‘I’m starving,’ said Millie. She eyed off a couple of waiters who were walking towards them.
‘May I offer you shishamo?’ the young man said with a grin.
Millie looked at the plate. A row of small fish, complete with tails and googly eyes, stared back at her. ‘No, thank you.’
‘Miss, they are very tasty,’ said the waiter enticingly.
‘I’ll try it.’ Lucas leaned over and picked up one of the fish. ‘Here goes.’ He downed the whole thing, head and all. The boy’s face contorted in all sorts of directions. He swallowed and took a large gulp of juice. ‘Mmm . . . delicious.’
‘Would you like another, young man? But this is for the heads.’ The man pointed at the bowl in the middle of the platter.
‘Oh.’ Lucas shuddered. ‘I couldn’t possibly. I’m full.’ He shook his head and patted his tummy, then turned away and wiped his tongue on the napkin.
‘Not so good, hey?’ Millie giggled.
‘That was disgusting. I thought I was going to throw up.’
‘Well, you did eat the head when you didn’t have to,’ Millie teased.
Lucas gagged. ‘Stop reminding me.’
‘Why couldn’t we just have a barbecue?’ Jacinta moaned. ‘I could eat a cow right now.’
The children wandered around the room looking at the array of artefacts and artworks. There were samurai swords and a full suit of armour in one corner, and a display case of the most delicate porcelain figurines. But it was Kenzo’s bonsai collection that most fascinated the children.
‘Those little trees are amazing.’ Jacinta peered into the branches of a perfectly clipped maple. She was half-expecting a miniature squirrel to run down the trunk.
‘Look at this one.’ Millie pointed at another of the delicate plants. ‘It looks like our Christmas tree. Well, a tiny version of it.’
‘Do you think the Emperor will come to dinner?’ Lucas asked. ‘Dad said that he’s hardly been seen for ten years.’
‘Like Miss Grimm,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Hey, that’s true. What a strange coincidence,’ said Millie. The waiter had reappeared with her coffee, which he’d poured from the can into a glass. Millie took a sip.
‘What’s it like?’ Jacinta asked.
‘Mmm, it’s very sweet and it doesn’t really taste like coffee. At least, not the sort my mum drinks.’ She took another gulp. ‘Actually, it’s pretty good.’
‘Oh no, she’s going to be dancing on the tables tonight,’ Jacinta teased.
‘No, I won’t,’ Millie shook her head. ‘I’d only do that for strong coffee. This must be like the Under Twelves version of coffee in a can.’
At the other end of the room, the double doors opened.
Like a military parade, the staff quickly formed two lines down the centre of the room.
‘Ah, Your Majesty, might I say you are looking very beautiful this evening,’ Kenzo exclaimed, before giving a low bow.
A woman walked down the lines of attendants. She wore a simple black beaded gown with her hair pulled tightly into a perfect bun.
‘We should join the grown-ups,’ Alice-Miranda whispered and then scurried with her friends to the other end of the room.
‘May I introduce my good friend, Hugh Kennington-Jones?’ Kenzo gestured towards Hugh, who bowed as low as his back would allow.
‘And of course, you have seen this man before.’ Kenzo nodded at Lawrence Ridley.
Hatsuko blushed. ‘It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr Ridley.’
‘And you, Princess.’ Lawrence smiled and Hatsuko reached for Kenzo’s arm to steady herself.
‘Did you see that?’ Jacinta grinned. ‘She almost fainted. That happened to me too the first time I met him.’
‘It happens to you now,’ Millie quipped.
The introductions continued until Kenzo reached Alice-Miranda.
‘Konbanwa, Your Highness. I’m sorry, but I haven’t learned how to say that in Japanese. Watashi wa Alice-Miranda desu.’ The child bowed at right angles. She stood back up and beamed at the woman.
‘Never mind,’ Hatsuko murmured. She studied the child, a slight sneer creeping onto her lips. She hadn’t realised that Kenzo had invited young ones into the palace.
Alice-Miranda didn’t notice the change in Hatsuko’s expression. ‘Your dress is lovely. Will Princess Kiko be joining us?’
