Butterflies and Hurricanes

Chapter Four

"Are you lost?"

Surprised at the sudden voice, I turned around and felt my mouth go dry. Behind me stood another servant but it was clear that he was older than me by a few years; I would have probably placed him at around sixteen. He was dressed in much the same way as I was, although his crimson shirt hung loosely against his skin. It was clear that his origins were in the Earth Kingdom - his green eyes and tan skin were dead giveaways.

I had never really noticed boys before, my life in the slave house didn't breed fleeting fancies. Perhaps it was the fact that I was indeed approaching my teen years, but for the first time I felt self-conscious in front of a member of the opposite sex.

The boy smiled and, upon realising I had not given him an answer, I nodded.

"You're new, right?" Nod, "I thought so. It's alright, you'll get used to this place soon enough. I'm Renshu."

Clearing my throat I mumbled, "Katara."

Renshu's grin widened. "So Katara has a voice then?" Laughing at my, apparently, affronted look he walked past me and stopped a little ways away. "Are you heading for the kitchens?"

I nodded and Renshu cocked his head to his right, motioning me to follow him. We walked the remaining length of the corridor and near the end, Renshu stopped in front of a rather plain looking tapestry; it really showed nothing more than a black insignia of the Fire Nation on a scarlet background.

"If you ever get lost around the palace just look for one of these tapestries." Seeing my raised eyebrow he smiled. "The sign of a good servant lies within the fact that you are not seen when it is not necessary. There are passages just for us… don't we feel special?"

I couldn't help but return his wry grin. Renshu pulled back the tapestry, revealing a very plain wooden door. He opened the door and ushered me through and I found myself emerging into a dim stone passageway, the only light coming from flaming torches placed at regular intervals along the rough walls.

Renshu entered the passage behind me, closing the door and shutting out the light from the palace. I blinked to adjust to the sheer dimness of the place.

Renshu motioned to his left. "The kitchens are down this way. You'll notice that the ground slopes downwards slightly." We began to walk and indeed the flagged flooring rested on a barely noticeable slant. "The kitchens are actually beneath the palace. It leaves more floor space for those aristocrats up there to prance around."

I raised my eyebrows, torn between amusement and wonder. Renshu spoke so openly about his dislike for the residents of the palace, although I had a feeling he would never speak so boldly in their presence. I glanced behind, towards the stretch of passageway that we were moving away from.

"What is that way?" I questioned Renshu.

My companion turned briefly before sighing. "The passageways that run straight and upwards lead to the royal tower. If you go far enough you'll reach the stairs, many flights of them in fact. These corridors run throughout the whole palace, even up to the royal family's chambers. The stairs will take you up the tower but end before the top floor." Renshu shrugged and muttered, "Like we even want to go that far."

I peered at him curiously and carried on walking. "Why? What's at the top?"

Renshu glanced at me and sent me a small smile. "The Fire Lord."

Katara waited patiently as Renshu stopped in front of another wooden door. Though completely unremarkable, this particular door was set apart from all the others they has passed for several reasons. For one, the wall that the door was set within was a dead end, leaving no other place to go than forward. For another, Katara could hear a great deal of noise through the wood.

Renshu looked back at the younger girl and grinned at her apprehensive look. "Welcome to bedlam," he declared before pulling the door open with a flourish.

Katara was immediately assaulted by a medley of noise and instinctively took a step back. The wide grin was still on Renshu's face and he gestured for the girl to come forward. Nervously Katara did so and stepped into the kitchen.

Bedlam was an understatement.

The kitchen was cavernous and alive with movement. From the back of the room Katara could see the amber glow of fire and billows of smoke and steam, although the size of the room and thickness of the steam didn't allow her much of a view.

Closer to where she was standing lay many low wooden tables. Around these sat a multitude of people, all servants and all diverse in nationalities. There were boys around Renshu's age competing in arm wrestling matches and telling jokes. Towards the middle of the room Katara spied several mounds of rolled up material, and upon closer inspection saw that they were sleeping mats.

