Azula's mornings were filled with diplomatic tasks and constant work nowadays. That was the price of power - once fully attained, the simple pleasures in life disappeared. Gone were her lazy mornings spent sunbathing naked or enjoying the grounds of the palace, though she still made time in her schedule for training and perfecting her body. Most of her days were spent in war and trade talks, or facing her constituents and allies, an endless marathon of political intrigue that she could not escape. Almost everything she did now had a specific purpose, a drive towards the future, otherwise she acted on impulse. In the evening came freedom, when she was allowed to be a beast.
In many ways, Fire Lord Azula's reign and mannerisms could be described as bestial; underneath her armor, her hair was usually ferociously unkempt, worn long and ragged, and tied back during military affairs. That trend spread amongst her people in recent times, giving birth to a collection of wild-haired, imperious warriors who worshiped their Fire Lord utterly.
Her large, round council room was searing hot, making all but the most formidable benders present sweat. An elegant bonfire, twisting high into the sky, was tended to by three black-clad maidens with large, elegant fans. They danced around the pillar, coaxing the lashes of flame higher at times, and lower at others. Each of her five advisors, Lo and Li among them, sat at a distance away from each other around the ring. Azula sat on her comfortable throne opposite the entrance passageway, her seat raised and highly decorated. The seat might have been comfortable, but she was in formal armor, and even had her long, dense cloak on. She preferred to have more skin out, but she was less intimidating that way. Aside from her, and her council of five Fire Nation vassals, everyone else sat on a floor pillow or made themself comfortable by other means. There were about three dozen people present, a dozen of her usual court staff, the rest visitors from outside, and there were more at the great chamber doors.
It was an open council meeting; usually, the people she saw were sifted through by her many attendants and officials, but a few days during the month she had no choice but to face the common man. On Sacred Hearth Day, the day she struck her father down, the "pillars of the community" were invited to offer their thanks, a gift along with it, and in exchange Azula might hear out whatever plight they were facing. That was today.
At either side of Azula's throne sat a sweet-faced Earth Nation lady, playing gentle music that eased her mind. Remarkably, Azula didn't just have an eye for destruction - she had quite the imagination when it came to how she wanted her people to serve her. Under her rule, women prospered in ways unfounded in previous decades; high positions in every society could be won now, at least for the superiors of the Earth and Fire Nation who had bent knee; the rest of womankind - and humanity itself- paid a terrible price, suffering the despair of the conquered, of the destroyed, at the hands of the mightiest. Azula's nation was no longer filled with the men who brought softness home to their mothers and daughters. They were men of war, stripped of much of the kindness they'd once known, in exchange for a hunger to grow and expand; they did it all for their family, their legacy, so they told themselves. Most were just sheep that needed direction, that was the truth about humanity.
She knew her people well, and no matter what they thought, she served them to the extent that her office required. She could not force them to thrive, and some were mere trash to be crushed under the feet of the others, but they were hers. Proof of her steady approval with the population, at least with those that counted, was that the Fire Island's citizens were extremely excited about one project she'd put into place. Under her orders, the people had begun to erect a massive statue of her three most important moments: her Agni Kai with Zuko, the day she teamed up with her father against Aang, and her "final battle" against Ozai himself. Artwork of such a momentous size was truly ambitious, that was why Fire Lord Azula craved it so strongly, aside from the mountain of jobs it provided the people. Each version of herself was carved to wear different armor, the three massive figures pressed back-to-back, away from each other and facing their opponent. Against her father, Azula was mid-palm strike toward the man's chest; she'd killed him by crumpling his ribcage, her blows vicious, unexpected, and final. Against the Avatar, a double strike; fusing lightning and fire she'd stood side-by-side with her father and killed that airbender boy, the final hope of the world against the Fire Nation's might. The third construction of herself was striking out her fist in a vicious fiery blow against Zuko.
The statue, nearing completion already and nearly 500 ft in height, was standing at the center of Capital City. All around it, thousands toiled away, dragging boulders from the nearby volcanic mountains. There were earthbenders present in the city, not even counting the slaves, and she could have them aid the project and haul rocks with ease, but it was far better to have her own non-bender workers do it for a few days worth of meal coin – months of work, coin for those willing to labor hard for it, nothing but benefits. The value of physical labor came in the breaking of worker's resolve, not in the actual tasks being allotted, or fair distribution; if they found working with rocks too meaningless, they could of course spot the flyers she had up regarding recruitment into her ranks. Worker resolve was watched very carefully. It was okay to be ambitious, but to fall behind was unacceptable. An elite group of Dai Li watched over the laborers, making sure they worked and did so enthusiastically.
