Chapter Two
I frowned, but sat down. Mulan sat next to me, leaning into my arms. "Why truly have you come here?"
Arthur swallowed, and I felt my heart sink. "Uncle?"
Arthur sighed, and cleared his throat. "You have brought some peace to China, but I'm afraid there is still more work that needs to be done."
I shrugged. "Of course. As Mentor, it is my duty."
Arthur nodded. "True, but I fear that it will take more than you and the Fa family can handle."
I sighed. "Is it something to do with the Emperor?"
Arthur nodded. "Aye, nephew. The Templars have infiltrated the palace."
Fa Zhou rose angrily. "And you did nothing after you knew this?" He asked Arthur, glaring at him.
Arthur glared right back. "I have not even been within ten miles of the palace. I'm going off information from our contacts. That is why I'm here: to help my nephew come up with a plan to drive them out."
I scowled. "Why, in the name of Those Who Came Before, did I not receive this information before you did?"
Arthur turned to me, suddenly looking guilty. "Because I wanted to give you more time to live in peace. You were in no condition to do anything at that particular time."
I exploded. "Did you take leave of your senses? You had no right to hide it from me! I have been in the palace more times than I can count, and you did not even warn me of this until now?!"
I was going to say more, but Mulan's hands seized my face, and forced my eyes to look into hers. "That's enough. There is another way to deal with this."
It took me a minute to calm down, and Mulan took the reins, speaking to Arthur: "I'm sure you are aware of how dangerous of a game you are playing? This is our Emperor you are toying with."
Arthur nodded. "Of course I am, and this is not a game to me. This is my duty and my life, and I take it as seriously as possible."
She folded her arms. "I don't think you came here just to tell us this."
Arthur smiled. "True enough, lass. I want the both of you to stay out of the fight until I-"
He was drowned out by Mulan's snarl. "I'll do no such thing! Who are you to tell me what to do?!"
Arthur looked at her, then at me. "Your father and mother refused to listen to me, and look where that got them."
I flinched, and then gasped in surprise as Mulan slapped my uncle across the face.
"How dare you? He has had many sleepless nights because of their death, and you shove it in his face?"
There was a pause as Arthur touched his right cheek where she had slapped him, and I was stunned to see a smile on Fa Zhou's face as he calmed his irate daughter.
"You're right, Lass." Arthur allowed, then looked at me. "Forgive me, but you and Mulan are famous for what you did with Shan Yu. You know very well that you cannot be a productive Assassin if you have eyes on you all the time."
I shrugged, annoyed. "Spare me the lecture! I know the rules, and I have not forgotten them either. But guidelines are meaningless while fighting for continued existence lives!"
Arthur had always been critical of me, since it was his way of showing that he cared about me.
From him, I learned confidence and the dedication to being the best at whatever I did.
We never really had a father/son relationship, per se.
"I know, Alaric. I have had you watched for a long time, and you have become a great Assassin, but I need you to keep a low profile at the Emperor's Palace."
Mulan, still angry, interrupted our talk. "Wait a minute! You have been watching us the entire time?"
Arthur turned to her. "Not I, Mulan. Spies kept me up to speed, and I arrived shortly after you defeated Shan Yu." He waved his hand impatiently. "Please just do as I say until I can find a way to make you both useful. I will contact you then."
With that, he departed.
There was a long silence, then Mulan looked at me. "Is he always like that?"
I shrugged. "For the most part."
Mulan paced the floor for a minute, then turned to me again. "Something's not right. This is not his country or his Emperor, and how do we know if we can trust him?"
I frowned, wanting to defend my uncle, but there was something strange going on here about him.
"Explain."
Mulan sighed, suddenly looking pained. "I don't want to hurt you, Al. There's something wrong about that man, but I can tell that you love him."
I folded my arms. "Mulan, if there is something that is bothering you, please say so."
Mulan nodded. "Okay. Doesn't it seem odd to you that he would appear out of nowhere, without a single warning, not long after you are made Mentor?"
I paused, then nodded. "I admit that he is usually more forthcoming, but I can tell that you are not finished."
Mulan smiled and continued: "He seems to think that he is more qualified for certain situations, despite the fact that he gave you direct authority before you left for China."
Again, I nodded. "He was always a hands-on type of leader. Is that everything?"
Mulan glanced at Fa Zhou, and it was Fa Zhou who answered: "Your mentor was quick to bring up the demise of your parents. If I did not know any better, I would say that he was threatening you."
I felt a chill run down my spine. "Come now, he would not. He's my uncle and my mentor."
Fa Zhou sighed. "Exactly. He knows you best, where to hurt you with a few well-placed words. How popular were you with your fellow Assassins?"
I shook my head, but my mouth did what my mind refused to do. "I was one of the best of my age. Everybody told me that I would be the future Mentor of England."
I turned my head away, not wanting to see their reactions.
I felt ill, almost poisoned by my doubt. No matter how much I wanted to admit it, everything fit together.
Did my uncle want to send me away to remain in power, the paranoia and jealousy seizing my mentor?
If he felt this way about me, then what about my parents?
"Al? Al! Alaric!" I looked up, and shook my head at Mulan, who had just spoken.
"All is well." That was a lie, and Mulan knew me enough to realize it, which would explain why she excused us into our room.
I could feel her eyes on me as I paced the room.
"I could be wrong." She said after a minute, but I shook my head, stopping in front of her. "You rarely are."
Mulan stared into his eyes, so used to seeing confidence and calmness in them. Now there was doubt and panic.
"What a fool I have been. How could I not have seen it? If he was envious of me, what did he feel for my parents? What if he-"
SMACK!
Mulan's right hand slapped me across the face.
I stumbled back, clutching my stinging right cheek. "Thank you." I said, after a long minute.
She smiled, shaking her hand, which was also stinging. "Anytime. By my Ancestor's, you have a hard head!"
I pretended to glare at her. "My head had nothing to do with it. You hit my cheek, not my head."
She shrugged, smirking. "Whatever you say, blockhead!"
I leaped foward, intending to tackle her, but ending up slamming into the wall.
"Thick-headed and slow! I think you should think about retiring, old man." She said, as I staggered back to my feet a second later.
She sweeped my legs out from under me, and pinned me to the floor, legs strattling my waist.
"Who's the mentor now-MMPH!" She never finished the sentence, as I pulled her down into a bruising kiss.
She moaned into the kiss as it deepended, hands loosening my armor as I placed slow kisses along her jaw, and down her neck.
How I wanted to take her, right here, right now!
But we couldn't, not yet.
Or could we? I thought, as her nimble fingers unclasped my armor, allowing it to fall to the floor with a clatter. I gasped as her hands crawled up my chest, and I captured her lips with mine, backing her into the wall as she arched against me, our tongues battling for supremacy.
"Please, Al! Please! I've waited too long." She said a minute later, as we stopped for breath on her bed. We had not made love yet, and the resulting tension had been growing and growing.
"There is nothing I want more, except for one thing: to be your husband, and for you to be my wife."
Her eyes filled with tears as I knelt at the foot of our bed, Mulan's hands in my own.
"Fa Mulan, I have loved you the moment I saw you, and will never stop loving you for eternity, through both life and the life after this. Will you do me the honor and pleasure of being my wife?"
With a sob, she flung herself into my arms. "I will! I will have you as my husband, in this life and the next! I love you, Alaric Rose!"
Tears trickled down my cheeks as I hugged her closer. "And I love you, my Warrior Princess, in this life and the next."
