by Fuyumi Ono
"Not even Riyou's bedchambers are this fine."
The brocaded bedding was warm yet light. It really was a shame she had slept here in her dirty undershirt. The canopy was woven from two layers of fabric, a beautiful embroidery in sheer silk on the one side and a heavier brocade on the other. On either side of the wide bed was an intricately crafted ebony table. There was a shelf also made from ebony, and an ebony footstool for climbing in and out of the bed. The clothes rack for storing kimono was made of silver.
Suzu gazed absently around the canopy bed and then around the light-filled room beyond the bed. "This is so much nicer than anything Riyou has."
Suzu didn't know it, but it was the finest room in the guest palace. Because her status at the Grotto was unknown, they had treated her as if she were a viscount, the highest status that the servant of a hisen can achieve.
She was blankly taking it all in when the doctor came in. He again respectfully examined Suzu's wounds, treated her, and then with a deep bow, exited the room. On his way out, he passed the lady's maid, who came in to ready her meal.
The utensils were silver. The change of clothes she set out were made of brightly colored silk.
It truly must be all a dream.
"Are you in any pain?" the lady's maid asked her.
Suzu shook her head. "Thank you, but I'm fine."
"If you are feeling well enough, I wish to take you to meet someone."
"I think I'll feel up to it. Who wants to see me?"
The lady's maid bowed her head. "It would seem that the king wishes to meet with you."
Suzu's eye went wide.
I don't believe it, Suzu repeated to herself as the lady's maid led her deep into the Imperial Palace. I'm really going to meet the king.
The king of the Kingdom of Sai was known as the Royal Sai. The king had sat on the throne for not yet twenty years, but was beloved by his subjects because of his righteous rule. Beyond that, Suzu knew nothing about him.
They went through a gate and walked up a flight of stairs. Each building they passed through grew more and more opulent. Ruby pillars and white walls, vividly painted balustrades, windows glazed with crystal glass. The doorknobs were all gold. The floors finished with engraved stone, inlaid here and there with mosaics of china tile.
The lady's maid stopped and opened a large, splendidly carved wooden door. She took one step inside the room and then knelt down and bowed her head to the floor. Suzu stared flabbergasted at her surroundings, and then caught herself and hurriedly copied what the lady's maid was doing.
The lady's maid said, "Forgive my intrusion, but I have brought with me the wizardess of whom we spoke earlier."
Her head bowed, Suzu couldn't see who she was talking to. She listened carefully, steeling herself for the fearful, commanding sound. Instead, she heard a woman's soft voice.
"Thank you. She does seems a young thing."
It was the voice of an older woman. There was no scorn, no bitterness in the voice. Rather, it was an encouraging tone.
"Come over here and sit down."
Suzu timidly lifted her head. They were in a wide, resplendent room. An elderly woman was standing next to a large black desk.
"Um . . . . " She fumbled for words, not knowing whether to ask, Are you the Royal Sai?
The woman smiled warmly at her. "Please get up. If you've been injured in any way, I wouldn't make you uncomfortable. Tea? Please, here."
She indicated the chair where Suzu was to sit, and then nodded to the attending servants, who arranged the tea set on the table. Suzu apprehensively got to her feet. Instinctively, she raised her hands and laced her fingers together as if in prayer. "Um . . . are you the Royal Sai? I mean, Your Highness?"
The woman answered affirmatively with a friendly smile.
The Royal Sai's family name was Chuu, her given name Kin, meaning "jewel." The name she had taken as empress was Kouko, meaning "golden mother-in-law."
"I . . . ah . . . my . . . . "
"Don't worry about formalities. Relax. Now, you've come from Suibi Grotto, isn't that right?"
Kouko pulled out the chair for her. Nervously, Suzu sat down on the edge of the seat. "Yes."
"And your name is?"
"Suzu."
"Suzu?"
"Um . . . I'm a kaikyaku."
Really, Kouko's eyes said, widening. "That is indeed unusual. How did you come to be a wizardess?"
