by Fuyumi Ono
"But of course," said Kaei with relieved smile.
"Except it's possible he has doubts about some among us and wishes to observe what moves we may make. That's the only possibility I can't come to any definite conclusions about. Leaving the Taiho here in any case worries me. Of course, the thought that he is doing so in order to lure someone out--"
"Indeed--" said Kaei, a firm expression on her face. "Shouldn't His Highness should be arriving in Bun Province by now? I can only hope that everything goes smoothly after this."
Risai nodded. "Ganchou and the others are saying so as well. Until His Highness returns, we should all be on our toes and pricking up our ears."
The next day after listening to Risai's story, Ganchou laughed heartily. "People do seem to be coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas."
"Yes. Those with bad intentions, and those who persist in seeing bad intentions in others," Asen added with a thin smile.
Gashin sighed. "So why is my name the only one left out? It's disappointing to discover that you're considered such small fry that you don't qualify as being sufficiently envious of Gyousou-sama."
Risai laughed. Her talk with Kaei the night before had left her in an uneasy state of mind. But seeing their relaxed manner, she concluded it was all needless anxiety. "Well, you being a bit player and all, I guess it can't be helped."
"So it really is that bad?" Gashin said with a chuckle.
Risai, though, counted Gashin as an exemplary tactician. During maneuvers with the Imperial Army, the opponent he was pitted against always proved the weakest. Against Ganchou and Sougen, who waged war soundly and on a proper footing, Gashin's generalship was cunning and clever. His feints were hard to read, and he was never caught unprepared.
Eishou was much the same, but Gashin's stratagems had a strange openness about them in contrast to Eishou's shadowy movements.
"If you're going to be suspicious of anybody, I'd think Eishou would be the best candidate. If anybody's going to go stabbing Gyousou-sama in the back, it'd have to be Eishou."
"No doubt about that. Besides, don't you think Eishou and Seirai are two peas in a pod?"
"Seeing that Seirai doesn't possess a single redeeming feature, there's no need to feel guilty about kicking the man when he's down. Eishou said so himself."
Risai grinned. "I believe Seirai said much the same thing. Eishou is black to the core."
"But of course. Like breeds like."
Asen burst out laughing. "Well, now," he said, "some respect is called for. Expecting another repeat of Tetsui in Bun Province is asking for quite a lot."
Ganchou stopped smiling at once and nodded. While Asen wasn't one of Gyousou's previous subordinates, his opinions were treated with all due respect. Risai had once faced off against him during recruit training. Her impression of him as a general was that he had a fine grasp of tactics. Risai had never fenced with Gyousou, but according to what she'd heard, on the battlefield, Asen and Gyousou had much in common. They had come to be known as the two jewels in the crown.
Ganchou folded his hefty arms. "You seem to be suggesting that it'd be wise to have someone who's on good terms with Bun Province look into this matter further."
"And subtly inform Gyousou-sama. We should send a messenger pigeon his way."
Chapter 18
That evening. Risai was on her way to the Provincial government offices when Taiki ran over from the adjoining arboretum. Glancing about as he came down the gallery, he spotted Risai, cried out and raced up to her. Normally the child approached her, his voice bright with cherubic laughter. This day, though, the expression on his face suggested he was being pursued by something.
"Risai, I've been looking for you," he said, grasping Risai's hand, almost clinging to her. "It is true that Gyousou-sama is in a lot of trouble?"
"A lot of trouble?"
"Gyousou-sama left because bad people are plotting against him. They are lying in wait in Bun Province to attack him."
"Nonsense," Risai said with a forced smile. "Who's planting such silly ideas in your head? Gyousou-sama has gone to Bun Province to calm the waters there."
Taiki pulled away from her. His countenance hardened. "That's what Seirai said too."
"Well, it stands to reason, doesn't it? There's nothing for you to be worried about."
Taiki shook his head. "You and Seirai are telling fibs. You don't want me to worry because I'm a child."
