The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

by Fuyumi Ono

  "Seishuu!" Suzu knelt, scanned the faces around them. "What happened? Somebody call a doctor!"

  "It's too late."

  Suzu turned abruptly to the source of that calm voice. "But if we don't get a doctor--"

  "He's dead."

  Suzu stared at the girl with wide eyes. She was the same age as her, perhaps a tad younger, her crimson hair such a vivid red it looked almost dyed.

  "No . . . . "

  "Your name?"

  Suzu shook her head. This was no time for pleasantries. They had to go for help immediately.

  "If you are Suzu, then he asked that you not cry for him." The girl lowered her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's what he wished me to tell you."

  "This can't be!" Suzu touched his body. It was still warm to the touch. "Seishuu!"

  How did he get this awful wound? His particular orange hair, that so agreed with everything about him, was splattered with blood. Why were his arms and legs all bent up like this? Why was his chest caved in like this?

  "No, it's not true . . . is it?"

  But they were going to Gyouten. They were going to meet the Royal Kei and she was going to cure him. Suzu took the boy's body in her arms, embracing him like the hostage rescued from the enemy.

  "What happened?"

  "I don't know. When I found him, he was already like this on the ground. I suspect he was trampled by a horse."

  "Whose?" Suzu surveyed the people around her, seeking out the villain. They all shook their heads. "Bastards!" Who could do such a thing? She balled her hands into fists, the question echoing over and over in her mind. "Seishuu . . . the bastards who did this . . . !"

  The drum sounded, announcing the closing of the gate. The crowd melted away in ones and twos. Before long, no one was left in the thoroughfare but the weeping Suzu and the body of the boy.

  "Seishuu. Gyouten is right there in front of us."

  Part X

  oushi, what's all that blood!"

  Rangyoku's voice cried out as soon as Youko took off her overcoat. Youko shook her head. "It's not mine. I came across an injured boy in Takuhou."

  "Goodness gracious!"

  "The boy was run over by a carriage. The whole thing gave me a bad feeling."

  With the gate closing fast approaching, she had left Takuhou in a hurry, rode Hankyo till they were near Hokui and made it by the skin of her teeth.

  "The carriage was already some ways off when I got there, but the only conclusion I can come to is that it was responsible. Yet it didn't stop and nobody chased after it."

  "Well, that's Shoukou for you."

  "Who?" said Youko, leaning toward her.

  Rangyoku returned to her chair in the main room and continued the sewing that she had interrupted. "The governor of Shisui. If it was a real luxurious carriage, then it was probably him. Nobody but the governor ever rides in a carriage like that."

  "He is that well known?"

  "Very much so. A beast like him doesn't associate with little people like us." Rangyoku frowned. "There are people in Hokui who run away from Shisui. You don't hear so much about it recently. They say that prefectural guards at the border inspect everybody who tries to leave. Lots of bad rumors come out of that place."

  "Really?"

  "We're really lucky, this being the Taiho's domain, and all. I've heard that the Marquis of Wa is a really dreadful person. A long time ago, he used to be the duke here."

  "That's what Enho says, too."

  Rangyoku nodded. "People say it was really awful back then. Thankfully, he got sent to Wa Province. It must be tough on the people of Wa. There's no guarantee that our peaceful lifestyle will go on forever. We live now in the Duchy of Yellow, but I don't know if that's going to last, either. Even if we stay in the Duchy of Yellow, when I turn twenty I'll move to a homestead, and it could be in Wa."

  "Yeah, I guess so."

  "It'd be better if I could find a good person in the next two years." Rangyoku laughed. Youko tilted her head quizzically. "Find a nice guy in Hokui and get married at the same time I get my partition. If I'm registered under his name, I could transfer my partition to his village. If there's available land, that is."

  Youko blinked several times. "That's your reason for getting married?"

  "Where you get your partition is really important. Do you know what an intercessor is?"

  Youko shook her head. "No."

  "They introduce you to a marriage partner, set the conditions and arrange for the meeting. For a fee, they register you on the census and transfer the land. And after that, you split up. That's what an intercessor does."

