Refugee

By Maria Szabo

Disclaimer: Juuni Kokki (the Twelve Kingdoms) is the property of Ono Fuyumi and her publishers and distributers. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made save that of enjoyment.

"Kouri? Is that you?"

A yawn. "Yes, Gyousou-sama."

"Ah. Very well, then."

There were times, he remembered, when he would wake up to find himself not alone. Kouri would be there, curled up as inconspicuously as he could manage, his thin silk nightshirt riding up upon his thighs and a small arm sticking a little ways off the bed.

Gyousou never knew how the kirin managed to get into his bed unnoticed. After so many years of fighting, he'd learned to wake at a whisper, or the sound of a footstep or the rustle of a leaf. Even after making love, with his heart and body relaxed, his mind would be alert to any movement around him. Tai was not a kind land, and this trait had saved his life many times.

But since he had become king, it had become a morning ritual to wake with a blacked-haired kirin at his side. No matter how late he'd been up the night before, or if there were guards at the door, or ministers in the hallways, or even if he wasn't in his own room…somehow Taiki would always know where he was, and sometime in the night, the little kirin would make his way into the room and nestle up against him in his bed.

There were exceptions, of course. When he was out on campaign, or when Taiki was off on a state visit, his bed was his alone. It then somehow seemed a bit colder and a little too large.

One morning, having once more awoken with the tickle of a black mane against his shoulder, he asked him about it.

"You do have your own bedroom, don't you?" Gyousou adjusted the kirin's nightshirt, which had come untied and was slipping off his narrow shoulders. "I seem to remember seeing one assigned to you."

"It's not that!" His fair skin took a blush very well. "I have my own quarters."

"Is it your bed, then?"

"No, Your Majesty. It's a very comfortable bed."

"So, why do I find you in mine every morning?"

Taiki's dark eyes were contrite. "It bothers you?"

"Ah…no, not really. I just wondered."

The kirin looked away, his teeth playing with his bottom lip. "It's Gouran."

"Gouran? Your shirei?"

"He snores."

From that day on, the guards never questioned the little kirin when he came to the king's room in the middle of the night. It was, after all, the duty of a king to protect and nurture his kirin, and in the case of the Kingdom of Tai, to help him get a good night's sleep.

FIN