by Fuyumi Ono
This child is my fellow countrywoman. If you have treated her badly, I shall not forgive you.
When the Royal Kei said that, Riyou would grovel at her feet. She'd be sorry, then. No matter how bitter, faced with the power and authority of the empress, she would have no choice but to comply.
I shall name Suzu mistress of Suibi Grotto. Riyou will be her servant.
"No, that isn't necessary," Suzu said, shaking her head. "That is not what I want. I only desire that the mistress of the grotto show me some kindness and gratitude. That alone would be sufficient."
My, Suzu, you are a good person.
The Royal Kei smiling at her, Riyou's grateful eyes meeting hers.
"Not hardly," Suzu muttered to herself. "Riyou would never thank me for anything."
She wrapped the quilt around her shoulders. Still, if she could only meet the Royal Kei, that would make up for everything. If she could go and see her . . . .
As she closed her eyes, she heard high tone of a ringing bell. Outside a winter wind was blowing. The high tone mingled with the sounds of the dry, rustling brush, the turbulent chorus of wind weaving through the undulating peaks.
Suzu suddenly sat up and listened more closely. Kang, the bell rang again. It was Riyou calling a servant. She hurriedly slipped out of bed, threw a robe over her nightdress, hastily tied the sash and ran out of the room.
What was going on in the middle of the night?
Riyou didn't care when her servants went to sleep or woke up. Suzu's room had cots for three servants, but the other two had quit a long time ago. Even at the cost of losing their place in the Registry of Wizards, they had decided to run away and had been fortunate and lucky enough to carry it off. At least that's what the other maidservants said.
Urged along by the shrill, incessant sound of the bell, Suzu ran down the hallways and into Riyou's quarters. Already, two other servants had arrived ahead of her. As soon as she entered the room, Riyou's vituperations flew at her.
"You're late! You're such an idiot and slowpoke!"
"I am sorry. I was asleep."
"So was everybody else. You're such a sluggard the stable hands got here before you, and you're supposed to be my personal maid!"
The man and woman who had arrived first averted their gaze. Were they careless enough to rise to Suzu's defense, they would feel the brunt of Riyou's scorn as well.
"I beg your forgiveness."
"Even when asleep, servants should be attentive to the needs of their master. That's why I deign to provide you with room and board in the first place."
Suzu bowed her head. The strange fruits that grew on the mountain, the yield from a plot of land in the ravine, a modest stipend from the national treasury, the meager rent from the fields at the base of the mountain farmed by the locals, taxes collected from the shrine village below Suibi Peak--this was the totality of Riyou's income, and what Suzu and all the others had to live on.
"This is unbelievable! Twelve servants and only three bother to show up!"
Riyou looked at the middle-aged woman. "You! I can't bear this cold. Massage my feet for me. Honma!"
She undoubtedly meant this scornful epithet for Suzu. "It's stale in here. The place needs to be aired out. Go wake everybody up. That's your punishment. The entire grotto needs a good cleaning. It's because of all this dust."
You mean, now? Suzu swallowed the words that came to her lips. If Riyou said do it, she had to do it.
"I am unfortunate to be surrounded by servants who can't clean a blessed thing to my satisfaction. Unbelievable. And be quiet about it. I'm trying to sleep!"
Suzu had no choice but to go around and wake everybody up. Even if it was on Riyou's orders, nobody was ever happy about being pulled out of bed in the middle of the night, and they all turned their resentment on her. Her head bowed, she did as she was told. In the wintry dead of night they shook the dust out of everything, wiped, mopped, scrubbed and dried the stone-lined hallways. The winter solstice was almost upon them. The water at this time of night was freezing cold.
Your Highness.
As she scrubbed the floor, the tears welled up. That a girl from Japan had become empress of the Kingdom of Kei pleased her immeasurably. Wouldn't they meet, somewhere, sometime? Meeting her would be the happiest moment in her life. Imagining that moment was so gratifying, and awakening from the dream so miserable.
