By Pooky
Chapter Eight:
"So what happened?" Tai-shan pressed as he and Shang made their way outside, crossing the wide open fields and then ascending the steps which carried them up the watch tower, allowing them a clear view of the open steppes before them.
Shang's eyes were fixed on the landscape, he had a strange habit of searching for clues where there was nothing, and more often than not he could find them. What is there is not as important as what is not there, he had once said. It sounded too much like Tie-lin's riddles for his tastes. Tai-shan admired Tie-lin for many reasons, but her way was not for him.
"What happened when?" His friend asked, feigning confusion. The general knew well what he meant, and must have wanted him to pry further. If he did not want to talk about it he would have told him so by now on no uncertain terms. That was Shang, he built another Great Wall around himself; if he trusted you, you could come as close as you wanted, if he did not, you may as well stay a thousand miles away. He only bothered with those who were as moral and conscientious as he, and looked down on everyone else. It was fine for him, but Tai-shan did not agree with it. He himself had nothing to hide and wore his feelings like his raiment, being a foreigner gave him that freedom. Whoever did not like what he felt or thought, well that was their affair.
They were leaning over the gray stone ledge now. "You and Mulan? You said she ran away, why?"
He did not turn around. "We were sparring last night, it went a little too far, more than what was proper. I said something, she thought I was blaming her and she got upset and ran away. I never thought she would try to leave camp."
"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'too far'? How far?" If it wasn't that an innocent woman's life was in danger, and if it were another of his friends, this would have been amusing. Shang wasn't exactly the sort who chased women in brothels, and was hardly as experienced as he himself was, but he wasn't so innocent either. Only unique women impressed Shang, a talent to admire, words to respect, or a virtue. Small wonder, considering who his mother was. Shang almost took for granted that any woman chosen for him would be beautiful. Beautiful like Tie-lin.
However, Shang did not care to elaborate. "The point is, I took advantage of her and now she and China are in danger. Now, we have plans to work out. We position all our archers on the tower where they can't be seen, put up a good watch for them, calvary at the gate so they can't ride in, spearmen on the top in case they climb, and more horses on the other side in case they do. We have eight thousand, they can't have more than four or five. It's pretty fool proof. All we need is to ready the men."
"Well if she let you do whatever it was, she must have liked it," Tai-shan grumbled, but cleared his throat after Shang's glare. "Well that sounds good, but how do you know they'll attack here? Wouldn't it be smarter to avoid us? Not every part of the Wall is fortified."
The general nodded. "True, but when have they ever avoided our forces? They say a good general modifies his strategy every time, and they fooled us at the Imperial City. Then, there is the possibility of ransom."
"They know where we are, we don't know where they are," the captain weighed this out carefully, beginning to get a headache that his craving for liquor did not help. "They have something we want, and they have to get through the Wall at some point. What do you think we should do then?"
Rubbing his eyes, Shang sighed. "Rescue her, Shan."
Tai-shan nodded grimly. He had a feeling it would come to that.
~ * ~
After putting Mulan's knots back in place, Tie-lin sat across from her again and tucked her legs under her skirts. Mulan could help but be a little envious of the other woman's grace, she was still, Mulan remembered how her mother had always chided her for always fidgeting. She wondered, growing up with this sort of woman, if Shang expected his wife to be like her, still and graceful and teetering on her bound feet in that hip-swaying way. Surely no wife of his could have calloused hands from swordplay and sun darkened skin from long hikes along the cliffs.
"Thinking of my brother?" Tie-lin continued that annoying habit of hers.
Nodding, Mulan shrugged. "How do you know what I'm thinking so well?"
"Not at all well, it only seems the most natural thing for you to be thinking of."
Staring into the candle flame, Mulan watched it dance. "He's like the moon, he has another side he is always hiding, but I know it's there." She recalled how he had held her hand that night in his room, how he had looked at her. This was all her fault for running away.
"A sharp sword makes us a stranger to gentleness," a touch of sadness entered her voice. "It is dangerous to teach one to hold nothing but a weapon. He spoke of you often in his letters, how you saved China and defeated the Hun army. You seem to fascinate him."
Mulan was instantly uncomfortable. "Did he tell you about... " she hesitated, unsure if she should bring it up at all. Sighing, she decided she had nothing to lose. "About the day he found out I was a girl?"
"Yes," her voice filled with compassion. "Aand Mother, and Tai-shan. I think his-"
She never got a chance to finish, General Li and Shan-yu stormed into the tent again, Shan-yu struggling with a snarling displeasure. Mulan hoped it was because of her countrymen. But General Li was calm, pacing to and fro again as if to remind them they were at his mercy, and that he was the master here. Tie-lin had shifted ever so slightly to give the appearance of kneeling, inclining her head deeply before him. That pleased him, he smiled cruelly and patted her head, like a pet. These powers she had, why didn't she use them on General Li?
At last he turned to Mulan, with Shan-yu looming behind him like a prison guard, as still and steadfast as Tie-lin could ever be, but his source came from hatred, pure hatred, not the serenity Tie-lin spoke of. Mulan wondered which she found more chilling, hatred or this impartiality.
"Have you reached a decision, lady general?" He could have rivaled Chi fu for mockery.