  "That's incredible."

  "You think so?"

  "In Yamato, marriage is not so simple. Well, recently, people have become very adept at getting divorces, but it's not exactly an admirable thing to do. Splitting up so simply is pretty surprising."

  Rangyoku giggled. "Yamato must really be a great place. In my case, when I find the right person, we're going to stay together and have children and raise a family. But if my partition ends up in Wa, that's what I'll do. Did you know that the tax rate in Shisui is seventy percent?"

  "You're kidding!"

  Taxes typically came to ten percent of the harvest. Adding in special levies to support the military and the civil service, it shouldn't exceed twenty percent. That was established policy.

  "Levies amount to twenty percent, and there's a ten percent poll tax. A twenty percent excise tax for building bridges and dikes. A contingency tax for defending against youma and funding the orphanages. It all adds up to seventy percent."

  "That's crazy."

  The law consisted of the Law of the Land and the Divine Decrees, also known as the Great Colonnade. The Divine Decrees were the provisions handed down by Heaven. Not even a king could violate them. Laws promulgated by the king were known as the Law of the Land. It was equally forbidden for province lords and governors to abrogate the Law of the Land. The tax rate was established according to the Law of the Land, and it was ten percent. Province lords and governors were allowed to impose another five percent on top of that. The current imperial tax rate had been reduced to eight percent, and no additional levies were allowed.

  That's what Youko said. "Levies are not now allowed. Furthermore, I haven't heard of any additional taxes being imposed. To start with, what in the world are these contingency and excise taxes? Those services should be provided by the Imperial Army."

  Rangyoku said with a nervous laugh, "That's why they say Shoukou is a tyrant. Really, I can't understand why the Empress looks the other way when there are people like him around." She cut the thread she was sewing with and stuck the needle in the pincushion. "Better get dinner ready. You need to change. If Keikei sees all that blood, it'll throw him for a loop."

  Youko left the main hall and went straight to the study. She called out to Enho and entered the room. He was replacing a book on the bookshelf. When he saw her his eyes widened.

  "Youko, where did that blood come from?"

  "I helped somebody who was in an accident. That's not why I'm here. Did you know that the tax rate in Shisui is seventy percent?"

  Enho sighed softly. "I see. You heard about that. That's why you went to Shisui."

  "That's actually not why I went to Shisui, but is it true?"

  "It's true. Settle down."

  "I don't recall ever authorizing that!"

  In response to this outburst, Enho took another breath and showed her to a chair. "Losing your temper won't help anybody. Look, Youko, the tax rate in Hokui is thirty percent."

  Youko gaped at him. "But Hokui is in the Duchy of Yellow!"

  "No matter how compassionate a duke we may have, it won't do much good if he can't keep an eye on things every minute of day."

  Youko took a deep breath and dejectedly sat down in front of Enho.

  "Don't let it get you down. No enlightened monarch can take over the reins of government all by herself. Without capable ministers to back her up, the rule of law wi
ll never take hold in the kingdom."

  "But--"

  "Kei of late has not been blessed with enlightened monarchs. Have you heard the people of Hokui complaining? You haven't. Back when Gahou was in charge, the tax rate was fifty percent. Under the Duchy of Yellow, it's thirty percent. Everybody is very grateful for that."

  Youko had nothing to say in reply.

  "Of the seventy percent tax that Shoukou levies, the imperial tax comes to ten percent. Gahou skims off forty percent. The remaining twenty percent is left to Shoukou. Shoukou is a skilled bureaucrat with a knack for tax collection, so Gahou takes a special interest in him. At any rate, Shoukou seems to be just the kind of person capable of raising that forty percent for Gahou."

  "But why?" Why were such things allowed to go on? Youko found herself on the verge of tears at her helpless, worthless state.