Your Highness, please help me.
The cleaning took them until sunrise. After a brief nap, morning chores awaited. Riyou awoke toward noon and inspected the work. She expressed displeasure with the effort and told them to do it all over again. This was when Suzu broke a vase.
"What a good-for-nothing you are!" said Riyou, flinging the broken shards at her. "The cost of this vase will come out of your meals. You're a wizard, after all. You won't starve to death. And I'm a charitable enough person that I won't revoke your wizardhood." Riyou hiked up her eyebrows. "You don't like it? Then why not pack your bags and go?"
Leaving the grotto would mean having her name erased from the Registry of Wizards. Riyou knew that was something Suzu could not do.
"Of course you won't." She snorted. "You really are a useless child. It is only because I am such an extraordinarily generous person that I bother to keep you around."
Suzu lowered her face and bit her lip. Could she leave this place? She swallowed the thought as soon as it came into her mind.
"I've been treating you too well. You don't really need a bed, now, do you?"
Suzu looked up at her.
"Every minute you're sleeping in a nice, warm bed you're not doing any work. Don't you think so?" Riyou laughed with open malice. "You may sleep in the barn for the time being. It's so spacious in there and not so cold. Yes, that would suit you well."
That meant sleeping with Setsuko, Riyou's tiger. Suzu's face went pale. Setsuko was not an animal easily handled by others. She was such a ferocious creature that only one man was assigned to be her handler.
"Forgive me, please, Mistress," quailed Suzu, trembling with fear.
Riyou stared down at her with undisguised scorn. "Oh, you'll do it. You ask so much of me. Who do you think you are?"
Riyou laughed and said with an exaggerated sigh, "Well, all right. Instead, you can go get me some kankin."
"Mistress . . . . "
Kankin was a kind of mossy mushroom that grew on the cliffs of the towering mountain. To pick them, you had secure yourself with a rope and rappel down the side of the cliffs.
"Gather some kankin for breakfast tomorrow morning and you can consider yourself forgiven."
Chapter 13
When Riyou told her to do something, Suzu knew of no way to refuse. So on a cold, dark night, with the light of a single lamp to guide her, she climbed Suibi Peak. Clinging to the rope, she searched for a footing amongst the rocks and shrubs. Gales of wind buffeted her. Standing on the narrow path that wound along the crest of the ridge, she had to bend over to face the full strength of the wind.
The cliffs where the kankin mushroom grew were dangerously located halfway up the peak. She tied one end of the rope to a pine tree with it roots anchored into the rock. The other end she fastened around her waist. Clinging to the rope, she started to slowly lower herself down the side of the cliff, but the gusts of wind made her hesitate.
The peaks of these towering mountains were extraordinarily tall. Even holding the lantern over her head, Suzu could not see the base of the cliff she was descending. The wind came rushing skyward out of the pitch-black hole as if to cut right through her. The mere thought of lowering herself into these depths with only the one strand of rope to rely on made her weep with fear.
Why did Riyou despise her so much? It would have been better if they had never met. It was difficult to live in a foreign country where you didn't speak the language, but she had to believe that life was still possible even if she couldn't comprehend a single word.
Why do I put up with this hell?
She'd catch a
worse beating if she didn't get those mushrooms. Even knowing that, she couldn't move her shivering feet.
I have to meet the Royal Kei. If I could . . . .
But all the daydreams in the world wouldn't change the reality of the black cliffs in front of her eyes. That was all there was, and nothing else.
Should I run away? Leave this place behind for good?
If she could return to Japan, she would without a second thought. That was something wizards could do, but there were wizards and then there were wizards. For a wizard like Suzu, crossing the Kyokai was impossible.
She clung to the edge of the cliff and wept. Suddenly she heard a sound behind her, the sound like the purring of a cat. Suzu lifted her head and raised the lantern. The tiger Setsuko was hovering in the air just beyond the precipice.
