composed and serious manner.
They stopped and looked at me, they were clearly afraid that I might attack them. Good, if they believe I'm a threat they'll surrender without a fight.
"You don't need to fear us Princess Azula. We're your Dai Lee agents, here to help you escape." said the middle one.
Wait … what? Why are the Dai Lee attacking here, they're supposed to be supporting the rebel army. Does this mean that this is an official Fire Nation castle? Did Zuko order anyone who looks like me to be arrested? No, Zuko wouldn't do that but someone wishing to gain favour him might. So someone wanting to gain favour with Zuko is kidnapping anyone who looks like me to try to find me and the rebel army sent … No that doesn't make any sense either, the rebel army has a fake me so sending soldiers to rescue the real me would expose the fake. Unless they're here to kill me to remove any evidence that a fake is leading the rebel army. That's it they're here to kill me. I need to get rid of them now.
"I don't need you help to escape, I freed myself. Now leave here immediately, I have things I need to do." I demanded.
Though I couldn't see their faces behind their face plates I could tell from their bodies that they had become much more confused. Did they really think I would just walk into a trap with them.
"But Princess we can help you overthrow the fake pretending to be you, so you can claim your rightful place as head of the Fire Nation Defence Army. Don't you want to lead us?" said the middle one, his confusion was obvious.
This makes even less sense. How do they know that the fake Azula is a fake? Did Sokka tell them? Are he and the Kyoshis waiting for me outside? I need to know.
"Who told you that a fake was leading the Fire Nation Defence Army?"
"When we first met her we knew she wasn't you," the one in the middle replied.
"What do you mean, when did you meet the fake?"
"After the Dai Lee were disbanded in Ba Sing Se there were several of us wished who to continue to practise our style of Earthbending. As we could no longer do this in the Earth Kingdom, we went to the Fire Nation colonies to serve in your army. In exchange for joining we requested that we be allowed to meet with you. However the girl they had us meet with was neither terrifying nor inspirational, so we knew it wasn't you. At first we thought that you were testing our loyalty by issuing orders through a body double but as we only received menial tasks …"
"Such as building castles," said the one on my left, interrupting the middle one.
"and digging tunnels," added the one on my right.
"We started questioning whether it was really you, since you always treated us as equals. As time wore on and no one ever mentioned the real Azula we became convinced that you were not leading this army. So we tried to find you so that you could become our leader and expose the fake."
Do they really think I can't see through there story. The only reason they want me to be their leader is because they think I'll treat them better. If they'd hadn't been given menial tasks they wouldn't even care about me. I'd be unwise to trust them, since they'll betray me as soon as the fake offers them better terms. They only useful thing they can do is provide me with information.
"When you met the fake, who was with her?"
"I don't know, there were three of them but they wore masks and addressed each other by code names. The fake said their identities had to be kept secret."
"Were you able to find out who they really where?"
"No they're only addressed by their codenames."
So whoever is really leading the Defence Army is trying to keep their identity secret. Fortunately I know where their base is.
"Who is in charge of the PohuaiStringhold?"
"No one is currently in charge of it."
"How can no one be in charge of it!?"
"It currently serves as the colonies' headquarters; informing the Governors of the Fire Lord's decrees, controlling all the administration, and army and naval dispatchments. Currently it is controlled by a Council and the Fire Lord has forbidden them to have a leader."
Zuko forbid them to have a leader? He must be worried that I would convince the leader to obey me (not that I couldn't convince a council to obey me). So it's highly likely that the Colonel has gone to see one or more of the Council members, but I don't know who. The Dai Lee are no help, if they wanted me to be their leader they could of at least got me some useful information. Wait, how did they know where I was?
"How did you know I was here?"
"We saw your blue fireballs from outside the castle."
"Then why were you outside the castle."
"Nearly a week ago the Defence Army leaders suddenly started panicking and increased their activity throughout the colonies. Though they tried to hide what they were doing an Earth Kingdom smuggling gang informed us that girls matching your description were being kidnapped throughout the colonies. We then realised you had come to the colonies and our leaders where hunting you. The smugglers told us that this castle was one of the places where the girls were being taken, so we've been staying at their camp outside watching the castle."
They're not lying about this, so they don't know where I was kept. But the smuggler part is definitely odd. Why would smugglers want to help the Dai Lee?
"Why are the smugglers helping you, what's in it for them?"
"We offered them information about Fire Nation patrols, so they could sneak their good into the colonies. Their leader, the Queen of Smugglers, also has a keen interest in the Fire Nation Royal family."
"What do you mean by 'interest'?"
"She's constantly trying to find out any information she can about the Royal family. She's especially interested in meeting you."
"Why does she want to meet me?"
"She originally wanted to talk to you about the Defence Army but when we told her we suspected a fake was in charge she offered to help us look for you. We haven't been able to determine why but she doesn't want revenge or to hold you for ransom."
Being fascinated by the royalty is fairly common, after all we're royalty. Though her interest in me is odd. If she doesn't want revenge, a ransom, or something the Defence Army can provide then why the interest? Though this could be a trap it also has a lot of opportunities. If I can overthrow this Queen and taking control of her gang I can obtain her wealth and secret shipping routes (which will make travelling around the Colonies easier). Then I can attack this castle again with her gang and more Dai Lee, capture the Colonel, and make him tell me who he met with. It's time to meet this Queen.
"How long will it take to reach this Queen?"
"We should be able to reach her by tomorrow if we travel until it gets dark."
I have no intention of camping overnight.
"That's not soon enough, we're leaving now. We should be there by evening."
"But Princess."
"That's an order."
With that we left the keep and went into the courtyard, where I took charge. Two of the Dai Lee took the girls, the boy, and Kegatsu (currently unconscious due to a blow to the head) to the smugglers camp to ensure they escaped (it'll take them longer to find me if they have to search for all the girls), two more Dai Lee were to get a Komodo Rhino and supplies for me, three prepared for the journey, and their leader told me all he knew about the Queen of Smugglers.
Unfortunately he couldn't tell me much more about her. Only that the only records about her started six years ago (not unusual given all the migration during the war), she had lost her family during the war (also not uncommon), she was the head of an orphanage, and had set up her smuggling ring after the Colonies stated putting secret taxes on Earth Kingdom goods. The orphanage puzzled me until I realised that it was the perfect recruiting ground for young criminals (no one knows who's there or will notice if anyone goes missing). This Queen must be quite ruthless; I'll have to be careful around her.
Notes:
1) Vambraces are a type of armour designed to protect the forearms.
2) The 'Fire Nation Defence Army' is a group of Fire Nation soldiers and Colonialists dedicated to protecting the Fire Nation Colonies from the Earth Kingdom (specifically preventing Zuko giving the Colonies to the Earth Kingdom). Their official leader is Azula.