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Chapter Three is up, almost 4,000 words, if I do say so proudly myself. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Three

Even though it was well into the summer, when night fell it was cold and knowing that this could very well be the last time she ever saw her parents, it was a very cold night indeed.

"Goodbye, papa, goodbye, mama," the young woman said. She'd insisted that they not see her off to where the Hun entourage awaited. She had no illusions as to how they'd treat her after Shan Yu informed them of her part in the Huns' near-defeat. She had not told her parents the story before and would not tell them now, especially since the man she'd wronged the most was her husband-to-be…or whatever concubines called the man they served. She didn't want to frighten them any more than was necessary.

She was glad they hadn't accompanied her to the town square for the choosing. Her father, honorable man that he was and as protective as a father as he was, would not have taken lightly to Shan Yu hitting her the way he had. Still, he'd expressed quiet outrage upon seeing the purple-blue bruise on her face from where the emperor had struck her.

Mulan wasn't seeing the world through any rose-colored glasses. She could expect much worse in her time to come in the palace.

Not for the first time, the young woman wondered if escaping would bring harm to her parents. She couldn't be sure…but she'd find out and her decision would rest from there.

If only Ping could be resurrected…no man in his right mind would follow a woman to war against the new emperor. She wondered not for the first time if Yao, Ling, or Chien-Po had somehow escaped, if they were possibly alive…she didn't dare hope for such things in Shang for it would only bring needless pain and false hope.

Yes, even though he'd shunned her and looked at her with hate when he realized he'd been fooled, her attraction to him prevailed. Perhaps in other circumstances in another time…

No, she thought as she carried her meager belongings out the door and patted Cri-kee through her blouse to reassure him, she couldn't think like that.

One last time, though—she glanced in the direction of her ancestors' temple and wondered if perhaps they'd heard her prayer. But Mushu was not here and she was leaving now.

Mulan struggled against tears as she said goodbye to her family's home. Ping wouldn't have cried. Ping wasn't weak…so why was Mulan any different?

She didn't have time to answer that question because she heard a horse approach her, a lanky Hun man atop the brown mare.

"Come, girl. Shan Yu won't be so patient if you're late again."

She nodded and walked quickly behind him as he led her to the gate. When she passed Su Ming's home and saw her walked alone to where the Huns waited, Mulan realized that the man accompanying her had been sent to ensure that she didn't run.

It wasn't like it hadn't occurred to her, but she was almost certain that a ruthless, evil man like Shan Yu wouldn't hesitate to punish her parents in her stead. It hadn't been an option anyways.

They arrived at the rendezvous just outside the northern edge of town, where seven other horsemen and Shan Yu awaited. There was also a large covered wagon and from inside she could hear the nervous chatter of other girls.

Apparently her town hadn't been the first stop in Shan Yu's search for concubines.

The man who had accompanied her strayed away as they arrived and went to Shan Yu's side. Said man was already mounted on his horse and when they spoke, he glanced in her direction. Instead of averting her eyes quickly, she shot him an angry glare and then resolutely walked up to Su Ming's side, who was awaiting direction as she.

Mulan glanced at the girl beside her. Su Ming was one of the prettier girls in town and because of this, she had always been perceived as arrogant by the other girls. However, Ming was also one of the only girls who didn't blatantly talk badly of her when she was in town and never threw her hateful glances. Upon seeing Mulan's attention on her, Ming smiled softly.

"I would say it's an honor to be chosen by the new emperor, but I don't think you'd share the sentiment," she said under voice so as to not be heard. Her lips barely moved.

Mulan snorted quietly. "You'd be right about that." Then, glancing at Shan Yu, "Aren't you afraid?"

Ming shrugged lightly. "I was at first, but then I thought to myself, 'How bad can living a life of royalty be?' and I wasn't afraid anymore."

Mulan's eyes widened. "But he's burned whole cities, full of innocents, to the ground! He killed the emperor and stormed the Forbidden City! He's-"

"-no different than any of our soldiers," Ming replied, almost primly. "Your father served in the Imperial army and so did you, both in wars against the Huns on our soil. But my grandfather served in the war where China went out to conquer in the East. He didn't speak of it often before he died, but when he was sick sometimes he'd say things that didn't make any sense to me, things about mercy and why did they have to burn that? War is war and China is not above what the Huns have done. The only difference is that it was our land and not another's."

Mulan had nothing to say to Ming's wise words. Part of her didn't want to believe what her fellow wife-to-be was saying, but the other part of her saw the truth in her words. War was war; no one ever really won, did they?

That didn't mean she'd forgive Shan Yu for his trespasses against China. Su Ming had never been in war herself. Even if what she said had truth to it, she'd never been on the front lines. She hadn't seen a village burned to ruins…hadn't seen a little girl's doll abandoned in the sooty snow of the charred town and known that that little girl was dead—that none that had been left alive, that there had been no survivors.