"Yep, this is the kitchen and we all eat, drink, sleep and generally rot away in here." Renshu was at her side again surveying the room with a tired eye. Katara turned back to the room, amazed at the amount of servants that one palace could hold. "Come on, you should meet the captain of this chaos."

Katara followed behind Renshu, tying to take everything in at once. She passed more teenage boys talking to teenage girls and slightly older men and women chiding them to get on with their work. Katara also noticed smaller children, around Amai's age, being instructed on how to fold napkins and polish gilded plates.

They were heading closer to the smoky rear of the room and Katara was struck by how warm it was getting. She was a quick witted girl and gathered she was approaching the most important part of the kitchen; the range.

The closer to the ovens she got the older the servants became. Women well past their fifties were expertly preparing dishes and chopping ingredients and despite the smoke the process was letting off, the smell of the food was wonderful.

Along the opposite wall from the stoves was a long basin of water, more like a trough than anything. About half a dozen servants stood washing dishes while a further six dried the porcelain and silver, placing them neatly on a long table at the side of the basin when they were done.

Renshu paused and turned to face Katara, watching her eyes study the older women cooking. "This is Jiaying's domain, she runs this whole palace from behind the scenes. She only lets the most experienced cooks help her make the food, which is good news for those of us who can't cook, we get off easier."

Suddenly, Renshu yelped and grabbed his head in his hands after receiving a heavy blow to the head by a flour caked hand. "Jiaying!" He protested whilst rubbing his head tenderly.

From the hazy steam surrounding the many fiery stoves a woman emerged. Katara was forcibly reminded of Senjou; Jiaying was quite a robust woman with an ample bosom and a greying mop of black hair, pulled tightly away from her face. Her folded down apron, like her hands, were covered in flour and several different things that Katara couldn't identify.

"Keep that cheek to yourself Renshu, or you might just find a little present in tomorrow's breakfast." The matriarch of the kitchen flicked the boy's ear before turning her attention towards the young girl trying desperately trying not to be noticed. The stern look painting the woman's face softened and she held out a white peppered hand to Katara.

Hesitantly, Katara took it and found herself pulled close to Jiaying. The cook studied her intently before releasing her hold and smiling at Katara.

"Don't listen to anything Renshu tells you, his big mouth gets him in trouble much of the time." Renshu puffed himself up and Katara couldn't help but smile. "Now Lei told me all about you, Katara isn't it?" Katara nodded, still feeling rather intimidated. "So Governor Ontai has introduced you to Mai has he?"

Before Katara could nod again, Renshu groaned. "Wow that sucks, being a servant to Mai."

"Well she didn't seem too happy to have me," Katara shrugged. It was true, the girl had remained apathetic to the whole incident.

"Yeah," Renshu continued. "But she's always with Azula isn't she? That is going to be hard work."

Jiaying raised a threatening hand and Renshu promptly snapped his mouth closed. "Don't you go frightening the girl! She looks like a tough little thing, and I'm sure she'll have no problem with Azula."

Pleased that she had found a place where the servants could gripe and moan without fear of punishment, Katara smiled at Jiaying and sat down on a nearby stool as the older woman instructed.

"Here, you can go up and help set up the dining table for tomorrow's breakfast. The others have just finished clearing away the dinner." Jiaying handed Renshu a pile of clean dishes. "Maybe that will teach you to keep your sense of humour to yourself."

Grumbling and pouting all the way Renshu left the kitchen via a door to the right of the long oven range.

"That way will take him straight up to the dining room," Jiaying told Katara as she sat down opposite her. "He'd better not break any of those dishes though."

Katara smiled, this woman really was like Senjou.

"Now Lei told me that you are twelve years old, is that correct?" Katara nodded. "Well seeing as you are Mai's personal servant you will not be required to take any demands from anyone other than Mai herself. If you need any help finding things, ask me or anyone else, you'll know your way around soon enough."

