Chapter 34: Captain
Chapter dedicated to (Colin Hilterhaus).
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West wing of the palace, reception area.
Mei and Azula enter the room. I floated in after the girls as an invisible and inaudible shadow. Upon our arrival, the captain put his tea aside and straightened up. He did it so quickly and harmoniously that the man's army training was clearly visible in every movement.
- Princess Azula," the man bowed respectfully according to all the rules of etiquette, only glancing at Mei, who stood behind the princess. But the girl remained unrecognised and seemed to be taken for a maid.
- Commander..." the princess replied coolly, examining with a keen eye a large man with the usual Fire Nation features: dark hair, tanned skin, brown eyes with a faint glint of gold. He was dressed in the standard fire army officer's uniform, in red and black colours. The only thing that made him stand out was a scar almost all over his face and a slightly confused look on his face.
- I don't have enough words to express how excited I was to receive your letter. After my demotion, I had given up hope...
- Commander Chan," Zula interrupted him calmly.
- I have heard the story of your transfer to the rear forces, but my final decision will depend on what you tell me. And you'd better tell the truth, even if it is a bit... impolite to some of our country's dignitaries. Now, can you straighten up and tell me how a man who performed brilliantly in the war against the Earth Kingdom, a candidate for admiral, ended up in... what's the name of the place you were sent to?
- I was assigned to guard a steel mill on the I-Si River at the head of several dozen of my subordinates. And I'm a former commander, Your Highness," Chan sighed, straightening his back.
The officer's eyes clearly showed that he was thinking about such an assignment, but Azula only nodded her head, urging him to continue. I remained a mute listener, as did Mei, who stood indifferently behind the princess' back, not reacting to anything.
- I'm sure, Princess Azula, you know my history as commander of the Fire Army since you invited me here. You are correct in saying that many have praised my decisions and methods of warfare. I am a military man, not a politician, Princess. That's what ultimately ruined my career. On the occasion of the founding of a new colony in the Earth Kingdom, I was invited to the palace where the celebration was taking place. I tried to behave appropriately, but a high-ranking official took notice of me and started a conversation about fighting. In short, he thought that since the army was winning all the time, its funding on some parts of the front could be cut and diverted to some islands of our nation. I had little understanding of the balance of power in the palace, so I had the imprudence to give him my thoughts on the matter and...
- And soon after you were seriously wounded, you were surprised to learn that you were being transferred to the internal army," Azula finishes for him with a slight smile. - You found out whose foolish ideas you had managed to criticise in the presence of a large number of witnesses not from the lowest strata of our country's society, didn't you?
- Yes, Princess," Chan bowed his head again. - It was a former classmate of your father, Fire Master Ozai, and an old friend of his from the academy....
The situation was developing quite interestingly. Someone had clearly taken advantage of his position for selfish purposes, causing a very high quality military personnel to be humiliated by such a demotion and transfer to the reserve, and the injury was just a pretext. Yes and the injury itself was not so terrible, Jay Chan could still do a lot of good for both the country and the army of fire. The commander took an arrow in the knee during another battle, but nevertheless continued to fight and soon received another scar on half of his face. And while the healing process was underway, he was transferred and demoted without being notified.
For someone who had been a successful commander, and had almost become an admiral, being demoted to captain of the guard, was extremely humiliating. But there was nothing Jay Chan could do about it, as a simple stroke of the pen, and the then Prince Ozai decides the fate of a promising man, depriving the army of a very high quality military man with an excellent record, forever closing the road to career advancement.
Of course, Azula studied him for a few more minutes, talking and finding out all the details of the incident, but her attitude towards the whole thing was... indifferent. She was completely indifferent to the Commander's fate. Neither do I, but this case shows Ozai's qualities as a ruler. Personal interests and "friends" come first, and everything else comes after, if not separately.
However, he acts in the same way as all the tyrants I know, who got to power in one way or another. First of all, he helps loyal people, with whom he knows well, to secure important positions, which strengthens his position at the top of power. There was nothing surprising in this, except that the consequences of a long reign of such people are all too familiar to me. Ozai's kind of rulers would do nothing good for their country.
Of course, I did not remain silent as I reminisced about my homeland. On the contrary, I tried to participate in the conversation, even if I was only heard by Azula, while her friend began to slowly grow into the chair she sat on as the princess occupied the couch.
I was interested in Azula's future actions, and what guided her decision. I advised the girl to show compassion, to be a defender of justice, to help a man in a difficult situation and to punish criminals in the future.
However, Azula remained indifferent at best, or even became irritated at my words, throwing very eloquent glances at the place where I drifted, which began to slightly strain the commander. Alas, the princess did not possess compassion and mercy, rather the opposite.
