Cue picked. ❛So did mine before me. An archer during
the Hundred Years War before he was injured and
changed profession to something with a lower mortality
rate. My mother always spoke of him as a hero, and of
war as the best chance of honour a man could get —
but as often, the truth is more complicated.❜He didn’t know the exact story of the recruit’s father
but there were certain things that most soldiers agreed on
but rarely acknowledged to each other and never spoke
about to civilians. The story of a recruit naively following
the footsteps of fathers, uncles or elder brothers was all
but uncommon, and so were the consequences of those
choices. ❛I’m not asking you to tell your story, merely
showing that I understand that these subjects are often
difficult. —Are you proud of your father?❜
—花木蘭—“Of course,” gasped Ping, stung to honesty,
though he was still turning over the other man’s earlier words
in his mind. They can’t have really been at war for a hundred
years at a time, Ping decided: it was the kind of name people
gave to things to exaggerate them. More importantly, though,
he appreciated the officer’s tact, his recognition that maybe,
here and now, the last thing Mulan wanted to talk about was
fathers.
It was only then that Ping realized what was so odd about the
other soldier’s words. Ping turned towards him, eyes wide and
–abruptly–concerned. The man seemed to be speaking in the
past tense. “Then…your father…he didn’t die in battle?” guessed
the recruit. The question was a feeble one (so much for tact, too).
Going to war was a great honor, dying there even more so…but
when all was said and done, Ping personally would have prefer-
red to die at home.
