Reflection (Disney Twisted Tales) - Elizabeth Lim Page 0,45
tell anyone. I promise. Your secret’s safe with me.”
His shoulders dropped out of resignation. “My mother has it in her mind that I need to find a…a bride.” He sounded nervous. “It was never a priority of mine, not with the war. But now that my father has passed, I am the head of the family. It is my duty to carry on the family line.”
It was Mulan’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “You don’t sound excited about this.”
Shang shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Before I left for battle, my mother tried introducing me to a few girls. But they were only after my family’s name.” He paused, clearly at a loss of what else to say.
Mulan hid a smile. She’d rarely seen him like this. How funny that Shang always knew what to do in a fight, and how to train a man to be the best soldier possible, yet faced with a personal conversation about his life he became almost…shy.
“I’m listening,” she said. “What were they like?”
“All they could do was flutter their fans and bat their eyes. The matchmaker Mother hired bragged that they were perfect porcelain dolls. What she didn’t say was they had no minds of their own.” Shang grimaced at the memory without looking at her. The sides of his neck pinked with embarrassment. “They’d say anything to make me like them.”
How familiar that sounds. Mulan put her hands on her hips. “Not all girls are like that. You have to look at it from their perspective, too. Girls are raised to be pretty and graceful, and quiet.” She made a face. “They aren’t allowed to speak their minds, and they don’t have a choice in who they marry. My parents were lucky that they fell in love, but their marriage was arranged, too. And my mother, she doesn’t even belong to her family anymore after they got married. It wasn’t my mother’s decision, but her family’s. They told her that a woman’s only role in life is to bear sons.”
Shang leaned forward. “You sound quite passionate about this.”
His closeness made Mulan hunch back. Remembering who she was pretending to be, she felt her cheeks burn. “I just…I mean, I bet there are some girls who’d make better soldiers than boys. If they were given the chance.”
“A female soldier? That’s the craziest thing I’ve heard.”
“Girls can be strong, too.”
“Not like us, Ping.”
Mulan hid a smile. “You’d be surprised.”
“Well,” Shang said. “As much as I’d love to meet a female soldier, it won’t happen in my lifetime. It’s against the law.”
“Yes, it is.” Mulan swallowed hard. “But that doesn’t mean girls can’t be clever or strong.”
“You’re right. My mother is quite sharp. My father always respected that about her.” He paused. “Even then, my father was a man of tradition. So is my mother. I never thought to question that a woman should not belong to her husband’s family.” Shang tilted his head, looking thoughtful. “It doesn’t seem fair, now that I think about it.”
“It isn’t.”
“Perhaps when I marry, I’ll combine the ancestral temples so my bride won’t have to leave her family.”
Mulan couldn’t help feeling touched. “Really?”
“Then again, I’ve yet to meet a girl I can actually talk to.”
“You need a girl with a brain,” Mulan found herself saying without realizing it. “One who speaks her mind.”
“Do you know one like that?”
She looked down at her bandages again, hoping Shang didn’t hear her pulse getting faster. “I might,” she said, trying her best to sound like she was still teasing him.
Mulan, she scolded herself. What’s wrong with you?
“I’d need to know what else you value in a girl,” she said to Shang, ignoring the strange stirring in her chest. “A lovely face with shining eyes? A sweet, melodious voice? Someone who’s delicate and graceful as a flower?”
Shang reddened, and Mulan laughed. She was having fun teasing the captain, something she’d never gotten to do before. “Chien-Po wants a girl who can cook well. Yao is the one who wants someone who adores him. Hmmm…I’d guess you’d want someone capable.” She wrinkled her nose. “Someone who can take care of the household when you’re at war.”
“Taking care of the household is like commanding an army. My mother could be a general in her own right.” He chuckled, then became serious again.
Mulan lifted a shoulder. “What else?”
“What else?” Shang repeated. He exhaled. “Someone who’s smart and brave, and kind. Someone I can trust. Someone who’s honest.”