Sometimes, those who represented their so-called workers dared drag their snivel-faced brats behind them as they appealed to her, like today. This was the twenty-second person today. Visitors came from all over the Fire Islands, each with their own claims for aid or coin. Banu Pishu, the aging landowner next to address her was a man with many thousands of bushels to his name and only one worn-out-looking wife (he lacked the merit required to legally take on another). He was a huge, broad man, bald, with a big beard, a deep farmer's tan darkening his ruddy skin. He tucked his arms under his hefty stomach. He came to court fairly often, and his clothes barely fit him, not because of size, but because of shoddy craftsmanship despite his despicable amount of wealth. He was greedy, he paid as little taxes as possible, and gave as little tribute as possible, yet asked so much. The mustachioed lord grimaced as he gestured with his hands, his fish-like lips moving this way and that, saying words Azula didn't care about. She sat with her hand on the side of her face, head tilted, pale lips pursed together.
"The heat is unbearable this season, our crops are drying out! My citizen workers are suffering heatstroke." After providing some shoddy documents attempting to prove his farmstead's inability to keep up their output at the rate they were without some form of aquatic assistance, he got to his knees, groveling, "My Lord, fairest of them all, won't you please send us another Water Tribe slave? P-Perhaps a handful? Female, maybe? They tend to take better to the lifestyle than the men do." His voice echoed around the chamber, which Azula had constructed specially to carry voices. His was particularly shrill, she regretted the architectural direction she'd given the builder now.
Such nuisances. As if the beautiful slaves of the frozen lands could afford to be wasted on farms and petty labor when they were so much better at more "delicate" work. Did they not realize that their beautiful island had survived for ages without the use of waterbenders? Sure, the war had been hard on the fertile, tropical land they called home, but the recovery was steady.
The truth was, they'd all gotten used to the comfort of having a legion of waterbenders to work their wonders on the farms, instead of having to work on the irrigation and structure of the land themselves. Now, fat and lazy, they wanted to steal her woman stock. In the previous year, Azula had purchased waterbenders in abundance, always hoping she might catch the bitch of the Avatar, and either way, those shattered, conquered people served wonderfully as breeding fodder, both for males and females, and many were great at singing, dancing, and all kinds of soft traditions her own people had cast aside in exchange for martial worship. But of course, Banu Pishu knew all this, that was why he was asking for them, and she had a feeling by the way this man was speaking, his tone and the way he cast his big, bulging wet eyes about, that he wasn't being honest about his intentions.
She smirked, a languid pull of her lips that displayed 0 affection. Banu shuddered, and immediately knew he'd made a mistake. It was all over his face.
"I can spare no more. You already have three, all strong young men. You need no others." Azula eyed the disappointed man in front of her. His reaction was interesting, he made a peculiar, high-pitched squeak, as if he'd been stuck through by a blade. She cocked her head and sat forward in her throne. "Forget your pathetic excuse, tell me the real reason you desire a waterbender, is it not Fireseed?"
The gathered crowd, Azula's councilors, all grew hushed, then a frenetic whisper began to spread across the vast, round chamber. Azula beckoned for her Earth Nation songstresses to stop their singing and instrument-playing.
Banu Pishu's eyes widened, and he lowered his head. "Yes, please forgive me! B-But my issues really are legitimate. Male workers are perfectly-"
"Hush." He did. Azula swept her eyes along the brats currently present. Despite being worn-out, his woman was indeed of Fire Nation stock, and she produced fair-faced brats aside from their sniveling, snobby dispositions. He was a greedy pig.
She glanced left at her favorite advisor for his input. Her smile was reptilian, too much teeth. "I'd love to hear your thoughts, Lord Shin."
Shin Hua was her most loyal man. He'd quickly risen in the ranks during the latter years of the war and was now her right hand. They were of a similar mind in many ways, and he'd managed to avoid her paranoid, malice-filled side, sensitive to her moods and making sure all of her needs were met. It was him alongside her who led the group of men who turned on her father and his few loyal vassals, and it had also been Shin Hua who offered her the best advice when she most needed it. Shin had the kind of militant, tactical mind seen once every few centuries, and would've died a lesser official under her father's reign. Shin Hua was in his late fifties, yet had no wives or children of his own, no family of his own; but by the way he acted, he likely saw Azula as an extension of himself, a kind of adopted daughter. She'd been against the bond, at first, but he'd served her with ruthless efficiency. After two years, Azula could safely say he was the only one she trusted.
"This man, Banu Pishu, he's a good one." The old man nodded, his hands folded, fingers coiled together like leathery, wrinkled ropes, "During the worst of the war, he maintained a steady rate or production and even assisted in putting down worker rebellions. That being said, the fact and the matter is he does not have the sacred blood."
Azula smiled, pleased. "My thoughts exactly. I'm glad someone knows the laws I put in my place. Tell me, do you know what the Fire in the Edict of Fireseed stands for, my foolish vassal?"
Banu quivered and dropped completely to his knees, with his forehead pressed to the floor. His voice came out muffled. "Forgive my indignance, my lack of shame! I-I should've never requested such a boon! We will manage just find without any new laborers, please forget I even mentioned this, my lord!"
Shin Hua huffed. "Well, don't interrupt the Fire Lord in your fright now! Ill manners once again, you must change your ways, and fast, boy."
