The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

by Fuyumi Ono

  "I'm sorry to have to communicate such disrespectful tiding to you. I hope you do not take offense, and I dearly regret having to trouble you in such a manner. But if you would not mind, I should like you to proceed somewhat further in."

  "Somewhat further in?" queried Seirai.

  Asen and Sougen looked at each other. Guests from another kingdom were typically greeted in the Visitor's Pavilion, situated in the western part of the Gaiden. Moving any further in would mean entering the Naiden. No matter how cordial the relations, even a king from another kingdom would think twice before doing such a thing.

  "We were instructed to escort you to where His Highness happens to be right now," the Daikoujin explain, sweat beating on his brow.

  Palanquins were hastily summoned and Taiki and his retinue were solemnly born further in. Passing the Inner Palace barrier, they entered the Naiden and continued on for quite a ways. Finally a pair of much higher and stouter barrier walls came into view.

  "Um, Seirai?" Taiki whispered to his regent, sitting in the palanquin next to him.

  "Yes?"

  "Wasn't that building we just saw Jinjuu Manor?

  "Hmm—" Seirai answered in a perplexed tone of voice. "In fact, the thought occurred to me as well."

  "Then wouldn't that make this the Roshin?"

  "Well, yes, I guess it would."

  "If we keep on going through the gate at the end of the Roshin, then we'll be in the Imperial living quarters?"

  "Yes, indeed. But I can't imagine—" Seirai scowled. His forehead was growing damp as well. And it just wasn't due to the warm weather.

  At the heart of the Imperial Palace, covering the peaks floating above the Sea of Clouds, the Imperial living quarters consisted of a number of small, city-like blocks of manors and palaces, accessible through multiple walls and gates.

  The innermost buildings comprised the "North" palace compound, the Queen's residence. Just before it was the Royal Sleeping Quarters, called the Koukyuu, or "the Palace at the back." To the west of the Koukyuu was the "East" palace compound, including Choumei Palace and Kaei Palace, where the king's parents resided.

  In the "West" compound was Godou Palace, home to the five species of holy birds, including the Hou'ou and Hakuchi. The Taibyou where the king worshipped—more specifically, Fukuju Manor housing the Roboku, where children and crops were prayed for—was also located there.

  The Koukyuu, along with the East and West palace compounds, were together designated the Enshin. Because the Koukyuu was in the very center of the Enshin, it was often used to refer to the whole thing.

  However, except for the "West" palace compound, the Koukyuu in Hakkei Palace in Tai was mostly shuttered. And even when it was open, the buildings in the Koukyuu aside from the "West" palace compound were hardly places where the Saiho could wander about as his leisure.

  Even Taiki knew that much.

  Except that the Daikoujin and his escorts had stopped right in front of the gate that lead nowhere other than to the Koukyuu. The palanquins were set down and they all bowed deeply.

  "Ah, we are deeply sorry to have to say this, but we would ask that you proceed the rest of the way on your own. We are forbidden to continue any further."

  "Umm—" said a flustered Seirai.

  The Daikoujin interrupted him. "We were instructed to make the invitation. Please proceed as you are. I'm sure there will be guardsmen inside the gate who will take things from here."

  "You mean for us to continue on by ourselves?"

  The Daikoujin bowed and apologized profusely. The sweat poured off his face in small rivulets. There was no hiding the poor man's flustered state.

  Taiki turned to his companions and said encouragingly, "He's says it's okay, and we were invited, after all."

  "I guess so, but—" Seirai glanced back and forth between the inside and outside of the gate.

  "Well, then," Asen finally said in a small voice. "It'd probably be best if the rest of us stayed behind. Going all together like this would no doubt be an imposition."

  "Not at all," the Daikoujin said, raising his voice. "You were all to be included." He was practically wiping his sweaty brow on the cobblestones. "I understand that this must strike you as a severe breach of protocol, but please, go on."

  Chapter 10

  The Koukyuu was quiet and apparently unoccupied. They didn't meet a single official or minister, but walked along the cobblestones and reached the other side of the gate complex. There wasn't anybody there either, not even the guards that usually stood watch at every gate. And nothing resembling a greeting committee.

