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The Fire Lord - Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
The following day in the Fire Nation Royal Palace.
The princess glanced out of the corner of her callous amber golden eye as she watched her handmaid set down her breakfast tray on her table.
Only to let out a sigh under her breath when she took in her girlfriend's still unusually downcast face.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Azula asked with just a sliver of concern in her stern voice when her handmaiden shook her head.
"No. I'm not really hungry." Elle answered in a timid voice as she stood faithfully beside her mistress's throne while the older woman grasped a hold of her chop sticks.
As she heard the princess sigh in frustration once more.
Only for a trace of her usual cheer to return when the older woman gestured to her booted feet.
"What are you waiting for girl? Sit." Azula commanded in a tone of casual dominance with one hand on her thigh while she began to gracefully eat her morning meal.
She stared down in satisfaction to see the girl obediently seating herself at her boots.
"Y-yes Princess." Elle mumbled in a mousy voice as she felt a strong hand lower into her hair while the older woman started to pet her head.
Only to find herself falling forward on her knees into the older woman's thigh while she listened to her mistress elegantly eat her meal above her.
"What shall I ever do with you peasant…" Azula remarked as she began to chew her breakfast while she glanced down at the lovely girl hiding in her leg.
Her palm remained in the girl's hair as she absentmindedly petted her handmaid's little head.
"A-anything that you want Azula-sama. I submit to you." Elle whined as she rested her head on the older woman's thigh while she slowly began to smile once more.
Only to find herself letting out a squeak when her princess seized a hold of her neck accessory in her domineering hand.
Her cheeks turned a shade of red as she sat with her face pressing into the older woman's thigh.
While her heart raced wildly as heard her princess elegantly swallow down a mouthful of her breakfast.
As she flushed with the older woman's hand still grasping onto her collar.
"Hm. That's what I like to hear. Now…I don't want you to worry your little mind over Mai. You'll see her again…after she has served a satisfactory punishment in the eyes of the royal court." Azula commented as she stared down at the girl with controlling amber golden eyes.
Her gaze flickered with disapproval over the girl's glum disposition.
Only for her callous eyes to flash with aggravation when she noticed the girl's smile already start to wane with the mere mention of her treasonous friend's name.
"O-okay Princess." Elle stammered in a meek voice as she gazed down at the floor while she listened to her princess sigh over her.
And so, the princess soon finished her breakfast.
And shortly afterward she dismissed her serving girl to take her dishes to the palace kitchens.
Azula now turned to gaze at Ty Lee as her friend sat in a chair on the other side of her study.
"Today, I have a paramount war meeting with Father and the nation's most important military and civilian advisers. Even Governor Yoko will be in attendance. I want you to watch over Elle until I am finished." Azula spoke in a smooth voice while the noblewoman nodded her head.
"Sure Azula. I'll be happy to look after Elle." Ty Lee assured with a helpful nod of her head.
Only to find herself raising a brow when the princess gestured to a book on her table.
"I am appointing you as Elle's instructor in my absence. When I am too busy to oversee her language studies myself…I want you to fill in for me." Azula instructed in a stoic voice as she pointed down at the book while Ty Lee glanced at it in inquisitively.
"I don't mind helping my little sister with her language lessons. But I don't know if today is a good day for that Azula…I really think that we need to give her a couple days to adapt to Mai's absence before we start making the poor girl do schoolwork." Ty Lee replied in a sisterly voice that verged on maternal.
"Perhaps tomorrow then." Azula sighed with annoyance seeping through her cold voice while she stood up from her seat to leave to attend the meeting with her father.
One hour later…
The immense flames lit the walls of the Fire Lord's vast throne room.
Ozai turned to watch with an observant amber eye as his daughter seated herself adjacent to him.
The princess sat down on her cushion in her royal armor with her callous amber golden eyes trying to mask her anger over the secrets that her father has been keeping from her.
"Azula. I see that you made it home in time for the summit." Ozai remarked in a stoic voice with his arms folded in his lap while he eyed his daughter carefully.
"I have been preoccupied with hunting the Avatar." Azula responded in a regal voice as she sat with her hands in her lap while her father eyed her closely.