The fat lord wiped his huge hand across his sweaty forehead, sighing. Azula was very amused, and she continued with her lecture. The warlord, her regal, sharp maroon armor embracing her powerful form, seemed to vibrate with her passion as she spoke, fumes of smoke leaving the mouth opening of her helmet, which hid most of her face except her chin and mouth. She stood up and walked up to the 10-year-old son of one of Azula's favorite vassals.
"How about you, young one, can you tell me the answer to my question?" She'd called on him because for the entire duration of court he'd been paying rapt attention, his posture stiff, as if attending a drilling event. He was a bender, his father a military man, a great master of flame and hand-to-hand fighter. It seemed his son would follow in his footsteps.
"The Fire stands for the soul of our nation," the child said immediately, proudly, puffing his chest out. "Those who fight for our land, those who burn our enemies, earn the right to proliferate in a way beyond their wildest dreams. We are the inferno that has cleansed, and will always cleanse, the weak sullied land; and the trees which bloom in the purified, scorched soil will have the spirit of fireseed. If you are a bender, then it is your right - and duty - to have proud sons and daughters; and if you are not a bender you must work to better our nation even so, and pray to be blessed in your next life. Only those who serve in the ranks can earn the right that all benders naturally have... the right to take on as many wives as you please!" At that, the boy grinned, and thrust his fist forward, a powerful, infernal jet ripping through the air; it was rather artful, both the attack, and the way he folded his hands into his long sleeves, bowing afterward.
Embellished, but she couldn't have said it better herself. Under the Edict of Fireseed, all top-tier benders of the Fire Nation, who were the strongest members of the military and Azula's most loyal allies, could take as many wives as they wished from whomever they wanted. She encouraged unions of all kinds and personally made sure that all her top men had at least two bender women who were bent to their will. Her political advisors and lower-tier officials had initially opposed this "cross-contamination," but after they acquired their own share of women-slaves from the various lands they had conquered, they quickly changed their minds. The result would be a generation of strong benders serving the Fire Nation, benders of all kinds, and all under her control. Unlike her predecessors, tradition would not hold Azula or her empire back.
"Well done. Now your father... he has certainly earned the Water Tribe women this fat slug so selfishly covets for himself. A mere boy knows the rules." She turned back to the farmstead holder, "So why don't you?"
Banu licked his lips nervously. "I would've served in the military if I didn't have other responsibilities! I love this nation, and would bear many strong-"
"I don't care what you would have done, my fat friend, I care what you didn't do. We must never grow fond of could-haves. The truth reigns above all. You didn't serve your nation in any remarkable capacity during the war that would deem you worthy of the mark. You are denied Fireseed and yet you dare to ask for water slaves to breed?"
"The Firelord herself hasn't even seeded one, and yet a mere common-blood asks."/"Disgraceful, the audacity of some people!" Lo and Li hooted from the sideline like gossipy old owls.
"You are dismissed. Never show your face around here again."
Banu walked out with his family, defeated. A selfish man - she gave a subtle nod to Shin. He would have Banu's lands redistributed soon, his bloodline "dispersed." There was nothing special about the man, and he would learn that the hard way.
Another old man was next in line to speak with her. His face was familiar, lord Pun-something-or-other. His dull voice annoyed her as much as Banu's shrill one had. His words bounced into one ear and out the other without much effect on her. "The slums are too filthy, couldn't a little more of the imperial budget be allotted towards a small number of public bathhouses for the common people?" etc., etc. She dismissed him as soon as he finished speaking, promising she would think hard on the matter, but in truth, she just knew he was one of the last she had to deal with. However, her advisors had much to say about this subject.
"My lord… r-regarding the issue of the bathhouses," Li spoke up from her seat to Azula's immediate left, and Lo took over where she left off, "Chao Punsuan was quite right. They are dying off in heaps, the poor districts are flooded with disease."
Lord Shin made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. "Right? Hardly! The true solution is simple! We gather a small group of our most efficient soldiers, go through the slums - house by house, and wipe out anyone that so much as coughs in our men's direction. A much cleaner solution."
"Cleanliness is earned, those who do not work hard deserve to bathe in the mud where they belong," The second of her three male advisors, Tojiro, crackled and nodded vigorously, baring his yellow, decaying teeth in a grimace-like smile. An entirely unpleasant man with sunken eyes and a short graying goatee; the bald dome of his head shining with sweat gave him an odd, waxy look. "Lord Shin is correct, your honor. You must not baby the rabble; it will just give them ideas. We must learn from our ancestors, not follow their path. A public bathhouse is utterly ridiculous! Our resources are better allotted elsewhere. Those fit to survive will do so, I say we ignore the matter entirely."
Azula smiled as she cast her gaze around her ring of advisors, toying with the many possibilities in her mind. Lo and Li seemed horrified that she hadn't outright objected to the two patriarchs' suggestions. They were the only softness left in the empire, and only because she was quite fond of them; though she was loath to admit it.
"F-Fire Lord Azula, surely you see how that is madness! To kill the poor-"/"W-would be an unprecedented usage of violence! All who live in the Fire Nation should be healthy and clean."
