FicWad

Chapter 18

Shang disliked Unegen the moment he set eyes on him. It was obviously no coincidence that he'd decided to travel to the same destination that they were headed, and frankly he seemed to be a shady character.

But the swarthy young man bowed and greeted the three of them respectfully. Shang caught the anxious expression that flitted across Mulan's features before she suppressed it and smiled pleasantly at Unegen.

"Unegen, this is Li Meng-shi and Li Shang."

"We thought we might meet you in the town last night," Li Meng-shi began casually, smoothing over the potentially tense nature of this meeting. He stepped toward the small black stallion beside Unegen, looking it over with admiration. "Jiang Hu mentioned what a fine horse you owned. He wasn't exaggerating."

Unegen bowed again, acknowledging the compliment. "I was about to go into that tavern for a meal and some wine. The three of you have had a long and tiresome journey as well, no doubt. You must be hungry. I would be honored if you would join me."

Mulan glanced at Shang and the priest with some trepidation.

"Thank you for the kind invitation, but we're in kind of a hurry," Shang spoke up, his tone brusque.

"Still," the priest interjected, "we've been journeying long and hard and I have a sense that this village is friendly to travelers."

"Yes, it is," Unegen answered, gazing at him steadily. "This is a safe haven for any weary vagabond, or an outcast."

Li Meng-shi chuckled softly. "We'll be happy to join you for breakfast, Unegen, but I'm afraid we will have to abstain from wine, given our vocation."

"Yes, of course. Excuse my mistake."

They shuffled into the tavern after seeing to the horses and Unegen ordered wine for himself and tea for the three of them, as well as a hearty breakfast of congee and steamed buns filled with meats of all kinds. Their drinks were served immediately and conversation was casual and easy as Unegen sipped his wine and they their tea, though Shang had his guard up and observed this stranger very carefully. They chatted about their respective journeys, the inclement weather that had made it especially difficult, the popular ballad that was being sung in every tavern that they encountered.

"It's too early for them to be singing here, of course," Li Meng-shi chuckled. "You've ordered quite a lot of food for just the four of us, Unegen...we normally partake of a much more humble spread..."

"Don't worry. It's my honor to treat you all to a good meal."

They bowed their heads in a gesture of thanks to him.

"This province is not as hard hit, for some reason. Perhaps it is because Li Jing has remained in Luo Di's favor," Unegen remarked.

His comment caught the attention of all three of them.

"You know Li Jing?" Shang asked, making sure to keep his voice even. As suspicious as he was of Unegen, he didn't want him to know that.

"Not personally. I only know that he is the garrison commander at Taiyuan, in this province. There is much talk of his son, however. He's supposedly a prodigy of some sort."

Shang felt his face heat up, inexplicably irked once more on hearing praise of Li Jing's son, and from this suspicious character of all people.

"I take it you know him then, Honorable Priest?" Unegen asked Shang.

He shook his head. "Like you, I've heard of him. And his son."

"I understand that you have all come from the Henan province."

"That's right. From Hua Shan Mountain," Li Meng-shi piped up now. "We are headed for the sacred mountains in the north. Jiang Hu mentioned that you have also come from Henan."

"Yes, I was working there for awhile."

Mulan remained silent, her face expressionless.

The waiter brought their food to the table and the conversation ceased as everyone ate hungrily.

"This is delicious food that you ordered for us, Unegen. Thank you again," the priest spoke up finally.

"It's my pleasure. This area was spared, unlike many of the other provinces, especially outside of the cities. Several villages in Henan had still been functioning when I left, with the help of some good Samaritans."

He suddenly looked right at Mulan.

"Shangqiu, for example, is still in pretty good shape thanks to a retired general who is a patron to everyone in the town. Unfortunately he had to flee."

Shang felt the anger rise in him as he took in Mulan's suddenly rigid posture. This rogue possibly knew who she really was; he was playing games with her head with his spewing and he didn't like it at all. He was on the verge of jumping up and lurching toward him, but the other man continued speaking casually.

