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

16. Tricks and Talks

Chapter Sixteen:

Tricks and Talks

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"Harriet?" Leopold whispered, his voice hardly loud enough to reach her ears. He quickly grabbed a hold of her head, taking off her helmet and letting her red shoulder length hair spill out around her. He froze as he looked her in the eye, and Harriet swallowed drily. The spell was completely gone as she had willing told him her name. If she understood it correctly, that meant that everyone would see her for the female she was, and by the looks of it, Leopold could definitely see that.

For a moment, Harriet could swear he had become stone, and then she realized that he hadn't. Looking into his blue eyes, she could see them glistening and not from sweat or blood.

"Leopold..." Harriet said, trailing off. She didn't know what to say. So far he hadn't reacted the way that she had thought he would. She had expected him to shout and rage at her but he hadn't; at least not yet.

"I-" Leopold stopped talking to clear his throat, never taking his eyes off of Harriet's. "We will speak more about this later, but right now, it's not safe. You know the penalty of disobeying the law, Harriet. Quickly, get your helmet back on." His hands were trembling as he guided her helmet back over her head.

"Why? Why aren't you throwing me to the dogs?" Harriet said, bringing her hands up to his wrists where they rested on either side of her helmet.

"I would never throw you to the dogs; not even if I was upset with you. Which, I assure you, I am. But now is neither the time nor the place to talk about that. You're safe, that's what matters; not somewhere wandering the country or captured by the enemy. Right now, we just need to make sure you stay safe. Can you pretend to be Harry Greenfellow for a little longer?" Harriet nodded, letting her hands drop from his wrists, allowing him to pull his hands away. "Good. How hurt are you? Is there a way you could be treated by the medics without them figuring out you're a woman?"

Harriet paused before shaking her head, her face alight with a blush as she watched his eyes sweep over her armor-encased form. Leopold's facial expression turned pensive and he looked away, allowing Harriet to have a moment without being under his scrutinizing gaze. In all of the nightmares she'd had over the past month about how Leopold would react when he found out, this had not been among them.

Leopold glanced back over to her, and Harriet could see the gears in his head working. She had forgotten that this man was a tactical genius, and it seemed that she had also forgotten his determination to keep people he was close to safe. This was the assassin incident all over; nine years later and he was still trying to protect her from her own rash decisions; even though as far as rash decisions go, the one that lead to her fighting in the war had been pondered over for a rather long amount of time.

"Harriet, you need to keep quiet, alright? I'll do the talking. Now that whatever spell you were clearly under is gone, your voice is no longer disguised." Harriet turned her head to see the medics approaching, and for a moment she felt a large hand cover one of her own, but by the time the medics were within shouting distance to them, the hand was gone.

"Your highness! Are you alright? Mr. Greenfellow, are you hurt?" One of the medics said, but Leopold held up a hand signaling for him to stop.

"We do both need medical attention, but currently, Mr. Greenfellow's chest is very bruised, so he won't be able to talk or take off his armor."

"How do you know, sir?" The medic dared to ask.

"He mimed it out to me once he helped me walk away from the battlefield," Leopold replied. The medics seemed to accept that as an answer, quickly getting to work helping Leopold onto a stretcher and Harriet to her feet.