"Healthy and clean? And what of the drunks, the crooks, the deadbeats? No question, they make up the bulk of the sick with their filthy lifestyles," Tojiro retorted, and Shin was quick to tack on his own feelings on the matter.
"There's no guarantee that a project like that would stop the lowfolk from wasting away, some other sickness or issue would soon arise. As I said, the solution is simple, we exterminate the sick, and stop them from taking others down with them," Shin argued. The old man grinned wide. "Besides, those sorts have been growing restless, rebellious."
The twins grew pale. "So feed them to their own people like scraps to a beast? F-Fire Lord Azula, they might not be-"/"The most desirable citizens, but they are a part of the Fire Nation itself. Please, you mustn't allow Shin's callous thinking to color your judgment!"
But Azula was barely paying attention. She let the three argue amongst themself, her mind wandering to the woman trapped beneath the stone under her feet. Mai~ What was she doing right now? Was she asleep? Or was she trapped in torturous consciousness, wondering when Azula might return next? Her armor suddenly felt tight. She wanted to couple with the woman again. It was like an itch. Whenever she grew aggravated or annoyed, the urge to excuse herself to the dungeons became next to unbearable.
After the last of the nobles were allowed to present their issues, in came the rabble, so all mattered of the subject was dropped. The next few hours blurred together.
Hundreds of peasants came to her with their minuscule issues, which she could care even less about than those she'd already heard. She let Shin Hua make most of the decisions, only offering input when necessary. As each man walked off, either denied or fortunate enough to gain the support of the Fire Lord, she found herself growing far more impatient, far more annoyed. Sometimes, Azula regretted taking on the mantle of power; but finally, the last of the appeals were heard, and only her council and guardsmen remained. Azula resisted the urge to slump back and sigh - such an outward display of her drained state of mind would hardly be suitable. She stood up, brushing her cape out straight, and then noticed Shin Hua was raising himself as well, elegant gold silk robes dragging across the floor as he came closer.
"Forgive me, Fire Lord, but there is one more person who wishes to see you."
Azula glanced at the wall of faces around her - each of her council were watching with hawkish intent; even Li and Lo seeming oddly spritely at that moment for their old age. It seemed this next visitor had been a hot topic.
Shin Hua tucked his hands into his sleeves, and murmured very gently. "We have news of the girl."
It felt like she was struck by thunder, she almost didn't dare to hope. She opened her mouth, and before she even asked, Shin nodded. She began to tremble, but forced herself to calm down.
"Alright, I'm ready."
"Then..." Shin turned, "Let in Lord Suhan, please!"
A familiar-faced person waltzed in, happy as can be and accompanied by one other, a man in his early twenties. It felt like she'd been gut punched. Azula's jaw locked, lips twisting into a scowl. The face beside the familiar face was also one she recognized; it was one of her "public health officials", Suhan, and his wife, one of those wretched sisters of Ty Lee. Suhan was young, but he had a cold, calculating mind; he was also the most inquisitive and driven men she'd met, always aware of his surroundings and the mentalities of the people around himself. It was he who dealt with Dai Li in the district which he had jurisdiction over, a huge strip of farmland, forests, and fields in the north region of the Capital Island. He'd served her well and been justly rewarded.
"Greetings, my lord," The Ty Lee look-alike smiled, and Azula was filled with a cold, dark rage. An urge to strike away that smile, so similar to the one she loved, and yet so wrong, so different. She lowered her head in reverence, offering Azula a shy, slow smile, completely unaware of the storm that loitered behind Azula's amber, gleaming gaze. She wore her hair completely different from Ty Lee, and she was a lot rounder from lack of physical activity, but there were certain striking similarities. In many ways they were identical.
The armor-clad Fire Lord licked her lips, ignored the female completely, "Lord Suhan, it's been a long time. What's this about?"
"I hope I haven't come at a bad time, my lord, but after I confirmed a suspicion, I knew that I had to bring the matter to you."
Azula, worn out after the train of people she'd faced all morning, merely nodded, and he continued. She let the rest of the conversation carry out this way, stone-faced, though her eyes were like lightning; and Suhan could see that clearly for himself. The more he spoke, the more nervous he became.
"I bought a fresh drove for one of my farms, and as I was walking back through the region with my cattleman, I saw a figure standing before my wife's old house. I was stopping by there to pick some of the flowers nearby which she loves so dearly. I didn't think anything of them, at least not outright, so I moved to pass. I thought it was the woman with us, my man's wife, who asked a question regarding what had happened at that place, but I soon realized it was the stranger. It seemed like she hadn't been there in a long time."
Azula's blood felt like it was boiling, and her heart raced. Azula didn't show it aside from the eyes, but she'd ignited to life internally. Her exhaustion was completely cast aside. There was no doubt about it. Suhan was rarely wrong about his premonitions about people, it was why she had him as a public official despite his youth: it was Ty Lee. It had to be HER. She could hear Lo and Li murmuring amongst themselves.
