The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

you, Sekki? Can you draw a bow like that?"
    "No problem. I don't have the best aim, but I'm not totally useless." He laughed nervously. "Do you know how they settle things when two kids applying to school come out the same in grades, character, and relative merits?"
    "I don't. An archery contest, perhaps?"
    "That's right. The best shot wins. So I did a lot of practicing."
    "I see."
    Sekki wanted to become a government official. If he wished to make anything of himself in this kingdom, that was his first step, Sekki had the brains to succeed. In fact, he had an almost uncanny ability to read things right.
    First, we send out twenty to get Shoukou all riled up.
    These twenty had set fire to Shoukou's official residence on the inner loop road. Then hightailed it out of there. The next time, thirty struck the granary.
    The granary was a warehouse that stored grain against times of famine. Setting it alight was a bold gesture on Sekki's part. "Our actual intent is not to burn it down," he explained. "And if by chance it should be consumed, Shoukou never had any intent on distributing it to the people, anyway."
    But by doing so, Shoukou would have to post guards. And when the attackers fled, in a rage, they would chase after them. Shoukou would recall the constabulary from the surrounding districts and harden defenses around the castle.
    That's what Sekki predicted, and that's exactly what happened.
    "Next, we raid his countryside estate with two hundred men, who will barricade themselves inside the walls. Eventually the provincial guard will be called in."
    Based on the precedents established after the previous two incidents, Shoukou would dispatch his praetorian guard to where Wa borders Ei Province. As the previous attackers had numbered twenty and thirty respectively, when two hundred rebels showed up in force, he would conclude that he now had the measure of their entire contingent. The possibility was high that the inflamed Shoukou would redeploy his forces from the castle perimeter to his personal manse.
    And in fact, two battalions of provincial guardsmen and half as many praetorians surrounded the estate, with another battalion manning the blockades along the highways. Left in Takuhou were five hundred constables and five hundred of Shoukou's personal security detail. Of them, in the afternoon, half were ordered to the estate, and those remaining were dispersed to stand watch in the city, guard the prefectural castle, and protect the granary.
    Koshou raised his sword, and then lightly planted the tip in the earth. The long blade glimmered. "There should be two hundred or so fools left in the castle." Suzu turned to him when he spoke. "Watch out for the crossbows. With your back against the sky, you'll stand out like a sore thumb."
    Suzu grasped her short sword and nodded. They and their more than 800 compatriots assaulting the castle possessed no satisfactory defenses.
    "We'll see you later, I guess?"
    Outside the window, the dusk was falling. The few left behind watched Suzu and her party leave the brothel. They and a few dozen others scattered throughout the city still had things to do that needed to get done.

    "It's getting dark."
    Youko wiped the falling dew from the blade and looked at the sky beyond the tower gates. Like Shoukou's own elevated pride, the ramparts surrounding his estate were surprisingly high. He was apparently possessed of the conviction that not even the treetops in his carefully groomed arbor should be seen by the hoi polloi.
    Of the hundred-odd armed farmers and citizen-soldiers with her, by and large the majority of them were still in fine fettle. They were well protected by the bulwarks and watchtowers that Shoukou himself had built.
    "The sun is down," Youko said. "They'll be coming over the walls." A man arming his crossbow next to her nodded. She said, "Retreat toward the main hall, link up with them there, and then regroup."
    The man warily slid his gaze across the perimeter, and started back toward the main hall. The others followed after him in twos and threes.
    Bringing up the rear, Youko said as if to herself, "Hankyo--"
    Yes, came the whisper of his voice.
    "After this, I'll leave the rest up to the shirei." She had borrowed from Keiki every shirei he could spare.
    "You should escape to the Imperial Palace and muster the Imperial Army."
    "Do you think what Keiki could not achieve I would be able to accomplish?"
    Dismiss Shoukou, she had demanded of him. Or else mobilize the Ei