by Fuyumi Ono
Grinning, the En glanced back over his shoulder at them. "Looks like you made it here without falling off."
How could you fall off? Youko wondered. On the back of the tiger, there was no sense of cutting through the wind, no shaking from side to side.
As if reading her thoughts, the En smiled. "The height makes some people dizzy. Others get so used to the sensation they fall asleep."
Well, I suppose, Youko thought sarcastically.
Intricate designs were carved deeply into the smooth landing area, like anti-skid marks. There were no handrails, and she had no urge to peer over the edge. She couldn't begin to imagine how far above the ground they already were.
A pair of doors led from the ledge into the cliff. The En turned on his heels and headed toward the doors. The doors both swung inwards before he arrived.
The doors were twice her height and seemed to have been fashioned from a single slab of stone. As heavy as the door looked, they were opened by a pair of soldiers. She wasn't positive that they were soldiers. But as they both wore thick leather breastplates, it seemed a logical conclusion.
After nodding to the soldiers, the En looked back at Youko and Rakushun, beckoning them to follow along. When they passed through the doors, the two soldiers bowed, but not deeply, and then hurried out onto the ledge where the two tigers were resting. They were probably going to water and feed and groom them as they would a pair of horses.
"What's holding you up? This way." The En was looking at her. She hurried to catch up and found herself within a large hallway.
The chandelier overhead made the room as bright as day. Fluttering his whiskers in amazement, Rakushun stared up at the ceiling. So it must be something pretty unusual.
The hall wasn't long, leading to a much less impressive room. From there, in the middle of a tunnel-like arch, a white stone staircase continued on upwards. Seeing the staircase, Rakushun's whiskers drooped.
The En glanced back and said encouragingly, "Come on. No need to worry about courtesies."
"Not at all." Rakushun had a stiff expression on his face that Youko understood at once. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You know, Youko, I think this is how we get up there."
"Yeah, probably." The thought left her in a less than enthusiastic mood as well. The ledge they had landed on was quite high up, but the distance that remained from here to the summit was comparable to a skyscraper. Walking up all that way would be torture.
Nevertheless, Youko kept her thoughts to herself and stepped onto the staircase. She took hold of Rakushun's hand. The rise of each step was short, but the staircase itself was long. They climbed the stairs in step with the En. Where the stairs ended there was a large landing. They turned ninety degrees and climbed another flight of stairs and entered a small room. At the back of the room was a door. The thick, wooden door was beautifully adorned with vivid bas-relief carvings.
Passing through that door, a soft breeze drifted in, carrying with it the rich scent of the sea.
"Oh … " Youko unconsciously exclaimed. Before them was a wide terrace. They were already above the clouds.
What miracle this was, she didn't know, but ascending those few steps had brought them already to the very heights of the mountain. The floor was finished in white stone, as were the balustrades of the terrace. Beneath the terrace, waves of white clouds broke against the shore.
No, Youko realized in astonishment, they were the whitecaps of actual waves.
"Rakushun!" she shouted, "it's an ocean!"
She ran to the railing. Beneath her feet, where the terrace protruded from the face of the cliff, the tall waves crested and broke. As she cast her eyes about, she knew this was the surface of an ocean and where the smell of the sea came from.
"There is an ocean above the sky," said Rakushun.
Youko glanced back at him. "An ocean above the sky?"
"Well, if there wasn't an ocean, then we wouldn't call it a Sea of Clouds."
The rich smell of the ocean mingled together with the wafting breezes. The black sea reached out as far as she could see. Waves crashed against the shore beneath the terrace. Leaning out over the railing and peering down into the water, she could see lights in the depths of the sea. It was like the Kyokai, but then she realized that these were the distant lights of Kankyuu.
"This is so cool. But why doesn't the water all just fall down?"
"Well," said the En, with a chuckle, "if the Sea of Clouds were to fall like rain, that would cause quite a bit of trouble for everyone. If it would please her Highness, I'm sure we could arrange a room with a balcony for the Royal Kei."
"You know," said Youko, trying to put this as politely as possible, "I would really appreciate it you could stop it with this 'Highness' stuff.
Amused, the En raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
"I guess it seems like you're talking about somebody else."
The En laughed. He was about to say something, then suddenly looked up at the sky. Following the direction of his gaze, Youko saw a slender beam of light.
"It looks like the Taiho has returned. Well, then, Youko."
He turned around. At the left-hand side of the veranda was a short stone staircase. Youko followed after him, stepping where he stepped. She looked up in amazement.
There, arranged upon an island-like formation in the center of the craggy mountain, its cliffs white in the light of the moon, were a countless number of buildings. Like in a scene depicted in a sumi-e watercolor, the ranges of curiously-shaped rocks, the branches of trees and shrubs protruding from the bare rock, the many narrow waterfalls.
Some of the buildings on the cliffs were pagodas, others had multiple stories. Corridors running in all direction connected them together, creating one massive structure. It was an enormous castle embedded within the mountain itself. The heart of the Kingdom of En. The residence of the Royal En. Gen'ei Palace.
