"Oh. Okay, I'm dying. Focus on the dying."
Guys I should probably not be writing tragedies, I love my characters too much to kill them. But regardless, here is another chapter! :D
Title: Lord of Fire, Lord of Night (2/?)
Summary: A land torn by rebellion. A fearless general and his ambitious wife. A prophecy that will change everything. Sound familiar? Well... not quite. IN THIS CHAPTER: Masa and Zulei rejoin the Firelord's court, their honor restored. But apparently, that isn't enough for Zulei. (Also everybody has feelings.)
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender / Shakespeare (well sort of)
Warnings: Nightmares, intoxication, hallucinations, regicide, thinly veiled homoeroticism. All par for the course, really.
Disclaimer: Completely unaffiliated with Avatar or anybody involved. Shakespeare's totally public domain though so HA.
(Chapter One)
Two - Progress
“I don’t like this, Firelord,” Bai says. They’re at the harbor in the pre-dawn light, watching the last of the progress’s necessities being loaded onto the royal flagship. “There may be pockets of the rebellion left. I should be coming with you.”
The Firelord claps his high general on the shoulder. “My friend, you worry too much.”
“It’s my job.”
“After my position, old man?” says Chen Yu, appearing behind them. She grins. “It’s a step down, I’ll tell you. Leave the worrying to me.”
Bai frowns slightly. “I’d be glad to, if you were doing any of it.” In response, Chen Yu crosses her eyes at him.
“I saw that, Colonel,” Yan Zi says. “It was not dignified. But she’s right, Bai,” he adds, turning back to him. “I need you here, to advise Aizon. And if- the spirits forbid- something should happen, the army will need you in one place.”
“I know,” Bai says, with a noise that might be a sigh. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Next to them, Chen Yu coughs. “So I’ll just go, uh, check in with the admiral. Firelord.” She bows, unregarded, and heads for the ship.
“You’re too hard on her,” Yan Zi says quietly. “Chen Yu and her guards have never failed me.”
“I don’t doubt her,” says Bai. “But- forgive me if I sound superstitious- I have a feeling about this expedition.” He holds out a hand. “Be careful, Yan Zi.”
Yan Zi holds his gaze, inspecting his face. Then he clasps his friend’s hand. “I will.”
---
“I will not, Zulei. Not again.”
“You aren’t thinking, my love.” Zulei catches Masa’s hand, drawing it around her waist. “We’re just finishing what we started. We have a second chance.”
“You’re right,” he says. “We do have a second chance. And I’m not going to ruin it. I won’t challenge him.”
She leans back against him and lazily extends her other arm. Her hand moves, and suddenly she holds a blade of dancing flame. “I’m not talking about a challenge,” she says.
Masa freezes. “Tell me you don’t mean that.”
“It’s the perfect opportunity,” Zulei continues, turning the blade of fire in her hand, her eyes fixed on it. “No palace guards, this time. No room full of witnesses. Easy to blame on rebels. You said the dragons told you you would be Firelord-”
“And if they were right,” Masa says, “if that is my destiny, it will happen.”
“Maybe this is how it happens,” says Zulei. She lets the fire go, turning back to face him. “You said, before you left, we couldn’t wait for destiny. Why are you waiting now?”
“I helped restore the Fire Nation-”
“And you have the chance to keep it that way. My uncle is a weak-willed fool. Do you think there won’t be more rebellions against him? A strong Firelord could keep the nation in order.”
For a long moment, Masa is silent. Finally he takes her hands. “I must think about this.”
“Think quickly,” Zulei says. “He’ll be here in a few days.”
---
The royal flagship makes its way around the islands. Yan Zi spends more time up on deck than Chen Yu- taking over Bai’s worrying after all- thinks is safe. He insists that the point of a progress is to see his nation, and to let the people see him.
As they draw closer to Crescent Island, Goro spends nearly as much time above deck as the Firelord. But he barely spares a glance at the view- he stands at the prow, looking into the distance as if willing something to appear from it.
“You look thoughtful, Admiral Goro,” Yan Zi says, joining him at the rail. “Is something worrying you?”
“Not worrying, exactly.” Goro nods to him, hands briefly forming the gesture of respect, before leaning on the rail again. “I missed him,” he says. “Both of them.”
Yan Zi doesn’t have to ask who he’s talking about. “Despite their banishment?”
“You had good reason.”
