The Lotus Villa

Chapter Eleven

A/N Thanks to Addict of Reading for their amazing art.

A few days after Prince Zuko returned from Sonuchia, he threw a party to showcase the Sun Warrior artifacts he had purchased from local peasants. He displayed the artifacts in the garden atop pedestals inside shady alcoves for his guests to admire as they strolled under a canopy of wisteria flowers and willow branches.
Among the guests was Lord Chan, one of a pair of young noblemen who'd attached themselves to Katara and Ty Lee (mostly Ty Lee) and sought them out at every party without invitation or encouragement on the girls' part. Katara smiled politely and pretended to be interested in a pair of terracotta figures standing on a plinth between a stone lantern and an ornamental rock formation. But Lord Chan, who was good-looking and wealthy but not much else, didn't take Katara's hint.
The figurines depicted a huntress and a deer, but Lord Chan, wanting to show off his vast knowledge in front of Katara, insisted they were a mounted warrior and his steed. "He's an archer," Lord Chan said. "Look at his bow and arrow."
Katara's etiquette classes had taught her that men, especially Fire Nation noblemen, were fragile creatures who couldn't bear the slightest criticism, contradiction, or correction, so it was best to go along with what they said. So she responded to Lord Chan's remarks with, "I didn't know horses looked like deer back then," and "Men used to have breasts, how amazing."
Prince Zuko walked toward them, and Katara bowed to Lord Chan. Now, she had an excuse to make her escape.
"I hope Lord Chan wasn't bothering you too much?" Prince Zuko said. He sidled up to Katara in front of a ceramic vase that looked remarkably brand new after having been in the ground for thousands of years.
Katara lowered her eyes. "And have you come to my rescue?" Her shining prince had saved her just in time. A lady could only remain polite in front of a boor for so long.
"Don't worry. I think you've lost him."
Lord Chan had already moved on to give the same speech he'd given to Katara to Ahna, the daughter of the Shini Clan. He was having better luck with Ahna, who was just the type of silly, simpering thing who would be impressed by his bravado. Katara would have disliked her even if she wasn't a Shini, who were rivals to the Ukano, Katara's family by adoption.
The ceramic vase in front of them still had some of its original moss-green glaze. It could have come from Lady Michi's china cabinet if you had polished it up.
"I wonder what they used it for," said Katara.
"Probably to put flowers in," said Prince Zuko. "Or piss in."
Katara giggled into her sleeve as was proper. "Thanks again for helping me get away from that oaf back there."
"Hey, Lord Chan isn't a bad fellow."
Prince Zuko's defense of Lord Chan made Katara roll her eyes. Not a bad fellow indeed. Lord Chan and Prince Zuko often partied in the entertainment district and got up to all sorts of mischief together: courtesans, illegal dice games, and naughty puppet shows. And that was what they felt comfortable talking about in the presence of respectable ladies like Katara.
Lord Chan might be good company for a night of drinking and revelry at a pleasure house, but he was still an oaf and a boor.
"Besides, it's Ty Lee he's in love with." Lord Chan and his friend Lord Ruon-Jian, another member of Prince Zuko's retinue, buzzed around Ty Lee like bees around a flower.
Across the way, Lord Chan had now left Ahna behind and cozied up to Ty Lee in front of a display of quartz and jasper jewelry. Ty Lee lowered her eyes and stuttered when Lord Chan asked her a question. 
Prince Zuko smirked. "Ty Lee?" he said. "Wasn't she one of the girls you snuck out with?"
Like the chivalrous gentleman he was, Prince Zuko had kept quiet about seeing them on the casino ship, and Katara had done her best not to implicate her friends. But Katara was still annoyed with Ty Lee for embarrassing her, and Ty Lee deserved blame where it was due. "The one who bet that you were handsome under your mask."
"I hope she's not a corrupting influence."
"Are you warning me about falling into bad company, Your Highness?" Katara gave Prince Zuko a wicked grin. He would know about bad company as someone who was friends with Lord Chan.
"In my experience..." Prince Zuko moved closer to Katara. "Bad company is the only kind worth falling into."
Katara's heart pounded. Where was Mai? Sitting on a bench under the willow tree, chatting with another lady. Perhaps Madame Chou, the governor of Caldera's much younger wife, who also studied knife fighting with the Master of Blades. Katara's pulse calmed down a bit.
A little harmless flirting with Prince Zuko wasn't something Katara needed to be ashamed of. Prince Zuko flirted with plenty of ladies and it didn't mean anything. It was all part of the game that was the bride season.
Then why did it feel like a betrayal?
Katara looked around for something new to talk about. Two bronze dragons circled each other in the center of the garden, surrounded by incense burners, oil lamps, and offerings of fruit and flowers. Their scales had been buffed and polished until they gleamed as good as new. "How magnificent," said Katara.
Prince Zuko lit two sticks of incense and bowed to the dragons. "Please forgive me, Masters," he said.
"What do you need forgiveness for?"
"For disturbing their rest." Prince Zuko raised an eyebrow as if to say, it's obvious, why don't you get it?