"Hunting the Avatar, you say? You were away for a curiously long period of time…given that it has been weeks since your last reported encounter with the Avatar." Ozai spoke with a glacial edge to his voice while he stared hard back at his daughter's expressionless visage.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it…
But Azula felt different…
Almost as if she had changed in the time that she had been away.
Only for his calculating amber eyes to briefly flash with something akin to surprise when he noticed that his daughter was casting him an accusatory stare.
"I find it strange that those would be the first words that you say to me. Considering that Iroh's treasonous ambush on my airship killed many of my soldiers and left me marooned on Shantu Island." Azula commented in a callous voice with her amber golden eyes staring in a margin of anger back at her father's equally stoic face.
"I am aware of that incident Azula. I sent for your rescue as soon as I received word of your predicament." Ozai replied in an aloof voice while he stared back at his daughter with a composed expression in his amber eyes.
Only for his eyes to spark with a flicker of surprise once more when his daughter's eyes once again sparked in fury.
"An assassin even tried to kill me while I was scaling a cliff. And all you can say to me upon my return is that I was away for too long?" Azula snarled with her lips smashed together in her royal anger while her father surveyed her with a frown on his lips.
"And yet you are alive Azula. I am relieved that you are well daughter. What else do you expect me to say?" Ozai answered with a trace of perplexity in his ruthless voice while he assessed the livid expression in his daughter's narrowing amber golden eyes.
"I expect you to explain your connection to that wretched puppeteer!" Azula snapped with her rage finally boiling to the surface as she sprung up from her seat in anger.
As her father stared back at her with his amber eyes expressing recognition at the mention of a 'puppeteer'.
"Just what do you mean Azula?" Ozai questioned in an emotionless voice while he gazed back at his daughter's infuriated face.
"She brought a band of murderous mercenaries that she armed to attack me on Shantu Island! And then two weeks afterward she slaughtered a whole platoon of my Imperial Firebenders! And days later she entrapped me in an underground cavern where she besieged me with her twisted dolls!" Azula shouted in a vengeful voice as she clenched her burning fists at her hips while her father listened with a shocked look in his eyes.
And most important of all.
'Her actions…nearly took the life of my Elle!' Azula thought with fire exuding from her furious nostrils while her enraged amber golden eyes never left her father's taken aback face.
And at last, the Fire Lord now understood just why his daughter was so furious.
'So, Silah has finally resurfaced and she was…hunting Azula?' Ozai thought with his callous amber eyes expressing his surprise over the revelation.
"She also told me that you armed her." Azula snarled in a seething voice with her teeth bared in her rage while she stared back into her father's narrowing amber eyes.
And then the Fire Lord's vast flames sparked up while he fearlessly met his daughter's accusative gaze.
"I only had dealings with her once eleven years ago. I supplied her with prisoners and ore in exchange for the assassination of high priority targets." Ozai replied in a frigid voice as he recovered from his surprise while the princess's amber golden eyes formed over into slits.
'Prisoners and ore…' Azula thought with her enraged amber golden eyes narrowing in realization while a regal glower adorned her lips.
Now she understood perfectly what Silah had meant when she said that her father had given her 'other gifts'.
Her father supplied her with prisoners from labor camps in return for killing her uncle's loyalists at court!
Prisoners that were then converted into puppets!
"Were you aware that she was stalking me? Why didn't you tell me about her existence Father!?" Azula demanded in a livid voice while her fists lit up with blue fire before her outraged face.
As Ozai now stared on with an increasingly impatient stare in his ruthless amber eyes.
"Azula! Calm yourself!" Ozai scolded in a hardened voice while his daughter recoiled in indignation.
The princess now stood with her furious fists clenched at her hips while her father gazed rigidly right back at her.
"You are my daughter and my heir. It is a foolish notion that I would sanction such a thing. Now sit back down Azula. I assure you that we will punish her for her arrogance." Ozai assured in a harsh voice with a scowl on his lips while his daughter listened with a reassured expression in her eyes.
And then Azula dropped back down onto her seat with her arms crossed over her plated chest.
She stared down at the floor with her still angered golden eyes.
As she silently vowed to herself that she would have her revenge on the vile puppeteer.
Only to find herself torn from her vengeful thoughts when her father turned to stare back with a piercing stare in his eyes.
"There are other matters that we must discuss. Such as this foreign servant girl of yours." Ozai stated with implication in his rigid voice while the princess gazed back with callously inexpressive eyes.
