33 Preparing to Set Sail

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The day after Azula spoke with her father, he gave his permission to inspect the lands of the Fire Nation, including the old colonies and newly conquered territories. Alas, it was not possible to start right away to go and inspect everything and everyone. There were several reasons for that.

The princess's ship was damaged and needed serious repairs, and some of the crew died under "mysterious" circumstances, or fell overboard during the storm. The chances of survival in such weather tended to zero. The ship was promised to be repaired in a couple of months at best, which was unacceptable. Fortunately, there was a spare ship, but it still had to be prepared. That would take a week or more.

It was also necessary to find a new captain and other missing crew members, as well as to complete the princess's Imperial Guard and many other little things that did not require my attention, much less the princess's. As well as a number of necessary papers, stamped with the Fire Master's personal seal, confirming Azula's authority by his word. The authority by the word was very great, even more, it was enormous. The princess had immense power. All the preparations needed to be finished in a week and a half at most, as we had a lot of things planned.

Neither Azula nor I were used to wasting our time. And the enjoyment of life quickly dulls if you live like a king every day. It was good that the gruelling workouts, to which the girl happily returned after recovery, brightened up the everyday life of the princess' luxurious life. Large hot springs; a variety of dishes that amaze with their taste, personal masters manicure, pedicure, masseurs and other delights of being the heiress of the whole country ... I had time to enjoy it all to the fullest. Along with these affairs, we had games of chess and pai-sho.

Azula liked my proposed game much better than the world-famous pai-sho. Lately our games have become much more interesting. It happened when I stopped losing to Zula in the dry. Maybe it has something to do with memory transfer, or maybe I'm just learning from a worthy opponent.

Of course, while the princess's new ship was being prepared, Zula was not only training and resting, she was also doing important things while smaller problems were being solved by professionals, small officials and workers. One of the main problems she faced was recruiting a team.

And that's where we had a bit of a disagreement.

- What's your problem with this one? Excellent characterisation, experience of fighting at sea, been in several battles on land, distinguished himself during the battle, got a medal for bravery. A descendant of the military, who went to the internal troops with a good rank, - the girl turns her gaze from the stack of documents to me.

This was the personal file of one of the captain candidates I had rejected. Being in one of the many offices of the palace, we were going through the brought personal files of all the military, worthy of promotion to the captain of the princess's personal ship. For Azula, it was much more difficult than she had imagined. The reason for that was me, namely my high demands.

- Don't you get it? Pay attention to under whose command he served," I calmly answer her, continuing to look at the documents. I was amazed by the girl's blindness, that she didn't understand such trivial moments of life and military machine.

- Hm... - flips through the pages, - his father is an admiral? - throws a thoughtful glance at me.

- I can see your thoughts starting to move in the right direction.

- I still don't understand, and you're getting more and more annoying. Explain your position clearly! - I think I overestimated it.

- Isn't it obvious? I know you've hardly ever had to deal with the selection of your cronies, but to not understand such simple truths? All his accolades and all his successes are almost certainly slightly fake, or should I say greatly exaggerated. Look at his face.

- What's wrong with his face? - flips through the pages again, finding the one with the hand-drawn picture on it.

- No scars, no wrinkles, no grey hair, no masculinity. He's just a wussy boy who's been holed up on the home front, taking advantage of his father's position. Or perhaps his father encouraged it, worried for his only son's safety. You don't consider all the information in the case, and every word in that file matters, no matter how insignificant it may seem," I let a note of disappointment sound in my voice.

- What are you saying?

- He has no experience, no background, he's never been in real combat, he's too young. A pampered, spoilt brat is not fit to captain your ship. Let me remind you, we're going to go places that even the most experienced military men would be afraid to set foot in. And we're going up against not just anyone, but the strongest wizard of all. And most of your candidates are useless slobs who are often pampered and spoilt. In the end, something like your brother grows up.

- We wouldn't have to do this if you hadn't killed Bruce Lee.

- Oh, here we go. Let's not repeat ourselves. Let's leave the past in the past.

- If you're criticising, suggest it!

- Oh! I'm glad you asked for it. First, let's return to the personal affairs of the applicants for a warm place near you... - after that Azula carefully began to look at the candidates for the captaincy of the princess's ship that I proposed.

It took some time. Azula didn't understand a lot of things about my criteria, and they were extremely rigid, and there were a lot of them. In part, our goals coincided, because without Zula, it would be much harder for me to become alive again. So I took the team selection very seriously. I had to explain a lot of things to the princess, who never really gathered subordinates around her, using only those subordinates that her father provides. The search for the right candidate was quite long, but we came to a compromise and found one who met all our requirements.

- So, we stop on him... - once again examines the personal file of the chosen candidate. The choice fell on a man of thirty-eight years of age, great experience, high epaulettes, master of conquering fire, and he was taken away in the reserve under extremely strange circumstances.

