首发：~15
skatch looked up—right into the glaring eyes of mulan “hua jun!” he said, jumping to his feet, a nervous smile on his face
mulan didn’t return the smile as honghui, yao, po, ling, and cricket entered behind her, mulan leapt into the air and in one swift move, kicked skatch with both her feet hard he fell back, landing on the floor with a thud his fake beard, knocked loose by the impact, hung from his chin turning, mulan set her sights on ramtish the man instantly held up his hands
“not the face—” he started to say
but mulan didn’t let him finish she leapt again and, this time, spun in the air before kicking ramtish in the chest his own fake beard went flying, landing in the middle of a table of very confused onlookers
as the pair of thieves stared at her with a mixture of awe and fear, mulan turned and walked out of the tavern behind her she could hear the other soldiers picking up skatch and ramtish by the time she had found mander tung, the two fake monks had been put in stock collars, their heads hanging unfortably between the wooden planks
“tell us what happened, hua jun,” mander tung said as the sun set over the garrison courtyard beside him stood the garrison mander sergeant qiang and the other soldiers were a few paces away, watching with curiosity
mulan stepped forward “i met these two bandits on the road,” she explained, shooting them a look “they offered me food and drink, and” she paused, her voice unsure she didn’t want to admit they had fooled her into believing they were monks, and worse, tricked her into drinking that would make her look weak and ridiculous “and” she stammered
to her surprise, skatch jumped in “hua jun showed us a rare generosity of spirit,” he said, looking up at her through the hair that fell over his eyes “offering a place by his fire in return, we betrayed his trust”
mulan’s eyes widened skatch was protecting her honor but why what good did that do him she looked over at him, curious to see what he would say next
“it is true,” skatch went on “we are not monks we are, in fact, bandits an odd career choice, perhaps, but it’s a time-honored profession we bandits are an integral element of the silk road eliminate us, and the delicate fabric of the entire enterprise unravels”
unbelievable,
mulan thought somehow, skatch was making it sound like his job of stealing was an honorable one a task that others needed him to perform she looked at mander tung’s face and saw that he, too, looked incredulous
ramtish, whose face wore an expression mulan couldn’t quite make out, nodded “might i add, mander, that we could also have taken the lad’s sword, but i—personally—felt that would be wrong”
mulan resisted the urge to laugh out loud she very much doubted that was the case true, she didn’t know these men well, but she would have put money on skatch being the one who had left her the sword of the two, he had seemed the more gentlemanly, if that term could even be used for such heathens
noticing that the mander and the others were losing patience, skatch went on, pleading his case “accordingly, if hua jun finds it in his heart to forgive us”—he paused and turned to mander tung—“and the wise mander sees his way clear to pardoning us, we can proceed with removing these restraints”
the mander had heard enough he raised a hand, silencing skatch looking at sergeant qiang, he called him over “sergeant, what is the penalty for stealing a soldier’s horse during wartime” he asked
“death,” sergeant qiang replied
in the stocks, skatch’s and ramtish’s now beardless faces grew pale mulan’s eyes widened
“hua jun,” mander tung said, turning to her “did these miscreants steal your horse”
mulan hesitated, but after a second, she nodded “yes,” she said
she was kept from saying more by the sudden shout of a soldier behind her “scouts at the gate!” a moment later, the large doors swung open and two men raced through their horses were lathered in sweat, their own faces ashen dismounting, they raced over to the mander
“bri khan assembles not a half day’s ride from here,” the first scout reported “they prepare for battle we are greatly outnumbered”
instantly, the soldiers began to murmur turning to the guards stationed at the top of the gate, the garrison mander shouted, “fortify for a siege!” his voice was filled with fear, causing the men around him to grow nervous
beside him, mander tung remained calm once again, he lifted his hand instantly, the garrison grew quiet “no!” he said to the garrison mander “we will appear where we are unexpected let khan charge our wall of spears on ground of our choosing he who moves first controls the enemy” he paused and looked out over his soldiers, his gaze lingering longest on mulan then he turned back to sergeant qiang “prepare the men,” he ordered
the soldiers didn’t hesitate instantly, they moved into action, readying for battle but the sergeant hesitated mulan saw him nod toward skatch and ramtish, who stood forgotten in the stocks “mander tung—the bandits” he asked
the mander barely registered the question, distracted by the news but mulan did and she saw a way to perhaps save the two men from the penalty of death she didn’t like them, but she didn’t want their deaths on her conscience stepping forward, she addressed mander tung “if i may, mander” she began he nodded for her to go on “since we are greatly outnumbered, perhaps these able-bodied miscreants can be of help”
a look of surprise and approval crossed over mander tung’s face he nodded “good thinking if they perish on the battlefield, at least they’ll have been of some service arm them” his order given, the mander moved off behind him, a pair of soldiers removed the stocks from skatch and ramtish both looked upset by their sudden freedom
“arm them” skatch said, repeating mander tung’s words
“as in, ‘fight the rourans’” ramtish added he shook his head, trying desperately to get back in the stocks
beside him, skatch did the same “might i suggest all options be considered before we embark on such a hasty decision” he said to the soldiers
“surely there are other ways we can be of service,” ramtish added “in fact, we could” he struggled to think of something, anything else they could do to help “clean up the horse poop!”
“yes!” skatch said, jumping on the idea “the overabundance of manure on the battlefield is an issue that’s been pushed into the shadows for far too long—”
mulan couldn’t take any more “enough!” she said to her surprise, both men quieted “you protected me now i have protected you” she pulled out her sword “don’t make me regret it” turning, she went to join the others
as she walked away, she could feel skatch’s approving eyes on her she bit back a smile they were obnoxious, but they were not horrible people they didn’t deserve to die in the stocks she had saved them from that now they would just have to use their conniving ways to make sure they didn’t perish on the battlefield