“So did they.” The Firelord considers, for a moment. “We’re so busy being princes and soldiers,” he says quietly, “we forget we are people. I missed them too.”
There’s a silence before either of them speaks again. “You know both of them better than anyone else,” Yan Zi says. “Will they try anything like that again?”
It’s Goro’s turn to consider. “No,” he says finally, “I don’t think they will.”
---
He’s dreaming. He must be dreaming. There’s no other way he could have slipped a year back in time like this.
Everything’s exactly as it was the first time. The dueling platform, the heat in the room, the ranks of the court lined up and watching in stoic silence. He’s alone on his end of the long rectangle. At the other end, the Firelord is a shadowy figure with two guards somewhere behind him.
He wishes he weren’t here. This is idiocy. But he is here now, and the rules of the Agni Kai say that he has to-
-no, forget the rules, this is a dream. The rules don’t matter. He walks forward, to the middle of the platform- it’s somehow shorter than it looked before- and kneels in surrender.
He opens his mouth, but it isn’t words that come out, it’s laughter, and it isn’t his voice, and it’s coming from somewhere else. He looks up. Somehow Zulei is there, behind the Firelord, and somehow the guards have fallen.
That isn’t right. She didn’t get that far, the first time. The guards caught her before she reached the platform. But now she puts her arms around the Firelord, almost gently, except there’s a knife shining in her hand.
He gets up, running toward them, but now the platform has stretched again and he can’t seem to get any closer. Zulei looks at him around the Firelord’s shoulder- her eyes are dragon’s eyes- and whispers “All hail,” and it sounds in three voices and none of them are hers, and the knife flashes, and she bursts into flame.
And then he’s running desperately forward, tripping on robes he wasn’t wearing before, trying to catch one or both or either of them as they fall, burning, and around him the room melts and runs together with blue flames dancing over the surface of everything. And somewhere, the voices are still whispering, “All hail- all hail the lord of fire!”
He wakes up, shaking.
There’s a weak bit of sunlight filtering in from somewhere- it’s just around dawn. The other side of the bed is empty. He makes himself take a few measured breaths, pulls on a dressing gown, and goes to find his wife.
It isn’t difficult. Their home-in-exile is not large, really only a few rooms cut into the rock of the mountain. In any case, he knows where to start looking- in the eyrie, where she spends more and more of her time these days.
“The progress is coming,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “You can see the ship from here.” For a moment he wonders why she’s speaking so quietly, and then he sees the bundle in her arms.
“I thought about- what you said,” he says, just as quiet.
“And?”
“I won’t do it.”
Zulei sighs. “I knew it,” she says. “What’s happened to you, Masa? The man I married would never have wasted an opportunity like this.”
“And the woman I married wouldn’t ruin what we already have.” He goes over to her at the window, puts his arms around her and the infant she holds. “Zulei, please. We have our honor and our titles again. Our son will grow up a prince and not an outcast. How much higher do you have to climb?”
She pulls out of his hold. “It’s not for me anymore,” she snaps. The baby stirs- she lowers her voice again, but it’s still harsh. “My father should have been Firelord. Everyone knows it. The line should be ours. Our son won’t be a prince with my uncle and my cousins on the throne. He’ll be a fool, and so will we.”
“So you’d kill them for his right?”
“If I had to kill him for my future sons’ right,” she says, “I would do it.”
Instinctively, he reaches for- her, or the baby, or both- but she pulls away again. In her arms, their son starts to stir again, making restless unhappy noises.
“If you won’t help me,” she says, something like fire in her eyes, “fine. Just don’t get in my way.” She sails past, carefully avoiding so much as brushing his shoulder, and descends.
Masa stares after her for some time before he realizes that he’s rolling something between his fingers. It’s the ember from the beach- he must have picked it up without noticing, again. It still glows as brightly as if it were burning.
He closes his fist over it and goes after her.
---
As the royal flagship closes on Crescent Island, the Firelord and his party gather on the upper observation deck.
“This is where General Masa’s been living?” The disbelief in Prince Yuji’s voice is obvious. “It looks-“
“Inhospitable?” Goro cuts in, saving him from his search for a word.
“Yeah,” says Yuji, “that’s better than what I was going to say.”
“At least the volcano has been dormant for some time,” Yan Zi says calmly. “The Fire Sages tell me that it should remain so for some time still, but I expect Masa will be glad to leave all the same.”