"What about her, Father?" Azula asked in a perfectly smooth voice with her arms folded over her breasts while she met her father's incensed amber eyes.
And just like that the Fire Lord's inferno of flames shot up to towering heights once more.
As the princess sat there impassively with her amber golden eyes reflecting no emotion.
"Word is circulating that this girl awakened a thought to be lost ancient force that has the power to kill the Avatar." Ozai spoke with a furious edge to his voice while he glared back at his daughter's unfazed face.
Only for the anger in the Fire Lord's eyes to grow even further when the princess turned to face him with something akin to the barest hint of an arrogant smile on her lips.
"Yes, I know. The girl awoke her power when she came to my aid against the rebels." Azula remarked with an offhand wave of her hand while her father's amber eyes narrowed in rage.
The Fire Lord's flames continued to burn with greater intensity than usual as proof of his disapproval of his daughter's defiance.
"Did you think that you could hide this from me Azula?" Ozai demanded in a glacial voice while the princess turned to face him with her amber golden eyes boiling in fury once more.
'He has some nerve to chastise me for withholding details when he has the gall to plan a coronation behind my back!' The princess thought with her lips sinking into a regal glower once more while she clenched her fists in her lap.
"Hide it from you? I made no attempt to hide it from you. I simply didn't feel the need to immediately inform you after you neglected to inform me of the existence of that filthy puppeteer." Azula retorted with fury seeping through her equally cold voice while she defiantly met her father's merciless stare.
And as much as the Fire Lord was furious over his daughter keeping the details regarding the girl's power to herself.
He knew that there was little room to argue the matter after his one-time mercenary had brazenly attacked his daughter twice.
"You were but a child then. Would you inform a child of the intricacies of your military plans?" Ozai countered in a composed voice as he watched his daughter scowl off into the distance of the throne room.
Only for the princess to say nothing as she turned away to glower off into the flames.
Her father still eyed her coldly from where he sat on his throne beside her.
"Despite this disobedience, I am proud of the swift punishment that you dealt upon those two delinquents and the action that you took to quell the uprising in Shung Wu." Ozai remarked in a paternal voice with the flames accenting his image.
The princess glanced up from where she sat on her cushion with her lips parting in the slightest show of a genuine smile.
As her amber golden eyes flashed with daughterly pleasure over being told that she did well.
"In light of Silah's actions…I will overlook this transgression. But from this moment forward you will tell me everything." Ozai declared in a severe voice while he gazed back at his daughter with coldly narrowed amber eyes.
The princess regained her composure as she straightened in her seat with her callous golden eyes staring ahead.
"I have confirmed that the girl is not from any of the nations that we know of. She comes from a land that lies beyond a spirit portal and it would seem that there are many other nations in this foreign land." Azula admitted in a coolly dignified voice with her arms crossed over her chest.
The Fire Lord listened with a fascinated gleam in his amber eyes.
"While investigating the spirit portal…I encountered a military force led by the very same emperor that I told you about before." The princess spoke in a regal voice while the Fire Lord's eyes flashed with curiosity.
"And just what did you do when you encountered this military force?" Ozai inquired in a stony voice as he rubbed the underside of his goatee while he studied his daughter carefully.
"I decided that it was too great of a liability to leave unchecked. So, I closed the spirit portal to prevent enemy invasion in our lands." Azula informed in a smooth voice as she waved a flawless hand before her father while her father's amber eyes flickered in approval.
"I see. You made a wise call Azula. That would indeed be too great of a risk." Ozai commented in a reflective voice.
While he mulled over the possibilities of there being other lands out there for him to conquer.
And he also wondered how it was possible for there to be humans living in foreign lands that the Fire Nation has never been to beyond a spirit portal.
The Fire Nation has explored every corner of the world.
There was no part of the world that the Fire Nation has not explored.
So, if these foreign lands weren't in the world that they know.
Just where were they?
"Of course, in the future after we have won the war. I have no doubt that these foreign lands would make for a worthy conquest should we choose to do so." Azula stated in a conceited voice with a wicked smile upon her lips while her father smiled cruelly in agreement.
"I approve of your thinking Azula. As for this foreign royal servant of yours…" Ozai trailed off in a contemplative voice while he held a hand underneath his chin.
