by Fuyumi Ono
"On me?"
"If you can turn the loyalties of the pretender's army, it could be over quicker than we think. There are bound to be few of your subjects with any desire to fight on Joei's behalf. Once they understand that you are the rightful king, they will hand over Keiki."
Yeah, if I can only manage that, Youko sighed.
"Don't doubt yourself. You are the king. Never forget it. An actual monarch is something of a vainglorious concierge, but you should never let the people see through the facade. The face you put forward should always be that of the unquestioned person in charge."
Youko sighed again. "And exactly how do you do that? Sure, if you happened to believe totally in yourself. But I don't."
"Ah, and there's the rub." The En laughed. "The way I figure it, the kirin chose me, so if I've got a gripe about it, he's going to get an earful."
Youko looked at him, a bit taken aback. "That's the way to become an enlightened monarch?"
"So it is. At least it's gotten me this far. If I've got a beef about something, Enki will hear it. And even then, if I'm still not happy about it, I'll give it my best shot, anyway."
"That makes sense, I suppose. I'll keep it in mind."
What Youko saw of the Kingdom of Kei with her own eyes was far worse than the visions she'd been shown by the sword. Peering down through the transparent depths of the Sea of Clouds, she began to grasp the extent of the devastation of the countryside. At this time of year, rice seedlings should be visible on the surface of the paddies, but it looked like most of the fields had been abandoned and gone fallow. The roads were empty of people, the hamlets and villages still as death, burned to the ground, only the scorched and blackened ruins remaining behind.
She had thought Kou poor. It was nothing compared to the destitution of Kei. Her heart ached as the images piled up of refugees huddled together at the foot of the city walls. They surely all wanted to go home. She knew well the misery of not having a bed of her own to sleep in at night.
The ground rolling by beneath them, they flew across the Sea of Clouds for half a day before arriving at Iryuu, the capital of Sei Province. In Iryuu as in Kankyuu, there was a high mountain whose peak jutted above the Sea of Clouds. One of the buildings at its peak was the castle of the province lord. Keiki was sequestered somewhere inside that castle.
While still a good way off from the castle, Youko saw a swarm of black shadows rising from the castle like a flock of birds taking to wing. The castle's airborne defenders.
To fight meant to kill. Up till now, Youko had killed everything except a human being, but only because she had not had the courage to take the weight of a human death upon her own shoulders. When she had decided to go forth, she resolved herself to the task ahead of her. It was not that noble ends justified taking human life any more lightly. She would remember forever her opponents and the number of those she struck down. This, she understood, was as much as she could do.
"Are you ready for this?" the En asked.
Youko nodded.
"Keep your head about you. Losing the Royal Kei now, just as she is coming into her own, that would be a tragedy."
"I'm not so easy to kill. I don't have the good sense to know when I'm defeated, you see."
The En responded with a puzzled frown. And then smiled with his eyes. Youko drew her sword from its scabbard and faced the charging cavalry. The kitsuryou galloped unfaltering through the air. They plunged into the mist of the flying horsemen climbing up into the sky from the castle.
8-7
A solitary beast, imprisoned deep within the fortifications of the castle, shackled within a thick wall of netting…
" …a kirin. "
This is a kirin.
An animal with a translucent golden coat and a single horn on its head. The kirin's slender legs, like those of some species of deer, were bound in iron chains. The kirin looked at Youko with its deeply colored eyes. When she approached closer, it touched her arm with its slightly rounded muzzle.
"Keiki…"
At the sound of her voice, the kirin looked straight at her. It folded its legs beneath itself and prostrated itself at her feet. When she knelt and reached out her hand, it did not shrink back. She stroked its golden mane and it closed its eyes.
The other half of me. The beast who had delivered such a fate to her, who in that other world existed only in fairy tales.
Youko said, "I've been searching for you."
The kirin brought its muzzle next to her knees. Several times, almost as if bowing to her, it nuzzled its head against her. Again, as she stroked its mane, she heard a hard noise at her feet, the sound of the chains binding it.
"Hold on. I'll get those things off you."
She stood and focused her attention on the shackles. Aiming the tip of the blade, she drove the sword straight down, severing the fetters. The kirin sprang nimbly to its feet, but continued to chafe its head, specifically its horn, against her arm.
"What's the matter?"
She looked closer and noticed a subtle pattern of designs on the horn, characters a hand's breadth high in a reddish-brown color that looked an awful lot like dried blood.
"Where did this come from?"
Keiki went on scraping the horn against her arm. Youko couldn't help but attend to this vexing behavior. Rakushun was a hanjuu and he could talk. In this world, where even the enchanted magical creatures could speak, should not the kirin, the preeminent of the sacred beasts, be capable of speech as well?
Now that she thought about it, she recalled the vision she had seen in the sword. Kourin had said something like, With its horn sealed, it cannot return to human form and cannot speak. When she lightly brushed her hand against the horn, the kirin calmed down. She scrubbed harder with her sleeve, lightly grazing the surface, but changing nothing else. Examining it more closely, she saw that the thin characters were etched into the horn.
