The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

by Fuyumi Ono

  She could almost say there was something unnatural about the way both had so naturally unfolded. Everything was "normal" inside the eye of the hurricane. Everything looked the way it was supposed to. But turn around and she would see the wolf of nature clothed like a lamb. Or at least that was what she thought she should see.

  It was like that slight sense of unease she could blame on her imagination, but somehow couldn't bring herself to ignore. And there was something she'd heard once: how, as tacticians, Gyousou and Asen were so similar to each other.

  Perhaps-- Risai unconsciously caught her breath. She hadn't seen it either. Nobody noticed that beneath the surface, two matched forces had been testing each other's weak spots, locked together in a fierce contest. But hadn't they seen the ripples here and there playing across the water's surface?

  Most people had overlooked them, but others had taken notice. At the time, Kaei had felt that sense of anomie, and at times Risai had sensed something in the wind. Here and there a great number of people had caught a faint whiff of the odd, only magnified by tangled rumors that showed no sign of abating.

  Risai trembled slightly. Two days hence in the early morning hours she would be leaving Kouki for Jou Province. Revolt had broken out in Jou Province, now of all times. When she considered the generals remaining behind, Risai felt that going to Jou Province was the proper thing to do. But still--

  "Risai, if all these prove groundless fears, that's fine with me. No, it's just my cowardly nature giving rise to these unjust suspicions." Kaei grasped her hand and said, "Come back safely. And laugh at me for being such a silly girl."

  Risai nodded.

  The day after next, Risai left Kouki in the early morning light, her heart gripped in blackness.

  That was the last time she had seen Kouki.

  Chapter 21

  Risai took a deep breath and squeezed the jewel in her palm. "I had no choice but to go to Jou Province. A fortnight after leaving Zui Province, I arrived in Jou Province. Several days after crossing the border, a young civil servant raced into our camp."

  "Please help me," he said. "They're going to kill me."

  His whole body was trembling and he was in terrible condition. He didn't look like a government official. He was wearing the dirty farming clothes that peasants wear, suggesting that he intended to pass himself off as a refugee in order to escape his pursuers.

  "I'm a retainer to the Daiboku of the Ministry of Spring. I was assigned to the Castle of the Two Cries."

  He presented his insignia. The insignia was fashioned from a length of plaited cord the width of three fingers. The color and length differed according to the rank of the person holding it. The insignia he took from his tattered pocket was indeed that of Nisei-shi of the Daiboku of the Ministry of Spring. As his name suggested, Nisei-shi attended to the Hakuchin in the Nisei-kyuu ("Castle of the Two Cries").

  "What is this about, Nisei-shi?"

  "It's the General. The General of the Palace Guard. The Palace Guard of the Right."

  "Asen."

  "Yes. The former General Jou. The night of the terrible disaster, he showed up at the Castle of the Two Cries accompanied by a phalanx of soldiers. He inquired if the Castle had sustained any damage and if any of us were injured. By right, no one may open the doors of the Castle without the permission of the Daiboku. But the situation being what it was, the doors were opened and the General was allowed to enter."

  "And then?"

  "As soon as he stepped inside the castle walls, General Jou--Asen--tried to slay the Hakuchi. But his sword passed right through the Hakuchi without touching it. Realizing this, he ordered my colleagues to bring him a pheasant, one of the birds used under for ritual purposes under the jurisdiction of the Palace Time Keeper. Surrounded by soldiers and threatened with their swords, my colleagues led them to the Time Keeper and returned with a pheasant. Then Asen killed it and cut off its feet. The bird was stuffed in a jar and buried in a hole."

  He covered his face with his hands. "They went so far as to murder all the officials there." He'd just managed to escape, thanks to the damage caused by the meishoku. "I had a bad feeling ever since Asen came in. There've been these rumors about saying that His Highness got spooked by one of the generals and set out for Bun Province to escape a particularly persistent assassin."

  "What about these rumors?"

