4
The Crown Prince of Kou
Perhaps future court poets would describe the arrival of Ren Kouen from Rakushou as a hawk descending on its prey—or as Kou descending on its prey.
This was what Kou wanted, to be sure: to be allied with Jishou. For reasons still unknown to her, or to her brothers, Kou wanted this alliance and would get it, even at the expense of one of their marriageable heirs, trade concessions, and perhaps even a bit of face. The Kou Empire did not make allies; it conquered. Kou had always subjugated other countries with the might of their military.
And Jishou was now the exception to decades of ruthless invasion.
"Perhaps we should talk to Koumei about this someday," Shiro quietly mused; they'd met in his sitting room, just minutes after dawn. He had known she and Nobuyuki would be awake, so he'd sent for them to have breakfast with him—after all, the same worries plagued them as the eldest siblings in their family.
He was sitting on his floor cushions, straight-backed and with a cup of his bitterest tea in his hands, eyes closed and head tilted towards the ceiling. He was already dressed in one of his finer robes, ready for the Crown Prince of Kou's arrival only hours from now.
Sayu herself had a cup of tea from the same pot. She said nothing as she looked at the steaming cup waiting for her on the table absently; in the background, she could hear the smooth and even sounds of Yuki's brushstrokes as he wrote his lengthy letter.
The rhythmic sounds never broke pattern even as Yuki spoke, "Yes. That sounds like a great idea. Talk to Prince Koumei about how maybe the only reason we even agreed to this alliance was because Kou would have invaded the Triangle otherwise, and for our peaceful refusal to become their subjects, Caera and Ariavat would have been forced to aid and eventually perish along with us."
It was not quite grumbling, and Sayu thought the grim humor didn't suit Yuki very well.
Shiro sighed, eyes still closed, "And why not? We've taken him into our confidence. It only seems right that we should share our worries with him. It would be nice to hear what one of Kou's princes thinks personally about this alliance."
Her eldest brother then opened his eyes, blinking. He looked to her, his brows drawn. "Sayu, you've been quiet this entire time. Is there something troubling you?"
She shook her head. Her tea was still steaming away, and she idly waved a slow hand over the grey wisps rising from the warm porcelain of her cup. "Nothing."
They'd already voiced most of her worries, anyway; the last weeks of negotiation were finally closing in, and with it the betrothal and official announcement of Jishou's alliance to Kou. Both Caera and Ariavat had already known and acknowledged this even since the beginning stages of these deliberations—yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that with this move, their country's history would be embarking on a new course, one that she frankly felt was irreversible.
She had a feeling everyone in the room knew that too. And that they were all just coping in their own strange, idiosyncratic ways, patiently biding their time in each other's company until they would be called to the docks to receive Ren Kouen and his retinue.
Yuki's brush stopped, and she heard him approach both her and Shiro at the low table. He sat down, mouth with a pensive set to it, but not speaking. Without prompting, Shiro poured him some tea as well.
The three siblings looked at each other. They locked stares, and with some tacit agreement that they'd kept ever since they were children, they understood that there was no turning back now, and that perhaps every decision they made from then on would be doubly important.
Then they looked at their tea cups.
Yuki looked aghast at Shiro, now knowing why they hadn't even finished a single pot of tea that morning.
Shiro sighed again, this time more audibly and with more than a hint of chagrin. Sayu playfully slapped him on the shoulder—Yuki looked at her with an irritable expression, conveying can you believe this guy? and they both rolled their eyes at their older brother.
"You chose this infusion Shiro, we might as well finish it."
Shiro pouted at her. "It was an honest mistake. I thought it was the darjeeling that Minister Feng gave me at the banquet."
"…All the same," Yuki interjected haltingly, circling the rim of his cup with a finger, "maybe we… should finish our cups at least. If not the pot. You know father hates it when we don't even bother trying the products from all over the country."
A moment of silence passed.
"Fine," Shiro whined.
