Of Lordships & Dark Spirits 7 (Patreon)

Lee and his probable fiancee searched through the warehouse for her wedding dress. As they searched, Lee had a few questions, “If you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you run off to be a bandit chief and ditch the wedding? I haven’t gotten any hint of you looking forward to married life, given how much you’ve been bitching over it.”

She was quiet for a solid minute, to the point Lee figured that she was ignoring him, before she quietly answered, “If you tell anyone I’m saying this I’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll be coughing dirt.”

“I expected nothing less,” Lee joked as he pried open a crate. Lots of rice, but no dress.

“My fiancee is the new Lord responsible for the entire province. Without a stabilizing force, the different noble families will decide to stop playing around and try to seize the position for themselves. The Hundred Year War only just reached a ceasefire, and the province needs the peace to last. There aren’t enough grain stores to handle another conflict. The new Lord’s someone from the Fire Nation, they need someone to help them keep the local lords in line and who is familiar with the subtle policies and interactions between the nobility.

“If I were to run off, countless people would die. Either when the conflict reignites or when famine hits because the nobles were too busy chasing power to pay attention to the lands they’re supposed to be caring for.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Lee told her, “I don’t know how much my opinion is worth, but from what I’ve seen I think you’ll do an incredible job. Of the nobility I’ve worked for, the best ones were those that actually gave a damn. You’re willing to marry someone you don’t know because people you will never meet will suffer if you don’t.”

“Don’t get cheesy on me, Squatter,” she drawled, but Lee could see the hint of a blush on her cheeks.

“I’m just saying, it’s an admirable quality to have.”

She was quiet for a moment, before softly saying, “Don’t.”

Confused, Lee turned to look at her, seeing the sad expression on her face as she continued, “Don’t get attached, I just explained why I need to go through with the wedding. It’s for the best that after we’re done here we don’t see each other again. I don’t want my future husband to have any reason to think I’m doing anything that might possibly be trying to sabotage him.”

[hr][/hr]

By the time Lee returned and had the stolen goods collected, all he wanted to do was collapse in his bed and sleep for a week. Unfortunately, he still had one particular headache to deal with.

“Welcome back, Lord Lee,” Joo Dee said with her porcelain, unsettling grin.

If it weren’t for the fact that there was the plan to feed her faulty information to send back to whomever was holding her leash back in Ba Sing Se, Lee would be hard pressed to resist the temptation to drive Vaatu through her skull at this moment. Instead, he did his best to ignore her and got to work dealing with the proper storage and distribution of the reclaimed taxes, as well as figuring out where everything else the Red Lilies had taken needed to go.

Sending the stolen goods back to the people they’d been stolen from would held ease tensions and keep potential outbursts from various local lords, buying him more time to settle into his position and find some new method of keeping the aristocracy and commoners placated long enough for everyone to settle into the new, post war normal.

The most aggravating aspect would be finding more locals he’d be able to trust not to fuck him over because of his Fire Nation looks. If he could get General Fong on his side, preferably in charge of the security of the Province, then he’d be in a much better position. But, unfortunately, the very thing that made him want Fong with him would probably serve to make convincing him that much harder.

General Fong was a soldier, one who’d dragged his way from nothing to one of the highest ranks in the Earth Kingdom, the most nepotism-ridden and fracture-prone nation in the world. The Fire nation was bad in terms of nepotism, but from everything Lee had seen in the War the Earth Kingdom was somehow worse. All of that meant that Fong had to have displayed enough hatred of the Fire Nation to go along with his skills and accolades to have impressed the normally snobby nobility.

Running a hand through his hair, Lee pushed aside his thoughts on the matter, and made his way to Noriko’s part of the finally restored manor. To his surprise, she had a visitor. Lao Beifong sat next to her, little Jiroh sleeping comfortably in his lap.

“Lord Beifong, I was not expecting to see you for another moon,” Lee said with a respectful bow as he entered.

“Please, we will be family, you may call me Lao,” the older man said as he stood, cradling Jiroh with the ease of a practiced parent. “Poppy and Toph will be arriving in time for the wedding, but we concluded that it would help if you had a member of the local nobility present during the lead up. I will not undermine you, Lord Lee. My role will be to advise and offer my knowledge of the local landscape, both economically and politically.”

“He has already been a great help,” Noriko said with a smile. “Plus, he is wonderful with Jiroh.”

I glanced towards the man, not having expected him to be so accepting of Jiroh, considering I was marrying his daughter. He gave a small smile, full of mixed emotions, “Toph’s birth was very hard on Poppy, and she was born two months early. After the birth… we tried, but Poppy couldn’t have any more. We…” he took a breath, “Lord Lee, given the difficulties Poppy had, I would be understanding if Toph has similar troubles. Should you be in a similar position, and Toph can only bear a single child, I would ask that you instead allow me to teach him to be my successor in overseeing Gaoling. Should the worst come to pass, and you are left with no choice but to make Jiroh your heir, I will… understand.”