Azula sat impassively upon her cushion with her callous amber golden eyes turning to meet her father's gaze.
"I want to meet this girl. Send for her. Now." Ozai commanded in a tone that brook no room for argument while he stared hard into his daughter's cold amber golden eyes.
And then the princess turned to stare ahead with her frigid amber golden eyes staring down imposingly below.
"Guards! Go fetch Zoi! Tell her to bring me Elle at once!" Azula bellowed in a booming voice that carried throughout the vast throne room.
She listened to the sound of guards scrambling to obey her order.
As a smirk formed on the Fire Lord's lips as he gazed down below with an eagerness to meet the mysterious girl.
The princess sat on her seat with her callous amber golden eyes trying to squash her possessive instincts towards the girl.
And yet for reasons that she couldn't explain she couldn't fight the regal scowl that was forming upon her lips.
Five minutes later.
Ty Lee glanced up from where she sat beside Elle in the princess's study to see the captain step in.
The warrior stared back at Ty Lee with a sense of urgency in her eyes that made the other noblewoman nervous.
"The Fire Lord wants to see Elle." Zoi announced in a stoic voice while her words caused the two girls to sit up.
"What? Now?" Ty Lee asked with worry in her voice while she swallowed in her seat.
Elle gazed between her two big sisters with still downcast amber eyes.
"Yes, now. I'll walk her there." Zoi stated in a protective voice while the girl stood up from her seat.
Only for the handmaid to turn around when she felt Ty Lee reach out to touch her shoulder.
"Elle, please be very careful how you act in front of the Fire Lord. Speak only when you are spoken to and do not let him see how close you are with Azula." Ty Lee explained in an urgent voice while the young girl quickly nodded her head.
"I understand oneesan. Don't worry. I'll be careful." Elle answered in a soft voice as she walked forward to follow after the captain.
Ty Lee watched them walk away with a worried expression still present in her brown-gray eyes.
Minutes later…
The serving girl and the captain were now walking through the halls of the palace towards the throne room.
Elle now glanced around her with her mouth falling open in amazement over the sheer beauty of the intricate decorations that lined the walls of the Fire Nation Royal Palace.
Just before they came to a stop before a large set of red doors with the Fire Nation symbol in gold adorning its surface.
Only for Elle to glance up when she felt the warrior gently place a hand on her shoulder.
She met the older woman's serious golden eyes as she began to feel a profound sense of nervousness come over her.
"Elle. I need you to listen closely. Do not speak out of turn. Do not cry. And bow at all times unless you are told otherwise." Zoi instructed in a hushed voice as she stood over the petite girl while Elle listened carefully.
"O-okay. I'll do my best oneesan." Elle agreed in a timid voice as she smiled up at the older woman while the captain cracked a small smile down at her.
"Follow my instructions to the letter and you'll do fine little sister." Zoi assured in a supportive voice as she patted the much smaller girl on the shoulder while Elle beamed up at her.
And then the handmaiden stepped forward while her amber eyes peered up at the vast doors.
She bit her lip as she lingered for the briefest of moments with the warrior standing behind her.
Just as she audibly gulped as she turned to glance one more time at her big sister's face.
As the noblewoman offered her a glance of reassurance to encourage her onward.
And then she worked up the courage to push open the great doors.
Only to find herself gazing into a hallway that led to what must be the entrance to the throne room at the other end of the hall.
And hanging over the entrance was a pair of beautifully opulent red curtains with the Fire Nation insignia also in gold upon its design.
She took a step into the hall with the doors closing resoundingly behind her.
Just as she began to make her way down the hall while her amber eyes gazed around her in captivation.
And soon she came to a pause at the end of the hall.
She gazed up at the extravagant curtains with an intimidated expression in her eyes.
And then she momentarily swallowed down her apprehension.
Before she pushed the curtains aside while the light from the flames within immediately shone before her eyes.
She stepped inside the throne room with the curtains swinging shut behind her.
As she gazed all around her with awe in her eyes as she took in the many exquisite ornate pillars that lined the entirety of the huge throne room.
She stared further into the throne room in amazement at a vast table with a decorative map of the world spread out upon its surface.
While she padded forward with her astonished amber eyes now gazing up at a vast wall of flames.
