Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

35

❃ Left Behind ❃

And so it happened that Keya joined Zuko and Iroh for their trip to the palace in order to serve tea to His Majesty the Earth King. Never had anyone in her family been blessed with such a prestige as today's events. Keya was sure that it would help to grow Iroh's business even more!

She observed the palace with awe as the official palace carriage brought them to its front gates. The building itself was larger than life, with red clay walls and Earth Kingdom insignia carved into every possible crevice. The palace's roof was covered with bright, emerald green tiles that curved up towards the heavens at the tips. Large, tan columns held the structure up. No coins had been spared in the creation of this extravagant palace, that much was clear. The palace was the ultimate symbol of power and prestige.

The carriage that had picked them up came to a creaky stop right in front of the long stairway up to the palace entrance. Zuko was the first to jump out of the wooden cart. He quickly held the door open for his uncle as the man carefully stepped out with his equipment. Iroh held his portable tea set gently between his hands and waited for Keya to get out.

Keya grumbled softly while she tried to exit the carriage with as much grace and poise as she could. However, the poor girl wasn't used to the elite Ba Sing Se fashion that she was forced into that morning. The flowery decorative jewelry in her hair was particularly difficult to navigate a carriage with. Her small hand instantly found Zuko's warm, large fingers when she made her way down the cart's steps. With a small hop, she closed the rest of the distance between her feet and the palace tiles. Zuko moved his hand down to rest against the small of her back and nodded to the carriage driver, who promptly clicked his tongue and forced his ostrich horse to walk again.

"Many times, I imagined myself here at the threshold of the palace." Iroh spoke up as the trio walked up the palace steps. "But I always thought that I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

"It sure is, uncle." Zuko smiled softly.

"So it is." Keya agreed with a giggle.

Once they passed through the gates and entered the palace, the three tea servers were formally welcomed in the large home. A stoic member of staff led them to the Earth King's official tea room. Here they were told to wait and prepare for their service. So they did.

Iroh got started with preparing his tea, while Keya unpacked the pastries and laid them out neatly on a beautiful tray.  Zuko prepared the cups, plates, and utensils in the meantime. Soon, they were ready to serve.

Iroh's arms moved graciously as he carefully poured a cup for the King. Said man had yet to arrive, but Iroh had insisted that pouring the cup now would create an inviting scent for when the monarch actually made his way to the tea room. It didn't take long for the smell of jasmine tea to make its way through the area.

Time ticked on as the three servers waited patiently for the King. Slowly but surely, the tea that Iroh had poured started to cool off. It was now at the perfect drinking temperature, but nobody had arrived to drink it yet.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko grumbled.

Keya softly nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Shhh, do you want him to think we're rude? I'm sure he's on his way."

"Maybe the Earth King overslept." Iroh suggested.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Keya said, despite getting worried herself. "He's the Earth King. Doesn't he have people to wake him up?"

Just as the trio was about to discuss the Earth King's sleeping schedule, a group of Dai Li members walked in. At first, Keya had thought that they were here to escort the Earth King safely to the tea room. The tea trio were strangers to him after all, so it wouldn't be too crazy for the King to take some protection with him just in case.