  "Well, they'd been on my mind. That's why I figured those bad feelings weren't all in my head. So I stepped back into the shadows and made myself as small as possible and looked for a way out of there. When things got really dicey, I ducked down amidst the rubble. I found a hole and slipped through to the outside."

  Under the cover of the surrounding disorder and darkness, this young civil servant returned to his quarters. Guards soon came after him. He was able to conceal himself beneath the floorboards and evade capture. But at the time he heard the guards talking about how the bodies didn't add up and one of them had probably escaped.

  "I made it out of the castle by the skin of my teeth and hid in a wagon carrying dead bodies. I played dead myself and made it past the gates. I managed to crawl away while the wagon was being unloaded at the cemetery temple outside Kouki. I headed for Zui Province territory first, but spotted the air corps operating there and figured I'd better put distance between myself and Zui. I mingled with the refugees and fled here."

  He grasped Risai's hands as if clinging to her for dear life. "Please help me. Asen will kill me for sure."

  Risai nodded. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it." She ordered an aide-de-camp to find himself a place to rest, making sure not to reveal his presence, and not talk about it to anybody else.

  She prepared two communiqués. One she gave to an aide-de-camp and sent him to Kouki under the guise of requesting advice in subjugating the uprising. Contained therein was secret missive that was to be delivered only to the addressee, and which must not be allowed to fall into any other hands. The recipient of this communiqué was Haboku, in the Imperial Palace.

  At the same time, she sent a second communiqué by messenger pigeon to Sougen in Bun Province.

  Asen was behind the coup d'etat. She disguised Nisei-shi among the camp followers and solemnly proceeded through Jou Province. Ten days later they were intercepted by the air cavalry adorned with insignia identifying them as troops under Asen's command. They bore an official-looking document bearing a garish red seal.

  "We already know that you've been communicating covertly with Nisei-shi," the squadron captain stated. "And that in order to make the Hakuchi's foot your own, you broke into the Castle of the Two Cries and murdered the officials there." To which he added that she'd also assassinated Gyousou and Taiki. "General Ryuu is hereby ordered to return to the Imperial Palace. It'd be better if you didn't make things any worse for yourself by resisting."

  She of course insisted that she didn't know him, but the captain obviously knew he was secreted somewhere in the camp. The young retainer was pulled out of the ranks and cut down without a word. "Don't interfere," the captain warned her, but Risai didn't doubt that she would meet the same fate en route to Kouki.

  The air cavalry covered her like a wet blanket. Risai was only able to escape because they'd deigned to let her rid her kijuu, Hien. With Hien's help, she was barely able to get away. Risai had any number of old friends and associates in Jou Province she could turn to. Her immortality played a part as well.

  Every since that day, Risai had been an outlaw.

  She wanted to weep. There could be no worse slander than being labeled a traitor to one's kingdom. Her name muddied beyond reason, she sought cover wherever she could find it and survived day by day.

  Many of her old friends believed her and sympathized with her plight. But others accused her, asking how she could commit such a crime. Worse, there were those who tried to turn her in. And a portion of those who didn't were tried for the crime of sheltering her, and as parties to "high treason," their corpses were strewn in the muck at the executioner'
s gate.

  "For a year--more than a year--I did nothing every day but run and hide. While I was living as a vagrant, Asen was consolidating his power and fortifying the Imperial Palace. At length, it became clear to the people as well that Asen was a usurper. But by then it was too late."

  At the same time, Eishou and Gashin vanished from Bun Province. Many of Gyousou subordinates dispersed across the kingdom and concealed themselves or were secretly murdered. Nobody knew what was going on inside the Imperial Palace. Some did come forward and criticize Asen, but their fate was to be struck down or disappeared.

  "Asen would not permit the slightest criticism of himself, or the slightest respect paid to His Highness. In Tetsui, where Asen had first conspired against His Highness, Asen's army razed every building and burned the city to the ground. He scoured I Province as well, surrounded His Highness's duchy of Saku County, and lay siege to it. I heard that over the subsequent winter, most of the residents there died."

  Youko was aghast.

