Chapter 4

Part 3

Fine.

It was a pretty good speech.

Iroza nodded graciously as the nobles muttered their appreciation among themselves.

More impressed and awed looks from the suckups and groupies.

He avoided scowling when a few mutters made it through the noise.

Yes, he was coming in second to his sister.

Was it still impressive to be up for mastery at so young?

Also yes.

So they could all go fuck themselves.

Rama went on, either not noticing or wisely deciding not to.

"To that end," he said, quieting the crowd with a look. "I am pleased no, honored to announce that his grace, Prince Iroza, will be joining the ranks of Wan Bhing's military in an official capacity. By my authority as both General and Governor of Wan Bhing, Prince Iroza will receive the highest honor I can bestow."

He gestured to Iroza, and the crowd hung on his every word with bated breath.

The guy knew how to play a crowd.

Even Iroza was a little excited, though he tried not to look like it.

Then Rama kept talking.

"Please join me in welcoming Prince Iroza, Supreme Royal Adjutant of Wan Bhing!"

There was a lot of applause.

In the back of his mind, Iroza vaguely remembered to smile and raise his glass.

Look pleased, Iroza.

Look genuinely surprised, Iroza.

Don't mess up this moment, Iroza.

This was all for you, after all.

How annoying was it that his sister was the nagging voice of reason in his head?

Very annoying.

Not to mention ironic.

He said several words of thanks to General Rama.

Humbled and honored.

That sort of thing.

He assured the nobles that he would do his best to serve Wan Bhing and combat the forces of Earth Kingdom.

Something along those lines.

He wasn't really focused on it.

Wasn't really paying attention.

At the exact moment Rama had said those words, Iroza had narrowed his eyes.

It was a minor lapse.

Just a teensy slipup.

His facade was forgotten for a brief few seconds before he remembered to smile again.

His mind had been transfixed on those words, and the way Rama had said them.

Supreme.

Royal.

Adjutant.

Huh.

It was almost funny, how little those words meant when strung together like that.

Ha.

Haha.

Iroza smiled and looked pleased and thanked Rama and assured the nobles.

He did all of those things, and as he did them he quickly scanned the room.

It couldn't be an obvious scan.

His demeanor meant that he appeared as though he was looking around in shock or bewilderment.

He laughed once or twice in that 'too excited to speak' way, and a few nobles chuckled.

Including Rama.

As he looked around, he took in the faces of anyone of any sort of importance.

Their expressions.

Were they surprised?

Were they acting surprised?

Were they paying any attention at all?

He looked for the obvious first, with his limited time.

Knowing smiles.

Disinterested glances.

Amused looks.

Frowns.

Anything he could pick out.

Above all, anyone who looked smug, or pleased in an annoying way.

Like they had gained something or seen something through.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Despite himself, his heart was speeding up a bit.

Rama looked pleased, and he had no subtlety at all.

Could that be a ruse?

It was clever if it was one.

Pretend to be the bumbling fool, while keeping a sinister nature out of sight.

A classic.

Almost trope-like.

The nobles all looked as they ought to, from his quick glances.

Fuck.

This wasn't ideal at all.

He briefly met eyes with Mai, who wore the slightest of frowns for a few seconds before her expression went blank.

She looked right at him, gave a brief shake of her head, and then looked down at her plate.

So she hadn't seen anything either.

Damn.

His cursory scan of the room took only a handful of seconds, and it ended before he was satisfied with it.

But it wouldn't do at all to stay excited and overwhelmed, even if it gave him longer to look around.

Bad for appearances.

So.

Not a lot to go on.

But alarm bells were screaming in his head.

Nobody was acting like this was an insult.

Or a strange position for fucking royalty.

They were all cheering and many of them would likely be very drunk by the end of the night, which wasn't far off.

He mouthed the title again, making sure his eyes didn't look so dead as he did.

Supreme Royal Adjutant.

A nothing title with no authority to speak of.

From his limited knowledge, an adjutant was just an assistant.

It wasn't actually a position within the established military chain of command Fire Nation used.

It was a side thing.

A secretary role in service of senior officers, but called something different.

Not a combat role.

Not a leadership role.

An assistant role.

Either this was his father's doing, or something strange was going on.

Iroza thought about it, then tilted his head.

As much as his father hated him, and may not want Iroza earning any acclaim of his own, there was absolutely no way he would suffer his blood being saddled with an assistant title.

He would consider it a grave insult.

For that reason alone, Iroza was a little tempted to say nothing and play along.

But that was the thing.

It wasn't Ozai.

Couldn't be him.

Ozai didn't do subtle.

And he was too proud for this sort of thing.

Too wrapped up in his own family's legend to risk debasing it like this.

No.

This was something else.

Someone else, tampering somehow.

That, more than the title itself, was the most concerning part of all this.

Iroza breathed out slowly, relishing the heat that simmered beneath his skin.

A reflex.

For now, he let the heat recede and fade out. Returning to the moment and leaving his many thoughts for later, Iroza joined back in on the trite conversations with a smile.

A genuine one, this time.

He couldn't help it.

Something interesting had finally happened, and he was overjoyed.