Katara nodded and waited for further instruction while Jiaying cast her copper eyes around the expanse of the kitchen. The cook wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving a white strip painted across her face, and stood from her seat.

"Feng!" her voice, no doubt from many years of practice, reached to the other side of the kitchen startling a woman who had just entered the room.

Katara watched as the woman approached, dumping a pile of white linen on an empty table as she came. It was clear to Katara that like Jiaying, this woman was native to the Fire Nation. Unlike the matron of the household however, Feng appeared to only be in her twenties.

"Yes, Jiaying?" Her voice was rather drawling, as if she had had enough of her life below the palace. Katara, having been in captivity for most of her life, couldn't blame her.

"Are you busy at the moment?" Jiaying asked.

"No more than usual, there is always laundry to be done after all. Why?"

Jiaying motioned for the young water girl to join them. "This is Katara, new here today and I need someone to show her the important places down here. You know, show her the laundry and how to get to the outer gardens through the passages."

Feng looked down at Katara with sharp eyes. "No problem. Where is she being allocated? In here with you or-"

"Oh nowhere," Jiaying cut her off. "Governor Ontai brought her for Mai. I just need someone to help her get her bearings, I'm sure she will learn enough of the upper floors while she's at Mai's call."

Feng's eyes once again swept over the younger girl before her mouth tightened slightly. "Fine. Come on you, I want to get finished sometime before midnight." With that the woman swept from the room leaving a disgruntled and confused Katara to follow in her wake.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus on the flames within. Let your breaths feed those flames and reach outwards from your centre.

I move across the training room floor with practiced steps, eyes closed recalling the words drilled into my head by countless, nameless instructors over the years since I was able to harness my inner flame. As Azula delights in reminding me, she was able to Firebend much earlier than I. My little sister was always sneezing fire as a baby and singeing her nursemaids when she threw a tantrum.

Concentrate!

Now is not the time to be thinking of Azula. If that prodigious cretin shows me up in font of father yet again…

"A little late to be practicing your form isn't it, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko faltered in his next step, coming close to losing his balance. Whipping his head up he was not surprised to find his uncle standing at the edge of the room holding a towel in one hand. Grunting a vague answer the teen made his way towards Iroh, taking the towel with a nod of thanks and wiping the sweat from his face and neck.

Iroh yawned widely and gave Zuko a pointed look. "I thought that you had retired to bed after dinner."

"I did. I couldn't sleep," the prince said shortly.

"Is there any particular why you cannot sleep?"

Zuko threw the towel on the floor and headed for the exit. "Of course not. Goodnight Uncle."

Iroh watched with concern in his eyes as his nephew headed back towards his room. "Oh Zuko, your mother would have never wanted you to let Ozai do this to you."

Shaking his head sadly, retired General Iroh extinguished the lamps with a wave of his hand, plunging the room into darkness and followed in Zuko's heavy footsteps.

Feng showed me the laundry first, a huge room not far from the kitchen. Unlike the slave house where I had been raised, this room was not run by one smiling woman. There were people all over cleaning all types of fabric.

I followed Feng through the humid room and she pointed out where I should come to collect clean clothes for myself and also showed me what section of the laundry would clean Mai's clothes should I ever need to drop them off or pick them up.

I was ushered from the room quickly and Feng pushed me into a room a little further down the corridor. She opened the door but did not enter and I peered under her arm to see what the room contained.

"This is the boiler room. You won't need to come in here but I thought I'd better show you anyway." I had one last glimpse of the shirtless men manning the furnaces before Feng closed the door with a snap and continued striding down the corridor, not even checking to see if I was following.

It was not hard for me to figure out that Feng disliked me. Really she made it quite obvious, although I had to wonder why a woman would hate a girl half her age for no apparent reason. The corridor was sloping upwards again and I knew that we were heading back towards the level of the palace.

The journey wasn't very ling although the passage remained very straight and once again I was faced with a dead end and a door. Feng gripped the iron ring on the door and yanked it open. I noticed that the wood was very thick, not like the door to the kitchen or laundry at all, and I found myself looking at the night sky.