Next to him, Chen Yu winces. “Remind me never to get banished,” she mutters.
Until now, their stops on the progress have been greeted with banners and crowds- a royal welcome, if a bit subdued in the aftermath of the battles. Here, though, the welcome party consists of three people- Masa and Zulei, standing on the end of the makeshift dock, and behind them an attendant with a few bags by her feet and a messenger hawk on her shoulder. As they descend the gangplank, they realize it’s actually four people- Zulei holds a baby in her arms.
Yan Zi immediately forgets all the protocol of the royal progress and advances on her, beaming. “And who is this charming stranger?”
“This is your nephew,” Zulei says, with a smile that looks genuine. Carefully, she passes the baby to Yan Zi, who looks down at him delightedly. “Go on,” she says, “say hello to your uncle.”
Over the Firelord’s shoulder, Masa shoots Zulei a look, which she resolutely ignores. It only lasts a moment before the rest of the royal party catches up. While Chen Yu and her guards belatedly check the area, Goro comes over to clasp Masa’s arm.
“Where’s your army, General?” he jokes, looking around them. The land is as deserted as the dock- Chen Yu’s guards are already returning.
“Scattered,” says Masa. “They were all refugees from the rebellion. When it was over, I sent them home.”
Goro laughs. “And I bet you sighed about it,” he says, and claps him on the shoulder. “No more of that, my friend. You’re going home now too.”
“Since we appear to have dispensed with protocol,” says Yan Zi, pitching his voice so everyone on the dock can hear him, “shall we adjourn to the ship? We can do all the papers and ceremonies there.”
He escorts Zulei, with her son back in her arms, up the gangplank himself. The rest of the party follows in something vaguely resembling order.
As the ship pulls away, a sinuous shape uncurls from the crater of the volcano.
---
Night falls over the outer islands. On the upper deck of the royal flagship, at anchor off the coast of a familiar beach, Firelord Yan Zi is having a party.
It isn’t terribly big or terribly formal. Yan Zi moves among the little islands of conversation, careful to exchange words with everyone. He’s tailed- intermittently- by Chen Yu, doing her best to guard him despite being hampered by Yuji, who’s drunk twice as much wine as anyone else.
“Come on,” he insists, blocking her path again, “dance with me. One dance.”
“No one else is dancing,” Chen Yu points out. “Anyway, I told you, I’m on guard.”
Yuji frowns, swaying a little. “You can’t be a guard all the time,” he says.
“Why not? You’re a prince all the time.” She pokes him in the shoulder. “Start acting like one.”
Meanwhile, Yan Zi comes over to join Masa and Goro at the rail. “Still catching up?” he says.
“We have a lot of it to do,” says Goro, raising his goblet to the Firelord.
Yan Zi laughs and matches the gesture. “Well, don’t monopolize him. You can’t have him to yourself all night.” He turns to Masa. “It’s a shame my niece isn’t feeling well enough to join us,” he says, his expression briefly sobering. “If I had known she was pregnant when- well, it’s all one now, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure she’ll recover soon,” Masa says, vaguely. In the corner of his eye, behind the Firelord, there’s a light like the flash of a knife. He blinks and it’s gone again.
“Are you all right?” says Goro. “You look a little off tonight.”
Masa blinks again. The knife-glint is back, this time between him and Yan Zi. “I’m fine,” he says, trying to ignore it. “It’s been a while since I’ve been at sea, that’s all.”
He’s interrupted, fortunately, by the arrival of Chen Yu, supporting Yuji on one side. In the absence of two free hands, she nods to the group instead.
“All right if I take off a few minutes, Firelord?” she says. “I think the prince needs to lie down.”
Yan Zi gives her a knowing look. “By all means,” he replies. “Don’t worry, I’m in good hands here.”
Yuji manages a mumbled “good night, Father,” as Chen Yu pulls him away.
“He’s a good son, really,” Yan Zi says, shaking his head, “I just wish he’d settle down a little. The joys of fatherhood, I suppose. Say,” he adds, turning back to the other two, “your sons would be about the same age, wouldn’t they?”
“You know, I think you’re right,” says Goro, with a laugh. He elbows Masa. “We can’t help acting together, can we?”
But Masa isn’t paying attention. In the darkness atop the crow’s nest, there’s another knife flash, but this time it’s real.
