ice in my veins and a fire in your heart

i

"Are you sure you should go alone?" Ty Lee asked. "This person could still be around. At least let me or Suki come with you."

Nava worried her lip between her teeth. She glanced up at the sky. It was going to start getting dark soon and if they didn't find this person by nightfall, they probably weren't going to find them at all. "Fine," she relented. "Ty Lee, you can come with me, and Suki, you can go tell Zuko what we found."

"Be careful, you two," Suki said before she turned and sprinted back towards the palace walls.

Nava and Ty Lee followed the ostrich-horse tracks back towards the stables, but the trail stopped at the line of trees that were behind the barn and separated the road from the rhino enclosure.

"Keep an eye out," Nava whispered to Ty Lee as she re-loaded her bow. "They might still be around."

The two of them split up as they crept around the area, searching for anything that looked out of place or new. After a few minutes, they met up at the entrance of the barn, emptyhanded.

"I don't understand," Nava sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's like they just disappeared into thin air."

"Let's head back, maybe there's something we missed," Ty Lee said. "If not, then we'll just send the recon squadron. They're better equipped than we are."

They re-traced their steps back towards the palace but didn't find any other clues that would lead them to the intruder. Before they went to see Zuko and Suki, Nava returned to the pond to retrieve the throwing knife that had hit the dirt. She held it up by two fingers and examined the blade. Sure enough, there was a coating of something on the blade – it was clear and shiny and smelled weirdly sweet, like berries.

Nava handed it off to a guard and told him to take it to the alchemist to have it examined. She and Ty Lee met Zuko and Suki back in his office.

"The intruder got inside the walls from a tree whose branches were low enough to climb up from the ground, and then we followed ostrich-horse footprints to the stables, but the trail ended there," Nava said. "I think this person was acting alone; they'd want to avoid drawing attention to themselves. I sent the knife they used to the alchemist, there was something on the blade that smelled sweet."

"Did you see any witnesses?" Zuko asked. He was sitting in his chair, elbows resting on his desk and his fingers steepled in front of his mouth. Nava could see sweat beading on his temple.

"No, there was no one around. Not even the stable boys were there."

"Send someone to find them and bring them in for questioning, please, Suki," Zuko said. "As well as anyone that was around that area within the last couple of days. I want a record of everyone coming in and out of the palace from the last forty-eight hours."

"Sure thing, Your Majesty," Suki said. She bowed curtly and left the office.

"Ty Lee, can you send these to my uncle, Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Aang?" Zuko held out four rolls of parchment. "If someone is targeting me, they may also be at risk of attack. And then after you're done, can you have someone make arrangements to have that tree along the western wall removed? As well as anything else that can be climbed to gain access to the palace?"

"Sure," Ty Lee said as she took the letters. She bowed before turning and following Suki out the door.

Nava was left standing in front of Zuko's desk. She watched him as he ran a hand over his face and blew a large breath out through his nose.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Tired," he said plainly. "This transfer of power isn't going as smoothly as I would like it to. There are still lots of people within the kingdom that are loyal to my father. I thought I had gotten rid of the loyalists from within the palace, but I guess I was wrong."