FIC: Pai Sho (Iroh, Azulon, Ozai - PG)

[lizbee]

Title: Pai Sho
Author: LizBee
Rating: PG
Content warnings: Arranged marriage
Notes: I wrote this a long time ago (last edited 316 days ago, according to GDocs!), but I was never happy with it until now.  Many thanks to weaverandom for reading it over.


Summary: With Azulon, it's never just a simple game.




Pai Sho
by LizBee

 

For a long time, the only sounds in the Fire Lord’s chamber were the crackle of the fire and the click of pai sho tiles.

Eventually, when his son had almost completed the capture of the southern quadrant, Azulon said, “Lord Gentzu’s daughter is almost of age.”

Iroh’s attention was on his chrysanthemum tile.

“Didn’t his wife die last year?” he said absently.

“Three years ago.  You've grown too isolated on the front.”

“I don’t pay attention to gossip,” said Iroh.

“Think of it as intelligence,” the Fire Lord instructed.  “The girl is fifteen.  Gentzu has taken great pains to draw her to my attention of late.  I am deciding whether or not to take formal notice.”  He lay down his red lily tile, shattering the harmony Iroh had constructed in the eastern quadrant.

“His wife.”  Iroh sipped his tea.  “There was some kind of scandal?”

“Not quite,” said Azulon.  “Lady Gentzu’s father was never formally declared traitor.”

“Yes,” said Iroh.  “I remember now.”  His attention was on the board, and the damage his father had done to his careful strategy.  “Grandfather wouldn’t have permitted it.”

“History marches on.”

“An Avatar’s granddaughter?”  Iroh chose his tile.  “Fifteen, you say?”

“Last spring.”

“Educated?”

“She is adept at calligraphy, has some small skill with the shamisen.  The rest is unremarkable.  Her father claims she is beautiful.  Merely pretty, I thought.”

“Is she a firebender?”

“She performed the Fire Dances with uncommon grace.”  At Iroh's look he added, "Not every woman can command a blockade.”

Iroh said nothing.

“Lu Ten needs a mother,” said the Fire Lord.  “You need more sons.”

“Zhi Leng dreamed of a daughter,” said Iroh.  He had thought himself in command of his emotions, but his voice shook. 

Azulon frowned.  “Commondore Zhi Leng’s death was a tragedy for the whole Fire Nation.”

“Permit me the indulgence of my personal grief, Father,” said Iroh.  This time, his voice was even, though the fire roared behind him.  “Small exchange for the honour she brought our family.”

He rose to his feet, kicking away the encumbrance of his formal civilian robes.  He concentrated all his attention on the rituals of tea making, and when he returned to the pai sho table with a fresh pot of ginseng tea, the fire had dimmed.  He offered a cup to his father with a bow.

A thin smile touched Azulon’s lips.

“Perhaps,” he said, “Lu Ten should marry the girl.”

“Lu Ten is nine.”

“Not forever.”

“A moment ago, you said he needed a mother.”

“Mother.  Wife.”  Azulon shrugged, dismissing the difference.  “I think Gentzu would appreciate the traditionalism of the arrangement.”

“The girl may think otherwise.”  Iroh selected his dragon rose tile and set it down, destroying his father’s north wind gambit. 

“A fine move, Prince Iroh,” said the Fire Lord.  “I’m glad your time on the front hasn’t caused you to think mere games beneath you.”

“Say the opposite, rather.”

“Your honoured mother feared that you would begin to consider civilian pastimes foolish.”

“If I didn’t love the ways and traditions of the Fire Nation,” said Iroh, “I’d have no business leading our armies.”

“You know,” said Azulon, “I think perhaps it would be a mistake, to one day let Roku’s descendants hold the throne.”

He spoke in the manner of a man who had just come to a realisation.  Iroh was not fooled.

“Ozai is too young,” he said.

“Ozai is twenty-four.”

“He’s irresponsible.  Short-tempered.  Self-absorbed.”

“You only see your brother,” said Azulon, “at his very worst.  When you're at the front, he takes on the domestic duties of the crown prince, as well as his own.  It’s only when you’re home that he becomes … lax.”

“It’s disrespectful.”

“That he doesn’t consider you worth impressing?  Yes, and careless, and foolish.  But the responsibilities of a wife and children would would steady him.”  The Fire Lord lay down his white lotus tile with a loud, satisfying clack. 

Iroh’s defences, which he had thought impenetrable, collapsed. 

Azulon smiled.

“You were an only child for too many years, Iroh.  Until you became a man, you never had to learn to share.  Or lose.  Or compete.” 

Iroh bowed. 

“I see, Father,” he said.

"Tell your brother he will meet his future wife in a month."

"Yes, Father."

“Thank you for the tea,” said the Fire Lord.  “And the game.  Both have improved immensely.”

Iroh found Ozai on the training grounds, pushing himself against the combined might of two guards.  His form was good, Iroh realised, with a discipline most soldiers would envy.  Until he caught Iroh's eye, and then became deliberately casual, almost careless. 

It was typical of Ozai, Iroh thought.  A waste of talent and dedication. 

When Ozai was done, Iroh just said, "Father has chosen your bride.  You'll meet her in a month."

Ozai's eyes widened, and he said, "Who--"

"Avatar Roku's granddaughter."

He watched his brother, waiting for the moment of recognition that the girl was as much a burden as a prize, but Ozai only smiled and said, "Thank you, brother." 

Iroh watched his little brother walk away, and wondered what it was he was missing.

end

Comments

[lunafana.livejournal.com]

That was awesome! I always assumed that Ursa's lineage was a secret because Zuko was ignorant of it, but now I realize it could just as well have been because no one talked about Ursa anymore due to the whole treason thing. I loved the dynamics between father and son and the two brothers, it felt so real and textured. Also the shattering of Iroh's defenses, true of the conversation as well as the game. (Did you get the game rules from the Pai Sho Project by any chance? I'm trying to incorporate those rules into a scene, and it's hard due to how much I suck at board games.) And it's so interesting about Iroh's late wife and how Ursa was originally considered for Iroh's second wife. Even though by modern sensibilities the match is a bit ugh, I think it actually would have worked out pretty well in a respectful and amicable relationship. Ah well.

One thing I wanted to mention was that you're one of the few authors in this fandom I know of who can make the characters feel like they're actually from pre-modern Asia. The little touches like its being perfectly acceptable, indeed the only way, for a royal father to choose his son's bride, your knowledge of culture like its once being normal for a teenage girl to marry a prepubescent boy, and the strong emotions that swirl in undercurrent and nuance beneath a very restrained surface--all these things really bring out the feel of the setting. Nice.