Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. You have no idea how much I really appreciate your opinions. I have decided to spice up this chapter which is why it is a little longer than normal. I hope that you like it and enjoy reading how Koori is to become a fully fledged member of the Fire Lord's harem.
Thanks again, and I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Koori followed the Head Mistress to a large room filled with one man and a large table. The table had a brilliant golden-trimmed red sash on it as well as tea and a steaming meal. Koori looked at the food with such hunger that she had to hold back all of the turmoil in her stomach to prevent her body from pouncing on the delicious sustenance.
"You must be famished. It has been a long trip since the pitiful Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se," the Head Mistress said with a hidden smile on her face. The Head Mistress walked over and delicately sat down. "You must follow my actions," the woman said while she looked up and ushered Koori to sit down next to her.
Koori looked at the silk cushion and copied the Mistress's footsteps. She sat down with a fluid motion that the Head Mistress had performed and the woman smiled. The Head Mistress grabbed a nearby teapot and pulled her sleeve back to prevent splashes from soiling her silk robes. She poured herself tea and then looked at the teapot next to Koori. The man across the table watched Koori with a deep intensity. Koori copied the Mistress and pulled her sleeve back. She hesitated and looked at the man's empty teacup. Koori knew that the man was always supposed to come first and kneeled to reach the man's teacup. She poured delicately and then returned to her own cup. She poured her own tea and set the pot down.
"Wonderful! Truly a genius!" the man shouted.
"Kin, you must learn to control yourself," the Head Mistress said with a smile as she sipped her tea with her pinky in the air. She patted Koori on the back. "She seems to have come from a noble family in Ba Sing Se, which is why Princess Azula found her at the palace."
Koori stopped breathing. The Princess lied, Koori thought. Why did that evil bitch lie? Koori looked down to the left and deeply thought while the Head Mistress started to break her chopsticks. Koori looked up at the Head Mistress's chin and then reached for her own pair of delicate black sticks. She pulled them apart and waited for the man to eat first.
The Head Mistress had the largest smile plastered on her face and Koori feared that her face would crack apart because there was so much pressure. Kin, the Mistress's guest dived into the food without noticing anything. He was chewing a piece of succulent spare rib before he noticed the Head Mistress's smile.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "You never smile this much. It's scaring me. Stoppit!"
Koori thought that this man was very childish, or that the man and the Mistress had a very good relationship. The Mistress then pushed her chopsticks to the ribs and pulled herself a serving. Koori watched so hard that her mouth could taste the sweet juices that were present on the man's face. The smell wafted over to Koori's nostrils and she grabbed a couple of ribs. They ate heartily and Koori immediately fell in love with the taste of ribs. She had only had these once before in her life and she wanted to keep chewing on the succulent pieces that flooded her mouth.
The meal was soon over and Koori regained her sense of self control. She poured the man and the Head Mistress a new cup of tea and sat down quietly. She knew that she was to wait until the conversation started.
"I cannot believe the type of manners that this girl has," Kin, the man, said while he picked his teeth with his chopstick.
The Head Mistress looked delighted. "Training her will be so much easier now! I will still make her wait a week until the Fire Lord has the chance to see her and bed her." Koori turned a different color. She was a slave again, as she was used to being, but they were talking about her having sex with the Fire Lord. That was something that she didn't want discussed, or talk about in any way, shape, or form.
They continued to talk and Koori stared to doze off and it wasn't until she was slapped on the back of the head that she recovered from her stupor. "I believe that this girl is still tired from the long trek that she had to take to get here. It must have been awful to sleep on straw!" the man said, "Simply awful!"
The Head Mistress stood and Koori bowed slightly before completely standing toward the man. She turned on her heel to walk behind the Head Mistress. "Come, Koori. We have much to do before you are to return to your quarters," she said in a harsh voice.
She knocked on the door and servants on the other side opened it for her. Both individuals left the room and Koori was once again paraded down the hallway filled with concubines still preparing for their midnight adventures. She saw more naked women than she had ever seen before and Koori's face was so red that she looked like a large fireflake. The Head Mistress showed her to a large set of double doors and stopped abruptly. Koori managed to catch herself before running into the Head Mistress's back and regained her slavery-designated distance. The Mistress looked around and smiled. None of the other concubines were paying Koori any attention because they were taught to worry about nobody other than themselves.
"As a concubine in the Fire Lord's harem, you are to perform specific duties other than pleasuring the Fire Lord and his constituents. Such duties include…," she said, glaring around at the concubines that had turned their attention to the 'new girl', "…preparing the bouquets for the palace, dancing at royal parties, and entertaining as well as pleasuring the nobles." Koori nodded and the Head Mistress placed her perfectly manicured hand onto the solid cherry door. "Behind this door lies a pathway to the Royal Garden. It is where the harem is to pick flowers for the Fire Lord's enjoyment. Every vase is looked over by the Fire Lord and approved by him. We will go out into the garden so I can show you around."
