The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

She had no use for most of the expansive architecture of the Imperial Palace and hadn't bothered finding out what was there.
    Youko rested her chin in her hands. "This isn't half bad." She had no idea where she was. And no real idea of how to find her way back.
    It just wasn't the Imperial Palace. There was little in this world that went untouched. The walls and pillars were wildly decorated with colors and designs. Few places were left as nature made them. Parks and gardens were no exception, with arbors and stones packed into every available space.
    There was nothing to do here but stare at the Sea of Clouds. This spot had somehow been overlooked by generations of rulers. The gazebos had about them a look of long neglect. All the paint had worn off. But their appearance engendered feelings of relief. It occurred to her again that she was a stranger in a strange land.
    Having put her whole heart and mind into being Empress, she hardly ever thought about the land of her birth. Now and then when the memories rose up in her mind, they felt like images from a dream. Whether she'd forgotten, or whether she had stored them away in a box, hearing about Taiki had disturbed something inside her. A long-dormant nostalgia. She wouldn't call it longing, but when she thought about never returning, she felt a painful sense of loss.
    A kirin from her same era, from her same neighborhood. What was he doing right now? That there'd been a shoku must mean he'd returned to that dream-like world. But why couldn't he come back again?
    As she puzzled this over, she heard faint footsteps. Glancing over her shoulder she saw her chief retainer. "You found me soon enough, Keiki."
    "I know where Her Highness is at all times. Koukan was looking for you."
    "Oh."
    "The Royal En looked very displeased."
    "No doubt."
    "May I sit down?"
    "Go head. What do you think, Keiki?"
    "About what?"
    "You're a benevolent creature. Do you think we should cast Tai aside?"
    Sitting next to her, Keiki stared out at the Sea of Clouds for a long moment before he spoke. "The people of Tai are in a pitiful state."
    Youko nodded. "We hear what chaos Tai is in, but things there are probably worse than we imagine."
    "Undoubtedly. If the throne was truly vacant, it would not take six years to be filled. Normally, it's rare for such terrible conditions to persist over six years. The chaos that preceded the Royal Tai assuming the throne was not this out of the ordinary."
    "Have you ever been to Kouki before?"
    "Yes. Even shortly after the coronation, the disorder was relatively minor. That's how ably the provisional court had been conducted."
    "Huh," muttered Youko. She looked at Keiki. "So, what kind of person is Taiki?"
    "He is very small."
    "Figures," Youko said with a smile. "Your very clear explanations are entirely opaque."
    "Is that so?"
    Youko laughed. "Well, it was seven years ago. From what I can tell, he's probably changed a lot since then."
    "Yes," Keiki replied.
    "If you were driven from the Kingdom, Keiki, what would you do?"
    "I would return."
    "And under what conditions would you be unable to?"
    "I really cannot imagine. Taiki is quite young, but he understood the burdens that had been placed upon him. Of course, he found them quite daunting. But no matter what calamities might have separated him from Tai, he would do his utmost to return. I cannot fathom the circumstances under which the contrary would be true."
    "I don't suppose it's possible the Royal Tai is there with him?"
    Keiki mulled it over. "I do not think so," he answered.
    "Why not? If you believe he'd return if he wanted to, then maybe the only other option is that he doesn't want to. Perhaps he's lying low with the Royal Tai."
    "If the Royal Tai was with Taiki, then they'd have no reason to conceal themselves. This is not a case of the Royal Tai losing the faith of his subjects and fleeing the kingdom. With the kirin beside him, no army would bar his way to the Imperial Palace."
    "Yeah, I guess so."
    Youko was lost for a moment in her thoughts. Keiki blurted out, "I do not think this involves anything so simple."
    "Why?"
    "Because a meishoku was reported. A meishoku is a shoku brought about by the scream of a kirin."
    "A scream--"
    Traveling back and forth between here and there required the use of the Gogou Gate. By accessing the supernatural powers of the Moon, a gate could be opened in the Moon's shadow. But not everybody could do so. The magical gifts necessary to open the gate or their