However, she wasn't going to argue with someone who could possibly be her friend in this. Mulan had never really had any female friends, but given that the palace was likely overrun with Huns, she doubted she'd make any male friends there either.

It was then that the same horseman who had led Mulan to the entourage returned.

"You and your belongings go to the wagon. Make yourselves comfortable; it's going to be a long night."

Mulan inwardly questioned the wisdom in traveling at night, but said nothing. It wasn't like anyone would listen to her and she didn't want to help either way.

They made their way to the wagon and Ming confidently parted the two flaps leading inside. There were five other girls sitting on cushions on the large, spacious floors, and they'd been supplied with blankets. Two of them waved while the others glanced up but said nothing, continuing to talk amongst themselves.

One of the girls who waved, a young woman with her long hair tied in a fancy bun and dressed in clothes more befitting of a farm girl than a future bride of the emperor, motioned the two newcomers over.

"Your cushions are over there," she said, pointing to a pair of blue pillows. "And your blankets are under them."

Ming smiled and nodded. "I'm Su Ming," she said politely.

"Feng Cho," the girl replied. She looked at Mulan almost expectantly.

"Fa Mulan," Mulan replied hesitantly. It had been a while since any girls had been so friendly toward her…not even before she'd pulled the stunt in the army.

"It's nice to meet you," Cho said, grinning impishly. Mulan was shocked that Shan Yu had chosen such a nice young lady…well, he'd not gotten to know them, only chosen them for their looks, so perhaps it was possible.

Cho continued. "This is my friend Aya. We were so lucky to have both been chosen!" The girls, clearly best friends, held each other's hands tightly and shared a secret smile.

"Nice to meet you, Cho and Aya," Ming said. Ever the proper one. Mulan was almost at a loss for words at how these girls could be so light-hearted about the situation. Hadn't they seen the evil in the man who'd chosen them? Hadn't they been intimidated?

A strange though occurred to her, alien as it was.

Did they…find him attractive?

Her stomach rolled before she could give that any thought and she discarded the notion immediately, instead going to claim her pillow and blanket and prepare for sleep. The sun was barely past the horizon and she was already exhausted.

Sleep on the hard wood brought her back to better times—sleeping on the ground while traveling with Imperial army after sitting around the campfire with Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po. She'd seen how they'd protested at her discovery and when Chi-Fu had said she was to die. She would never forget their sad faces as they'd turned back to see her sitting in the cold, the regret evident in their expressions. Unlike Shang, they hadn't hated her. In fact, she'd almost seen something like…admiration in Yao's eyes as he covertly waved to her before leaving.

Long after the wagon left and the rest of the girls had stopped chattering and fallen asleep, Mulan still couldn't find any peace. Her body begged for sleep but her mind was too busy with thought.

She couldn't get Shan Yu's frightening face out of her mind and the hiss of satisfaction in his voice when he'd told her he'd found a better punishment for her than death.

Reliving the moment, she could almost feel the sickening heat of his breath on her neck as he spoke and her body trembled at the thought.

An hour, perhaps two passed before the wagon suddenly came to a halt. Mulan was immediately sitting up, but the other girls went undisturbed. She could see Ming rolling restlessly and it was obvious she wasn't used to sleeping on hard wood. The other girls had clearly already gotten used to it and Mulan wondered how long they'd been on this trip.

She heard muffled talking from outside the cabin and strained to listen in, but all she could glean is that they'd heard something following them.

Shortly after the moment had passed and they began moving again, Mulan laid her head back down and was greeted with a muffled, "Whatchu think you're doing?"

She froze, unable to believe her ears.

"Mushu?" she whispered.

"At your service," the small red dragon announced, although in a low whisper.

She was stunned for all of two seconds before she immediately grabbed him and hugged him.

"I'm so glad to see you!" she whispered, perhaps too loudly.

"Can't—breathe-" he struggled to say and she released him, looking at him in wonder.

The ancestors had listened to her prayers!

Huffing and dusting off imaginary dust after the impromptu hug, he looked around. "Where's Cri-kee?"

There was a muffled chirping from just above her bindings and Mushu's face lit up.

"Oh, incognito-style! I like that, good idea!" Mushu said, keeping his voice low.

There was little to no warning as the flap of the wagon was pushed open. "What's going on in here?" the man asked gruffly. His eyes met Mulan's. "You should be sleeping."

She was unable to break his gaze and simply nodded in shock before glancing down at where Mushu had been on her pillow.

He hadn't been seen. Good.

For theatrics' sake, she laid her head down and closed her eyes. The flap fell back into place and she immediately heard Mushu's quiet whisper. Belatedly she was surprised at how quiet the normally exuberant dragon could be.

"Better get some sleep," he said and she realized he was hiding under the pillow where her head hadn't taken up space. "Tomorrow we'll start planning your heroic escape!"