With a disconsolate sigh, Suzu began to recount the story that for ages she had been longing to tell somebody. How she had been swept into this world, the tears spilled in frustration at not being able to comprehend the language. How she met Riyou, the first person who understood her, and begged to be made a wizard.
Kouko listening attentively, with the occasional word urging her to continue.
The mistress of Suibi Grotto had been appointed hisen by a king many generations before. The hisen, as opposed to the chisen, or "wizards of the earth," did not take part in government or help shape the national polity. Rather, their distinguishing characteristic was simply that they were long-lived. There were hisen who served the gods, but for the most part they lived secluded lives.
Hisen wizards were not appointed often. In the end, many tired of eternal life and gave up their place in the Registry of Wizards. Presently in the Kingdom of Sai there were only three hisen, and the whereabouts of two of them were unknown. Wizards who had removed their names from the Registry often just disappeared, and neither hide nor hair of them was seen again.
"So Riyou is the Mistress of Suibi Grotto."
"Yes," Suzu nodded.
"What caused your wounds? Were they inflicted by Riyou?"
In answer to her question, Suzu recounted the events of the previous night. Riyou had ordered her to pick kankin mushrooms. She had encountered Riyou's red tiger at the edge of the cliff. Petrified by the tiger's gaze, she had fallen from the precipice.
"That sounds awful. But are you saying that you were sent out to pick mushrooms in the middle of the night?"
"The Mistress does not care about such things. She wanted mushrooms for breakfast and thought nothing of making such a demand. She hates me anyway." Simply thinking about it now brought tears to her eyes. "She was always telling me that she was going to kick me out and erase my name from the Registry of Wizards. I don't speak the language, so if that happened it would be the same as being struck deaf and dumb."
Kouko looked at the weeping girl. Hisen were not involved with the government so she had never meet Riyou. The government's only obligation in turn was a budget appropriation for the maintenance of the Registry. Hisen didn't meddle in the kingdom's business and the kingdom didn't meddle in theirs. That had been standard operating procedure for ages.
"Well, then, I suppose I could speak with the Mistress of the Grotto. In the meantime, you may stay here and recuperate."
Suzu gazed up at her. "She may be removing my name from the Registry as we speak."
"You needn't worry about it. If such a request is made, that is something I would have to approve. If the Mistress of the Grotto does in fact make such a request, I promise to deny it."
"Really?" Suzu stared earnestly into her face. Kouko answered with a smile. Suzu sighed in relief. She had finally, after such a long, long time, been freed from the constant threat and fear. "Thank you. I am so very, very thankful."
She slid down from the chair and prostrated herself on the floor. After this, she wouldn't have anything to be frightened of ever again.
Chapter 15
The barn and small garden behind the orphanage were covered in snow. The interior of the barn, usually warmed somewhat by the breath of the animals, was quiet and cold. Shoukei stamped her frozen feet to take the chill from her toes.
The snow piled up deeper every day. The villagers had only recently gathered in the town from the outlying hamlets and the air was thick with the lively back and forth of the year's news. Come the new year, however, and by the end of January people would be ge
tting fed up with each other's company. Spending the winter shut up together like this was one long trial. Pent-up feelings got out of hand and petty disputes started breaking out. About the time the bad blood really began to flow it'd be springtime, and everybody would happily return to the countryside, raring to go.
She doesn't have the slightest idea what it feels like.
As she hauled along the feed for the animals, Shoukei cursed the far-off empress of the eastern kingdom.
What it feels like to live the threadbare life of a country bumpkin, wearing clothes reeking with the stench of farm animals, hands so chapped and frostbitten that the skin cracks and bleeds. Sleeping under a freezing blanket in a drafty, clapboard house so cold that in the morning the frost was white on the walls.
I know. And what kind of life are you living?