And, looking at each other intently—making sure they were all going through with their new agreement—they lifted their cups and drank the same bitter tea with tears in their eyes as the drink seared their pipes.
The doors to Shiro's rooms slid open, and they paused in their drinking to cough and stare at their new visitor. It was Mameha, dressed in new robes and a coat made of such fine silk it practically streamed from where it hung on her young shoulders.
There was a brilliant grin on her face as she bustled into the room, and the three eldest siblings rose to greet her as they did away with the rest of their tea and tried to match her happiness with their own pained smiles. Their younger sister twittered ecstatically, "Father's summoned you all; a hawk just arrived from one of the approaching ships."
She spotted the pot of tea on Shiro's table, and the expressions on her siblings' faces. Rather innocently, she asked, "Were you having tea? Mind pouring me a cup?"
They all shook their heads in unison.
The summer palace had been abuzz with gossip in the past week, but the ride to the docks was considerably more peaceable. Sayu and her two older siblings had been allowed to ride with their father on the way there, and they'd talked amongst each other about the newest developments. Yuki had talked at length about his magical studies, and the court in Ariavat; Sayu had chosen to speak about their trade and political footholds in Caera; Shiro had talked about local Jishouan politics, and the many improvements he wished to make once they finished their negotiations with Kou.
Their father had been very seriously pleased as they finished relaying their pieces—so when they exited the carriages and assembled to formally receive Ren Kouen, the three siblings had been in a remarkably lighter mood than when they'd eaten their breakfast early that morning. They greeted Koumei with grins as he climbed out of his own carriage, and they were all surprised to see his answering smile.
"Your brother's arrived," Sayu remarked lightly; they walked in step as they approached the far end of the docks, where a Kou ship waited for them. She watched Koumei's magenta eyes flicker to her briefly, before returning to happily trace the familiar insignias of his homeland that were printed proudly on banners the Kou soldiers bore.
He replied simply with, "I know."
Later, all three of the Jie siblings stood silently behind their father. Being the First Prince, Shiro stood at the center, with his two younger siblings standing a few ways behind and flanking him. Their green eyes curiously watched in unison as a tall man finally emerged from the ship's depths, walked silently off the gangplank and set foot on the docks of Tohouku.
"A bit overdressed, isn't he?" Shiro murmured absentmindedly as his own eyes followed the new prince's steps. Yuki elbowed him, but to Shiro's credit, he didn't even flinch; the attack didn't wipe the crooked smile off of his face either.
Koumei seemed both happy and relieved to see his brother. His face usually didn't betray much, but she'd learned to read him, and could see from where she stood that his eyes were wide open, gladdened at the sight of the Kou ship and the prince that disembarked from it. The sleepy prince had been considerably less gloomy in the last few days thanks to their sibling efforts, but it held no comparison to the liveliness he was displaying now.
Finally Kouen—with Koumei dutifully by his side—stepped up to face their father, who gave him a customary greeting. He was deathly polite and showed due respect; the king was pleased by this, they could tell, and then he sidestepped to introduce them with a fond smile. They all clasped their hands and inclined their heads lightly in respect, and this new prince scrupulously returned the gesture.
Shiro was the one to speak for them, and his voice didn't deviate at all from its characteristic lightness as he formally introduced himself and then said, "Welcome, Prince Kouen." He freed his hands to gesture a bit at his sides. "These are two of my siblings, the Second Prince, Nobuyuki, and the First Princess, Sayuri."
At the mention of her name, Sayu lowered her hands.
Ren Kouen was a broad and imposing man. His hair was the color of crimson, much redder than Koumei's, bearing the gold headdress of the Crown Prince of Kou; he wore many layers of red and white on his impressive frame, with a sword sheathed at his side and a black cape bearing the open maw of a metal lion pauldron over his shoulders.
She fought the slight surprise she felt at this.
