The real problem was that roughly eighty percent of our conversations ended with one of us trying to get under the other's skin. Sometimes she tried to bully me into submission while I dug in my heels; other times I paid her back by leaving her temporarily speechless, only to spend the next several minutes fending off the inevitable retaliation.
Every now and then it even came to blows and an "unscheduled training session." All in all, two firebenders with less-than-pleasant personalities aboard what had proven to be a not-so-large ship made for quite the explosive mixture.
The princess was obviously infuriated by my attitude—and by the simple fact that I was, in principle, free to tell her exactly what she could do with her orders. Not that I'd actually done so yet, but the possibility itself existed, and that was enough.
I wasn't exactly blameless either. I'd had no real chance to unwind since the start of the Northern campaign. My nerves weren't exactly frayed, but with each passing day my temper drifted further and further from patience and forgiveness.
And on top of that, I had to maintain the proper courtly facade.
The ship was, for all practical purposes, packed to the gunwales with watchers from every court faction imaginable, not to mention countless other busybodies eager to stare at the princess and me every waking hour if given half the chance.
She was probably too accustomed to that sort of attention to care anymore, but it wore heavily on my nerves. The only place where I could finally breathe was my own cabin—but, as luck would have it, I was really only there to sleep. The rest of the time I was more or less required to stay with Azula...
Footsteps sounded behind me, and a moment later two figures came to a halt nearby. One of them bowed respectfully.
"My lord, we are approaching the Yu Dao roadstead," the ship's captain reported. "Would you care to issue any additional instructions to the fleet?"
"No, Captain. Proceed as you see fit."
"As you command, my lord." The man bowed again, then hurried away with unmistakable relief.
"For the time being, you'll have to stay in the common barracks," I said to my second visitor. "The fewer locals who see you, the better."
After giving it some thought, I had concluded that we were unlikely to face any real danger in Yu Dao itself. Besides, far too many people there knew my face already. Revealing my oversized combat brute ahead of time would have been foolish.
The hulking mercenary nodded, indicating that he understood. His expression gave nothing away about how he felt regarding the order, but I had no doubt he would carry it out. Besides, it was hardly his first assignment of this sort. Remarkably enough, despite his size and intimidating appearance, he had an uncanny talent for making himself inconspicuous and blending into his surroundings.
Incidentally, I still hadn't figured out Combustion Man's "magical explosions." It was clear enough that he detonated space itself through positively charged chi, but how exactly he did it—and, more importantly, how he "delivered the charge" to the point of detonation—remained beyond me. There had been nothing remotely like it among the knowledge passed on to me by my gothic parrot acquaintance, either.
I doubted the spirit had deliberately held anything back. More likely, he simply hadn't known such a thing was possible himself. For all the world's stagnation, some qualitative progress still took place. Not outward, through the discovery of new technologies or entirely new branches of bending, but inward—through the refinement of existing arts, leading to techniques like bloodbending, metalbending, and the like.
Be that as it may, valuable as Combustion Man was as both a combat asset and a walking demonstration of something previously unknown, he made for an abysmal conversationalist. He also refused to conduct practice matches, agreeing to only a single sparring session so he could gauge what to expect from the princess and me—and what we should expect from him. After that, he merely nodded and retired to his cabin.
Which left Azula and me to blow off steam at each other's expense.
But now that was over...
The Earth Kingdom. Yu Dao. My woman. My friends...
***
A ceremonial honor guard and the governor himself were waiting to receive us in the harbor. Then again, that was only to be expected—a battleship with its escort flying the Princess's and the Herald's banners. The only thing missing to achieve the absolute pinnacle of VIP status was Ozai himself.
As we drew closer, I got a better look at Morishita's entourage and guards, and a smile spread across my face. The armor of the Kyoshi Warriors was all but impossible to mistake for anything else. Beside the ruler of Yu Dao stood his wife, while among the "entourage"...
Oh, every face was familiar.
Lao. Toph Beifong. The Mechanist and his son—who, incidentally, was no longer confined to a wheelchair but getting around on crutches.
"Your Highness, Herald," Morishita and those accompanying him bowed. "Welcome to Yu Dao. It is a great honor to receive you..."
"Yes, yes," Azula replied with an impatient little grimace. "My chambers are ready, I trust?"
"Of course," the governor answered with an unruffled nod.
"Excellent. Then I'll retire and rest. Chan, arrange security and transportation. Tomorrow I'll be touring the surrounding area."
Having dispensed her orders with princely dignity, Azula turned to head for the quarters prepared for her, with the governor's attendant already waiting to escort her.
And then she stumbled.
On absolutely nothing.
She recovered almost instantly, smoothing the misstep into her stride so gracefully that most people probably wouldn't have noticed. I, however, had already broken out in a cold sweat.
Toph, meanwhile, suddenly found the clouds utterly fascinating, making a rather conspicuous show of having absolutely nothing to do with any of it.
Right.
The blind girl.
You idiot!
I could feel myself starting to shake.
You little fool!
Fortunately, disaster was averted. The princess, now looking even more irritated, continued toward her quarters without suspecting a thing, and everyone around us breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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