The door opened and Koori walked outside with the Head Mistress. Outside of the palace just as beautiful as the inside as they gazed at the colorful tiger and panda lilies. More flowers that she had never heard of surrounded the palace walls and the pathway that lead to a large fountain. Suddenly, Koori thought, things started to look familiar and Koori shuddered when she thought of her childhood around the Fire Nation's royal children. The Head Mistress stopped at the edge of the patio which had the fountain on it because there was a figure sitting calmly on a bench with their back facing them.
"The Prince," the Head Mistress muttered with a tinge of distain in her voice. Something about the Head Mistress voice made Koori think that this woman did not like the Fire Nation Prince. Koori suddenly felt the attitude of the Head Mistress change. "Ahh, young Prince Zuko! How I have not laid eyes upon your royal brow in so long!" the Head Mistress chanted with a fake smile.
Prince Zuko turned his head and gave a weak smile. He had not seen Koori hiding behind the Head Mistress and he then returned his attention to the fountain. "It has been a long while Head Mistress Lea," Zuko said with another weak smile. Koori peered behind the Head Mistress and felt her heart drop again. She wanted to leave this place immediately but the Head Mistress was not perturbed about the prince's presents and was going to continue the lesson. Koori waited impatiently behind the woman.
"Well, I can see that you are not so young now, Prince Zuko," the Head Mistress said with another fake smile. The prince nodded and the Head Mistress walked behind the prince and to the other side. "Your sister has presented a gift to your father, and I will be teaching her a lesson on how to prepare flower arrangements. Please do not let us bother you with our chatter," the Head Mistress said.
Zuko turned his head. He knew that Koori had been brought along as a present to his father. He looked at Koori and then pain erupted into his eyes and he turned away. Koori bit her bottom lip but returned her attention to the Head Mistress.
The Head Mistress walked toward the flowers that had started to bloom because it was nearing nighttime. "Koori, at this time, I will allow you to talk freely. The more questions that you ask, the better understanding that you will have of beautiful art of flower decorating."
Koori saw Zuko move at the corner of her eye. She saw him stand and then sit on the opposite side of the fountain, where he could watch the lesson. The hair on the back of Koori's neck started to stand, but Koori merely nodded at her instructor.
The Head Mistress touched the tip of a purple flower. "This is a midnight mona. It blooms at night and radiates a strong smell similar to a lily. It is often used for perfumes which are commonly used by the harem because of their alluring scent." She walked around and then glanced at a red flower which had started to close. Koori could still see the orange stamen and could smell the nectar. She closed her eyes and took in the scent of the flower. "Ahh," the Head Mistress said with a real smile. "I see that you enjoy the scent of the red maneater." She placed her finger on one of the petals and suddenly, the flower closed up. Koori looked at the little flower in fear. She had never seen anything so beautiful seem so alive. She knew of flowers that would eat insects, but she thought that most of them were ugly and were located in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. "This particular flower was a gift from an Earth Kingdom town to a Fire Nation general. It is a very rare plant that has lived in this garden for more than one hundred years."
Koori nodded, expecting a lesson on the plant, but none was given. This was obviously not a flower to pick for a decoration. Koori looked around as the Head Mistress was explaining things and then suddenly, she felt the eyes of somebody on her body. Koori turned around quickly and the Head Mistress jumped in front of her.
"Fire Lord Ozai!" the Head Mistress shouted. Koori tried to see past her mentor but found it hard.
"Hello, Mistress Lea," came the Fire Lord's callous reply. He said nothing, but Koori could feel the tension in the air.
"Your Gloriousness, I am here with your newest concubine. I am teaching her the art of flower arranging. She has a very good set of manners and a very good eye," the Head Mistress said.
"That is nice. Am I able to place my eyes on this pristine subject?" the Fire Lord asked lazily.
"You know that rules, gracious Fire Lord," the Head Mistress said with a smile.
The Fire Lord gave a low chuckle that frightened Koori. "Ahh, if only I could change such rules to do as I will. That is what happens when our foolish ancestors decided to rule religiously rather than with brute force."
Koori was listening intently. She had never heard this type of information before. What did this mean? She thought about everything that she had been taught. Who were the religious sect of the Fire Nation? The answer was right on the tip of her tongue and then she looked to the bottom of the Head Mistress's robe. The Fire Sages! Koori thought. She looked back up to find the Head Mistress in a fit of laughter because the Fire Lord was flirting with her. She turned around and caught a glimpse of Zuko leaving the garden. Koori returned to her thoughts. What happened to the balance of my nation?
