The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

has not the strength to discipline the raging shirei within him."
    "Leave the shirei to me. I shall exorcize them."
    "And Taiki?"
    Silence fell upon their group. The woman grew still. She appeared to Risai little changed from her stone statue. Nothing moved except for the falling water and rising mist behind her. It looked like a river of fine powder. Dust dancing in the wind.
    "Please do not cast him aside," said Risai.
    The only evidence of a reaction on the part of the Queen Mother was a slight arch of her eyebrows.
    "He is necessary to Tai."
    "Even if cured, there is nothing he can do. Do you intend to defeat your enemies with that body of yours?" She spoke without a spark of empathy.
    Risai grasped the shoulder of her missing right arm. "No."
    "Taiki is much like you. There is nothing more he can do."
    "He still matters, nonetheless."
    "For what purpose?"
    "To save Tai."
    "Why do you pray for the salvation of Tai?"
    Risai found herself at a loss for words. "The--the answer to that question should go without saying."
    "Without saying?"
    Risai opened her mouth, but had nothing to say. Why was she so driven to save Tai in the first place?
    "Do you love Taiki and the Royal Tai? Do you love the Imperial Court in which you served?"
    That is true as well, Risai thought. She revered Gyousou and adored Taiki. She was proud of the fact that they had taken her into their confidence and appointed her to a position of trust. She loved that place where she was treated as "one of the team."
    But even Risai understood. What was lost would never be restored as it once was. She had lost many of her own subordinates, and many of the court officials she trusted. Last she'd heard, the disposition of Taisai Kaihaku of the Ministry of Heaven remained unknown. The word was that Chousai Eichuu had died from his wounds. The rumors also said that Ministers Senkaku of the Ministry of Earth and Haboku of the Ministry of Summer had been executed. She had no idea what had happened after she'd parted with Kaei in Sui Province, and was too frightened to pursue the matter any further.
    All these people buried under six years of time. Risai looked down at the feet of the Queen Mother, where Taiki lay. He was no longer the child she once knew. That young Taiki no longer existed.
    "Or you simply cannot forgive Asen?"
    Of course she couldn't forgive Asen. He'd gained Taiki's trust and then used it to attack him. He had stolen the throne. He had driven Tai into the depths of hell. So many had lost their lives because of him. There was no way such inhumanity could ever be forgiven. That Asen could be permitted to remain upon the throne was a flat repudiation of morality and good sense, charity and good faith--of everything that human beings should hold dear.
    "You want to clear your good name? Or is this out of love for Tai?"
    Risai couldn't answer. Neither one seemed the right answer. "I don't know."
    "So you stamp your feet and carry on like an unreasonable child about how much everything upsets you."
    That wasn't it either. Risai lifted her gaze. The white expanse of space reminded her--however painfully--of Tai's snow-swept landscapes. The countless snowflakes blanketing the mountains and fields and villages. Every sound deadened and subdued. Beneath the silent shroud, the world falling into a kind of paralyzed hibernation.
    Risai definitely felt the sting of her muddied reputation. She was furious at Asen for doing so. She had sworn revenge upon him for trampling all that was good and right beneath his feet. She had very much resolved herself that if Heaven would not straighten his crooked paths, then she would.
    Waiting for the opportunity while roaming about Jou Province, Risai had lost many friends and acquaintances. After suffering so many wounds, she had come to believe that only in overthrowing Asen could she hope for any hope of healing.
    And yet with each passing winter, the snow had frozen all those thoughts out of her.
    "I don't even know for certain myself." She followed the billowing mists from the waterfall with her eyes. It resembled the smoke arising from the ruins. "Except that Tai will be destroyed if things continue as they are."
    "And its destruction is unacceptable to you?"
    "Yes. That alone I cannot bear."
    "Why?"
    Why, Risai thought to herself. The first thing that came out of her mouth was the last thing she expected to say. "Because if Tai falls, it will be my fault."
    " Your fault?"
    "I don't know how to say it. But