𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔

Chapter 15

I've found the traitor.

Katara thought her heart must have stopped beating. She waited for something to happen. She waited for the Emperor to leap forward and burn her to ashes for her deception.

She watched numbly as Ensei stepped forward, his face tight. "Who?"

The Emperor brandished the crumpled piece of paper in the air. "Admiral Zhao."

All of a sudden she could breathe again.

The Emperor continued to talk. "We must leave now. He has a rendezvous with the rebels in three days time. I- we -can't miss this opportunity to expose him!"

Upon hearing the words "leave" and "now" in the same sentence, the patrol automatically moved into packing and readying their things for a long-distance trip. So it was practically midnight; what did it matter? Their monarch, their Emperor, had come and request their help in capturing a traitor of the Fire Empire. Nothing more was needed. This obedience was ingrained into them as deeply as their own names-it was who they were, what they were here to do.

Only Lt. Ensei had the precedence to question, or ask information of, the Emperor. Katara caught snatches of their conversation as she hurriedly stuffed an extra set of clothing into her bag.

"How do you know it's Zhao?" asked Ensei, voice low.

The Emperor didn't bother to explain; he merely shoved the letter at Ensei. The lieutenant read it quickly, eyes scanning the paper while his face grew more tense. He finally finished, looking up at Emperor Zuko.

"There's no certain evidence it's Admiral Zhao-"

"That's what my uncle said too," the Emperor cut in impatiently.

"-but," Ensei continued, undeterred, "seeing as he's the only Admiral who's enough of a bastard to attempt something like this, my thoughts agree with yours."

The Emperor nodded tightly.

Lt. Ensei turned back to his patrol. "Ready to go?"

Their breaths made clouds in the air as Patrol One and the Emperor made their way towards the army stables. Once inside, the warmth of the animals helped frozen fingers saddle and bridle the horses.
Katara was silent as she brushed over her horse's coat hurriedly. She wanted to stall for time, pretend she was sick, anything to prevent her from going on this mission-why oh why couldn't the Emperor have picked a different Elite Patrol to accompany him?

The rational part of her mind answered her; the Emperor was close friends with Lt. Ensei. It only made sense that he would trust his friend to be the one to protect him from an ambitious, traitorous man like Zhao.

She lead her ready horse out of the stable and into the courtyard. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, another form barreled into her and Katara caught herself before tripping.

"Katara!" it was Kaz's excited face, shining in the dim light. "Are you leaving for a mission? Are you?"

She impatienty shoved him to the side as she put one foot in the stirrup. "Yeah. What's it to you?" It was past midnight and they were leaving for a mission. Add on the fact of this 'traitor' business and Katara was in a bad mood.

"Can I come?"

She gave him a blank look. "What?" Kaz was a trainee healer, not a soldier.

"I need field experience before they'll let me become a full-fledged doctor- please, Katara?"

Katara gave him a disbelieving look. "Kaz, this isn't really the best mission you could tag along on- really serious business- I'm not sure if the Emperor-"