A Match of Ice and Fire

Chapter 3: Zuko

"Princess Kaya will be along shortly, my lord." Chieftan Arnook bows obsequiously. "I can only apologise for the wait... " he repeats, till I feel  uncomfortable.

"Please..."  Iroh interceeds on my behalf. "We are in no rush..."

Trying to match my uncle's easy tone, i put on a my best, wise, patient, ruler smile, and return the chieftains bow.  In reality, I'm stiff and akward.

We stand in silence on the prowl of my imperial vessel, facing the gates to the Northern Watertribe, awaiting offical consent from the docks to pass through  into the city. A modest welcome committee headed up by Chief Arnook greeted us about 5 miles out. And now we are  surrounded by a small feet of canoes moored agianst the hull.

"Thank you for understanding, our tribe cannot express how honnored we feel to host the new Firelord. You have traveled far away from your home nation, it must have been a taxxing journey..." Chieftain Arnook continues to make small talk.

"Not at all. I've actually..." I trail off thinking back to the chaos at home; The constant presence of team avatar in the palace, breaking up with Mai, visiting my father in prision, managing my psychotic Sister and dealing with the looming mountian of royal documents waiting for me back to my royal study. I pause, taking a deep breath "... I've enjoyed getting away."

Conversation ebbs away back into silence and It's my turn to make small talk. "So I hear she's an accomplished healer?" I bring the conversation round to Princess Kaya.

Chieftain Arnook jumps at the opportunity. "Yes! Yoguda calls her a progeny. She's very talented, but..." their is a strange undercurrent to his words, "frustratelying my niece has never seen herself as a healer..."

"Oh?" She must be Modest. It makes sense. Katara said the culture here was stiffling. The more meak and feeble you are as a woman the more men admire you. Independence, capability, and ambition are not desirable traits here. Modesty, innocence and obence is all the elders care about, according to Karatra.

This attitude is carried home in the Chieftan next excuse for the Princesses absence. "You how the women are, with their dresses and their make up, they have no sense of time management!" Arnook laughs. "That's why they have us men."

I battle every insinct not to grimance at the joke. I shoot my uncle a sideways glance know he is doing the exact same thing. With both force ourself to chuck half-heartedly.

After all, its not Chieftan Arnook's fault, its the way everyone here was brought up and its the way they've survived for so many years. It's a culture. One that I hope to change with time and this new alliance. But until then, for the sake of keeping this tenious peace, I have to play along with national customs.

Following war, my country needs stability. As bad as it sounds, someone modest, respectful and obient, who will quietly enjoy ruling by my side is just what I need. The symbolic importance will also be vital to regaining my family's honnor. In the face of my father's atrocities agianst the watertribes, Princess Kaya is the perfect  choice. She's Princess Yue first cousin, which is in itself is gesture enough. But Her heritage also means she has links to both the northern and southern tribes. She's from a very long line of powerful waterbending artocisry. And, as dictated by the Avatar cycle, when Aang is eventually reincarnated as a waterbender, my descendants will be in an optium position to aid the new avatar. It is as the Fire sages say, the best possible political match i could hope to make, but right now I would really just like to meet her.