A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn

18-1

In the streets of Meikaku, the capital city of Wa Province, rumors abounded of strange goings-on in Takuhou in Shisui Prefecture. Having heard the same from her friends, after completing the shopping she'd been sent to do, Shoukei rushed home.

"Did you hear, Kantai?"

Standing in the center of an assembled group, Kantai nodded. "Yes, Takuhou. It appears that someone has been so audacious to set fire to Shoukou's residence." He grinned. "Shu On was a brilliant stroke. Our colleagues in Takuhou have their game together."

"I wonder if they'll be okay."

Kantai thought it over, saying neither yea nor nay. "The word is the assailants have already fled. They attacked the residence, and then escaped Takuhou before the gates were opened. Half their number made it across the border into Ei Province. However, the man himself wasn't at the castle compound."

"Wasn't he their objective, then?"

"That's what makes it such a strange story. We have allies in Takuhou who have Shoukou in their sights. They've gone so far as to amass winter weapons, so I have to believe this is part of a greater plan of insurrection. Maybe those fled after missing their target."

"Perhaps," Shoukei nodded. She couldn't believe the people who had collected those thirty winter weapons would have only gone so far and no further. "Maybe it's a completely different group. Not our friends in Takuhou."

"Hard to say," Kantai agreed. "But if this is their work, Shoukou's not going to just let it blow over."

"Eh?"

"If nothing else, they're not idiots."

The next day, Shoukei was preparing breakfast when Kantai suddenly called out for everybody to gather in the main hall. There she saw that all the mercenaries had gathered, along with Saibou.

"What's going on?" she asked, and was told to wait until everybody else had arrived. After biding her time there for a while, the arrival of three "merchants" she didn't know was the signal for the doors to close.

Kantai got to his feet. "A messenger pigeon arrived this morning from Takuhou. Shortly before dawn, the castle granary was attacked. The granary was set alight, and the attackers fled to Ei Province. They were from the same group who left the aforementioned Shu On."

A murmur of conversation ran through the room.

"Our colleagues in Takuhou know what they're doing. Their true intent is to sow discord."

"What kind of--" Shoukei queried in a quiet voice.

Kantai nodded. "The group that raided Shoukou's residence yesterday did not err in failing to seize Shoukou. Only twenty attacked the residence, made a big deal of leaving the characters Shu On behind, and fled to Ei Province. Both teams having made their getaway to Ei, about now Shoukou is really getting incensed. This is not the kind of man who can deal with such a provocation with any sense of humor."

"Yes, I know, but--"

"Shoukou will surely order the garrisoned guardsmen and his praetorians to secure the border. They'll increase surveillance of the citizenry and will try to ferret out the rebels. The rebels' clear intent is to disperse Shoukou's defenses."

Shoukei couldn't follow everything she was being told. She scanned the audience and found she wasn't alone.

"There are three battalions of 1500 men garrisoned at the prefectural castle, one thousand praetorians, and five hundred archers. Three thousand soldiers. Without the matching troop strength necessary to win a head-on attack, they're doing what I would do. Get Shoukou riled up, get him to dilute his troop strength, and as much as possible reduce the force presence at the prefectural castle. I don't know how many troops have been sent to track down the brigands, but in any case, an appropriate number of soldiers must be garrisoned at the castle, and Shoukou will no doubt be recalling troops deployed in neighboring counties."

"But won't that end up increasing troop strength?"

"It will take two or three days to recall the troops. That's when they must act. They'll spring another decoy outside Takuhou, enrage Shoukou, draw away more soldiers, and then rush the castle."

The room fell into a dead silence.

"Even if it hadn't come to my attention that our colleagues were amassing a stockpile of winter weapons, it'd strike me as a doable plan. But they have to raise an army before the praetorians return. They probably have no more than three days. To draw away the provincial guard, they're going to have to devote a convincing number to the decoy, who will have to stick it out just long enough. After that, they'll charge the castle with everything they've got left."

Shoukei caught her breath. How would Suzu fare? What role would she play? Would she remain unscathed? Would she come through it okay?

"However, they don't know the full story," said Kantai. Shoukei leaned forward and Kantai continued. "Shoukou and Gahou are joined at the hip. If Shoukou was a run-of-the-mill regional administrator, Gahou wouldn't lift a finger to help him. The arrival of the guard would be delayed, and only a minor contingent would be dispatched. There'd be no reason to cover for an administrator the people found so disagreeable that they'd resort to violence. Yet knowing all this, Gahou will continue to succor Shoukou. To put in other words, Gahou's trained Shoukou like a pet to do his dirty work for him."

Kantai paused and then said, "In short, Shoukou knows where the bodies are buried. If the conflict stretches out without immediate resolution, the kingdom may get involved and things would get complicated. If, by chance, Shoukou is captured and placed in the dock, he won't go down quietly. Gahou is already readying a large army. He'll stop at nothing to suppress this uprising. Our colleagues, who will have their arms full with just three thousand defenders, haven't got a chance."

