"Princess Zihanna." I turned from my vanity.
"What is it, Jong?" I turned back to the mirror and grabbed my tube of lipstick. Preparing for my coronation was hard enough without people bothering me. It hadn't happened too often, but as the days passed, it became harder and harder.
"Someone is requesting an audience with you, Princess." I stopped mid-swipe with my lipstick. Had I heard him right? Turning around, I shot him a look.
"The day before my coronation? Who in their right mind would do that? Also, don't call me princess. We're too informal for that." He leaned against my doorframe, and grinned. Jong had only been my assistant for a few weeks, but we were friends as kids, and he called me Ziha enough that hearing him call me 'Princess Zihanna' was just weird.
"I believe it is my duty to call you princess, Princess." I rolled my eyes at him, and he grinned wider. "Anyway, the person requesting an audience with you is some guy from the water tribe. He is requesting an audience with you, specifically." That confused me. Even though my coronation to be the leader of the Earth Kingdom was fast approaching, most people wouldn't trust a fourteen-year-old girl to run their country, not even my own people. I respect that, but to have a foreigner come in and ask specifically for said fourteen-year-old girl? That was odd. I grabbed my eyeliner and started applying it while speaking.
"Did he say what he wanted?" I flicked my wrist to create a wing. Perfect.
"He said something about finding the Avatar...?" I stiffened. Obviously Jong didn't know anything about it, but I did. Finding the Avatar was something that many people had tried, but I tried to avoid the issue. Now there was a water tribe boy coming in to ask me about that specific problem? Ugh.
"Tell him that I will be there in a few minutes. Thank you, Jong. You are dismissed." A look of concern shadowed his face.
"Princess, I-"
"I told you that you are dismissed." He became solemn and began to back his way out of my doorframe.
"Yes, Princess." He gave a bow and a final worried look before turning around and walking down the hall. I stood up and closed my door. Could a girl get a break?
I finished my makeup without too much of a distraction. I was about to have my first solitary audience and it was of foreign relations, so I needed to look good. I opened my vanity drawer. Ornate golden earrings that were for special occasions only went on my ears, with diamond and gold studs in the other two piercings. My hair was curled, my favorite green dress was put on, and, for a finishing touch, I set my golden circlet on my head, the one with a green emerald that dangled between my eyes.
A lot of people wonder if being a princess comes with lots of handmaidens and pampering. You know, the people that would put on my makeup and do my hair? The answer they get is always no. Even as a kid, I refused to have anyone pamper me. I could take care of myself perfectly fine, and I have kept that philosophy my entire life. As you can tell, I've always been independent.
Setting my shoulders back, I entered what everyone in my family calls 'regal stance'. It's a sacred art of the Singh family. Before entering, I took a deep breath. Let's hope that this guy might give up his search for the Avatar after I speak with him. If not, I might have a huge problem on my hands.