Both Noriko and I were shocked, not expecting this at all. I shared a glance with her, taking a moment to organize my thoughts. From what I’d seen of Toph, I couldn’t imagine her being tiny, helpless, and weak. But it did go a long way in explaining the stories that she’d shared of how protective her parents were. They’d come so close to losing her, and then with them unable to have any more children, she was all that they had.

“Hopefully it won’t become necessary, Lord Beifong,” Noriko said as she stood, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “But thank you, all the same.”

Lao nodded and smiled to her, carefully passing Jiroh back to his mother before turning back to Lee, “I have said my piece on the matter, and I will say no more. For now, there are certain things that need to be decided on before the wedding. Have you chosen a house name and sigil?”

Lee let out a sigh. Dealing with bandits was so much simpler than this.

[hr][/hr]

“I can understand the impulse, but having your spirit-blade as the sigil would send a very militant message to the rest of the nobility,” Lao said as he and Lee sat in the latter’s office.

“I’m a soldier, what else would I go with?” Lee asked half sarcastically.

“Perhaps a wolfbadger? They are recognized as fierce in a fight, but loyal to their own with a willingness to adopt orphaned pups,” Lao suggested. “If you feel the need to incorporate your spirit-blade, perhaps an open wolfbadger head, with the teeth made to look like crystals?”

Lee hummed in consideration before answering, “It’ll do. What about colors?”

“Purple is something I’d recommend against. The dyes are expensive, hard to source, and are most common in the regions surrounding Ba Sing Se,” Lao said almost immediately. “Greens are common everywhere in the Earth Kingdom, as are browns. However, you were raised by the Fire Nation. Perhaps a green background, brown for the wolfbadger head, and red for the teeth?”

Lee gave a look to Lao, “Yes, let’s have the color of blood for the teeth, I’m sure that will send a message of peace and prosperity.”

Lao grinned, “Glad to see you are still paying attention. I realize that this is hardly the most exciting thing for one of your skillset, but it is something that will make a difference in the long run.”

He grunted, “Just leave out the red, I don’t hold any particular loyalty to the Fire Nation anyway.”

“Very well, now onto the House Name.”

Lee groaned as his head thumped onto the desk, “Clearly I failed to stop the assassins in the Earth King’s court and I am now being eternally punished by the spirits.”

Even without looking, Lee could feel his future father in law rolling his eyes, “Are you a warrior or a petulant child? Straighten up, there isn’t much more to go. Focus on this, and when we finish I will ensure that Joo Dee doesn’t bother you for the rest of the day.”

Turning his head, Lee glared at Lao, grumbling, “I know you’re playing me. That is bait to get me to walk into your prepared ambush.” Lao simply continued to stare at Lee, who continued, “I hate that it’s working.”

Ignoring the chuckling from Lao, Lee sat up and looked over the myriad of potential names listed. Lee wasn’t particularly well versed in House names, they were predominantly an Earth Kingdom custom. But, seeing as how he was now in charge of governing a particular part of the Earth Kingdom, he needed one.

“What do you suggest?” Lee asked.

“Something that showcases how you hope to rule, while also serving as a recognition of your past, perhaps using ‘Wu’ as the root? Given your exploits during the war,” Lao suggested.

“Fine, ‘Wu’ it is. Now the rest of it?”

“Well how do you intend to rule? Do you intend to crush and dissent until they stop treating this like an extension of the war?”

Lee let out a sigh as he stood up. Looking out the window, he began speaking, “Fire isn’t destruction. It isn’t wiping out anything and everything in its path. But that’s the image that the war has given of fire, not just to the rest of the world, but to those that wield it. So many think that the only way to utilize firebending is through anger, through rage.

“I haven’t used my anger to fuel my fire in decades, but that is the image that I will be facing. I need something to separate me from that image of a raging monster that only knows how to destroy, to turn things to ash. Ignoring the fact that they all use fire to heat their homes, to cook their food.

“Fire isn’t destruction. Fire, more than any other element, is life. It needs to be fed, it dies, and when not used with respect, it causes harm just as people do. But when the passion that fuels it is tempered with discipline…”

Lee gestured to the city beyond, buildings overlooking a river, leading up into the mountainside and framed by an ancient forest, before finishing, “Fire can create unimaginable wonders.”

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“Well, I think I know what to make your house name,” Lao said with a smile, making Lee blink.

“Sorry, got caught up in the moment,” Lee apologized, but Lao just chuckled, rising to clap a shoulder on the younger man’s shoulder.

“No need to apologize, just go spend an afternoon with your son, Lord Wuxu.”