The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

her was the raw, cutting cold.
    Like now. She was so very, very cold. She was freezing to death, along with the kingdom and its people.
    I'm so cold--

    "Are you awake?" a voice asked cautiously.
    Or that's what she thought she heard. Concentrating with all her might, she managed to crack open her heavy, cold eyelids. Through the dark shadows of her eyelashes appeared the worried face of a girl.
    "Oh, good," the girl said.
    The girl pressed something cold against her face. A chill shook her from the marrow of her bones. The icy thing causing it was pressed against her face. That's right--she was--
    "The Empress--" Risai muttered, coming back to herself. She probably didn't even hear her own self say it. She opened her eyes wider and searched the face of the girl. She saw no sign of that brilliant red hair.
    "Please rest. You're in no condition to get up."
    Only when the girl cautioned her did Risai realize she was attempting to get out of bed.
    But I'm still alive.
    The girl pressed her cool palm over Risai's hand. The cool touch of her skin relieved her mightily. So chilled and so cold, yet the girl's icy hands felt so pleasant.
    The girl rested her gaze on Risai and said slowly and deliberately, "You've gotten here in one piece. Her Majesty will meet with you whenever she can. So take it easy and close your eyes."
    "But--I--"
    "It's okay. It's okay. Go back to sleep, okay?"
    The girl took Risai's hand in her own and placed it against Risai's throat. There she folded Risai's fingers around a round object resting against the hollow of her throat. It was even colder than the girl's hand and engendered within her an even stronger sense of relief. Then she finally understood that her body was burning up, arousing the pain of fevers and chills.
    "You really must rest. You'll be fine. Youko won't forget about you."
    Youko, Risai repeated to herself. Her tongue felt like it was sticking to the roof of her mouth.
    "She's not here right now, but she's repeatedly stopped by to see how you're doing. She really is concerned about you. You've got nothing to worry about. You're going to be all right."
    Instead of nodding, all Risai could do was relax her brows. Her eyelids closed of their own accord. She heard the sound of the wind. But whether this was the sound of the winter wind raging at the door or simply the sound of the roaring in her ears--
    This is no time to sleep, Risai told herself.
    "If I am unable to meet with the Royal Kei--"
    "Risai, anything but that!" The voice mingling with the sound of the wind was suffused with grief and heartbreak. In her mind's eye, woman's face pulled into focus, on the verge of tears. "What a wretched and cowardly thing to do!"
    "Yes it is," Risai said, turning to face the empty air and nodding her head. I know the awfulness of what I am doing, Kaei.

Chapter 5
    " T he new king ascended the Tai throne some seven years ago this fall. The king's name is Saku Gyousou."
    The matter-of-fact voice echoed around the room. They were in a building called the Sekisui-dai, a section of the library found at the very back of the Inner Palace. Though not to the same extent as the world below, the heavy heat particular to the Gyouten summer stagnated in the snug room.
    The rear windows faced a rock wall covered with moss and ferns. A delicate, white waterfall tumbled down the wall to a small, clear lake spreading out below the balcony, dappled with the sunlight streaming through the greenery. The sound of water mingled with the songs of the birds floated on a cool breeze through the open windows.
    "He served under the previous monarch as General of the Regiment of the Left in the Palace Guard. He served with loyalty and distinction and was loved and respected by both his soldiers and the people of the region, sufficient that his fame spread to other kingdoms. Almost as soon as the previous government collapsed, that General Saku should be the next king was widely rumored about."
    "He sounds like a remarkable person," Youko said in admiration, a touch of envy in her voice.
    "Indeed," agreed Chousai Koukan, Minister-in-Chief of the Rikkan. "Following the demise of the late king, he continued to prop up the Imperial Court. Everybody had high expectations for him. As soon as the Yellow Flag was raised, he journeyed to the Yellow Sea and made the pilgrimage to Mt. Hou. There he was anointed by Taiki and acceded to the throne. He's been called a hyoufuu king."
    "A hyoufuu king?"
    "Meaning the whirlwind king.