“You always did make things complicated,” he said. “All right, Captain. What’s your plan?”
“Three girls,” Mulan said quietly, “being delivered like scrolls to seal someone else’s bargain.”
She should have been happy. She had a general’s rank, a prince’s heart, and a mission to deliver three princesses to a peace treaty.
Mei blinked. “The treaty? It’s our duty.” Mulan 2
Mulan stood on the balcony of the Imperial Palace, watching the lanterns drift like fallen stars over a city at peace. Below, courtiers laughed. Above, the banners of the three kingdoms hung still and hopeful.
The mission was supposed to be simple: escort Princesses Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su to their arranged marriages in the Kingdom of Qui Gong. Unite the lands. End a generation of tension.
The General’s Quiet War
Instead, she felt like a sword forced back into a scabbard that no longer fit.
“What would you have me do?” he asked. “Start a war to prevent a peace?”
Then he smiled—the small, crooked smile she had fallen in love with. “You always did make things complicated,” he said
The lanterns above the city would have to wait. Tonight, they would teach three princesses how to fight for their own hearts.
“I would have you look at their faces,” she said. “Not at the treaty lines on a map.”