Chapter 54.2- And so the Dragons Danced

His mother? That bastard had the audacity to mention his mother in this? The woman that he had killed in his search for the perfect firebending heir. All his brothers might be benders, but between the lot of them they’d struggle to come up with enough power to light a row of candles on their best day. That bastard had forced her over and over again to give him children in the hopes she created something like the family she came from, and he had failed at every turn, now he dared to invoke her name to get Toji to bend to his will. Never. He’d never give him that satisfaction.

He scoffed and turned away before he felt his attention be called to the men at the corner of the boardroom. Mako, the prisoner, and Shi the imperial guard stood in the corner behind the table that served drinks of all types preservers at djufferent temperatures to make sure they suited all pallets. While firebenders tended to prefer their drinks as boiling hot a the flames they commanded while non benders like Toji tended to prefer things at the optimal temperatures to both maximize taste and longevity for the drinks. It would be a faux pas for toji to not ensure that the drinks at an event like this one were up to far Anything less and he risked inviting dishonor not just upon himself and his family but Natsu as well, and even the War effort as a whole with his position as Acting High General to consider.

He walked towards them, making sure to do it the proper way. Everything had a proper way, and so he walked like he had been taught to do so on a party like this one. He went to the left first, moving in a circle that led him to his destination. Nobility did not walk in straight lines— to do so would be to imply being in a rush, and they were nobility. They did not rush. That was the purview of servants, peasants, and paupers, not men and women of the leisure class. He walked to the left because only the FireLord had the authority to walk to the right.. Everyone else had to walk as if going left until they looped around the room to their destination. As he walked, he made sure to greet and be greeted by everyone of a rank to be able to speak directly to him at an event like this one.

Traditionally, he would have been doing a lot of bowing, but his recent promotion meant he was doing loads of nodding instead. As a Zenin, he was outranked by most of the lords here, but as the Acting High General, he was subordinate only to the Fire Lord and the Grand Vizier. Natsu was yet to appoint a Grand Vizier and so that made him the top dog in this kennel and he was enjoying the feeling. He allowed those who would have sneered and thumped their noses at him in any other situation to bow and kiss his ring for as long as he could before he permitted them to rise.