About a week after my little walk around the city was so rudely interrupted I had finally managed to get caught up on the paperwork describing the situation in Danyuan.
I finally had a decent grasp on who had the most influence and power in the city along with notable figures in the community. It had taken some time to get that second part down, but it was finally time to start putting some pressure on the rebels.
My infiltrators had tracked the teen that confronted me to his house. Unfortunately, despite waiting a week there had been no suspicious activity from him since that day. No sneaking out to gatherings undercutting the Fire Nation presence, no spreading rebel propaganda, no plans to attack my soldiers. Instead he had simply worked at his family’s shop. There had been no sign of the other man that moved him away though.
That was fine. I would either draw him out if he was working against me or forget about him entirely. There was going to be a gathering for me to formally introduce myself to the city, a nice ceremony telling them how honored they should be to host a Royal princess and an outline of my plan for the city.
That my ideas would likely give Father a heart attack was only a bonus in my eyes.
I still had some time before my speech was about to begin so I decided to wander around and bother Chi Song. The mayor’s daughter was still kinda stiff around me, but she was much better than the unquestioning attitudes of most of the soldiers I dealt with. It helped that she wore her emotions on her sleeve as well.
It was also pretty cute how hard she tried to hide spying on me. It reminded me of Azula and her friends trying to sneak into my firebending practice without being caught failing to realise hiding behind the decorative plants only worked if you didn’t push the leaves aside for a better view.
Maybe after today I would mention it, or not, I wasn’t entirely sure who she was spying for but it was always useful to feed people misinformation while being completely honest. As far as she knew I was going to be simply announcing my presence to the city.
Spotting her walking down the hallway I increased my stride to come up behind her. Peeking over her shoulder I saw she was absorbed in some kind of invitation for later today.
“Good afternoon Chi Song, anything interesting going on?”
There were multiple ways people reacted when suddenly startled. Most people either stiffened up or jerked into motion. Chi Song didn’t do either of those. She was either the rare instance of a person whose natural response to the unexpected was to fight it, or she had been trained that way.
Which was why I kept sneaking up on her. I hoped she would throw a punch blindly so I could tell either way, but once again she recognised me enough to only shriek in surprise and jump away.
“Great jumping badger moles, do you have to keep doing that!” She exclaimed clutching her chest and taking deep breaths. “And how do you keep sneaking up on me? The maids can’t even do that anymore thanks to you.”
“Yes, I’m doing well. Getting ready for later, big speech to give and all that.” I replied airily, ignoring her. “Are you going to be sitting with your father?”
Chi Song glared at me. Once she had figured out I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of pomp and ceremony in private she was quick to abandon the polite facade practically every noble or official used.
“Hello Princess,” She said eventually with a sigh, the angry glare shifting to an exasperated one. “I...don’t know. I had planned to since it was, you know, expected. But I got an invitation from a few friends to meet with them instead.” She waved the paper in her hand.
“Trying to decide if you should accept?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Well I say do it. I could use more opinions on what the public thinks. You can tell me what people are really thinking instead of what they want me to hear. Besides you’ve spent most of the week guiding me around, I’m sure you want to see them as well.”
“You aren’t wrong.” She mumbled. “I guess I’ll let dad know I’ll watch the speech with my friends. I’ll try to keep them from doing something stupid too.”
I couldn’t hear that last part but nodded at her decision. I had to start getting ready if I was going to give the maids enough time to finish on time.
Chi Song followed after me. We talked for a bit, not about anything serious, but it was pleasant to just speak to someone without needing to consider a larger goal for a bit.
When we reached my chambers I invited her inside to continue our conversation as a swarm of maids descended on me making sure my hair and makeup were done perfectly.
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“So you never gave me an answer.” Chi Song said eventually.
“Hmm?” I made a polite inquisitive sound. I was currently having my hair brushed out and was feeling very relaxed.
“About how you keep sneaking up on me. Is there some super secret spy training you went through or something.”
I couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the ridiculous theory.
“Hey it was just a guess!” Chi Song blushed heavily.
“Sorry, sorry.” I placated, still chuckling. “I almost wish it was something that interesting. It’s a combination of firebender training and etiquette classes from when I attended the Royal Academy for Girls.”
Chi Song furrowed her brow at my answer. “The firebending thing I kinda get, the soldiers and guards seem to move a bit smoother than normal people. But how does etiquette class work into that?”
My smile fled from my face as I had a miniature flashback to those nightmarish lessons.
“We used to have to wear bells all over our body and perform a tea ceremony without ringing one.” I said with a dead tone. “If you did, you had to start all over.”
I shuttered just a little at the memory.
Chi Song looked surprised that that was the reason for my dread while the maids seemed professionally intrigued. I hope they didn’t try and replicate that here.
“...that doesn’t sound so bad?” she tried.
I shuddered again.
“Maybe not, but years of being told ‘Head up! Back Straight! Move faster, ladies! Was that a bell? Start over!’ I think I gained a bit of a trauma.” I said with a wry smile and a passable imitation of my old teacher.