Bewildered, Risai knelt and looked Taiki in the eyes. "I'm not telling fibs. Why wouldn't I tell you the truth?"
"Nobody tells me what they talk about in the Rikkan. But Rousan told me."
Risai furrowed her brows. She knew that Kaei had convened the Rikkan to discuss the same subject Risai had brought up with her colleagues. She could assume as well that they would have debated whether or not to tell Taiki. Taiki's permission was necessary in order to mobilize the Provincial Guard. For the time being, as Minister-in-Chief of Zui Province, Seirai served as Taiki's regent in such matters. Getting to the bottom of rumors so nebulous to begin with remained an exercise in guesswork. At this point, she would expect that they'd come to the decision that there was no need to inform Taiki and worry him needlessly.
That Rousan, the Minister of Winter, would have been telling him such things--
Illustration
"When I ask Seirai, he says I have nothing to be worried about. It's only a minor rebellion, and even though Gyousou-sama is going there, it's not to fight but to rally the people. There's no danger and I have no cause for concern. Everything's going to be all right. Just what Rousan said he would say."
Risai stood up and urged the unhappy Taiho to return to the garden. She said in a low voice, "There's no telling who might be coming by here. If they see the Taiho in such a state, the ministers are likely to get the wrong idea."
"But--"
Risai smiled. "The Saiho shouldn't behave in such a manner as to cause the ministers needless worry, should he? I'll walk you back to your quarters."
She took the hand of the dejected Taiki and set off towards the Seishin. She continued their conversation in as cheerful a voice as she could muster. She articulated her own anxieties about the way in which Gyousou had apparently abandoned the Imperial Palace; the wild speculations people were tossing about; and among them the rumors that everything was part of a scheme to lure Gyousou to Bun Province.
But that too was nothing more than a rumor. If rumors like that could sow panic among the ministers, who knew what damage would result. The Rikkan and the generals were conferring about how to face that threat.
"That a rebellion has occurred is a fact. So I can't say that there is no risk in High Highness's journey to Bun Province. But Eishou went on ahead of him, and Sougen is with him. Add to that Gyousou-sama's strengths as a general, and too much worry might seem a bit discourteous."
"But they say that Eishou was having a hard time of things. Didn't he ask Gyousou-sama to come and assist him?"
The surprised look in Risai's eyes answered the question. "Yes, the rebellion proved fiercer than expected, and it is true that Eishou found things hard to handle, but he didn't ask for help. His Highness and Sougen went there to rally the people and the troops and bring peace to Bun Province as quickly as possible."
"Really?"
Risai smiled and nodded. Taiki seemed to draw a relieved breath, replacing the worried expression on his face. Hoping to raise his spirits, Risai fumbled around for something else to talk about, but Taiki wasn't paying much attention, and about the time the Seishin and Seiden came into view, she'd run out of things to say. She felt he hadn't completely decided whether or not to trust what she'd told him.
"It seems you're still not ready to believe me," she pressed gently.
Taiki looked up at her with a confused countenance. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm supposed to think." As he spoke, his head lowered, the hard expression remained on his face. "I'm a kid, so everybody treats me like I'm something special. They don't let me see s
tuff and won't talk to me about stuff. And when they do, everybody knows it's too difficult for me to understand and they think they can't have me worrying about stuff I don't understand, so they don't say anything. Since it goes on all the time, I can't say whether you're telling me the truth or not."
"Taiho--"
"I mean, if what Rousan is saying is true, and if the rumors the civil servants are talking about are true, you're still going to tell me differently. You and Seirai and everybody else."
Taiki let out a strained sigh and continued. "It's because I'm a kid, and there's nothing I can do about that. But I'm worried about Gyousou-sama too. He went off to some dangerous place far away. I don't want him to get injured or his life to be in danger. If something terrible happened, I'd want to help him. I know everybody thinks I can't do anything, but I still want to try the best I can and figure out something--"
Taiki stopped talking. Tears filled his eyes. A strong air of despondency radiated from his body. "I can't help thinking, isn't this my job? But as far as everybody else is concerned, I'm just an unwelcome burden."