"I answered all her questions honestly, but she didn't react in the ways one would expect, she just walked away, barely holding herself together, trembling, clearly horrified by the knowledge of your glorious executions. That was odd enough, but the more I thought about it, the more the encounter pressed on my mind. Why the use of so much make-up on her face? And her voice had been very, very familiar; so when I went home to my wife," He pressed Ty Lee's sister forward now, "-I had her repeat the phrases I'd heard from that girl in a similar likeness. Ty Liu, show the Fire Lord."
The girl's face didn't show a fragment of discord or a hint of her own conscious thought; Ty Lee's sisters were incapable of that now after Dai Li conditioning. Her expression was an oddly bright, cheery mask, and she nodded eagerly. "Right away, husband," she said.
Ty Liu began to speak in a cheery voice, disturbingly like Ty Lee's, "Who used to live here? What crime did they commit?"
Azula froze instantly. Any remaining semblance of doubt died away now. Ty Liu stared blankly after she asked the supposed questions, her head slightly cocked, her smile oddly unpleasant.
"That voice! It's the traitor!" Lo suddenly shrieked./"She's returned to the island!" Li nodded, her jowls bouncing, "there's no doubt about it!"
Azula placed a palm on Ty Liu's cheek; there were faults in the designs of people's minds of course. Not even years of conditioning with that secret, Earth Nation order could make a perfect husk, but Ty Liu was close to perfection. Ty Liu did not care where Fireseed came from, she just cared that it was touching her and near; and thus she nuzzled into the Fire Lord's hand like a kitten craving milk.
Azula's body, still throbbing because of the voice that had brought her soul back to life, was burning with vigor. Her cock strained beneath her armor. 'A shame she's not with child.' Azula thought, placing her other hand on Ty Liu's belly. She wasn't seeing "Ty Liu" right now; in her eyes, it was Ty Lee standing there, Ty Lee she was touching; after all, it had been Ty Lee that she just heard. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of that traitor, praying that this not be an elaborate ruse, that the object of her desire was truly so near.
"You were right to come to me with this."
"It's her then?" Lord Tojiro asked, "I thought it might be, but-"
"It's her." Azula cut in coldly. "Where is she now? What direction did she travel?"
"Toward the center city, my lord," Suhan replied.
"Lo, Li, make sure you question this man extensively. I want all the details, every last second of what happened."
"Of course!"/"No need to even ask!"
Suhan seemed confused. "I'm perfectly alright with that, but where are you going, my lord? You don't want to ask me the questions yourself?"
The truth was that the sight of Ty Liu was making Azula unable to cope, she was seconds from hurting, raping her, doing something she shouldn't; but she managed to fake a smile. "I've important matters to attend to, anything you want to tell me direct at my advisors. And worry not, you will be rewarded."
Shin Hua kept in step behind her, but the moment they crossed the vast spider web of chambers that led away from the meeting room, he sped up and kept pace right beside her, "Steady yourself, Azula," he suggested gently, and Azula's eyes flashed as she glowered at him.
"Steady myself? After years, she's finally here. How can I keep calm?"
"'How' doesn't matter. You simply must."
Shin's advice rang with truth, as always. It took everything in Azula, but as they stepped out onto the palace grounds, the breeze stroking her heated skin, she exhaled heavily and let the ecstatic rush of energy go. This was no time to be eager like a child, she had to go about this smartly. Ty Lee had managed to evade captivity for two years; she'd escaped Boiling Rock - she was a smart one. If Azula wasn't careful, the bitch was going to get away again, and she wasn't going to let that happen.
"I just can't believe it's her. I had a dream about her recently," Azula said softly, "I want to break her beneath me more than a starved man desires water."
"You are worse than a starved man without water, this woman has chained your urge to seed, and now she's here. With the harvest festival approaching in a month, it's surely a sign. Imagine what it would mean if the people were to see you break her just like that other traitor." He sounded delighted.
He was right that without Ty Lee next to her, Azula had no urge to breed. When it came to choosing a mate, her advisors had no say in the matter. Lo and Li still offered their invasive opinions, but they couldn't interfere directly. It was her critical weakness as ruler and one of the few things even her higher-up officials gossiped about; it was odd, after all, for the Fire Lord to only have one wife - brutally stripped of her fertility- and no others, and yet have soldiers and officials with a handful of wives. It omitted a kind of unspoken lack of vitality, but that was going to change.
"Do you have a plan to find her, my Lord, or shall I make one myself? I have a few ideas."
Azula grinned. "There's no need. You're right about the festival. It's representative of the fertility of our land, a timeless tradition." She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, the fresh island air filling her lungs. All around them, the broad rim of the volcano their capital was built into stood tall and strong, a natural fortification. She would have all the ports watched by a secret task force, the cities, highways, and villages patrolled but she wouldn't specify just who she was looking for. Her mind had already constructed a plan. "The people talk about my lack of wives; they're alarmed by it."
