The Wings of Dreams

same ends? The moment you put your trust in others and stepped foot into the Yellow Sea, you chose to sacrifice them to ensure the safety of the journey for yourself.”
    “No! I didn’t!”
    “Unfortunately, safety and security come a bigger cost than money alone. Why do those going on the Shouzan travel in groups? A big crowd makes it dead simple for youma to sniff us out. They can spot us coming a mile away. And yet, instead of standing alone in a field, we’d rather be one among many. Why?”
    “Stop it.”
    “Because your best odds of getting away are while the guy next to you is getting attacked.”
    Shushou bit her lip. It was the bitter truth.
    “Not only people, but all living things that are powerless by themselves form groups and herds and schools. By dividing the risk among all of them, they ensure the greatest safety for the greatest number.”
    “This is a grotesque conversation.”
    “Grotesque? Don’t pretend to be stupid. There’s nothing grotesque about it. It is natural providence.”

    Providence, Shushou repeated to herself.
    “By gathering ourselves together while traveling in the Yellow Sea, the risks are suffered by only a few of the total number. I could hardly guide five-hundred to Mt. Hou. Do you think a dozen goushi could do the job? All I can do is protect the person who hired me. As long as my employer remains unharmed, I have done my job. If some other poor chap dies, and his blood draws the youma away from me and mine, then I can only be grateful.”
    “Okay. Enough.”
    Shushou hugged her arms around her knees and hung her head. Gankyuu sighed. He looked up at Rikou sitting on the tree. He didn’t say anything. Rikou didn’t say anything, except for a nod. The setting moon floating eerily behind Rikou cast his countenance into shadow, masking his expression.
    “Shushou—”
    “It’s okay. I know how naive I am.”
    “Why did you come to the Yellow Sea?”
    Shushou raised her head. She couldn’t see Rikou’s face, but from his tone of voice she could at least surmise he wasn’t smiling.
    “Have you forgotten why you are going to Mt. Hou?”
    “I haven’t forgotten. That’s why—”
    “In order for a dynasty to endure, to ensure public peace and order throughout the realm, a ruler must require that blood be shed. Even if the ruler does not shed that blood himself, when his subordinates do so on his behalf, the responsibility falls upon his shoulders. No matter how you define it, there never was such a thing as a bloodless reign.”
    Shushou looked back at him.
    “You will shed the blood of others for your own good. That’s what it means to sit upon the throne.”
    “I—” Shushou started to say. She cast her down her eyes. “Yes. Yes, that is probably quite true.”

Chapter 19
    [3-3]  S hushou returned to the campsite, settled down in the hollow amidst the pile of fallen trees, and took a nap.
    Gankyuu silently watched over her, scabbard in one hand. Rikou similarly remained in the saddle on the suugu’s back. The sky was turning bright when Shushou slipped into a deep sleep.
    That was when Gankyuu said to Rikou, “Mind if I ask you a question?”
    “What?”
    “Do you think she’s going to become the next empress?”
    Rikou tilted his head to the side and gazed up at the sky. “I wonder. To start with, there’s this little matter of making it to Mt. Hou. She’s got as much guts as any kid I’ve known, but no matter how you look at it, she’s awfully small to be crossing the Yellow Sea.”
    “The way you were talking to her earlier, it sure sounded like you expected her to become the next empress.”
    Rikou smiled. “You know, Gankyuu, if Shushou makes it to Mt. Hou, I do believe she will ascend the throne.”
    Gankyuu’s eyes opened a notch wider. “How’s that?”
    Rikou chuckled, as unfazed as ever. “Figured it from the minute we first met.”
    Gankyuu sighed deeply. “What confidence. You and Shushou both. Where does such great faith in yourselves come from?”
    “Hmm. Good question.” The smile vanished from this face. “Call it the cumulative acts of Providence.”
    “The cumulative acts of Providence. Huh.”
    “That girl was in a bind. I was in a position to help her. Another person may not have. But it was the kind of whimsy that struck my fancy.”
    “I’m not surprised.”
    “Shushou met me and then met you. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about.”
    “I needed the money.”
    “You were made for each