"Why? They're statues, not real dragons." Though the incense smoke hanging around their heads made them look almost alive. In the flickering lamplight, their gleaming bronze eyes winked at them.
"They're guardian spirits."
Katara laughed. "Statues can't be spirits." Everyone knew that spirits lived in nature, in the howling of the wind or the friendly crackle of a hearth fire, but never anything man-made.
Prince Zuko gave her an indulgent smile. "Nonetheless," he said. "It's better to treat them with respect...Lady Katara."  He grabbed Katara's sleeve, which had come dangerously close to catching fire on one of the oil lamps, exposing her wrist.
Katara flushed and pulled away. "Excuse me," she said. How foolish she'd been.
"Might I cut in?" Mai stepped in between Katara and the prince.
Katara's heart pounded again, but she greeted her friend as if nothing was wrong. Had Mai seen Prince Zuko grab her sleeve?
Prince Zuko gave Mai a bow and a smile. "Lady Mai," he said. His smile rivaled the sun, and Mai couldn't help but be blinded. "Can I get you some refreshment?"
Mai nodded, and Prince Zuko left her and Katara under the imposing gaze of the two dragons. The dragon closest to Katara winked at her again. Katara looked down at her shoes.
She hadn't done anything wrong, really, besides offending some ancient guardian spirit and almost setting herself on fire.
"Intimidating, aren't they?" said Mai. "I would hate to get on their bad side." She lit two incense sticks and put them in one of the burners.
Katara plucked a bunch of wisteria blooms from a nearby trellis and placed it with the other offerings. It couldn't hurt. She then bowed to the dragons. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but the dragons seemed to smile at her.
Perhaps Prince Zuko was right?
The party hit an inevitable lull around the Hour of the Owl. Prince Zuko ordered music to liven things up and invited anyone who wanted to come and perform.
Ty Lee nudged Katara. "You should sing something," she said.
Since Ty Lee heard Katara sing an old Water Tribe sea chanty while sorting embroidery silks, she had become the greatest champion of Katara's vocal talents. She dubbed Katara the "Southern Songbird" and said her voice was sweeter than Master Laklan, the lead castrato who sang the prima donna roles in the Royal Opera.
Katara demurred. As much as she wanted to sing, appearing too eager would be gauche. It would be better to wait until everyone insisted, and then she would have no choice but to give in.
"Come on," said Mai, who'd cozied up with Prince Zuko on a sofa. "Let's see what Lady June is getting for all that money she's spending on your music lessons."
Music lessons were how Lady June explained Katara's training sessions with Master Hama to Lord Ukano. Of course, she'd assured him she would cover the expenses. Katara was a promising girl, was she not, and a worthwhile investment. Lady June taught Katara the basics of shamisen playing to keep up with their music lesson ruse. The shamisen was considered a somewhat vulgar instrument because of its association with courtesans and traveling minstrels. A proper lady should have learned to play something more refined like the koto, but Lady June had always liked to be unconventional.
Katara lowered her eyes. "If you insist," she said, hoping her hours of practice made up for her being mostly self-taught. She picked up the shamisen Ty Lee handed her and strummed the Earth Kingdom folk song, "Secret Tunnel," which became popular after appearing in the opera The Tragedy of Oma and Shu or The Cave of the Two Lovers.
"Two lovers, forbidden from one another.
A war divides their people,
And a mountain divides them apart.
They'll build a path to be together.
Secret tunnel, secret tunnel,
Through the mountain,
Secret, secret, secret tunnel."
Prince Zuko, face flushed and eyes tired after several cups of wine, rested his head among Mai's skirts and placed his hands on his chest. "You play very well," he said.
Katara smiled and continued singing. Prince Zuko's praise meant more to her than a theater full of applause.
"Two lovers destined for one another,
But the war still divides their people.
They build a tunnel through the mountain,
so now they can be together forever.
Secret tunnel, secret tunnel,
through the mountain,
secret, secret tunnel."
Oma and Shu, the two lovers in the song, were caught up in a feud between their respective villages. They learned earth bending from the badger moles and used it to build the tunnels underneath Omashu, the city that would come to bear their names, so they could meet in secret. But their story had a sad ending. Shu was killed in battle and Oma died of grief, but it was said that they were reincarnated as every pair of famous lovers from history. Katara couldn't help but steal glances at Prince Zuko, who was happily lounging with Mai, as she strummed her shamisen.
"A pretty song." Katara looked up as Jet approached her. She smiled at him. Though he couldn't come to the party with her, he kept his promise to walk her home.
The song came crashing to its twanging end. Katara put down her instrument and bowed to her audience. She drank in their applause like wine, making her head spin.
Ty Lee stuck her head in between Mai and Prince Zuko and startled the love birds. "Doesn't Miss Katara have a beautiful voice?" she said.
Prince Zuko sat up and straightened himself. "I've heard it said that a woman's singing voice only becomes truly beautiful after she's known heartbreak," he said, shooting a look at Jet, who'd put a possessive arm around Katara. "For Miss Katara's sake, I hope it never does."