Swallowing her pride, Mulan set her shoulders and gathered her courage. What if she gave something away? What if he suspected? And worse, this so disagreed with her code of honor that she felt nervousness rising in her stomach. "After much thought I've made the only decision there is," she tried to sound meek, hoping he took her awkwardness for fear. He seemed to. "I've decided there is nothing to tell you. They never tell me their plans, I'm an effigy, you may as well kill me and save time." If she feigned uselessness, it would rankle him to think she was hiding something, it might just keep her alive long enough.
She watched Shan-yu's eyes, how they flickered ever so slightly. Did she imagine it, or was it with the loss of hope? It was wrong, she knew that, and it even felt vaguely treasonous, but a part of her pitied him. He was a monster, not even Tie-lin could save him.
The General rubbed his hands together in cruel anticipation, almost relieved she did not concede so easily. He was a monster. "Oh, I don't think so," he laughter was all ice. "I know you are close to him, someone he trusts. I know he even bends the law for you." She flinched as his cold hand cupped her chin. "Must be that pretty face that has bewitched him."
Flinching again, she recoiled as his thumb slid over her cheek in a near caress. It was surprising he needed any information at all, surely he had spies. But he had been out of the country for a month, perhaps Chi fu had neglected to send information, or could find no safe way to send it.
"He tells me nothing," Mulan insisted. "That's why I ran away."
"Shan-yu," the general stepped aside. "See if we can't make her talk." Her heartbeat rose in real fear, but she tried to fight it. A soldier must not be afraid of pain.
Coming forward, Shan-yu flashed her a chilling grin, raising his gloved hand to send a sound blow cracking across her face. She cried out, sure her lip was bleeding by now. The two men waited expectantly, despite the pain, Mulan gathered some pride, just because she was a woman did not mean she would give way so easily.
"Bring her!" General Li ordered, raising his voice for the first time. "And Tie-lin, let her see how easily the strong can be broken."
Untying her bonds, Shan-yu tossed her over his massive shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the tent. Tie-lin did not need to be hauled in such a way, she followed with downcast eyes, her father behind her, half dragging her by the arm when she could no longer stand the pain of walking.
They were taken inside a stone building and down a long torch lit hall, around a corner and into a room that was little bigger than a prison cell. Only a single brazier burned through the darkness. When the iron door slammed shut, Mulan felt herself shake, trying to slow her breathing to hide her terror from her enemies. She had to be strong.
Placed on her feet, she was just as quickly lifted into the air again. Two thick ropes swung from the ceiling, both tied to her wrists so she was left suspended in the air, her shoulders and back soon burning from the strain.
"Now," General Li began again. "Where were we? Ah yes, you say you ran away. I bet that means he'll come looking for you."
Mulan gulped. "I don't think so." It was becoming harder to be brave with the two men below her, Shan-yu standing beside a wooden table laden with strange objects, no doubt with uses that would advantage her nothing to ponder.
That denial earned her another blow to the stomach, she coughed, fighting for breath.
"What would he do if he found out I was torturing you!" Li Shengli was irate, her strength was wearing at him. "What would he do if I killed you? Would he attack?" It took her a long moment to feel the sting of tears on her face, under the pain she had not realized she was weeping. He would do nothing, she cried to herself, he would account it a military sacrifice. He would do nothing, and that thought would rip her to pieces.
Still she did not answer. The general's shouts continued to ring in her ears.
"Would he attack? Does he suspect this alliance? Does he know? How many men? Tell me!"
It was then that Mulan began to understand the predicament. General Li was desperate, and afraid. Their forces at the Wall were superior to whatever troops these villains had managed to conjure up after losing their armies. They had not expected the Wall to be reinforced so quickly, and so well. In their month of absence, and the shifting of troops and commissions, they had lost their network of spies and knew nothing of their opponent. No wonder Shang's knowledge had suddenly become so crucial. A good leader would not waste his forces if he could avoid it, not when he could just as easily embrace his son and kill him then, capturing his army whole and making use of it. But if he no longer had Shang's trust, he would have to fight to break through the Wall, which would weaken his already suffering reserves. Truthfully, Mulan did not know how much Shang knew, he may have suspected, or guessed his father was at the heart of the Hun mystery, but knew not the how or why of it, or that he was here. That was considering he even believed the rumors at all, a rumor could be upsetting enough in itself.
Shan-yu took something from the table. It looked like a board at first but when it moved she could see it was made of long pieces of wood like thick chopsticks tied together at the ends. She grew more than stricken when he came close with the thing, already in enough pain. Forcing her fingers through the wide slots as he held it there.
General Li stepped very close. "Tell me how much he knows!"
Mulan bit her lip, preparing herself for the anguish that would come next. She screamed when Shan-yu pulled the string on the strange device, her fingers crushing together in unimaginable pain. She could not break, she must withstand it, she must play their game.
The pain ebbed slightly into panic when Shan-yu brandished his belt knife and stepped behind her. She squeezed her eyes shut, almost screaming again when she felt the tug of the blade slicing open the back of her shirt. The worst thoughts came to her then, and fears, what if...
"Give her five lashes, ask her again, and then douse her with salt water." Even at the horror of that prospect Mulan was relieved.
It was short lived though, she screamed aloud as the whip was applied, no longer hearing them when the questions roared through her ears again. She shook with sobs at the fire of salt water on her open wounds, weeping unabashedly.
"That's enough for now," General Li sighed. "We'll be back. Untie her and take them back to their tent."
As soon as the ropes slipped free, Mulan fell hard on the ground in
a dead faint.
