Firelord Azhar (guidingflame) wrote in avatarnation, @ 2009-10-03 06:44:00 |
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Current mood: | stressed |
A long, long time ago...
Who: Azhar, Azah
When: Nine years ago, some hours after Azhar informed his two elder children of the change in succession
Where: the Palace
What: Azah (respectfully) disagrees with the Firelord's decision
That night after telling his two older children of the change in who would be succeeding him, Azhar was in no mood to deal with anyone. The official announcement to the court would happen tomorrow afternoon, thereby giving Kozu and Azah as much time as he could give them to accept the news. Or at the least digest it. Acceptance... That would hopefully come sooner rather than later but he wasn't pinning his hopes on it.
He was still furious enough with having to have to make that choice that he practically threw the servants from his apartment and ordered the guards to not allow anyone entrance unless he granted permission, before he slammed the heavy doors with enough force to make the very walls shake. Barely he kept from tearing the silk of his robes as removed the damn things himself before flinging them into a corner. It was very, very tempting to set fire to them but they would be very difficult to replace. After a good half hour of simply calming down and not causing the candles to flare wildly, he went to the corner, picked up the robes and smoothed them out on the bed. They needed cleaning. The throne room wasn't exactly cool and breezy, not with his wall-o-flame separating him from everyone.
Golden eyes closed and he clenched his fists and suddenly all the candles in the room sprouted three foot flames. Control. He needed to have control. He must have control. He would have control!
Slowly, the candle-flames began to shrink. The blackwood paneling of the room would hide the scorch marks and that which could would be wiped off. Only when the candles burned normally did he allow himself to fall stomach-first onto his plush four-poster bed. Then he waved his hand and all the candles extinguished to leave him in the solid dark. Everything was fine, almost. Except for the hairpiece that still dug into his skull. While it would be so satisfying to fling the thing into the nearest wall, he knew better. He sighed and pushed himself up off the bed. Creating a small flame in the palm of one hand, he used that faint light to guide him to the dresser where the velvet-lined box waited. He placed the ornament in the box with the respect it was due as a family heirloom, then clenched his fist shut to extinguish the flame. He was about to go back to his bed when he heard a soft knocking on his door.
Candles sprang back to life violently. Did he, or did he not detail specifically that he was not to be disturbed!? He grasped the gold door handles and flung the doors open intent on verbally reaming the guard about to get shipped off to the absolute edge of the empire when the sight of young Azah standing there waiting for him stopped him cold. Fury still danced in his eyes, but there was a flash of concern there as well.
"Princess Azah," he said stiffly, blindly reaching for the control required of the Firelord to help him try and calm down. Or at least be civil to his daughter and now-heir.
After their father's announcement, Azah had sequestered herself off in her bedroom. Some of the time had been spent crying, and punching her pillows. The rest of the time had been spent thinking and planning. She needed to make her father see that it was the wrong decision before he announced it formally in court, and to do that, she needed to act as grown up as she was capable of being. She'd dried her tears, combed her hair, and come to her father looking quite polished. Because she would not just be speaking to her father, she would be requesting a private audience with the Fire Lord. And to do that, one had to be on one's best behaviour, family or not.
She bowed her head politely. "I hope I'm not interrupting you. May I speak with you?" she asked, in her very best polite grown up voice. She'd rehearsed it all mentally while in her room. At the moment, her voice sounded years older than her nine years. There was a degree of maturity and seriousness to her tone that wasn't normally there. While Azah was a dedicated student and a mature child, she was still a child. Today, she wanted to speak to her father as a young adult. She needed to, if he was to take her seriously.
Azhar narrowed his eyes and delivered a slashing look to the guard trying not to shake where he stood. "You may." His voice was cold, courtly, and he turned his attention back to the guard. "No. One. Else," he didn't exactly snarl though the threat was quite clear. Standing aside, he allowed Azah entrance before he closed the door with a thud more felt than heard.
