The next day I woke up early, asked someone to cover for me with Azula and hurried to the prince's room. I figured the sooner I'm there, the earlier I'm done and the less likely Azula will notice that I was ever gone, as she always wakes up much later than me. Aang, the prince's servant, sat by the door and slept. He was a nice boy, two years younger than me. Suki was sure that he had a crush on me, but I always dismissed it. I tapped on his shoulder gently to wake him up.
"wha? Huh? Katara, hi" I smiled.
"good morning Aang, may I get in? the prince asked me to organize his closet" Aang got up, a huge smile on his face.
"right, yeah, he told me something about that" he opened the door slightly and peeped in. He closed the door a few seconds later, his face was red with blush.
"maybe you should come back later, he's busy right now" I looked at him, what could the prince possibly do to make his servant blush so much? I opened the door wide; it wasn't something he did, but something that was done to him instead. Someone was under his blanket, moving back and forth. The prince himself tried to stop that person, but his face seemed weird. He grunted with pleasure before the person under the blanket left the bed. It was a girl of small proportions, dark green eyes and dark brown hair. A white liquid was dripping from the side of her mouth.
"Jin, you have to stop. I told you that more than once, you never listen"
"tell me you don't enjoy it and I'll stop" the prince sighed and did something under the blanket before getting up and covering his bare chest with the robe. Jin looked at me as she wiped his seed from her lips and walked away from the room.
"good morning, your highness" the prince looked at me, I faked a smile.
"are you not gonna talk about what just happened?" I walked straight to the closet.
"it is not my business" I looked at him as I opened the closet.
"do you want to talk about it?" He looked at the clothes pouring out messily. He sighed and sat on his bed, tapping the blanket next to him.
"yes, I do. Sit down" I sat next to him, trying to keep a neutral expression while my mind was swirling with feelings.
"how do I get her to stop it?" I looked at him.
"do you not enjoy them?" He sighed.
"I do, but I shouldn't"
"your highness, I..." He put a hand on mine. I looked at him.
"call me Zuko, please" I gulped. He was handsome, I never noticed it before.
"okay...Zuko. Why should you not enjoy them? I heard that former fire lords kept many servants for just that purpose"
"I heard that too. They were forbidden from doing that after they got a few of those servants pregnant. Having male servants do that to us is allowed, but I find it disgusting to do that with anyone who isn't the person I'm married to, or in my case, engaged"
"why not just marry Jin then? If you can't stop her from doing that to you" the prince got up and looked at me.
"you do know I'm engaged to someone already, right?"
"I do, but I also know that while you are engaged to her, you may not marry her" the prince pinned me to the bed, his robe opened slightly, revealing a slight part of his chest and shorts.
"what do you know?" I gasped in surprise and fear and wiggled in his hands, trying to get away from him. his voice scared me; his facial expression helped the fear spread.
"Mai loves someone else" I could barely get the words out; they were so quiet I feared he did not hear me. He pressed his hands and grasped my wrists strongly, hurting me. The whole experience made me question my presence in his room.
"who?"
"Ty-Lee" his eyes widened in surprise and hurt as he let me go, sitting next to me on the bed with his back hunched a bit, his hands covering his face. I sat up and moved a bit from him.
"I'm sorry, Katara. really. I shouldn't have grabbed you so strongly and so suddenly. I just..." He sighed.
"I need to get married by my 21st birthday in order to be qualified to be fire lord when uncle dies. That's 2 months from now, I'll never find someone in time" I approached him a little, still far enough from him so that he will not touch me even if he tries.
"Jin is a good option" He raised his head and looked at me, I slipped further from him slowly.
"Jin is a lovesick puppy who's willing to do everything to get me to love her back. She goes about it all wrong" He got up and crawled on the bed towards me, I crawled from him quicker the more he spoke, until I found myself on the floor. His head peeped from the bed, a concerned look on his face.
"I really did a number on you, huh? Let me help" his head disappeared as he got out of the bed. I saw him again as he helped me up. I thanked him absentmindedly.
"I am sorry, really. I should not have grabbed you. Let me see your wrists" He gently took my hands and looked at the red wrists, the place he grasped them so strongly. He looked at me as I pulled my hands from his.
"Jin will never be a good fit as a wife. There are a few conditions for a royal wife. She needs to be from at least a noble family, though a princess is the best. She must be of age, which Jin isn't. and she must be versed in royal etiquette, which Jin is not, nor will she ever be. The only girl I know who's all three is Mai, and she clearly doesn't want that" the prince sat back on the bed. I went to the closet and started to organize it.
"technically, I guess I'm all three as well" I thought out loud, quiet enough to think that he didn't hear me. He grabbed me and turned me to him.
"what did you just say?" I sighed. He did hear me.
"technically I'm all three?" He kept on looking at me.
"and how is that?" I took his hands and put them at his side before going back to organize the closet.
"well, I'm a chief's daughter, so I'm a noble, I'm 18, which is considered of age, and since I basically grew up with Azula and was forced to attend every etiquette lesson she was in, I am well versed in royal etiquette" He gasped, his eyes widened in surprise as he sat on the bed. I continued to organize the closet. After a few minutes he got up and opened the door. He called Aang to get Mai, wake her up if he must, but get her here. It was still pretty early in the morning, I shouldn't have been worried about Azula being awake, but Mai should be awake, judging on past days. 10 minutes later, which seemed very long with the prince staring at me the entire time, Mai arrived. The prince took her to his bed and sat her there before sitting next to her.
"I know you don't love me" Mai's eyes widened in surprise, she then looked at me.
"did you tell him?"
"is the sex not good?" Mai looked back at the prince and sighed.
"the sex is great, but it's the only good thing in this relationship. I can't do this to you, we both know that we don't work. Ty-Lee and I do, in every single way" He got up.
"you've slept with her?"
"no, not yet. We want to, but we agreed to wait until we're broken up" He calmed down and sat back on the bed next to her.
"I'd be happy to help you find another girl to marry" Mai put a hand on his arm.
"Katara suggested Jin before she knew about the conditions" Mai scoffed.
"Jin? Why?" Mai gasped.
"did she walk in on Jin eating you?" He nodded sadly; Mai chuckled.
"but she did say that she qualifies" Mai stopped chuckling and looked at him.
"Jin?"
"Katara"
"Katara?" He nodded with a half-smile. Mai looked at me, I tried to ignore her and continue with the closet, but she grabbed me. She threw me on the bed and made me sit up. she then pushed me closer to the prince and looked at us together.
"you two look good together, I approve"
"Sokka won't" I got up, forgetting who I'm talking to; the prince got up after me.
"why would Sokka mind?" He took my hand gently.
"He's my brother, he needs to be a part of the conversation or he won't approve" they both looked at me. I sighed and left the room.
"I'll go get him"