He drops his goblet, using both hands to shield his face. In the next half-second, several little round objects drop onto the deck, releasing large quantities of thick smoke when they land. Masa fumbles a cloth mask out from his pocket and puts it on before he can inhale any of the smoke.
When the air clears, there are two people standing. Masa, and a black-suited figure, similarly masked. “Keep a lookout,” the figure says, in Zulei’s voice. “Someone on the lower deck is bound to have seen that.”
She starts to bend down, but there’s a noise. Yan Zi had managed to cover his face part of the way, and now he’s stirring.
“Zulei?” he says, bleary. “Masa? What are you-”
Zulei hits a pressure point, and he falls unconscious again. “Shut up,” she hisses. She kneels next to him, her hands moving to create her blade of fire. “This is for my father,” she says, and raises her hands-
-and freezes, staring at his face. Something in her expression collapses. She opens and closes her mouth wordlessly a few times. “Father?” she finally manages, quietly. “No, no,” and her voice sounds small and lost, “don’t leave me again, don’t-”
She turns to Masa, struggling to her feet. “I can’t do it,” she says, “he looks- he looks too much like-”
“Get out of here,” he says, pulling her the rest of the way up. “Get back to the cabin. You’ve been asleep the whole time. Go.” She takes a breath, pulling herself together, and vanishes back into the shadows.
Masa takes a breath himself and takes her place next to the Firelord. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was only sleeping.
There’s movement on the lower deck, footsteps moving with a bit more urgency. If he’s going to do it, he has to do it quickly. He could just give it up, shout for help, but Zulei will try again. And he had seen them, hadn’t he? He’d said their names.
On the deck, his hand meets something small and round and cool like a stone. It’s the ember again- it must have fallen out of his pocket with the mask.
He clenches his fist around it. His other hand moves, now wreathed in fire. The back of his mind is surprised to see the flames a bright blue.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, and strikes. It’s surprisingly easy.
Afterward, he stands up, moving as if in a dream, takes off the mask, and puts it carefully back in his pocket. Then, equally carefully, he takes out the last smoke bomb. He positions himself where he had been standing before, throws it against the deck, and takes another breath.
---
When Chen Yu’s soldiers emerge onto the upper deck, there’s no one standing. Above them and unseen, a black shape circles, blocking out the stars.
(Chapter Three)
Title: Lord of Fire, Lord of Night (2/?)
Summary: A land torn by rebellion. A fearless general and his ambitious wife. A prophecy that will change everything. Sound familiar? Well... not quite. IN THIS CHAPTER: Masa and Zulei rejoin the Firelord's court, their honor restored. But apparently, that isn't enough for Zulei. (Also everybody has feelings.)
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender / Shakespeare (well sort of)
Warnings: Nightmares, intoxication, hallucinations, regicide, thinly veiled homoeroticism. All par for the course, really.
Disclaimer: Completely unaffiliated with Avatar or anybody involved. Shakespeare's totally public domain though so HA.
(Chapter One)
Two - Progress
“I don’t like this, Firelord,” Bai says. They’re at the harbor in the pre-dawn light, watching the last of the progress’s necessities being loaded onto the royal flagship. “There may be pockets of the rebellion left. I should be coming with you.”
The Firelord claps his high general on the shoulder. “My friend, you worry too much.”
“It’s my job.”
“After my position, old man?” says Chen Yu, appearing behind them. She grins. “It’s a step down, I’ll tell you. Leave the worrying to me.”
Bai frowns slightly. “I’d be glad to, if you were doing any of it.” In response, Chen Yu crosses her eyes at him.
“I saw that, Colonel,” Yan Zi says. “It was not dignified. But she’s right, Bai,” he adds, turning back to him. “I need you here, to advise Aizon. And if- the spirits forbid- something should happen, the army will need you in one place.”
“I know,” Bai says, with a noise that might be a sigh. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
Next to them, Chen Yu coughs. “So I’ll just go, uh, check in with the admiral. Firelord.” She bows, unregarded, and heads for the ship.
“You’re too hard on her,” Yan Zi says quietly. “Chen Yu and her guards have never failed me.”
“I don’t doubt her,” says Bai. “But- forgive me if I sound superstitious- I have a feeling about this expedition.” He holds out a hand. “Be careful, Yan Zi.”
Yan Zi holds his gaze, inspecting his face. Then he clasps his friend’s hand. “I will.”
