The DragonBorn

Chapter 31

It was late at night, the Jasmine Dragon had finally been closed, and all that was left was the clean up and prepare for the next day. But Zeraphina was still occupied with her thoughts with her nightmare, and meeting Katara again. It scared her. She had just gotten her friend back, she was living a peaceful life with Zuko and Iroh. She had even started calling him by his name when they were alone.

But fear always won in her case. Fear of those stronger than her, fear of the Fire Lord, fear of losing her family. It always guided her. Forcing her to make decisions that she never wanted to make. And she didn't want to go through with making another decision that could lead to pain and sorrow.

Just then, a man wearing fancy green robes came in and gave Iroh a scrolled message.

"A message from the royal palace." The man said, handed off the scroll and left. Iroh opened the scroll and his eyes widened at the ink on the pages.

"I.. I can't believe it." He gasped.

"What is it, Uncle?" Zuko asked.

"Has something happened?" Zeraphina added.

"Great news! We've been invited to serve ta to the Earth King!"

Iroh couldn't control his excitement and rushed to prepare for the next day. Zuko smiled and continued sweeping, but noticed Zeraphina's worried expression.

"Zera, is something wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing much. I'm just confused. The shop hasn't been open for too long, it's just amazing that we were invited to the palace to serve the King personally."

"It may be in a shock, but it's great news, isn't it?" Zuko walked over to Zeraphina and wrapped his arm around her, "This is the peace we've wanted for a long time. We should enjoy it while we can."

Zeraphina gave off a small smile and continued to clean, but it still made her feel very uneasy about the rapid invite to the royal palace.

~~~~~

The next day, a coach had come to pick up Iroh, Zuko and Zeraphina and were dropped off at the staircase to the palace.

Zeraphina clutched onto Zuko's hand for assurance that everything would be fine.

"Many times, I imagined myself here-- at the threshold of the palace." Iroh said, "But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

"It sure is, Uncle." Zuko said, but Zeraphina said not a single word.

They walked into the throne room and set up for the serving of the tea. As Iroh was pouring the tea into several cups, Zuko and Zeraphina looked around for anyone else in the room. After some time, the Earth King didn't show and the tea was getting very cold.

"What's takin so long?" Zuko questioned.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept."

"Perhaps, Master Iroh, but I have a bad feeling about this." Zeraphina said. Just as she said that, several of the Dai Li walked into the room and surrounded them. Zuko grabbed Zeraphina by the hand and felt her body shake. He looked up at her and her eyes were widened.

"It's tea time." A very familiar and chilling voice said. There, walking in front of King's throne was the Fire Nation Princess, Azula. Her eyes glared at the three, especially at Zuko and Zeraphina, and her lips stretched into a wicked smirk.

"Azula!" Zuko shouted rushing to his feet and pushing Zeraphina behind him to protect her.

"Have you met the Dai Li? They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so Firebender. I just love it." Azula praised.