Hatsuko smiled thinly. ‘No. She is not feeling well.’
Hatsuko had thought her head was going to explode when those two idiots told her that Kiko was at the palace. So far they had searched high and low and there was no sign of the child anywhere. Hatsuko pretended to smooth her hair. In the process, she pressed the earpiece further inside her ear and listened. If Kiko was spotted, Yuki and Yamato were to tell her immediately.
‘I am so sorry to hear it,’ said Alice-Miranda. ‘I would love to meet her.’
‘Yes, I’m sure that you would.’
As Kenzo finished the presentations, he nodded towards a young man dressed in a black suit. The fellow walked towards a large gong and picked up the mallet beside it. With great ceremony he hit the centre of the metal disc and the sound reverberated throughout the palace.
‘It is time for us to eat,’ Kenzo said. He led the party through the far set of double doors and into a dining room. The long mahogany table was laid with exacting precision.
‘Extraordinary,’ Dolly Oliver mumbled as the group was guided to their seats. It seemed that for each guest there were at least two staff members.
‘We’ll have to employ a few more people I think, Cee,’ said Hugh, arching an eyebrow at his wife. ‘Our dinner parties are positively impoverished compared with this.’
‘I think our dinner parties are just fine,’ Cecelia whispered. ‘And this, my darling, is ridiculous.’
Kenzo was seated at the head of the table with Princess Hatsuko to his left. The adults were then seated along each side and finally the children were together at the other end. The chair opposite Kenzo was empty.
‘Do you think that’s for the Emperor?’ Millie whispered to Alice-Miranda.
‘Maybe, but I don’t think they’d have put all of us together down here if they thought he was going to come. He’d probably prefer some adult company.’
Hatsuko leaned towards Kenzo. ‘Did you tell my brother about your guests?’ she asked.
‘Hai. I do not expect him for dinner but he said that perhaps he will feel up to meeting Mr Ridley at the end of the meal.’
Hatsuko rolled her eyes. Her brother hadn’t been up to anything for years. She couldn’t imagine that the presence of a movie star would change that.
Kenzo spoke to one of the waiters and within seconds the first course was served.
Jacinta stared at what looked like a flower on her plate. It was cream in the centre with pink petals and a touch of green to look like a stem.
The waiter behind her chair leaned forward and whispered, ‘It is a potato, miss.’
‘A potato? How did they make it look like that?’
‘Japanese food is not just for nourishment of the body, miss. It is for enrichment of the soul.’
‘Ohhh,’ Jacinta nodded. She had no idea what he meant but it sounded impressive.
‘I hope there’s more than this,’ Millie muttered.
A waiter standing behind the girl also leaned forward and murmured, ‘Do not worry, miss. This is the first of many courses.’
Millie turned and smiled at him. ‘Great. I’m starving.’
Kenzo nodded towards his guests. ‘Please, let us eat and enjoy.’
He was just about to take his first mouthful when the doors at the end of the room slid open.
Kenzo looked up. His jaw dropped and he was on his feet in no time. ‘Oh, Your Majesty.’
The adults and children took their lead from him too – except Jacinta, who was busily studying the floral potato and wondering how on earth it had been crafted.
Lucas leaned down and whispered in her e
ar, ‘Jacinta, stand up!’
‘What?’ Jacinta looked up and saw that everyone was on their feet. ‘Oh sorry.’ She scrambled to stand. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Are we having a toast or something? We just sat down.’
Lucas elbowed her gently and pointed towards the doorway.
Kenzo bowed deeply. The rest of the group did too. Jacinta hurriedly joined in.
The man in the doorway merely blinked at the group. His face was drawn and his dinner suit hung loosely from his thin frame.
‘I’m glad there’ll be lots to eat,’ Millie whispered to Alice-Miranda. ‘The Emperor looks like he could do with some fattening up.’
At the other end of the table, Hatsuko’s stomach lurched. Her brother had not dined with guests for years. She silently cursed Kenzo and his chance meeting with Hugh Kennington-Jones.
‘Your Majesty,’ Kenzo said and bowed again. Everyone else did too.
The man nodded.
Kenzo smiled. He then walked towards the Emperor and whispered something.