A wound she could do something about. Youko took the jewel from her pocket. Applying the jewel and gently abrading the surface she saw the characters growing fainter. Repeating the process until the characters were almost imperceptible, she suddenly heard a voice at her elbow, a voice she hadn't heard in such a long time.
"I thank you."
"Keiki?"
The kirin narrowed its eyes slightly and looked up at Youko. "Yes, it is I. I do regret any undue hardships that may have been inflicted upon you in my absence."
Youko smiled. She had even missed that composed, unapologetic tone of voice.
"Are you alone?"
"The Royal En is lending a hand. The Imperial Army of En is holding off the pretender's forces."
"I see." He nodded, then called out in a strong voice, "Hyouki! Juusaku!"
The two beasts appeared, as if emerging from out of the walls. "We are here."
"Go and offer your assistance to the Royal En."
The two beasts bowed deeply and slipped away.
"You are okay?"
"Of course," the kirin said with a nod. His utterly unflappable voice was really quite amusing.
"So when your horn was sealed, your shirei were bound as well?"
The kirin answered with a self-conscious grunt. "You seem to have learned a great deal. Yes, that is what happened. I am sorry for any trouble this might have occasioned on your behalf."
"Jouyuu wasn't bound so it didn't affect me. What about Kaiko and Hankyo?"
"They are here. Shall I call them?"
"No, as long as they're okay. But I would like to meet them later."
"That can be arranged."
"Oh, come to think about it, I do have a request to make."
"What is that?"
"I'd like you to reverse the order you gave to Jouyuu. I'm still not ready to do without him, though."
The kirin looked at Youko and blinked several times. "You have indeed become a different person."
"I have. Thanks to you and thanks to the hinman. Jouyuu was a great help. I'd like to say so personally, and there's somet
hing else I'd like to ask."
"A request you wish to make?"
"Yeah. How do you spell his name?"
The beast's eyes opened wide. "A most peculiar request."
"I suppose. But it seems I haven't really heard his real name yet. It's been bugging me."
As soon as Youko spoke, that unexpected sensation crept up her arm to her hand. Seemingly of its own accord, her finger wrote the characters in the air. "The Useless (Jou) Assistant (yuu)."
Youko smiled. "Thank you, Jouyuu, my Useless Assistant."
The shirei serve the kirin, and by extension the king. There is no need to thank me.
Youko only laughed. Looking at her, the kirin narrowed its eyes. "You truly have changed."
"Yeah, it's been a real learning experience."
"To speak the honest truth, I did not think we would ever meet again."
Youko nodded. "Same here. Say, can't you turn back into a person?"
"I surely do not wish to appear naked before you!"
Youko had to smile at the shocked tone of his voice. "Well, then, I'll get you some clothes. It's about time we headed back. Before returning to Kinpa Palace, we're going to have to crash at Gen'ei Palace for a while."
She grinned and the kirin blinked again. Then he knelt down before her. With every movement, his back radiated an extraordinary luster.
He said, "I greet your Highness bearing the Mandate of Heaven." He lowered his head and touched Youko's foot with his horn. "I shall never part from thee, nor disobey thy decrees. My fealty I hereby pledge in covenant to thee."
The whisper of a smile came to her lips. "I accept."
This was, for Youko, the true beginning of her story.
The Chronicles Of Kei
The Annals Of The Red Child
In the Spring of the Sixth Year of Yosei, the Reign of the Empress Jokaku, the Taiho Keiki fell grievously ill with the Shitsudou. The Capital Gyouten was ravaged by Fire and Pestilence. The Government waxed oppressive. Corruption and Calumny flourished. The Lamentations of the People cried out across the Land, saying, The Gods of War will surely destroy Kei.
In the Fifth Month of that Year, the Empress Jokaku repaired to Mount Hou and there sought Pardon from Heaven and renounced the Throne. And so she died and was buried at Senryou. Her Reign lasted Six Years. Following her Death, she was given the Posthumous Name, Yo.
With the Abdication of the Late Empress Yo, Joei usurped the Throne. Joei falsely named herself Royal Kei and entered Gyouten. The Kingdom was cast into Chaos.
In the Seventh Month of the Seventh Year, the Empress Youko, the Royal Kei of the Kingdom of Kei, acceded to the Throne. The Surname of the Empress Youko being Nakajima, her Imperial Insignia being Sekishi, or the Imperial Child, also meaning the Red Child, she having been born a Taika.
In the Third Month of the Seventh Year, the Empress returned from Yamato. The Royal En, King Shouryuu, having answered her Petition, the Empress quelled the Rebellion at the Close of the Seventh Month, and deposed the Pretender, Joei.
In the Eighth Month of that Year, the Empress Youko ascended Mount Hou and there accomplished her Investiture. Her Name was recorded upon the Census of Heaven, and she was granted the Title of Royal Kei. The Royal Kei re-interred the Late Empress Yo at Gyouten, appointed six new Ministers of State, and established the Government.
The Era of her Reign was designated Sekiraku, from the First Character of the Imperial Insignia and the Name of her Friend and Confident, Rakushun. And so was inaugurated the Imperial Court of the Red Child.
Maps
Kingdom of Kou
The Twelve Kingdoms
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