Loyal (Male!Azula X OC)

1: The Prince

A male guard lead me to my first day on the job, not that I had much choice but to be here. Father had accumulated too much debt. "So your position from now on, Pu Ren, will-"

"Actually," I rubbed my neck, "it's Tu Reen..."

The man shrugged. "It won't matter to him."

"Him?"

"You'll be the personal servant of the younger prince." The guaurd gave a small grimace as he said, "Best learn fast. One mistake and he might cut you off."

"Cut me off?" I asked confused. "What does-?"

"Quiet," the guard said as the curtain we were walking towards shifted. He bowed and I dropped to my knee as I was trained.

The presence of the person who came out was strong, confident, and bold. He stopped in front of us and said, "Stand up, girl." His voice was powerful and demanded respect. I stood up and met his eyes. They were a bright amber glow of scary confidence. He raised an eyebrow before walking around me, making me very conscious of my exposed midsection. "You're very pretty..." He was smiled as he looked at me again. "And I quite like those pretty blue eyes... Odd for a fire nation citizen..." He waved off the guard and he walked off. "You'll do as long as your competent."

"Yes, sir."

"You're new so I'll let it slide just once," he said slowly. Suddenly he grabbed my hace and pulled it close to his. "Refer to me by my name. It was given to me for a reason." He released my face and turned away from me. "Gather my clothing. We're leaving in the morning."

"Where are we going, my Prince?"

He looked over his shoulder, his hands connecting behind his back. "My Uncle is a traitor and my brother is a failure." He looked forward and began walking forward. "It's time to do our family right and bring them home."

I bowed even though he wasn't looking at me. "Yes, Prince Azulaan."

***

I, following Azulaan, looked at the other servants boarding the ship. It seemed they were adverting their eyes from me, rather than the prince I was in service too. Only one girl watched me long enough to meet my eyes, tears in her own. She put her hand over her heart before looking away. It made me curious, but also scared, of what had happened to the servant before me.

"I'm going to lay down," Prince Azulaan said in a voice that boomed more than it should have at his age. "Put my things in my quarters and retrieve me some water."

"Yes, prince Azulaan!" I bowed before rushing off to the royal barracks.

***

I stood watching Azulaan train. He was so collected. Two twin old women, Lo and Li, sat watching him. He stood perfectly straight, holding his fingers in his hand. Azulaan took a deep breath before he moved his arms in a circular motion, generating lightning and firing the bolt into the sky.

"Almost perfect," I heard the twins say, "One hair out of place."

Azulaan fixed the loose strand of long hair. "Almost isn't good enough!" he said angrily. He repeated the action, this time the hair stayed in place. He smiled going back to first position. "Servant girl," he said, seeming to be in a decent mood from the perfect execution, "what is your name?"

I bowed. "My name is Tu Reen, Prince Azulaan."

He looked at me. "That's a fitting name for your position... I hate it. From now on your name is Reen."

"Yes, Prince Azulaan." I could deal with a shortening of my name, especially since my school friends had already called me that.

"Reen, prepare 2 rooms for royal guests."

"Yes, Prince Azulaan." I left quickly to prepare the rooms.

***

While I was working a boy about Azulaan's age walked in. "Be careful, Reen," he said placing pillows on the bed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"My older sister was Azulaan's personal servant before the last one. She followed every order perfectly until one day Azulaan found a loose hair on his robes. It was his own hair but it was an imperfection and he had her executed."

"Execution seems excessive..." I said to him.

"It is," he agreed, "but it's how he's dispatched of the last seven."

"Seven? He's had seven different servants?"

"In his 14 years, the Prince has had 12 different servants. Seven in the last three years."

"That's horrible..." I said, suddenly afraid. I had pushed it away but the thought kept coming back. If the Prince, a boy the same age as me, wanted me gone, all he had to do was snap.

"He doesn't even bother to learn names because they go so quickly."

"But he learned my name," I said surprised. "Well, he actually shortened it but he doesn't just call me servant or girl."

"I guess maybe your different then..." he said. "Just keep in mind, Prince Azulaan is a bit disturbed. He could just snap one day and order you dead."

"I know," I said.