Chapter 14

Column by column, the Chinese army made its way into the mountains. Shang, watching from a nearby cliff, was still loathe to do so.

His father had always taught him to meet battle head on, but Phaedra's plans broke with tradition and his past, another unintended consequence being in her company.

But there were so much more positives than negatives, Shang thought, watching her look over the troops.

She was beautiful, intelligent, hard-working individual who had a stubborn, independent streak.

It was nothing that he couldn't handle.

"He really does love her, doesn't he?" Mulan asked Alaric, as they stood close by to Shang, but just far enough to speak without him hearing.

Alaric frowned. "He should be concentrating on his men. But it does seem like he cares for our girl."

Mulan huffed at him, giving him a prod with her elbow. "Stop being such a grouch."

Alaric sighed, and smiled down at her. "Sorry, luv. I'm just not used to this. There have been men that have wanted her before, but it has gotten serious very fast. Barely any time has passed since they met, and they all ready can't keep their hands of each other. Bloody hell, he's even using the mace that Phaedra's father used, and she's never let me do that!" He finished, ruefully.

Mulan smirked, shaking her head, as Phaedra bellowed at the slow-moving army: "Oi, yeh lot, Move yer arses! We've got an army on our tails, don'cha know, and ya lot are acting like this is a fecking walk in the gardens!"

Alaric coughed to hide his laughter, and he could hear Shang sigh.

"Really, Phae? Really?" Mulan asked, but Phaedra ignored her adopted mother. "The first mullog who lets out a groan of protest will have my boot shoved up his ugly, hairy arse!"

Shang tried to look angry, but Mulan could tell that he was trying not to laugh. "I'm in charge, Sergeant, and I'll give the orders here," he tried, and she turned to him. "All right, General, you can tell your men to get a bloody move on!"

With that, she folded her arms huffily, and lapsed into silence.

Shang tried to give her a stern look, but he was distracted by Alaric's booming laughter, which was soon cut off by Mulan's elbow thudding neatly and sharply into her fiancee's chest.

"You little wench-OW!" He finished, as Mulan slapped him upside the head.

"Do you want to sleep alone tonight?" Mulan whispered.

He gave her a smile that sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine. "You won't get any sleep tonight, gorgeous! You'll pay for this until you squeal!"

She smirked up at me. "Challenge accepted."

I was not really willing to late that long, but the Greater Good required such sacrifices...for now.

Phaedra stood next to Shang, watching as the enemy army followed their own army.

"Those arrogant pieces of shite are walking into our trap!" She said, smirking.

Shang nodded, and then asked, "If we win, what next?"

She gave him a questioning look. "Is this really the time?"

Shang shrugged. "Better now than later. Have you ever considered settling down, putting aside the sword?"

Her eyes hardened as they met his. "No. Fighting is what I'm best at, and I've known nothing else."

Shang sighed. "It is the same with me."

She touched his arm. "Then lets stop thinking about it."

He sighed, laying his hand on hers. "As you wish."

The first battle was easy for the Chinese and the Assassins, happening a day after the march had been completed.

The enemy came en masse, thinking to overwhelm the Chinese, but Shang had archers and javelins waiting.

"Fire!" Phaedra roared, brandishing her sword. Her blond hair rippled as they loosed, taking a large chunk of the enemy.

The fact that the enemy had to march up a steep embankment made things worse for them.

"Why aren't we using the cannons?" Alaric asked Mulan, both having been placed behind the archers, ready to move into providing protection for the same.

This was after a heated argument between Alaric and Shang, where the former wanted to be at the front, while the latter wanted to keep him for later battles.

Mulan had engineered the compromise, hiding her distaste at the bickering between the two men at a time like this. Boys will be boys, and men would be men!

Mulan hummed, uncertain as I turned my head to Shang, shouting my question to him.

"Similar to you, I want to save them for later battles!" He called, as the archers inflicted mass casualties upon the enemy.

"Save the arrows, and shoot only to kill!" Shang continued, this time to his own troops. They obeyed, wary of using up precious supplies and ammunition.

Shortly afterwards, the Templars were in full retreat, having lost over half their vanguard force.

Phaedra was all for following after them. "Let's just finish the bastards while we have the chance!" She was always up for a fight.

"No, look!" Shang argued, pointing to where the retreating enemy were rejoining the main force.

Seeing she wasn't going to win this argument, she conceded, grumbling under her breath about not being allowed to fight the enemy hand to hand, and then joined her foster parents, who were retrieving spent arrows, as well as making sure that looting the dead was kept to a bare minimum.

They would need all they could carry in weapons and supplies, but Shang and Alaric wouldn't stand for anything else being taken.

After this was done, the army moved further up the mountain, while the enemy officers licked their wounds and nursed their substantial egos.

The enemy wasn't finished yet, but the first blood had been spilled.

That night, as the army laid itself down to sleep, Phaedra looked out over the mountain range. It had been so long since she had seen home, and these mountains reminded her of home.

"Not a bad place, little 'un. As usual, your planning is just how I would have done it." She smiled, and turned to see her father's ghost.

He was a tall, striking man, narrow of face and broad of shoulder. His hair was dark brown, long and wild, while Phaedra had inherited her mother's hair and beauty. In regards to her father, she had inherited his eyes and temperament.

