The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

by Fuyumi Ono

  "Now you're training the junior retainers as well. I'm sorry for piling so much on your plate, Kantai."

  "Not at all. It's all the same to me. With no wars to fight, I've got plenty of time on my hands."

  Youko laughed. They both knew that wasn't the truth. When she'd first come to this world, she'd been amazed at the large scale of the armies. But once she became apprised of the facts, she understood the reasons why. There wasn't anything she would call a "police force" here. Acting under the direction of the Ministry of Fall, the army conducted patrols and enforced the law. No only that, but public works also fell under the jurisdiction of the army.

  Projects that did not require the conscription of civilians were directed by the government, and the work was performed by the army and chain gangs made up of criminals serving out their sentences. Charged as well with the defense of the Imperial Palace and the cities and the protection of aristocrats, there was always plenty for the army to do, even if there were no battles to fight.

  "It doesn't amount to much, but consider this a small reward," said Youko, holding out a tea cup.

  Kantai smiled and accepted it graciously. "Appears to be alcohol-free, but thank you anyway."

  They both laughed. Youko asked him, "What do you know of the Royal Tai? He seems quite famous in some quarters."

  "Ah," said Kantai, nodding. "I'm not personally acquainted with the man. But according to what I've heard, he used to be General Saku."

  "How about Risai? She was originally a general of the Jou Provincial Guard."

  "Unfortunately, my education doesn't reach that far. But now that you mention it, the kijuu she rode here has healed up very well."

  "It has? That's good to hear."

  "I don't know General Ryuu, but looking at her kijuu I sense that she's an outstanding person. The kijuu shows a remarkable loyalty towards its master and appears to be very well-trained. It's called breaking the animal, but naturally this involves caring for it as one would a child, being all that the word master implies. No creature can ever be truly broken otherwise."

  "Agreed."

  "I've never heard her name before. The name of an ordinary general is unlikely to spread beyond the borders of a kingdom. General Saku is the rare exception. I think that's what it comes down to."

  "The rare exception. And all the more impressive."

  "Ah," Kantai said with a knowing expression. "Comparing yourself and General Saku, eh?"

  "Not that it would do me any good. He seems the far more heroic figure."

  "Well, if he was such a heroic figure, then Tai wouldn't be in the chaotic state it's in."

  "Don't be mean. We don't know that the Royal Tai is the cause of it. A calamity seems to have occurred, but nobody's sure of the details. It's too early to lay the consequences at his feet."

  Kantai bowed his head only slightly, asking with a bit more seriousness, "And that calamity?"

  "Some sort of coup d'etat. A pretender has arisen and the Royal Tai and the Tai Taiho have gone missing. That's all we know at this point. For the rest, we'll have to wait upon Risai's recovery."

  "I see," said Kantai, and appeared to sink into his thoughts.

  Youko did as well. She didn't know any of the details, except that Risai had come to Kei begging for help. She had risked her life to make this appeal. Except that the scatterbrained, patchwork Imperial Court of Kei was in no condition to help her.

  "In the final analysis," said Kantai, "a reputation is a thing bestowed by others."

  "Hmm?" said Youko, glancing over her shoulder at him.

  "It's the kind of thing that people apply to you after the fact, when they can look at all the results. A general who wins a commanding victory--even by accident--will be called invincible. And if he's such an invincible general, then he will be perceived in similarly hallowed terms. Just as there are those who, despite their incompetence, have fortuitously managed to keep defeat at bay."

  "You're saying perhaps the Royal Tai is too good to be true?"

  "I wouldn't go that far. I'm only saying that if you saddle your colleagues with the quagmires and take the cakewalks for yourself, becoming a so-called invincible warrior isn't so hard to accomplish. As far as soldierly renown goes, everybody loves the undefeated fighter. And once the word gets around that he's got an unbroken winning streak, the assumption that he is a superior general, a fine gentleman, and a man of great character, takes on a life of its own."

