Chapter 16.1- And so the Dragons Danced

“You’re much more handsome than your father ever was” were the words that General Han greeted me with when I walked into his tent. It reeked heavily of alcohol. So heavily that the smell actually made me crinkle up my nose. 

“You definitely inherited his taste then. The man would not abide a whiff of alcohol in his presence” He said with a laugh. I traced his figure with my eyes, seeing him slumped backwards on his chair. 

“We knew different men then” I said without emotion. I’d come to terms with my father’s death years ago. Grandfather had been unable to keep him from wasting away. Either he couldn’t or he just didn’t want to, ut my father had been declared dead a few years ago. I’d gotten the notice in the form of a letter from the steward informing me that all his personal wealth and holdings had been folded up into the family accounts and holdings for the time being but I was, of course, fully allowed to lay claim to them if I wanted to. I’d been fine with them being folded in there. I never particularly liked the man so there was no sentimental value to his inheritance. And from a utilitarian point of view, there was no point in contesting his wealth and holdings being folded into the family accounts. 

They’d be better managed by a dedicated team of stewards who were trained for that specific purpose than by me who’d be away from the Homeland for the foreseeable future. Besides, either way everything would be mine sooner or later. I ignored the twinge that thought brought to my heart. Grandfather would die. That was the way of things. 

“I see. I guess the Royal Family can have a way of doing that to a man. You know I still think about him to this day. Most of us there, we all ached to do the same thing he did. We supported him. Thousands of men and women of the fire nation had died, bled, and strived to get to that point. Victory was at our grasp. Iroh had sent thousands of sons and daughters to die for the glory of the Fire Nation, my own Nephew died in an ambush mere weeks before that day and all he had for me were empty platitudes and condolences. The second he was the one feeling the loss though, he abandoned everything. Set us back decades in the war efforts. Allowed a beaten earth kingdom have a second bite at the apple. The truth of the matter is that one way or another this can all be laid at his feet. But will it? No! Ozai is going to remove my head from my shoulders while his brother gets to gallivant across the world on a holiday.” At the end of it, he was screaming. I could see that it had happened. The man was broken.

“I gave them everything. Everything I had I gave to the fire Nation and this is how they repay me?” He asked rhetorically, sweeping a drunken hand across the desk sending all the scrolls and documents flying. By sheer chance, one of them rolled towards my feet. It had the insignia of the Fire Nation High Command on it. 

General Han noticed what I was looking at. “Lift it and read it. Have a look at what happens when you make no mistakes and something completely out of your control happens” He said, pointing at it. 

I wisely didn’t mention that the wiser move would have been to establish a perimeter around the town before moving in to make sure that no ambushes happened. It was the same tactic Sung used often, after all. But discretion was the better part of valour, I thought to myself while remaining still and at attention. 

“Open it!” He screamed at me, and I was moving to pick it up before I even noticed what had happened. Once my brain jolted back into consciousness I still completed the movement and held the scroll before me. 

“_General Han,_

_                  Your report has been well received by the Command and we extend our fullest condolences for your losses. Report to the Fire Nation Palace for further conversations and strategy. _

_Signed, _

_High General Hiro"_ I read aloud at his request. 

“You know your father got a letter just like that one before he got disgraced at the Palace?” He asked me. 

I didn’t need to nod. Everyone knew every part of what exactly had become of the man I called father from the moment he made the mistake of striking a Prince of the Blood. The story as still often repeated in several circles as a reminder of what could happen to even the highest lords and Generals if they made the mistake of thinking of themselves as equal to the royal family. The House of the Sozin did not like being contested for dominance.

“Then you know what they intend to do with me. They’ll either kill me or worse than that. They’ll set my family back centuries of progress just like they did with yours. Except somehow you’re on the rise again. Wu lands on top.” He said the last sentence like he was quoting someone. I could, perhaps, have seen it had the tent been better lit. Maybe I could have seen the moment General Han came to a decision. 

“You will take care of my family, boy. I have written them and asked them to seek solace in your family’s protection. You will not deny them. Honour would have it of you” He said, and before I could tell him he was crazy, or even refuse. He took a blade out from his robes and stabbed himself in the stomach, driving the blade deep before pulling it from one side to the other. 

Everything was a blur as I ran out shouting for help even as I knew that he was already dead by the time he hit the floor. There was no way he was going to survive that. He’d done it purposely, laden me with that obligation on his own. No one could hear a man’s last words and not at least try to abide by them.

A/N: Just the first bit. How’s it looking?