Author's Note: This particular story set is going to be an assorted collection of Saiunkoku ficlets that I've written, that don't particularly fit anywhere else. Some will be canon, some not; and likewise their subject matter and main characters will differ according to the idle whims that inspired them. This one was written, ironically, just before someone posted a summary of Saiunkoku book 11 on the livejournal community. So it's been made somewhat irrelevant by canon. Or perhaps it has been codified by canon. It's hard for me to say as of yet.
The Emperor's gaze was steady and unyielding, and it pierced Shuuei through to his very core. "We will do our best to make sure you never have to choose between your family and us," he said. "But we doubt that your family will do us the same courtesy."
"Your Majesty," for once Shuuei was at a loss for words; the inscribed hilt of his sword dug into his palm. "I don't-- that is, I can't--"
"Sou Taifu once told us, 'never enter a fight unless you know you're going to win.'" Ryuuki turned his burning eyes over the pond, and it took all of Shuuei's discipline not to sag in relief. "We will think about what you said."
Shuuei bowed low and left the garden. The sword the Emperor had gifted him with had never felt so heavy. He unclenched his hand from the guard and raised it in front of his face: the inscribed iris pattern was imprinted on his skin. A flower, a symbol of absolute trust-- but trust, like a flower, was a delicate thing.