And just beyond the inferno was an immense bas-relief visage of a dragon breathing fire.
And two imposing figures sat surrounded by the great wall of flames.
Her mistress and her princess…
And her father the Fire Lord himself!
It was in that very moment that she truly understood what it meant to stand before royalty.
'So…this is Azula-sama's…father! This is the father…of the girl that I love!' Elle thought with her amber eyes peering up in astonishment as the flames began to part while the two royals gazed down at her.
And then she bent over at the waist with her hands held together in customary Fire Nation greeting.
And soon after that she lowed herself to prostrate on the floor.
As she still stared up with fascination in her widened eyes as she was finally able to make out their visages behind the flames.
And not a second after that she found herself meeting the intimidating gaze of an older man seated upon a decorative throne.
And sitting beside him was her princess.
The Fire Lord now stared down with his amber eyes expressing a rare sense of fascination.
While he glanced over the bowing girl's golden hair as he rubbed the underside of his goatee once more.
It was just as Azula had informed him.
She actually has golden hair!
'Golden hair…in all my life I have never seen anyone with such a hair color.' Ozai thought while he gazed down at the girl.
Curiously enough her face had some partial similarity to that of a Fire National.
And her eyes were also the color of amber.
A shade of amber very similar to that of his own.
Something that was usually mostly seen with those who are born as firebenders.
And yet not completely.
There was something else there.
A different ethnicity that he was unfamiliar with.
Even without her exotic hair color.
She wouldn't be able to pass as a full-blooded Fire National.
And she didn't look like an Earth Kingdom citizen either.
And she looked absolutely nothing the people of the Water Tribe.
Which made him wonder if she traces of something similar to that of a Fire National in her.
Mixed in with that something else that he was pondering about before.
And then he gazed at the velvet collar with a blue Fire Nation symbol wrapped around the girl's neck.
He rose a brow as he turned to gaze questioningly at his daughter.
As the young princess sat with her arms folded over her breasts as she stared sternly down at the prostrated girl.
"Hm. And you must be Elle." Ozai greeted in a stoic voice while the young girl glanced up from her bow.
"I am. It is an honor to meet you Your Majesty." Elle responded in a courteous voice while the Fire Lord stared down with intrigued amber eyes.
While her mistress stared down at her with callous amber golden eyes that never failed to send a pleasurable shiver down her spine.
"Azula tells me that you come from a land beyond a spirit portal." Ozai commented in a stony manner while he eyed the girl with an interested gaze.
"I do. But I left that all behind me to serve Azula-sama. That's all in the past now. My home is with Her Highness now." Elle spoke up in a devoted voice as she remained in her bow while her mistress gazed down at her in approval.
"Azula-sama?" Ozai questioned as he turned to his emotionless daughter while the young woman still stared down at the bowing girl.
"It is an honorific from an ancestral language of hers that is used to address royalty and deities as well as other figures of authority." Azula explained in an impassive voice while her father nodded his head as he turned to gaze back down at the girl.
"You left your homeland behind all for the sake of serving Azula?" Ozai pondered in a perplexed voice while he took note of the faithful way that the girl gazed up at his daughter.
Azula held her head high with a gratified smile pulling onto her pleased lips.
"That's so. I have decided to dedicate my life to Azula-sama as her royal servant in gratitude for saving my life." Elle declared in a passionate voice as she smiled up at the visage of her mistress.
Her princess stared back down at her with dominantly possessive amber golden eyes that she could easily find herself lost in for days on end.
As the Fire Lord gazed back down with a taken aback expression in his amber eyes.
"Azula saved your life you say? Most people would simply walk away and continue on with their lives, but you feel compelled to dedicate your life to Azula." Ozai remarked in curious voice while the young girl smiled from where she bowed on the floor below.
"I am different than most people. It was never a question for me. Azula-sama is my life and I intend to serve her for all of my days." Elle stated in a resolute voice as she bowed with her head bent in reverence to the two royals seated above her.
The princess still sat upon her seat with her lips forming a satisfied smile.
As the Fire Lord stared down at the girl with a surprised expression in his stoic amber eyes.
Before he turned to his daughter while the young woman gestured down at the prostrated servant girl.
"Even though she may not look it…she is in possession of great power and there is no one more faithful." Azula spoke in a voice of approval with a wave of her hand while she gazed down at the girl with controlling amber golden eyes.