- It's best to talk to the man personally before making a final decision. To be absolutely sure we're making the right choice. He's the best candidate we've got at the moment, we don't want such talent to go to waste. And if you give him a helping hand, he'll always remember it and be especially loyal to you.

- Sounds... tempting," the girl smiled predatorily, having understood my hint correctly.

- Mm-hmm, the captain has been decided. What about a few well specialised masters, like Yuan's archers?

- I don't think they'll be useful," the girl says hesitantly.

- Azula, you're a princess, you should have a proper retinue. Not everything has to be done personally, as a future ruler you should be able to select people for positions. And arrows are never useless," I answer her in an instructive tone.

- The retinue yes... - the princess thoughtfully stretches out. - I'm reminded of a couple of people. They will be by my side and it's out of the question. I trust them almost..." she stammered, probably remembering the recent incident with her father, "no, I trust them more than anyone else in the world.

- Childhood friends, right? I don't mind them. Both have excellent skills that are just rusting away. But there are still a number of empty positions that need to be filled for a full crew..." I reply to Zula, after a bit of thought.

It didn't take me long to remember exactly who the girl was referring to. It wasn't difficult. With those intonations in her voice, she could only be talking about them: Mei and Tai Li. It was no surprise that Zula brought them to mind when it came to her personal entourage. They were the only ones she had any kind of relationship with that was a little deeper than it might seem at first glance.

We went back to discussing recruitment. After choosing a future captain, things went much easier. That same evening, all the invitation letters were mailed to the chosen lucky recipients. Each letter was personalised, written by Azula herself for each candidate. Having familiarised ourselves with people's personal files, we quickly composed eloquent and pathos-laden messages, calling on them to help their homeland in their hour of need. However, not everyone needed an extra incentive to make the decision we needed. Some saw it as a last chance, some saw it as an end to boring everyday life, and some saw it as an opportunity to earn more money. All the right people were interested in the opportunity.

The following days of waiting for the ship to be manned and prepared for the long journey were not much different from each other. Training, rest, intellectual games, short father-daughter conversations about politics, even shorter conversations with officials and military officers, and other routine princess chores. In the evenings we read the replies to the letters sent, as expected, no one refused, well, or almost no one. There was still no reply from Tai Li, most likely due to the fact that the girl's circus was travelling all over the Land of Fire and all its colonies. The mercenary, whose magic I had a keen interest in, was on a mission. Beside them all sent in their favourable replies.

Observing the unusual life of the royalty, I noticed more and more often a certain duality of the princess. To me, she spoke somewhat differently than she did to anyone else. To others, she was the same old Azula, or nearly so. Still, my influence on her made itself felt, the girl did not overreact with strictness or rigidity and tried to act a little more fairly towards her subordinates.

Only it was drops, if not in the sea, then in the lake. Azula still liked to feel her superiority over others, and it was hard for me to change that about her. She was far superior to others and had a proper conceit, and she justified her strictness and rigidity with high demands, sometimes convincing even me of the necessity of it. Azula was still the same Azula that had just begun to change. And, of course, these changes were not noticed by her subordinates, who, as usual, were humbled by the strictness of her mistress. I still had a lot of work to do to make the princess wiser, unless of course she instils in me her own views on the world.

Time flew on. Soon the first invitees arrived at the palace to see the princess.

- Mistress Azula, the guest you spoke of has arrived. I have done as you ordered since yesterday. She is waiting for you in the designated chambers, may I escort you? - One of the palace servants hurriedly addresses the girl, distracting us from the training.

- Lead the way, - replies the princess, having finished our training only halfway through. It was not critical. We had already learnt to use resonance quite effectively, so the training was more about keeping our form and skills up to date.

"I wonder who that could be?" - I wondered in between as Azula followed the man to the right chambers.

- Pfft, among all the letters sent, only two girls, and only one of them didn't get a reply," the corridor was empty and the servant was far enough away to not hear the princess' barely audible whisper.

"I know, it was a rhetorical question. I'm out," and without waiting for the girl's reaction, I leave her body. Zula, as usual, felt no discomfort.

Azula reaches the correct room, glimpsing the guards at the entrance, opens the door and steps inside. In the room was one of her childhood friends that had stopped eating fire cereal as soon as the princess entered. The bowl of cereal was placed on a table that already had a letter with the princess' seal on it.

- 'May,' Zula began coolly.

- I hope your message isn't some kind of joke," the girl greeted just as coolly, making a respectful bow with a face indifferent to everything in the world, "otherwise I'm seriously considering suicide. Life in this country is so boring.

The princess comes closer, they meet eyes, a second and they laugh. Still, despite the acting, which the princess never stopped in front of any outsiders, the girls were pretty close friends. Although, only Azula thought so, what May thought about it, I could only guess. The princess's girlfriend didn't even notice me drifting behind Zula's back. Well, that wasn't unusual.

