Taking a step towards her, some of the sadness had slipped from Prince Kang’s face. “I’m glad you had good parents.”
A knot of emotions burned within her centre. Being an unconventional daughter to a chief who expected her to fit a traditional feminine role growing up had been hard, but nothing compared to what life must’ve been like for Prince Kang. “I wish you had the same as I do.”
For a long moment, they stared at each other, allowing the world to fade away. Weak beams of sunlight brought out the blue in his raven-black hair, but she didn’t notice if the sun was out or not. The breeze lifted strands of Prince Kang’s hair, lazily sweeping it across his handsome face, but she couldn’t feel it herself. The lonely prince before her had become the world.
“Brother!”
A new voice snapped them out of their reverie.
Turning towards it, Mulan watched a handsome young man hurry towards them, a pleasant smile on his face. Like Prince Jizi, the clothes he wore were made of the finest silk in shimmering shades of reds adorned with geometric designs. A thick wide jade ring encased his hair, piled into a neat knot on top of his head. He possessed the same wide eyes his father and brother had, but his chin seemed weaker and his cheeks plump. “I’m glad to see you alive and well,” he told Prince Kang once he reached them.
“You must be the only one who is,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “How are you, Yang?”
“Pretty good. Father just promoted me to Prince of Wu.”
“Congratulations. Sorry, would love to talk, but we’ve got work to do.”
Yang’s eyes turned towards Mulan. Something about the way they assessed her sent a shiver of trepidation through her. “You must be the soldier who saved my brother’s life.”
Her eyes flicked towards Prince Kang before snapping back to him. “I am.”
Offering her a small bow from the neck, he placed a hand over his chest and gave her a warm smile. “For that, you have my eternal gratitude. But beware, not everyone will be as pleased as I.” He turned back to Prince Kang and nodded towards the palace, the smile disappearing. “What kind of mood is he in?”
Shrugging, Prince Kang pulled a face. “You know Father.”
Taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly, Prince Yang nodded. “Thanks for the warning. Don’t be a stranger, brother. I’d love to hear your side of things when we both get the chance.”
As he walked away, Prince Kang began moving in the other direction. Mulan quickly followed. “He doesn’t seem as bad as the other,” she told him.
“He’s not, but don’t trust him. Don’t trust anyone in this city if you want to live.”
“That sounds harsh.”
“Life is harsh. Get used to it.”
“Why are you being like this?”
“Like what?”
“Harsh,” she bit back, using his own word against him. Up ahead, the guards stood to attention, their bodies so straight Mulan wondered if they’d snap in the breeze.
An exasperated sigh shot from his mouth. “What the fuck do you want with me, Zhou? I’ve just saved your life. Twice.”
“Oh, gee. Thanks.” As they passed through the gate that led out of the palace, the words echoed around them.
“Don’t get flippant with me, boy. I’m still your commander. It’s my orders you obey.”
“I thought I told you back in the Demon Forest – I take no one’s orders except my father’s. And even he doesn’t expect me to obey them. Why should you?”
Finally reaching their horses, a small servant boy handed Prince Kang his reins before doing the same to Mulan’s. “Why are you so damn stubborn? Why can’t you be like the other soldiers and just do as you’re told?”
Mulan shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I have no clue. But if you ever find out, do me a favour and don’t tell my parents.”
Prince Kang snorted as he swung his leg over the horse. “If I were them, I’d put you over my knees and smack your arse.”
Desire flickered to life at the rough edge to his words and Mulan struggled to breathe at the thought of him bending her over, his hand coming down firmly on her backside. No sound, save the ragged drawing of breath, emerged from her lips.
Beside her, she watched as Prince Kang’s nostrils flared and his knuckles whitened.
Guess I’m not the only one affected by that particular thought.
The notion sent warmth flooding through her as they set off.
The sound of hooves echoed on the stone and within a few minutes, a young man on horseback rode straight up to them. “Your Highness, Captain Ma has requested your immediate presence at the barracks.”