  "In fact, in Wa Province reclamation projects are thriving. Building dikes here and there, bridges here and there. Gahou insists that he is not collecting taxes, but spending money that was already set aside. And if he is building dikes and bridges with that money, it's difficult for the kingdom to then criticize him. Nevertheless, the bridges in Wa tend to come falling down. Even when the rain doesn't fall. It's something of a joke. But if everybody says it's because the engineers are cutting corners, again, it's hard to directly criticize Gahou."

  "So that's what it comes down to."

  Chousai, who had the Privy Council under his thumb--well, having demoted him, she ought to refer to him as Taisai--but Seikyou and his ilk hated Gahou like snakes hate scorpions. All this venom notwithstanding, it had to be said that Gahou never left a flank open to attack. If Seikyou could do nothing, then short of an Imperial Rescript delivered by Youko herself, Gahou would stay one step ahead of the law. Many voices within the ministries clamored for such a Rescript, but many objected just as vehemently, saying that enacting Rescripts not founded on hard evidence could plunge the kingdom into chaos. Even those opposed were distressed by Gahou's actions, making clear how unsympathetic a character he was.

  "But Gahou and Shoukou are not the only public servants lining their own pockets. The kingdom is replete with them. Arresting only Gahou and Shoukou will accomplish nothing. Another Gahou would soon appear."

  Youko lifted her head. "But better than doing nothing."

  "And on what basis?"

  "That is--"

  "Shoukou is a beast, but with Gahou giving him cover, getting a warrant would be difficult. If it were that simple, somebody would have already taken care of it."

  "Today I saw Shoukou kill a child."

  Enho looked at her in surprise. "Really? This was something Shoukou actually did?"

  "Probably."

  Youko explained the situation. Enho sighed. "I see, and that person was the one responsible. Do you think that it would be enough to arrest him on?"

  "But--"

  "He'll no doubt claim that he wasn't the one in the carriage. And if not that, then you'll see a mountain of testimonials that it wasn't the carriage itself that killed the boy. Don't forget that Shoukou is a governor because he can wield that kind of power."

  Youko bit her lip.

  "It is not good to leave such a public servant to his own devices, but bend the law in order to exact retribution, and the law loses its meaning. That is a far worse sin. Let's not get impatient."

  Youko bowed and left the study. She tightly shut the door to her own room.

  "Hankyo, I hate to impose, but I'd like you to go to Kinpa Palace."

  "About Shoukou?"

  "Yes. We've got to do something. Tell Keiki that I'd like him to investigate."

  "By your command."

  With that, the room fell silent. Youko furrowed her brow. The image of the boy rose up in her mind. He had been so emaciated. Whether or not Shoukou had deliberately killed him, she couldn't say.

  "It is all so sad."

  And such a small child. If Shoukou had killed him, then it became her responsibility for keeping such a monster in office.

  The boy's dying words echoed in her ears. He didn't want to die because Suzu would weep for him. His older sister? Or . . . Youko suddenly looked up. "Suzu?"

  What a strange name. Hardly a common name around here. Perhaps . . . .

  Because Youko was listed upon the Registry of Wizards and everything was automatically translated for her, her language skills were truly lame. Thinking back about it now, she couldn't recall what language the girl had spoken in. She couldn't even remember what she looked like. Only the pain and grief in her eyes. Why hadn't she noticed, why hadn't she taken the time to ask?

  Where were you born?

  Youko glanced down at her bloodstained clothing. I need to go back there, to Shisui. She shook her head. What would she say to her? Shoukou was stayed in office because of her. In Kei, there were still laws that discriminated against kaikyaku. She hadn't repealed them. If she met a kaikyaku, she would have nothing to say worth listening to.

  "I really am worthless as a monarch."

  Chapter 39

  The way I see it, there's two kinds of crying.

  It's true, Suzu thought, gazing at the casket being lowered into the grave. She had never wept such heartbreaking tears. The lamentations tore at her chest until she was out of breath, until there was nothing left inside her but emptiness.

  The sad little shrine stood alone in the cemetery outside the city of Takuhou. The barrel-like casket sat there throughout the night and now disappeared into the hole.

  Stop, Suzu had begged the grave keeper. Don't bury him. It's too sad. She knew it was a meaningless request.

