The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

However, not all the citizens of En are rich. There are itinerants, refugees, people just scraping by. Lodgings for these people are hard to come by in En. True of traveling. In En, it's pretty much by carriage or nothing."
    Carriages pulled by one or two teams of horses frequented the highways, speeding travelers from one city to the next. In the countryside, farmers with time on their hands would make their horse carts and wagons available for transportation. Otherwise, driving a carriage or stagecoach was an occupational specialty.
    "Because En is a wealthy kingdom, there is no need for farmers to hire themselves out during the off-season. Usually, only the rich ride in carriages, but in En, anybody can. Moreover, the rates are reasonable, though not as cheap as a horse cart. People have enough in their pockets that they tend not to quibble. Still, lacking the horse carts that poor people can afford, if the poor have got to travel during the winter, it's on foot."
    Shouko again glanced back at the gate. The travelers heading in the Ryuu were indeed a worn-out, unpretentious, motley-looking bunch. At a glance, it was obvious from the tide of people flowing through the customs houses on either side of the gate that they were mostly refugees and itinerants without passports.
    "People flock to En because it is wealthy. But the distinctions between the citizens of En and the people flooding in, between rich and poor, can't be erased. Those who can't find lodging often camp out in the streets and freeze to death. Then you've got desperate men who, fearing that fate, become thieves and robbers. Refugees are En's biggest problem. In some of En's larger cities, the number of refugees and itinerants are becoming significant. In these past ten years, dealing with them has turned into a real headache."
    "That's why you're concerned about the state of things in Ryuu."
    "That would be it."
    "So, tell me, who did endorse your passport?"
    Rakushun only waved his tail in response.
    "What, you can't show me?"
    Without answering, Rakushun took the passport from his pocket and held it out to her. On the back was the fresh seal of the Chousai of En, one In Hakutaku.
    "The Chousai . . . . "
    Rakushun fluttered his whiskers. "Don't take that to mean I've ever talked to the man. The person who let me borrow the suugu got the endorsement from the Chousai for me."
    The Chousai was the head of the Rikkan, the chief minister. Anybody who could make such a request from the Chousai would have to be close to the center of power.
    "That's impressive."
    Rakushun scratched at the bottom of his ear. "It's not that I'm an important person. But I do happen to know the Royal Kei."
    "The Royal Kei?"
    As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Shoukei felt a pain in her chest. "How could someone like you--?"
    Rakushun said, answering the rest of the question. "How could a hanjuu like me know her?"
    Shoukei hurriedly apologized, "No, I'm sorry."
    "No need to apologize. I am nothing more than the hanjuu you see. But I don't see anything wrong with that. Though you do make it sound as if there is."
    "I didn't mean that."
    "The Royal Kei is an acquaintance of mine. A friend. I like to think that she counts me as a friend, as well. From the outside looking in, it might strike some as very strange. I resisted it at first, too. I mean, she being an empress, and all. I told her once that I couldn't very well go around calling her my friend, and she practically chewed my head off."
    "The Royal Kei did?"
    "Yeah. She said that there was no more distance between us than that of two people standing next to each other." Rakushun smiled. "I found her dying at the side of the road. So I picked her up and took her to En."
    Shoukei's mouth dropped open. "Dying at the side of the road? The Royal Kei?"
    "She's a kaikyaku. A taika. She was swept onto the shores of Kou. At the time, the standing edict in Kou was to execute all kaikyaku. They pursued her until she collapsed from exhaustion."
    Shoukei pressed her hand to her chest. She had believed that this girl who had become empress had been blessed with that great fortune without so much as lifting a finger.
    "When I first took the Royal Kei to Kankyuu, I thought I'd get myself a nice little job as a reward. The longer I was with her, the pettier such goals became. When asked what I wished as a reward, I planned to say: admission to secondary school. But when the moment actually came, I blurted out: university. I'd mostly