  "Yeah. I suppose so."

  "But a reputation only reveals the end product of a process. Referring to General Saku--the Royal Tai--as a man of heroic stature only tells us how he stands in the court of public opinion now. Not how he got there. By the same token, at this point in time, having allowed Tai to fall into chaos, he does not appear so exemplary. At any rate, comparing oneself to others is a fruitless exercise. You will always end up comparing what the public thinks of the other with what you know of yourself."

  "I see," Youko said with a weary smile.

  "Even without making any comparison, I would call Your Highness a fine Empress."

  "Eh?"

  Kantai said, if a bit smugly, "It's one fine Empress who can claim her rightful place upon the throne without getting lost in it, and then hire on a hanjuu such as myself to boot. If I say so myself."

  Youko laughed. "Tell me, Kantai. What if you were to head over to Tai and dispose of that pretender?"

  "Surely you must be joking," Kantai said, waving his hand as if to bat away the suggestion.

  "Surely my own Palace Guard is made of sterner stuff than that."

  "That's not the problem. In the first place, Kei does not possess the resources necessary to field troops in such a manner. Mobilizing an army is a significant undertaking. A single division consists of twelve-thousand, five-hundred soldiers. And that's only counting the infantry. In terms of the entire fighting force, regimental commanders, horses, and kijuu must be factored in as well. You can begin to imagine the logistics of feeding and provisioning such a large ensemble?"

  "Yes, indeed. Feeding and provisioning--" She quickly arrived at a total of thirteen-thousand. Thinking in terms of the country of her birth, at the bare minimum, one cup of rice per meal, times three meals, times thirteen-thousand came to thirty-nine thousand cups of rice per day. "You're right. It is more than I can imagine. Even in terms of hamburgers, thirty-nine thousand hamburgers a day--"

  "What?"

  "Oh, nothing," Youko said with a smile.

  "That's why the Minister of Summer in each region must provide for the logistics of the army. If chaos breaks out in a certain area, when troops are dispatched, they are provisioned by the quartermaster general. But in another kingdom, and in the midst of a rebellion, the logistics get a lot more dicey. Basically, you'd have to carry everything you'd need with you. Aside from the issue of transportation, could that many supplies be put together at any one given time?"

  "Doesn't seem possible for Kei."

  "Even exhausting the kingdom's internal stores, not even the bare minimum of provisions could be scraped together. Not to mention that Kei does not have enough ships to transport them. How would you get them to Tai in the first place?"

  "I see."

  "From the start, dispatching soldiers to another kingdom would be impossible. In the first place, don't the Divine Decrees forbid one kingdom to invade another?"

  "It wouldn't be an invasion. We would otherwise have no intent to occupy foreign ground."

  Kantai inclined his head. "I suppose. You might have a point there."

  "And besides, if that is true, then what is to become of me? I employed the Imperial Army of En to topple the pretender and make my way to Gyouten."

  "That is true."

  "Simply finding the Royal Tai and Taiki by itself would be sufficient."

  "And their current location?"

  "Nobody has the slightest idea. What do you think? How would a search using a squadron of kijuu from the airborne cavalry work out?"

  K
antai inclined his head some more. "Twenty-five pegasi would hardly make a dent. You'd need at least an air wing. With a hundred, you could attempt a systematic search."

  "An entire air wing--"

  That was not impossible. But the ministers were unlikely to approve. At a time when Kei's internal resources were so strained, they'd wonder if she'd lost her marbles. Youko placed her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands and thought about it.

  "Obviously having a king occupying the throne really matters a lot," she muttered.

  A firm expression came to Kantai's face. "That is entirely correct. Setting aside the question of what kind of man the Royal Tai is, as long as he is missing, the people of Tai will be in a bad place. Moreover, the winters in Tai are harsh. If you would pardon the expression, he might be better off dead."

  "Better off dead?"