"This door leads straight out onto the outer gardens as I'm sure you can see. If you ever need to get in or out of the palace you come this way. Under no circumstances must you ever use the main doors unless you are accompanied by your master or mistress."

The door was pushed closed again, cutting off the pleasant night breeze I had been enjoying. Feng led me back to the kitchen but paused at the door.

"You might be in time for dinner but if not you should just go to sleep and wait for breakfast. The cooks don't have time to cater for your individual needs little one."

I furrowed my brow as Feng headed back up the passageway. "Aren't you going to have dinner?" The question left my mouth unbidden.

Feng paused and turned her head towards me, a sneer playing around her mouth. "Unlike you I still have much work to do before I can retire for the night."

Sticking my tongue out at her retreating back (childish, I know) I turned and entered the kitchen. I saw that most of its occupants were pulling sleeping mats from the piles near the centre of the room. Figuring I had indeed missed dinner I looked around for a familiar face.

"Katara!"

I smiled when I noticed Renshu beckoning me from the middle of the room. When I reached him he handed me a plate of food.

"Jiaying saved you dinner seeing as it's your first night and I went and got you a sleeping mat from the laundry." He nudged a rolled up bundle at his feet and I thanked him.

Dinner was really nothing more than a few slices of cold meat and a thick slice of bread but it was filling and the bread was deliciously warm. When my plate was clear I declined Renshu's offer to clean it away from me and instead took it to the long wash basin myself.

The previous group that had been cleaning the palace dinner dishes were finishing up with the servants' dishes. Placing my plate with the few remaining I headed back to where I had left Renshu but couldn't see him anywhere. Sighing I picked up my sleeping mat and looked around for a spot to lay down in.

I heard my name called again and whipped around, recognising the voice. Renshu was sitting on his mat near the edge of the room with a group of other people who looked to be his age. Seeing that they had left a spot clear for me eased my nervousness and I settled down for the night amongst strangers but feeling safe nonetheless.

Katara, who had always been roused by her dreams before sunrise, was severely startled when she was ripped from sleep by a most unholy noise.

"Up! Get up! All of you! Now!"

Through her sleep-drenched and shock-addled mind, Katara recognised Jiaying as the one shouting, but that still did not explain the racket that was accompanying her voice. Pushing herself upright on her sleeping mat she saw that the head cook was holding a larger metal pot in one hand and a metal ladle in her other hand. Oh, Katara thought dumbly as she watched Jiaying use her pot as a drum.

Turning to the group that she had fallen asleep amongst, Katara saw that although they looked tired they were unfazed by the musical interlude still echoing through the kitchen. Renshu grinned at her confused face and helped her stand.

"I keep asking Jiaying if we can get a cow-cockerel to wake us up in the morning but she won't let a live animal in her kitchen." He stifled a yawn and shook his head. "If you want a wash you'd better be quick. There's two hours before breakfast and Jiaying will want everyone working and the kitchen cleaned by then. Of course you don't have to do anything unless Mai calls you so I guess you could go back to sleep."

Katara shook her head. "No, I'm usually up by sunrise anyway. Besides I would like to get cleaned up."

"Alright then. Luli can show you where to go, she's never been one to miss her chance in the washrooms."

One of the girls whom I had slept close to glared at Renshu. "Very funny. Come on Katara, we'd better leave Renshu alone so he can come up with some more 'jokes'."

Smiling Katara followed Luli out of the kitchens and towards the laundry and boiler room. There were many people walking with them and a low hum of chatter hovered over the group as they all headed for the washrooms.

Luli and Katara came to two wooden doors and the men headed through one while the women through the other. The washroom was nothing like the open courtyard Katara had been used to in the Earth Kingdom. Set along the far wall were high spouts that were pouring out water which then disappeared down iron grates set in the stone floors.

Katara turned her eyes away in modesty when she saw that there were several women stood under the spouts completely disrobed. It wasn't that she had never bathed with other women, it was just that in the slave house the water had usually been much too cold to bathe without your undergarments.