"There is an Imperial order for his daughter's head, but she escaped," Unegen continued, looking away from her and helping himself to another steamed bun. "The Emperor sent men after her family instead, in the hopes that she would return if they were captured."

He glanced around quickly and lowered his voice.

"But old General Hua Zhou is smarter than all of them, and was three steps ahead as usual."

"You speak as if you know him very well."

"He is a famous and honored warrior," Unegen answered smoothly. "And he is a good friend of my former employer."

"Your former employer?"

"Prefect Liu in Xiayi."

"Then you know much of what's going on in the provinces, and from the inside," Li Meng-shi interjected.

Unegen shrugged. "More or less."

Mulan finally spoke. "Do you know where the general went with his family?"

He shook his head. "Many people in those villages are friendly and they help each other. There is a network of allies who helped him, no doubt. I'm sure he's well-hidden."

Finishing his meat bun, he took a swig of wine and changed the subject.

"As I was saying, traveling should be easier in this province. You've all had a very difficult journey, especially with the weather that we were hit with."

"Yes," Shang answered, deciding to turn the tables on him and pry for information at the same time. "It has been rough, and we had a sense that we were being trailed in the last part of it. We thought it might have been bandits; but perhaps they decided that Daoist priests would have very little for them to take. Or maybe they felt guilty. We did pass through a town where a theft had occurred. Someone's horse was stolen. A small, fast black horse."

"But we don't know much about it," Li Meng-shi interrupted. "We arrived in town after the fact and heard about it. The whole town was in an uproar. It was an interesting journey, and fortunately we were able to easily find shelter. There were many empty barns to sleep in, deserted farms that people can't sustain any longer."

"Not deserted, necessarily. If you had gone into the houses, you might have found the corpses of the inhabitants. People aren't necessarily fleeing; they're just starving to death."

Li Meng-shi cast Shang a look that advised him to keep calm then turned back to the strange young man whose company they were keeping now and studied him closely.

"We would very much be honored if you would join us in our travels, unless you are headed in a completely different direction," the priest told him. "But I sense that the opposite is true. You seem to be going our way."

xxxxxxx

She could barely swallow, so severe had the pain in her throat become. But she didn't mention it to anyone, reluctant to give them any reason to stop moving forward. After all, she was the one that Shang and Li Meng-shi were trying to protect; she didn't want to become even more of a burden.

The day was already waning but they still had a full night of riding ahead of them, even though they hadn't slept that day. With any luck, perhaps they would find a safe place to stay that evening, even if just for a couple of hours. They couldn't keep up thirty-six hour days for long, she mused irritably; sooner or later it would take its toll and they would become sloppy. And now Unegen had joined them, a foreigner from over the border, whose sentiments and intentions were a mystery. From his rigid, alert posture she knew that Shang not only completely distrusted the man but probably would have had him at sword point that morning, demanding answers, had it not been for Li Meng-shi. But even he, with his rigorous training and endurance, couldn't continue to keep up his vigilance for such long hours.

Mulan uttered silent prayers that her family was safe and brooded over the things that this stranger had told them that morning at breakfast. Her nightmares had been a premonition. And yet, if Unegen was telling the truth, her family hadn't been captured. They'd fled, and there was a good chance that they were alright.

The four of them rode on in silence, side by side except for Unegen who rode in front of them. Shang had insisted on him leading; he wanted to keep an eye on him.

Oddly enough, Li Meng-shi had actually invited him along with them. If he distrusted him at all he didn't let on. Maybe he thought that it would be better to have an enemy near, where he could be watched. Or perhaps he sensed that they were in no danger from Unegen. It was hard to know what the priest was thinking sometimes, much less what he was able to divine. But she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach about Unegen being there. Whether it was because she mistrusted him inherently or because of the news he'd brought of her family, she didn't know.

