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Hou-tang, 53rd Monarch of the Earth Kingdom

"The legacy of a ruler is measured in the power of their hand will over their people. For it is the ruler's hand that shifts the ground, and the people who yield a their king's riches."

It was a principle that guided her predecessors throughout the kingdom's history. From its formation those centuries ago when the people were divided and lost in the hills and fields that made up their land; to The Gold and Jade Wars, to the Iron Age, it has always been the might of the Earthbending dynasties that have given The Earth Kingdom its strength.

And then there was her dynasty.

It wasn't just that her own ancestors were weak. Non-benders. Only in power due to years of loyalty and a peaceful passing of the last Earthbending King, the 45th.

Or because as the only true non-bending dynasty, they had shown to be less powerful than their predecessors. Usurped and overtaken by The Fire Nation 71 years ago. Surrounded by her rivals—Omashu, the United Republic of Nations, and now that Metalbending city in the north.

And still seen by the other nations as a figurehead in comparison to the Fire Nation and its own shining firebendering monarchs.

It was because she was almost always reminded of these things.

She had The Avatars to thank for that.

Avatar Kyoshi. That camelephant. She was the first to challenge her family, and it was her arrogance and bending that took her family's true power over the people away. She could sometimes imagine the forceful way the palace had been seized by the big-footed peon. And to add insult to injury, she even had the nerve to give The 46th The Dai Li—as if by giving her non-bending dynasty the strongest their kingdom had to offer she were doing the Earth Kingdom a favor, and not reminding them of what they lacked.

She hated Avatar Kyoshi. If she could wipe away Kyoshi's existence from history, she would. If she could have been there to end Kyoshi's campaign, she would have done so.

And then there was Avatar Aang. The last Airbender-born Avatar who's meddling once again weakened her dynasty under her father's rule. It hadn't been enough that his inability to protect her soft-hearted father had led to the coup on the throne and Fire Nation occupation—with the aid of his predecessor's benders no less. His meddling in Earth Nation affairs and that initiative of his—the "Harmony Restorative Movement" (she hated that movement)—had taken away their land. Land that had been part of The Earth Kingdom for than he had been alive. It was his hand that had created the United Republic Nations. And that had led to the movement of Earthbenders into the city, Republic City. The growth of Republic City's own Iron Age.

She hated Avatar Aang. She hated Avatar Aang almost as much as she hated Avatar Kyoshi. She hated that Airbender-Aang, the one that had used wind to shift the earth from her own hand.

Earth she that she had always thought would be impossible to gather in her hands again...

She made her way down her temple's steps and into the tunnel, flanked by her most trusted Dai Li agents. Her slippers were soft on the ground, their soles thin enough to feel the rocks underneath. The fires in the lanterns crackling quietly above head. She hated this, and if she wasn't excited, she wouldn't be here right now.

Her escorts stopped in front of a door and moved for her to step closer.

"Open it."

They complied.

She peered inside.

Earthbender citizens. From the lower circuit—she didn't have to see their rags; she could smell them…feel the way they tried to scurry at her prescence.

"Bow to your queen!" The agent on her left yelled.

They complied, the palms in their hands digging into the rocks.

Airbenders. Green-eyed, Earth Kingdom Airbenders.

"How many have been found so far?"

"Three have been collected in the first hour. All agents are traveling throughout the lower rings and listening for any strange news. We also wait for you instruction for possible Airbenders that may emerge in the Upper Rings."

She thought about daylight, and the arrival of yet another Avatar on her soil. A girl. She had heard the whispers throughout the court. This one would be a lot like that cowpig Kyoshi in the personality department.

"For now, finish collecting in the lower ring before daybreak. And tell someone to make sure The Avatar's quarters are prepared—away from me. As far from the palace as possible. I don't want to see her or her ragtag group if I help it."

The Dai Li bowed. "As is your will."

She smiled.

The Queen's Will

R&R.