Just because her parents were dead didn't mean they didn't stop by to chat once in a while.

"Hello, Da."

He smiled in reply. "Hello, love. I always knew you would be commanding troops, and here you are!"

Phaedra blushed with pleasure. "What do you think of Shang?"

Her father sighed. "Well, he's not a Highlander, but he seems like a good, honest young man. I've enjoyed watching you two interact, as has your Mum. Opposites attract, it seems!"

Then he rested his hands on her shoulders, which to her, always seemed more comforting and reassuring than a hug. "Your love is going to be tested, but I have no doubt of its strength. I cannot tell you what will happen next, but I will tell you that I and your mother are always with you." She nodded.

Any other woman would be reduced to tears, but not Phaedra, who allowed a tear to come from each eye, but blinked the others back.

Before he faded away, he said: "And do tell that Briton that he has done a passable job raising you thus far, despite his Britannic blood!" After he was gone, a quiet laugh escaped his daughter's lips.

Her father never did care for Britons!

"I love you, Da."

While all of this was going on, Shang was sleeping.

In his dream, he was standing in his current tent, in the same place he and his troops were residing.

After a minute, however, the dream took a strange turn.

"So far, so good!"

Shang's jaw dropped. He knew that voice!

His father strode into the tent, as if nothing had changed, as if he was still alive! He didn't look like he had aged a day.

His father was a broad man, slightly shorter than his son, but they were otherwise mirror images of the other.

"Father! How is this possible?"

His father smiled. "I've never left you, spiritually speaking, although I have been somewhat busy. I wish I could tell you all that is going on in the afterlife, but that is for another time."

With that, his father clapped him on the shoulder, as confident and firm as ever, something he shared with Phaedra.

"I don't like running like this, Father."

The elder Shang pursed his lips. "While it is true that I have always taught you otherwise, that little firebrand is an expert in...alternative forms of battle. And what a girl she is!" He continued, laughing good-naturedly.

Shang smiled, also chuckling. His father's laugh was always infectious. In battle, he had always had a serious but confident air about him, nigh even arrogant.

Just like Phaedra.

Out of battle, his father was a gentle, somewhat gruff, joker. "She is...quite fascinating." Shang admitted, and his father nodded.

"She is an odd woman, as women go, but she will give you much joy, if you play your cards right!"

Shang nodded. "She is beautiful, but also complex and unpredictable."

His father shrugged. "You could always do with a bit of both. You were always as serious as your mother, who is doing well. Both of us love you, and believe in you." His father finished, serious now.

"I won't let you down, Father."

"You never have, my son." With that, Shang awoke. He took a long time to meditate on his dream, and unbeknownst to him, Phaedra was about to cut it short with a surprise.

What must have been hours later, Shang heard someone clear their throat.

He turned to see Phaedra standing at the entrance, holding a wooden bowl in her hands. "I made you supper, if yeh would like tae try it, that is."

Shang stood, surprised at the shyness of her tone, almost to the point of nervousness.

Thanking her, he took the bowl. He could see that it was rice soup.

Before the spoon could reach his lips, she spoke again, a mocking grin stretching across her lovely face: "I poisoned it, of course. We can't have two successful leaders in one camp, now can we? People will start tae wonder who was in charge!"

Shang laughed, then tried a taste...It was excellent, almost flawless!

Phaedra, seeming enormously relieved, was about to launch in an explanation of how long it took her to make the meal, only to be silence by his kiss.

The bowl dropped to the ground with a thud, as the couple came together in a passionate embrace.

...And that was where Alaric found them, and before he could let out a roar of protest, callused hands covered his mouth, and his future wife pulled him out of ear range.

"Don't even think about it, Al!"

He shrugged her off, fuming. "If you could've seen where those boy's hands were wandering..."

Mulan cut him off. "Oh, give it a rest, darling! He's got more sense in him than that, and he's one of the most honorable people either you or I could ever ask for!"

He grumbled, and Mulan rolled her eyes. If he was like this now, then her Ancestors knows what he'll be like if the two of them would have a daughter of their own!

"But you...I...oh, damn it all to hell!" He swore, knowing he had lost this argument.

Mulan decided to pull her trump card. "You promised me something along the lines of 'payment,' right?"

He returned her smirk with his own, the latter making her knees weaken.

"I did, didn't I?"

It was hard to say how they made their way back into their own tent with their lips locked, but they somehow managed it.

"Shang, please..." Phaedra begged huskily, as his lips caressed her neck.

"Not yet, my love. Soon, I promise." He whispered, and Phaedra knew he wouldn't budge from his nigh-infuriating sense of honor, but it made her love him all the more.

The two couples lay in each other's arms that night, not fearing what would come tomorrow as much as enjoying the present.

They would cross that bridge when they came to it.

And there you have it. Things are going well so far, and the fathers have given their approval to the two love-birds, so that's settled.

First blood has been shed, but there's plenty more in the next chapter, so buckle up!

You notice the difference between the couples: for Alaric and Mulan, everything is decided, if done so before the actual wedding vows. Phaedra and Shang are just starting out, and Shang has a sense of honor and duty that Alaric does not.

Anyway, read and review, my duckies!