As she did every morning of her monotonous life, Queen Hou-Ting rose from her bed—ridiculously large for someone sleeping alone—at exactly 7:13. She let the maids get her ready while the kitchens prepared her royal breakfast.
Once presentable, she ordered the bed replaced and entered the royal dining hall. She chose a couple of dishes she liked among dozens of delicacies and ordered the rest burned. As she began to savor her meal after the poison test, her thoughts were not on the day's agenda but on her upcoming birthday in a week.
It was one of the most interesting times of the year—watching all kinds of nobles and influential people struggle to send her a gift that would earn her favor above the rest.
And speaking of gifts…
"Is there any news from Ganbat?" she asked the aides of Gun, whose role was essentially to report any information she requested.
Gun was a cowardly man, but he would begrudgingly admit that he was a capable coward.
He greatly facilitated the handling of annoying, minor matters, allowing her to divert her energy toward more important affairs: her own.
Perhaps the man should start training a successor—he was getting old, and she was getting sick of seeing his face.
"Not yet, Your Majesty," one of the aides replied. "The last news we received was that his group was heading to the Northern Air Temple area to 'restock'…"
Hou-Ting waved her hand dismissively, silencing him.
"Where in the world has he gone?" the queen thought irritably as she took another bite. "Flying bison meat is fine, but it gets boring, and I explicitly asked him to procure some flying bison calves for my birthday banquet. If there's no news in two days, I'll be forced to change the menu!"
But when she remembered the exquisiteness and tenderness of that meat…
It reminded her of Bosco's flavor.
Ganbat was the leader of the flying bison hunters—a trade that had been threatened in recent years by the growing influence of the Air Acolytes, a bunch of ignorants who acted according to the customs of the Air Nomads even though they weren't real airbenders.
If it hadn't been a political headache, she would've already set up a breeding and consumption facility in the capital.
"Animals exist to be eaten," she thought as she finished the plate. "Endangered? Nonsense. If they really want to increase the population, they should give the beasts that blue medicine."
While her mind wandered, she noticed Gun's aides exchanging glances.
Uneasy glances.
Her mind, sharpened by palace intrigue, quickly spotted the problem and became aware of an inconsistency.
Hou-Ting looked at the empty plates before her in confusion. Her appetite was usually barely enough to eat half a plate, so the fact she had eaten two was unusual.
She still felt hungry, and she had already ordered the rest of the food burned…
"Your Majesty, should I inform the kitchens to prepare more food for you?" one of them offered cautiously.
Normally she would have declined—she always disliked waiting for food to be served—but the hunger still persisted.
"Have them make more dishes," Hou-Ting ordered, and after a moment of deliberation, she added, "Also, bring the royal physician."
With her age creeping up on her, any physical anomaly had to be examined and treated at its root. An increase in appetite was not normal for her.
While waiting for the food and the physician, she gestured for some wine. The last dish had been a bit salty and left her thirsty. Once another aide took a sip and nothing happened, they filled her cup to the brim and she drank, then frowned.
"Is this wine not the usual one?"
The aftertaste was more acidic than she remembered.
"The wine comes from the same place as always, but a group of bandits stole the last batch meant for the palace," the aide made sure the bottle was placed far enough from the queen to avoid having it thrown at his head. "Although they sent another batch right away, this wine is a year younger."
"Tch, they can't even protect a bit of wine," the queen set the cup down with disgust. "I should—"
Unfortunately, she couldn't finish the sentence.
Her limbs went numb, rapidly losing sensation as her throat tightened, making breathing difficult while she felt her lungs freezing by the moment. If all these symptoms weren't enough to make her understand what was happening, then the sickly purple-greenish hue spreading across her skin should have been evidence enough.
Poison!
The aides' first reaction was to check themselves, especially the one who drank the wine. His face turned completely pale, believing he would be next to meet such a tragic fate.
Because even though the royal physician was on his way, he doubted that the man would even give him a glance with the queen in this state!
But they quickly realized something was not right.
He had clearly tasted the wine first, so why wasn't he reacting to the poison before the queen?
The queen noticed Gun's aides switching from panic to confusion, and she grew furious, beginning to pound the table as best she could.
Could they not see she was being poisoned?!
Useless, all of them!
"What is happening here?" Gun entered, accompanied by a man in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck.
"Sir!" one of the aides regained composure upon seeing the bloodshot eyes of the poisoned queen. "The queen has been poisoned!"