She reached up and pushed a few damp clumps of hair off of her face. There hadn't been a downpour that day, but the sky had been covered with grey clouds, and for most of the day there had been a light but steady drizzle. Even for the brief periods when it stopped, tiny droplets of moisture in the air stuck to them as they trotted along toward their destination.

They were correct in their assumption that Unegen had been Prefect Liu's servant. But that was all they knew about him for sure, if even that was true. But he had no reason to lie about that really, and he knew an awful lot about many things. With every passing moment she became more certain that he had been following them all along, for what purpose she didn't know. And she was fairly sure that he knew that she was Mulan, not Jiang Hu; his meaningful gaze at her when he spoke of her father was not lost on her. How did he know how to find them in the first place? Or had he been following them all along from Shangqiu? Perhaps he was and no one noticed him until halfway through the trip.

With Unegen along for the ride there was no opportunity for the three of them to speak in private. She wanted desperately to speak to Shang and the priest about what they thought, if for no other reason than to calm her own fears.

Her head was throbbing and her eyes were beginning to burn and tear, too; she felt overheated yet chilled all over. A tinge of dizziness circled her head and she could barely see. Blinking rapidly, she attempted to push aside the sense of panic that arose in her and focus her eyes on the terrain ahead, vaguely aware that the wind had picked up and she was shivering every time it blew across her body, making her damp clothing feel cold against her skin. She was tired of traveling, of not knowing her family's fate, of second-guessing whether she could trust people or not, and she felt so irked that she wanted to cry. A feeling of exhaustion and sheer vulnerability permeated her and her nerves felt utterly raw.

Li Meng-shi's voice seemed to come from a distance several minutes later as he suggested that they stop to rest before the oncoming storm began. She managed to gather in the reins to halt her horse and dismount, stumbling then and falling forward.

xxxxxxx

He looked up as Li Meng-shi approached quietly and took a seat beside him in front of the fire.

"You care about her very much," he remarked quietly.

Shang started, surprised that he'd just said it outright in this way, without even easing into the conversation.

"You should be careful about how you refer to our companion," he answered gruffly, alluding to the fact that the priest had referred to Mulan as /her/. Unegen very well might have known who she really was, but they didn't need to advertise it. And they could always deny it. It's not like Unegen would be able to look under her clothing and check; Shang would kill him if he tried.

"I put an herbal remedy in his drink to make him sleep soundly tonight, General Li," he laughed. "Enough to knock out his horse. He can't hear us now."

/Unbelievable/.

With that thought Shang took a deep breath and went back to staring into the flames, not answering.

"And she cares for you as well. I'm worried about her, too, General. But she'll be alright, you know. My knowledge of herbal remedies is extensive and she's already showing improvement in just a couple of hours. She's a strong and resilient young girl."

This wasn't news to him. He knew Mulan was strong. More than once she'd demonstrated her fortitude and determination, her strength of character, her commitment to do the right and honorable thing. What she had done a few years before took an amazing amount of inner strength and courage; he still marveled at it when he remembered those days.

But ever since she'd told him of her nightmares involving the capture of her family he'd worried about her. She was so close with her family, so devoted to them; and though there was no conclusive news that her family had come to any harm, there was also no proof that they were safe and well. Unegen had told them that her family had escaped; but Shang doubted whether anything he said could be trusted. There were too many unanswered questions about him at this point. He could only imagine how frantic Mulan felt after their conversation of that morning.

If Shang had had his way, he would have held a sword at Unegen's neck right then and there, and demanded answers. And he wouldn't have hesitated to kill him. But with just a subtle gesture and a cocking of the eyebrow Li Meng-shi had somehow signaled to him that the situation should be handled more discretely and delicately. He reluctantly acquiesced, unable to comprehend the power of persuasion that this priest seemed to have over him.

Not knowing either way about her family was putting the greatest strain on her. The stress had taken its toll on Mulan quickly, causing her to succumb to the illness that had been setting in and that she'd been attempting to fend off.