Surprise twisted his features. “What’s going on?”
Hesitation flashed within the messenger’s eyes. “A fight has broken out involving your men.”
“Great. Just what I need,” he muttered. “Let’s go.”
With a flick of his wrists, Prince Kang urged the horse into a cantor, heading south. Mulan followed behind, and the buildings raced by in a blur. She tried to figure out what could have gone on back at the barracks but ensuring she didn’t run her horse into anyone shifted most of her attention. Even back home, she’d never ridden this fast in town. Another new experience she could add to the list.
It didn’t take too long to reach the barracks, and only a few minutes following the din of shouting to reach the building where something was obviously going on. Curses rang out, deafening the air with the sounds of fists colliding alongside constant jeering and encouragement.
Mulan couldn’t tell how many men were in the room, but from the considerable length of it, it had to be quite a number. She watched in horror as one flew against the room, his back hitting the wall with a sickening thud. Another crashed into a group, forcing their attention to him. He quickly disappeared beneath their fists.
Beside her, Prince Kang inhaled deeply before exhaling loudly. A faint stirring of energy swirled around him. “Enough!” he shouted, magic projecting his voice to the back of the room. Everyone froze beneath its force. “What is going on?”
Silence fell upon the room like an executioner’s axe. Tension flooded the air as they waited for someone, anyone, to speak.
Behind them, the squeak of leather boots on the wooden floor pierced through the air. “That’s what I want to know.”
Prince Kang and Mulan turned at the guttural voice. “General Li,” he said, offering a short respectful nod.
Although nowhere near as tall as her commander, General Li was still taller than most men, just a few inches shorter than her father. High, wide cheeks shaped his face, his dark eyes as small and beady as an eagle’s, and just as sharp. A black beard peppered with white covered his chin and a black cloak swirled about his legs like a storm cloud. Plain leather armour encased his torso, with a black tunic underneath and trousers tucked into thick boots. Behind him stood several imposing figures who, by the similar clothing they wore, she assumed were high ranking members of the military. He gave Prince Kang a grim look. “What in the eighteen hells is going on here?”
Raising his brows, he fixed the general with a cool look. “That’s what I’m just about to find out.” He turned back to the men, who watched them with apprehensive eyes. “Well? Would someone like to fill me in before the day is out?”
A pause stretched out before someone stepped forward. Somewhere in his late thirties, Mulan guessed, his clothes and hair dishevelled. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “An argument broke out, Your Highness.”
“I can see that. Care to elaborate?”
The man pressed his lips together and fidgeted beneath his stare. “Not really,” he mumbled, suddenly finding something on the floor by his feet incredibly interesting.
Another man stepped forward, anger lining his face. “Prince Jizi’s men dishonoured you, Your Highness. They referred to you as a dog whelp for letting so many men die at Tiger’s Pass. We couldn’t let that go.”
At the sound of the slur, Mulan’s face hardened.
She’d heard the term only once before when her father hadn’t seen her hiding behind a tree and watched him confronting the servant he’d caught stealing coins from his purse. An incredibly offensive term as that could not go unchecked.
Behind them, General Li snorted. “Is that all?”
Unable to check her anger, Mulan spun around to face him. “What do you mean, is that all? They have no right to say such things about Prince Kang.”
A look of condescension stretched over his face. “Well, they’re right. How many men died under his command?”
A collective intake of breath echoed around the room. Beside her, Prince Kang sighed, but Mulan ignored both. The anger within her belly had no chance of shutting her mouth. “The Rouran had several sorcerers using black magic against us. You can’t blame him for that.”
“I can and I damn well will.” Those beady eyes of his narrowed. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, boy?”
“Someone who knows nothing since he wasn’t there,” she spat back, not caring. If their men could stand up to Prince Jizi’s soldiers, then she could do the same.
General Li stepped forward, closing the distance. “I’ll take your head for that.”
