by Fuyumi Ono
"I understand," Youko murmured in a sad voice.
"If Asen truly was King, he would have exhausted the Mandate of Heaven by now. But he isn't King. If he was but a mere usurper, his lifespan would be limited. But he is a wizard as well. As long as nobody can eliminate or overthrow him, the only people who can take his wizard status from him are the King, or if the King no longer lives, then the seal of the Hakuchi. Neither the King nor Taiho have died, but nobody knows where they are. Consequently, Providence will not stir itself to remove this treachery from our midst."
"And that is why you say the people of Tai don't have the means to save themselves."
"Yes," Risai nodded. At the same time, she caught sight of Youko, attending sincerely to her every word, and her heart ached in her chest. Please help us, she wanted to say. Please search for Gyousou. Please search for Taki. And strike down Asen--
Risai was about to speak when Youko said softly, "If the Royal Tai is safe, I wonder if he would share the kouji with us? Kei is impoverished--" She gazed up at the moon. "It gets quite cold in the north of Kei during the winter. The villagers are particularly poor there, where few valuable crops can be grown. There isn't a good substitute for charcoal in the winter. This land does not get as cold as Tai, so those in the north are poorly provisioned against the winter. The walls are thin, and the windows aren't glazed. There never seem to be enough down or furs. Or rather, nothing else of equal weight that can take their place. The people of the north drape themselves in cotton, and huddle together until spring."
"Oh," Risai said simply.
"Of course, charcoal by itself doesn't make the sole difference between living and dying. In the dead of winter, they can venture into the countryside and harvest wild tubers. The winters in Kei are not so fierce as to bring people to the brink of death. I can't talk of the winters in Tai in the same breath. But I wish to lessen their suffering."
"Of course."
"I've heard that though the former king of Tai exhausted the storehouses, he left the government in fair condition. Keiki says that the provisional court was ruled with a similar degree of competence. Kei was quite the opposite. The misrule of the former Empress has been replaced by an Empress frankly not that much better. The bounties of the land have yet to accumulate. During the reign of the former Empress, the ministers turned to tyranny and oppressed the people. Like that governor I told you about. The evil-doers ran rampant and still have not all been purged. Furthermore, after the former Empress died, a pretender arose and laid waste to the Kingdom. Kei has only begun to resurrect itself. Right now, those citizens residing in the cities have yet to experience the good times they deserve. A country like Kei that is constantly in chaos will know nothing but poverty."
"Yes," Risai said.
"I feel sorry for all of them--" Youko spoke in low, strained tones, a quaver in her voice. "And I feel sorry for the people of Tai. Tai is in even worse straits than Kei. More than the severity of the seasons, the natural disasters and the oppressive rule of the pretender must make for suffering I cannot imagine. The pretender must be eliminated and the rightful King and Taiho restored to the capital. I--"
Risai reached out with her remaining hand and grasped the hand of the Royal Kei. "And beyond that, what? You cannot mobilize your troops. The Royal Kei cannot command her soldiers to breach the borders of another Kingdom. It is a sin that would surely destroy Kei."
"Risai."
"Please forgive me. I was so caught up in my feelings for Tai that I have contemplated unpardonable sins. But you cannot do this. You are the Empress of Kei. You cannot pity the people of Tai at the expense of your own subjects."
Kaei, you were right. And yet she sensed great strength in the hand holding hers.
"I will not let Tai go by the wayside. I will do whatever I can do. I intend to press the Royal En to do whatever he can. However, if the task ahead should exceed my abilities, please understand. I cannot ask the people of Kei, who have not yet experienced a happy era of their own, to resign themselves to another era of chaos."
"Your reassurances are more than enough."
Risai smiled. In her heart she wanted to plead: Don't abandon us. But she couldn't. The person before her was the Empress of Kei. Risai could not do anything that might take her away from her people.
Chapter 25
When Youko left the anteroom adjoining Risai's bedroom, she observed three shadows in the promenade facing the inner courtyard. One big, one small, one in-between.
"What are you guys doing here?"
The one closest sprang to her feet like a marionette whose string had been given a hard yank. "Youko, what were you and Risai talking about in there? You didn't really--"
"Shoukei, what are you doing here at this time of night?"
"Suzu called me. We've been looking for you high and low. The word was that you showed up, ordered everybody out, and went into her room. What were you discussing? You didn't promise her anything--"
"I did."
Shoukei audibly caught her breath. Sitting at her feet, Suzu only hung her head.
"Don't you understand what that means?"
"Sure. That's why I promised I would do as much as I could and no more."
Shoukei heaved a big sigh and sat down on the spot. "Don't do that! You just about gave me a heart attack."
Suzu gave Shoukei a surprised look. "I told you Youko wouldn't do anything stupid like abandon Kei."
"Did I really look like I wasn't playing with a full deck? C'mon." Youko grinned and punched Shoukei playfully on the shoulder. Such prevarications aside, she was glad they hadn't called out the cavalry and barged into the bedroom.
"And what say you, Koshou?"
In response to Youko's inquiry, the big man made a good attempt at curling into a little ball. "I'm, um, just doing my job as your bodyguard."