He was—certainly something. In the weeks of anticipation and noblewomen gossiping about the absolute perfection that was Ren Kouen, the impassive man now a few feet away from her seemed even larger than the many myths she'd heard about him. Warrior, general, and—royalty. He'd fought many wars, brought many nations to its knees, and was surely raised in all the subtle and not-so-subtle machinations that thrived in politics.
And lest she forget: he was also a dungeon capturer. How a person managed to achieve so much in such a short time—she didn't know. Only in Kou, she supposed.
She was reminded of the complete eeriness of their alliance again.
A thousand thoughts twisted and untangled themselves in her mind, and she tried shoving all the stray ribbons of thought in a neat box, deciding now was not the time to feel unnerved about the massive strength and influence of the Kou Empire.
His narrow red eyes swept over her after Shiro said her name. She made sure to smile mildly at him.
She found herself struck by the pure intelligence behind his stoic gaze.
Smile, she thought. And she did so, effortlessly.
The moment passed and soon enough he turned away, and instead it was the beast on his gold belt that mirrored a grin back at her, monstrous and grotesque.
Sayu knew not to take the strangely solemn occasion of their first meeting as an omen for the coming negotiations—so she retained her thoughtful silence, when she and her brothers rode back to the palace in a different carriage. Despite having ample space for a few more people, it felt crowded by its occupants and the size of their own separate contemplations.
"Jishou has no plans of wedding their younger princesses."
After his brother's arrival, the king had graciously left them to do their own devices. There was a banquet to be held in Kouen's honor, of course, but that would be later in the night; now, it was only a few languid hours into the gray morning. On another day, Koumei would've wanted to spend the free time napping or perhaps having tea with the Jie siblings, but today he wanted to brief his brother on everything he had learned and achieved so far in Jishou with the utmost thoroughness.
Kouen was currently seated in his usual chair; the royal family had also provided Kouen with a generous suite of rooms right beside his, but all the paperwork and mess was in Koumei's temporary study. His brother's eyes rapidly scanned the documents Koumei had prepared.
Koumei continued, "And they've refused to consider a marriage involving Kouha, Kougyoku or Hakuryuu. They've alluded to being open to a match with Lady Hakuei or our older half-sisters—"
"—But it seems their mind is already set on another match."
The younger prince stopped at his brother's declaration. Then he conceded, "Yes. To an extent."
They were, of course, referring to the match between him and Princess Mameha.
Kouen looked up from the desk. He set his elbows down on its surface, weaving his fingers together. After a few moments of apparent ruminating on this topic, he then said with his eyes closed, "Tell me about this informant you've gained."
Narrowly surprised at the abrupt change in subject, Koumei swallowed. His attitude towards his "informant" had changed in the last few days—perhaps because he'd come to regard her as more than just an acquaintance, unlike how he'd originally done in his letter.
Admittedly, she was less of an informant but someone he'd come to deeply enjoy talking to. Yet still that was only the shallow end of the pool when it came to the strangest thing about the political climate of Jishou.
Koumei said, with his forehead wrinkling, "The last month has been…telling, brother. After spending some time here, I've come to realize there are no secrets in this country."
Kouen opened his eyes to look at him. "How so?"
So he proceeded to tell him what had dogged him his entire stay: "While the king hasn't exactly provided me with everything, he hasn't denied me anything within reason either. I've tried several times to search for specific pieces of information—such as information about the Magisterium, for example—but the failure to gather anything of note has never been because the Jishouan government has refused to be forthright, but because either I've failed to ask specifically for it, or because the records I would've liked to see just genuinely don't exist."
The younger prince stood by the window of his study, looking out at the magnificent view afforded by the mountain. He distractedly fanned himself with Dantalion, "I've been attended to every step of the way. And while it certainly doesn't seem wise from someone else's standpoint—it's just been quite different. Even the royal family has been very accommodating."
He'd been mistaken when he'd written that missive about having a new "informant" because there truly was no need for informants at all—not when the king granted him his requests, and the eldest Jie siblings were open to sharing their information with him, and they since became…friends, after a fashion.