- It's good to see you, May. You surprised me, I expected you to arrive a little later," Azula begins, after a small hug with her childhood friend. Yes, they were so close that the princess herself went for a hug, albeit awkwardly and somewhat stiffly.

- At home I was terribly bored, the wind was blowing, and here I am, full of hopes for something interesting, - the girl answers in a voice that seems to be devoid of all emotions. Yes, everything is in comparison. Even Azula shows more feeling, but here it's like talking to a glacier.

- I will need your skills. We'll be travelling to inspect the Fire Nation and our colonies, and we'll be stopping by a few other interesting places. I need trusted and professional people," Azula decides to remind Azula of what was already written in the letter.

- It doesn't matter where or why, the important thing is that it will be more interesting than my time at home. My decision will not change, I agree, - with a face of complete calmness answers the girl, as if she does not care at all. However, Zula and I remembered that she really has an extremely calm, even somewhat depressive character.

"What an interesting character, I'm interested in getting to know your girlfriend better. So beautiful and so cold, I wonder what secrets she's hiding," I remark as I fly around the girls and look at Mei, comparing her feminine beauty to Azula.

- Come on, I'll have them put you up close. What's new with you? - Zula ignored my statement, heading towards the exit and silently ordered May to follow her.

- Nothing, just boredom and depression.....

The princess settled her friend next to her, in the guest quarters of the palace. They talked quite a lot, a lot in Azula's understanding. However, nothing interesting Mei could narrate. As she said, her life was a bore. She was not even interested in the route or the dangers of travelling, she simply did not care. She answered all questions calmly, and kept to every topic with complete equanimity. I wasn't even sure if she was so perfectly in control of her emotions or if they were simply muted, if not absent.

Most of the day the girls discussed politics and May's family, whose father is very actively climbing the career ladder. The girl herself was not very happy with the subject, for she had had enough of it at home. Most of her relatives held officer posts and important ministerial and managerial positions. The girl could be called an aristocrat, but there was no such notion in the fire nation. There were rich and influential families and even whole clans that differed in the degree of interest in politics. But there was no such aristocracy under the absolute monarch's power. Personal skills played a much bigger role than a long lineage. Zuko's example was a case in point for all of the Fire Lord's subjects.

- Mei, I wish to see your skills. How would you feel about a little sparring? - After talking about the past and present, Zula wanted to get back to training and test her friend's strength.

- I'd love to. If I happen to die at your hands, tell my relatives that this life is too boring for me," the girl replies without any emotion, habitually making a very black joke. If it was a joke.

During the not-so-serious battle of the beautiful and deadly girls, I was able to observe how depressed Mei transforms during the fight. She, like Azula, enjoyed using her skills in battle. She happily used her many hidden daggers, feeling the excitement and pleasure of battles. The girl didn't even hide her smile and delight during the battle! A surprising contrast to Mei's character seen earlier. In a word, the girls fought with fire, although they held back, not wanting to hurt each other too much. Eventually, after showing off to each other, they stopped the fight, satisfied with the time they had spent.

Finished with the sparring, the young girls returned to their conversation. Most of their topics were uninteresting to me: the latest news of the country, news from the front and, of course, not without politics. But something managed to surprise me.

At some point Azula started asking her friend about boyfriends. And then I didn't know what to think, I was too shocked by such a surprise. It was a good thing that May was boring with it, the perpetually depressed girl wasn't even hit on by guys she seemed to scare off. All in all, they talked surprisingly little and mostly to the point. Not like most of the women I knew, who loved not even to talk, but to babble, which they could do for hours on end. Azula and Mei were strolling around the palace having a very "emotional" conversation and were still discussing things when a guard came up to them.

- Princess Azula, I'm sorry to disturb you," a male servant's voice came from behind them, causing the ladies to turn around, "Captain Jay Chan has arrived at your behest. He is awaiting an audience with you in the palace reception room in the west wing.

- I understand you," Azula replies, "Bring tea for three to this room, I'll head there immediately.

The servant bows and hurries to do the princess' bidding. Leaving her alone with Mei, or almost alone, for I was still with the girls.

- My ship was caught in a storm and we were attacked by a sea serpent, and there were casualties," he explained in response to Mei's questioning look. How did I know she was interested? She didn't even change her face! It must be because of Zula's memory.

- Do I have to go? - May asks.

- Yes. You are part of my personal retinue. And retinue must always accompany the imperial personages, come on, you might even be interested in his story, there is at least one mystery in it.

- I'm sure it will be wildly boring," Mei replies in the same emotionless voice with a hint of dejection.

The girls headed off to meet the potential captain of the princess's personal ship, Jay Chan...