A stir of conversation filled the meeting hall.

"We shall ride to the support our Shu On brethren!" Kantai declared. "And while we're at it, we'll cause a little mischief of our own."

"What kind of mischief?" someone asked, and Kantai flashed a guileless smile. "Well, to put down the Shu On Rebellion--as we shall call it--the provincial guard will take one or two days to reach Takuhou. Meikaku will empty out in the meantime. Why we let this opportunity slip through our fingers?"

"Ahh--" went the murmur through the room.

Kantai beckoned to the three "merchants." He said, "I'm giving you the opportunity to remove the stigma from your names. Together with your followers, set forth to Takuhou. Be sure to arrive before the provincial guard."

The stigma? Shoukei puzzled, but the men answered in unison: "Yes!"

Kantai turned to Saibou, man seated in front of a display cabinet. "And how shall we proceed?"

Saibou thought it over for a moment. He looked at Kantai and said, "Leave Meikaku to me. You go to Takuhou."

Kantai smiled. "Cat's out of the bag, eh?"

"I know you have a fondness for hotheads like that bunch. However, I'm asking you to start a war. As soon as your men are provisioned, set forth for Takuhou. Our objective is not Gahou's assassination, but to make the Empress aware that something is rotten in Wa Province. Don't turn this into a do-or-die effort. Lose if you must. I'll figure something out afterward."

"Thank you!"

Shoukei raised her voice. "I want to go to Takuhou too."

"Oh?" Saibou looked at her.

"A friend of mine is in Takuhou, fighting alongside the Shu On Rebels. Please allow me."

Saibou nodded. "Shoukei, you said your name was? Can you ride a pegasus?"

"I can."

"Then accompany Kantai. Go and assist those brave souls."

Shoukei bowed deeply. "I won't disappoint you!"

18-2

"Just how many--!" exclaimed Koshou, as Shoukei explained how they had come to be here. She'd returned with the five thousand citizen soldiers, escorting them into the castle. Koshou finally got to ask his original question: "How many men do you have left in Meikaku?"

Shoukei looked at Kantai, and Kantai smiled mischievously. "Twice the number we sent here."

The uproar momentarily filled the calm guard tower.

When the onslaught came from every direction in the brightening dawn, the few hundred remaining provincial guard encamped at the West Gate couldn't surrender fast enough. Kantai's irregulars whittled the air calvary down to half their original number and forced them to withdraw. Suffused with the rays of the morning sun, the castle compound filled with ringing cheers. But this was not the end of things. The rest of provincial army was scheduled to arrive the day after tomorrow.

"Unfortunately, we've got to keep the provincial guard pinned down here for three days. Given three days, by the time the guard hears about the state of emergency in Meikaku and are ordered to return, the die will have already been cast."

Koshou looked up at the ceiling and heaved a big sigh. "Step on a cockroach, and there's a hundred more where that one came from. I assume you've got mates aiming to take out Gahou."

"What? No. We've got no plans to knock off Gahou and take over the provincial castle. We only hope to sully his image and tarnish his name. That you'd actually schemed to overrun a prefectural castle was a huge surprise on our end."

Koshou laughed loudly. "A feather in our caps, then. When guys like us lock our jaws on something, we don't let go so easy."

When Shoukei emerged onto the wall walk, Suzu and another girl were looking down at the castle compound.

"It's a good thing you weren't wounded," Shoukei said.

Suzu glanced back over her shoulder. "Yeah," she said. With a shining countenance, she turned to the girl next to her. "Youshi, this is--"

Recognizing her, Shoukei burst out, "It's you!"

The girl reacted with equal surprise. Taken aback, Suzu said, "You already know each other?"

The girl nodded. Shoukei spoke up. "She saved my life in Meikaku. I didn't get a chance to thank you. I never imagined we would have met in such a place as this."

"No problem," the girl answered, with a smile.

"Your name is Youshi? We didn't have time to introduce ourselves before."

"This is unbelievable," said Suzu. "Youshi, this is Shoukei."

Youshi flashed her a smile, as did Shoukei in return. They lined up on either side of Suzu, shoulder to shoulder, and gazed down at the foot of the wall walk.

"It's incredible, all these people," Suzu blurted out.

Shoukei grinned. "You didn't expect it?"

"Not in a million years. To be honest, I have to wonder if it's the best tack to take."

"Smooth sailing certainly doesn't await us. The provincial guard are on the march and headed our way. They'll get here tomorrow or the day after. Today's our one chance to take a breather."

"Yeah."

"At least you captured Shoukou."

Suzu nodded and turned to her neighbor. "Because Youshi said not to kill him. And the fact of the matter is, killing him would have felt good in the moment, but over the long haul, it wouldn't have meant anything. He's an awful man, but it's better that he should stand in the dock for his crimes."

