Author's Note: WARNING! LIMES AHEAD!
Mai looked around the bedchamber, trying to think whether she had forgotten anything. Her eyes moved slowly over each item. Red ginseng tea, lychii fruit. Amber incense. New silk sheets. Candles, dark lanterns… Everything seemed to be in order. With a nod of satisfaction, she sat down at her vanity and took up her brush, beginning to run it through her damp hair.
This had taken some work. Upon returning to the palace from the prison, Mai had immediately sent countless servants and slaves scurrying about the capital city, fetching and carrying and finding what she needed. Some she'd sent to the market for the red ginseng and fresh fruits that she wanted; some she'd sent to make up and air out the royal bedchamber. She had then slipped back into her palanquin and demanded to be taken to the best tailor in the city, where she'd ordered an embroidered black silk robe, to be made immediately. With much bowing and scraping, the tailor had assembled his most talented seamstresses, and the garment had been finished only four hours later.
With all this accomplished, the Fire Lady had again returned to the palace. There, she had gone to her husband's throne room, where he was holding court, and presented herself as a supplicant. Zuko had, of course, allowed her to approach the throne. Mai's lips curved a little as she remembered how she had leaned her head close to his, until her lips almost brushed his ear. "My lord," she had murmured, "I would like to invite you to have tea with me in our quarters tonight." He had caught her meaning at once; the back of his neck had turned quite a brilliant scarlet as he had granted her request.
Once that had been done, Mai had retired gracefully from the throne room, and positioned herself at its doors. The Fire Lord generally received last-minute requests and emergencies in the late afternoon, and these things often occupied him until quite late at night, what with all of the peace-keeping and restructuring of the empire that had been going on since the end of the Hundred Year War. Mai, however, had decided that the world could wait for one evening. She had coolly and confidently dismissed the lineup of ambassadors and dignitaries waiting at the door. One foreign diplomat had been quite put out, and had gone so far as to nearly challenge her. The Fire Lady had allowed a small amount of acid to leech into her voice as she had assured him that he would be heard the following day; he had retired from the field of battle, bested. Triumphant, Mai had then headed for her quarters to ready herself.
She looked at herself in the mirror, her brush pausing in its work. She'd had her waiting maids give her every beauty treatment they could think of, and she thought the effect was pleasing. Her skin, buffed and rubbed and anointed with creams, was fairly glowing. Her damp hair felt soft against her hands, and smelled of jasmine. She was wearing the new silk robe she'd had made; it was a lustrous black, the same color as her ebony locks, and had phoenixes embroidered about the sleeves and neckline in red silk thread. Mai smiled to herself, resuming the brushing out of her hair. Zuko loves it when I wear black. It felt odd not to be wearing her ever-present knives, but she wouldn't need them. Not tonight.
There were little twinges of conscience every now and then, of course. While this certainly wasn't the first time she'd set out to seduce her husband, it was the first time she'd ever done so with any ulterior motive. She intended to ask him about the bigger cage she had promised Azula. Her amber eyes narrowed a bit as she drew her hair over her shoulder and continued her work, teasing out the tangles. As much as Zuko was a sensitive topic to Azula, Azula was also a sore point with her brother. Mai would have to be very careful as to how she brought up the subject. She imagined this would be quite the test of her diplomatic skills.
The door opened. Looking up into her mirror, Mai saw the tall, broad-shouldered figure of Zuko standing on the threshold. She smiled as she set down her brush and rose gracefully, turning to look at him. "My lord husband." Without a word, Zuko closed and locked the door behind him. Her heart skipped a beat as he crossed the floor; his hands caught her by the shoulders, and his lips pressed gently against hers. A soft sound pushed itself unbidden from her throat.
When finally the kiss broke, he pulled back and held her at arm's length, his golden eyes glowing as he took her in. "You look beautiful, Mai," he said softly, his voice almost reverent.
"So do you." She couldn't help smiling as she raised one long, white hand to the scarred side of his face. Genuine love flooded her – and genuine guilt. She sighed softly, slipping forward and laying her head against his shoulder. "Thank you for coming, Zuko. I know how busy you are."
He chuckled, his fingers weaving into and drawing themselves through her dark hair. "I'll never be too busy for you." She felt him kiss the top of her head. "Should we have some of that tea you promised, first?"
"As you wish, my lord." She dropped her lashes demurely, with a glint of mischief, as she turned to the table. "Will you do the honors?" He smiled as she sat gracefully on one of the waiting chairs, and took the teapot in his hands. A moment later, steam was rising off it. Mai slipped the red ginseng into it.
Mai made the first real move. When they had finished their tea (and fed each other the lychii fruits), she rose from her chair and moved to stand behind her husband, sliding her hands underneath his armored shoulder coverings to rub his back. Zuko sighed contentedly, moving his head so that her fingers hit the sore spots. "You're tense, Zuko," she murmured, curving her hands over his shoulders and beginning to unlace the ties that held the armor on. "Long day?"