Suzu gulped and took a step back. Setsuko floated there in the air, as if ready to pounce. It's jewel-like eyes glittered in the light from the lantern.
"You," the tiger growled insistently at her.
Wizards could grasp the gist of what the tiger was saying, but a wizard of Suzu's status couldn't actually speak the language of beasts.
"The Mistress."
Riyou hadn't been intending all along to feed her to this you-creature, had she? Did she send her out to this solitary mountain crag so this tiger could attack her? Did she hate her that much? But why?
The tiger motioned with its head as if to hurry her along, urging her to just get on with it. So was Riyou spying on her? Making sure that Suzu did as she was told? That's why she sent the tiger after her.
"I know, I know," Suzu answered in a trembling voice. "I'll do it."
She grasped the rope with her shaking hands and little by little inched towards the edge of the cliff. Playing out the rope as she went along, she planted her feet on the edge and stopped, her body suspended in the air. She couldn't move.
I can't do it.
Raw fear prevented her from descending any further.
"I can't. I'm sorry."
The hand holding fast to her lifeline shook as she were convulsing. If it went on any longer, she could fall for sure. Her hand would slip and she'd let go of the rope.
"Please . . . help . . . . "
A moment later, her hand did slip. Suzu was cast backwards into the air. I'm falling, she thought. She had completely forgotten about the rope tied to her waist.
When she came to, Suzu was floating in the air. The face of the cliff was directly in front of her. The ground beneath her was soft to the touch.
So the ground wasn't that far down, after all. She gasped in relief. Then the sensation of soft fur. Setsuko. She was lying on the tiger's back. She screamed. "No! Let me down!"
A moment later the ground disappeared out from under her. Her body was tossed into the sky. She felt herself falling. She clawed at the air, as if in a dream. And then gagged as the Setsuko grabbed the collar of her jacket. She screamed again. With a flick of its head the tiger again tossed her body into the sky. When she landed once more on the tiger's back, she hung on with all her strength.
It can't get any worse.
She remembered that the rope was still fastened to her waist. She could climb back up the cliff face using the rope. With trembling hands she drew in the slack on the rope until, abruptly, there was nothing more there.
"Oh no, it's been cut."
Suzu looked at Setsuko's boulder-sized head. She had no choice but to hold on and let it take her back. But why would this creature, who could not be ridden by anyone but Riyou, return her to the grotto?
"T-take me back." Suzu pleaded with the tiger. "Please, take me back to the top of the cliff."
She felt something warm trickling down her back. It was blood, she thought, her mind swimming, from where Setsuko's fangs had gouged her skin. The pain was severe.
"Please. Help me."
The tiger moved. It came closer to the cliff, approached one of the shrubs growing there. With a deep, ferocious growl it admonished her. Do your duty, it was telling her.
Suzu clung to the tiger. She cautiously reached out with one hand, but couldn't reach. A strong gust knocked her sideways. The stronger the wind, the stronger her panic. Her teeth chattering, her knees knocking, she knew this wasn't going to work.
Apprehensively, she let go with both hands. But as she leaned towards the cliff, she tumbled from the tiger's back. She collided with the face of the cliff, gashing her skin. Setsuko caught her with a claw through her sash and for the third time tossed her onto its back.
Suzu broke down weeping. "Why . . . ?" It was all too much. "Why is she doing this to me? Why does she hate me so much?" Suzu hit the tiger with her fists. "Let go of me! Kill me if that's what you want! Enough is enough!"
Setsuko answered only with a low rumble in her throat.
Take me way from here. It was the first thing that came to her mind. "Where to?" she asked herself timidly. If she ran away, her name would be erased from the Registry of Wizards, and that would be the end of her.
"To Kei."
Go to the Royal Kei. But how? Meet with the Royal Kei and appeal to her. Tell her about her miserable conditions, Riyou's tyrannical rule. But, still . . . .
Suzu suddenly raised her head. "That's right! If I appeal to the king, I don't have to worry about the Royal Kei!"
