DEAR DICTATOR → zuko

╸twenty five : lady of the land

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❝ lady of the land ❞

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     WITH AGE COMES strangeness. Many people think that the passing day makes the mind wiser, like adding a drop of water to a pail. Nari is learning that that is not the case.

     Chyou has the most unpredictable, wild nature. Perhaps that is why she smells like sun and grass. When she selected each herb for their tea, she made two different ones. Nari reached for the one closest to her, the one that also steeped longer (she figured the old lady would get patient and want her tea first), and Chyou smacked her hand away. The two teas were selective to each person, she said.

     Nari finishes her tea with a smile and a question. "What was in that?" It was a warm mix of bitterness and icy mint, and it did not sit well on her tongue, but it'd be impolite to say something to someone she just met. Old people take their tea very seriously. "It has a very... distinct taste."

     Chyou swipes the cup away and does something Nari's never seen her do before: she takes them to the sink and rinses them clean. "It's not supposed to taste good, child." Chyou says, then pauses with a hum as she takes a rag to each cup. "It's supposed to help 'ya out. Tea is not just for taste, you know?"

     Nari knows that. Of course she knows that. Some teas contain caffeine to keep you awake, some help you stay calm and collected, some grant you focus. It depends on the brew. But what in Agni's name was in her tea?

     "What is it helping?" Nari won't be surprised if it's some spiritual, soul-cleansing juice. Knowing Chyou, it could do anything. Maybe it would make her bat-shit crazy and send her running mile and miles south to the ocean. Maybe it would put her to sleep. Judging by the bitterness, it was neither.

     "I put willow bark and peppermint in your tea, hun." Chyou places the cups on a drying rack, and walks near a bookshelf. Her hands float over the spines of each one, searching for something specific. "It helps with inflammation and injuries. The peppermint may help with the headache from your concussion."

     She slams a book down in front of Nari. Its pages are aged, but nonetheless full of drawings and script. One, torn apart halfway and secured with some peeling tape, is distinct from Chyou's words. "'Willow bark contains chemicals which reduce inflammation and aid in pain relief, higher doses provide stronger relief...' Huh..." Nari flips the page over, and an illustration of ginger root sits on one page with its anatomy described by each point, and all its usages and side effects on the next. "I thought tea was just a mood stabilizer,"

     "It is. But the herbs and spices mixed in can change its benefits." Chyou shuts the book and throws it into a brown satchel she just so happens to have lying in a drawer under the nearest window. "Take this back with 'ya after dinner. Read it if you got time, and try to remember it. This right here is the basics of what you'll learn."

     Nari sighs. Now she has homework?

     "That stuff's pretty easy anyways, all you gotta do is read a book, aint too hard..." After her silent muttering, Chyou claps her hands together, loud. "Moving on! We got orders to fill,"

     "Orders?" Nari asked. "We?"

     "You sound like a kid on a sled. Yes, we." The old lady gets sassy. "It ain't tough. You're not working with poisons, not yet at least, just mixing up some perfumes and oils for the rich Ba Sing Se folk."