Chapter 17: A Servant
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Zuko paced around the campsite, waiting for Topekaia to come back, and also waiting for the others to get everything packed up.
"Where could they have taken her?" he finally asked.
"Didn't the leader of those earthbenders say that they were supposed to take her to the mines?" Sokka asked. "They must have done that."
Zuko's head snapped around to look at Sokka. "A few months ago, Mai and I saw that the Order had purchased some mines within the lands of Governor Xun. We couldn't figure out what 'purpose' the letter was referring to, but I bet those were the mines they were talking about!"
"That's great, Zuko! Now we know where to look!" Aang grinned broadly, hoping it would be infectious.
Zuko allowed a quick curling of his own lips in response, but returned to his serious state almost immediately. "We'll have to get going quickly. I don't think Mai will be able to work under the conditions of a mine for very long."
"She's a strong girl," Suki said reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Strong men have been killed quickly in the mines," Zuko said, his voice cracking a bit. "That's another thing I've been trying to fix."
The rest of the gang was silent.
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Mai woke up to see a pair of ice blue eyes staring at her in concern.
"Rise and shine, new girl."
Mai felt very groggy. "What happened?"
"I assume you were put to sleep while you were taken through the complex. They did that to me, too. But I've been here so long, it doesn't matter." The girl with the ice blue eyes smirked, seeing that her companion was all right. "I've gotten to know this place so well, I could make my way around it in my sleep."
Mai studied the girl. She seemed harmless, even friendly. "What's your name?" Mai asked hesitantly.
"I'm Sura, from the Northern Water Tribe. And you?"
"Mai. From the Fire Nation."
Sura's eyebrows shot up. "Why are you here, then? Imprisoned by your compatriots?"
Mai sighed. "Political differences."
"Oh," Sura said, looking at Mai expectantly.
Mai sighed. Considering that her captors already knew who she was, telling someone else wouldn't hurt, would it? "All right, here's the truth—the whole truth. They see me as a threat. I'm Fire Lady Mai. I've been taken here because they want to dethrone my husband, and they think taking me away from him will weaken him—which it may."
"So you might be rescued?" Sura asked wistfully. Then, remembering her manners, she asked, "Would you like a tour of this place?"
"I hope I'll be rescued," Mai answered with the same tone. She cocked her head at Sura. Maybe if her friends came for her, they wouldn't mind rescuing the other girl, too. Then Sura's second question hit her. "I'd actually rather stay here, if you don't mind. I don't want to see another idiot today if I can help it."
"You can't just stay here. They will make you work," Sura stated flatly. She babbled in an encouraging tone, "It will be easier if you learn your way around first. And I can teach you how to twist their words so you can actually rest and you can drive them crazy which is the only fun thing to do and…"
Mai smiled for the first time in a while. "Well, if you insist that it's fun… I hate boredom. Let's go."
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Sura led Mai through several halls, chattering endlessly about the names of other servants, the daily schedule, and where to get the best food.
Mai half listened. She found that the steady flow of sound was comforting, as it reminded her of Ty Lee. Of course, remembering Ty Lee brought her mind back to the Fire Palace, and from that point on she was a wreck. She had to shut those thoughts and feelings off, if only for a while. So she let Sura's voice settle into a comfortable mental hum, following her new-found friend in a sort of daze.
"Are you even listening to me?" Sura asked, turning to snap her fingers in Mai's face.
"What? Oh, sorry." Mai looked at her feet.
Sura put her hand on Mai's shoulder. "I know it's not easy, but if you concentrate on the layout of this place, it may help you maintain your sanity for a little longer."
Mai nodded. "Are we done?"
Sura studied Mai's face. "You're very tired. I'm taking you back to your room; try to remember the way." After retracing their steps, Sura opened the door to Mai's room. "All right. You go to sleep now, and I'll be back for you in the morning. Good night, my lady." Sura gave Mai a Fire Nation bow and backed out of the room.
Mai appreciated all that was being done for her. She dropped onto the bed and tried to sleep, but she had already slept way too much in the past day. She tried to stand up but fell back onto the bed, her legs weak. She realized that she'd been laying on a very lumpy straw mattress, and she should really stop referring to it as a bed. She looked wearily around the room, hoping to get some clue as to where she was.
All she saw was a little table, low to the ground. She moaned. This was not looking promising. She reached for her betrothal necklace for reassurance, but only felt her own neck. She felt around her mattress for it, hoping it had slipped off as she slept, but it wasn't there.
"No, no, no!" She was close to screaming.
Was her last connection to Zuko gone? She checked her ring finger. Empty.
She curled up and started crying. This was all wrong. That morning, she'd been with her friends and Zuko. She'd been so sure she was safe. And now… now she had no idea what the future had in store for her. Then she remembered one more thing that made her groan: she was pregnant. How long would they keep her around if they learned that detail? A Fire Lady was threat enough, but separated from the Fire Lord and all who could help her, she was somewhat useless. On the other hand, a Fire Lady who was in the process of producing an heir was an entirely different matter. She would be too dangerous to be kept alive. Then it wouldn't just be her dying; her child would die with her. Mai curled up tighter. She wished she could just go to sleep and wake up in the palace, and Zuko would be there to tell her she'd had the nightmare of the century but it was just a dream and everyone was fine and she shouldn't worry so much…
She fell into a fitful sleep.
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About an hour later, Mai was woken up by an earthbender shaking her by the shoulder with rough hands. "It's time for your interview, girl," he said.