---
“I will not, Zulei. Not again.”
“You aren’t thinking, my love.” Zulei catches Masa’s hand, drawing it around her waist. “We’re just finishing what we started. We have a second chance.”
“You’re right,” he says. “We do have a second chance. And I’m not going to ruin it. I won’t challenge him.”
She leans back against him and lazily extends her other arm. Her hand moves, and suddenly she holds a blade of dancing flame. “I’m not talking about a challenge,” she says.
Masa freezes. “Tell me you don’t mean that.”
“It’s the perfect opportunity,” Zulei continues, turning the blade of fire in her hand, her eyes fixed on it. “No palace guards, this time. No room full of witnesses. Easy to blame on rebels. You said the dragons told you you would be Firelord-”
“And if they were right,” Masa says, “if that is my destiny, it will happen.”
“Maybe this is how it happens,” says Zulei. She lets the fire go, turning back to face him. “You said, before you left, we couldn’t wait for destiny. Why are you waiting now?”
“I helped restore the Fire Nation-”
“And you have the chance to keep it that way. My uncle is a weak-willed fool. Do you think there won’t be more rebellions against him? A strong Firelord could keep the nation in order.”
For a long moment, Masa is silent. Finally he takes her hands. “I must think about this.”
“Think quickly,” Zulei says. “He’ll be here in a few days.”
---
The royal flagship makes its way around the islands. Yan Zi spends more time up on deck than Chen Yu- taking over Bai’s worrying after all- thinks is safe. He insists that the point of a progress is to see his nation, and to let the people see him.
As they draw closer to Crescent Island, Goro spends nearly as much time above deck as the Firelord. But he barely spares a glance at the view- he stands at the prow, looking into the distance as if willing something to appear from it.
“You look thoughtful, Admiral Goro,” Yan Zi says, joining him at the rail. “Is something worrying you?”
“Not worrying, exactly.” Goro nods to him, hands briefly forming the gesture of respect, before leaning on the rail again. “I missed him,” he says. “Both of them.”
Yan Zi doesn’t have to ask who he’s talking about. “Despite their banishment?”
“You had good reason.”
“So did they.” The Firelord considers, for a moment. “We’re so busy being princes and soldiers,” he says quietly, “we forget we are people. I missed them too.”
There’s a silence before either of them speaks again. “You know both of them better than anyone else,” Yan Zi says. “Will they try anything like that again?”
It’s Goro’s turn to consider. “No,” he says finally, “I don’t think they will.”
---
He’s dreaming. He must be dreaming. There’s no other way he could have slipped a year back in time like this.
Everything’s exactly as it was the first time. The dueling platform, the heat in the room, the ranks of the court lined up and watching in stoic silence. He’s alone on his end of the long rectangle. At the other end, the Firelord is a shadowy figure with two guards somewhere behind him.
He wishes he weren’t here. This is idiocy. But he is here now, and the rules of the Agni Kai say that he has to-
-no, forget the rules, this is a dream. The rules don’t matter. He walks forward, to the middle of the platform- it’s somehow shorter than it looked before- and kneels in surrender.
He opens his mouth, but it isn’t words that come out, it’s laughter, and it isn’t his voice, and it’s coming from somewhere else. He looks up. Somehow Zulei is there, behind the Firelord, and somehow the guards have fallen.
That isn’t right. She didn’t get that far, the first time. The guards caught her before she reached the platform. But now she puts her arms around the Firelord, almost gently, except there’s a knife shining in her hand.
He gets up, running toward them, but now the platform has stretched again and he can’t seem to get any closer. Zulei looks at him around the Firelord’s shoulder- her eyes are dragon’s eyes- and whispers “All hail,” and it sounds in three voices and none of them are hers, and the knife flashes, and she bursts into flame.
And then he’s running desperately forward, tripping on robes he wasn’t wearing before, trying to catch one or both or either of them as they fall, burning, and around him the room melts and runs together with blue flames dancing over the surface of everything. And somewhere, the voices are still whispering, “All hail- all hail the lord of fire!”
He wakes up, shaking.
There’s a weak bit of sunlight filtering in from somewhere- it’s just around dawn. The other side of the bed is empty. He makes himself take a few measured breaths, pulls on a dressing gown, and goes to find his wife.
It isn’t difficult. Their home-in-exile is not large, really only a few rooms cut into the rock of the mountain. In any case, he knows where to start looking- in the eyrie, where she spends more and more of her time these days.
