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“..to court one of those barbaric peasants-“
“That’s just wartime propaganda! They’re no different from us, just living in a different place with their own royalty! And now, they’re our allies, and I expect all of you to treat them as such!”
“But my Lord, it just isn’t done!”
“My father, Firelord Ozai, decreed that he would marry Ursa even though she wasn’t a sufficiently high-ranking Fire noble. I see no reason I can’t decree the same.”
“Yes, your Highness, but although she wasn’t part of the court, your mother was a Fire Nation citizen of good heritage that made up for lacking Fire noble status, descended from a powerful bender..”
A triumphantly machiavellian grin flared across his face. “Good heritage? Then there’s nothing to be concerned about! The leader of the Southern Water Tribe is her father. Her family is the equal of mine. Marrying a mere noble instead would be marrying below her rank. And as for bending skills, the woman I intend to marry bears the title of ‘Master’ for her bending prowess, and she herself trained the Avatar.”
The head magistrate spluttered into sulking silence of begrudging acceptance. There were no further points to be discussed, and the meeting adjourned. After the last minister had left the room, Zuko sighed into a stretch. “Well, that worked even better than I thought. I think the trial’s over!”
He stood up and headed out of the room, Suki and Ty Lee flanking his exit, then falling in behind him to walk.
The two guard women shared a look.
Zuko slowed in an empty hallway and turned to look at them both.
“Please, don’t tell anyone what I said in there. Especially not Sokka. Or Aang. Or anyone who knows Katara.”
Suki put on an unconvincingly reassuring smile. “Maybe she’ll like being called Princess and won’t tell them she’s not one?”
“I told them her title is Master because she’s a master waterbender, which is true, so that shouldn’t ever come up.”
Ty Lee looked dubious. “I still think you should’ve asked Azula how to manage this. She had entire charts and stuff on everyone in the royal court and all the ministers and generals. She even had a journal just for tracking the motivations and actions of people she thought would potentially end up in higher level leadership.”
Zuko shook his head resolutely, “No, she’s got enough to deal with as it is. She seems stable now, but I don’t want to add more pressure or pull her back into how she was before. I don’t want to risk undoing her healing progress.”
Suki’s smile softened into genuine sympathy, but as she opened her mouth to reply, the junior magistrate’s voice rang out from the room around the corner. “Ah! Prince Sokka, a delight to have you visit. I trust your accommodations are to your satisfaction?”
“…Wh-what?”
The trio in the hallway froze. A wide-eyed Zuko whispered, “Oh, no.. I forgot about Sokka..”
He whirled around and the three hurried as quickly as royal decorum would allow to intercept.