The Concubine's Apprentice (an Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction Zuko x OC)

Chapter 11: Three Years Later

Azula knelt in the dark throne room, in front of her father, Fire Lord Ozai. He was seated in his ornate throne, surrounded by flames that dare not touch him. His expression was of pure anger. 

The entire regiment he had sent to conquer the Northern Water Tribe had failed. But it was not only the Avatar who was to blame. His own brother, the disgraced Iroh, and his own son, Zuko had a hand in the failure of the Great Seige of the North.

"Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure..." He drawled, looking down at his grown daughter, his firebending prodigy who had mastered the art of firebending at such a young age. She was more than ready to execute the mission he was going to give her. "I have a task for you..."

Azula looked up at her father and smiled wickedly.

"Sol! Ai!" Suiren called for her handmaidens, groaning as she struggled to move the mountain of scrolls on her tray. "Where are those two when you need them?!"

They came rushing in after a few minutes, both disheveled and sweaty. "We are so sorry, my Lady! We just finished putting away the costumes and kimonos like you told us to, but when we counted them, two were missing and—"

"Alright, alright! Just help me transfer these to the corner of the room!" The three women lifted the heavy tray and it landed with a loud clang at the corner of Suiren's study. "Chiyo is so lucky she doesn't have to deal with these appointments herself... By the way, where is she right now?"

Sol and Ai looked at each other before bowing their heads. "W-We haven't seen her since this morning, my Lady..."

"What?!" Suiren immediately left the study to look for her apprentice. She was in such a rush that she didn't notice the Princess Azula until she had bumped into her in the main hall. "Oh, do watch where you are—Princess Azula!" She immediately bowed. "My apologies, I wasn't looking where I was going, and I was looking—"

"No worries," Azula tried to reign in the urge to slap her father's concubine and instead smiled as sweetly as she could manage. "I was wondering if I could talk to you and Chiyo."

The lady was a bit unnerved by the princess's demeanor. She was unusually polite, for on a normal day, she would've been on the receiving end of her temper. "Oh? I was just looking for her, right now. How about this afternoon, for tea?"

"Of course." Azula smiled and left.

Suiren was left stunned in the hallway, wondering what trouble the little devil is cooking up now.