“The progress is coming,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “You can see the ship from here.” For a moment he wonders why she’s speaking so quietly, and then he sees the bundle in her arms.
“I thought about- what you said,” he says, just as quiet.
“And?”
“I won’t do it.”
Zulei sighs. “I knew it,” she says. “What’s happened to you, Masa? The man I married would never have wasted an opportunity like this.”
“And the woman I married wouldn’t ruin what we already have.” He goes over to her at the window, puts his arms around her and the infant she holds. “Zulei, please. We have our honor and our titles again. Our son will grow up a prince and not an outcast. How much higher do you have to climb?”
She pulls out of his hold. “It’s not for me anymore,” she snaps. The baby stirs- she lowers her voice again, but it’s still harsh. “My father should have been Firelord. Everyone knows it. The line should be ours. Our son won’t be a prince with my uncle and my cousins on the throne. He’ll be a fool, and so will we.”
“So you’d kill them for his right?”
“If I had to kill him for my future sons’ right,” she says, “I would do it.”
Instinctively, he reaches for- her, or the baby, or both- but she pulls away again. In her arms, their son starts to stir again, making restless unhappy noises.
“If you won’t help me,” she says, something like fire in her eyes, “fine. Just don’t get in my way.” She sails past, carefully avoiding so much as brushing his shoulder, and descends.
Masa stares after her for some time before he realizes that he’s rolling something between his fingers. It’s the ember from the beach- he must have picked it up without noticing, again. It still glows as brightly as if it were burning.
He closes his fist over it and goes after her.
---
As the royal flagship closes on Crescent Island, the Firelord and his party gather on the upper observation deck.
“This is where General Masa’s been living?” The disbelief in Prince Yuji’s voice is obvious. “It looks-“
“Inhospitable?” Goro cuts in, saving him from his search for a word.
“Yeah,” says Yuji, “that’s better than what I was going to say.”
“At least the volcano has been dormant for some time,” Yan Zi says calmly. “The Fire Sages tell me that it should remain so for some time still, but I expect Masa will be glad to leave all the same.”
Next to him, Chen Yu winces. “Remind me never to get banished,” she mutters.
Until now, their stops on the progress have been greeted with banners and crowds- a royal welcome, if a bit subdued in the aftermath of the battles. Here, though, the welcome party consists of three people- Masa and Zulei, standing on the end of the makeshift dock, and behind them an attendant with a few bags by her feet and a messenger hawk on her shoulder. As they descend the gangplank, they realize it’s actually four people- Zulei holds a baby in her arms.
Yan Zi immediately forgets all the protocol of the royal progress and advances on her, beaming. “And who is this charming stranger?”
“This is your nephew,” Zulei says, with a smile that looks genuine. Carefully, she passes the baby to Yan Zi, who looks down at him delightedly. “Go on,” she says, “say hello to your uncle.”
Over the Firelord’s shoulder, Masa shoots Zulei a look, which she resolutely ignores. It only lasts a moment before the rest of the royal party catches up. While Chen Yu and her guards belatedly check the area, Goro comes over to clasp Masa’s arm.
“Where’s your army, General?” he jokes, looking around them. The land is as deserted as the dock- Chen Yu’s guards are already returning.
“Scattered,” says Masa. “They were all refugees from the rebellion. When it was over, I sent them home.”
Goro laughs. “And I bet you sighed about it,” he says, and claps him on the shoulder. “No more of that, my friend. You’re going home now too.”
“Since we appear to have dispensed with protocol,” says Yan Zi, pitching his voice so everyone on the dock can hear him, “shall we adjourn to the ship? We can do all the papers and ceremonies there.”
He escorts Zulei, with her son back in her arms, up the gangplank himself. The rest of the party follows in something vaguely resembling order.
As the ship pulls away, a sinuous shape uncurls from the crater of the volcano.
---
Night falls over the outer islands. On the upper deck of the royal flagship, at anchor off the coast of a familiar beach, Firelord Yan Zi is having a party.
It isn’t terribly big or terribly formal. Yan Zi moves among the little islands of conversation, careful to exchange words with everyone. He’s tailed- intermittently- by Chen Yu, doing her best to guard him despite being hampered by Yuji, who’s drunk twice as much wine as anyone else.
“Come on,” he insists, blocking her path again, “dance with me. One dance.”