His apartment had a small sitting room of its own before the actual bedroom. This foyer of sorts was where he would spend his time reading in the one place he (normally) could be guaranteed absolute peace. The low table was cleared of papers and scrolls, the only adornment the single red taper candle burning brightly from a polished ebony candle holder. He walked to the bedroom to don a robe as he had only had on his pants when he'd first opened the door. A moment's hesitation about the hairpiece, but he decided against it and returned to where Azah waited. His family in general knew there were some times when he was not approachable. Azah was insightful enough to recognize this as one of those times but she had chosen to come bother him anyway.
The result of this was that she was not dealing with her father, but with the Firelord instead. And the Firelord needed no trinkets to identify himself.
With his face set into the cold, impassive mask he wore while at court he re-entered the room, gliding over to one of the seat cushions that he knelt gracefully upon before he fixed bright gold eyes that matched his expression perfectly, on her. "Yes?"
Azah recognized that tone and that demeanor very well. Bowing her head again, she knelt on a seat cushion across from him.
"It is an honor to be considered as heir," she said, continuing to speak in her best grown up voice. It was false confidence, but in front of the Fire Lord, she couldn't falter. She couldn't be childish and complain about how unfair things were. She couldn't cry. She just had to say what was on her mind and hope that she could change his mind. "But I think that honor should be Prince Kozu's and not mine."
She swallowed, trying to muster the courage to continue onward with what she had to say. It was scary, and the Fire Lord might not like it, but she had to continue on. For Kozu's sake. She'd never seen him so hurt. If there was some way to make the hurt go away, she wanted to try it.
"Prince Kozu has years of training learning how to act just right in court, and he knows how to be a leader," said Azah. "I think that good leadership skills are more important for the next Fire Lord to have than firebending. The Fire Nation is ruled by a person, not by an element."
The Firelord stared at her for a considerable stretch of time. He kept still, his only movement the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
"We are not in the habit of retracting decisions we have thought through, Princess Azah," he said with silky and deceptive softness. "Nor do we appreciate our decisions being questioned by a child of not even ten years."
For a moment, Azah felt ashamed of herself. Inwardly, she was squirming as the Fire Lord lectured her. Some part of her knew that she wouldn't be successful in the end. But the part of her that was a loving sister refused to back down. She locked eyes with the Fire Lord, took a deep breath and pressed on. It wasn't just that she was scared of being the Crown Princess, even if that was part of it. She honestly believed that Kozu was meant to rule the Fire Nation and would do the job better.
"I may be a child," she said, her voice strong without yelling - like tempered steel, "but I am also the child you chose to be the Crown Princess, and I think Prince Kozu would make a better heir than I would. Fire Lady Mai was not a firebender, and she would have had to rule the Fire Nation until Prince Urzon grew up if something happened to Fire Lord Zuko. Even if tradition says that the Fire Nation has to be ruled by a firebender...there can be exceptions. Prince Kozu should be an exception. I'm not a leader. He is. People respect him. People just nod their heads in approval at my bending and then move on. My brother is what's best for the Fire Nation, not me."
The Firelord's own gaze never wavered, but it sharpened when Azah brought up their ancestors. Knowledge of history in his household was mandatory. All of his children were being thoroughly schooled in it so that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated. "Your brother," the Firelord responded, "has had training and schooling that you have not because he was the Crown Prince. You are years behind. We agree. Which is why after formal court tomorrow your training will begin in earnest."
He let that settle over them, the silence as commanding as his words. He also wondered if she understood how effectively she just refuted her own argument. A child, without the formal training of the heir, but who still possessed the self-awareness to be putting the Fire Nation before herself even if the goal was small and out of a sense of fraternity was not common in his experience. It only helped to solidify some of the lingering doubts he had had.
"Firelady Mai was not a firebender, true. Had something happened to Firelord Zuko, then Firelady Mai would have been given the temporary powers of Regent until Prince Urzon came of age.