"A bit." He sighed in relief as the heavy armor came off. "We're still having problems in the Earth Kingdom. Our settlements keep coming under attack, and they're requesting that more troops be sent."
"That wouldn't work too well in the long term," Mai noted, her brow furrowing.
"No, it wouldn't. It might even be viewed by some as an act of war." He tilted his head back so that it rested against her chest, smiling up at her. "Let's not think about all that right now, Mai," he said quietly, reaching up to draw her down for another kiss. "I don't want to think about anything but you."
"Irresponsible boy." She smiled against his mouth. Her hands moved to touch him, her palms moving slowly up the broad, flat planes of his chest, finally resting on his shoulders again. She felt his fingers closing over hers, holding them against him; she breathed a sigh of contentment, moving her face away from his a little. "I love you," she whispered, moving her lips next to his unscarred ear.
The Fire Lord rose from his seat, turning and abruptly catching his wife around the waist. She couldn't restrain a little squeal of laughter as he carried her across the room, dropping her at last so that she fell across the bed. Mai sat up again, tilting her head back in mock offense. "My lord, this is unseemly behavior."
"I'll show you unseemly." He grinned, catching her by the shoulders as he threw himself onto the bed so that he dragged her down with him.
She laughed and swatted at him lightly as he covered her neck with kisses. "Zuko, stop a minute. Zuko!" - As he pulled open the collar of her robe, baring her creamy shoulders, and bit down lightly on one of them. She gasped helplessly for a second. "Zuko, please wait. I need to ask you something."
"Mm?" He raised his eyes, wide with mock innocence, to hers. "And what can I do for you, milady?"
Mai giggled in spite of herself, threading her fingers into his black hair, and gently pulled out his topknot. He was still smiling, the fingers of his right hand sliding gently up and down her side. She leaned into him, kissing his cheek warmly. "You know Ty Lee and I have been visiting your sister in prison," she murmured.
"Mm-hmm." His eyes flickered a little, but his hand continued its slow caress.
"Well, I guess I feel a bit badly for her," Mai went on, brushing her lips down his jaw and the side of his neck. "I wondered if you could have her put into a bigger cage? Maybe one more like the one your father's imprisoned in."
Abruptly, the caresses stopped. Mai felt herself caught by the upper arms and pushed away. She gasped, and found herself sitting up and looking into her husband's face. Zuko's brow was furrowed, and his amber eyes were narrowed as he studied her. His grip on her arms was almost painful. She felt a faint stab of fear. "A bigger cage," he said at length. "You're asking me to grant concessions – to Azula. What next, Mai? Take her chains off? Give her a room in the palace? Give her my throne?"
"No! Of course not. Don't be ridiculous, Zuko." The black-haired girl frowned a little. "She's never going to see the outside of a prison cell again. Nor should she! But I don't see why you have to be needlessly cruel to her. She's spent nearly a year in a cage she can't even stand up in." His face was still hard and suspicious. Mai sighed and rested a hand against his cheek. "Zuko," she said gently, "I'm on your side. I'd give my life for you. You know that."
The Fire Lord sighed. She felt the muscles of his arms relax, and his painful grip on her loosened. He was still frowning. "You have to know how this looks, Mai. You and Ty Lee served her for a long time. Both of you go to see her in prison – Ty Lee's gone almost every day since she was locked up, in fact. And now you ask me this?" He paused. "Whether she's crazy or not, there are still a lot of people in this nation who preferred her over me, and who still would. I don't have a death grip on this kingdom. You of all people should know that." He shook her lightly. "I have to know that you stand with me, Mai. I have to know that."
The former assassin felt her face twist with pain. She steeled herself against it for a moment before opening her mouth again. "I turned on her at the Boiling Rock. I chose you over her then, Zuko. I did it without hesitating, I did it in public, and I did it in front of both of you, even though I knew that it was probably going to cost me my life. And afterwards, when she questioned me, I told her exactly why I had done it. I went to prison for you. I married you. After all of that, do you really think that I'd turn on you now?" There was still some doubt in his face, but it had faded a good deal. "Zuko, I'm on your side. I always will be. I told you why I was asking this – I told you the truth."
Slowly, the fire faded from Zuko's eyes. He slowly pulled her close to him again and pressed his lips to the skin of her throat, just beneath the corner of her jaw. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "All right," he said, his breath tingling against her skin as his lips moved. "She can have her bigger cage, Mai." He nipped lightly, making her murmur with pleasure. "But you owe me."
There was a new note in his voice. The Fire Lady felt the hurt fading a little. "Do I, now?" She pulled back and regarded him. "And just what sort of a favor will you require of me, my lord?"
"I'll let you know." He was smiling again. "I'm sure I'll think of something." His arms slipped around her, drawing her in so that her head rested against his chest. "I'll think of something…" His lips met hers, and she surrendered herself to his touch.
Author's Note: If you want to see an illustration for this chapter, go to nikipinz./art/Broken-Dragon-C10-Illustration-95395488