Needful Empires

When Khan Mulan, Empress Mulan, declared war on the southern kingdom all of China fell over itself to die for her cause. They wore her colors, they wove magnolias into their hair, they pledged everything to their leader. For it was under her, the Demon Mulan, that they had conquered the empires to their borders, the islands to their coasts. It was under her that they ate well, traded easily, took slaves. They would follow her into a fire, into a dying star, out of fear and love of her.
When Sultana Jasmine told her people to harden themselves for war, to put aside Az-Zeka and all of their water to bear arms against the demon woman from the west, they were filled with doubt. They knew the threat they faced: there were constellations named after the kick the Empress had delivered to Shan Yu's chest. The Sultana knew their fears, soothed their fears. So far from their lands, so far from easy water and lush grass: in face of the desert they called home, the mightiest army would wither like a husk.
The war, they both decided in their hearts, would be over quickly.