  "If the king dies, then the next monarch will be chosen to replace him. In that case, the people can anticipate an end to their suffering. Even in the case of an incompetent king, Heaven will eventually wrest the throne from him. It simply becomes a matter of waiting him out. A throne unoccupied by a king who isn't dead could be said to be the worst of all worst case scenarios."

  Chapter 12

  Risai was wakened in the dead of night by voices whispering back and forth.

  "I'm positively famished."

  "I thought so. I made tea. It's waiting for you."

  "Thanks. Want to have it together?"

  The frivolous nature of the conversation made Risai raise her head. The lady-in-waiting by the bed gave her a surprised look. Another young woman leaned around the doorframe and poked her head into the room.

  "Oh, sorry. Did we wake you?"

  Risai shook her head, no. "You didn't miss dinner on my account, did you?"

  Suzu waved her hand back and forth. "Just taking the opportunity when it comes. Shoukei was good enough to bring me a midnight meal, so it's okay."

  "Please go ahead and eat," Risai said. "I'm fine."

  The girl called Shoukei smiled at Suzu. "Hurry up and clean your plate. I'll be waiting here."

  Suzu nodded and left the room. As if taking her place, Shoukei sat down next to the bed. "I apologize for making such a racket over something so silly. My name is Shoukei. I'm a lady of the court like Suzu."

  "Think nothing of it. I've been such a burden on you all. You needn't feel compelled to wait upon me hand and foot."

  Shoukei smiled. "Don't worry about such things. We apologize for being so short-handed that we're unable to wait upon you as we ought to."

  "Oh, you needn't go to such lengths. The ladies of the court have comported themselves with extraordinary grace." Risai averted her gaze. "The Royal Kei also strikes me as a sincere and well-meaning person."

  Shoukei grinned. "She does tend to the earnest side, and is honest to a fault."

  "The occupants of Kinpa Palace seem awfully at ease around the Royal Kei."

  "That sort of mood is in the air, to be sure. I suppose you find the lack of solemnity around here quite appalling."

  "No, I--"

  "I've heard that the Royal Tai is a splendid monarch. But nobody knows where he is at the moment. That no doubt weights upon your mind."

  "Yes," Risai nodded.

  "The people of Tai must be suffering terribly. Not to mention the harshness of the Tai winter."

  "Are you familiar with Tai?"

  Shoukei shook her head. "But I'm originally from Hou. The winters in Hou are similarly bitter. If one thing goes wrong, it'll drag you down the whole winter and put your life at risk. And I've heard that the winters in Tai are even worse than those in Hou.

  "I suppose they are."

  "The throne is currently empty in Hou as well. However, the situation there is different. The king who died in Hou had devastated the kingdom--" As she spoke a sad smile came to Shoukei face. "So the throne was vacated, for the good of the people, in some respects. But I've heard that the Royal Tai was much loved by his people. Losing such a king--"

  "Yes, losing such a king--"

  "There was a coup d'etat? At the beginning of a dynasty, fearful of losing all they have stolen, the traitors and conspirators are likely to only surrender their ill-gotten gains kicking and screaming."

  "I don't know if that applies--" Risai said to herself and Shoukei cocked her head to one side. "It's definitely the case that when a new dynasty begins, those who have taken advantage of the vacant post to impose their own tyrannical rule will feel the heat after the new king is enthroned. But I don't believe that this was the cause of the revolt."

  "And so--?"

  "I don't know," Risai answered. She knew rebellion had not been far from the minds of many bureaucrats, but she and her fellow officers had remained sufficiently vigilant. "I don't know why such a thing should have happened."

  "His Highness may well prove to be quite the enlightened ruler," said Risai's obviously impressed traveling companion, a close military aid from Jou Province. "The Sankou as well say they've never seen an Imperial Court organized so quickly. Everybody's full of admiration."

  "So it would seem."

  "Even though he's reputed to be a pretty tough taskmaster, the infantry is overjoyed with the new king. And the people appear to hold him in high regard."

