Book 2, Sequel to "The Concubine's Apprentice"
"Are you done?"
Her blood ran cold as she realized she wasn't alone. She looked up and through the reflection, she saw the source of her suffering, the bane of her existence.
Her mentor.
"Ye...
He never once had a peaceful sleep since that night. Every little sound startled him and kept him awake until the sun rose in the east.
After that first night that someone had tried to kill him, there have been four more attempts.
"Down with the traitor! Down with the Fire Lord who betrays his own people!"
Despite heightened security and drastic measures, Zuko was still in unease. One such night, he shot up from sleep, gasping from his nightmare. "Who's there?!"
Zuko got up from his bed and marched to the door. Alarmed, the guards rushed to the Fire Lord. "Fire Lord, please, go back to sleep. We're in the most secure tower in the entire palace!"
"No one will get to you tonight, we assure you, your Highness!"
"Just like no one got to you last night, or the night before that, or the night before—"
"Do not mock me!" Infuriated and anxious, he grabbed a soldier by the collar and shouted in his face. "There have already been five attempts on my life since I took the throne!"
"A-and that's why we moved you here! Please! You have to trust—" The soldier was cut off when an object flew and hit him in the helmet hard. The object attached to a long metal chain slinked back into the darkness of the hallway.
Zuko let go of the guard and aimed a shot of fire from where the spiked weapon came from.
"Down with the traitor! Down with the Fire Lord who betrays his own people!"
He barely avoided the iron spikes that was aimed for his head as the assassin jumped out of nowhere, but the latter wasn't finished. The intruder then aimed for Zuko's leg, the long chain wrapping around his ankle and making him lose his balance.
Before the assassin could deliver a final blow, Zuko managed to retaliate, sending jabs and fire fists. One such attack rendered the attacker incapacitated and he took his chance to pull off the mask.
"Convince me not to take your life!"
"Go ahead!" She dared him, not flinching in the slightest. "My family has been loyal to yours for generations! By getting rid of me, you would simply complete your betrayal!
"Your... family?"
"My father is the Mayor of Yu Dao!"
"Yu Dao..."He thought as he stared into her hatred-filled eyes."The first of the Fire Nation colonies..."
"Yu Dao is my home, and now you and the Avatar are going to destroy it with your precious Harmony Restoration Movement!"
Ups! Gambar ini tidak mengikuti Pedoman Konten kami. Untuk melanjutkan publikasi, hapuslah gambar ini atau unggah gambar lain.
The morning after the attack, Kori was sent back to Yu Dao in chains. Her father, Mayor Morishita, was in utter shock to see his daughter in such a state. "W-who are these men?! What are these chains?!"
