Silent

By Maria Szabo

Disclaimer: These are not my creations. This is a work of fanfiction and the only profit being made is that of enjoyment.

The Saihou of Kei is a taciturn person, someone who does not readily express his emotions. He does have them, despite the beliefs of some of the people who have to deal with him. But he does not care to share his feelings—it has never been his way.

Sometimes, he wonders why things happen the way they do. When he looks at his queen now, he is drawn to her in a way that might not be proper between a Kirin and his master. Then he remembers Yo-ou and her despair, and it is reflected in the sorrow in his eyes.

He knew in his heart that Yo-ou would not be a capable queen, yet he had no choice in the matter. The gods had willed it. So he knelt before her and gave to that poor woman the throne of Kei, and in doing so, doomed the land to a generation of want and despair.

Keiki had not seen it coming—the ravaging love that drove Yo-ou beyond the point of madness. It came upon him gradually that something was not right between them, that something was amiss in their relationship, but he was young then, and inexperienced, and did not recognize her feelings for what they truly were. By the time he did realize his error, it was too late.

It was not that he wasn't devoted to his Queen—he was, as a Kirin should be to the one he has acknowledged as his master. Yo-ou had wanted more than that, and more than that he could not give.

Not then.

When after a long search, he found Youko and recognized her as the new Queen of Kei, he was greatly puzzled by her. Like Yo-ou, she had not been familiar with the government that was in place (or with much of anything in their world), yet unlike the previous Queen, she had not hidden within her chambers to leave the land to chaos, but instead had departed the palace to go among her people. Her reckless attitude unsettled him, and when she was gone, the thoughts of her well-being drove him to distraction.

Her fiery hair, her leaf-green eyes, her stubbornness, her kindness to others, the sheer effort she made to adapt to the circumstances in which she found herself: all of these things, and perhaps more, swirled in his thoughts like wind-tossed petals. His emotions became engaged. And in that moment, he suddenly understood with clarity what Yo-ou had tried to express to him, all those years ago.

But Keiki, the Saihou of Kei, is a taciturn person, and not one to express his feelings. Youko need never know.

Fin