The Traitor Princess

Chapter 35 - Bitter Work

Eziri found herself on the front steps of the Fire Nation palace. The bright sun was practically blinding and she moved her hand in front of her eyes to block it out. It was then she noticed the chains around her wrists.

"Princess Eziri, you are charged with high treason. You are charged with aiding and abetting Fire Nation enemies. You are charged with assault and murder of a Fire Nation Admiral."

Does he mean Zhao? C'mon I didn't even kill him. Eziri thought to herself. She squinted and looked around in search of the voice. It was a man reading from a scroll a few feet away. She then noticed the platform at the bottom of the steps and felt the blood drain from her face.

"For these crimes, you have been found guilty and your punishment shall be death." A crowd started hurling insults and jeers at her. She jumped a bit when two guards grabbed her arms and led her down the steps. She felt sick. She was walking to her execution.

The guards shoved her onto the platform and secured her arms around a pole behind her. There was another small platform set up a few feet in front of her. That's where the executioner would stand. It had been a while since the Fire Nation had a formal execution like this. They didn't typically make a huge spectacle out of these things–but she supposed it was different for a traitorous princess.

To her surprise, an executioner didn't climb the stairs of the platform in front of her. Instead, her own father did. She watched as he took his stance and showed no emotion on his face. Eziri wanted to be brave. She wanted to be stoic, but she was terrified.

"Father, please!" She cried. He didn't acknowledge her. He just moved through his stance and launched a massive stream of fire right towards her. Eziri screamed and turned her head away as the flames kissed her skin.

–

"Eziri, wake up!" Eziri opened her eyes and looked around frantically. She saw Sokka hovering over her with concern. Her body started to shake and she could feel her breaths getting shallow. "Woah, woah, woah. No, take a deep breath." Sokka instructed. "Come on, try to relax."

Eziri tried her best to do as he instructed and eventually regained control of herself. Once her breathing was back under control, she sat up and practically launched herself into Sokka's arms. She buried her face in his shoulder and clung to him for dear life.

"Shh. It's ok. You're safe, Eziri. You're safe."

It took a while, but Eziri finally calmed down. Sokka sent the others to look for food so Eziri could calm down without them hovering. Eziri lit a small fire and started to brew a pot of tea. Sokka finished rolling up their sleeping bags and sat down next to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly." Eziri added the tea leaves and made sure the temperature of the water wasn't too hot. "I um...I dreamt that I was at my...execution." She said the last word so quietly Sokka almost didn't hear it.

"Oh..." Was all he could manage. In all honesty, he sometimes had nightmares about that himself. In his dreams, Eziri would get taken away by a bunch of Fire Nation guards, never to be seen again.

"It...it was my father. He was the one who..."

"Spirits."

Eziri poured out two cups of tea and handed one to Sokka. Sokka took a sip and thought about Eziri's words for a minute. "You don't think he would really....?" He trailed off, not wanting to actually say it.

"I don't know." Eziri shook as a slight chill ran down her spine. "But I doubt it's something he'd lose sleep over." Eziri took a small sip from her cup and sighed. "I'm sorry I woke you. What happened, exactly?" She asked hesitantly.