Silk curtains, scented bedding, a warm room suffused with light, disturbed by not a single errant breeze. Silk hems trailing behind her as she walked along, the obidama jewels in her waistband and tiara sparkling so brightly. Servants at her beck and call, ministers prostrating themselves before her. Her throne resting on a floor paved with gems, the throne and screens carved with an unsurpassed and delicate craftsmanship, inlaid with precious stones and lined with golden bunting and silver rattan.
Ah, yes, those were her father's most sublime treasures. And now she had everything that Shoukei had lost. She was never hungry or cold and never would be. Worshiped by thousands, wielding authority over every official in the land . . . .
With every step Shoukei took, a hole opened wider in her soul. Her silent imprecations swirled into the maw. At some point, without really noticing it, she had come to believe that everything taken from her had been stolen by the newly-crowned empress of Kei.
Unforgivable.
"Gyokuyou!"
The shrill, jeering voice brought her back to her senses. She blinked, her mind blank. Then she realized that her name was being called. She hurriedly glanced around.
Gobo was standing behind her, staring daggers at her. "How long you going to take divvying up this feed, huh? If you think dawdling around here's going to get you out of helping make breakfast, you've got another thing coming."
"I'm sorry. I just got distracted there for a moment."
"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Gobo grabbed a nearby stick and whacked Shoukei on the legs. "You should be working three or four times as hard as everybody else. You can't make anybody in this town feed you. You have to earn your keep with your own filthy hands."
"Sorry," Shoukei said in a small voice.
She had no choice but to put up with it. Humbly hang her head and it'd blow over sooner or later. She'd learned long ago that it was the only thing she could do. She was waiting for Gobo to spit out a nasty aside and leave when another swift blow with the stick caught her by surprise.
"How about for once you apologize like you really mean it!"
Shoukei fell to her knees and collapsed in the straw, suddenly aware of the fierce pain in her shoulders.
"You think you're getting picked on by some fussy old hag? You give me lip service like that and you think I'm going to let you get away with it?"
"I . . . . "
Gobo once again swung the stick at her. Shoukei curled into a ball as the fierce blows fell on her back.
"Why do I drag your dead weight around with me? Why is it up to us to put food in your mouth? Why did the children of this orphanage have to lose their parents? Huh? Do you even have the slightest idea?"
Shoukei bit her lip. No matter how she was struck she wouldn't say a word.
"Everything is that Chuutatsu's fault! Your father!"
But that has nothing to do with me, Shoukei cried to herself as she lay on the ground. Ah, but Her Highness, the Royal Kei, knows nothing of this life! Her teeth still clenched together, Shoukei heard a faint voice.
"Is it true?"
She lifted her head. Gobo as well looked back over her shoulder. One of the orphan girls was standing stock still in the doorway of the barn.
"What are you doing here . . . . "
"You mean, Gyokuyou's father was Chuutatsu? So that means Gyokuyou is the princess royal?" Her eyes crawled over Shoukei. "That means she's Princess Shoukei!"
Gobo was at a loss as to how to answer. Shoukei just stared at the girl. With a start, the girl spun around and ran to the back of the orphanage. "The princess royal is here!" she called out. "The daughter of those killers!"
The children came in a rush. They stared at the dumbstruck Shoukei in amazement. Several of them darted up to her. Shoukei's face went white. Children's voices rang out from the front yard. She soon heard a loud commotion and the sound of more footsteps approaching.
"She's the princess royal?"
"Really?"
The inflamed throng surrounded Shoukei, driving her into the corner of the shed.
"It's true! Gobo said so herself!"
"Is that right, Gobo?"
Their gaze all fell on Gobo. Shoukei gazed beseechingly up at her. They locked eyes for a second. Gobo turned to the assembled crowd.
"Yes, it is."
There followed a moment of silence, and then the jeering cries shook the barn.
Shoukei was dragged from the barn and thrown into the snow.
"Wait . . . please . . . . "
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the blows rained down. She screamed and was sent sprawling.
"Stop!"
