Chapter Text
"How do you plead against the charges?" Fire Emperor Zuko's voice carries over the vastness of his throne room, his subjects and witnesses enraptured by the scene.
Their gazes reside on your form as you stand before your Fire Emperor, your husband, your judge and executioner. It's the first time you actually behold his full glory. Lucious and long dark hair, angular facial features, golden hues that sparkle under the fire's luminescence, and he must have a great build to pull off those stuffy crimson robes.
If only you weren't in a situation that beckoned his fury, you would stay here all day just to stare at him.
If only he didn't believe you to be a murderer! No one perished. Better yet, you haven't even committed a crime.
"I would say not guilty, but I doubt you'd believe me." You cross your arms indignantly. Your voice may not be as powerful as his, and you lower it to a whisper as you mutter your next statement. "This is what I get for not minding my business."
"What was that?" he thunders, unamused by your remorseless attitude.
Had he known you better, he would know this all to be a waste of time. This performative meeting could have been a quick letter, where you'd instantly resolve the miscommunication. The fact that you must leave the safety of your obscurity, near decimate your clandestine operations in the palace (nothing scandalous, just tending to your plants), irritates you into a state of... Well, having an attitude.
You shout into the empty space to provide exactly what the Fire Emperor wants. "I said, this is what I get for not minding my business!" You say the truth with your entire body, stunning the room.
The blatant insubordination echoes and inflames the situation further. Never have they seen a consort behave so rudely at the Fire Emperor. Consorts are supposed to be demure, gentle little creatures that enhance the aesthetic of the palace and support their husband.
You were excellent in that capacity by being the unproblematic of the bunch, but the virtue of patience has left your spirit.
Fire Emperor Zuko leans forward in his chair, fury in his gaze. "Does your business involve poisoning my heir?!"
Oh, you're certainly headed for the gallows after this.
On your twenty-ninth birthday, all you wanted was a divergent moment. An anomaly from the continuity of your bland but safe life. Obviously it did not involve any sort of assassination or the harming of any children (though, you'd certainly wish it did now!!!).
Now, you're embroiled in conflict, front and center to the Fire Emperor's one good eye, a tarnished reputation, and what's worse? People actually know your name now.
You should have never given candy to that child to celebrate your birthday.
Never.