‘Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Jimmu.’
‘Konbanwa,’ the Emperor said in an unexpectedly deep voice. ‘Please sit down.’
Kenzo looked at the empty chair at the head of the table then glanced at his own seat. ‘Would you like to sit beside your sister?’
‘That is your place, my friend. I will sit right here.’
Within a second the chair had been pulled out, the perfect place setting straightened and the Emperor was seated.
‘I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to have you with us,’ Kenzo said quietly.
‘It is about time that I live again, my friend.’
Kenzo then went around the table introducing the guests one by one. Alice-Miranda was seated to the Emperor’s left.
‘This is Mr Hugh and Ms Cecelia’s daughter, Miss Alice-Miranda,’ Kenzo concluded the introductions.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.’ The child looked up at him with her brown eyes as big as saucers. ‘I love your house – well, your palace, of course. It’s very beautiful and I imagine that this is only a small part of it.’
‘This is Kenzo-san’s apartment. But you are right. This palace is far too big and empty,’ said the Emperor sadly.
‘Well, it’s gorgeous all the same. We have a lovely home too, although it doesn’t compare to this. Mummy and Daddy have lots of parties. I think it makes the house feel treasured. Do you like parties?’ she asked.
Emperor Jimmu stared blankly. He looked as if he was lost in a happy memory. ‘You know, I do, but there have been none for such a long time. Not since my beautiful Kiyomi . . .’
Hatsuko was listening from the other end of the table. She was pleased to hear the dead Empress’s name. Surely he would be sucked back into his grief, and he would return to his room to mourn in private, just as he had done for years now.
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘I am sorry about the Empress.’
Kenzo held his breath.
‘She was very beautiful. But you have a daughter and I’m sure she must be lovely, like her mother. You must take great comfort knowing that a part of your wife lives on. Not that I know much about anything yet because I’m only eight and one-quarter. I can’t imagine how hard it would be.’
The Emperor stared at Alice-Miranda. ‘Did you say that you were only eight and one-quarter?’
She nodded.
‘Then you are the wisest eight-and-one-quarter-year-old I have ever had the pleasure to meet.’ A tear welled in the corner of his eye and he quickly brushed it away.
Hatsuko was waiting for him to run from the room. But he didn’t. Instead he looked up at his sister.
‘Where is my daughter?’ he asked. ‘I would like her to join us for dinner.’
‘Oh!’ Alice-Miranda clasped her hands together. ‘That’s wonderful, Your Majesty. I’ve been hoping that we might meet the princess.’
Hatsuko’s stomach clenched. She stood up from the table and bowed as she exited the room.
In the hallway she hissed into her watch. ‘Where is she, you fools?’
Back inside the dining room, Kenzo beamed. For the first time in years it seemed as if things in the Imperial household were looking up.
Hatsuko fled along the corridor and down into the secret dungeon, where Yuki was monitoring the screen.
‘Well, where is she?’ Hatsuko said, and stamped her foot on the floor.
‘It is a mystery, Your Majesty. According to this, she is in Kenzo’s dining room.’
‘In the dining room! She cannot be! I have just come from there and unless Kiko has transformed herself into a small brunette child or a blonde or a redhead, she is not there.’
‘May I ask who you are dining with?’
‘A friend of Kenzo’s from his university days and his family. His name is Hugh Kennington-Jones and his brother-in-law is the actor Lawrence Ridley.’
‘Ah, the famous movie star?’ Yuki grinned. ‘He is a handsome man.’
Hatsuko clopped him over the back of the head. ‘I know that, you fool.’
Yuki gulped. He had a vague memory of a brunette and a red-haired child near the inn. ‘May I ask what the children look like?’
‘Here, look on the computer. Search for them and I am sure there will be pictures, if you are so fascinated.’
Within a minute a photograph of Hugh Kennington-Jones and his wife and daughter appeared on the screen.
Yuki felt as if he’d just swallowed a mouthful of sand. Yamato arrived in the room.
‘I’ve seen that child before,’ he said, pointing at the screen.
Yuki nodded. ‘Hai. Where?’
