Chapter 54.5- And so the Dragons Danced

Whispers quieted as he walked in. Several of these men had already tried to escape the Palace and been held against their will. Several more of them had sent aides to register their displeasure at being held. They thought they were being subtle, but their actions gave them away. The other lords, the ones with no guilt or involvement were more interested in sticking around to figure out the gossip that was sure to follow from his arrest of Lord Matsuhito’s chief Aide. The man himself thought he was sly with his first requests for the release of his Aide, and then his later attempts to escape the palace once he realised the jig was up.

The throne room was a massive chamber. With the fire lord’s customary flames absent, it was lit from the outside with its curtains opened for perhaps the first time in decades. Toji sat at the chair that had been set aside for him and Toph stood right behind him, not tall enough that she was able to look over the chair, so she found herself moving to the side to get a good view of what was going on. She was his body guard incase this lot decided to try something insane.

“You attempted to kill the Fire Lord” He said, beginning things without attempting to bat about the bush. Most of them sputtered denials or tried to act shocked at his words, but this men were not good liars. They had earned their position by virtue of dropping out from between the right set of legs. This was far from the Fire Nation court of old where the Lords were political animals bred for the battlefield that was the Royal Court. Since Sozin began his war, it became far less fashionable to idle about in the court.

The parties stopped happening, the wine stopped flowing, and being seen sitting idle led to questions about why you weren’t on the front lines bringing glory and honour to the Fire Nation so the Royal Court became dryer and dryer. That change meant these men were not the political monsters their ancestors were, and it showed. Their ancestors would never have tried something so clumsy to achieve the goals they sought.

“Stop the denials. I have already interrogated Lord Matsuhito’s aide and he has confessed the full scope of your plans to me.” He said, tired of the whinging.

“But High General, surely you will not trust the word of a mere aide over respectable Lords like ourselves.” One of the Lords, Kaizen spoke on behalf of the lot, receiving nods from the rest of them.

“Of course. That would be ridiculous. Instead, I have my guards searching each of your rooms now in search of supporting evidence— things like promissory notes for gold, letters containing sensitive communication detailing notes of the plot, the likes, you know” He said, with a smile. Unsaid was the fact that even if the evidence did not exist, his people would plant the evidence there. Each of them knew it already though, it was what they would do in his stead, and he watched Kaizen take a deep breath, deciding his course of action.

“The entire plot, if there was a plot at all, must have been Lord Matsuhito’s idea. If any blame is to be apportioned, then it should be on his head.” They didn’t last long before throwing stones at each other. He watched some them instantly begin agreeing, adding their voices to Kaizen’s. Matsuhito on the other hand looked a step away from an explosion.