"Good morning, princess." Suyin greeted cheerfully the next day. She pulled the curtains aside, allowing the early morning sunlight to rouse the princess.
She stirred, and her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up, and she stretched. Finally, she looked her way, "Su. Good morning." She returned her greeting with sleep in her voice.
A knock resounded on the door. Suyin went to attend to it, unlocking the door, and found a maid carrying a porcelain tub of steaming water. She held out her hands to retrieve it from her, but she shook her head, "It's hot." She said, "I'll set it down."
And so Suyin stepped aside, and the maid carried the tub inside, and set it down on a marble plate on the vanity dresser. Suyin hadn't noticed it yesterday. The maid bowed to the princess, who was still in bed, and Suyin thanked her, and then watched her leave.
"Shall we choose an outfit for the day, before we wash?" Suyin asked. She faltered a bit when she realised that she spoke in the same manner as she did with Mingyu, using we, but somehow, it felt safer to phrase it like than, instead of being direct.
But Azula didn't seem to mind her phrasing. She moved to sit on the edge of her bed, legs dangling above the ground. "My training clothes are on the left." She volunteered helpfully, to Suyin's surprise. "Choose something."
Suyin opened the wardrobe on the left and marvelled, for a moment, at the vast array of clothes red and black and gold. It wasn't a surprise, considering Azula was the princess, but the sheer amount of clothes was still a sight to behold. Suyin shook herself out of this stupor, forcing herself to focus on completing the task she'd been assigned. Even with her back to the princess, she could feel her piercing gaze, and wondered whether this was a sort of test: seeing whether she could put together an outfit. Suyin was hardly a designer, but she thought herself a good enough stylist, and she'd been dressing Mingyu for the past three years. Still, it made her nervous. She pulled out a dark red top, and black pants, and a sash. A clean set of underclothes as well, and a pair of stockings.
"Will this do?"
Azula looked it over with scrutiny, "Yes, alright."
That was anticlimactic, Suyin thought idly. She'd been expecting the princess to berate her for choosing something wrong, or to praise her for choosing it right. Still, she counted it as a victory, for she knew Azula was still testing the waters with her, seeing how well she could perform.
She set the clothes down neatly on the table. The princess stood now, and Suyin gently undid the sash of her nightgown, and Azula shrugged it off. It fell to the ground like a puddle of blood, so silky it almost seemed liquid, and Suyin picked it off the ground, and draped it over the chair by the vanity.
She picked up the washcloth that the maid had brought in, folded over the side of the porcelain tub. Suyin dipped it in water - oh! It really was hot! Not scorchingly so, but almost too hot to be pleasant to Suyin's touch. She knew firebenders had a much better capacity for heat than she, and so the princess must be used to it. And, the maid who'd brought the tub in must have been a firebender, too, Suyin realised, and she wished, not for the first time in her life, that she'd been blessed with that same ability. She'd scrubbed her face with cold water this morning, the sort that chilled her right to her bones. How nice it would have been, to have a steaming tub of water to wake her!
That was one of the perks of being the princess, Suyin supposed. She twisted the water out of the washcloth, and then gently began to wash Azula: her face, and under her arms, and between her legs. She'd have a proper soak in a bathtub later in the day, but this sufficed for the morning.
She helped her dress, after that. To put on clean undergarments, and to climb into her training clothes. Then she took her seat in front of the vanity and Suyin began to brush her hair, starting with the bottom to get all the tangles out as gently as possible.
The topknot, like Azula wore it, was a very traditional style. Most young women in the Fire Nation no longer wore their hair like that - a partial topknot, perhaps, with the rest of their hair hanging loose, but not like the princess wore it. Suyin had styled it a few times before on Mingyu, for formal occasions such as family birthdays or funerals, so she certainly did have some experience. And as she tied her hair up, leaving some of it loose to frame the princess' face, she smiled at Azula's reflection in the mirror.
"How's this, princess?" She asked.
Azula shook her head, testing out the strength of the topknot. It came loose, and some of the hairs fell out of it, undone. She scowled, "Not tight enough."
"Forgive me- I'll redo it." Suyin assured her, and withdrew the hair tie, and began to brush her hair all over again.
The hairstyle she'd done for Mingyu had been more of a performative one, really. She only wore her hair like this for important events, when her parents made sure she sat still and did not run around, and so her hair remained styled throughout the whole day. Clearly, it was not good enough for the princess' active lifestyle, for the training she would go through. Suyin would have to learn.
