Chapter 20
"And if I drink this, I will know for sure?" Mai asked her physician wearily.
"Yes, my lady. If you become ill, you are surely pregnant, if not…" He trailed off.
"I am." Mai snapped.
The healer gave her a sympathetic look.
"It's only; I am not used to not having the signs." She said in a calmer voice. "You are not to tell the Fire Lord about this. It is a test for my conscience alone."
"As you wish, my lady." He replied with a bow.
"You can leave." Mai ordered.
"But don-" He started.
"I don't need anything else, I am with child. This is simply for physical evidence. Leave me." She commanded icily.
His mouth opened and closed for a moment and Mai found herself feeling increasingly irritated. He seemed to come to at the hard glare she was giving him.
"Of course, my lady, as you wish." He said, bowing and then exiting the room.
Once he was gone Mai held up the vial he had given her and examined the milky liquid inside. 'I am with child.' She told herself. 'He cannot leave me if I am carrying his child.'
- -
Katara's eyes were wide as she took in the array of jewels before her. On red velvet cloth laid an assortment of diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and pearls as various forms of jewelry.
"Pick one, it will be my private gift to you. When you look at it, you will remember how much I love you and when I see it, I will know that you love me took." Zuko murmured in her ear.
"Zuko I couldn't possibly." Katara breathed, she hadn't ever seen such wealth laid before her.
"It is jewelry, Katara. No one shall know the meaning or where it came from but you and me." He reassured her.
"Except that no one could afford such finery except a King." She scoffed.
"Well I am your friend. Can't friends give each other gifts?" He asked innocently.
She turned in his arms to face him but any reply she had in mind was cut off by his kiss. She sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into him.
Pulling back, he smiled down at her and stepped out of her reach as the gold smith returned with another cloth of red velvet. He spread it across the back end of the already jewel laden table. Opening a silk pouch, he emptied it onto the cloth and another wave of jewels tumbled onto the scarlet background.
"White gold?" He asked, noticing she hadn't picked anything from the cloth of jewels set in silver and gold.
Katara hesitated, not wanting the gold smith to think she was some greedy mistress. 'He must think the worst of me.' She thought. 'He probably thinks I've been after gold and jewels all along.'
"Katara, I want you to have something for all your hard work." Zuko announced, reading her mind. "You've done a lot for the Fire Nation, you ought to be rewarded."
Katara glanced at the gold smith. His expression hadn't changed. He didn't seem to care what the jewels were for. He just wanted to know which one she wanted. Sighing, she moved a little closer to the table.
"Are you sure?" She asked Zuko.
"Of course I'm sure." Zuko nodded, placing a hand at the small of her back and moving her a bit closer. "Did you want him to go find you something in white gold?"
"No, I'll find something here. Everything is so lovely. I just didn't know where to begin." She explained, smiling brightly at the gold smith. He beamed with pride in his work.
"Do you have a preference?" The gold smith asked. "I might be better able to direct you."
"Um…gold, I suppose, I prefer gold." She blushed, thinking of Zuko's eyes.
"With diamonds?" The goldsmith asked.
She bit her lip. In truth, she didn't really know nor have a preference. She wasn't accustomed to having such finery. Her life growing up had been very basic. Their jewelry was whatever they made. With Aang her life had been very simple. These were unnecessary materialistic things.
"Not diamonds then?" The goldsmith asked, noticing the slight frown on her face.
"I'm not sure." She said before turning to Zuko. "What is your favorite stone?"
"Sapphires." He said without hesitation. "They remind me of the ocean."
'They remind me of you.' He thought, looking into her blue eyes. She felt another blush heat up her cheeks as she stared into his eyes. Katara almost forgot the goldsmith was still in the room until the sound of his shuffling feet caught her attention.
Her gaze snapped to the floor and she felt herself blushing all the way to her ears. 'I have to learn to control myself.' She thought. Subtly shaking her head to clear it, Katara's eyes went back to the table.
"This one." She announced, picking out a ruby bracelet held together by tiny gold links. "This stone is like fire and blood, warmth and life. Don't you think, Zuko?"
"It is also the color of love." Zuko murmured, taking one of Katara's slim wrists into his hands and fastening the bracelet around it. The red and gold contrasted beautifully against her skin tone. "Beautiful."
"There are matching pieces to go with that bracelet." The goldsmith cut in hopefully.
"She'll have to whole set." Zuko said.
"What? Zuko-" Katara started.
"Have the remaining pieces sent to her room." Zuko ordered, turning to the goldsmith.
"Yes, my lord. Thank you for your business, sire." The man said bowing gratefully.
"Thank you for sharing these treasures." Zuko grinned. With a snap of his fingers, servants came in to help the goldsmith pack up his things and an accountant came to settle the purchase.
Zuko extended a hand to Katara and swept her from the room as she called out her thanks.
