already know it, and they’ll feel it all the more strongly once you are gone. Hurry now. Before I change my mind and wake them up instead.”
“Help me, then,” I said. Together we carefully lifted each of the horse’s hooves and wrapped them in cloth. This would keep the noise from giving us away as we crossed our courtyard. Once I reached the hard-packed earth of the road, I would take them off. There would no longer be a need for silence.
Min Xian went with me as far as our gate, helping me to ease it open. I led the horse through and stopped to free his feet. Min Xian took the cloths from me, clutching them to her chest.
“Mulan.”
I swung myself up into the saddle, heart pounding. I was really going to do this. I was going off to war.
“What is it?” I asked. “Speak quickly, Min Xian.”
“There is something you should know before you go,” she said. “Something that I should have had the courage to tell you long ago.”
“What is it?” I asked again.
“Your mother’s name was Xiao Lizi.”
Before I could answer, Min Xian stepped back through the gate and shut it fast behind her.
I put my heels to the horse’s flanks, urging him out into the road. I was glad he was sure-footed, even in the dark, because I could see nothing through the tears that filled my eyes.
My mother’s name was “Little Plum.”
T WELVE
I arrived at the assembly place for the Son of Heaven’s great army after two days of hard riding. Along the way I had plenty of opportunities to be grateful for Min Xian’s advice. Two long days in the saddle is not the same as an afternoon’s ride for pleasure. By the time I reached the place of muster, my whole body was aching and sore. But I had done it, becoming one of the steady stream of men and boys traveling to do their duty.
I moved as swiftly as I could, and I spoke to as few people as possible.
The longer I traveled, the colder it became, for I was moving almost due north. More than once I wished for my father’s fur-lined cloak.
For as long as I live, I will never forget my first sight of the great encampment and the army that the Son of Heaven had called together to defend China. It was a large valley at the mouth of the mountain pass through which the emperor’s spies had said the Huns planned to attack. As I approached, it seemed to me that the land itself had come alive, for it moved with men and horses. The air above it was filled withthe smoke of cooking fires. A long line of recruits clogged the road that was the only access. As we waited, word of what was happening began to move down the line.
Each new recruit was being asked a series of questions before he was given his assignment and permitted to enter the valley. The army would be divided into three large companies, each one led by one of the princes.
“As for me, I hope to fight with Prince Jian,” said the man beside me. He was not quite my father’s age. Though, with his face lined from the sun it was difficult to tell.
“You’d do better to fight for the middle son, Prince Guang. He’s the better fighter, or so they say,” commented another.
“That may be,” the first man answered. “But I’ve heard that General Yuwen is commanding Prince Jian’s forces. He’s an old campaigner. I’ve fought with him before. And the young prince is the emperor’s favorite, or so they say.”
“That must make things happy at home,” a voice behind me remarked.
The older man beside me snorted. “I know nothing of court intrigues,” he replied. “But I do know this: Many things can happen in the heat of battle.”
After that there was no more talking, as each of us stayed busy with our own thoughts. Soon enough I came to the head of the line.
Where the road ended and the encampmentbegan, the land widened out. There a group of experienced soldiers were interviewing the recruits and handing out assignments. Those of us on horseback now dismounted. I reached to thread my fingers through the
“Help me, then,” I said. Together we carefully lifted each of the horse’s hooves and wrapped them in cloth. This would keep the noise from giving us away as we crossed our courtyard. Once I reached the hard-packed earth of the road, I would take them off. There would no longer be a need for silence.
Min Xian went with me as far as our gate, helping me to ease it open. I led the horse through and stopped to free his feet. Min Xian took the cloths from me, clutching them to her chest.
“Mulan.”
I swung myself up into the saddle, heart pounding. I was really going to do this. I was going off to war.
“What is it?” I asked. “Speak quickly, Min Xian.”
“There is something you should know before you go,” she said. “Something that I should have had the courage to tell you long ago.”
“What is it?” I asked again.
“Your mother’s name was Xiao Lizi.”
Before I could answer, Min Xian stepped back through the gate and shut it fast behind her.
I put my heels to the horse’s flanks, urging him out into the road. I was glad he was sure-footed, even in the dark, because I could see nothing through the tears that filled my eyes.
My mother’s name was “Little Plum.”
T WELVE
I arrived at the assembly place for the Son of Heaven’s great army after two days of hard riding. Along the way I had plenty of opportunities to be grateful for Min Xian’s advice. Two long days in the saddle is not the same as an afternoon’s ride for pleasure. By the time I reached the place of muster, my whole body was aching and sore. But I had done it, becoming one of the steady stream of men and boys traveling to do their duty.
I moved as swiftly as I could, and I spoke to as few people as possible.
The longer I traveled, the colder it became, for I was moving almost due north. More than once I wished for my father’s fur-lined cloak.
For as long as I live, I will never forget my first sight of the great encampment and the army that the Son of Heaven had called together to defend China. It was a large valley at the mouth of the mountain pass through which the emperor’s spies had said the Huns planned to attack. As I approached, it seemed to me that the land itself had come alive, for it moved with men and horses. The air above it was filled withthe smoke of cooking fires. A long line of recruits clogged the road that was the only access. As we waited, word of what was happening began to move down the line.
Each new recruit was being asked a series of questions before he was given his assignment and permitted to enter the valley. The army would be divided into three large companies, each one led by one of the princes.
“As for me, I hope to fight with Prince Jian,” said the man beside me. He was not quite my father’s age. Though, with his face lined from the sun it was difficult to tell.
“You’d do better to fight for the middle son, Prince Guang. He’s the better fighter, or so they say,” commented another.
“That may be,” the first man answered. “But I’ve heard that General Yuwen is commanding Prince Jian’s forces. He’s an old campaigner. I’ve fought with him before. And the young prince is the emperor’s favorite, or so they say.”
“That must make things happy at home,” a voice behind me remarked.
The older man beside me snorted. “I know nothing of court intrigues,” he replied. “But I do know this: Many things can happen in the heat of battle.”
After that there was no more talking, as each of us stayed busy with our own thoughts. Soon enough I came to the head of the line.
Where the road ended and the encampmentbegan, the land widened out. There a group of experienced soldiers were interviewing the recruits and handing out assignments. Those of us on horseback now dismounted. I reached to thread my fingers through the
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