Grabbing her upper arm, Prince Kang yanked her back, moving his body in front of hers. “No such luck. My father has given us an important task to complete.”
“I don’t fucking care.”
“Tell that to the emperor then. However, if I were you, I’d remember what happened last time you chopped off someone’s head who was performing an errand for him. Didn’t my father order you to cut off your hair?” The silky-smooth words held an undercurrent of cunning and mockery to them.
General Li’s mouth hardened into a thin line and his hand immediately went to his hair. Despite their differences, the Tuoba and Han were united in one common thread; the shaving of one’s hair proved to the world that you were unfilial to either your parents or the emperor, or uncivilised. No matter what class system you belonged to, it remained a significant punishment. Even Cao, the great general of the Three Kingdoms period many centuries ago, saved his head from being cut off by chopping his hair. Whoever General Li had killed, it’d obviously been significant to warrant such a harsh sentence.
Beneath Prince Kang’s stare, the general finally gave in. “Fine, but he can’t go unpunished.”
“General Li,” her commander replied, his tone weary. “We don’t have time.”
“I may not be able to have his head but under the law, it’s my right to punish the little brat.” Those thin lips turned cruel. “And I’m going to fucking enjoy it.”
A slither of panic coursed through Mulan’s body at his tone. Stories of the Five Punishments – tattooing, amputation, cutting off the nose, castration, and death – flooded back to her.
Would Prince Kang really allow them to do any of that to her?
“General Li, I really don’t think -”
“He’s to go to the slave quarters for the day. Maybe there he’ll learn to keep his damn mouth shut.”
Eighteen
Mulan swiped the wet rag over the floor once more, her hands red and blistered from doing the same action heavens-knew how many times. Exhaustion lined every inch of her body with lead.
But it could’ve been worse.
For hours, she’d been on her knees, scrubbing dirt from the floor of the weapons room. Every time she thought she was done, one of the slaves would come in with dirty feet, grab something from one of the cabinets that lined the room, then leave with the threat of being whipped hanging over her head.
Which meant starting the process all over again.
After the fifth time, she’d realised it was nothing but a twisted game they liked to play.
After the outburst back in the barracks, she’d been hauled into a small building and brought before a dower squat little man known simply as the Master of Slaves. Stripped of her armour and helmet and replaced by coarse robes and a cloth cap, she’d been sent to the training rooms.
Since her arrival, she’d done nothing but scrub and clean except for a short break to drink her water and eat a crust of blackened bread. Burnt bread had never tasted so good after going without anything for nearly a day.
Any thoughts of sleep remained a dream. Sometime during the night, as she cleaned a never-ending pile of staffs and swords, she’d overheard the slaves talking – General Li’s orders refused her any rest. All orders from Prince Kang were to be ignored. At least she’d been able to give her jian to her commander for safekeeping before being marched off.
Squeezing the rag into the bucket and chucking it over the rim, Mulan wearily climbed to her feet, exhaustion making her movements clumsy. Picking up the container of dirty water, fingers almost numb, she set it beside a cabinet and reached for a dry cloth.
Only a few more hours, then this will be over, she told herself, running it over the wood. It was the only thing that kept her from curling up in a corner and closing her eyes.
Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut for once? Every time she spoke up, she got herself into trouble. It had to be a disease of some kind – what else could it be? Maybe they’d name it after her.
But hearing the disrespectful way everyone spoke to Prince Kang made the blood in her veins boil with fury. In only a short time, she’d watched his family treat him like dirt, and his peers even worse, mocking his abilities as a leader, and his otherworldly capabilities as a malady.
It wasn’t right that he had no one to stand up for him.
If the people who should be doing it weren’t, then she would do it instead.
As Mulan wiped down the handles, still slick with sweat from the previous day’s training, emotion swirled in her chest. Even though she hadn’t known him long, there was no denying the fact that she ached for him.
In far too many ways.
When she set off on this journey, the only goal was to keep her father alive and to escape marriage to a bully. Not to fall for her commander.