  "Where is everybody?" wondered Taiki, peeking out from the frame of the open gate. The buildings housing the sleeping quarters reached out beyond a lush garden, but if were people were there, he couldn't sense it. He turned to the adults around him. "What do we do?"

  They looked just as confused as he was.

  "Seirai?"

  "I'm afraid I can't help you there."

  "I've never been in the Koukyuu before. How about you, Seirai?"

  "Um, if you're talking about being inside the gates, many times. The Koukyuu at Hakkei Palace is closed, but I've been in there. It's completely empty, though. As for the Koukyuu in other kingdoms, no."

  Judging by their pale expression, it was the same for Sougen and Asen. The junior ministers looked like ghosts.

  Taiki took a step further inside the compound. Casting his eyes around the courtyard, he ascertained that no one was there. He shrugged and crossed the courtyard to the garden to get a better look at the other buildings.

  "Taiho."

  Taiki scrambled onto the stonework foundation and spied another courtyard deeper in amongst the buildings. He cautiously raised his voice.

  "Um, excuse me—"

  "T-Taiho—"

  Taiki glanced over his shoulder. "But nobody's around. I think our only choice is to raise our voices a bit."

  "Yes, but—"

  "Hey, anybody home? Gomen kudasai!" Taiki said with unusual boldness. His retainers opened their eyes wide with surprise. But Taiki was only doing what he always did when he visited the neighbors back in Japan.

  "Excuse me?" Taiki raised his voice. And got no answer.

  "Nobody seems to be home. What now?"

  "How am I supposed to know?" Seirai grumbled.

  "Why don't we just keep following these gardens until we run across somebody?"

  "You can't be serious."

  "We can't just turn around and go back, can't we?"

  "You do have a point there."

  "I think the only acceptable thing to do is to go indoors. Leave it to me."

  "Wait—" Seirai started to say. He clenched his fist resolutely. "I'll go with you. Sougen and Asen, wait here."

  "But—"

  "I may not be much, but I'm at least a Taiho on paper. I figure they can't punish me too much. Wish me luck."

  "I'm going too," said Tansui.

  Seirai stopped him. "With things wide open like this, let's not do anything rash. The Taiho has his shirei, and I'll be with him."

  Chapter 11

  Taiki held onto Seirai's hand and walked further into the compound. They crossed through two courtyards and came to a temple, but found it empty. The temple simply couldn't be uninhabited. It appeared to be smartly kept. Fresh incense and flowers had recently been placed on the memorial shelves.

  With no particular reason in mind, Taiki set off in a westward direction and then headed toward the "North" palace compound. They crossed a promenade and entered another courtyard, looked around, went onto the garden in the "North" palace compound and stopped.

  Taiki stared at the pastoral view before him. He glanced up at Seirai. "It's a farm!"

  "Apparently so."

  "There aren't any farms in Hakkei Palace. Or is that something only found in the Koukyuu?"

  "Not ordinarily, I don't think."

  "They said there was some sort of civil war going on. I wonder if things got so bad they deci
ded to plant crops inside the palace."

  "Hard to say."

  With Taiki clinging to Seirai's hand, they made their way down a dirt path between the magnificent vegetable gardens, the leafy greens practically forming a carpet beneath their feet. They rounded the corner of a shed. The pastoral view stretched out before them. Following the clean and orderly paths, they came across an enclosure of small trees arrange in neat rows, very much resembling an orchard.

  "Seirai," said Taiki, pointing.

  Signs of human life had at last appeared. A single farmer with a pair of pruning shears was at work beneath a tree bearing some kind of red fruit.

  "Hey—" Taiki called out. He let go of Seirai's hand and ran toward the bright copse of trees. "Excuse me—"

  A farmer dressed in a peasant's work clothes turned around. His eyes focused on Taiki and then on Seirai behind him. He smiled and wiped his brow with his sleeve. He added the branch he'd just cut to the small pile at his feet and raised his youthful face.

  "Sorry for barging in unannounced. There was nobody at the gate and we couldn't find anybody."

