The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

number of people grew dissatisfied with his rule. While searching for Gyousou-sama, I gathered together those with similar sentiments and put together an anti-Asen coalition. But nothing good came of it. We were building castles out of sand. No matter how often we organized people together, there were always a suspiciously large number of defectors. Everything we built was doomed from the start."
    "I see."
    "The defectors either betrayed us to Asen, or simply disappeared into the night. In time, the patriots were all silenced. We had already lost any safe havens where the volunteers could gather. Those who hadn't been captured were forced deep underground to escape Asen's clutches. Those who harbored any doubts about Asen understood that a moment's carelessness would drag everybody around them into the maelstrom. If a rebel was known to be in a certain village, Asen would spare nothing to burn that town to cinders and salt the earth. Even now, there must be many people with opportunities to strike back at him. But it is next to impossible for them to seek each other out, to communicate and join forces."
    Risai paused and then said, "Your Highness must know about the harsh winters in Tai. Heaven has turned its back upon us. Disasters strike with increasing frequency. Youma flood the land. It takes everything they've got for the people merely to stay alive. The only question on their minds is how to survive the coming winter."
    It was said that the only reason anybody remained alive was because of the kouji. Having acceded to the throne and reorganized the Imperial Court, Gyousou took action even before delivering the Inaugural Rescript. The riboku upon which the kingdom was founded, known as the roboku, was located in the heart of the Imperial Palace. Gyousou made a request to the roboku, and Heaven granted him a plant called keihaku.
    "Keihaku?"
    "Yes. The keihaku is a plant like a brier. It grows freely in the harshest of environments, producing white flowers over a long growing season, from early spring until late fall. After shedding its flowers, it bears a large fruit the size of a quail's egg. When this fruit is dried, it burns as well as charcoal."
    No one could survive the harsh winters in Tai without fuel. But charcoal was a limited resource, and the people required a supplemental source of energy. Keihaku, though, could be planted in the corners of fields. A rich harvest, dried and stored away, could tide things over until spring. A single person could prepare enough charcoal for a family, a great boon to the people of Tai.
    "Keihaku originally only grew in the Yellow Sea. His Highness made the request to the roboku and obtained it for Tai as well. The spring His Highness disappeared, keihaku appeared on the roboku. Before three years had passed, white keihaku flowers could be seen in every nook and cranny around Sui Province. In the midst of this disastrous chain of events, the people were provided with the means to survive the winter. The people came to call it the "gift of He who lives in Kouki," or kouji.
    "I understand," Youko murmured in a sad voice.
    "If Asen truly was King, he would have exhausted the Mandate of Heaven by now. But he isn't King. If he was but a mere usurper, his lifespan would be limited. But he is a wizard as well. As long as nobody can eliminate or overthrow him, the only people who can take his wizard status from him are the King, or if the King no longer lives, then the seal of the Hakuchi. Neither the King nor Taiho have died, but nobody knows where they are. Consequently, Providence will not stir itself to remove this treachery from our midst."
    "And that is why you say the people of Tai don't have the means to save themselves."
    "Yes," Risai nodded. At the same time, she caught sight of Youko, attending sincerely to her every word, and her heart ached in her chest. Please help us, she wanted to say. Please search for Gyousou. Please search for Taki. And strike down Asen--
    Risai was about to speak when Youko said softly, "If the Royal Tai is safe, I wonder if he would share the kouji with us? Kei is impoverished--" She gazed up at the moon. "It gets quite cold in the north of Kei during the winter. The villagers are particularly poor there, where few valuable crops can be grown. There isn't a good substitute for charcoal in the winter. This land does not get as cold as Tai, so those in the north are poorly provisioned against the winter. The walls are thin, and the windows