Borealis: A Zutara Story

 

Chapter 14

 

Zuko pushed his shoulders back and looked his father in the eye then boldly declared, “Because she is mine. I claimed her last night on the ship. Putting her in my robe is the fastest way to announce it.  Can you imagine the havoc it will create once people learn the Avatar’s Waterbender now serves the Fire Nation’s Prince? People will lose all hope in his ability to protect them if he can’t even protect her.”

Ozai tilted his head. It wasn’t a bad idea but Zuko had a habit of not thinking things all the way through. “So how do you suppose we spread the word that you’ve taken the Avatar’s Waterbender?  A cloak will only do so much.”

 “By making her my royal concubine. Using that title everyone will know she’s not just a prisoner and that she has a specific function.  When they see her under my protection and bearing my mark, they will see her as a betrayer. That will cause them to lose more faith in the Avatar because he was unable to detect the traitor in his midst,” Zuko explained as he caressed Katara’s cheek. He had often seen several of the nobles do to servants they harassed; as he expected the Waterbender flinched away from him in disgust.

“You’re lying. Katara would never betray me and she’d never become your concubine!” Aang screamed. The air in the room began to swirl feeding the torches and the wall of fire as he bended subconsciously.

“It’s too late, Avatar. She’s already spread her legs for me.  Why do you think I had her delivered to my room?” Zuko sneered in the young monk’s direction. “You saw how she was walking earlier and clinging to me when I put her on my rhino. I’ve already been inside her. She can’t get enough.”

“You bastard,” Sokka yelled rocking back on his heels. Two more spears joined the one pressing against his back.

“You’re lying. Katara would never do that!” Aang yelled, tears slowly filling his eyes the winds grew faster. “Tell him he’s lying Katara. That you’ll never become his concubine or betray me.”

“Aang, calm down, I would never betray you, you know that,” Katara replied attempting to placate her friend. “Zuko is just saying those things to make you upset.”

“But you spent the night in his room, he called you his concubine, and you were hanging onto him when he put on his rhino,” Aang whined.

Sokka was the first to answer when he saw his sister’s pained expression, “Aang I told you Zuko put her in his room since the jail cells don’t offer any privacy.”

He ignored the sharp jabs by soldiers insisting he call the prince by his proper title, “Katara is a girl. She needs space to do her girly stuff. Don’t tell me you forgot what she did to you when you accidently caught her changing.”

“No, but…Zuko ow…Prince Zuko said,” the twelve year-old protested.

“Yeah and his crazy sister said she was ‘a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings’. Dammit, I am not a pin cushion. Stop poking me!” Sokka exclaimed.

Aang’s face frowned in confusion and the wind slowly began dying down, “Katara?”

“Oh for La’s sake, Aang. I was sitting sideways on an animal I’ve never been on before. My hands were tied behind my back and I had to lean against something to keep from falling off.  It just so happens he was handy. As for how I was walking, we all fell out of the sky on a bison. I think you and Sokka landed on me,” Katara said exasperatedly.

The winds died down and Aang apologized.  The Fire Lord ordered that he be taken the dungeons and given herbs to suppress his bending.

Ozai turned to the Water Tribe siblings, “What kind of trick was that you just pulled?”

“It was not a trick,” Katara sighed. “It was the beginning of the Avatar State. Aang isn’t fully realized so he can’t control it. He destroys thing indiscriminately.  It happens when he gets upset or when he thinks one of us is in danger. Zuko was there when he destroyed Avatar Roku’s temple. He can vouch for his destructive power.

“You probably should just go along with what we said about the whole concubine thing. I hate to think about what could happen to all of us if he realized what that bastard did to my sister or if one of us were to die,” Sokka chimed in. 

The guard swinging the spear towards his head was stopped by two comrades when the Fire Lord looked in his direction, “So you are saying that Zuko did bed the wench?”

“I am not a wench,” Katara said angrily.

Ozai looked at her inquisitively, “Interesting, you deny being a wench, not that he bedded you?”

Katara seethed, “He did not bed me. He raped me. There is a difference. I gave him nothing willingly. I will never give him anything willingly. The next time he drops his pants around me I will take the opportunity to remove his penis and feed it to him.”

Ozai raised an eyebrow studied his son. Zuko and Ursa had been unusually close. It was well beyond the point as a concerned fathered he feared his beloved wife’s coddling had weakened his son’s spirit. He had tested the boy’s manhood several times and Zuko had failed most of them. If this were true perhaps there was hope for Zuko as his wife would not have approved of such an act. 

Maybe the strength of Soizin’s bloodline was finally overcoming the weakness passed on to him from Roku and softeness created by Ursa’s insistence on babying him. The girl had defiantly challenged him but flinched from Zuko. There was fear there.  His son had done something to instill fear in her.  It was an avenue worth pursuing, “Was she a virgin?”

“Yes, Father. She screamed and bled for me. Azula, Mai and several members of the crew can testify they saw blood running down her legs along with my semen as I walked her down the hall to the bath.  I do not have the bedsheets. The steward took them away while we were washing,” Zuko explained.

Ozai looked from his son to his daughter and her friends. Azula looked disgusted as would any girl hearing about her brother’s sex life. Ty Lee was watching Mai, clearly concerned. His son’s fiancée’s normally inscrutable face looked even more pinched. The Water Tribe prisoners were angry and upset.

The Fire Lord waved his hand dismissively. “You have given me quite a bit to consider. Leave me now.  Put the oaf in the dungeon. Zuko, for now you may do as you please with the girl.”

Author's Note: Thank you for reading