  "Asen hated the Royal Tai that much?"

  "Apparently so. I don't understand it myself. I have never seen personal animosity drive anybody so far and to such lengths. Although he kept it hidden, his loathing must have been deep. Furthermore, scorching the land, depopulating the villages and leaving them to the mercy of the winter--this wasn't left only to the territories connected to His Highness. The lands of anyone who opposed Asen or criticized him met a similar fate."

  "Just a minute." Having listened to Risai silently up to now, Shouryuu, the Royal En, raised his voice. "He is destroying the realm. He's rustling the flocks of the Royal Tai only to kill them."

  Risai nodded. "It seems that way to me too. It would make sense if Asen assassinated His Highness and usurped the throne in order to reign in his stead. However, that's not what it looks like now. It looks like Asen has no interest whatsoever in ruling Tai."

  Risai did not believe he had risen up to plunder that which was Gyousou's out of bitterness. Nor did she believe the opposing theory for his motives. According to some rumors, one of the two "jewels in the crown" had become king and Asen was resentful at being made the subordinate. This theory struck her as too simplistic. That's why nobody had been suspicious of Asen. His motivations weren't that obvious.

  Rather, Risai felt that Asen was acting out of a hatred for Tai itself. Asen himself was not in the least aware that he was destroying the kingdom he ruled and consigning the people he governed to extinction. Consequently, he had placed himself beyond anybody's reach.

  "When there was a rebellion, Asen didn't attempt a strategic approach, dispatching troops to suppress it, or staring down the opposition and waiting for something to develop, or anything like that. He'd send his whole force at them. Without a word of warning, he burned and pillaged the villages and slaughtered the inhabitants. He wouldn't even bother chasing down those trying to escape. If it happened again, he'd simply do the same thing again."

  "But there's no way that such a kingdom could continue to exist."

  "So you would think, but--"

  She didn't understand how things had come to this state. While conducting himself in such a manner, he showed no signs of losing followers. She didn't think they were loyal to him simply out of fear.

  Branded a traitor and constantly on the run, she turned to scouring Tai in search of Gyousou. During that time, she intended to round up anybody who had any doubts about Asen or was inclined to oppose him and mount a rebellion. But suspiciously, such efforts always fell apart at the last minute. There had to be turncoats among them sabotaging the cause.

  Those who'd leveled their criticisms at Asen and raised their voices against his inhuman nature the day before would the next day suddenly become his ardent supporters. The same remarkable trend was observed among many of the nobles as well.

  "One day the Province Lords had our backs and were supporting us, and the next day they were selling us out to Asen. To keep their positions, they caved into Asen as if the backbones had been plucked from their bodies. They averted their eyes as the sovereignty of their lands was violated and their subjects killed."

  It was a sickness. That was the word bandied about. And it certainly did resemble a plague. Those infected lost the will to oppose Asen. No matter what the atrocity, they ceased to care. No matter what crimes were committed right before their eyes, they felt not a twinge of sympathy.

  "It sounds like brainwashing," Youko muttered to herself. Using some sort of technique like that, the conquering forces had swept across Tai. In any case, it seemed that nothing could stop the traitors.

  "The people of Tai do not have the means to save themselves," Risai gasped.

  Youko hurriedly grasped her hand. "Are you alright?"

  "Yes," Risai replied firmly, but her voice was interrupted by ragged breaths. Dark shadows encircled her closed eyes.

  "It's okay. That'll be all for today. You need your rest."

  Risai grasped Youko's hand, putting remarkable strength into her thin, worn fingers. "Please. Save Tai."

  Youko squeezed her hand in turn. "I understand."

  Koshou had withdrawn a short ways off. Summoned by Koukan, he rushed in. After telling them to wrap things up, Youko left the room with obvious reluctance.

  She looked up at the faces of Shouryuu and Koukan. "I can't abandon them. I won't."

  "Youko," Shouryuu said in a low rebuke.

  "You heard that, didn't you? How am I supposed to look the other way? What good is a ruler who just stands by and let these things happen?"