Risai felt a pain in her heart. Taiki was in fact still a youngster. That was why everybody went out of their way to avoid causing this pure-hearted child any pain or suffering. This was all done with the best of intentions, but from Taiki's point of view, he was being ostracized merely because of his age and small stature. Risai had to wonder what Gyousou would do in her place.
"That surely isn't the case, Taiki," she said.
Taiki let go of her hand and ran through the gate. Watching him leave, she sighed deeply, and turned on her heels, and headed to the Ministry of Winter.
Rousan was still at the ministry. Risai informed her secretary that she wished to see her. After a short wait Risai was invited into her office. Rousan seemed buried up to her neck in correspondence and official paperwork.
Rousan glanced up from the volume she was perusing and said, gesturing with her hand, "Just find yourself someplace to sit down."
She looked like a young girl of sixteen or so, hardly an appearance that agreed with her position as head of the Rikkan. But her scholarship was vast and deep. As the Daishikuu of the Ministry of Winter there was certain nobody else as capable. Rousan was said to be a veritable polymath.
Her portfolio included the shoushi, genshi and gishi. These departments manufactured goods and material for the kingdom, made amulets and charms, and explored new technologies. They employed countless numbers of artisans, and Rousan could speak to any one of them fluently in the jargon of their trade and make herself understood.
"Why did you say such things to the Taiho?"
Rousan's head jerked up. Ah, that-- the expression on her face said. "Because I thought somebody should bring it to his knowledge."
"At this point, it all amounts to little more than rumor and innuendo. Telling him such things--"
"You mean, don't go filling his head with such nonsense and causing him needless worry? Yet the fact remains that there well might be a conspiracy against Gyousou-sama in the works."
"That is only a possibility."
"Which makes it possible. If true, it is a grave matter indeed. I don't think the Taiho is better off staying in the dark."
"But--" Risai started to respond.
Rousan scowled and shut the book. She folded one leg beneath her on the chair and rested her chin in her hand. "If you ask me, you're all treating the kirin with kid gloves. I understand this impulse to pamper him, but when it comes to the affairs of the Kingdom, there are limits. Let's pretend this isn't just some rebellion in a far-off province, but a full-scale insurrection in the works. How can the Saiho of the Kingdom not be informed? The Saiho has his duties as Saiho. Age is beside the point. If the Provincial Guard has to be mobilized, he must first grant permission."
"That is true, but--"
"So don't come barging in here with that scary look on your face. I'm the one acting logically. Everybody around here is letting emotion get the better of them."
Risai was at a loss for words. She couldn't quibble with what Rousan was saying.
"But now that we're on the subject, if something has happened to His Highness, how do we proceed? The Taiho may be small and his faculties limited, but he's not powerless. This current course of action will only make things worse. How is feeling sorry for the Taiho and covering for him any different than taking him for granted? If His Highness is in danger, and the Taiho can do something to save him, we should take all steps to allow him to do so. Denying him that opportunity is the crueler course."
Risai couldn't help recalling Taiki's despondent air. "That's right."
A small, satisfied smile came to Rousan's lips. "You catch on fast, Risai. That's good to know."
Risai smiled wryly in turn. "Rousan-dono, do you think this is an assassination attempt?"
Rousan drew her knees up to her chest. "I wish I knew," she said, drawing a deep breath. "And even if we did, we probably couldn't get there in time. Bun Province is far enough from here that it'd take several days using the air corps. Push come to shove, we don't want to end up relying on those jewels in the crown to pull us through. However, the only people who can wield them are the heads of state: the king and kirin. Under the pressure of necessity, the Taiho's shirei would be the quickest, most likely, and most reliable candidates."