  Risai smiled and nodded. With his military background, Gyousou was bound to be popular among the troops. All the more so because King Kyou had arisen from the civil service and held the uniformed services in relatively low regard.

  Upon assuming the throne, Gyousou took King Kyou's hoarded treasures and distributed them to the provincial warehouses to fortify them against the coming winter. That alone won the hearts of the people. Winters in Tai were harsh and when food and fuel ran low their lives were on the line. King Kyou's spendthrift ways had emptied the local treasuries and warehouses. A cheer was raised when their stores were shipped back to them.

  "I have the feeling that a brand new era is beginning," Risai's aide-de-camp said with a smile.

  Risai shared these feelings. She heard the rejoicing of the people. Venturing into the city centers revealed that their citizens were more than inclined to think well of Gyousou. And it wasn't just the commoners. The ministers bustling about the Imperial Palace wore more enthusiastic expressions on their faces.

  But a speeding carriage makes a lot of noise. Joining Imperial Court as a general of the Provincial Guard, Risai couldn't help noticing the strange shadows that lurked here and there amidst the frenetic surroundings. It wasn't until after the Festival of the Winter Solstice that she understood what it was she'd observed.

  "I'll shortly be sending the Taiho to the Kingdom of Ren," Gyousou said to his advisors. "The round trip to Ren takes about a month. During that time we shall conduct the winter hunt."

  At first Risai took the words at face value. As no important business awaited them around the New Year, that was when they'd hold a large-scale hunting expedition. Though the affairs of the Imperial Court had pretty much been put in order, this still struck her as cavalier behavior.

  From the confused air circulating through the room, she wasn't the only one who thought so. General Asen of the Palace Guard of the Right broke the silence. In a strangely low voice he asked, "And the game?"

  Illustration

  "Jackals."

  The abruptness of the answer made Risai gulp.

  "We must deal with those government officials who corrupted their offices under the cover provided by the late king. We cannot turn a blind eye while these beasts roam the countryside. If set free, it is likely that, begrudging their fallen state, they will light fires elsewhere. They are a wily bunch, and the personal fortunes they've amassed are indispensable to the future of Tai."

  Risai realized to her horror that he was speaking of a political purge. The small room was filled with groans and sighs as others gave vent to similar feelings.

  "Once the festival is concluded, only the New Year awaits. A diplomatic mission will be posted
to Ren. With the envoys accompanied by a general who has commanded both the Palace and Zui Provincial Guards, I believe our quarries will suspect nothing. Throw a big enough net and we should snare them all."

  "And during that time the Taiho will be sent abroad?" Asen asked.

  Gyousou nodded. "This is not something I wish Kouri to witness."

  "But isn't he bound to hear about it sooner or later?"

  "I'll see to it that he does not. What is being discussed here shall not be mentioned to Kouri, or to anybody else not participating directly in this campaign."

  "But producing these indictments in secret? This--"

  Risai raised her voice to object. She understood that the rod could not be spared when it came to dealing with these wayward officials, but summarily executing them without a public trial was akin to a lynching.

  "Of course we shall follow the rule of law in its entirety. But not in the public eye. The government departments involved in this campaign have carefully selected and organized the prosecutors. All other officials will be kept completely out of the loop. Everything should be wrapped up by the time Kouri returns. He should notice a new face here and there, and a slight decrease in the total workforce."

  Aren't you lying to him? Risai felt like asking, but thought better of it. Considering the kirin's benevolent nature, its natural abhorrence of bloodshed, and its loathing of injustice, keeping him in the dark might well be preferable. Exposure to blood alone would make a kirin ill. These actions could certainly be read as an indication of Gyousou's compassion towards Taiki.

  Even as she compelled herself to consent, another voice was heard, that of Kaei, recently appointed head of the Ministry of Fall.

  "Are you sure this is an acceptable course? With all due respect, the Taiho will find out sooner or later. Rather than hiding such things behind his back, why not communicate the truth to him directly?"