"I'm not going to attend an interview," Mai snapped, jabbing the man's stomach the way Ty Lee had taught her to. She jumped to her feet before the man could grab her and flicked her wrist. Then she remembered that she'd lost her knives.
The man looked up at Mai angrily. "You're a feisty little thing, aren't you?" he grunted.
Mai backed away. She couldn't possibly keep this up for long; it wasn't a simple matter of pinning the man to the wall and running away. She looked at the door.
"I need backup in here!" the man called.
Color drained from Mai's naturally pale face as the door opened and a couple more earthbenders appeared.
Mai knew she was defeated, but the handcuffs made of earth finalized the fact.
She was led past Sura, who stared at her in horror.
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Mai kept her head down as she was led through the halls she'd been through with Sura not too long ago. She was finally brought to a room where she faced Governor Katsorou.
"I need to know your talents, Mai," he said.
Mai curled her upper lip in disgust. "That's Lady Mai to you."
The governor didn't even look up. "Not now. You're officially unmarried now. Your title is void."
Mai's blood ran cold. "What? Unmarried? How is that possible? You can't do that."
"Your husband thinks you're dead."
Mai's knees buckled. "You can't know that. He'll come for me." She straightened as she said that, looking stonily at the governor. "If I don't get out myself."
"You can keep telling yourself that. You'll just make yourself miserable."
Mai leapt forward, smacking the governor across the face. "My husband thinking I'm dead is the last thing that's going to make me happier! You will suffer greatly for this act of treason! How dare you imprison your Fire Lady? Do you think the Fire Lord will crumble? Well, he won't." As much as it hurt her to say it, Zuko would not crumble without her. He'd lost worse before.
The earthbenders tightened the earth cuffs around Mai's wrists painfully. They grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the desk.
"It appears," said the governor, " that I shall have to resort to extreme measures. Take her back to her room."
Mai was dragged back to her room and thrown onto her pallet.
As soon as the door had slammed, Mai stood up, angrily eyeing the door, thinking of the horrible things she could have done to her captors if she was free. However, she soon sank down onto her pallet, remembering that she wasn't free, and that the horrible thing the governor had said was possibly true: Zuko might really think that she was dead. Would he get a new Fire Lady? A cold hand seemed to clutch at her heart, and she started to cry.
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Sura cautiously opened the door to Mai's room. "What happened? What did he say?"
Mai wiped her eyes inconspicuously, and schooled her voice into a monotone. "He said that he's going to have to be extreme. What does he mean by that?"
Sura knit her brow and thought for a moment. "I don't know," she confessed.
Mai hung her head, using her bangs as a shield. "I should have cooperated. I've made myself a bigger threat than before… and he said…" She looked up at Sura again. "How long have I been here?"
Sura blinked. "Two days."
Mai sighed. "He said my husband thinks I'm dead. He couldn't possibly know that, though… Right?"
Sura shook her head. "Not unless he has someone at the palace telling him everything the Fire Lord is doing."
Mai shook her head. "Zuko isn't at the palace. He's in the countryside of the Earth Kingdom."
Sura grimaced. "Maybe he thought you were killed, not captured."
Mai shivered, and only thought to hide her reaction after it was too late.
"But maybe not!" Sura hurried to reassure the quickly crumbling Mai.
Mai looked steadily at Sura for a moment. "I'm going to trust you with some information about myself. I hope this will be worth the discomfort of mentioning…"
Sura got excited. Nobody ever told her secrets. "Go on!"
Mai took a deep, preparatory breath. "I'm pregnant."
Sura gasped in delight. "That's wonderful!"
Mai grimaced. "That's what I thought two days ago. But now… now it's just terrifying! I don't know how long I'll be here… and when they notice I'm pregnant…"
Sura's eyes widened. "They would—I really bet they would," she replied to Mai's unspoken statement. She put a hand on Mai's shoulder. "I'll make sure it stays hidden as long as possible. Don't worry."
Mai gave Sura a grateful look. Then she cocked her head. "Didn't you say you're from the Northern Water Tribe?"
Sura nodded.
"Are you a waterbender?"
Sura nodded once more.
"So you could fight the guards off, if necessary?"
Sura shook her head. "Only boys learn fighting; I was taught how to heal."
Mai looked at Sura for a moment. "One of my best friends is a waterbender. Would you like her to teach you to fight using waterbending—if we're saved?"
"We?" Sura asked, shocked.
"I couldn't possibly leave the only friend I have in this place behind."
Sura stared at Mai for a while. "I didn't want to tell you this before," she replied nervously. "But it is impossible to escape from this place. I haven't tried but others have, and after they were brought back, I never saw them again. But if you are rescued it could be different," she said hopefully. Then she emotionlessly added, "If you get the chance to leave, don't wait for me."
Mai was used to reacting to the emotions of others. Seeing her own state of outward emotionless-ness on someone else made her feel as if she were talking to herself. "I am the Fire Lady, no matter what they say. If I can't help you now, I'll help you when I put this man in jail. Or when my husband does."
The door slammed open and another group of earthbenders entered the room. "Don't bother fighting this time, girl. We don't have time for your futile attempts." They grabbed Mai's shoulders and flanked her, pushing Sura aside.
Mai gave Sura one more look before the door was slammed behind her.
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I apologize for the shamefully long break between updates. In order to help compensate, I'm posting two chapters today.
Much gratitude to the loyal readers to made it past a wonky site to leave reviews: gloomy maiko lover, Kimjuni2, and Silvereyes12.