The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

him with no sin yet sentence him to death. And what becomes of those left behind? The people of Tai have suffered six years under Asen's yoke. And you're telling them to wait for Taiki to die as well? Wait for a new taika to spring forth? Wait for a new king to be chosen? How many more years is that going to take?"
    "That--"
    "Five years? Ten years? Genkun, Tai will not endure that long. Or perhaps until the next king is crowned, Heaven could drive the youma from Tai and warm the winters?"
    "Risai--" Enki tugged on Risai's arm. Risai shook her arm free.
    "Doesn't Tentei tell the king to rule with humanity according to the Way? That's supposed to be the first of the Divine Decrees. And yet how can these Divine Ones spurn the Way? How can these personages, who so easily abandon the people and trample humanity underfoot, judge kings who have strayed from the Way?"
    Gyokuyou took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Heaven has a logic and reason of its own. All those who dwell in Gyokkei follow its precepts."
    "So take me to this Gyokkei or wherever. I shall petition Tentei and the gods in person."
    "That is not possible. Risai, we do have pity on Taiki."
    "Then please help him!"
    Gyoukuyou looked at Risai with distressed eyes. "And if Taiki is returned here, then what? His shirei have lost the grip of reason. If they stay attached to Taiki in that state, they will wreak the destruction that youma wreak. If he could be brought back, the shirei would have to be separated from him. If he loses his shirei, then how could he protect himself? He would lose as well his 'royal sense.' He would have no other means of finding the king."
    "Even so, as the Taiho, he is necessary to Tai."
    "The rest of the kingdoms cannot save Tai. They cannot muster their armies and attack Asen. Bring Taiki home and he would be as helpless as a lamb. Your desire to save Tai, your conviction that Tai must be saved, can only prove a Sisyphean effort with our hands so tied. What would such a Pyrrhic victory yield him? What can a kirin accomplish when it is incapable of changing form, and with no shirei at his command? Besides being cut down before your eyes?"
    "If he has no shirei, then I shall protect him, at the cost of my life. I know I am no substitute for the shirei. Yet the people of Tai are waiting for their Taiho. If he lives, then they can rally behind him. I might not amount to much with my one arm, but the people of Tai together will protect him."
    "And that's how you intend to attack Asen? If adding a useless Taiki to your ranks could make such a difference, should you not have already done so?"
    "How can a person like you stand there and spout such nonsense?"
    "Risai."
    "What can the Taiho do--how could you even ask such a question? The Taiho is a kirin. He's not going to attack Asen. He's not going to man the barricades in any battle. Nevertheless, the Taiho is necessary. Don't you understand? Whether or not the Taiho is there--that is what will make all the difference in the world to me, and to the people of Tai."
    "Well--"
    "The Taiho is our hope, Genkun. A Tai without the Taiho and the King is a kingdom where the sun never rises. What he will do or can or cannot do is not the question. Before the people of Tai can again begin to hope, they must know that the Taiho lives."
    Gyokuyou stared off into space, gazing at the band of light streaming through a crevice in the deformed outcropping of stones, as if pushing that rock up the mountain herself.
    "Enki--"
    "Yes."
    "Who among your Sankou could you send on a temporary sabbatical?"
    "Temporary--"
    "We'll transfer Taiki's koseki to En. Taiki has never been officially registered, but simply to conform with formalities, he can be listed as a refugee from Tai. Once his records are in order, dispatch the Royal En and have him induct Taiki into the Registry of Wizards."
    "Can a kirin be made a citizen of En?"
    "Nothing says he cannot. While a kirin is not listed upon the census of his own kingdom, the law does not touch upon kirin from other kingdoms. The same thing applies to the Sankou. Though members of the Sankou must be citizens of that kingdom, no such restriction applies to a kirin from another kingdom."
    "Genkun--" Risai cried with great joy.
    Gyokuyou , did not look at her. "I haven't done anything you should thank me for. Even bringing Taiki back here will solve nothing."
    "And Taiki?" Youko interjected. "Is losing his horn a permanent condition?"
    "It depends. Without seeing him