Spirits take them… if she survived, what dreadful fate awaited them under that gaze?
"What did you say?!" Gun rushed to the queen with the doctor beside him. "Did you not perform the poison test?!"
"Sir, we both ate and drank," the aide who tasted the wine pointed at himself and at the one who ate from the plate. "We don't feel anything strange!"
"Lock down the palace immediately!" Gun ordered with a burst of heroism he hadn't shown in forty years. "Go! Let the physician treat the queen at once. What matters now is finding the culprit before they escape!"
"Yes sir!" x3
They seemed more grateful to flee the most dangerous zone than eager to carry out orders, but one couldn't deny that they ran with all their strength.
Hou-Ting, though dazed, heard everything. Knowing the royal physician had arrived, she tried to remain calm to facilitate her rescue. This was not the first time she had been poisoned, but even in her condition she still didn't understand how it had happened.
The man in white knelt and checked the queen's pulse.
"How is it?" Gus asked anxiously, rubbing his hands.
Hou-Ting heard his concern and—perhaps it was the poison and lack of air—but she thought she should be kinder to this loyal servant after the affair. She wouldn't kick him in the butt anymore—she would settle for one or two slaps when he made mistakes.
"Everything will be fine…"
Both Gus and Hou-Ting visibly relaxed upon hearing that.
"…the poison is working wonderfully. She'll be dead in a couple of minutes."
Hou-Ting: ?
"That's good," Gus patted his chest in relief. "Though I know the dishes she prefers, I still wasn't sure she would choose one of the correct ones."
Hou-Ting: ??
"With the palace sealed, how long until we can carry out the coronation ceremony?" Jin removed the white coat and reshaped the fake metal stethoscope into a ring.
"Everything is prepared, and the people who need to be present are inside the palace," Gus explained quickly, ignoring the dying woman at their feet. "The documents are ready, and I already prepared the ceremonial elements."
Hou-Ting: ???
Traitor!
Where was her real physician?!
Wait— even that fool Wu couldn't legitimately take the throne this quickly.
Who was this man?
How had they poisoned her?
She couldn't understand it.
"Good. Once her death is confirmed, we'll begin," Jin nodded, taking a seat to wait.
Gun stood respectfully beside Jin, watching Hou-Ting writhe with a vengeful, satisfied look. Still…
"How did you manage to poison her?" he couldn't help asking. "My aides are fine, but they both ate and drank!"
Gun believed the poison was in the powder he had given for the food.
"Oh, it's simple," Jin didn't even turn his head as he pointed at the wine cup. "They're fine because each of them only ate or drank. If one of them had done both, then—" he gestured to Hou-Ting, half her body already discolored and foaming at the mouth.
"…I don't understand," Gun admitted.
He had spent years working in the palace and knew a bit about poison, but it was basic at best.
"It's a reactive compound poison," Jin gestured and lifted the wine cup, floating it above the plate that still held crumbs. "The food had one substance—the powder I gave you—while the wine contained another—something I added myself. Separately, they're as harmless as a sip of water, but when combined…" he poured a little wine onto the plate, and a sharp hiss rang out as part of it corroded.
He didn't feel the need to mention that stomach acid only increased the toxicity even further. As for how he possessed such poison, Mai had taught him a thing or two in the past.
"I… see," Gun wisely chose not to question anything and took a square seal from his sleeve to hand it to Jin. "The Dai Li will arrive shortly. Here—showing this seal will make them understand your identity instantly."
Jin took the seal and studied it with interest—he didn't expect the small object to be made of the same meteor metal as parts of his armor.
"Why wasn't there any Dai Li nearby?" Jin asked curiously.
"She said seeing them so early in the morning put her in a bad mood, so they usually patrol outside and wait for her in the throne room," explained the man who had devoted his life to serving the crown.
A crown that would now rest upon a worthy head—at last!
Jin nodded, acknowledging the explanation. Knowing the woman's character, he found it perfectly believable.
He confirmed that Hou-Ting was dead by checking how her chi faded. Only when the body was empty did he stand and walk toward the doors.
"Come—we'll finish this as quickly as possible."
He was eager to start amending the problems that old hag had left behind.
Before breakfast time concluded in Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom had lost its Queen—
and before lunchtime, it already had a new monarch.
It was the fastest (legitimate) succession to the throne ever recorded in the history books!