  This seemed to take the young man somewhat by surprise. "There wasn't anybody there? They must all be taking a siesta."

  "We hate to interrupt your work, but do you think there's somebody here who could show us around? I—um, we—came from Tai. My name is Taiki."

  "Ah," the man said, a friendly smile rising to his face. "I see. So you're the Tai Taiho. I heard you were a small fellow. It looks like the reports were right on the mark."

  "And you are?"

  "My name is Ou. Ou Seitaku."

  "This is a really great garden."

  The young man grinned. "You think so?"

  "What's that red fruit called?"

  "Red kashou. Here, have one—"

  Seitaku casually reached out and plucked a glittering red fruit from a branch. He dunked it in a water bucket and wiped it off with a handkerchief. "Here you go, Tai Taiho. There are seeds inside, so take care."

  "Sure." Taiki looked up at him. "Are you sure this is okay? Doesn't all of this belong to the king?"

  "I grew it, so I don't see the problem."

  "But won't the king get mad at you?"

  A slightly perplexed expression came to Seitaku's face. "Well, I'm the king, so I think that unlikely." He placed the red fruit in Taiki's palm.

  Taiki gaped at him. "You—you're the Royal Ren?"

  "That's me."

  Unsure of how to proceed with this information in hand, Taiki peeked over his shoulder at Seirai. Seirai stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide. Confused, Taiki turned his attention back to the grinning Seitaku. He'd studied the proper protocol for accepting an audience with the king in the Seiden. Nothing he'd learned had covered situations like this.

  As if taking no note of Taiki's bewilderment, Seitaku picked another fruit from the tree and said, indicating Seirai with a glance, "Do you think this gentleman would like one?"

  "Yes. I mean, no," Seirai stumbled.

  "Ah, it isn't polite of me to keep you standing around like this. There's a gazebo no far off. Let's go over there."

  Taiki nodded, because he couldn't think of any other way to respond.

  Chapter 12

  Seitaku filled the bucket with red kashou and they made their way out of the orchard. A little further on they came across on a pond enclosed within beautiful, stone-lined banks. Here and there bridges decorated with intricate geometric designs arced over the pond. The patios and gazebos surrounding the pond almost seemed to have been drawn there like grazing animals seeking out water.

  Seitaku headed for one of the gazebos and waved to them from the water's edge. "Taiho, have a seat. That formal clothing must be hot. How about you at least remove your top coat?"

  "Um, okay. But—" He looked at Seirai.

  A thin smile came to Seirai's lips. "Well, if he insists—"

  "You as well."

  "Oh, there's no need to worry about a petty official such as myself."

  "But it must be uncomfortable."

  "Ah, true, yes, it is. Well, then, no harm in taking you up on that offer—"

  Observing the vacillating Seirai with bright eyes, Seitaku washed his hands in the pond and then rinsed off the rest of the fruit in the bucket. He lined them up on a stone table facing the water.

  "I'm in an awfully rude state, what with the Taiho having gone to such trouble to dress up for the occasion. The word I got was that this was a personal visit, not official business."

  "Yes, um, sorry about that."

  Seitaku laughed. "Nothing the Taiho needs to apologize for. I tend to be rather careless about such things. It not being about business or politics, I figured we could treat it like the neighbors stopping by for a spot of tea. The Taiho will surely have a few heated words to say on that account."

  "Me?"

  "No, no," Seitaku said with a grin. "My Taiho. It's funny. From the start, Renrin hasn't given me a moment's peace about me being the way I am." He laughed again. "I got a bit caught up with my red kashou, so without giving it any thought, I just said to send you on through. Of course, I should have done as Renrin instructed and donned more formal attire and waited in the Gaiden."

  "What were you doing when we came in?"

  "Pruning the trees. By cutting back the branches that don't bear the best fruit, the rest will grow much bigger."

  "That's something you seem to know a lot about."

  "Because I'm a farmer. It's what farmers do."

  "Isn't your job being king?" Taiki in a surprised voice.

  Seitaku reacted as if this question was entirely unexpected. He tilted his head to the side. "My duty, perhaps, but not my job. Being king won't put food on the table, after all."