Luli tugged Katara over to the other wall and a long basin much like the one in the kitchen. This too had spouts (much smaller than the others) pouring out water in a tenuous stream. Putting her hands beneath one of the spouts Katara was pleasantly surprised to find the fabulously warm.

While the two girls washed Luli kept up a steady stream of talk and Katara replied to her enthusiastically. When the Water Tribe girl had joined the group the night before the others had been curious about Katara, but in a friendly way. In turn Katara had learnt a lot about Renshu's friends.

Luli herself was like the mother of the group and made it her personal mission to keep her younger brother, Xiu, out of trouble. Xiu was only a few minutes younger than Luli but it was clear that the Earth Kingdom twins were as different as light and dark. Xiu had a wicked sense of humour and had made Katara feel instantly accepted to the group. That and his (apparently) insatiable hunger had reminded Katara strongly someone but she could not remember who it was.

The other member of the group was Rou, a Fire Nation girl ser to Katara's age than the other three who were each sixteen. Rou was quiet and only two years older than Katara. She was the one that Katara had yet to figure out but she could tell that the fourteen year old had a sharp wit underneath her demure exterior.

Finishing their cleansing, Katara and Luli headed back to the kitchen and put their sleeping mats away with the others. Breakfast was a hectic affair, pots and tureens had been left on a large table near the range and it was survival of the fittest to get a share.

While she sipped at her porridge Katara surveyed the cooks at the range. No doubt they had been up hours before any of the others preparing breakfast for the occupants of the palace and its servants. She had barely finished her meal when Jiaying was calling a list of name out to serve breakfast upstairs.

Luli's name was among them and she watched her friend step forward and receive a tray holding a covered dish upon it. She disappeared through the door at the side of the range with other servants and their trays. Jiaying handed the last few people their dishes and paused when she realised that she had one more platter left and no one else to deliver it.

She scanned her rota for the day and scowled when she worked out who was missing. "Daiyu? Daiyu! Has anyone seen that girl?" Several people shook their heads. "She knew she was on breakfast duty!"

Katara watched as Jiaying's face steadily turned red ad smiled slightly. Putting down her empty bowl she approached the disgruntled cook and placed a small hand on her arm cautiously. "I'll take it if you've no one else."

Jiaying looked down at the girl in surprise and the angry lour receded from her face. "You don't have to Katara."

"I know but I'd rather make myself useful."

Jiaying smiled wryly and lifted the tray into Katara's hands. "I wouldn't usually make one so small serve but I see you are made of stronger stuff than people would think." The tray (surprisingly heavily) was given completely to the young girl and Jiaying pointed towards the door Luli had departed through. "Take the stairs straight up and the door in front of you will put you in the dining room. The diners will already be seated so just place the dish on the table an uncover it. You'll see the other's standing at the edge of the room. Join them and wait until the others finish eating."

Nodding in understanding Katara left the kitchen and entered a small chamber containing nothing but a spiralling staircase. Keeping the tray a steady as possible Katara climbed it to the top and stood facing the entrance to the dining room. The door was just a silk panel (tied back to allow the servants to enter) and Katara stepped through it.

She had no time to be awed by the opulence of the dining room; she had a task to do. Walking forward with the last dish for the table, she was acutely aware of all the eyes trained upon her.

A/N: I apologise for the wait but college has been a bigger change than I expected. I will try to keep updates more regular but I can't make any promises as I have my first set of exams coming up.

Thank you for all of your reviews, I'm glad people are taking an interest in the story.

I also thought that it might be beneficial if I put a glossary of the names I use to provide further insight into the characters. I'll just put up the ones for this chapter and add others as I mention them in the story.

Glossary of Names:

Renshu: benevolent forbearance

Jiaying: household flourishing

Luli: dewy jasmine

Xiu: cultivated

Feng: phoenix

Daiyu: black jade

Rou: gentle; mild