"With the Edict of Fireseed, many thought you hungered for the elite women of the Fire Nation for yourself. That you would bury yourself in three hundred wives and concubines, spreading your heavenly seed, but instead-"
"Instead, I can't stomach the thought of having a child with anyone but-"
"Anyone but her. You want what you want, Fire Lord, there is no need to question it. The time has come to take it. To better answer your question, yes there is an air of unease amongst some people, concerns that you are unable to have a child yourself."
Azula smirked. "Have the Dai Li spread a rumor among the people, they're superstitious. Mai is the cause of my lack of vitality, as is Ty Lee. The specifics aren't important. Until both traitors have been broken, my bloodline will not prosper. Build up the spirit of vengeance - remind people of the losses we endured in the final years of the war. I want people prepared for a truly public celebration." Already, her body throbbed with excitement.
Shin grinned, "You are planning something truly wicked for the Fire Lady, aren't you?"
Azula laughed. "Wicked, perhaps, but efficient. I won't bother looking for Ty Lee. She'll come running to me, the way she always has, the second she hears about my plans for Mai. That's the nature of a weakling."
Her main advisor's long, bushy eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "You sound quite sure of yourself."
"There's no doubt. Ty Lee betrayed me for Mai the first time; and it'll be no different now."
A few hours later she let Mai out, and put her on display for a chosen group. This was nothing compared to what was to come in a few weeks, but Mai could hardly handle it. Either way, Azula had to work her frustrations out, and Mai was the most suitable tool for that.
Fresh out of the dungeon, exhausted, the "Fire Lady" barely knew where she was, and was entirely incapable of building up any form of ego or proper social presentation of herself; in other words, her mind was still in complete disarray from the night of abuse; and it was obvious how exhausted she was. On top of that, she hated it when others watched them, but she was helpless to stop this. Easily breaking down her resistances, Mai's body became a mere puppet, she was tugged into the royal bender's lap, who'd taken a seat in a high- backed chair. Azula adjusted Mai's legs, ripped the dress she'd forced her to wear(and the undergarments underneath) to make sure everybody who wanted to had a nice view of the activities. Many did, they stroked the stiff cocks poking up from beneath their trousers.
Pushing in was as easy as always. Mai, just from being bullied, treated like a slave, was wet; once inside her unshaved, slick pussy, Azula steadily thrust up into her wife. Just like the night before, she took whatever she wanted, and laughed in amusement when Mai uttered her usual complaints, "No" and "please stop" flooding her ears, those words equivalent to "More, more!" in her own broken mind. The disgraced woman claimed she didn't want to do this, and yet the swollen, dripping head of Azula's cock pushed deep into Mai's glistening folds with a loud schlick every time she thrust. The sound, the sight, the look on Mai's face, made everyone excited, a desperate hunger spreading across the room. If she really didn't want this, Mai would've been dry like she used to be. She liked this now, even if it took being pushed near-orgasm for her to admit it, to let her moans out. Azula smirked, cold face awash with bliss as she worked every inch of herself in her favorite slut with careless abandon. "You're living it up right now, all while whining and acting innocent. I like that about you, truly! Our men like it, too."
The warriors did; wild-haired, they sat mutely, entranced. Some had taken their cocks out, and Mai, disgusted, sobbed at the sight of so many sex organs being jerked all around her, every man and woman watching her.
"N-No," Mai gasped out, head thrashing back and forth in denial of the violation, then her pale lips squeezed shut as - with an audible, keening cry, she came; it felt so good, it felt so good having them all see it! She hated it, hated them, hated her body; even more so when Azula kept fucking her convulsing, glistening cunt, slamming into her even as she orgasmed, shuddering and making all manners of noises these pigs had no right to hear!
"Mmm, such a good girl, coming so quickly for me Mai," Azula laughed, reaching down to rub Mai's clit as her testes slapped, hot and ready, against her soaked entrance; Azula's balls twitched against her slit, full of potent cum ready to come spilling out.
The room was filled with a harsh silence, the only sounds were the excited, bated breath of all those spectating and the actual act itself. The Fire Lord didn't care about being gentle or making Mai feel good, as she slammed their crotches together hard and fast. With every stab of her cock, it was clear Azula wanted to ruin Mai and wanted to paint the woman's insides with herself. Azula raised a hand and swatted Mai's right arsecheek, loving the way the pale skin was stained red in seconds. Slap, slap, Between each thrust she lightly spanked the woman she saw as her property; and Mai rolled her hips and took her so-called wife in deep, wet noises announcing just how much she enjoyed every knock of Azula's cock against her womb.
Letting out a harsh scream, Mai came again. It was a messy orgasm. Even worse than the first; in fact, she squirted. Something she somehow only did when she was put on display, as if the eyes that she despised so much also drew even more out of her. With a wet rush, her pussy erupted all over Azula's cock. Glistening squirt coated Azula's length, which continued to slam into her sopping-wet hole, further increasing the noises, the wetness, and the depravity of it all. Mai's expression morphed from the aroused mask it was to something completely inhuman, and obscene. Her tongue rolled out and, panting and drooling, Mai began to ride the cock that she was supposed to not want, riding through her second orgasm, desperate for a third.