Mulan couldn't help but laugh softly and sleep found her quickly now that her guardian was there to protect her.

The Forbidden City was only four days away and yet Shan Yu was still impatient to return. Hayabusa had been scouting ahead and there were no foreseen pitfalls to their journey along the way, but the need to make it back quickly was still strong.

Of course he trusted the men he'd left in charge, but his position as emperor and khan was so new that it had truly been a foolish move to leave before he had stabilized control over the large nation.

The trip up until finding the soldier in the mountain had been rather boring, but he was finding he was rather entertained by the girl's presence. She kept to herself much like the other girls he'd chosen to be his wives, but unlike the other girls, she was not left alone in relative peace.

He made sure of that.

His first act as her husband-to-be was to make her walk between two of his horsemen while the other girls sat comfortably in the wagon. It didn't have as much of a physical effect as he would have liked—she had been trained in the Imperial army, so she was used to traveling on foot for long distances—but it served secondary purpose and that seemed to be working rather well.

It was important that he alienate Mulan from the other wives-to-be.

It would be much more difficult to break her if she had support from friends and by denying her chances to spend time with them, he reduced her hope of befriending any of them a good deal. It also served to give the other women a feeling of superiority over her; that she was singled out for whatever arbitrary slight he decided upon to keep her on foot while they were seemingly favored. It also served to keep her tired and lacking in energy to rebel.

To her credit, the young woman took it all in stride, not complaining, not stumbling or falling even when the road was rocky or difficult. She was starting to remind him of a Hun woman; proud, unrelenting, unwavering, even in times of hardship.

It was unclear as to whether it was something he admired or detested about her.

Despite her complete silence while they traveled, except when interacting with the girls at night, he enjoyed degrading her. It wasn't any great slight—simple comments about the weakness of her people when she appeared out of breath or mildly put questions about how she'd ever impersonated a man with her frailty. Usually there was no reaction, but one time, when he'd rhetorically asked if she'd had to seduce the men around her to keep her secret, since she was so clearly a woman, she'd reddened and spat at the ground by his horse's hooves.

His men had heard the question and laughed raucously at her response, taking her silence and anger for guilt.

Shan Yu, however, knew better—but he wouldn't stop his men from jeering.

Despite his tormenting, he'd noticed a suspicious lift in her demeanor since the first night she'd been in the wagon. When their eyes made contact, she showed no emotion, not even anger, and promptly went about her business, whether it was helping with the chores or aiding another girl. He could tell that she was no longer fearful—not just of him, but of anything in her situation.

The khan was curious about this change and decided simply that she was planning something.

Soon after this realization, he had Caluun, one of his more favored horsemen in the group, follow her when she went to the bathroom. He made it clear that he was only there to supervise and not to get any leery thoughts of her. Caluun was not one of his most promiscuous men, to his knowledge, and therefore Shan Yu felt more secure in that the girl would not escape.

As he sat by the campfire as the girls ate, he watched every one of his chosen brides. Some met his eyes, blushed and looked away, still others smiled at him shyly, but the woman he was most interested in paid him no mind. She ate her rice and jerky quietly, only speaking to reply to questions any of the girls had asked her.

His men sat near and around the girls, having eaten their food before the girls were served in order to remain a silent but ready presence discouraging the girls from running off.

Of course, there was only one of them who would give it any thought and who would also have a chance at succeeding, but it was protocol.

Shan Yu's gaze rested on the slip of a girl who had someone managed to fool the entire Imperial army that she was a man. Her hair was cut short unlike the other girls', clearly for the purpose of disguising as a man. In the Hun army, she would have never passed as a man for a second; her features were clearly feminine by Hun standards and to Shan Yu, it was almost surprising he hadn't realized the soldier might be a girl on his own. However, the Chinese would have never allowed a female into their ranks, so perhaps it wasn't all that surprising after all.

Although when it came to figure and womanly charms, Mulan had almost none. She had very gentle, sloping curves, unlike the other girls, who were more or less of an hourglass figure with large busts and hips good for childbearing. With Mulan's chest, a little padding around the torso would go a long way in disguising her feminine traits.

All in all, she was far from the ideal mother figure…and yet something about her enticed him.

Perhaps it was the wild spirit in her eyes, the untamable flame. She reminded him of his first horse, a dapple grey mare who had just been caught from the wild. His father, khan at the time, had told him that if he was going to accompany the hunting party in three days' time, he would have to take the mare he'd been gifted with. He had tamed the mare enough to take her hunting, but until her dying breath—she'd gotten pregnant and the twin foals had been too much for her—she was like a raging forest fire, never to bow to anybody, and her fighting spirit never died until she did.