She made sure to tuck in the topknot tighter this time, and wound the leather hair tie around twice more than she had before. She secured it with a knot, and then stepped back, and allowed Azula to pass her judgement once more.
The hair remained in its tie as Azula shook her head. There - it had passed the test. Suyin smiled, relieved, and then picked up the royal hair pin, and tucked it securely into the topknot.
Next up was makeup. Really, Suyin did not understand why the princess bothered with makeup at all at such a young age. She certainly didn't need it. But Suyin certainly wasn't about to complain, for she didn't particularly want to set a new record for the handmaid with the shortest employment thus far, messing up on her second (or- was it still her first?) day.
"Close your eyes." Suyin requested.
It was almost a surprise when Azula did as she asked, obedient. Suyin gently tilted her chin up, so that she was angled her way, and then carefully applied eyeliner, willing her hand to be steady. She painted her lips, too, with that fierce red that reminded her so much of fire.
"There we go." Suyin set the makeup down on the vanity, and smiled nervously into the mirror. "Is this alright, princess?"
Azula looked at her reflection, inspecting Suyin's handiwork at every angle. It made her stomach twist, having her work scrutinised like this, but she supposed she had to get used to it, and sooner rather than later. But the princess nodded her approval, and stood up from the seat before the mirror.
"You've performed admirably so far." She praised, albeit nonchalantly, and Suyin felt it swell within her chest.
"Thank you, princess."
Not long after, a maid came in with the princess' breakfast, generous portions arranged on a beautiful tray. She set it down on the table in the corner, bowed to the princess, and left without as much as a glance in Suyin's way.
"We leave in half an hour." Azula told Suyin, sparing half a moment to look up at her as she sat down for her breakfast. "You may do what you like until then."
Suyin nodded, and understood that invitation to mean she was to leave the princess in peace as she ate her meal. She bowed, and withdrew into her quarters. Her stomach grumbled. She had not eaten breakfast this morning, for she'd been too worried and preoccupied with waking the princess on time, and now she rather regretted it. Would half an hour be enough to make it to the servant's quarters, eat, and come back on time? She doubted it. The food would have to come later. But after she walked Azula to the training ground, she would have a few hours to herself, and she could eat. She would definitely eat.
So she sat in her room, technically free, but unable to do much. Not enough time to eat, not enough time to nap. She sorted through her closet for a while, inspecting whether any of her dresses needed mending (none of them did), wasting time until the half hour was up, and she came back to the princess' room.
"It's time." Azula said. She was done with breakfast and evidently ready for her training, and so she turned and left the room. Suyin followed after her, locking the door behind them, and then fell into stride with the princess.
It was a bit awkward, like this. She'd walked Mingyu to her destinations holding her hand, like a child, but she doubted the princess would appreciate such treatment. Should she walk besides her? Like equals? Or would that be inappropriate? Did she even dare ask? She'd received no orders… So Suyin ended up walking on the princess' right, albeit about two steps behind her, though she was not at all sure whether this was the right decision. Neither of them spoke. Only the sound of their footsteps echoing through the halls made any noise. Suyin looked around, trying to commit this route to memory, for she would be walking back soon enough, and she'd have to be back here in three hours' time to pick up the princess, anyway.
The training courtyard was truly a sight to behold. It was out in the open, where the sunlight could strengthen the benders' flames. Two old women were seated in a gazebo off to the side, and a middle aged man stood in the courtyard. He greeted the princess with much more formality than the two elderly women. He must be the princess' instructor, Suyin noted. She bid Azula good-bye and good-luck with her training, though the princess just waved her off, and immediately began with her warmups.
Miraculously, Suyin found her way through the halls and to the servant's quarters, and she introduced herself and asked the cooks very nicely to make her some breakfast. They raised their brows at her, for they'd never seen her before, but they must have known from rumors floating around that the princess' new handmaid had come in yesterday night. And so they made her a plain breakfast - millet porridge and barley tea - that absolutely paled in comparison to what Suyin had seen on the princess' breakfast tray this morning, but she was so hungry that it was the best breakfast she'd ever had.
She looked for Linhua, but she wasn't anywhere to be found, and all of the other servants seemed occupied at the moment, too. Suyin rather longed to befriend someone, or she knew she'd go mad with loneliness before too long, but she supposed that would have to wait. Mornings were always the busiest times for the servants. And so, having finished breakfast, she made her way back to her room, to continue her work.
