The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

that in the end he'd leave behind a few scattered hamlets and then die, all the while laughing at himself. How's that?"
    "Not bad." Fuukan smiled. "And when it comes to Sou, it's not beyond my imagination."
    "Eh?"
    "The vagabond prince gets tired of clinging to the world as it is, and assassinates the Royal Sou."
    Rikou blinked, and then burst out laughing. "Low blow. And I have a feeling it just might be possible."
    Fuukan laughed loudly, and then turned his gaze out the window. "Flights of fancy rarely touch down on solid ground."
    Would it were so, Rikou thought, watching as well as the twilight settled over the city.
    "Such things tend to resolve themselves without ever playing out."
    "Probably." Rikou didn't respond further.

    The dusk crept into the room along with the noise of the street below. What they mused about in these flights of fancy had already occurred to most dynasties. If such things could wreak such destruction, then living an extraordinary long life was not in the cards. With the run-of-the-mill dangers surmounted, the future only became less and less certain.
    Why did dynasties fail, Rikou wondered to himself. Why did a king who had received the Mandate of Heaven fall from the Way? Was it because it never occurred to himself that he really had? And if he hadn't noticed, had he ever understood was the "Way" was? Could such a person receive the Mandate of Heaven in the first place?
    If not, then he surely should have known at some point. And yet he strayed. At some point, he must have realized he was heading in the wrong direction.
    Based on past precedents, he could grasp at what point the mistake was made. But just as he could not imagine the moment of his own death, he couldn't imagine being consciously aware of setting down the wrong path. What was the cause that came before the effect? And how to stop it ahead of time?
    Fuukan's cheerful voice suddenly broke into his thoughts. "You staying in Shisou long?"
    "That was the intent, but I'm not so sure." It wasn't mere rumor anymore. If things really were getting chancy in Ryuu, then Rikou had to sound the alarm. "Maybe two or three more days. I want to check things out with my own two eyes. And you?"
    "I'll be taking off tomorrow. I took the long way around from the En border to here."
    "Sounds like you. Living your life by the seat of your pants."
    "You're hardly one to talk."
    You and I are hardly in the same position, Rikou thought of bantering in return, but held his tongue. They were both free spirits with a love of the open road. As long as they could keep on meeting like this, it was better to keep that pretense alive.
    At the same time, for all their chance meetings from the opposite ends of the world, they had never gotten together on their true own home grounds. And that's how it'd probably be the next time as well.
    "Well, then. I should like to hear about your long way around getting here." Rikou grinned. "Dinner's on me."

    Just as Fuukan had warned him, the food was bad and the drink no better. They wrapped things up around midnight and parted ways at the top of the stairs. Rikou wasn't in the mood to see Fuukan off the next morning. He intended to sleep in till noon. If Heaven smiled upon Sou and En, they would meet again when they least expected to.
    "I don't have to tell you to take care of yourself," he said, and headed toward his room.
    "Not at all," came Fuukan's voice behind him. "But let me tell you an interesting story."
    Rikou stopped and leaned back against the railing.
    Fuukan grinned. "I'm lousy at go. But I pull off a win now and then. When I do, I pocket one of the stones. So far I've collected around eighty."
    Rikou stood there stock still. "And?"
    "Well, to be precise, I got up to eighty-three. And then the whole thing struck me as silly."
    Rikou laughed out loud. "And now?"
    "Well, I don't remember throwing them away, so they should be sitting around somewhere."
    "How long ago are we talking about?"
    "Oh, about two hundred years." Fuukan grinned. With a wave he spun on his heels. "See you," he said cheerfully over his shoulder.
    "Yeah, you son of a bitch!" Rikou merrily shot back.

Chapter 2
    T he capital of the southern Kingdom of Sou was called Ryuukou. Seikan Palace, home of the six-hundred year old dynasty built by the Royal Sou, covered the peaks of Mt. Ryuukou.
    The focal point of the Imperial Palace was usually the Imperial Residence—the Seishin. But in the case of Sou, the focus was a bit off center. The