"M-Mmmm! A-Azula! Azula! Y-Your cock, I-I can't stop, I can't- o-oh fuck, please... please... stop..."
Azula sat back, satisfied with herself, a huge grin on her beautiful, maddened face. The Fire Lord was beyond amused. 'I've broken the bitch so well she'll serve me all on her own.' And serve her Mai did. Soaking in the stares of the many warmongering men in the room who saw her as nothing but flesh to be warped by the Fire Lord's hands, Mai accepted her position, not willing to resist this time; and she wasn't sure when she'd find the willpower to do so again. Tears flowed down her cheeks, as the once regal woman surrendered herself, and in that moment, became exactly what Azula shaped her to be; and she hated herself for it.
"You're being such a good girl," Azula whispered in her ear, and Mai's clit ached at the praise. She reached down, and began to play with it. "That's it. Play with your pretty parts. You know what you're good for. Show them how you're mine."
Yes. Mai would show them everything. She wanted more, and more, and more - she wanted Azula to keep saying soft, sweet things
"You know… we have a special guest today, and you didn't even notice. That's how I know you really love me, Mai. So eager you didn't even notice. How about you show her how pretty you look when you cum all over me?"
The words hardly processed as Mai's foggy, half-focused gaze swept around the familiar, long war room, taking in every face and then the words registered as she saw HER: An impossibility, an illusion, a fake! Perhaps, her mind didn't care either way, focused on one thing, one thought, one fantasy.
'T-Ty Lee is here! Ty Lee is… watching me!' Screaming, Mai came all over again, and after that all coherent thought became impossible. The Fire Lord's crotch, both scrotum and shaft were a hot, sticky mess; she couldn't stop dripping all over the place, as Azula fucked her through her contractions. She was so overstimulated it started to hurt. Mai was lost in a void of pain, and pure, embarrassing pleasure, it was all too much. Her eyes slid shut, and they did not open again, but the relentlessly feeling of Azula's cock in her continued, her inner walls stretched to the max, the hot, twitching organ continuing to slam against the entrance of her womb. Azula... Azula would do whatever she wanted to her. She didn't have a choice. Biting her lip, cheeks stained red, dark eyes ablaze with pure lust, Mai relaxed against Azula, thighs spread apart; ceaseless pleasure, humiliation, exhausted... made her world go dark.
For a few minutes, she continued to violate her unconcious wife, until she couldn't any more, clenching her teeth and bucking her hot sperm deep into the ebony-haired girl's cunt. Sighing, pleased, she relaxed into her seat.
"A round of applause for our Fire Lady," Azula called out with amusement, and the ministers and warlords voiced their approval, many finishing in their hands or into handkerchiefs.
Ty Lee was face-to-face with Azula. Not the real Azula, a fake one, a fake trio actually - carved out of stone. The gargantuan statue of the female warlord stared out at the city with a stern, imperious gaze. Each had a different expression, but the evil eyes never changed. No matter where you went in the city now, you saw it, the workers at the base and higher levels like ants. Ty Lee had been in the city for a few weeks now. She'd established a small base to work out of for herself, finding work in a small shop with an attic they didn't mind her renting. She was trying to find the one other possible agent in the city, a man who wrote to them from the capital, but all the "sweet spots" Katara had told her about around the city seemingly hadn't been visited by him for a long time. Either his position was compromised, or he was lying low right now. While out searching for him, subtle hints (the symbol of the resistance was tattooed on his shoulder), she heard whispers of all kinds of news, until one day a conversation took place that she couldn't ignore. Something that chilled her to the bone.
She wasn't sure who the first person to speak was, but she heard her name. Not the first time, but this was different. "Didja hear? Lady Ty Lee is on the Fire Islands again."
Hearing her name, the acrobat froze. Of course, they didn't recognize her, but she was wary, nonetheless. They'd found out about her. She didn't know how, there was no way of knowing, but she had noticed the distinct increase in the number of soldiers around the city since she'd arrived, the murmurs of her name in dark places. They roamed around at all times of the day and night.
"Lady who ?" A man spat on the floor. "Not a lady, that traitor. A sow."
Some listening people passing by laughed in agreement.
A woman working a nearby fruit stand had a lot to say on the matter too. "She and that other evil woman are the reason our beautiful Fire Lord can't create an heir! They cursed her. But evil can't stay away forever. She's returned, and the Fire Lord will finally give her just what she deserves!"
Ty Lee wanted to scream, to sob. Why did she deserve any of what they claimed she did? Was killing her family not enough?
"To betray our great lord… I almost can't believe it!" The fruit merchant sighed as she stared up at the huge, stone statue, her cheeks rosy. "To be that close to the Fire Lord, to have been able to reach out and touch her and feel all that greatness, and to throw it all away. And for what?"
"Aye." The man grunted. "I think you're right about them being the problem. They were always a trio, that's what everyone says, and when they realized she was unstoppable, Mai grew jealous of her. She realized the people would never accept Zuko as leader so long as Azula was alive, so they stabbed her in the back!"