“No one else is dancing,” Chen Yu points out. “Anyway, I told you, I’m on guard.”
Yuji frowns, swaying a little. “You can’t be a guard all the time,” he says.
“Why not? You’re a prince all the time.” She pokes him in the shoulder. “Start acting like one.”
Meanwhile, Yan Zi comes over to join Masa and Goro at the rail. “Still catching up?” he says.
“We have a lot of it to do,” says Goro, raising his goblet to the Firelord.
Yan Zi laughs and matches the gesture. “Well, don’t monopolize him. You can’t have him to yourself all night.” He turns to Masa. “It’s a shame my niece isn’t feeling well enough to join us,” he says, his expression briefly sobering. “If I had known she was pregnant when- well, it’s all one now, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure she’ll recover soon,” Masa says, vaguely. In the corner of his eye, behind the Firelord, there’s a light like the flash of a knife. He blinks and it’s gone again.
“Are you all right?” says Goro. “You look a little off tonight.”
Masa blinks again. The knife-glint is back, this time between him and Yan Zi. “I’m fine,” he says, trying to ignore it. “It’s been a while since I’ve been at sea, that’s all.”
He’s interrupted, fortunately, by the arrival of Chen Yu, supporting Yuji on one side. In the absence of two free hands, she nods to the group instead.
“All right if I take off a few minutes, Firelord?” she says. “I think the prince needs to lie down.”
Yan Zi gives her a knowing look. “By all means,” he replies. “Don’t worry, I’m in good hands here.”
Yuji manages a mumbled “good night, Father,” as Chen Yu pulls him away.
“He’s a good son, really,” Yan Zi says, shaking his head, “I just wish he’d settle down a little. The joys of fatherhood, I suppose. Say,” he adds, turning back to the other two, “your sons would be about the same age, wouldn’t they?”
“You know, I think you’re right,” says Goro, with a laugh. He elbows Masa. “We can’t help acting together, can we?”
But Masa isn’t paying attention. In the darkness atop the crow’s nest, there’s another knife flash, but this time it’s real.
He drops his goblet, using both hands to shield his face. In the next half-second, several little round objects drop onto the deck, releasing large quantities of thick smoke when they land. Masa fumbles a cloth mask out from his pocket and puts it on before he can inhale any of the smoke.
When the air clears, there are two people standing. Masa, and a black-suited figure, similarly masked. “Keep a lookout,” the figure says, in Zulei’s voice. “Someone on the lower deck is bound to have seen that.”
She starts to bend down, but there’s a noise. Yan Zi had managed to cover his face part of the way, and now he’s stirring.
“Zulei?” he says, bleary. “Masa? What are you-”
Zulei hits a pressure point, and he falls unconscious again. “Shut up,” she hisses. She kneels next to him, her hands moving to create her blade of fire. “This is for my father,” she says, and raises her hands-
-and freezes, staring at his face. Something in her expression collapses. She opens and closes her mouth wordlessly a few times. “Father?” she finally manages, quietly. “No, no,” and her voice sounds small and lost, “don’t leave me again, don’t-”
She turns to Masa, struggling to her feet. “I can’t do it,” she says, “he looks- he looks too much like-”
“Get out of here,” he says, pulling her the rest of the way up. “Get back to the cabin. You’ve been asleep the whole time. Go.” She takes a breath, pulling herself together, and vanishes back into the shadows.
Masa takes a breath himself and takes her place next to the Firelord. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was only sleeping.
There’s movement on the lower deck, footsteps moving with a bit more urgency. If he’s going to do it, he has to do it quickly. He could just give it up, shout for help, but Zulei will try again. And he had seen them, hadn’t he? He’d said their names.
On the deck, his hand meets something small and round and cool like a stone. It’s the ember again- it must have fallen out of his pocket with the mask.
He clenches his fist around it. His other hand moves, now wreathed in fire. The back of his mind is surprised to see the flames a bright blue.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, and strikes. It’s surprisingly easy.
Afterward, he stands up, moving as if in a dream, takes off the mask, and puts it carefully back in his pocket. Then, equally carefully, he takes out the last smoke bomb. He positions himself where he had been standing before, throws it against the deck, and takes another breath.
---
When Chen Yu’s soldiers emerge onto the upper deck, there’s no one standing. Above them and unseen, a black shape circles, blocking out the stars.
(Chapter Three)