Kouen stood, walking to the same window. A corner of his mouth lifted in the barest trace of a smirk, "You've grown attached to this country. That's never happened before."
He sighed. Rubbed the back of his head. "Unfortunately." He tried smiling at Kouen, but it only came out as a grimace. "Believe me, brother, I mourn the departure of my indifference. Maybe you'll be able to help me regain my good judgment."
His older brother merely shook his head. "It's unimportant, for now." He looked out the window momentarily, gazing at the rows of evergreen trees and winding paths making their way down the mountain. "This country will become our ally, as our father commands. Fostering a good relationship even just now will be good for the future. I expect you've become close to the royal family."
Koumei nodded.
"If we have the time, I'd like to get properly acquainted." Kouen turned to him again, and this time the smirk was more pronounced—more smug, more knowing, even. "The First Princess is the informant you spoke about, is she not?"
The younger prince lowered his fan. Eyes wide, he said, "How did you know?"
"A guess. Our inefficient ambassador writes often. He insinuates her scheming to get you to marry her."
He looked away for a moment, feeling his face redden against his will. That was definitely not the kind of meetings he'd been having with her.
He was surprised however, when the expression on his older brother's face became serious again. "She was there when I was received this morning. No other woman from the royal entourage had come, not even their supposed marriage candidate—nor the queen for that matter. They'd brought no other woman but her."
Koumei pursed his lips, measuring his words. There was a proper way to word this special explanation, one that he felt would adequately reflect Sayuri's position in court. "The king—and thus the court—treat her very much like a third prince. She accomplishes many things, mostly on her father's orders, and comes into contact with all sorts of characters from the Triangle. It's been that way since she returned from her previous marriage."
Kouen raised a single, stoic brow. "She's been married, and yet she still retains the title of First Princess?"
His tone almost carried a miniscule amount of disbelief.
"She does."
Koumei didn't know how it came to pass, of course—her past had never really been a topic of conversation. And it was more than conceivable why she would've skillfully avoided that topic too. But it had always remained a small matter of interest to him; perhaps in the spectrum of things he truly wished to find out, it ranked as something rather personally significant—but there had been, of course, many other things for him to do and many other things he and the princess had to talk about.
Yet it stood out against his mind, now that Kouen had pointed it out. Perhaps he'd even ask her about it…as soon as he found the most tactful way to do so.
"Regardless," Koumei looked up at his brother. Kouen clasped his shoulder, and spoke about the many things they still had to finish—the matter of the Magisterium, the alliance treaty, and finally the marriage negotiations, in that order.
They'd been finishing arranging the mess of papers in his study when Kouen had asked him about which paths to take for a walk in the summer palace; unthinkingly, he'd blurted out the directions to the west gardens, and his brother had replied with a quiet "thank you" and walked out before Koumei realized just what he'd done.
He'd seen that short, inexplicably interested glint in his brother's eyes when they'd spoken earlier, the glint that said, there's something to be found here and I'll have it, and before Koumei knew it Kouen would have already ferreted out everything there was to know about that same something—and more.
If he'd given him the directions to the west gardens, he ran the chance of meeting Sayuri.
But who knew, right? Maybe his brother wasn't that curious about how she'd come to be in her position. Maybe his brother would be tired, for once, or would somehow lapse into one of his more irritable moods, avoid all contact with human beings, and escape into the gardens to be alone.
Koumei sighed as he prepared to sleep for the rest of the morning. Kouen was known to be occasionally…blunt, when it came to the things—let alone knowledge—he wanted, but he could also more than take care of himself. Sayuri didn't take offense easily either.
It'll be fine, he said to himself as he pitched face first into his soft, soft bed. Perhaps this was for the better; he at least didn't have to ask Sayuri any awkward questions this way.
Yup. It'd be just fine, he was convinced. Or was trying to convince himself.
She was in the west gardens, lounging in her favorite pavilion. She'd been assured that no one would come and disturb her—and she grew even more optimistic at that, as she watched the grey and the clouds roll in.