But here she was, plunging into the depths of a chasm that seemed to have no end.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Internally, Mulan sighed. Here we go again.
“Enjoying yourself?”
The familiar silky tones caused her to turn around. Wiping the sweat from her brow with her arm, she rose her chin in his direction. “What are you doing here?”
Prince Kang rose a dark brow. “I had to see for myself.”
“To see what?”
“If you’d finally stopped being so stupid.”
Irritation flooded her veins. “I’m not stupid.”
Leaning against the wall, he raised a finger. “Let’s see. You caused my father to nearly strike you. You opened your mouth to my brother which did cause him to strike you.” Another finger rose up. “Then you had to go and insult one of the kingdom’s top generals.” A third finger joined the others. “Anyone with even the smallest grain of sense would’ve kept their mouths firmly closed after the first incident.”
“I really don’t need this right now,” she muttered, turning her back on him. Reluctantly, she began wiping the cabinet again, her fingers digging the cloth hard into the wood.
Behind her, Prince Kang wandered around, his eyes wistfully roaming over the walls and ceiling. “I trained in this room as a child, you know. Daos, staffs, the ji. Loved them all. There’s nothing quite like the rush of a blade in your hand, knowing you could cut down anything in your path.” The corners of Mulan’s mouth curled upwards and her hand stilled at the wistfulness of his words. But still she didn’t turn around. “I was just ten years old when I realised that to survive in the palace, you had to know when to speak and when you glue your lips together.”
Mulan spun around, his words grinding like sand into her flesh. “What did you expect from me? To keep quiet when others were dishonouring you?”
Prince Kang’s eyes locked onto hers with an intensity she couldn’t escape. Emotion, barely constrained, crept around the edge
s of his handsome features. “It’s just politics. You get used to it.”
Mulan shook her head vigorously. “Even if I lived for a hundred years, I could never get used to hearing such things about you.”
His head cocked to the side, his nostrils flaring. “You hardly know me.”
“You kiss everyone you hardly know?”
Something fluttered behind Prince Kang’s eyes. “Sometimes.”
So that was it? Their kiss meant nothing to him?
Fine.
Mulan turned her back on him once more and resumed polishing the interior of the cabinet. Several swords hung within, the metal gleaming from hours of buffing, along with dozens of other weapons. It was so spacious, it could’ve easily fit two people. “I need to get back to work.”
“Did you know you go a nice shade of pink when you’re flustered?”
“Did you know I’m going to smack you if you carry on talking to me like that?” she retorted.
“Tsk tsk. Threatening a member of the imperial family is grounds for beheading.”
“At least I won’t have to continue this conversation.”
Rich laughter erupted from behind her. The sound of his footsteps echoed in her head. That tantalising scent of rain enveloped her. “I thought I’d hate seeing you in slaves’ clothes. You almost look like a girl.”
“Is that what you’d prefer, for me to be a girl?” The words were out before she could stop them.
Prince Kang stood directly behind her, his sweet scent almost overwhelming. His fingers brushed her upper arms, bringing her back flush against his body, the hard length of him pressing against her. “Yes,” he said, his tone thick. “I would.”
Mixed emotions stabbed Mulan in her heart, but she remained quiet.
Prince Kang released a jagged breath against her ear and his fingers pressed into her flesh. “I’ve had my fair share of women, Zhou. I’ve spent many a night working my way through the brothels. Even a few of my brothers’ wives. There’s not been a woman I couldn’t have if I wanted her.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “But since you walked into Black Gate, I can’t get you out of my head. Every time I see you, every time you talk, I want to kiss you. To take you. Even now, red and sweaty as you are, all I can think of is bending you over and driving myself into your body. To hear you cry out with pleasure, over and over again. But,” his lips trailed against her throat, his words barely audible, sending a wave of lust surging through her blood. “I’ve never taken a man before. Never wanted to. Until you came along with that sweet scent and sharp tongue.”
Honour, She Obeys Page 20
