Spark [Prince Zuko - Book One]

❃Chapter Eighteen❃

Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you all for reading this book! It means a lot to me! But on a different note, I haven't gotten the notification that I updated Chapter Seventeen. Some other readers have pointed out that they hadn't gotten the notification either, so if this does notify you, go look at Chapter Seventeen before reading this chapter. Thanks!

Asake strained against the chains that bound her to the tall pillars on either side of her. They rose up above her head into the ceiling, farther than what she could see in the total darkness that pervaded around her. The handcuffs dug into her wrists with each tug, but she didn't care anymore. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to get away from this place before something terrible happened to her. She wasn't sure how long she spent in the chains at the Pohuai Stronghold, but she knew that she wanted to go home. Though, she wasn't sure what home was. Was it the Fire Nation? Or was it Prince Zuko's ship?

Now that she was thinking about it, Zuko's ship felt like home more than her father's house did. She had friends on the ship, unlike back home. Her father didn't allow her to make any friends from the Royal Fire Academy, so the only person back at the Fire Nation that truly cared for her was her father. Asake didn't know how to feel about her father, though. He was a good man when she was growing up, but when Zuko spoke out of turn, he had turned into a . . . a monster. That man scared her, so she didn't want to go back him again.

From what she knew of her mother, she wouldn't go for a man like that. Her dad had told her stories of her mother about how she was an amazing woman who was so independent and outspoken. Then, how could she have stood Yagow? He couldn't have kept that side of him hidden away for as long as he knew her mom. Unless her mother loved him unconditionally so that she put up with him . . . Asake didn't think she would've done that. If she was anything like her, she would've fought for herself over a silly man.

No wonder her older brother ran away. Maybe Yagow had turned into the monster one too many times, and her brother had enough of it. She didn't blame him if that was his reason for running away. She didn't really know. Her father never spoke of her brother, and rarely spoke of her mother. But if her brother did run away, where did he go? Was he where she was at? Did he keep watch over her and she didn't even know it? Did she ever cross paths with him while on Zuko's ship? She had no idea.

The door squealed as it opened slightly, drawing her out of her thoughts. Shadows covered the door, but the glint of steel from the torches hit her eyes. She held her breath, building the fire in her stomach just in case. She would do anything to fight her way out of here, no matter what.

"Don't worry, little lady," the gravelly voice said, startling her. "It's me."

He stepped into the light of the single torch that hung to her left. The light barely reached his face, but she knew who it was based on the way he was smiling at her. It was Zasai, the man who brought her to the ship. He had an easy smile on his face as he held a delicious-looking tray of food in his hands. Her stomach wrenched at the sight. She hadn't eaten anything since she left the ship. Zhao had used hunger as a punishment against her for hurting him.