As her father's amber eyes glistened with a similar approval as he stared back down at the bowing serving girl.
"I heard that you were able to disrupt the power of the Avatar. Is that correct?" Ozai queried with intrigue in his amber eyes while the young girl hurriedly nodded her head.
"It is. I did it briefly. But I believe that I caught him off guard when I did that. I don't know if I will be able to do that against him next time." Elle responded in a soft-spoken voice as she bowed on her knees.
As the Fire Lord listened with delight in his power-hungry amber eyes.
"Next time? Does that mean that you intend to fight on behalf of the Fire Nation against the Avatar?" Ozai inquired with a tilt of his head while the girl met his gaze.
"I am no warrior. But I will fight against any and all forces that seek to harm Azula-sama." Elle declared in an ardent voice as she held a devoted hand over her chest while the Fire Lord listened in astonishment.
The princess gazed down at her loyal servant girl with her ruthless amber golden eyes momentarily conveying her appreciation for her companion.
As a sophisticated smile still graced her lipstick painted lips.
"The girl has the power to cut through the energy of beings connected to the spiritual plane. That is why she was able to cut off the flow of the Avatar's chi. They call it the Component." Azula announced in a smoothly regal voice while her domineering amber golden eyes stared down at her pet's lovely face.
As she gazed out of the corner of her eye at her father's delighted countenance.
Thus far she was relieved that her father seemed satisfied with the bits and pieces that she was feeding him here and there.
Before she turned to gaze back down at her young girlfriend with a confident smile still adorning her lips.
After all there was no need to tell him the whole story…
The less he knew the greater her advantage when the time came to overthrow him.
"The Component…how fascinating. I want you to demonstrate it to me…Elle." Ozai purred with a smirk on his lips.
The young girl chewed on her lip with a nervous expression as she gazed out of the corner of her eye at her mistress's divine face.
As the princess's callous amber golden eyes met her own as they quickly gazed into one another's eyes.
The older woman stared authoritatively back down at her from where she sat imposingly upon her seat.
For the most fleeting of instances master and servant communicated by gaze alone.
To anyone else it appeared as if the princess was trying to terrify the girl into obeying the order.
When in reality the princess was trying to encourage her companion.
"I…I will try Fire Lord. I haven't quite mastered it yet and there are no spiritual beings present. But I will show you what I can." Elle replied in a mousy voice as she stood up from her bow while the Fire Lord watched her with eager amber eyes.
And then she closed her eyes while she put all of her focus into harnessing her newly awakened energy.
She thought back to what Mava had told her about her princess being her trigger.
And then the images of their many enemies flashed through her mind.
The Avatar.
That man that took away her parents…Strados.
Her brother Felix.
And the horrible entity known as the Elder One.
And the frost emperor Reiko.
She breathed in and out as she imagined that each and every one of them was threatening the sanctity of her princess's life.
As her lips trembled in anger at the mere thought of the woman being in harm's way.
And just like that she felt something snap inside her once again!
And that was all it for an aura of white energy to begin to glow from her body while she opened her determined eyes to gaze ahead.
And then she let out a spirited battle-cry as glowing lines began to spread across her face while the two royals sat staring down with captivated expressions in their eyes.
Ozai stared on with widening amber eyes when he felt the energy sweep throughout his throne room.
As his eyes flashed with excitement at the prospect of having such an astounding power at his disposal.
Azula sat in silence with her amber golden eyes closely observing the release of her serving girl's power in fascination.
While Zoi froze up from where she stood outside the doors as she turned to gaze over her shoulder with her eyes widening in the same moment that she felt the energy blow through her hair.
As many guards gazed on with expressions of confusion in their startled eyes.
And even Ty Lee glanced up from where she sat with her brown-gray eyes sensing the young girl release her energy.
As Elle's yell filled the throne room as her chi continued to explode into the air.
And then not even a second later the storm of energy abruptly dissipated.
The young girl fell to the floor panting on her knees with her hair sticking to her face.
While the two royals now gazed down with speechless expressions on their faces.
As the Fire Lord still sat with his mouth open in an expression of uncharacteristic awe.
Just before he turned to stare strictly back at his daughter's stoic face with a warning stare in his eyes.
