10.3.12
Prepared
In retrospect, she supposes that she should have been prepared for it.
But when it had happened, it had come as a shock - she hadn't really thought that far ahead.
So when her mother had burst into her room, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright with excitement, Ursa hadn't really known what to expect. Lady Hong had been half-laughing, half-crying. Ursa had sat and waited patiently for her mother to calm down enough to speak coherently.
Finally Lady Hong did, and breathlessly, sounding more like a teenage girl than a mother, she began to explain what had happened. "Ursa - a messenger from the palace came to deliver a message a few minutes ago - and he said - he said - "
Ursa's certain that her mother's next words will ring forever in her ears. "Prince Ozai has asked for your hand in marriage."