  He reassured her with a pat on the back and all but tore the casket from her grasp and hauled it away. Again, she repeated the same vain request as a stone struck the top of the casket and the grave was filled in.

  The round shape of the casket symbolized the egg from which people were born in this world. From the husk you were born, to the husk you shall return. The ranka containing the child was plucked from the riboku. The parents would tap on the ranka with a stone to create a crack, a good luck charm to ensure a quick birth. Following that custom, they used a round, egg-like casket made from fired-clay, and then, presaging the reincarnation of the dead, opened a fissure in its surface with a stone.

  The hole was filled in, leaving behind a small mound of earth. Even after the grave keepers left, Suzu stood there dumbly.

  I knew it all along.

  She knew that Seishuu was going to die. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had always known it was going to happen. The symptoms were too severe. He couldn't eat. He was wasting away. He was getting worse all over.

  Could even the Royal Kei have saved him? The empress surely should have been able to. On the other hand, far from everything turning out okay, it was just as likely that neither the empress nor the royal surgeons could have done anything for him.

  "But he didn't deserve to die like that."

  Why'd he have to get killed in a hit and run? Even if he hadn't, he wouldn't have lived that much longer.

  "I am an idiot." Suzu clutched at the earth. "I put all my faith in the Royal Kei. Why didn't I take him to a doctor in Goto!"

  Taking him to a doctor might have proved pointless as well. That fear, coupled with the conviction that the Royal Kei would save him, had created these foolish expectations. Better to have taken him to a doctor in Goto, right after they got off the boat. If they only hadn't come here.

  "Seishuu . . . I'm sorry." The sobs still filled the throat. Her tears had not dried. "I'm sorry."

  A cloud passed across the sun. Suzu stared at her own shadow.

  "Miss, the gates are closing."

  She turned blankly toward the sound of the voice. She saw a figure of a smallish person. For a moment, she grasped at false hopes.

  "You going to be here long? Your teeth are chattering."

  "Leave me alone."

  He looked three or four years older than Seishuu. About fourteen. A
small-framed boy with black hair. The boy said, "In Kei, it's still not safe to be caught outside a city at night."

  Suzu glared at him. "Leave me alone. Don't worry about me."

  "You want to get eaten by a youma? You got some sort of death wish?"

  "You wouldn't understand. Go on ahead."

  The boy didn't answer. For a little while, standing behind her, she felt his eyes on her back. "Nobody understands how I feel at all!" she cried.

  The boy answered quietly, "Crying out of self-pity does no respect to the dead."

  Suzu's eye widened in surprise. People who cry because they feel so sorry for themselves. "Who are you?"

  "I'm from Takuhou. Shall we return together?"

  Suzu got to her feet. Once again she looked down at the small mound of earth. "Do you know who he was?"

  "Everybody knows about it. You came from Sou?"

  The boy held out his hand. Suzu took it. He had a warm, delicate palm. She said, "This child is a child of Kei. He fled the kingdom and went to Kou. Then he fled Kou and went to Sou. And now he was returning to Kei."

  "I see," the boy said to himself. He looked back at the mound of earth. "That is sad."

  "Yes," Suzu nodded. The tears spilled down her cheeks. Still weeping, the boy's hand in hers, they returned to the city.

  "Are you from Takuhou?"

  They arrived back at the city just as the gates closed. Inside the gates, Suzu averted her eyes from the right-hand side of the road and more tightly gripped the hand in hers. She didn't let go until they had crossed the main boulevard.

  "Are you from Kei, then?"

  "No. From Sai."

  "That's a long voyage. Do you have a place to stay?"

  Suzu nodded her head. "Thank you for talking to me."

  "Sure," said the boy. He looked at her. "Cheer up. If you don't walk facing forward, you'll end up falling into a hole."

  "Into a hole?"

  "The hole of your own self-pity."

  "Yeah," Suzu muttered to herself. That would be disrespectful to Seishuu. She could hear Seishuu still scolding her. "You're right about that. Thanks."