Or perhaps it was the strange confidence she exuded. Most of the girls he'd chosen were demure and determined to please, and they were confident in that they could. Mulan's confidence came, undoubtedly, from her experience in the army. He could only surmise that having been treated like a man for however long she was conscripted had given her a different idea of self-worth than normal women had.

Even still, it could have been the complexity of her nature. Fearless one moment, terrified the next, all hidden behind a stoic mask of bravery. She was an enigma; he could normally read others easily, he could read his prey like an open book. Mulan was prey to him, but she was almost as hard to read as a man who'd been trained in subterfuge his entire life.

And maybe it was all these traits that drew him to her, wrapped in a relatively pretty package.

His gaze had been boring into her for a while and he could tell from her restless shifting that she felt it and was consciously ignoring him. Her eyes finally flickered up to him, just for a second, and it brought a toothy smirk to his face.

He would find out everything about his enemy that he could; he would dissect her until he knew her weaknesses and her strengths, her joys and her pains—and then he would tear that fighting spirit apart until nothing but a shadow remained.

They were two days away from the palace when the opportunity finally arose.

Mulan had decided that they were far away enough from her family to risk an escape attempt, after all, and thus a plan was borne.

She couldn't chance asking for a restroom break herself, but when Ming—oh, how she would remember Ming fondly for this little opening she created—Mulan agreed that she also had to go, as well.

With Mushu's help she'd found out about the man who followed her on horseback when she went to the bathroom and it was this unwitting convenience that allowed her to put the well-crafted plan into action.

It helped that Mushu apparently had a knack for imitating voices, as well. In fact, it was crucial to the plan.

She wandered out just far enough that she was safely concealed but also would have a decent head start once the plan unfolded. Mentally thanking Shang for his training in stealth, she went about her business as though she were truly going to the bathroom.

Nodding at Mushu, after a few moments she slowly crept away, keeping to the underbrush and not making a sound. When she was in position ten feet away from the horse, she made eye contact with Mushu and the act began.

As planned, he started the largest fire possible with his dragon breath and then Cri-kee and he were going to fan it until it became large enough to be formidable. Then-

"Help! There's a fire!"

Mulan internally cheered. Mushu could not have imitated her voice better.

The Hun escort hesitated for a moment, and then when the dry underbrush—thank you, summer heat—caught fire and it started to spread wildly, the man realized that there was trouble.

In the distraction, she ran up and sprung from hiding, quickly unsheathing the dagger Mushu had stolen for her early on. She plunged it into the man's thigh and with her running force, toppled him from the horse.

The horse was rearing and he was shouting for help and there would be reinforcements soon, but the fire—now rather formidable—would be decent cover.

Leaping onto the horse, she spurred it to take off and she sped forward in the direction of the fire. The horse protested in fear but it was well-trained enough to obey her and once they had passed the fire, they were off.

She glanced down when she heard panting.

"Baby girl, we're free!"

Cri-kee chirped harmoniously in agreement.

The commotion had come directly from where and the escort had left to.

He was immediately on his horse. Apparently, having a guard hadn't deterred her in the slightest, and when he found her she would pay-

Fire.

Birds were taking flight, including Hayabusa, who took to the air quickly in search of the escaped girl. All the nearby forest animals were heading to safer areas and the woods were in an uproar befitting the cacophony of the flames. Fires were typically uncommon in the steppes but the Huns knew how to handle a small one when necessary—however, this one was beyond their control.

He galloped forward, thinking that perhaps it was a freak accident and Mulan had not, in fact, tried to escape, when he found Caluun on the ground, a dagger in his thigh.

"She took the horse!" It was the first thing the man said, and he pointed in the direction she'd gone—into the fire, strangely enough.

No good—the fire was already too strong to pass through.

Another horseman helped Caluun onto his horse and then it became clear that they would have to evacuate the area. Still…he would not be defeated not only by Ping, but by Mulan, as well.

He nodded toward Caluun and his able-bodied helper.

"Get the others to safety. There's river not far from here—cross it. I will meet you at the Forbbiden City."

The horseman's eyes widened in surprise, but Caluun understood exactly what was going on.

"Yes, my khan," they said, and then they took off to move the others to safety.

As soon as they were gone, Shan Yu kicked his horse's flank and they were off, going east to avoid the fire, as the winds were blowing north. Luckily, it was an overcast day that promised rain, so soon the fire would be out…still, it had been a large gamble for her to make.

Evading the fire and moving in the general direction of his prey, the khan and emperor Shan Yu could not bring himself to be angry at the girl who defied him. Rather, he was amused, for in a survival-of-the-fittest setting in forested areas, he would certainly be the victor, and there was no greater hunter than he.

"Run, mountain soldier," he murmured into the smoky wind. "Run, because when I find you…you will never get away again. I will hunt you down."

And that is Chapter Three! Please review, I'm a starving artist and your reviews feed me! =)

Cheers!

Of Healing Love