!
Koori sat in her room shortly after they left the garden. The Head Mistress had said that tomorrow would be a training session involving various elements of flexibility. Koori shuddered. She knew what the Head Mistress was talking about and it bothered her. She stared at a candle which had been lit for her use. She was allowed to spend her time however she pleased but she was not allowed to leave the harem's chambers until after the Fire Lord had bedded her. She stood from her bed and walked around the room two times and ended up in front of the candle. Her room was only six by ten and it took her less than thirty seconds to pace around it a couple of times. She took the candle in her hand and put her fingers above the flame. She concentrated and the flames rose higher.
"I wonder why they have done nothing about my bending ability. They didn't even ask," Koori said aloud to herself. "I am a prisoner, correct?"
She placed the candle into its holder and blew the candle out. She exited the room and shut the door quietly behind her. She wanted conversation and she wanted Ai. She looked around and found a dark-haired woman in a long silk robe that have flames embroidered onto the bottom hem. "Excuse me," Koori said with a faint voice.
The woman looked at her and gave a fake smile. "You must be the new girl that the Head Mistress speaks so highly of," she said.
Koori nodded. "I was wondering if you knew where Ai was?"
The girl laughed haughtily. "That little tramp! I have not seen her since the Head Mistress denounced her ability to be in the harem."
Koori was stunned. "Okay, thank you for your assistance," Koori said with a bow and a smile.
The girl waved her hand and Koori left feeling confused. She now REALLY wanted to see Ai. She wandered the hallways meekly, fidgeting her way past open doors with half-naked women in them. She came across the last room and looked inside. There were futons everywhere and some were piled as bunk beds. Koori assumed that there were at least twenty beds, if not more in this dainty room that was only a little bit bigger than her own. She looked in and found fully dressed women bickering and then she saw Ai.
She entered the room and dozens of women flocked around her feet, blocking her way to her friend who was leaving the room down a dark pathway.
"Can we get you anything?" they chanted at once.
Koori shook her head and gave a gracious bow. "I am looking for my friend, Ai," Koori said.
"Ohh, she left just moments ago. You could catch her down that hallway if you run," one girl in a pink dress answered.
"Thank you," Koori said, curtsying. She went in the direction that the girl pointed to and found herself traveling down a dimly lit hallway. She stopped when she heard noises.
"But Zuko," said a shrill voice, "I want to get away from this awful palace."
Koori looked toward where the noise was coming from and peeped through a hole in the wall. She saw Zuko and the girl who she had seen earlier kissing the prince of the Fire Nation on the ship. She was staring into the prince's bedroom and Koori removed her face from against the wall. This is a secret passageway! Koori thought. I wonder where else it leads!
Koori left Zuko and the girl dressed in an assortment of dark colored clothing. She continued down the hall and came to a fork. She decided to go left and heard funny sounds. Koori's face started to turn white as she heard the noises more clearly. They were grunting sounds and Koori saw the peephole to the room. She looked in just to make sure that it wasn't somebody in trouble and saw two people in very awkward positions, grinding into each other like it was a game. Koori immediately withdrew her face but found it hard to walk away. Perhaps if she stayed and watched, she could learn something. She put her head back to the wall and watched with a curiosity that confounded even her own mind.
She couldn't make out their faces in the dark, but she could see their glistening tongues searching each other's mouths violently. They rolled around in the sheets, ripping them off and out of their way. The man flipped the woman around and started to enter her while facing the woman's butt. He knelt onto the soft charcoal colored bedspread and Koori could hear the slapping of the juices and the frequent moans of the couple. Koori watched more intently as the woman climaxed. The man flipped the woman over again and withdrew his still hardened manhood. The woman smiled and put the man below her, gazing down at his sweaty body. She took his mouth with her own and gave him a deep kiss. She let him go and ran her tongue down his chest and toward his arousal. She took him in her mouth and Koori watched her head bob. The man moaned and soon Koori knew that the man had climaxed as well. Even though both had met their moment of bliss, they did not stop. Koori watched them kneel toward each other and then get into another awkward position. Koori withdrew her face at this point, becoming disgusted with not only herself, but the lovesick couple behind the wall.
She walked down the hallway until she head a familiar voice. "I am sorry, but I cannot help you this time," Ai's voice said in a whisper that carried down the hallway. Koori looked around the corner secretly and saw the Fire Lord standing at an open door in the middle of the secret tunnel.
Hmm. I wonder what they were talking about? Perhaps you should guess! If you guess right, you get a virtual cookie! I promise!
Please review, and don't forget to guess!
Thanks readers.