The girl was completely indifferent to his fate and my sentimentality, the problems of the soldier were terribly distant and incomprehensible to the princess, she had never been in a similar position and could not show even a hint of empathy. She was far more interested in his skills and personal achievements. The only thing she could regret was that such a professional was being misused and his talents wasted. That kind of rationalisation.
She had to change tactics and remind him that if she gave Jay Chan a helping hand, she'd get his loyalty first, and only then a professional with more experience.
She liked it so much that it even showed on her face, even though I was the only one who could see such a tiny change. Of course, we had already discussed all this, but I was interested in her reaction to my words. I wanted to see the changes in her character, and they were almost nonexistent. What was present was more a consequence of her father's attempt to kill her. She may pretend it never happened, but there was a worm of doubt in her heart. She had come away from all the turmoil of the last few weeks. She had returned to her familiar surroundings and was behaving almost as she had before we met.
Meanwhile, their conversation was coming to an end.
- After speaking with you in person, I'm only convinced of the rightness of my choice," Azula said calmly, after the Commander's long speech, which she diluted with clarifying questions. Details, always help to distinguish lies from truth.
- Princess, that means... - the man's eyes lit up with hope.
- Yes, you are accepted, - the princess gives the verdict. - You will familiarise yourself with all the necessary papers tomorrow, when the sun is at its zenith. Night is approaching, the last minutes of our meeting I would like to talk about other members of the team, and possible candidates for it...
Azula confirmed her decision to accept the captain into her service, which he was very happy about. Afterwards there was a small conversation about who the old warrior could recommend. The new captain recommended several men who had served under him. I even laughed at the name of his former XO, Na Liwei. The names of the Fire Nation make me chuckle.
After discussing the future crew and the identities of all the new recruits, the captain was sent from the palace to the capital, so as not to say too much to anyone important. Partly, it was a crude excuse. Part of it was Azula simply not wanting to give him any rest in the palace. They weren't in that kind of relationship, unlike Mei. At the same time, there was still a chance that the captain would repeat his mistake again and sass someone important. There were a lot of hotels in the capital, he could find a place to stay without any problems, and there he would have less chance to cause problems to the princess. A logical, albeit a bit rude move.
Meanwhile, the girls were left alone in the waiting room. Jay Chan left their company. Azula escorted him with a glance, still sitting on the couch. While Mei sat in a chair by the window, a couple of metres away from her friend, playing with a throwing knife almost the entire time she was talking to the captain.
"Discuss this with Mei, her opinion on this story would be interesting to hear," the princess discreetly threw a glance at me, arching an eyebrow in mute question. - "Listening to other people's opinions can be a useful exercise, broadens your horizons," I explain to her, at her mute question.
After looking at me for a bit longer, she turns her attention to her mate.
- May, what do you think about all this?
- Boring," the girl replies without any emotion, stopping playing with the throwing dagger and deftly hiding it in her sleeve. - Finally he's gone, I was beginning to think it would never end.
"Have a chat with her about it. Abuse of power, corruption, Ozai's cronies who think they can do anything as long as they remain loyal to the Fire Master. After all, you'll soon be checking to see how your father's will is being carried out and how closely people are following the letter of the law. I'm guessing they're not doing it perfectly," I say with a smile to Azula's face.
Being right in front of her, I watched as the princess was hurt by my words about perfection. She has a special thing for that. The girl wildly disliked when someone is not a hundred per cent and does not strive for perfection. She herself lived these principles and forced to conform to them all around her. She wasn't hurt by what I said about corruption, no. Zulu was angry that the law was not perfectly enforced in her people. It was in contrast to the core of her personality, to Azula's basic principles, and that sort of thing made the princess wildly angry.
- What do you think of his story? - The princess said coolly, allowing her voice to reflect a slight note of interest.
- Nothing interesting," May replies with a minimum of emotion. - This sort of thing happens quite often among all walks of life. It's hard for some people not to take advantage when they have it. However, this Jay Chan could have challenged him to a duel, or even Agni Kai if he was a mage, but he didn't. He must have been quite happy with where he ended up.
''Or he was threatened with retribution before the duel. Honour is a very peculiar thing, if no one knows about the stain, you can safely lie that it's clean," I complemented for the girl, but it was already unnecessary. Azula was clearly interested in such a topic and had already continued talking to Mei without my help.
The friends were talking not so much about politics as about minor violations of the law, so minor that they are usually overlooked. Azula didn't know much about such minutiae, unlike her father. The girl was too over the top with her subordinates and punished even the smallest of lapses. But the princess is not the whole country of fire, and many officials, military and other people in power quite abuse their position and connections. Plus, despite all the achievements of their country, there was still inequality in society at least among the rich and poor. There is no such thing as an ideal society and certainly it would not arise under the rule of a tyrant.
