Fire Lord Azulon's emissary, Minister Peng, folded his arms into his sleeves.

"Of course, I will need to see the girl to be sure that she is…as promised."

Ursa hid behind a door, watching her parents talk with the emissary. On a low cherrywood table between them sat their finest jade tea service, the tea made by Ursa herself. She'd thought about poisoning it—nothing serious. Maybe just a few herbs to give the cocky Minister Peng stomach troubles for a few weeks. Though they might enjoy his discomfort, her parents would scold her. It wouldn't do to anger Azulon when he was trying to acquire the island through a peaceful marriage.

"Of course," her father said, gesturing to one of the servants standing around the room. The woman bowed low before entering the room where Ursa was waiting.

As soon as the request had been made, Ursa's ladies had begun flitting about her, smoothing out wrinkles in her dress, removing flowers that looked like they were thinking about wilting from her hair, and applying more blush to her cheeks. As the servant opened the door to usher her out, Ursa slipped two ivory bracelets on her wrist, straightened her back, and made her entrance.

The room was heavy with the scent of spring lilies, the flower for which the island of Kirachu was best known. As Ursa glided into the room, she took note of her mother's blank face and her father's sadness. From the room, she had only been able to see emissary Minister Peng, and he had seemed quite pleased with himself. The wind blew, making the ornaments in her hair tinkle against each other like wind chimes; to the men of her island, she would have been the spring spirit herself, music sounding when she walked as her long golden robe, fluttered behind her in the stiff breeze.

Peng, however, had a predatory look in his eye, which Ursa didn't like at all. She kept her expression demure, her eyes downcast for the moment, her arms crossed at the wrist in front of her so that her belled sleeves covered her hands. When she bowed to Peng, she bowed in the style of her people, bent at the knee with a straight back and neck so that she floated toward the floor, like a petal onto the water. As her skirts moved, lilac faintly filled the room. She chose this moment as the most dramatic point, and raised her eyes to met Peng's. He wasn't as taken aback as she had hoped he would be, but he nodded appreciatively.

"And what is your name?" Peng asked, gesturing toward the couch where her parents were sitting.

"Lady Ursa," she said, biting her tongue. That Peng dared to command in her father's home was a clear slight against them, and she wished that they had the power to correct this arrogance.

"And how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Do you know why I am here?"

"I am not so young as to be ignorant of the world," Ursa said, pulling her hands further inside her robe so no one would see her clenching the fabric. "You are here to discuss my engagement to Prince Ozai. Let us hope that this arrangement ends more favorably than my engagement to Crown Prince Iroh." Ursa dipped her head shallowly, a bow of acknowledgement of equals, and smiled when Peng's eye twitched.

"You are rather knowledgeable in your parents' affairs, I see."

Before Ursa could say anything, her father stepped in. "Ursa is our only child, and we had intended for her to succeed us. It was, and still is, important to us that she knows and understands the world around her."

"Well, now, that will be for her husband to decide from now on."

"So will convey our acceptance?" Ursa asked.

Peng addressed her father. "She is as fiery as Agni himself, is she not? Perhaps she will be a good match for the Prince after all. You may bring her to the capitol in one month's time. The wedding will take place two weeks after."

Both parties stood, and this time Ursa didn't care to play demure. She stared Peng down during the parting well-wishes, and glared at his back long after he left their house. Before she servants had even finished clearing the tea service, she rounded on her parents.

"We couldn't hold out any longer?" she demanded, giving in to her anger. "What have we done to anger him so much that he would destroy Kirachu?"

"Hush, hush, child," her father said, scooping her into his arms and rubbing her back. "There can be some advantages to this marriage. You are a wife for his son, not a hostage."

"Oh, details, Father. What does it matter?"

Her mother was standing in front of them tapping her foot, her arms crossed. When they'd first been approached by Minister Peng about an engagement to Crown Prince Iroh, their suspicions had been aroused. Kirachu was a powerful island, but not so big that its women regularly became noticed by the nobility in the capitol. Her mother, Qiao, had immediately suspected it had a lot to do with her father Roku's broken friendship with Sozin, and that it was Roku's family who essentially commanded Kirachu.

"They never would have dared this when Father was alive," Qiao said. "Our hands are tied, little flower, but we will not send them a meek child. They will not conquer Kirachu as they have done so many other places." She paced in front of the couch, her slippers thumping on the wood floor.

"Was there no one else we could send in my place? I belong here. If I leave, who will run the business?" Ursa looked pleadingly at her father, and he kissed her forehead.

"Little flower, I wish there was someone else we could send. He probably wants you precisely because there is no one to take your place."

"I would have divorced your father and gone myself, if I could," Qiao said. She sat beside Ursa on the couch. "As it was, Azulon asked for you by name. More or less."

"He didn't even know my name," Ursa grumbled.

The servants moved around the family in silence, but the general tone in the room was one of annoyance, distrust, and anger. No emissary from the capitol was received well on Kirachu. The people knew the wealth and importance of their island, and would not hand it over to the crown. Kirachu was basically all farmland, and produced roughly a third of the nation's food. There were some luxury foods that could only be grown on Kirachu, and no one could match their moon peaches.

Peng was far more hostile this time than he'd been in the past. He'd sneered at the food, insulted their home, their business, and their culture. He all but called Kirachu a backwoods village, and said they didn't understand complex government. Her parents bore it all with straight faces and a dim resignation. Ursa had seethed behind the door, though she knew there was nothing her parents could do.

"If it would have done any good, I would have personally thrown him out rather than sacrifice you, sweet girl," her father, Wei, said.

"I need to be here to protect our home. There was a reason Grandpa Roku moved away from the capitol."

Her father hugged her tighter, but it wouldn't matter. It was fine for Azulon to refuse you, but for you to refuse the Fire Lord? Ursa had no doubt that he would not only come after her entire family, but her island as well.

"We all must make sacrifices," her mother was saying, "but you will not go into the capitol alone and without protection."

A/N: Originally, I'd planned for this to be the second arc in my series about finding Ursa (following The Chase), but then I felt it would be too big of a detour. I'd put in too much work, and love the chapter titles too much to just discard it, though. It works well as a stand alone, and with much hesitation, I present you with my Urzai fic.