7-7
Youko and Rakushun entered the building and were surrounded by a number of what they took to be servants. They were separated from the En and hustled off to rooms further inside.
"Hey," said Youko.
"Wait a minute," said Rakushun.
A lady-in-waiting turned to the flustered Youko and Rakushun and said with an impassive expression on her face, "Please follow me. A change of clothes shall be made available. Your baths are being drawn."
In other words, they were not to be wandering around the palace in such an unkept state. Despite their confusion, they agreed. They were brought buckets of water and scrubbed themselves down. After that, behind a set of folding screens, took turns soaking in the bath. When they went into the next room, they found new clothes laid out on a big table.
"This is what we're supposed to change into?" Rakushun held up the florid fabric, inspecting it with a look of disgust. "Seems to be men's clothing. Maybe he thinks you're a man, or he knows you're a woman and he's having a little fun with you."
"Looks like there's a suit for you, too," Youko pointed out.
Rakushun's shoulder's slumped. "Yes, it should have occurred to me before, but I guess it would be considered rude to show up like this."
In other words, naked, Youko thought, handing him his clothes. She recalled the hanjuu she'd seen on the streets. More than a few of them were wearing clothes. As put out as Rakushun looked, when she imagined him dressed up like that, she had to smile.
His shoulders rounded, dragging his tail, she sent Rakushun off behind the folding screens while she changed her clothes. The trousers had an ample cut and were made of a soft, pale fabric, as was the blouse. A long, finely-embroidered tunic finished up the ensemble.
Everything was made out of silk. After becoming used to plain clothing scratching against her skin, it was ticklish. About the time she had finished tying the sash, the door opened and an old man appeared.
"Have you finished with your wardrobe?"
"I have. I think my friend … "
. . . needs some more time, she started to say
, when the screens moved. "It's okay," he answered in a low voice. "I'm done."
Youko gaped at the figure that appeared from behind the screens. For a moment she was at a loss for words.
"What?"
"Rakushun, is that … you?"
"Sure is." He nodded and grinned. "The first time you've seen me like this. But I'm still Rakushun."
Youko put her hands up to her face in mortification. Now she understood what Rakushun meant when she hugged him and he said that she needed to learn some "discretion."
"I forgot that some things here are still beyond the bounds of my common sense."
"So it seems." He laughed, a striking man of twenty or so, of average height and somewhat thin. But in any case, a healthy young man. A "legal adult" really did mean a human who had come of age.
"An ordinary animal couldn't talk, right? I said I was a hanjuu, right?"
"Yeah … you're right."
She felt her face burning. A hanjuu, a half-human, he had said. A legal adult, he had said. Not only had they hugged, but they'd shared rooms together, and a long time ago she vaguely recalled that he had changed her nightclothes.
"Youko, just when you seem to have it all together, you can still completely miss the big picture."
"I think so, too. So why aren't you always in human form, then?" Youko asked, a peevish tone creeping unbidden into her voice.
Rakushun sighed despite himself. "Because it's a lot easier being a rat," he said, an air of resentment in his voice. His vermillion-clad shoulders sagged disconsolately. "I'm telling you, dressing up like this is a real pain in the neck. My shoulders are so stiff. And to makes things worse, on a highfalutin day like today."
He complained so miserably that Youko had to giggle.
The old man accompanied them down a long hallway and into a large room. The scent of the sea drifted in through a pair of open French windows. The En glanced over his shoulder at them. He was standing on the terrace, facing the water. He had changed as well, but there wasn't much difference among their outfits. Youko and Rakushun were by no means wearing haute couture, so the king's clothes seemed rather plain considering his stature. There was nothing pompous or pretentious about him.
The En grinned as he came back into the room. "I see you've dressed. My attendants insist on sticking to formalities. It is annoying, but they get quite upset when you don't do exactly as you're told. I do apologize."
Youko thought perhaps it was the En who was underdressed, but his tone was charming enough that Youko limited her response to a smile.
"Rakushun, you want to take all that off, it's okay with me."
Rakushun (the young man) managed a strained smile. "It's nothing to be concerned about. What about the Taiho?"
"He'll be here any minute." As he spoke, the door opened. The scent of salt air filled the room. "Speak of the devil."
There was (as always) a pair of screens inside the doors. The personage who appeared from behind them was a golden-haired boy of twelve or thirteen.
"How are things going?"
"As expected, they don't seem to have ascended yet to the Imperial Palace. Interesting guests you have."
"Actually, they're not my guests. They're yours."
"Mine? Never met them before." The boy scowled and turned to Youko and Rakushun. "So, what's with you two?"
"Now, now, you can be nicer than that."
"You know what it means to mind your own business?"
"You're going to regret it."
"So, you finally decided to get yourself a better half, huh?"
"I'm not kidding."
"Your mother, then?"
"And if she is neither my wife nor my mother, will you remember your manners, then?" The En sighed and turned to the dumbfounded Youko. "I'm sorry, but this is Enki, an incorrigible little cuss. And Rokuta," he said, addressing Enki, "this is her Royal Highness, the Empress of Kei."
