The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

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,