“Sounds rough.” Was her final thought on the matter.
Soon after the maids finished up my hair and makeup and it was time to head to the courtyard for my address.
The meeting had already started. The mayor was going over some less serious issues while I was getting ready. Tax rates for the near future, festival preparations for some holiday local to the city, news that he felt needed to be shared. Nothing I needed to directly have my hand in, so I stayed out of it.
When I felt he had reached a good stopping point for now I had one of the guards give a prearranged signal to begin my introduction and started walking to the high backed chair prepared for me.
“...reatest honor to present her royal highness, Princess Azura of the Fire Nation.” The mayor ended seriously.
Oh, I blocked out his whole speech. Oops.
Best not let them know that.
I reclined a little in my chair and looked out over the people gathered. Most of them seemed unsurprised if wary of my presence, no doubt having their own ears in the mayor’s office, some seemed hostile, mainly the older citizens, and the rest seemed shocked a princess would be here.
“Good afternoon, citizens of Danyaun. As I’m sure many of you are aware, there have been some very disturbing reports about this city that have made their way to the Capital.”
There was the indignation I was expecting.
“Assaulting loyal soldiers, stealing from merchants, inciting unrest, and even a small rebellion that needed to be put down before it destroyed the city.”
Spines straightened, eyes hardened, and tempers started to flare. No one would say anything though. It would be unwise to speak up against a homeland noble, let alone a princess.
“It is clear that the city will need a firmer hand in the future to ensure these miserable events do not continue. I will be announcing several new edicts on changes that will be made to guarantee the insurgents are dealt with more harshly than the lenient measures your mayor had put in place since they seem to be determined to take advantage of his restraint.”
I shifted so I was more comfortable and rested my chin on a fist.
“Of course many of these will require a heavier military presence than in the past. And since this city has been so welcoming to loyal soldiers of the fire nation, I’m not inclined to assign any more soldiers to this disgrace of a city.” Mostly because I couldn’t. “So I am hereby announcing the creation of the Danyuan port guard under the command of the 201st recon fleet. There will be five hundred spaces open for locals to apply. If the numbers aren’t met after two weeks then we will regretfully need to create a draft to ensure that there are enough guards to keep the peace of the city.”
I stood from my spot and took one final look around at the group. Mixed expressions all around. Well I guess this was a shock to most of them so it will take some time for the full weight of what was about to happen to sink in.
“As for those of you who are here acting as informants for the insurgents,” I randomly glanced at a few people. “Please do let the leaders know their days are numbered and the fire nation will not allow them to ruin the lives of the citizens here for their own purposes.
With that in mind, have a good day.”
With one last dismissive wave at the mayor, I turned and walked out of the courtyard.
The mayor hesitated for a second before trying to move on to another topic. He lasted all of fifteen seconds once I was out of sight before the assembled people erupted in a cacophony of shouts.
“Aaahah, so noisy.”
“You did just kick the anthill over on them.” A voice behind me pointed out.
I turned to see Chi Song and another teen being escorted by a pair of guards.
“Chi Song! Did you like the show?” I said with a smile, waving the guards back a bit so we could talk in peace.
“You threaten the entire city and say you are going to force people into your army and you call it a show?” the boy next to her growled.
I shrugged.
“At a certain point all politics is just a big show. So Chi Song who’s your friend?”
“Ah! This is Zhu Wuneng. He’s the son of a merchant that works with Dad a lot.” She said before scowling. “Don’t change the subject. What are you doing throwing everything into chaos like this?”
“I’m not though.” I said reasonably. “The leaders behind our little insurgent movement have had months to set themselves up in a way that seems friendly to the public. Bringing in more outsiders just sets up an ‘us vs them’ mentality. I want to have the city get rid of the troublemakers themselves.”
“And then all the good little soldiers you gained get thrown into the war, huh?” Zhu Wuneng said sarcastically. “You think anyone is going to do what you want when they are just going to be sent away from their families?”
“Of course they wouldn’t. That's why I made sure it was a port guard and not a militia. Port guards stay in the city they are assigned no matter what unless they specifically request a transfer.” I waved dismissively.
“Wait, really? That's a thing?” both of them seemed confused.
“Yep!” I said happily. “It’s one of the things that gets overlooked a lot because most colonies don’t have large amounts of recruits locally so they all get sent to training camps. I’m just making sure the reinforcements are people from the city.”
A maid entered and bowed before reminding me I had a meeting with the garrison commander in a few minutes.
I let out another sigh. Some days just seemed to drag on forever.
“Well I’m still busy, but if you want to talk more let me know. Dealing with stuck up adults has a way of wearing on you.”
Chi Song seemed open to the idea at least. Zhu Wuneng was just trying to appear respectful while still glaring at me.
Probably still mad about the speech, but I think I dangled enough hints to make him interested. If he came by again I would see what I might be able to use him for.
We said our farewells and I headed off to my next appointment.