Risai started. Rousan glanced at her teasingly from beneath her brows. "If you ask me, you guys aren't aware yourselves of the extent to which you're treating the Taiho as an incompetent child. It's around somewhere, isn't it? The toutetsu?"
"Yes--it is--"
The kirin commanded youma known as the shirei. Taiki had the misfortune of being born and raised in Yamato. Consequently, he had only two shirei, a sadly small number. One was the guardian nyokai that raised him and so really didn't qualify. Technically speaking, he had only one shirei: the toutetsu. A powerful youma, more legend than real.
"The monster of all monsters. That's the toutetsu. Look at you, calling a kirin who can charm a beast like that a child. It makes me wonder who the real children are." Rousan narrowed her eyes and stared off into space. "It would not be too great an exaggeration to say that the only monster superior to the toutetsu is that dear, little kirin."
Chapter 19
Risai and her colleagues were anxious to lay their hands on evidence proving--or better, disproving--that the rebellion in Bun Province was part of a greater insurrection. But the results of their investigations were slow in coming.
More specifically, they didn't have access to anybody with strong ties to Bun Province. And nobody seemed to be acting particularly out of the ordinary. Inside the Imperial Palace, claims that a suspicious figure had been seen here or there were often raised, but these were rumors as well, held up by nothing but hot air.
And then the shoku turned everything upside down.
Risai rushed from the Romon to Jinjuu Manor. The place was a wreck. She ran into others who were congregating in places free from the wreckage of the gate towers
"Ah, Risai--"
"Gashin. The Taiho--"
"I don't know. I came here to see for myself."
They continued on as they talked. One corner of Jinjuu Manor was a mountain of rubble. Seeing that the main building of palace complex--the Seiden--had not been spared, Risai felt a cold shiver run down her back.
Proceeding through the courtyard gardens, somebody called out to them. The Daiboku--Taiki's personal bodyguard--crawled out from a collapsed building. Seirai was clinging to his back.
"Tansui, the Taiho--" they shouted, as they raced up to them.
"No idea. I wasn't with him when it happened. What in the world is going on?"
The otherwise inexpressive man's expression had changed. His head was blanketed with dust and pieces of the mortar. He was covered with dozens of small wounds. On his back, Seirai was in a similar state, though he didn't appear to be suffering any grievous wounds.
From somewhere within the ruins they heard
a horse screaming in pain.
"Why weren't you with him?" Risai asked, drawing closer. "Where did you last see him?"
Tansui shook his head. "I was in the Seiden. Seirai called me back to the Seiden, so I left him there in the care of a retainer."
The rumblings in the earth had ceased at some point, replaced by the sounds of people groaning and screaming. Voices cried out for help, but before assisting them, Risai and her colleagues had a more important duty to attend to. They must find Taiki. That thought occupying her mind, she heard someone else calling out. Turning around, she saw several soldiers bearing Asen toward them.
"The Taiho--" were the first words from his mouth. He didn't look any better off than Tansui.
"The Seiden, it seems," Gashin replied.
He left Seirai in the care of the soldiers and accompanied Tansui and Risai into the building. Her thoughts were a frozen mass as she searched amidst the rubble. She saw no sign of Taiki anywhere, not in the Seiden and not in the surrounding grounds. The search continued on through the night and proved similarly fruitless.
A messenger pigeon arriving from Bun Province forced them to suspend the search for the time being.
The message it carried only threw the state of political affairs into greater confusion.
The Imperial Palace had been severely damaged by the meishoku and many ministers and bureaucrats had been injured or were missing. Not surprisingly, in the living quarters and elsewhere, there were few deaths among the ministers because of their wizard class. But this was not to say there were none. And the losses among the ranks of the maids and menservants--those not listed upon the Registry of Wizards--were substantial.
Because of the number of injured bureaucrats and the general confusion in the court, the government came to a grinding halt. Nobody knew what to do next.