Enki gulped audibly, took a very big step backwards and peered up at her. Youko tried but couldn't help herself and burst into laugher. It was perhaps the first time she had truly laughed out loud since crossing the Kyokai.
"You should have said so in the first place! What a bastard!"
"Takes one to know one," the En said. "Her companion is Sir Rakushun." He grew more serious. "How are things in Kei?"
The boy sobered up as well. "It looks like Ki Province has already fallen."
Rakushun wrote out the character for "Ki." Even though everything was automatically translated for her, she still had to attend to how things were written. The spoken language wasn't a problem, but that alone wasn't enough to make her literate.
"Only the northern province of Baku remains. Joei resides in Sei Province, as she has all along. Her armies have grown such that the Imperial Army dare not cross swords with them."
Rakushun wrote "Imperial Army" using the characters, The Royal Masters of War.
"The pretender's army is advancing on Baku Province. The Marquis of Baku has three thousand soldiers under his command. He can't hold out for long. It's only a matter of time." He sat himself down on top of the table and helped himself to some fruit. "So where'd you find the Royal Kei, anyway?"
The En gave him the abridged version. Enki listened silently and then leaned forward and said with sullen expression, "What kind of fool would sent a kirin to attack a human?"
"For the time being, we can leave aside the question of who is pulling the strings. But we've got to get Keiki back."
"The sooner the better. Once they realize the Royal Kei is here, they may kill him."
"Excuse me," Youko interrupted. "But I don't understand any of this."
The En raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Look, I was brought here totally in the dark. The Royal En says I'm the Empress of Kei, so I guess it must be true. Just as it's true that some king somewhere obviously wants me dead. But I never wanted to be the Royal Kei. I didn't reach out to you hoping you'd recognize me as the Royal Kei, or anything. I don't much care for getting chased around by youma, and I didn't particularly enjoy getting chased around by those soldiers in Kou, either. The only reason I'm here is to ask The Royal En for a way to get back to Japan. That's it."
The En and Enki looked at each other. For a while, everybody was silent. Then the En spoke up.
"Youko, have a seat."
"I … . "
"Sit down. There's something I'd like you to hear, and it's going to take a while."
7-8
The En stared off into space for a moment. Then he said, "There are people and there are kingdoms. So it stands to reason that there must be people to govern those kingdoms, wouldn't you say?"
"Yes."
"This palace is where the king resides. The king administers the affairs of state. As this responsibility falls upon the shoulders of the king, he must administer the government in accordance with the wishes of the people. Of course, power corrupts, and ofttimes the king ends up oppressing his subjects. I'm not saying that all rulers are by definition bad. But from the time the king takes up the reins of power, he is no longer an ordinary person. And what he knows of being an ordinary person slips away."
"I've heard it said that the Royal En is an enlightened monarch."
The En smiled wryly. "I wouldn't go that far. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The point is, when kings oppress their subjects, what recourse do the people have?"
"There's always democracy," Enki interjected. "The people choose a king to their own liking. And when he becomes not to their liking, they choose somebody else."
"Well, that's one way," the En responded. "But here it is done another. If a king is oppressing his subjects, then someone chooses a king who won't. That someone is the kirin."
"The kirin chooses the king on behalf of the people?"
"That's one way to put it. Here, there is what may be called the Divine Will. God in His Heaven created the earth and the kingdoms and established the natural law. According to the Divine Will, the kirin chooses the ki
ng and the king, in turn, receives the Mandate of Heaven."
"Mandate of Heaven."
"The king protects the kingdom, comes to the aid of the commoners, and maintains law and order. The kirin selects those capable of carrying out that Mandate. Those chosen are placed upon the throne. The intent is that by means of the kirin, Heaven will enthrone wise rulers. There are those who call me an enlightened monarch, but that is hardly true. All kings possess the character and capability to reign with wisdom, strength and benevolence."
Youko didn't respond. She sat there quietly.
"Still, many enlightened monarchs have reigned in Japan and China. So why is it that these countries have not, in general, remained at peace?"
Youko nodded slightly. "Even if a person is a so-called enlightened monarch, he can go astray in a moment of weakness. And even if he doesn't, the best ruler will die someday, and the person who succeeds him will not necessarily be so wise. So it's inevitable that you'll eventually end up between some kind of rock and hard place."
"That's right. But if a monarch were made immortal, made a god, that would solve half the problem. And then supposing the king does die, better that you eliminate hereditary rule, requiring the kirin to choose a new king and watch him very carefully to make sure he doesn't stray. Do you think that would work?"
"Yeah, I suppose that would work."
As if in agreement, the En nodded once. "For the present time, the Kingdom of En has been entrusted to me. Enki chose me as king. The selection process has nothing to do with how hard a person wishes to be king or strives to be a ruler. The kirin relies on his intuition, the way a man decides upon a woman. Or perhaps I should say, the way a woman chooses a man. I was a taika. I was not born here. Like you, I had not the slightest idea of what a king was or should be. Yet the kirin chose me and so a king I am. The Mandate of Heaven rests upon my shoulders, and nothing I can do can change that."
"Does that mean I can't go home, either?"