The girlfriends talked until the sun went down, sometimes jumping to a variety of topics. The girls discussed the way ahead, Azula's mission, and many other things. The princess and I had already had time to talk about it all. They also discussed the other members of the team to guard the princess's ship, the most famous of which was Yuan's archery squad. The girls took this seriously, because the ship will sail not only in the safe waters of the Fire Nation, but also near colonies, and even enemy lands, the chance to run into the Earth fleet or pirates will not be small. Oh, and there are rumours among the Fire Nation's military that the Land Nation covers all pirates, as their fleet is quite pathetic.
The topics changed, and the girls continued to talk until the sun went down, and even a little after. During this time, I only once again picked up on May's depressiveness and the scant emotion that both girls displayed over the conversation. It was as if they weren't really friends at all, but considered themselves more like distant acquaintances to each other. To a certain extent this was the case. Both had some problems with communication, and showing emotion. Azula considered it a weakness, and her friend... about her friend, I didn't know, but I guess I would soon find out the answer to that question.
In the meantime, the girlfriends walked through the corridors, and reached the wing with the princess's chambers, where the maids had already prepared a room for Mei. During all this time I only made a couple of caustic comments, for the most part confining myself to the role of an outside observer. Both girls were quite intelligent and characterful, and it was surprisingly pleasant to listen to their conversation.
- There she is. Brings back memories, doesn't it? - With a slight smile of nostalgia, Zula changes the subject, reaching the correct door to the chambers.
- It's getting late, soon the remaining invitees will be arriving in the capital, and then the ship will set sail. My chambers are across the aisle, don't bother with trifles, - continues the princess, going inside and examining the decoration and suitability for sleeping in the room. The servants have done their best and made everything perfect, as they usually do all the orders of the princess.
- This room looks familiar," Mei said quietly, looking around the room Azula had given her.
- Yes. We used to use it for homework and other children's games.
- It's been a long time," a faint smile appears on Mei's face at the pleasant memories, but it soon fades away. It must not have been such a happy childhood with Azula.
- Not so long ago, less than fifty years ago. Make yourself comfortable..." the princess was about to bow out, heading for the exit, when she was stopped by her friend's voice.
- Azula...
- What?
- You've changed. - May noted without emotion, looking calmly at her interlocutor.
- You think so? I don't think so. - The princess says confidently, even self-assuredly, turning round.
- You've never been interested in other people's opinions before. - Mei was calm, even as Azula gave in to her anger, which was reflected on her face with menacingly shifted eyebrows and pinched lips.
- Good night, Mei. - Tosses the princess irritably, retiring to her chambers.
- ...
This night, the princess was in no mood for conversation, indulging in her own musings. I did not touch her, realising that sometimes we all need time alone. I left Azula to her own devices, leaving her to her own devices.
Determined to brighten my day and get some answers, I visited May's dreams. Alas, I couldn't understand why she was so calm and even a little depressed. To be honest, I didn't understand anything about her dreams at all, because I had too little time to go through the whole memory. I only realised that her life was a bore, as the girl herself often states. Only rare skill tests and training sessions brightened her life, and she did them with boredom, reaching great heights. Surprisingly, the girl spends a great deal of time throwing throwing throwing weapons at targets, almost all of her free time.
After Mei, I recharged myself with the princess by watching her dreams, and the next day the ship's crew was fully staffed. Or rather, almost fully staffed. Two people sent their responses to the princess's offer. Tai Li refused, writing that she had found herself in the circus and her Aura had changed to "pink". The mercenary we needed was on a mission, and only afterwards was he ready to discuss the terms of the deal.
The princess was somewhat angered by Tai Li's refusal. But she was still determined to recruit her. For the sake of this, the travelling schedule had to be changed, just as it had to be changed for the sake of one special mercenary. In the end, after calculating everything possible and sending a couple of letters, Azula ordered the head of the circus her friend had left with to arrive in four weeks in Yu Dao. In the meantime, she had scheduled a meeting with the mercenary Berkrut in the same colony. Yes, the princess does not accept refusals, and her genius talent of manipulation and creation of necessary events, I could again observe with my own eyes.
Time passed. The ship's crew was assembled. A small squad of Yuyang archers and some other narrow-minded specialists joined the ship's crew. Every detail of the ship was checked and rechecked, it was loaded with supplies, coal, medicines and other vital necessities. All the necessary papers had been collected. Notices of special inspection were sent to all the governors of all the cities.
The ship of the newly-appointed Inspector-Auditor set out on its journey, leaving the capital's harbour.
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