"From now on you will hide nothing from me." Ozai spoke in a rigid voice while his daughter nodded her head in affirmative.
And then the princess turned to stare imposingly back down at her panting servant girl while Elle bowed on the floor before them.
Her domineering amber golden eyes attentively noticed the look of exhaustion on the girl's face.
"That will suffice for now servant. You are dismissed. You may return to your other duties." Azula ordered in an icy voice as she waved an elegant hand before her face while the handmaid shakily nodded her head.
As she never missed how her father was watching the girl closely as she pushed herself to her feet.
"Y-yes Azula-sama. As you command…my princess." Elle spoke in a breathless voice as she bowed at the hip with her arms tucked in at her hips to the two royals seated above her.
As she bent her neck in a display of submission in her princess's direction.
And then she turned to quietly pad out of the throne room while the royals watched her depart.
Azula sat on her seat with a content smile on her lovely lips over her servant girl's adorable reverence to her authority.
Only to turn to gaze in her father's direction when she noticed a wicked smirk making its way onto his lips.
"Well done, Azula. With this new war power in our possession the Avatar's defeat is guaranteed." Ozai announced with a smirk on his lips.
"Indeed Father. His end is imminent." Azula agreed in a supremely confident voice while her lips curved into a cruel smile.
Yet underneath the surface she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease over what plans her father may have in store for her handmaid.
And not even a moment later her callous amber golden eyes narrowed into an utterly merciless stare.
Make no mistake.
The girl was hers.
Anyone who attempts to harm her little beloved will find themselves facing her royal wrath.
Even her own father.
AN:
So, Ozai has finally met Elle and he also knows about her power.
However, he doesn't know much of the context behind it, such as the visit with Mava, everything that she told Team Azula and the existence of the Elder One.
Ozai is also unaware of the true nature of Azula and Elle's relationship. He just suspects that Azula was trying to keep Elle's power all to herself. While that is true to an extent, Azula also enjoys her time alone with Elle which is why she took her time coming back.
At the start of the story, we saw that Azula was just as loyal to Ozai as in canon, and despite feeling like she was surpassing him in might. She still remained loyal to him, instead of planning to overthrow him.
Deep down inside, she was yearning for a father/daughter moment where he passes the torch to her so to speak to confirm to her that he actually loves her unlike Zuko.
Their relations have fractured since then, the seeds of doubt began to grow after Azula met Elle.
But what finalized Azula's decision to oppose her father, was Terak informing Azula that Ozai is planning a Phoenix King coronation behind her back.
Ozai has been telling Azula that he is going to pass the title of Fire Lord onto her after they kill the Avatar and crush the Earth Kingdom. But what he didn't tell her, was that he would be rendering the title of Fire Lord irrelevant by making her into the first Fire Lord that kneels to another ruler.
And just as important, is after Azula had her soldiers killed by Silah and being hunted by Silah underground, was Silah revealing that she had previously met her father.
The fact that Ozai knew of Silah's existence, even though he only met her once, and never told Azula about her after all that went down with Silah is huge.
And while Ozai is Fire Lord, and he generally would not take well to Azula taking a defiant tone with him, even he knows that Silah almost killing Azula and massacring her soldiers leaves him with little room to punish her without completely severing their relations.
Azula doesn't have the loyalty to her father that she once did, and because of everything that has happened, we are seeing a slow but gradual change in how she views Ozai. The loyalty to Ozai, the desire to earn his approval is fading away, and in its place she is just starting to view him as someone that she has to overcome.
So, because Ozai has withheld critical information from Azula, and because she is older now. She no longer feels the need to keep him fully informed on everything that she has learned.
Which means that in many instances Ozai only knows the basics, he knows that Rieko exists but no more than that.
And as for Ozai finally meeting Elle, it is clear from his thoughts and words that he only views her as a weapon to exploit. So, Azula will now have to watch over Elle closely to prevent Ozai from doing anything that would bring harm to her.
As for Elle's depression from Mai's absence, she'll cheer up in a few chapters. She just needs a little bit of time to adjust to her absence.
Anyhow, on another note, my health has taken a turn for the worse. So, I am slowing the updates from every week to about every ten days.
That's all for now though.
Stay tuned for next time.
For chapter one hundred twenty-eight! War and Tradition!