A Kind Of Bravery: A Mulan Retelling [1st Draft]

1. Avoiding the Queen

Chapter One:

Avoiding the Queen

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One year later

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The world of the forest was peaceful, at least until a sudden shout sent a flock of birds flying from the branches of the surrounding trees.

"Lady Harriet? Where are you? The Queen wishes to see you!" A man called and Harriet winced from her perch high up in one of the trees. With any luck, he wouldn't notice her hiding place.

"Lady Harriet, it's urgent!" Another man called, and Harriet couldn't help but wonder what constituted as urgent this time.

Ever since her sister Clara had met Prince Frederick, or "Gus", at a ball seven years ago, their lives had gone from terrible to wonderful. They had been able to escape their stepmother and save their younger brother, James, and now Clara was the Queen of Ecrivenia.

Normally, Harriet would've been more than happy to come at her sister's beck and call but there had been a couple of reasons why she had hurried away the first chance she got.

Firstly, her sister and her brother-in-law had been planning a lavish ball for months, but Harriet wasn't really one for dancing, dresses, or polite conversation. She'd rather be dressed in trousers, like she was now, and practicing her sword fighting with her best friend, Mark, and the other knights.

Secondly, the ball was supposed to be her coming out into society. Admittedly, she was a little late, but she had convinced her sister that twenty was the perfect age, after all Clara couldn't argue entirely with that. Nineteen was the age she had met Frederick, and a year later wasn't too bad.

Lastly, her sister was pregnant with her first child and ever since her pregnancy began, she'd been driving Harriet nuts. Clara had always had strong mothering instincts, after all, she had practically raised all three of her siblings, but now they had increased ten-fold.

"Lady Harriet, the queen said that if you don't come in you won't get to pick the dress you wear for the ball," one of the men called. However, Harriet didn't budge. She didn't care if she didn't pick the dress, it wasn't like she was going to pick the dress anyway.

Harriet waited quietly in her perch, watching her sister's men until they finally gave up and walked back to the palace. Harriet's mouth twitched into a smirk. As if they would've been able to convince her to come down with just the threat of a dress.

Inspecting the distance to the ground carefully, she jumped from the tree, landing lightly on her bare feet. Straightening her posture, she didn't bother to run her hands through her hair or wipe the dirt off of her clothing, she had long since learned that it was hopeless as new dirt would always replace the old dirt.

Harriet looked around the forest edge, her gray eyes searching for signs of other people, but when she found none, a small smile starting to creep onto her face. She knew getting up early had been worth it!

She had been avoiding getting fitted for a dress for weeks and finally, she could officially say that she had managed to get away with not sitting through the endless hours of poking and prodding. Now if she could only stay hidden until the ball ended, then she would be golden.

Harriet's smile turned to a full force grin. She was free to do whatever she wished to! Ignoring the feeling of the blades of wet grass sticking to her toes, she began to set off towards the stables and the training grounds. Mark was sure to help her stay hidden. After all, he would probably need a sparring partner.

She dashed away from the forest's edge, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face and the wind in her hair, not caring that the wind was sure to just tangle her already curly hair even more. Picking up her pace as the stables came into view, Harriet was pleased to see that the knights were still in the midst of practicing. Thankfully, her brother in law wasn't with them, but then again, Clara had her husband on a tight leash nowadays.