by Fuyumi Ono
Suzu nodded in agreement. "The Empress can't have any idea what's going on in Wa Province and Shisui Prefecture. If she knew the chaotic state things were in, and how much Shoukou and Gahou are despised, she'd be sure to investigate and spend a lot more time righting wrongs like this. That's what we're shooting for."
Suzu giggled to herself. "To tell the truth, I came to Kei to meet the Empress. So did Shoukei."
Youko's eyes flew open wide. "To meet the Royal Kei? Why?"
"Because she's the same age as us," Suzu and Shoukei said at the same time, and laughed.
"That's the only reason?"
"No, not really," Suzu quickly added. "It was also because we were both kaikyaku."
As they strolled along the wall walk, Suzu recounted the tale of her long journey. It really was a long journey. So many things had happened by the time she'd wound up here. Now, despite being in the middle of a war she wasn't sure she'd survive, she found herself strangely at peace with herself, as calm as this early spring morning.
"Because I was a kaikyaku, I felt incredibly sorry for myself. I told myself that a fellow kaikyaku like the Empress would take pity on me and help me out."
"You've really grown up, Suzu," Shoukei said.
Suzu waved her hand. "Oh, c'mon. It's hardly anything to boast about."
"Well, I despised the Royal Kei. But only because she was favorite scapegoat. I couldn't forgive the fact that I'd been driven out of the imperial palace at the same time a girl my same age had been crowned Empress."
And then Shoukei recounted the details of her journey as well. The regicide of her father, the freezing winters spend at the rike, the time she was almost executed, and being sent to Kyou. How she'd escaped and fled to Ryuu, and the person she encountered there.
"If I hadn't met Rakushun, I'd still be in the same sorry state I was then. I owe him everything."
"Rakushun--!" Youko exclaimed.
Shoukei turned to her. "He's a really good person. I had to believe that if the Royal Kei was a friend of his, then she must be a good person too."
"I am?"
"Eh?" Suzu and Shoukei said together. They stopped and stared at her. "You're what?"
"I mean, what I'm telling you is, the Royal Kei you're talking about is me!"
Both Suzu and Shoukei's mouths dropped open.
"I know this is going to sound like some sort of joke, but listening to your stories, I couldn't remain silent. I had to say something." Youko felt incredibly awkward. Suzu and Shoukei didn't look like they were buying it.
"The Royal Kei? Sekishi?"
"Yeah. The ministers came up with that name. The Red Child. You see, because of my hair--"
Their sense of astonishment slowly grew. "Is your name really Youshi?"
"Well, it's really Youko. The characters are the same. You as in taiyou (the sun). Shi as in shison (descendant)."
"You can't be serious!" Suzu stared at Youko. Buried feelings groaned to life within her. Hadn't she bought the dagger currently inside her vest for the express purpose of killing the Royal Kei?
Shoukei gazed at Youko as well. The person she'd resented and envied for so long was right there in front of her. Long-forgotten emotions swelled within her breast. Had she ever really hated her that much?
"If you're telling us the truth, then what in the world are you doing here?" Why aren't you in Kinpa, the Imperial Palace in Gyouten? she meant.
"I'm a taika. I don't know a thing about this world. I was being tutored by a man named Enho."
"Enho--the man who was kidnapped?"
Youko nodded. "Shoukou had the rike attacked and Enho abducted. Shoukou may have carried out the orders, but in one way or another, Gahou was at the root of it. Shoukou says that Enho is now in Meikaku. I've been looking everywhere for him, trying to rescue him, and this is where I ended up."
"You didn't have to get involved in something like this!" Shoukei practically shouted at her. If she was the Empress--really was the Empress--then she should have simply dismissed Shoukou. Carrying on in this manner, so many people who'd never intended to put their lives on the line were suffering mortal injuries. How many people had died so far? Of the three men Kantai had ordered to Takuhou, one was already dead. The faces of mercenaries she'd become so accustomed were gone before she knew it. How many of Suzu's comrades had been lost as well?
