He called me a woman, not a girl. And that was the reason I rode with him.
There were many other reasons later, perhaps. But at the beginning, that's all there was. He was a Prince. I was the only daughter of a noble family from a far away land. Our paths were never meant to cross on such a place as a battlefield.
But when calamity strikes the land, you have to fight regardless of your station or gender. I'd heard of Prince Phillip of course – everyone had. The man who would do anything to wake his sleeping lady love. The whole idea seemed overly romantic but impractical to me.
Until, I met him that is and heard him speak of her. His words came alive and his eyes sparkled when he spoke of Aurora. And of course, fool that I am, I did the one thing I should never have done. Worse than dressing as a man, worse than fighting in a war and worse than running away from home.
I fell in love with a man whose heart would never belong to me.
Perhaps he knew although if so, he never mentioned it. I never spoke of it, did not dare to show in word or deed how much he meant to me. Except for insisting I stay by his side. That selfishness I allowed myself. And who was he to dissuade me when all other brave warriors had fled and he needed the help of another, one strong enough to be his equal in the perils to come and more importantly, one he could trust.
I was not happy, but shall we say... it was enough. To hear him argue for me when his father mocked him for picking a mere girl for his guard. To fight by him back to back and afterwards to tend his wound.
I am not stupid, nor am I a silly girl. I knew that he would be reunited with his love one day and that then I would have to disappear back into the shadows.
It terrifies me. But I am Mulan, the warrior who proved herself in over a hundred fights. And I will do what must be done to help my Prince until the better end. This I vow.