1 Bastard son

I open my eyes feeling the heat of the sun passing through the window, a slight sensation of a very familiar heat running through my body. I turn my head slightly to see a palace maid, who was resting with her back to me.

I give a light sigh, getting up without worrying about waking her up, today would be a very long day like the previous days and the days to come. It has been months since I took the title of fire lord of Azulon and my wife Ursa went into exile, my rule was still gradually stabilizing and my influence was already solidifying.

I found myself in the royal dining room, calmly eating a delicious meal right after a necessary shower, while I ate, taking the opportunity to review some files in silence, just to anticipate the simple tasks of everyday life. Around me, some maids remained silent, along with guards who stood at the door ready for any emergency, but it was nothing more than routine and a ritual for them.

After a daily routine, I finally found myself in my rightful place, the throne. Something my brother Iroh could never understand the burden of carrying and leading this nation to greatness. After a few minutes, the generals walked calmly, but with zeal and fear, to their respective locations to begin another meeting involving military matters.

I admit only to myself that coordinating such quantities of soldiers alone would be superhuman, even if some of these generals are just insects in my opinion, at least they had something to contribute. Although the meeting was about to end, there was still another meeting I had to hold with those responsible for monitoring the economy and agriculture, because without the stability of our nation, we would not be able to leverage heavy budgets for new weapons or army maintenance. . .

Allowing myself to close my eyes for a moment, my body was already asking for a break from this exhausting encounter, but a commotion could be heard from the doors behind the throne. Suddenly, a man who was certainly a messenger boldly approached the generals, not knowing how close his life was to ending due to such disrespect.

- Fire Lord Ozai, I ask forgiveness for my intrusion. - Said the messenger as he removed a parchment from a small compartment on his back, which was quickly handed over by the guards who were supposed to prevent anyone from entering this hall.

I open my eyes, still showing displeasure at such an inconvenient interruption. My generals stood up quickly, some with smoke coming out of their hands.

- Insolent, don't you understand that you are disrupting our nation's plans and on top of that you dare to speak to the fire lord in this pathetic way? - One of the generals expressed indignation, raising his hand to bend his native element.

- Get that man out of my sight. - I impose my presence so that everyone looks at me, making clear my indignation at the incompetence of my guards, who certainly would not be the same the next day.

- Lord Ozai, this message from Katsu, directly to you.

I feel a little repressed, but I recover in a fraction of seconds, I watch the messenger carefully and after a few seconds that could be hours for the man in front of me, I extend my hand so they can pass this message to me.

One of the soldiers took a red parchment from the unfortunate man's hand, decorated on the edges with golden touches, approaching cautiously, without invading my personal space. Anyway, I open the parchment, reading calmly I see information that made my heart fail for a moment, which was the fact that Katsu was dying or in the worst circumstances already dead at this moment.

***

A few years ago, I was at a large meeting, where I needed to present a good image to the military and nobles from other clans. For me it was nothing more than formalities, but that night I saw a beautiful woman who stood out among the rest, even with a simple dress different from the other nobles, as if she conformed or felt confident in not depending on objects or clothes to highlight her appearance. appearance. beauty. She had beautiful, silky hair, her skin was white like porcelain, at first glance she appears to be someone fragile, but if you look closely you will notice that she has more muscles than a noble woman would have, her small hands had noticeable scars that they could be about battles. or torturous training.

I felt attracted, as if I had seen what they called a soulmate. Of course this was a thought that came out of nowhere, I never considered myself romantic, but she was the only thing that really caught my attention. As she slowly approaches, passing many and greeting others, she turns to me and our eyes meet for a second. Unlike many who had brown or almost golden eyes, I never saw anyone with blood-red eyes.

I approached her cautiously and not with my usual proud composure, I even found my attitude strange, I felt a kind of tightness in me, especially in my chest when she gave me her attention.

- So you are Azulon's second son? – Said the woman, who was holding a glass in her hands, sarcastically. – I thought that with all this fame you would be someone tall.

Normally I would be irritated, by being used as a joke or by her addressing my father with disinterest, even flirting with mockery. For some reason, following the game is fun due to the total lack of composure that a lady must follow.

- I didn't think women like you would have such a dirty mouth. – I respond, showing a smile without me noticing.

- Better to have a dirty mouth than to be a naughty girl who tries to get your attention, little prince.

– She responded mockingly, as she left the hall, to enter the garden that resided in the palace.

- Hmmm... who are you calling little one? You're smaller than most of those noblewomen. – I respond, but without stopping following her, now completely curious about her presence and this feeling in my chest.

As the night went on, our informal conversation became fun at one point, I never imagined that any woman could have such a personality and that wasn't the only thing that was amazing. We were the same, we liked the same things and we trained alone because there was no rival who could match us. We even did an agni kai simulation, as a result we ruined our clothes and without realizing it we were sharing a bed the next day.

- Look, not bad for someone like you. – joked Katsu, who covered himself with the thin cedar blankets.

- For a noble from a minor clan, not bad. – I returned, while she was stroking her hair.

- Hmmm... Be careful not to fall in love. – Katsu said as she stroked Ozai's head.

After that day, I never heard about her whereabouts again and I didn't even care, it may have been someone who caught my attention, but love wasn't something I should give myself over to if I wanted to be the lord of fire.

Weeks later, my father Azulon consulted the fire sages and learned of a prophecy that the royal family would have powerful descendants as long as one of the parents was from the avatar's lineage. That's when Ursa and I crossed paths. To be honest, I never had any feelings for Ursa, but when Zuko was born, a sense of pride grew in me, and as a member of the royal family, I couldn't show any signs of weakness, not even to my wife. Soon time passed, 2 years to be more precise, my daughter Azula was born, however, my relationship with Ursa did not even improve, to the point that she sent letters to her homeland and obviously, she did not allow such an unfaithful action, her only function was to generate powerful descendants, but I already questioned even that, as my firstborn Zuko didn't even have signs of controlling fire.

***

Reading the scroll, I had a small flashback of my actions. The passing of these years made my mind even colder and I learned not to underestimate the factors around me, always expecting to be betrayed. Because of this, I had a fit of fear that I had everything under my control, even my children's progress in the elemental warp.

Who would have thought that the universe would play with this, in the past one of the fire lords had an illegitimate son, a bastard and even though he did not have the right to assume the throne, his existence caused the fire nation to go through turmoil in the age of the avatar Kyoshi. And now, I had a bastard son and worse, being my true firstborn.

The most prudent action I could take is to simply kill him, from the letter, Katsu made a point of being discreet regarding my son, whose name was Kai. It was easy to understand this name if you consider that our relationship made years ago was due to an agni kai. Maybe she wanted to keep some memory of what happened, or she simply has terrible taste in names.

I look up, my generals, soldiers and the messenger were watching carefully, waiting for me to make some facial reaction, perhaps because no one had the courage to make any kind of sound in that room, until I gave a verdict.

I take a deep breath, getting up from my throne and walking somewhere other than that room. – I want you to prepare a ship for me, we will leave on a journey in a few days. – I ordered, when I finally left the room.