At least the storm had passed. They were camped under a thick clump of trees and the dense branches and foliage acted as a semi-shelter, keeping out a large portion of the rain. But it had still been a heavy storm, with chilling winds, and Mulan needed to be kept warm.

"General..."

"Please call me Shang. You don't need to call me General. It's not even appropriate anymore."

The priest looked at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Of course it is. That is your rank."

"I'm not even a legitimate Imperial soldier now," he murmured dejectedly, casting his eyes downward.

"I disagree with that. And when this battle is over, you will regain your status in the new regime. In fact, you will excel beyond it."

Shang's head snapped up and he gaped at him in shock. "What?"

How could the man possibly know such a thing? He'd heard that Daoist priests often read signs and some could tell the future from looking at the sky; even from a change in the weather. Had Li Meng-shi already determined his future just by observing the passing of a storm?

"This is only a temporary exile, General Li. You've been forced to choose sides."

"And I chose the side against my Emperor," he sighed.

"But you had to."

The young man shook his head slowly. "I know I had to. But even before I knew...I..." he trailed off.

"You what?"

He shook his head and went back to staring into the fire. "Never mind."

It didn't matter anymore and there was no point in talking about it. Deep in his heart he knew that he'd chosen Mulan over his country a long time ago, and not just in his sparing of her life in the mountains when it was his duty to execute her. Throughout an arranged marriage he had continued to think of her. A man's thoughts were his own, and he could do as he pleased; but he'd always felt guilty about it. Then when Luo Di declared her an enemy and demanded her execution, charging all of his generals to carry out his order when they found her, Shang had had doubts as to whether he could. Now he was sure that he never would have.

Sensing Li Meng-shi's steady gaze upon him, Shang snapped out of his reverie and turned to him. The priest was eyeing him curiously.

"I know that you are wondering about my decision to bring Unegen along."

"That question had crossed my mind."

"Frankly, I would rather keep the enemy where I can see him. And I'm not convinced that he is the enemy."

"You think he was telling the truth then?"

Li Meng-shi shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps Prefect Liu sent him; or maybe he took it on himself to come after us and warn us. Maybe, like many of us, he realized that Taiyuan would be the place of the strongest organized movement and decided to join, under the pretext of coming to warn us."

"It all seems too convenient," he sighed, glancing in the direction of the tent where Unegen was now settled in for the night. "I never did trust anything that was too convenient, or coincidental."

"Well, if he is the enemy we now have him in close proximity where we can watch him and observe his motives. As the most rested person of the three of us, I'll be on watch for the first part of the night. Perhaps you should get some sleep now, General."

Shang stood up and bid him goodnight. But he didn't go to his own tent. Compelled to see if she was alright he went to the tent where Mulan lay and took a seat beside her. She was awake, tears streaming down her face.

"Mulan."

A sob escaped her and she quickly stifled the rest that threatened to come out as he softly uttered her name.

He reached over and his fingertips brushed the tears that had stained her cheeks. Wanting to comfort her and aware of how overwhelmed she was from stress and fatigue he spoke gently.

"I'm sorry, Mulan. I know how worried you are."

Her hand flew up to quickly wipe her eyes. She seemed ashamed and he began to stroke her hair soothingly.

"We're almost to Taiyuan. It'll be safe there..."

She tried to turn away. He knew that she needed to cry and couldn't understand why she felt that she had to hide her tears from him. Did she believe that he would ever think her weak?

Encircling his arms around her waist, he lifted her up to sitting and embraced her tightly, rubbing slow circles in the middle of her back with one hand as she cried silently, her shaking body the only sign of her sobbing. She raised her head to look at him some time after the spasms that wracked her body had subsided, her skin glistening with tears. Without thinking he brought a hand up to her face and began to caress its contours, absently contemplating the beauty of her visage and the loveliness of the individual features that, put together, made her who she was. Her face was mere inches from his, her eyes trusting and longing; he wasn't sure if he was imagining it when she arched it even closer toward his. Unable to help himself, he leaned down and began to kiss her.