Youko smiled. "In that case, let's head back. I've been running around in circles all day. All that paperwork won't take care of itself. Suzu, sorry, but could you stay and look after Risai?"
"No problem," Suzu said with a wave of her hand. "I'll take care of everything."
Youko smiled and returned with Shoukei and Koshou to the promenade. By now, the arbor had collected two more silhouettes. Youko stopped and demanded, "And would it do any good asking what you two are doing here as well?"
The two odd-sized silhouettes exchanged glances. "Naw," said Enho. "Just taking in the beautiful Moon. That's all." He looked at Koukan.
"I was looking for Your Highness. I was getting a bit frazzled, so I asked the Taishi to accompany me."
"But of course," said Youko, surveying the four of them. "You have nothing to worry about. Risai just told me herself that I was not to be dispatching soldiers to Tai. Even knowing that, there really was no other way to ask for help. I have pledged to do whatever I can, as long as it does not exceed the limits of what is possible. Risai says that is something she can live with."
Enho and Koukan nodded, clearly relieved.
"Which is why I wish to ask the Taishi and Chousai to explore everything they can think off--within the limitations placed upon us by Heaven--that might done for the good of Tai. Make it a priority, and report back to me as soon as possible."
The next day, the officials involved with the matter held a high-level conference. They worked straight through the night until morning, but failed to come up with a definitive solution of any sort.
"Taking Your Highness's example as a precedent would suggest escorting the Royal Tai to Kei. This becomes the premise for taking any further action." Koukan spoke in the same cool and collected manner as he always did, though he did look a little haggard. "However, it does not appear that the Royal Tai has escaped from Tai. If he was able to leave Tai, he would likely seek sanctuary elsewhere, and news of such efforts would reach our ears. Lacking such evidence, we must conclude that he remains within the borders of Tai."
"There's no way of making sure?" asked Youko. She glanced at the assembled officials gathere
d in the Sekisui-dai.
"The Phoenix is the fastest way to make such inquiries among the other kingdoms," said Shouryuu, the Royal En. "But there's no way of knowing for certain whether the Royal Tai will formally ask for asylum. If he seeks shelter among his retainers, former colleagues, and acquaintances who escaped Tai, our inquiries are not likely to reveal that fact."
Koukan nodded. "If he sought sanctuary, I think it would be in En. En is the closest of the great kingdoms and its shores face Tai across the Kyokai. Furthermore, the Royal Tai and Royal En have a cordial relationship and have exchanged diplomats. If he seeks asylum in any kingdom, it will be En."
"I see."
"One thing the ministers can agree upon is unlikelihood of the Royal Tai seeking refuge among former acquaintances in other kingdoms. The Royal Tai is a man of the sword. Furthermore, six years have passed since the last change of government. We cannot believe that a general of such repute would be so afraid of Asen that he would hide himself away for six long years. Neither would he content himself to sup from another's plate, even that of a dear friend."
"No, he wouldn't. And if he did seek refuge among old acquaintances, he would surely feel compelled to spread the word around so that the people of Tai could gather to him."
"That he would. The logical conclusion is that the Royal Tai is still in Tai. However, seeing that Risai-dono is unaware of his location, the possibility remains that he may have been captured, or he is biding his time, waiting for the opportunity to strike back. The odds of the former are high. In any case, in order to extend asylum to the Royal Tai, it would first be necessary to travel to Tai and search him out. And that would likely encroach upon the Divine Decrees."
After a few moments of thought, Youko said, "If a search was the only thing involved, we wouldn't need an army. Say that I--or somebody appointed by me--entered Tai, accompanied by the bare minimum number of soldiers. If it was a personal visit, how would it be different from the trips Keiki has made there previously? It's natural for me to travel with an armed guard, and discovering that the Royal Tai was absent, we would then set off to try and find him."
Koukan glanced at Youko. "The opinion has been expressed that Heaven might turn a blind eye to such contrivances, but besides the enormous uncertainties involved, the worst case scenario would be disastrous to Kei. The ministers are unanimous in the opinion that this is not a viable solution. I'd like to explain what they did come up with in the 'possible' category."
One of the kirin there let out a long, exasperated sigh. The other kirin laughed out loud. With a patient smile Youko said, "Okay, for the time being, let's hear what you have to offer in the 'possible' category."
"If a way can be found, what about the Tai Taiho? According to Risai-dono's testimony, a meishoku occurred at the same time that the Taiho disappeared. In that case, we venture that the Taiho would have been swept away to Yamato or China. Searching for the Taiho would not present the same problems as searching for the Royal Tai. The question remains of how such a search would be organized."
"What question?"
"First of all, only a person capable of traveling to Yamato could engage in the search. And only a person holding the rank of count, whose name is listed on the Registry of Wizards. Moreover, from what I've gathered speaking with Your Highness, whether Yamato or China, these are not places where searchers could be dispatched in great numbers to poke around willy-nilly."
"I catch your drift."
As she pondered this conundrum, Rokuta spoke up. "A large-scale search would be impossible. We might as well forget about it from the start."
"Yeah, it would be difficult."