"I couldn't order the Imperial Army to arrest Shoukou. I don't have that kind of authority."
"What do you mean you don't? That doesn't make any sense!"
"I don't. I truly don't. I told Keiki to relieve Shoukou of his post, but the ministers wouldn't act without sufficient grounds. I had to present them with convincing reasons and concrete evidence to back them up. I do not have the trust of the bureaucracy."
"Why?"
"They say I'm incompetent. And I am. I don't know anything about this world. No matter how hard I think a matter through, I can't say what the best solution is. The ministers don't trust empresses. This kingdom has had a bad run of empresses. And when it comes to something like this, they're hardly going to leave things to my discretion."
"This is too unbelievable." But Shoukei had heard too many times how Kei was not blessed by its empresses.
"I asked Keiki to mobilize the provincial guard, but he wasn't able to. His minister of defense and his three commanding officers were suddenly struck ill."
Shoukei was too taken aback to speak.
"He returned to the palace to put the Imperial Court in order, but it was too late. Enho had been kidnapped. The rike was attacked and a girl my age was murdered. Her brother was stabbed and now clings to life. He was immediately taken back to the palace, and while the doctors have done everything they can for him, we don't know whether he will live or die."
"Doctors," Suzu muttered to herself. Shoukei glanced at her. Suzu's eyes were focused on Youko.
"Yes, I know. A child died in this city as well. When I found him, the life was all but gone from him. There wasn't anything I could do to help him."
"Really?" Shoukei asked. "You would have helped him if you'd been in time?"
Youko drew her brows together in obvious discomfort. "Of course. One life is worth as much as another."
"And if that child had suffered a less grievous wound?"
Youko's expression turned even more disagreeable. "And you, Shoukei? Would you have walked by on the other side? Wouldn't you have at least taken him to a doctor? Isn't that the kind of thing that people normally do?"
"Yeah, sure," Shoukei said, with a sigh. Suzu didn't say anything. She rested her forehead against the merlon.
"Look, as an empress, I'm nothing to write home about, okay? I had no idea my subjects were dying right and left, being taxed to death, worked to death, and suffering God knows what else. I know it's a poor excuse to say that I only feel compelled to help the unfortunate right there in front of me, but like I said, I'm pretty much a joke as far as empresses go. When I said I'd help Keikei or that other boy, that still means that some other kid in some other place else is going to die. But how can you ignore the suffering in front of your eyes?"
"You can't."
"Yeah," said Youko, bowing her head. "I'm sorry I don't exactly measure up."
Shoukei nodded. Hugging her arms around the merlon, Suzu suddenly burst out laughing.
"Suzu--"
"I know, I know," Suzu said, waving her hand back and forth. She clung to the merlon and buried her face in the crook of her arm, tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks as she laughed.
"Suzu, what's your problem?"
"But… I mean… this is so stupid!"
"Suzu, really!"
"Not knowing the slightest thing about her, I built up all these expectations, only to see them dashed. I didn't place all my hopes in Youko. I placed all my hopes in some big, important person called the 'Empress.' What a fool I was!"
Youko stared at her, a perplexed expression on her face. Suzu flashed her a strained smile. "But that's the way it is
with an empress, no? Everybody burdens you with their own expectations. Nobody thinks about things from your perspective. And so we all get to wallow in our own disappointment. Don't you think?"
Shoukei looked up at the heavens and sighed. "Indeed."
"So what do you think I should do?" the puzzled Youko asked.
"Huh?" said Suzu, raising her head. "Well, there's no doubt about that, is there?"
Shoukei scowled at Suzu, and then sighed again. "No, you're right. There isn't." She clapped Youko on the back. "We defeat the provincial guard and tear Gahou from power!"
Part XIX
19-1
In the dead of the night, Youko was awakened from a light sleep by the violent beating of a drum.
"W-what's going on?"
Next to her, Suzu and Shoukei awoke with a start.
