sideburnedprince:

     The older man’s reaction made the prince raise an eyebrow; perhaps he had made some sort of mistake by not paying much attention to who he pulled over, although he thought he would not have been able to tell the difference either way. Eastern traditions were strange and unknown to him; his family hadn’t given him much of an opportunity to learn what he should have learned before coming here. For the sake of appearances, they’d wanted to send him away as quickly as possible, and while it irritated him quite effectively, Hans knew he could adapt to any situation.

     He would have interjected, had the lady not done so first. He pressed his lips together to keep himself from the near-smile from his face. At least one of them was willing to be reasonable about whatever faux pas he had just committed. He almost wished he could say he cared a little more, but he didn’t. Not really. It would be just as easy for him to pretend he was humble and apologetic to gain favor once more. Damage quickly done was far simpler to fix than most thought and he had the proper countenance with which to do it. Adopting a worried expression, he hesitated before bowing from the waist in the proper European fashion.

     ”My sincerest apologies,” said Hans, meeting her eyes and chancing a smile when he straightened again. “I’m afraid I’m new to this corner of the world. I was not thinking.”

     It wasn’t entirely accurate. He was always thinking, no matter the situation; he simply hadn’t been thinking about the right thing, clearly. Now he was simply curious. What was he missing? Who had he addressed to elicit such a response from her companion. His head tilted slightly to the side at her words. They were polite, but he could tell that they were meant to cut at least somewhat. She was the subtle sort, although this did very little to discourage him. If anything, it only intrigued him further. Stepping forward, he kept pace with them easily, paying little mind to the men trailing behind him.

     ”Pardon my curiosity but I would very much like to know who it is I had the misfortune of accidentally offending, if you would be so kind as to tell me.” He paused. “Of course, it would be rude of me not to introduce myself first. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.”

Of course he was of royal birth.  Despite several visits to the palace, Mulan had never met the Emperor’s daughters, but when all you could do was imagine what it must like to be royal, you did imagine.  With such an auspicious birth, you were instantly granted respect.  With such wealth and beauty surrounding you and a future that could only ascend like a staircase into the stars, you could afford to mistake a soldier for a servant.  Mulan bit the inside of her cheek, unwilling to lose face in front of this stranger and his knowing smile.  Royal he might be, but she was in the service of the Middle Kingdom.  Not the Southern Isles.

As the three of them walked, Mulan drifted closer to Tian.  Prince Hans might be walking next to them, but they weren’t walking next to him.  "My name is Hua Mulan,“ she informed him in a voice that was both softer and firmer than it had been before she knew he was a prince.  She paused.  "I don’t know the customs of the Southern Isles, but in this corner of the world we don’t accost strange women in the - ”

“Hua Mulan,” Tian interrupted so smoothly that Mulan was caught off-guard for a moment.  It was clear that he had been thinking along similar lines in regards to Prince Hans, “is far from a servant.  A year ago she single-handedly destroyed the Hun Army and led the attack against what few men survived our first battle.  They call her the Savior of China.”

Had Tian meant to stop her from insulting the prince?  Mulan shot him a swift glance - he’d now defended her to Prince Hans not once, but twice, although if she was being completely honest she would have preferred not to go into too much detail about who she was.  Even if she had been mistaken for a servant.  Her ears burned.  On the one hand, Mulan couldn’t help but feel a little triumphant, because even she could appreciate that princes were common, compared to heroes.  But on the other: she was the daughter of a farmer, no more used to the grandeur of palace life than she was to being mistaken for a servant; and she couldn’t guess what news had traveled to the Southern Isles.  Did he know who she was?