  Taiki blinked, not grasping the subtleties of the distinction. Seitaku smiled. "Wouldn't you say the job of a farmer is growing crops and raising animals?"

  "Yeah—I guess so." Taiki nodded. "But isn't fulfilling your duty the same as a job?"

  "I don't really think so."

  "Your duty is different from your job?"

  Seitaku smiled. "A job is that which I do at my own choosing. My duty was bestowed on me by Heaven."

  Taiki was puzzling this over when a familiar voice rang in his ears. Spinning around, he saw Seirai standing there mutely and another figure coming up behind him. "Sougen," he called out.

  At the same time, a woman said, feigned surprise in her voice, "What in the world are you doing meeting the Taiho dressed like that for?" Her brilliant golden hair glowed like sunlight. "And to make matters worse, in a place like this! I don't care how personal a visit it is, there are limits to such things!"

  "Of course, of course. She's right, of course. You must all pardon my manners."

  "And on top of that, leaving his escorts at the gate completely at loose ends!"

  Seitaku apologized like an unruly child, though the sparkle remained in his eyes. The woman must have taken note of it as well. With a half-piqued, half-amused expression, she knelt down in front of Taiki so they were approximately eye-to-eye.

  "You must be the Tai Taiho. I'm pleased to welcome you to Ren. Please don't take any offense."

  Illustration

  "Are you the Ren Taiho?"

  "Yes. I am very please to meet you."

  "Me too. Um, thank you very much."

  "What for?"

  "Gyoukuyou-sama on Mt. Hou told me that the Ren Taiho lent Senshi something very valuable when she came to get me."

  "Ah," Renrin smiled. "The Gogoukanda, you mean? His Highness let me borrow it. It is he you should thank. Though I think His Highness should get changed first."

  Catching another amused expression, Seitaku muttered, "Yeah, I suppose." He announced, "I shall go and mend my ways. If you all wouldn't mind waiting here—"

  Laughing cheerily, Seitaku returned to the Imperial living quarters. Taiki and the others were escorted back to the Gaiden. Then they all started over from square one, albeit doing everything by
the book this time.

  Chapter 13

  Taiki was scheduled to stay there for three days. He and his retinue were given an official reception and made an official appearance at court. But were otherwise treated as personal guests.

  They were given the use of a wing of the guest palace. There and within the main gardens of the Seishin as well, the ministerial staff dispatched to the environs were limited to the minimum number of attendants and caretakers. Not to mention that Seitaku breezily gave them free rein of the Imperial living quarters without, it seemed, a second thought.

  "It just can't be a good idea, them letting their guard down all the time like this," mused Sougen, who was having a hard time understanding what he was seeing.

  The adults in general seemed ill at ease with all this ease. Taiki, on the other hand, was having a grand time. He didn't get all the stuff about ceremony and protocol. And even when it made sense, he wasn't used to it, and constantly had to be on his toes so he wouldn't screw up.

  But it wasn't like that in Urou Palace at all.

  "Perhaps they feel comfortable letting down their guard because the palace is so secure," Asen wryly responded.

  Seirai sighed. "Secure or happy-go-lucky. The people of Ren seem a generous lot in any case."

  "That's not a good thing?" Taiki asked.

  Seirai's shoulders sagged a bit. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Only that it's hard teaching an old dog like me new tricks. I came up through the ranks as a military man. I'm an expert at following the rules to the letter and snapping to attention. When it comes to the opposite—"

  Both Sougen and Asen nodded in agreement. "It's like we don't really know where you stand, so we don't stand very tall. The Taiho shouldn't be afraid to enjoy himself. This place seems to fit your character."

  "It's not like I don't like Hakkei Palace."

  "I know that. And it's not like I dislike Urou Palace. I mean, these past two days, I've watched Tansui get himself lost at least three times."

  "That's true," Taiki grinned.

  "And yesterday, Tansui was fit to be tied when Ren Taiho brought us breakfast and made us tea."

  "I wouldn't go noising this around, but that's a state I've almost never seen him in."