  "Youko, that isn't the problem."

  "Isn't it said that Heaven rules the World Below according to the Way? How can casting Tai aside be in keeping with the Way? You say that Heaven won't allow it, but is that really true? Where is this Heaven anyway? Who is this person saying what is and what isn't allowed?"

  Tentei, the Lord God of the Sky, resided in Heaven and governed the actions of Divine Providence. Tentei appointed the ruler of each kingdom. But even in the midst of the ceremony, Youko had not seen Him or heard His voice. Told that He existed, believing that He existed, and accepting that the world existed according to his word, there was yet not a single person who had seen Tentei.

  "If my job as an empress is to sit here and protect Kei and watch Tai go to the dogs and do nothing, then you can take this throne and shove it."

  With that declaration, Youko ran down the steps and into the courtyard.

  Chapter 22

  In a fury, Youko headed towards the interior of Kinpa Palace. For a while she walked aimlessly about. Passing through an isolated group of buildings, she found herself in a peaceful spot overlooking the Sea of Clouds.

  The buildings of Kinpa Palace covered the rolling hills at the top of the mountain. Cutting across the castle courtyard and through a short tunnel in a rock wall, she had arrived in a small valley nestled between some deformed outcroppings of stone.

  The valley ended at a promontory projecting into the Sea of Clouds. It was a small piece of land, decorated only by a few gazebos. Other than the flowers adorning the stems of the summer grass, there wasn't a whole lot to look at.

  Youko sighed to herself. The trees perched atop the soaring rock walls to her right and left cast their shadows down upon her. Nothing else was here but the green smell and the salt scent of the ocean and the vista of the Sea of Clouds spreading out before her.

  "I never knew there was a place like this--" Youko wondered out loud, sitting down on the grass.

  She heard the cry of a bird and the roar of the ocean. She never imagined that there might be a place like this in Kinpa Palace. She had no use for most of the expansive architecture of the Imperial Palace and hadn't bothered finding out what was there.

  Youko rested her chin in her hands. "This isn't half bad." She had no idea where she was. And no real idea of how to find her way back.

  It just wasn't the Imperial Palace. There was little in this world that went untouched. The walls and pillars were wildly decorated
with colors and designs. Few places were left as nature made them. Parks and gardens were no exception, with arbors and stones packed into every available space.

  There was nothing to do here but stare at the Sea of Clouds. This spot had somehow been overlooked by generations of rulers. The gazebos had about them a look of long neglect. All the paint had worn off. But their appearance engendered feelings of relief. It occurred to her again that she was a stranger in a strange land.

  Having put her whole heart and mind into being Empress, she hardly ever thought about the land of her birth. Now and then when the memories rose up in her mind, they felt like images from a dream. Whether she'd forgotten, or whether she had stored them away in a box, hearing about Taiki had disturbed something inside her. A long-dormant nostalgia. She wouldn't call it longing, but when she thought about never returning, she felt a painful sense of loss.

  A kirin from her same era, from her same neighborhood. What was he doing right now? That there'd been a shoku must mean he'd returned to that dream-like world. But why couldn't he come back again?

  As she puzzled this over, she heard faint footsteps. Glancing over her shoulder she saw her chief retainer. "You found me soon enough, Keiki."

  "I know where Her Highness is at all times. Koukan was looking for you."

  "Oh."

  "The Royal En looked very displeased."

  "No doubt."

  "May I sit down?"

  "Go head. What do you think, Keiki?"

  "About what?"

  "You're a benevolent creature. Do you think we should cast Tai aside?"

  Sitting next to her, Keiki stared out at the Sea of Clouds for a long moment before he spoke. "The people of Tai are in a pitiful state."

  Youko nodded. "We hear what chaos Tai is in, but things there are probably worse than we imagine."

  "Undoubtedly. If the throne was truly vacant, it would not take six years to be filled. Normally, it's rare for such terrible conditions to persist over six years. The chaos that preceded the Royal Tai assuming the throne was not this out of the ordinary."