The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

enthronement. The ordinary citizens had no way of judging the truth for themselves. They had no reason to question her authenticity, rather, they were ready to believe. She declared that the province lords had conspired together to prevent her--the rightful Empress--from entering the Imperial Palace. The people believed her and blamed them. Joei even dared to declare war on her 'treasonous and disloyal subjects,' and solicited new officials and soldiers. She was met with a flood of enlistees."
    The En continued with a sullen expression. "The enthronement of the previous Empress took a long time and her reign was short. The kingdom had not yet been able to recover and the resentment of the peasants against the province lords was deep. Of the nine provinces, already two are ruled by pretenders, and three more have been toppled by their armies."
    "Has no one been able to refute her claims?"
    "Some have tried. When the province lords pointed out the absence of the kirin, Joei insisted that they were hiding him. But then he was produced by Joei, making their position untenable. She claimed Keiki had been rescued from her enemies who had kidnapped him. The presentation of the kirin in its creature form made it hard for anyone to question her or rescue Keiki. And with that, of the four remaining provinces, two more switched sides."
    "They produced Keiki. Then Keiki . . . . "
    "It seems he was captured."
    That's why he hadn't come to rescue her. It wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, but it was damned near close.
    Rakushun said, "So this Joei has been sending assassins after Youko."
    "It's not possible. You're talking about youma attacking people. That does happen. But singling out, pursuing and attacking a specific person, that does not. Were they shirei, though, then it becomes another matter, entirely."
    "Shirei?"
    "The king employs the special powers of the Imperial Regalia, and the kirin commands the shirei . If someone were commanding the youma to attack a specific person, it could only be a kirin."
    So the youma that surrounded Keiki were under his command. That's what Youko took from the explanation, but Rakushun's reaction was one of extreme agitation.
    "It can't be!"
    The En nodded, a grave look upon his countenance. "No, it should not be. But I can think of no other explanation. It was by means of the kirin's shirei that the wild youma were sent to attack the Royal Kei."
    "It's just . . . . "
    "When I think this through logically, I conclude that Joei has neither the resolve nor the resources to raise and maintain an army. There must be someone behind the scenes pulling the strings. If that someone is also sending forth the shirei, then turn that rock over and you should find a king there."
    Youko looked back and forth between Rakushun and the En. "Meaning?"
    The En asked, "Do you know what kind of a being a kirin is?"
    "The sacred beast that chooses the king . . . . "
    "Yes, it is. But a kirin is no you -creature like the youma. Closer to a god. It has the heart of a beast, but can take upon a human appearance. Its whole being is suffused with charity and compassion. It is aloof and detached, but it cannot abide conflict. In particular, it has a horror of blood. The stain of blood makes it ill. It will never take up the sword and fight. It has the shirei to protect itself. The shirei are youma, though youma that have covenanted with the kirin and become what you might call its servants. In no wise would they ever take it upon themselves to attack a human being. To do so would be contrary to the kirin's will."
    "And yet?"
    And yet, the king is the kirin's lord. Though the kirin bears no malice toward any person, if the king commands it, that changes everything. The shirei attacked you because the king ordered the kirin to do so. Nothing else is possible."
    "Could this Joei have tamed a kirin?"
    "No. There is but one kirin in a kingdom. The king is its lord, and searches out the king, but nothing beyond that."
    So that meant a king had put a price on her head. Then she remembered, the woman on the mountain road. She had watched her mourn the death of the youma. Was it because those youma had been her shirei? The parrot had commanded her to kill Youko. Weeping, unable to defy him, she had brandished the sword. If that parrot was the king, and that woman a kirin . . . the pieces of the puzzle began to fall together.
    "But whose kirin?" And what king of what kingdom?
    The En stared off into the distance.