The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

here he was safe. But they seemed to be harming him further. If it could not be made to stop--Sanshi broke her self-imposed prohibition and was about to try and jump out of the shell--
    Echoing from places unknown, a voice checked her actions. "Are you saying he is being held against his will? That they are his jailers?"
    Gouran's words struck Sanshi as one possible explanation. "It doesn't seem possible. How could have our enemies have foreseen all this?"
    Knowing that Taiki would flee here, had they somehow won over his substitute parents? Was such a thing even possible?
    "Still, I don't get the feeling that he is being harmed to an extreme degree."
    "But he is being served contaminated food."
    "I sense no enemies about. Perhaps they are simply intimidated by Taiki's power and are trying to keep him in check."
    That did seem likely, conceded Gouran from the depths of the darkness. "If so, as long as they are gentle jailers, his life would not seem to be in danger."
    "If he resists, they might hand him over to his enemies."
    Perhaps, Gouran muttered.
    Sanshi was at a complete loss. Should they continue on in this captive state, or try to overwhelm his jailors and free Taiki? But doing so would greatly weaken Taiki's life-force. And besides that, he did not have his horn and the inflowing psychic streams were very thin. It was probably best to hold out here, conserve their energy, and prepare for an eventual attack.
    Even if they slipped away from their jailers, Taiki had no place to run to, and Sanshi hadn't the slightest idea where such a place might be found. Of course they couldn't return to Tai in its dangerous state. The only safe place in the world was at its center, on Mt. Hourai. But neither Taiki nor Sanshi and Gouran were capable of triggering another shoku.
    Even if they could, the effort would at the very least eat away at Taiki's fleeting life-force. Beyond their ability to return was the lack of a destination to return to. If attacked a second or third time while searching for a place of refuge, Sanshi did not know if they could endure. And if they did endure, their life-force exhausted, it was inevitable that they would do damage to Taiki's body.
    As long as Taiki was being held prisoner "compassionately," things may conclude without a further assault. If the poison was not enough to kill him, perhaps they should let it pass.
    "Taiki still requires sanctuary in this world," came Gouran's voice, as if from far away. "Something other than the refuge of a prison or the asylum provided by the jailers would be better. You witnessed all that commotion the other day."
    Sanshi nodded. The people surrounding Taiki. Bearing down on him mentally and physically. In the name of "investigation," turning the screws on him with suspicious-looking instruments. As long as he could be kept away from the people called "police" or "doctors," he could probably bear being kept captive. Even so, something other than this sort of "sanctuary" would be preferable.
    "Let's persevere as best we can, as long as the enemy doesn't make a move."
    Rest, but be on your guard. His furtive voice died away, and she sensed Gouran drifting off to sleep.

Part Three
    hat day, following her morning meeting with the privy council, Youko returned to the Inner Palace to find a bird waiting for her in her living quarters. The bird was a Ran, used to communicate messages among the ministers.
    Messenger pigeons bore letters back and forth, but a Ran memorized human speech and communicated it verbally. Like the Hou'ou (phoenix) and Hakuchi, the Ran resided in Godou Palace and could be used only by the Empress and the person she was communicating with.
    In other words, the Ran was the equivalent of a person letter from the Empress. The kingdom that a Ran came from could be identified by the color of its tail feathers.
    Youko was a tad surprised by the sight of the Ran. She gave it a grain of silver and in a cheerful, male voice, the bird said to open the Forbidden Gate at noon. And then closed its beak.
    Grinning, Youko went down to the Forbidden Gate exactly at noon and waited in front of the gate. The two suugu arrived right on schedule.
    "Thank you for coming so far to see me on so short a notice," she said, greeting the two with an amused smile as they dismounted.
    The taller of the two men raised an eyebrow. "You asked to let you know if I knew anything regarding the matter, and that sounded like Kei had a job for me to do."
    "Not even the