Freedom

Chapter 20: The Amber and Ocean Eyes

The guard led the two back to the warden's quarters. They walked in silence, Katara wishing to be alone with her brother.

She let out a breath when they walked past the velvet couches and nobody sat in them, wanting to speak about her interactions with the banished prince. The guard led them up the stairs and down a hallway to a set of double doors.

He pushed them open and they were met with a sea of red and gold. Red silk hung all across the room, on the windows, on the bed, and along the walls. Each fabric changed in pattern. The bed had swirls of gold silk, making the appearance of tiny flames dancing along the smooth fabric. The curtains were lined with a golden trim that sparkled in the sunshine. The walls held no gold silk at all, but when the light hit the fabric, she could almost see the gold shimmer shining back at her.

"Will this do my Lady?" the guard asked her tentatively.

Katara tried her best to grimace, even though the clearly expensive decor amazed her, "It's... quaint... but it will do" she turned back to the guard, "I must be getting my beauty sleep"

The guard bowed to her, "Of course miss, I will take your personal guard to our quarters so you may rest"

"No!" Katara blurted out all too quickly.

She mentally scolded herself as the guard give her a peculiar look. She quickly tried to amend her mistake, "He is not to leave my side. This is a highly dangerous prisoner we are dealing with. What if he were to escape and slit my throat in my sleep?"

"I assure you miss, there's no place more secure" he explained to her, "You are perfectly safe"

Katara looked over to Sokka and gave him a silent look that meant a thousand words.

We can't be separated.

What if something happens?

What if we get discovered?

What if they already know?

But Sokka gave her a curt nod, trying to ease her fears and worries. They were safe for now. They couldn't raise suspicions and him sleeping in the bedroom of a high class official would raise suspicions. Maybe not necessarily the right suspicions, but they couldn't risk being looked into. They had to fly under the radar, it was in many ways they're only chance.

"Fine" she spoke curtly, "But I expect you back here at sunrise. We have a lot of work to attend to before the execution"

Sokka bowed his head, "Yes my lady, as you wish"

Katara nodded stiffly, watching as the two guards walked out of the door. As soon as the door clicked behind them, and their footsteps faded away, she let out a shaky breath. A few tears threatened to fall down her cheeks but she forced them back in. She couldn't afford her makeup being smudged.

She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, the picture of perfect fire nation grace.

She would have jumped at her appearance if she had not been expecting it. She had lost all of her water tribe features. If her Gran Gran could see her now, she only imagined what she would say. But she did imagine that her ancestors who died because at the hands of firebenders were rolling in their graves at the sight of the Fire Nation royalty.