Chapter 27.2- And so the Dragons Danced

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When Lin was the only one to return from the mission, and the fact that he was empty handed told him all that he needed to know. The man’s report had been useless in the end. A successful mission for the most part and then the Fire Nation General waking up at the very worst moment and taking out five men even while having his hands and feet bound was the kind of mess that only he could find himself in. He’d attempted to hope that the men would not break under interrogation, or even that they would have ended up dead before being questioned. That hope also proved useless. He woke up one day to find that whatever guards he relied on had been discharged on the order of the General and replaced by firebending guards. It was obvious, the intention. He was going to be killed sooner or later.

But the fact that it had not happened yet was giving him what he was ashamed to say was a feeling of hope in his chest. His attempts to send secret messages to Beifong, asking for a rescue had so far proven unsuccessful. Well, either that or his oldest friend had abandoned him as a lost cause, and while both he and Kue had done the same to dozens of others, he refused to believe that the same could happen to him. They had schemed and plotted for decades to ascend. Kue on the merchant side, rising to become the richest man in Goaling, and he himself, rising to become the Mayor, and thus the most powerful. They were closer than brothers. He would not be abandoned. No, it was clear that the fire nation General had coopted his servants to his will and they were redirecting his messages and pleas for help. They were all encoded so he had no risk of incriminating himself or Kue, but he’d nevertheless made the decision to stop. Stopping the letters meant boredom. Unofficial house arrest had left him with few things to do except for thinking how the one they called “The Thunderer” would choose to kill him.

“Hello Mayor” he barely prevented himself from jumping out of his own skin with the surprise that shot through him.

“General Natsu. What do I owe the pleasure?” He asked, barely remembering his manners and executing the proper bow. Every part of the young man’s bearing screamed nobility. Even the hair that clearly longed for a haircut had been pulled into a neat ponytail that neatly framed the rest of his aristocratic features. High cheekbones, soft face, and eyes so black they seemed to suck in whatever light strayed too close to them. Just like when he saw him the first time, Kinvara felt nothing but hatred for this man.

“Oh come on. You know why I’m here. I received your gift a few nights ago” he said, making Kinvara smile easily as he slipped into a persona that he’d worn a million times before.

“I have no idea what you speak of, General”

“Major General”

“What?” He asked, wondering what was going on.

“Your people keep calling me General. I am a mere Major General. That means I have two promotions left to secure the hallowed rank. Do you think they’ll give me one when I send your head back home?”