The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

like to meet her, even if only once and talk to her about Yamato."
    "Do you miss Yamato?"
    "Home is where the heart is, after all. I can't tell you how many times I cried myself to sleep wanting to go home."
    "Do you so dislike it here?"
    Sairin asked the question in such a dispirited tone that Suzu shook her head. "I, ah, it's not that I don't like it. It's just that I don't understand anything about this world, not even the language. Things haven't been so easy for me since I came here. I've seen a lot of hard times."
    "I see."
    "But I would think the Royal Kei has the same problems. Because we're both kaikyaku, I think we would understand each other. We both know what it feels like." Suzu flushed a bit explaining this.
    "So you're saying you'd like to become friends with her?"
    Suzu suddenly raised her head. "I suppose . . . if it's possible."
    "Perhaps the Royal Kei isn't homesick for Yamato. It is possible, don't you think?"
    Suzu's voice grew more resolute. "Well, of course that's what a person from this world would think."
    Sairin turned toward her in response. "There are many people here, too, who have been separated from their homes. Itinerants who are not welcomed anywhere, who spend their lives wandering from place to place."
    She bowed her slender neck, as if in shame at the very thought. "But I do wonder if being born in the same Yamato necessarily means you would understand each other. There are people born in the same country who hate each other nonetheless."
    Suzu said to Sairin with an annoyed scowl, "It's not the same thing. A person born here wouldn't understand. There's a big difference between simply coming from the same hometown and never being able to return to your hometown again."
    "But I wonder."
    Sairin let out a small sigh. Suzu was about to shoot her another peevish look when Kouko came in from the main hall.
    "Oh, there you are." She turned to Sairin. "I'd like to talk with Suzu for a minute."
    "Yes," said Sairin, and with a polite bow returned to main residence.
    Kouko sat down next to Suzu, who immediately straightened her posture.
    "I just met with Mistress Riyou."
    Suzu's body began to tremble. Hearing Riyou's name was like stumbling across something filthy in this peaceful, exquisite palace garden.
    "I've decided to recall the servants at Suibi Grotto to the palace."
    Suzu felt her cheeks flush. Not ever returning to Suibi Grotto was fine with her. Instead, she would live in this beautiful palace, surrounded by kind, graceful people like Kouko and Sairin (her little spat of unpleasantness all but forgotten for now). Her spirits soared upwards.
    The next words out of Kouko's mouth turned her to ice. "However, you shan't be one of them."
    The trembling rose from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head. "What . . . what do you mean?"
    "Your name will remain upon the Registry. But I wish you to live in the real world for a while. I've arranged for you to be listed upon the census."
    "But why only me? What did I do?"
    Kouko's face was almost expressionless, except for a small touch of sadness. "I know that it was difficult for you, not being able to comprehend the language. But now that you can, you should be able to make a living for yourself."
    "What did Riyou tell you?" Her whole body shook, from anger or disappointment, she couldn't tell which.
    "This has nothing to do with her. Riyou left everything to my discretion."
    "Then why?"
    Kouko averted her gaze. "I was thinking it might help if you grew up a bit first."
    "Grew up?" She had been a prisoner of Riyou for a hundred years. What was it that a century couldn't accomplish?
    Kouko looked calmly at Suzu. "It must have been very hard for you, to be thrown into a world you had never seen before and knew nothing about. And even more so because you couldn't speak the language. However, Suzu, simply understanding the words that people say is not the same as comprehending what they mean. "
    Suzu could only gape at her.
    "If impertinence is actually what you are communicating, and that is why you are failing to come to an understanding, then the rest is all for naught. It is necessary that you first try to grasp what the other person intends, showing acceptance without first jumping to conclusions."
    "That's not fair!"
    "If it really proves too much for you to bear, then at that time you may return. But for now, I want you go down to the city and see what life is like. Even then, it won't be too late to consider other