"But the Firelord is more than Lord of the Fire Nation, Princess Azah: he, or she, is the Lord of Fire. Our own elder sister was removed from succession because she could not firebend." If anything, his eyes grew even harder at that statement. The subject of the Firelord's late sister was rarely even brought up and never discussed. He continued on without leaving a space for comment or even speculation, really. "What is best for the Fire Nation is a leader competent and wise and who can firebend. That last clause is non-negotiable. Leadership skills will be taught and can be developed. Respect will be earned. But the talent is something one is born with.
"Prince Kozu has had almost fourteen years to demonstrate he can firebend. He has not. We acknowledge the excellence of the former Crown Prince in other areas except this most pivotal one. We believe he can still be of great aid to the Fire Nation, and trust he will become your greatest ally and asset. But he cannot rule the nation as a whole. It will not be.
"Our people depend on us for many things. At the very heart of that dependence is their trust that when...that if the time comes, We will defend them from those who would wish them harm. Our firebending," here he touched his hand to over his heart, "is a symbol to them that We are strong and that We will protect them. Someone on the throne who cannot firebend may not hear it directed to his face, but in the backs of the minds of the people will fester the unhappy thought of if the Firelord cannot call upon that element which the very country is named for, then the spirits must have decided to turn their backs on him and forgo their blessing upon the symbol of the nation.
"Belief is a powerful thing, more powerful even than Avatar Aang, the last Avatar to master all four elements. Without the belief of the people, the Firelord is nothing more than another firebender. The people need that belief in the Firelord and We will not betray that trust they have extended Us.
"Do you understand, Princess Azah."
Azah kept her expression as neutral as she could - a small calm porcelain mask. The only outward sign that she was going through any substantial emotional conflict was in her tightly clenched fists. Her knuckles were white, and she was letting herself breathe slowly. Her master would have wanted her to be calm, and she was addressing Fire Lord Azhar rather than her father right now. His answer was a strong, firm no. She had failed. And yet, she had not failed utterly. He wasn't scolding her or expressing any intent to punish her. He was explaining things to her calmly and rationally. Like he was speaking to a young adult rather than a child.
/I'm sorry, Kozu,/ she thought to herself. /I tried. I wanted you to be Crown Prince. I really did./
She finally looked the Fire Lord directly in the eyes. "Yes." He had made it crystal clear that he would not be changing his mind, and the reasons he gave made sense, even if she thought Kozu would still be capable of protecting people without bending. "I won't let you, the royal family, or the people of the Fire Nation down."
Or at least, she'd do everything she could to make sure that didn't happen. The best thing she could do for her brother right now would be to put her best effort into it and to not complain, no matter how frustrated she got. Being passed over would be bad enough, but being passed over for someone unworthy would be terrible. She had to prove herself worthy. And then maybe one day, it would be like her original hope for the future only backwards - with her on the throne and Kozu at her side as her most trusted and brilliant advisor. He might be an amazing General one day...
There was another stretch of silence before Azhar softly said, "I know you won't." Just like that, the Firelord was gone and Azah's father was there. He didn't slouch or show the weariness that had returned once he was no longer The Firelord, but his face was no longer so cold and unapproachable.
Azah's lip trembled just a little before she got up and approached her father. She couldn't do this with the Fire Lord, but she could bury her face into her father's shoulder without fear of being reprimanded. In spite of everything, she wouldn't let herself cry. She had to be a big girl now. Big girls could be comforted by their fathers sometimes, but they weren't supposed to cry unless somebody died, or something similarly awful happened.
Azhar held her close against him, wishing more than anything that he hadn't had to do this. Nothing would make him happier than to tell her it would be all right, that Kozu was going to remain the heir. But it wouldn't be all right and unless Kozu suddenly demonstrated firebending talent and skill enough to impress the court and the Fire Sages, he would never be heir. Azhar couldn't apologize, either. Oh, if wishes were fishes and he a waterbender...