"You're right."

Suzu and Shoukei were silent for several minutes. The warm, springlike sunlight flooded the wall walk. The smell of blood and death was in the wind, but they had become inured to its scent.

Suzu said, "I can't believe that we're just hanging out like this."

Shoukei agreed. "Really. The city feels so strange."

The hustle and bustle inside the castle filled the air with a dull roar. Outside the walls, the city was silent. The main boulevard was devoid of people. The only time a person did appear was to cross the street, walking briskly to the other side as if to fetch something left behind.

Although the castle gates were closed and secured, people came and went in significant numbers. Despite this, none of the city's denizens dared to come and check things out for themselves. Even individuals spotted crossing the boulevard far off in the distance acted as if they knew nothing and saw nothing.

"Everybody's holding their breath, wondering what's coming next."

"Holding their breath?"

"Shoukou really was a monster. In one way or another, everybody was terrified of him. There's not much humanity left in this city."

"Meaning--?"

"The same time we were tracking down Shoukou, our agents fanned out throughout the city to rally support for our cause. But nobody answered the call. Even when the prefectural castle fell before their very eyes, they wouldn't get off their butts. They're all convinced that if they even raise a finger, they'll be found out and consequences will follow."

"That's harsh."

"Still," said Suzu, placing her hands on the merlon and straightening herself, "I have a pretty good idea where they're coming from."

"How's that?"

"I was working at a big estate before I came to Kei. The mistress there made my life hell. When I think back about it now, I should have asked her, 'Why are you doing this?' But show disrespect to Mistress Riyou-sama and she'd tear you apart with her tongue and then work your fingers to the bone. So you shut up and lived with the fear. You shut up and persevered, and all the while only got more and more scared."

"Huh."

"She was always saying, 'If anything bad happens, you'll catch it,' and you'd be overcome with this sense of unease. When I sort it out in my mind, though, Mistress Riyou-sama wasn't so cruel that she'd ever deliberately kill me--she didn't even physically accost me--but I could never convince myself that she wouldn't."

Suzu turned her back to the city. "When you're putting up with something, it's coming to the end of your tether that scares you. No matter how hard things are now, you just know your life will get so much worse if you give into your impulses and go flying off the handle."

"I suppose that's true--"

"But that doesn't mean the times weren't tough. Because my life was hard, I couldn't stop thinking how unlucky I was and couldn't stop feeling sorry for myself. The people shut up in their houses right now are in exactly the same state of mind. It would never occur to them to try and take down some big important person."

An ironic smile came to Shoukei's lips. "Anybody who ends up dead probably had it coming. That's what they're thinking. But when you understand that there are people like Shoukou in the world, then you know the murderers are the evil ones."

"That's true."

"People treat unhappiness like a competition. Of course, the dead are the most unfortunate of all, but when you feel compelled to pity another person, it somehow makes you feel like the loser. Believing that you're the most pitiable person on the face of the earth isn't so different from believing you're the most blessed. Feeling sorry for yourself and resenting all others, you run away from what you really should be doing."

"Indeed."

"When someone tells you, 'No, you're wrong,' you get all pissed off at them. You're angry because they dared to criticize poor unlucky you."

Suzu giggled. "Exactly."

Shoukei looked at Youshi, who, eyes downcast, hadn't said a word so far. "Sorry. We didn't mean to bug you with all this chit-chat."

"Not at all," Youshi said, not shifting her gaze. "I've been thinking about how we all managed to end up in the same place, in the same predicament."

"Yeah."

"Being happy is simple. It's the getting there that's hard to pull off. At least, that's the way it strikes me."

"You know," said Suzu. "when it comes to living a life, happiness is only the half of it. Suffering is the other half."

"I couldn't agree more," Shoukei said with a nod. "But all we see is the suffering. Little by little, we lose the ability to even recognize happiness when it's in our grasp."

"It's a matter of willpower. You know, this is a strange conversation we're having."

"Strange indeed."

Shoukei and Suzu ran out of things to say. The three of them lazily enjoyed the slight breeze.

"People are curious creatures," Suzu said absent-mindedly. As if snapping out of a daze, she lifted her head. "Hey, how about we do a patrol? Let's take a walk around the walls."

18-3

On such a carefree afternoon, it was hard to believe that there was a war going on.

"Starting tomorrow, people are going to start dying," Suzu blurted out as they strode along the wall walk.

"With so many sacrifices being made," Shoukei added, "news of this is bound to reach the ears of the Royal Kei."

Youko stopped in her tracks. Shoukei glanced over her shoulder, a quizzical look on her face. "Ah," she said, a smile coming to her face. "You see, even if we attempted a coup d'etat, there's no guarantee that it would succeed. Kantai and the others aren't thinking about dispatching Gahou. If they could have their way, they'd like to know why their leader was punished by the Royal Kei. But if she takes notice, then it's worth the cost."

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!"