"An attack?"
"The provincial guard can't have gotten here already!"
They jumped to their feet and rushed out of the guard tower onto the wall walk. The sound came from one of the drum turrets positioned at the four corners of the castle walls.
"What happened, Kantai?"
Standing on the wall walk, Kantai turned his severe countenance and gestured toward the south.
Youko gasped. She and Suzu and Shoukei stood rooted to the spot. The darkness spread out over the city of Takuhou. To the south, a light could be seen along the outer loop road. A red light. Flames.
"A fire?" queried Suzu.
Youko narrowed her eyes.
"Why?" somebody asked.
Sekki and Koshou came running.
"Koshou, there's a fire--"
Sekki's voice interrupted hers. "It's the provincial guard."
"What?" The people there all turned and looked at Sekki.
"This is no doubt some strategy of Gahou's. The guard intends to burn us out, along with Shoukou and the city."
"Nonsense!" came a cry from the gathering crowd.
"Koshou, what do we do?" a familiar voice asked. "Consider the time of night! We must wake the citizenry and muster them to put out the fires!"
"No!" Both Kantai and Sekki answered together.
"Why not, Sekki?"
"The guard are waiting for us. The calvalry has likely pushed on ahead of the infantry. They're waiting for us to leave the castle. Send anybody out there, and the elite of the cavalry will set on them like a wolf pack."
Kantai agreed. "Sekki's right. Rush out of here and you'll be running headlong into a trap. It will takes hours for the fire to reach the castle. For the time being, it'd be best to watch and see how things develop."
Koshou glanced back and forth between the two. "You mean to stand by and do nothing?"
"There's probably nothing that we can do," Sekki said. The sound of a pounding drum burst forth from another turret on the castle walls. Sekki hung his head. "Another fire's been lit."
"Sekki!" Koshou raised his arms. "We turn our back on them and we're no better than common murderers!" He said to Youko. "Let's go."
"Youshi! Koshou!"
Suzu put her hand on Sekki shoulder. "It's wrong to get even with somebody out of a personal grudge, right? If we look the other way now, it will look like we did it all out of spite. We'll lose the high moral ground."
"Suzu--"
"There's no saying how things would have turned out if Kantai and Shoukei hadn't shown up. Since we were prepared for that eventuality all along, what if only we go?"
Sekki nodded. "Find a place where you can break through and secure an escape route for the people of the city."
"All right, then." Koshou gave Sekki a slap on the back that practically sent him sprawling. "Move out!"
A man noticed the smoke and jumped out of bed. He took note of the sound of popping wood and the strange hot wind and shook his wife awake. After the many days filled with dread, she slept soundly on this unexpectedly quiet night.
"Wake up!" he shouted. He ran through the living room to the bedroom opposite and scooped his small daughter up in his arms. Still half-asleep, she opened her eyes. Soothing her and hurrying his wife along, they headed outside.
"What in the world--!"
The avenue was a sea of flames. The man at once understood that the fire had become a firestorm.
"We've got to get out of the city! Now!"
This was what came from defying Shoukou. The people in Shisui were born under an unlucky star. This what happened when they questioned that fate. But until today, at least the destroying angel had passed by his house.
They mingled together with other scrambling, befuddled people running toward the Monkey Gate. The man stopped in his tracks and stared. The Monkey Gate was closed, and the mounted knights arrayed in front of the gate were up to no good. The ground beneath the horses' hooves was strewn with bodies.
He grasped his wife's arm, turned on his heels, and dragged her back the way they'd come. His wife screamed as an old man next to him took an arrow in the chest.
What did he do? What had he ever done to the likes of them? He had nothing to do with those rebels. Why kill him and all his kin on account of what they did?
For the time being, the rest of them could only run frantically down the street toward the inner loop road, away from the conflagration. The flames licked the sky all around them, filling him with horror. Here, there, and everywhere. From every point of the compass. The tongues of fire licking upwards next to a gate an instant later had crept along the ridgepoles and joined with a neighboring fire, growing much stronger.
