The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

be untenable to take them into custody if they were the property of the Royal Kyou, but as they are yours by declaration, I do not see a problem."
    "They are mine," Shoukei stated, flashing an understanding smile at the judge and court officials.
    "Understood. You shall be released upon your own recognizance. The court hereby takes into custody the kitsuryou and the remainder of your personal goods. Your bags and purse shall be returned to you. You are free to go."
    "I thank the court."
    Shoukei bowed her head, hiding the emotions that flooded to her face.

    Shoukei collected her bags and purse from the bailiff and staggered down the freezing, windswept street.
    I'm saved.
    She had not only been spared her life, but would not be sent back to Kyou. Her hard-won treasures, however, had been stolen out from under her, along with the kitsuryou. And that wasn't all.
    Shoukei put her hand into her pocket and found there her much lighter purse. The hairpin she'd given to the inn had been confiscated. When returning the purse to her, the bailiff said that her account at the inn had been settled with the contents of her purse.
    But even left penniless was many times better than being sent back to Kyou, or so she told herself as she adjusted her leather overcoat and wrapped her shawl around her neck.
    But what do I do now?"
    In her bags she had a change of clothes and some jewelry she had bought the other day. If she hocked it all for cash, just how much further could she go? In order to get to Kei, she'd have to go to Tai and get her hands on a passport. But to get to Kei in the first place, she'd have to board a boat from Kei bound for Tai. And she didn't have enough to cover her travel expenses for more than five days.
    What if she traveled on foot and stayed in the cheapest inns? And if that didn't work, she'd have to travel while groveling for free lodging along the way, begging for day labor, and generally relying on the kindness of strangers. It wasn't something she had ever believed she could do.
    At a complete loss as to what to do, Shoukei exited through the gates of the town hall, hanging her head.
    "So you're all right, then," a voice called out to her.
    Shoukei looked up in surprise and saw the rat there holding the reins of the splendid suugu. "You . . . . "
    "I was wondering how things turned out and came over to see how you were doing. It looks like you cleared everything up."
    "Not necessarily."
    Shoukei spun around and walked off in the other direction. The sound of footsteps soon came pattering after her.
    "Not necessarily?"
    "What it came down to was, I pay a bribe and all is forgiven. The result was, they took everything I had." Shoukei spat on the street. There was no sense in taking it out on the rat, but the happy-go-lucky expression on his face irritated her.
    "Strange," he said in a low voice. Shoukei turned to him. He said, "To think that the government officials of Ryuu would even make such demands."
    "These ones did. There's nothing unusual about it. In every world and every kingdom there are people who brandish power to line their own pockets."
    "But Ryuu is renown for its constitutional government. The Royal Hou also tried to emulate Ryuu in the creation of the national polity."
    Shoukei stopped walking.
    "Far more laws were promulgated disciplining the bureaucracy than the citizenry, though Hou differed a bit in the actual implementation. The public servants of Ryuu should not act corruptly. Laws forbid it. And you're saying that a county court judge so brazenly asked for a bribe? It does all begin to make sense."
    "What does?"
    "That the system charged with monitoring the bureaucracy is itself breaking down. Shoukei, you said you wanted to go to Tai? And you intended to depart from a port in Ryuu?"
    Shoukei laughed derisively. "I don't have enough money to travel directly to Kei."
    "I would advise against it."
    "Why?"
    Amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic headed toward the main gate, the rat lowered his voice. "Youma are appearing in the Kyokai."
    "I heard that yesterday."
    "Half of them are coming from Tai, but the other half are coming from the shores of Ryuu."
    "What?"
    Shoukei stopped again and looked at the hanjuu. His black eyes looked back at her. He said, "Ryuu is on the decline."
    Shoukei thought this over for a minute. The Royal Ryuu had ruled his country longer than the Royal Kyou. Already, his reign had passed a hundred and twenty years, and he was said to be an enlightened