"The difficulty of the search itself is hardly the whole of it. We might be able to scrape together enough wizards with a rank of count or above, but those who aren't taika would have a hard time of it over there."
Youko blinked. Rokuta grinned and said, "In short, Yamato's a stranger place than any of them could believe in their wildest dreams. Here and there were never meant to mingle together. Only a shoku allows people to come and ranka to go. For the most part, the kaikyaku are swept here from the east, from Yamato. Language aside, the kaikyaku look the same as the rest of us. Even those who don't rarely strike us as 'foreign.' Wouldn't you say? Simply put, it comes down to the way the people who come from there to here look."
"Yeah. That definitely is true."
"So I don't think it'd be such a big deal if someone here got swept away to over there. But the fact is, excepting those among us who possess rather particular characteristics, ordinary people can't go there. Only ranka. Only people in their unformed state."
"Unformed state?"
"Yes. Alive, yet without form. Nobody travels from here to there in other than a prenatal state. There are exceptions, but those are the rules that the two worlds abide by. Otherwise, it's a one-way trip."
"But Keiki came to Yamato to get me."
"Indeed. Kirin can cross over. Wizards above the rank of count can too. Those whose names are listed in the Registry of Wizards. In actual practice, though, I think it better to stipulate that only taika listed upon the Registry of Wizards can pop over there in the bodies they possess. When Keiki came to fetch you, how'd it go?"
Keiki nodded in response to Rokuta's question. "As the En Taiho has observed, I did so in a 'warped' state."
"A warped state?" asked Youko.
"Before traveling to Yamato in search of Your Highness, I consulted with the En Taiho. He told me that I had to put myself into a warped state. I didn't really understand what he was talking about at the time, but I did once I put the plan into action. Without a doubt, I could not travel to Yamato in concrete form as myself."
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"It is hard to put these concepts into words. It was so that I wouldn't be visible to the people of Yamato. And even when observed, seen as if through a clouded glass. As if they were seeing something completely different. When people did see me clearly, they wouldn't hear me or understood what I said. Or in other circumstances, they would only hear my voice. Maintaining the human form was difficult and full of uncertainty. I might suddenly revert to my animal form, or dissolve into the psychic veins of the Earth. Just as when I am in this world, I could only be assured of maintaining my form when I was in the presence of Your Highness."
"Really?" Youko queried in surprise.
Keiki nodded. "Over there is definitely not where we are meant to be. It is almost as that world constantly repels us from its presence."
Rokuta agreed. "It is very difficult for those who are not taika to maintain a concrete existence there, except as spirits or ghosts. They cannot maintain a firm hold on their physical bodies over long periods of time. And if they can maintain their physical shells, it is with great uncertainty. They become like shadows. This applies to kings as well as kirin. And counts and wizards suffer even worse effects. Furthermore, the people there know nothing of the world here. A whole bunch of non-corporeal being showing up over there would cause a bit of a ruckus."
"I see."
"Moreover, even if they were to force their way through, they don't know what Taiki looks like. Risai could certainly sketch a resemblance, but six years have passed. He's a taika, so that means his appearance would have changed as well."
Youko puzzled over this information. "How I looked definitely changed when I came here. What happens when you go back?"
"Don't you be going back," Rokuta said bluntly. "Taika are born in that other world from a woman's womb. When they are born, they are covered with a shell resembling that of their parents, called the taikaku. When a taika returns here, he reverts to his God-given form. In the case of the kirin, our hair takes on this golden hue."
"Yeah, that makes sense. You wouldn't likely be born blond over there."
"Yes. I don't understand all the reasons, but it sort of feels like wearing a reversible coat. When you go back to Yamato, you take on the form you had there. So you'd
think that when I went back, I'd turn into the skeleton of a tottering old man. That doesn't happen. When we stop growing older here, our taikaku seems to stop aging as well. While things don't match up exactly, I'm fairly confident they'll fall into the same general category."
"So even if you brought Risai with you, there's no guarantee she would recognize Taiki?"
"Pretty much so. Except that a kirin's aura can be comprehended. Taiki was swept away to Yamato while still an egg. I'm the one who found him there."
"Enki?"
"Yeah. I was on an excursion. Or rather, I was there to scout things out. And I felt the aura of a kirin. I notified Mt. Hou, and they arranged for a rendezvous."
"But that means you can search for a kirin?"
"I can. Except when I say I sense the aura, that means that first we both must be in the same general vicinity. And what's worse, back then, we knew from wake left behind by the shoku that he was in Yamato. But it still took ten years. This time around, we don't know whether he's in Yamato or China. He could have swept away to either. Even with Keiki helping me, it could easily take years."
"What about a dozen?" Youko casually asked, but her question was met with stunned silence. "Well, I guess there are kingdoms with vacant thrones, so it's not like we could come up with all twelve of you-- What? Did I say something funny?"
Shouryuu sighed. "Youko, here we don't interfere in the internal affairs of other kingdoms. That is a long-established tradition. Each kingdom deals with its own problems in its own way. They don't seek the assistance of other kingdoms, and don't seek their cooperation in such causes."
"But the Royal En gave me a helping hand when I needed it."
"That's because I'm also a taika and a known eccentric."