Tidying the princess' room hadn't taken long. She made her bed and plumped her pillows, and hung her night robe neatly in the closet. She pulled the stray hairs out of the hairbrush to throw away, and washed away the pigment remnants off of the makeup brushes. There was little else to do. The princess' room had been kept neat over the past few days, probably by Linhua, so there was no accumulation of a mess for Suyin to clean up. Linhua had told her, too, that housekeeping maids – herself included – would mop the floors and dust the shelves and change the bedsheets and all that, twice a week, and so those weren't a part of Suyin's responsibilities.
Would it be terrible of her, if she did some snooping? Suyin told herself that she simply needed to know where Azula kept all of her things, so that if she asked her to retrieve something specific, she would know where to look. But in truth, she was also terribly curious about all her things…
She made sure the doors were locked. The last thing she wanted was for someone, even a maid, to walk in on her as she was taking a look around, and to accuse her of stealing. She was certain handmaids had been let go for less than that in the past. And though Suyin would never dream of stealing, much less from the princess (that would be suicide!), she knew how quickly employers jumped on that train of thought, and accused maids of sticky fingers.
So she opened the closet, feeling, somehow, adventurous, and browsed through the clothes. There were a lot of dresses and two piece outfits in black and red and gold, and all of them of exquisite quality. She could not imagine Azula in some of them – they felt too feminine, too grown up, for the fourteen year old to whom she attended. But, she supposed, she surely had reason to wear them sometimes, as princess, for formal events or whatnot. She wondered when she'd first dress Azula for something like that. She was almost excited for it.
Some of the dresses hung askew on the hangers, and Suyin took it upon herself to righten them, so that they did not wrinkle or fall off. The other closest she'd already become acquainted with, when she dressed the princess earlier this morning. There wasn't anything to straighten up there, though she looked through the clothes and made a mental note of what she would choose for the princess to wear tomorrow. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared.
Next was the vanity. The makeup and hair brush were set neatly in the top corner, and Suyin could only assume that was their correct place. The drawers beneath the vanity contained boxes, and Suyin opened one up, and it started to play a gentle melody. A music box, filled with jewellery. How pretty! But the sound of the music made her a little paranoid, that someone might overhear, and so she closed the box quickly and put it back, without even having gotten a proper look at the items inside. A terrible shame, for she would have loved to take a good look at the jewels inside.
Next, she opened a small black box. There was no music this time, but it, too, contained jewellery. Just one pair of dangling earrings: dark red rubies set in gold. They were beautiful, the most beautiful thing Suyin had ever seen, and she, entranced, picked one up to hold in her palm. She admired it, and held it up to her ear, and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
Now I'm the princess! She felt giddy, like a child playing dress-up in her mother's closet. She set the earring back carefully in the box, closed it, and put it safely away where she'd found it.
The rest of the room didn't reveal much else. There were a few drawers of books and notebooks and letters, though Suyin left those alone. It was one thing to go through the princess' material belongings in which Suyin would be dressing her eventually, and another thing entirely to read her private correspondence. She would not encroach her privacy like that. Besides - she probably wouldn't understand much of it, either. She'd done well in school, but she'd only completed her primary education, before she started working as a handmaid at a young age. It wasn't anything unusual for women of her social status, though a part of her wished she'd had a chance to learn more. She could read basic words and sentences, but she would certainly not recognise the complicated characters that had to do with war or politics or whatever it was that Azula's letters were about.
There were still over an hour to go. Suyin double checked that everything was where she'd found it, or tidied up in its proper place. There was little for her to do at the moment, and though Suyin had known she wouldn't be working nonstop, even as a handmaid, the sudden freedom felt foreign to her. She'd had free time when she worked for Mingyu too, of course, and she'd often go out into the city to meet with her friends, or do some shopping, or go to a tea shop. Surely she could leave the palace now, to do something similar, but the thought for some reason made Suyin nervous. She didn't want to leave the palace on her first day. What if Azula needed her earlier than she'd predicted, and Suyin was nowhere to be found? She didn't want to be let go this quickly…
Was Linhua finished with her work yet? No, certainly not. But maybe she could take a break? Unlikely, this early in the day. What about any of the other maids? They were probably busy, too. She sighed.
Suyin wondered whether she was allowed to sit outside and watch the princess train.