‘She was in Harajuku right outside the crêperie and again inside the store where we thought the princess was. She was at the inn we have been watching too.’
Hatsuko drummed her fingers on the desk. ‘So do you think she is hiding the princess?’
The two men shrugged.
Hatsuko’s eyes widened. ‘You numbskulls! The princess has outsmarted both of you!’ The woman screeched as she ran from the room and back towards Kenzo’s apartment.
She stood outside the door, smoothed her hair and took several deep breaths. Then Hatsuko strode into the room. To her dismay, her brother was giggling like a schoolboy. He and the brunette child seemed to be deep in conversation, but he looked up as she entered.
‘Where is Princess Kiko?’
‘I am afraid that she is not feeling well. She is sleeping,’ Hatsuko lied.
The Emperor frowned and cocked his head. ‘I have not seen her for days now.’
Hatsuko wanted to correct him. He hadn’t seen his daughter for much longer than that. The last time the child had been summoned to his room, he’d taken one look at her and burst into tears. Hatsuko had spent many months making sure that the child knew it was her fault entirely that he was unwell. She reminded him too much of her dead mother.
‘I am sure the princess would love to have met the children, but perhaps next time,’ Hatsuko said blandly.
‘Oh, I can’t imagine that there will be a next time. I mean, it’s not every day that one gets to meet the Emperor of Japan,’ Alice-Miranda babbled.
The Emperor looked at Hatsuko closely. ‘We must see if she is awake and feeling better after we have finished our meal.’
Hatsuko gulped and turned her attention to the children. She needed to work out exactly what the princess’s game was and how this perky little brat and her friends were involved. ‘Have you enjoyed seeing the city?’
‘Hai. Tokyo is wonderful,’ Alice-Miranda enthused.
‘We went to Harajuku and got to dress up,’ Millie added.
‘And Hugh bought us some beautiful necklaces so that we’ll always remember our first visit to Japan,’ Jacinta said. ‘Would you like to see them?’
Hugh looked at his daughter and frowned. Alice-Miranda gave a tiny nod.
‘Mine’s a paper crane,’ Jacinta pulled the neckl
ace out of her kimono and showed it off.
‘And mine’s a cherry blossom.’ Millie did the same.
‘They are both charming and symbolic of our country,’ the Emperor said.
‘What about you?’ Hatsuko stared at Alice-Miranda, her dark eyes narrowing.
The child smiled. ‘Oh, mine’s a lovely little disc.’
‘No, it’s a chrysanthemum locket with a picture of a beautiful woman inside,’ said Jacinta.
‘Really? A locket, you say?’ Hatsuko smiled thinly. ‘Please show me.’
Hugh looked across the table and nodded. Alice-Miranda could hardly refuse the princess’s request. At least the Emperor had spoken openly of his wife and daughter, so it didn’t seem like Alice-Miranda’s locket would upset him at this point.
Alice-Miranda pulled the necklace from inside her kimono.
‘Would you come here so I can see it?’ Hatsuko asked.
The child hopped down from her seat and walked to the end of the table. Hatsuko had to stop herself from tearing the necklace from the girl’s throat.
‘The catch is a bit tricky,’ Alice-Miranda said.
Hatsuko pushed her hand away. ‘It’s fine. I am very good with jewellery.’ She popped open the front of the locket and stared at the photograph. ‘She’s very pretty.’
‘Yes, she is,’ said Alice-Miranda.
‘May I see?’ the Emperor asked.
‘Of course,’ Hatsuko said.
‘Do you think that’s a good idea, Princess?’ Alice-Miranda whispered to the woman.
Hatsuko eyeballed the child. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’
‘Please, I would love to see.’ The Emperor beckoned Alice-Miranda back to the other end of the table.
He lifted up the pendant and inspected the outside. ‘It is a thing of great beauty.’ He turned it over and gasped.
‘Are you all right, Your Majesty?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
He studied the picture. ‘It is my Kiyomi.’
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘She was very lovely.’
‘Hai. Kiko is so like her.’
The Emperor pulled a pocket watch from his suit jacket and flipped it open. Inside was a picture of his wife and a young girl, about four years of age.
Alice-Miranda in Japan 9 Page 16