It was three months since the avalanche had led to Shang learning Mulan's secret. Every night, he came to her tent and raped her. She was pregnant. Nobody else knew her plight, and he had piled on enough threats to keep it that way. If she told anyone else what he was doing to her, he would kill them.

An illness was sweeping through the camp, and many soldiers lay ill in their tents. The medic from the Tung Shou pass was summoned, and was caring for them. Mulan had little contact with the other soldiers, so she had managed not to become ill. But this was the same medic who had treated her after she was cut by Shan Yu's sword. He knew she was female. He was the one who had told Shang.

The soldiers who were ill kept him so busy he was not able to check up on her for several days. But he watched her coming and going to meals and to her watch duty. She was thinner, and paler, and almost always in the company of the new general, who watched her like a hawk. Whenever he caught the medic watching her, he stared him down. The medic had a bad feeling about her situation. Her face, arms and neck were frequently full of bruises. His hunch was confirmed when he saw her start vomiting outside her tent or the mess tent multiple times a day. She was pregnant. The general was no doubt responsible, as the medic saw him go to her tent every night.

While the general was occupied breaking up a brawl between a dozen soldiers, the medic immediately made his way to her tent. When he entered it, she shrank back in fear. Why was she afraid of him?

"It's ok, I'm the medic, I'm not going to hurt you."

"What do you want?" Mulan glanced nervously at the tent entrance, then back at the medic. Shang was bound to appear and would be angry.

"I wanted to know how your wound from Shan Yu's sword was healing. I've also noticed you vomiting several times a day, so I'm concerned about you."

"My wound has healed up nicely. I just throw up because the food doesn't agree with me."

"The food doesn't agree with you?" The medic was skeptical.

"No, it doesn't. I'm fine."

"Why are you covered with bruises?"

"Sparring with the other soldiers."

"Really? The other soldiers are mostly ill. No one has the energy to spar right now."

"Well, the general is not ill."

"No, he is not. I suspect he is the reason you are vomiting and covered with bruises."

"He has nothing to do with it."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing at all."

"I see him come to your tent every night."

"It is just to discuss strategy. He thinks I have a great mind for battle strategies since I set off the avalanche."

"Mulan, that is your name, is it not?"

"Yes, that is my name."

"Mulan, is he forcing you to do things you do not want to?"

Mulan looked at the floor. How she wished she could tell this medic the truth, but if she did, Shang would kill him.

"Of course not. He would never do that."

Just then the tent opened and the general stepped inside.

"Did you need something, sir?"

"I wanted to check on her, since she is vomiting so much and looks so pale."

"She's fine." Shang looked at Mulan with a cold stare that she had come to know well. Inwardly, she cringed. She knew that tonight she would pay for this. The general would be especially brutal. Anytime his actions were close to being discovered, he took it out on her.

"Tell the medic you are fine and not ill or in need of medical attention."

Mulan's voice shook. "I am well, sir. Thank you for your concern."

The medic stepped out, and Shang followed him after giving Mulan one more cold, calculating stare. He need not use words, he knew she would neither talk to the medic nor try to leave. Still, that was too close for his comfort, and she needed to know it must never happen again.

Outside the tent, the general turned to the medic. "You must concentrate all of your time on the ill. There is no need for you to examine her."

"I believe there is, general. She is pale, thin and vomits multiple times a day. I believe she is pregnant."

"She is not pregnant, and you are not to see her again." Shang put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You do want to see your family again, do you not? Those mountain passes can be mighty treacherous. Any number of calamities might befall them."

"Very well." The medic walked away, towards his own tent. He couldn't allow his family to be hurt. Just before he went in, he turned towards Mulan's tent, just in time to see the general go back inside and heard Mulan let out a stifled scream. His stomach was in knots as he stood paralyzed, knowing a young woman was being beaten and raped and there was nothing he could do about it. If he tried to intervene, the general would kill his family. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but it seemed like hours before the general came back out.

As Shang walked by the medic, he put his hand on his sword hilt again and stared menacingly at him. There was blood stains on his clothes and his hands that hadn't been there during their previous conversation. It was Mulan's blood. She was wounded again, this time at the hands of her own general.

The medic turned and threw up. He vowed to leave the army encampment as soon as he was able to, then he would take his family and leave the Tung Shou pass. The further from the brutal general they all were, the better. If only he could take Mulan with him. She was still just a child, barely 17. Too young to be subjected to the general's abuse and to be soon birthing and raising his child.

.

.

.

.

.

Mulan watched the general and the medic leave her tent, and she heard Shang threaten the other if he attempted to treat her again. The medic had figured out she was pregnant, but he would not be allowed to treat her, even during childbirth. The prospect of giving birth alone terrified Mulan.

The tent entrance opening interrupted her thoughts. Shang was back, and she was going to pay for the medic trying to help her. Mulan tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her by the hair so hard she screamed. He covered her mouth and nose with his other hand. She couldn't breath.

"What I do to you is none of that medic's goddamn business, you little bitch!" His cold brown eyes burned into hers and he laughed as she struggled to breath. He slammed her head on the floor by her hair repeatedly, until her vision grew blurry. Then the slaps and punches started. With each blow, Mulan grew more dizzy and everything around her more dim. Even Shang's voice was sounding distant as he swore at and threatened her with each brutal strike of his fists.

Finally, she succumbed to a comforting darkness where she felt no pain. How long she was there, she didn't know.

When Mulan finally woke up, her entire body ached terribly. She could barely open her eyes, they were so swollen. She was naked, but her blanket had been thrown over her. Judging by the discomfort between her legs and the cum pooled on the tent floor and on her, the general had raped her multiple times while she was unconscious. She hoped it had only been Shang, and not any of her fellow soldiers. No, he didn't want anyone else to know who she was, so he would make sure no other soldier discovered her secret.

She was completely alone in her struggle. But true to the Fa bloodline, she wouldn't back down. Shang would always have a fight on his hands.