She grabbed Setsuko's coat hard enough to pull the hair out by the roots. "I'll petition the Imperial Court! The king of Sai. I get him to punish Riyou and keep my name in the Registry of Wizards!"
Suzu whacked Setsuko as hard as she could. "Go! We're going to Choukan Palace in Yuunei!"
Setsuko reared up without warning. Suzu clung on for dear life as the tiger's body turned and twisted in the air. Swept into this world, she had survived only by debasing herself. And yet she picked her first fight ever with Setsuko. The tiger flailed about, trying to buck her off. At length it seemed to give up and galloped off through the wind, heading straight to the northeast. The destination was Yuunei, the capital of Sai.
The capital city of Yuunei. Somebody was pounding on the gates before the Hall of Government. The night was approaching dawn. Alarmed at what could be afoot at this time of night, the guardsmen rushed to the gate and discovered there a red tiger, and in the tiger's shadow, a young girl clinging to the post.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came from Suibi Grotto on Mt. Ha. Please help me!"
The guardsmen lowered their spears to keep the tiger at bay. They assumed the girl had been attacked by this you-creature. After giving them a haughty glare, the tiger turned his back to them and flew off. The guardsmen breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Miss, are you all right?"
In the light of the breaking day, the girl's sad state became apparent. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood. Her tangled, tostled hair was also wet with blood.
"Were you attacked? Are you all right?"
Suzu clung to the guardsman who was helping to her feet. It's a miracle. I made it to Yuunei. She cried, "You've got to help me! The Mistress of Suibi Grotto is trying to kill me!"
The guardsmen all looked at each other.
"I'm begging you. Help me!"
Chapter 14
The peerage system of the Twelve Kingdoms was organized according to the following seven ranks: king, prince, province lord (or marquis), count (or minister), province minister (or viscount), baron, and knight. There are two ranks of count, count and vice minister (or undersecretary), and three subdivisions each of baron and knight. All the nobility is divided amongst these twelve castes.
At the level of national government, most counts are vice ministers or undersecretaries. Hisen ("wizards of the air") are allowed to rise to the rank of full count or minister. Hisen like Riyou who had been elevated according to imperial edict were granted vice-ministerial status. The rank of servant wizards fell between that of knight and baron, which was higher than the typical government bureaucrat.
In fact, such gradations in rank we
re designed primarily for purposes of decorum and propriety. For example, when a person of lower rank encountered a person of higher rank on the road, who would yield the right of way. In other words, the authority to demand that you be treated with the proper courtesy, though not much else.
In any case, after collapsing in front of the Hall of Government, Suzu was treated very well. She was taken to a room reserved for honored guests. A doctor and nurse were called to tend to her. She was cared for with the utmost courtesy. In fact, they were just being polite, but being treated politely was a first to her. She had grown up poor, her family having to kowtow to the landlord. She had been forced to crawl under Riyou's heel. Compared to all that, this was almost like a dream.
I must be dreaming, she thought as she fell asleep. She woke herself up to consider her situation some more. The bed was suffused with a soft light.
"Are you awake? How are you feeling?" The lady's maid waiting aside the bed noticed that she had opened her eyes. She spoke in a soft voice.
Suzu said, "I'm doing okay." She sat up. Her joints ached. She grimaced.
"Please, rest yourself. Do you wish to partake of breakfast?"
"Um, yes."
The lady smiled kindly. "We shall make sure of it, then. Thanks be, but none of your wounds was severe. Breakfast is presently being prepared, and a doctor shall see to you shortly. So, please, make yourself at home."
"Thank you," said Suzu. Watching the lady as she left the room, Suzu hugged her arms around herself. "Please make yourself at home. That gorgeously-dressed lady's maid said that to me."
I can hardly believe it. Is this really happening?
The canopy of the bed had already been raised and folded back. The door into the bedchambers was open. The bed itself was like a small room raised on a platform. Looking around the bedchambers, Suzu hugged herself again.