The shrill voice rent the air. The realization sank into Shoukei's dazed mind that the voice belonged to Gobo.
"Why should we?"
"Think about it, what do you think she's doing here?"
"What do you mean, what she's doing here?"
"Somebody registered her on the census. And didn't have a bit of trouble doing it. Like I said, think about it! Who could pull off something like that?"
"Who could pull off something like that?" The throng all raised the same question, and then called out the same answer. "The Marquis of Kei!"
The Province Lord of Kei, the commander of the province lords, he who had killed the king.
"If it was him that done it, do you think he'd like it if we beat her to death? The Marquis rescued us from that black bastard. We don't fear the king's henchmen. We don't worry about being dragged off to the gallows. All those odious laws were repealed. The Marquis has given us lives of peace and safety."
"But . . . . "
"I hate the little princess as well. But if the Marquis chose to save her, I'm not taking it upon myself to do contrariwise. It'd be like spitting in his face. I know how you feel, but you've got to keep it in check."
Now she says so. Shoukei clawed at the snow. "You're telling me this now! When up till now you've done nothing but torment me for your own entertainment!"
A snowball hit her in the nose. Shoukei covered her face with her hands.
"What are you protecting her for, Gobo? You were the one beating on her!"
"That's right! We get to get even with her, too!"
"Listen, you all . . . . "
"While this bitch was lounging around the palace, my mom and dad was getting murdered!"
Shoukei screamed, "They got punished because they broke the law!" It had always been so. People were always criticizing her parents. But her father didn't execute people because he enjoyed it. "If things are ever going to get better, a kingdom has got to have laws. Otherwise you would all do as you damn well pleased! So of course you're going to get punished! You just resent the people that made the laws because you got caught! If nobody was afraid of being punished, nobody would obey the law in the first place!"
Another snowball came flying at her. Shoukei crouched down as the hard balls of ice pelted her one after another.
"So it's okay to kill people then?"
"Just because they get sick and can't work?"
"We had to leave the fields before the harvest to take care of my parents. That's reason enough to cut off their heads?"
>
"I don't know about any of this!" Shoukei yelled. "It's not my fault! I don't know what my father did! All I saw was what he let me to see!"
They grabbed her and bound her and threw her into the town jail and left her there. After sundown, Gobo came to see her.
"I brought charcoal," she said. "Don't want you to freeze to death."
Shoukei sat back against the cold wall. "I'd rather freeze to death."
"You will soon enough. Right now they're deciding what to do with you."
"Feeling sorry for me, are you? It really is too late in the day for that."
Gobo gave her a cold look. "I don't feel sorry for you. I just don't want to do wrong by the Marquis."
Shoukei snorted. "Gekkei! That jackal!"
"Enough!" Gobo said in a resolute voice.
Shoukei haughtily raised her head in turn. "Overthrowing the king and sitting yourself on the throne without the Mandate of Heaven, that is regicide. No matter how you try to pretty it up." The horrible images from that day welled up in her mind's eyes. "He killed my father. And even that wasn't enough. My mother, too. And Hourin! Gekkei is a traitor. He slaughtered the king and kirin and stole the throne."
"Really?" Gobo murmured to herself. "So the king and queen were executed in front of you?"
"He's a traitor! Don't you know anything?"
Even if she did, the hard expression on her face didn't change. "What I know is that you are rotten to the marrow of your bones."
"What are you . . . . "
"The Marquis can't take the throne for himself. He lives at the provincial capital. Just because you're a shameless little hussy doesn't mean that everybody else is as self-centered as you. But if that's what really happened to you, then curse all you want. You won't be able to after not too long."
"But of course, you're going to kill me no matter what I say." When Gobo turned her back to her, Shoukei continued to glare at her. Bring it on, then. I'm getting tired of you all.
Gobo said, "It looks like the townspeople aren't coming to their senses, no matter what I say. They're talking about having you drawn and quartered."
Shoukei rose to her feet. "Hold on. They're what?"