- -
Mai's entire body shook as she attempted to raise herself up from the floor. A hand flew to her mouth as the movement sent a swirl of nausea twisting through her system. She cringed at the discomfort of dry heaving but there was nothing left in her stomach to come up.
Despite the illness, Mai found herself thanking the gods for it. She was pregnant. She would give her husband a child and she would see to it that her competition was chased away.
"My lady, are you alright? Lady Mai?" Worried voices called through the bathroom door.
"Fine girls, I'm fine." Mai called weakly. 'In fact, I'm doing great.'
- -
Katara's face was flushed with joy as she danced happily with her young friends. She knew at court, you couldn't really trust anyone but there was no harm in enjoying the excess company. In recent days, she found herself constantly surrounded by pleasant faces. Shying away from them all was a hassle. Instead, she allowed herself to join her peers in the fun and games of court life as long as she remembered that life here was merely a fantasy.
-
Zuko smiled, watching Katara dance. She sparkled like a rare jewel as the fire light glinted off of the rubies he had bought for her. The red silk of her dress swirled around her form as she twisted and swayed to the music. Her laughter rang out like a clear bell as she danced from one partner to the next.
'Beautiful.' He thought, watching her glow. A part of him wanted to go to her. There was really no reason that he couldn't. He didn't even have to worry about feeling Mai's eyes on him the entire time because she had decided to take dinner alone. He could only assume she was still mad at him for last night. He would have to apologize eventually but it was probably best to give her space now so that she didn't ask him something that would require him to lie.
-
Katara beamed feeling the heat of Zuko's eyes following her every movement as she danced. For once she didn't feel her insides twisting up at the notion. She somehow felt freer tonight. The sparkle of her bracelet caught her eyes and she smiled thinking of its meaning. She glanced up at him and blushed as he smiled down at her. She secretive curve of his lips told her some of what he was thinking.
She ought to feel wrong about the looks but she didn't. Mai wasn't there to have to sit through the exchange of loaded gazes and it seemed to make all the difference.
Zuko was the hunter and she the prey. It should frighten her that she was growing used to it. It should repulse her but it didn't. She tipped her head back and slowed her movements, knowing he was watching the sensual curve of her spine as she swung her hips from side to side. Having an affair was wrong but as her eyes stole a glance at him now the heat she saw in his filled her with anticipation. She held his gaze for a moment longer as she danced for him.
Not wanting to cause too much scandal, she eventually snapped her eyes away from him and tried to cool her heated cheeks. Fanning herself she made a quick excuse and slipped out of the ballroom. She made her way to the garden and sighed as the cool night air enveloped her.
'Where has all my good sense gone?' She wondered replaying the day's events over again. Just because she hadn't seen Mai today didn't mean the other woman no longer existed. 'What am I becoming?'
Before she could dwell on that thought any longer, a hand clapped over her mouth effectively stopping the automatic shriek that came as a response. She was pulled backwards into the shadows of the garden walls and she knew at once from the strength of his arms, the heat of his breath, and the scent of his skin that it was him. She knew she shouldn't be here, she shouldn't let him be doing this but she melted against him. She remembered at one time she had told herself that she would never again be his, and never had become just once, and just once had finally become yes when she should always say no.
One of his hands tangled into her hair, while the other stroked her stomach. He buried his nose into the side of her neck, loving the scent of her. His blood pumped faster and his heart beat a wild rhythm in his chest.
A tremor traveled up her spine at the press of his aching groin against her backside. She wished she wasn't so weak to him but Kami she wanted this, him. He brought his mouth to her neck, parting his lips to allow his tongue to run a sensual pattern over her flesh. Her skin burned everywhere that his tongue touched.
'Kami, help us to figure this out. I do not want to let him go. Let me love him forever and do not tear us apart. Find a way to make this okay so that we may grow old together. I am a young woman in love, forgive me.'
It didn't take Zuko long to find his favorite spot, where her vein beat a pulse against her skin. It was habit by now for her to turn her head to the side and arch her neck readily to give him better access to her heated flesh. They had not made love all day and now she ached for him.
His hands on her hips were guiding her movements against him and he was burying each groan into her neck. She had to fight to silence her own sounds for fear of being discovered by a wandering courtier. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from whimpering as his mouth found her earlobe and began to suck. She wanted to beg him to end this sweet torture when his teeth began to tease the tender lobe.
"Zuko, please." She whispered desperately.
"Come with me." He said, grasping her hand and pulling her into inside, easily finding one of the many hidden servant doors.
"Dinner?"
"They won't miss me for a bit everyone has eaten, it's just dancing now."
Any other questions were silenced by his lips crashing down on hers. She wrapped her arms around him and allowed herself to be pulled through the winding halls until they fell onto his bed and he made quick work of undressing her.