The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

county and provincial courts, but a jail could be located anywhere.
    Shoukei was escorted to the main chamber of the city hall and, still bound, sat down on the floor. A fat, middle-aged man sat on the rostrum in front of her. The jailers seized Shoukei by the binding cords and forced her to bow till her forehead touched the floor.
    "The princess royal of Hou, Son Shou."
    "No, I'm not. I could not possibly be such a personage as that."
    The man smiled quizzically. "Is that so? We have word from the Royal Kyou herself that the princess royal of Hou stole objects from the imperial palace and fled the country. We also received notice of a warrant being issued by the empress for her arrest. The Royal Kyou kindly provided a catalog of the stolen articles, which together with the warrant was delivered by carrier pigeon. How do you explain that most of the articles listed in the catalog were found amongst your belongings?"
    "They were . . . given to me." Her head pressed to the floor, she had to spit out the words. "The hanjuu I shared the room with, he gave them to me." Shoukei made the assertion, guilt heavy on her mind. I'm sorry, but there is no way I can go back to Kyou.
    The man on the rostrum roared with laughter. "Do you really think that anybody here actually believes such lies?"
    "But--!"
    "Of course, it's exactly what a naif like the princess royal would say. She steals from the imperial palace in Kyou and flees the kingdom, stupid enough to stay in inns along the way. Instead of abandoning a conspicuous animal like a kitsuryou, she takes it along with her. Goods she should have pawned at once, she instead carefully hides in her luggage."
    Shoukei bit her lip. She truly had botched it from the start. She had been so happy to be free that she had left common sense by the wayside.
    "And all you stole were a few trinkets and baubles. How like a girl. A very silly girl."
    " Kensei, " a voice addressed the man on the rostrum. A kensei was a county court judge, meaning she was in a county court. "Would the princess royal have done such a foolish thing? It stands to reason that this girl is not the princess royal."
    "That is a possibility," the judge agreed cheerfully. "Of course not. The truth must lie elsewhere. I shall ask her again. Are you the Princess Royal Son Shou?"
    "I'm not!" she screamed at the floor, grasping at this one last straw.
    "So the real princess royal forced these items upon you, and did so in order to mislead her pursuers. But would she have given such hard-won treasures to a complete stranger? No, not likely. So, what is it, miss? Were these items really given to you? Or did you steal them?"
    Shoukei couldn't answer.
    "Raise your head and look me in the eye. Are these stolen goods?"
    Shoukei raised her head and looked into the red face of a man wearing a complacent smile. "No . . . they are not."
    "And were they given to you? If they were, what kind of person is this, running around bestowing such idiotic alms on complete strangers? Or rather--"
    The judge's voice softened to a coaxing purr. "Or rather, isn't it true that they've been yours all along? Afraid that your possession of them would be thought incriminating, you said they'd been given to you? It was mere coincidence that they happened to resemble the items in the catalog, when in fact they have nothing whatsoever to do with the booty spirited away from Kyou."
    Grasping the direction in which he was steering the conversation, Shoukei nodded. "Yes."
    "Yet aren't such fineries a bit too rich for a girl like you?"
    "But . . . they're mine . . . really."
    "Doubtful. Still, we're busy around here. Things to do, places to go. We simply do not have the time or resources to go around investigating every little suspicious incident. Once the court has been compensated for the costs of your confinement, you shall be released."
    The implied deal now clear, Shoukei recoiled inside. The man was asking for a bribe. The clerks and officials in the courtroom were all snickering as well.
    She said, "Sir, if you could find it in your heart to pardon the inconveniences I've imposed upon the court, I should want to leave the items in my satchel and the kitsuryou to your honor's safekeeping."
    "Is that so?" The judge slapped his knees. "You are indeed a young girl familiar with the ways of the world. We shall set aside the complaint. Any resemblance between your goods and the aforementioned catalog of items is declared purely coincidental. It would of course