The two guards were taken to see a doctor while I had Chi Song and Zhu Wuneng taken to a more private location.

To ensure that they both cooperated through the meeting, I had wooden handcuffs on both of them and made sure there was no earth anywhere accessible.

“Now that we are all comfortable,” I started off, sinking into a chair across from the glaring Chi Song and the now conscious Zhu Wuneng. “I want to know exactly how an Earthbender managed to pass herself off as the daughter of a Fire Nation noble. A cover? Replacement? Or are you just adopted?”

“How dare you!” Chi Song bit out. “They are my real parents.”

“I don’t see how.” I casually replied. “Nobility has their background checked before they take up stations in the colonies specifically to ensure there is no conflict of interest to their post. I will have to have someone check the records, but if either one of them came from the Earth Kingdom there is no chance they would have been sent here.”

“So once again, how can an Earthbender pass herself off as their daughter?”

The glare Chi Song gave me never changed in its intensity, “Well when a mommy Earthbender or a daddy Earthbender love eachother very much…”

I snorted.

“Cute, but please take this seriously.”

“Just tell her, Song. It’s not like she’s gonna care.” Zhu Wuneng said bitterly.

“You’re right. I probably won’t care why a pair of insurgents and traitors have been working to overthrow the order of an entire city.”

“We aren’t traitors!” Chi Song yelled. “My father has been working for years to make sure the people in the city aren’t just second class citizens to the jerks in the main islands. I would never throw that away!”

I regarded her carefully. “You are actually his daughter…” She nodded. “How?”

“My great-great-grandfather moved to the Fire Nation from the Earth Kingdom.” Chi Song admitted. “No one else in my family had the talent for earthbending...until me.”

That was probably not true, I realised. Bending ran pretty true in most families and while it was common that the ability skipped a generation occasionally, it was more likely the rest of her family simply never realised they could earthbend.

It also made sense that her heritage slipped through the cracks. No one really paid close attention to those things until the start of the war, or so I was told. Digging through mounds of family records to determine a person’s heritage wasn’t something I would ever do.

“...so why did you attack me?” My thoughts were all over the place now, but I was curious.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“...I thought you knew I was an earthbender.” Chi Song said in a small voice, shoulders hunching inward.

“Why would I know that?”

Her head slumped down. “Fine, you want me to say it? I figured you recognized me from the attack on your carriage.”

“...”

“...”

Both Zhu Wuneng and I just stared at her until she started to fidget under our gaze.

“I...I don’t know what to say to that.” Zhu Wuneng whined.

I kneaded the bridge of my nose. “So you thought I was going to call you put for being an earthbender because of an attack, that lasted for less than a minute, over two weeks ago because why again?”

“Well what else could it have been?” Chi Song said defensively.

“How about the fact you were spying on me and weren’t exactly subtle about it?”

Zhu Wuneng groaned and Chi Song was practically glowing with how hard she was blushing.

“I...well...that was…” She stuttered.

“Enough.” I waved a hand. “If you aren’t trying to cause a revolt against the Fire Nation why would you attack me in the first place?”

“I told you, it’s because I thought you knew I was-”

“No, not just now. At the carriage.” I clarified. “What would attacking me and your father accomplish?”

Chi Song muttered something under her breath but I couldn’t hear her.

“What was that?”

“She said, ‘we thought it was another useless Noble trying to get rich’ besides we didn’t know her dad was there. He never goes personally if he can help it.” Zhu Wuneng said.

I raised an eyebrow. “‘We’, huh?”

He stiffened momentarily before relaxing again.

“Well it’s obvious I would be involved by now, right? Might as well come clean.”

Not throwing his friend under the cart now that they were exposed? If nothing else Zhu Wuneng was loyal. I could respect that.

“So what now?”

What now indeed. I had gotten the answers I was after. Now I had to deal with the fact the both of them had not only attacked me, but also planned to kidnap me no matter how unsuccessful they were.

If they were anyone else I would just throw the pair of them in jail and be done with it. But one was the daughter of the mayor and the other was the son of a very influential merchant. While neither one would really be able to cause me issues per say, it would still cause distractions I didn’t need at the moment.

I blinked as an idea popped into my head. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would make sure I could keep an eye on them both.

“Well, there is no denying that I hold both your and your family’s future in my hand at the moment.” I started ominously. Both of them went pale and started sweating when they saw the smile on my face.

“So this is what you are going to do…”

-o-

“Are you really going to do this, princess?” Sha Wujing pleaded with a tired air around him.

Captain Mako, who was standing besides him, just laughed and clapped Sha Wujing on the back. “Ha, ha, ha! C’mon boy, lighten up! This will be good for the harmony between the colonies and the homeland.”

Sha Wujing rocked on his feet under the force of the Captain’s pat and just shot the older man a glare.

“You don’t care because you don’t need to deal with the mess this is going to cause, old man.” he accused.

“Got that right!”

“Alright, enough you two.” I decided to cut in. “Sha Wujing, you will be in charge of securing those that attend the meeting Zhu Wuneng called. Remember, no excessive force. If they only follow us because they are under threat they will be useless for my plans.

Captain Mako, any update on the situation up north?”

“Yeah. We confirmed a couple Water Tribe looking ships making runs every once in a while.” Captain Mako said while scratching the side of his head. “No idea how many of them there are or where they head off to just yet, but we know where they call home.”

I nodded.

“In that case start prepping your men for an assault. Once Commander Sha finishes his end we will strike both the port and the base in the city at the same time. Spirits willing, we should be able to round up all the leaders of this little insurrection in no time.”

“”Yes, Your Highness.”” Both of them saluted and left to complete their tasks.

Now alone, I picked up a cup of tea and enjoyed the warm feeling spreading throughout my palms.

With a little luck all the problems plaguing Danyuan will be solved in a week or two. Then I could start focusing on spreading my influence to the neighboring ports. It would be the foundation for all my plans to come.

Just wait, Father. Soon the war will be the least of your worries.