What is going on?
Any escape had been closed off. His daughter opened her eyes and began to wail. "At the very least--" he said, turning around. A red light glowed atop the ink dark walls of the castle, lending it a foreboding and magisterial appearance. "You go to the castle."
"But--" his wife objected.
He handed the child to her. "They're the ones who overthrew Shoukou and caused all this. They won't abandon you. Go!" he said, giving her a push.
At the same time, the west White Dragon Gate opened and people spilled out. He froze in place.
"Get back!"
He stared at the horse and rider galloping toward him.
"Watch out for ambushes! The fire won't spread easily beyond the main boulevard! There are bound to be arsonists still in the city!"
"Understood!" they shouted, as they sprinted past him.
In all the confusion, the man hadn't budged an inch. Left behind in front of the gate, a boy perched on a horse waved at him. "They'll show you the way! Follow them!"
Amidst the jumble of human activity in front of the White Dragon Gate, Kantai sprang onto the back of his kitsuryou. He turned to his two subordinates. "As much as possible, keep the people away from the castle walls. An attack may come in the midst of all this turmoil. Take the wounded inside the castle if necessary, but keep on your toes. There may be provincial guardsmen lying in wait among them."
"So you'll be going as well, then?"
Kantai grinned at the men before him. "To put it another way, I can't afford not to. No man's praise can make up for Koshou's scorn." He shouldered his lance. "I'll leave the rest to your good offices."
The men bowed. Kantai saluted and spurred on the kitsuryou.
19-2
"Koshou!"
Alerted by Youko's cry, Koshou scanned his surroundings. His eyes were drawn to several men charging out of a nearby alleyway. Seeing weapons in their hands, he swung his broadsword, eviscerating the first and impaling the second and third on the back swing.
Youko charged into the melee and cut down the remaining two.
"These bushwhackers are everywhere."
"Very much so."
The main boulevard ran straight from the White Tiger Gate to the Rooster Gate. Urging the panicking civilians to move toward the castle, Koshou wiped off his sword. As expected, even a winter weapon eventually lost its edge. They regrouped with their colleagues and crossed the main boulevard. The fire pressed south along the streets. Where the
street dipped down, Koshou came to a halt.
They saw the silhouettes of mounted riders coming toward them, dragging down the small shops that lined the streets as they went along. Without all the debris, the street would be close to eighty paces wide, and it'd be rare for a fire to breach the gap. For the time being, the fires raging to the left and right of the street had not approached close enough to singe them.
"Those bastards are fast," Koshou growled. "Aim for the horse's legs."
"Roger!" came the acknowledgments from around him.
They stared each other down. The horsemen made the first move. As soon as the order was given, the earth trembled and the horses launched forward. Koshou and his companions sized up the situation and readied themselves.
Youko stepped off to the side, leaned over and addressed the ground at her feet. "If you would, please," she said.
"Yes," the voice answered in return, and faded away.
The horses bore down on them. The horse in the lead suddenly crashed to the ground. "What?" puzzled Koshou. The fallen horse tripped up the one behind it. The third horse just managed to skirt the pileup, but then for some reason tumbled to the ground as well--as if its hooves had been yanked out from under.
"What the hell's going on?"
"Strike while the iron's hot," Youko's cool voice said next to him.
Koshou glanced at Youko, but she had already taken off after the fallen knights.
When Kantai arrived on the scene, the street was a confusion of friend and foe: fallen steeds and the onrushing civilians, panicked soldiers returning fire.
"You seem to be handling things." Kantai dismounted from the kitsuryou and jumped down next to Koshou. The kitsuryou turned and set off back to the castle.
"Not our doing. We seem to have some friendly spirits on our side. The horses took it upon themselves to bite the dust without us lifting a finger."
"Huh." Kantai readied his lance. Made of forged steel down to the hilt, the lance was Kantai's personal winter weapon.