Gossipy bastards, weren't they? People weaved together awfully convenient stories.
"Ty Lee loved the Fire Lord," she said loudly, boldly, "but she didn't have a choice. She had to betray Azula…."
A hush scattered around the mass of city-goers. No one was quite sure where the voice had come from. A guard listening in stepped closer, adjusting the spear in his grip.
She wasn't sure what she expected, but a random, grungy old man started nodding, sinking his rotten teeth into a juicy fruit. By the looks of him, his back crooked and covered in a harness, he was one of the stone-haulers. "Aye, that's what I heard too. That Prince Zuko forced them both to betray her."
"I always wondered why Azula spared her," The first man grunted, "aside from Fireseed. Especially since Fire Lady Mai has had no children."
"Firelord Azula loved them both. Her brother turned them against her. I'm telling you," The stone hauler wheezed, swallowing down a wad of sticky fruit.
"Until they both have been dealt with, the Fire Lord will know no balance. Her poor heart must be broken. I pity our great ruler, but she'll overcome it, she is strong."
A warmth flowed in the air whenever people spoke about the Fire Lord, even the worker who had all the reason in the world to complain about Azula. Ty Lee looked at all their faces; they were everyday people, but they really believed in their ruler, and that she was doing the right thing for them. Ty Lee shook her head, the disconnected, meaningless sentences they'd strung together weaving their way into her head.
Her fault that Azula was unable to have a child? Mai's fault? What did that mean? They almost spoke about her like she had some kind of mystical power like she'd woven a spell on the Fire Lord and rendered her unable to seed someone. Ty Lee had never done anything to Azula, ever. Her so-called treachery was so powerful because Azula knew it was a long time coming and had been too arrogant to believe Ty Lee would get the guts to do it.
Staring up at the three-faced statue now, towering high above her, Ty Lee could merely smile.
"Will you all be attending the Harvest Festival? Didja hear, Fire Lady Mai will be performing a fertility ritual with the Fire Lord? Can you believe it?" A dark-skinned man asked. By his complexion, he was from the Earth Nation, and the longer Ty Lee looked at him the more unsettled she became. She realized why quite quickly: she knew him. She recognized him from just a few years ago, when he'd stood among his brothers in the Earth Nation. Even without his round, broad hat and robes, he was recognizable. A member of the Dai Li.
She didn't dare walk off now, but she was too frightened to respond immediately. Her mind raced. She'd known these evil men were in service in the Earth Kingdom, but Azula was using them on the Fire Islands as well? The woman was truly despicable. It explained the glossy eyes of the rock-hauler, who was now happily nodding and talking about how he was "very much looking forward to the festivities!", before returning to work along with the cluster of sweaty men resting around him.
Ty Lee managed an "Of course" and shuffled off as well, darting down a nearby street. She hoped the man didn't notice her presence. She tried to calm down and managed to after a few deep, heavy breaths. This wasn't any worse than finding out about her family; if she could handle that, she could handle anything. From this angle she could not see the statue, she was facing away from it - but as Ty Lee worked her way back to her one room above the shop, she felt Azula's gaze on her every step of the way. They were playing a game with each other, she realized. If the Fire Lord wanted to, if she knew Ty Lee was near, she could order every house stripped and searched, but she didn't do that. In fact, despite rumors of her presence, it seemed like no one was actively looking for her. They were working around each other. Maybe that Dai Li agent knew who she was before he even approached. The Fire Nation woman glanced behind herself, and just barely saw a shadow disappear down a nearby alley, and she knew she was exactly right about her guess. She was being followed. How long had that been happening? She'd been out of it these past few weeks, but she'd thought she was aware of her surroundings. She was wrong.
But something was off. If she wasn't noticed, why wasn't she being dragged into the palace? Maybe that meant Azula was practically daring her to come out, and setting the stage for it: the Harvest Festival, a week and a half away: a single day of the year devoted to celebrating the tropical, lush islands that were their home, the prosperity of the land itself and the many beings living on it. Azula wanted to make a show out of it. Ty Lee would take joy in denying her that. She'd turn herself in tomorrow. It didn't seem like she was going to be able to find her ally anyway, Azula seemingly had eyes all over.
Even when she made it home, murmuring a hasty goodnight to the shopkeeper, she didn't feel safe. She accepted the modest meal he offered, a meat bun with some rice and a savory sauce, and scurried up to her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her and pulling the curtains shut. She set a floor pillow down, sat down on it, and inhaled deeply. She raised her arms, pressing her hands together in a meditative gesture, letting the air flow in and out of her. If she'd been born a bender, she surely would've been an airbender, because meditation, the type of breath that soothes, came naturally to her.
She was as sure of herself as ever. Maybe, just maybe, she was going to save Mai from whatever "ritual" she was being forced to participate in. She at least had to try.
Yet there was an itch at the back of her mind, whispering 'Don't fool yourself.'