A light sprinkling of rain soon followed the darkening skies; Fuu had then lit a lantern for her, setting it down by her low table, where her tea setting and not much else sat. That day she'd brought an even smaller number of guards and attendants than usual, so they all stood silently by the pavilion pillars, thoughtfully staring up at the summer skies from their posts.
Fuu sat perched somewhere else, conversing quietly with a guard. Sayu lounged in her rug—it was a sumptuous, beautiful thing, gifted to her before her fifteenth birthday, months after she'd left Jishou for Caera and for her husband. It had come in a special, rush shipment from the Ariavatan capitol, with a note that she still kept close to her today.
Her many pillows were from Ariavat, too—and she lounged and stretched like an especially lazy cat, having eschewed her usual ornate robes for a long pair of pleated pants and a thin-strapped shirt that revealed her arms. Normally she would have kept her modesty by donning her silk coat with its wide, billowing sleeves, but she was in the company of her personal guard and attendants today, having no intention of meeting anyone else. And so her coat lay uselessly by her feet.
With one hand supporting her chin, she used the other to lightly swirl her cup of tea. The lantern nearby provided ample illumination for her reading; and as she sipped and set her cup down, her eyes followed another tale "penned" by Sinbad.
A rustling of armor caught her attention. Several footsteps followed, and Sayu looked up from the scintillating read; of course, who else would be standing there, interrupting her mid-morning relaxation, than their esteemed guest that had only arrived that same morning?
Ren Kouen looked down at her, just as inscrutable as he was when they first locked eyes hours earlier. Behind him, his few guards were also stationed beside her awed guards, and her eyes needed only one cursory sweep of the crowd to find Fuu, petrified and speechless with both intimidation and wonder at seeing her personal crush living and breathing right before her.
Perhaps that had been the reason why no one had forewarned her of Kouen's arrival. His enormous reputation always preceded him.
Gracefully, she sat up from her lounging, and quickly pulled on her coat with a deft flourish. Then she was about to stand with an apology ready, but Kouen stopped her with a small shake of his head—his voice, deep and resounding, was still heard clearly over the din of the rain that was now worsening.
"I was seeking some shade. Please don't get up, Princess."
There was that hitch in his speech—his slight pause at the end—don't get up…princess. It almost sounded calculated to her, but she ignored it as she then bid him sit, and she quietly requested her attendants to serve Kouen's guards some tea.
When Fuu drew near her to bring out a new tea setting out of their basket, she mouthed an apology. Sayu had merely smiled in reply, waving away her concern.
Kouen sat slowly across from her, moving some of her pillows out of his way. She curiously watched this as she poured him a cup of her tea.
"It's Ariavatan," She said. She spoke from behind her own raised teacup, "Made with tea, milk, and spices. I hope you don't mind, Prince Kouen."
Around them, both their attendants and guards resettled into silence and their posts. Her wide and sweeping pavilion felt uncrowded again, and she took a sip of her warm drink. The foreign prince took a small sip as well, and she felt a small twinge of satisfaction when his eyes widened and he took a second, longer sip.
When Kouen raised his crimson eyes to hers, the gleeful quip she'd been about to utter died instantly on her tongue.
In the absence of something to say, she instead chose to wait for him to speak.
"I wanted to thank you. Koumei has told me," Her eyes followed the slow, deliberate movements of his hands as he set his tea down by his side, "that you've been helping him in his stay here."
"That's…true, I suppose." She quietly set her own tea down. Now that she was wearing her coat, she clasped her hands again in her sleeves, hiding the way her fingers twitched. Sayu wanted to laugh; it had been a long time since she'd been made nervous in such a way that she wanted to fidget. "Prince Koumei asks a lot about Jishouan history, but our archives have always been open to him, so I don't know how much of a help I've been truly."
Her eyes strayed idly to her scroll, still lying unfurled by her side, and she was reminded of that night Koumei had found out she liked reading Sinbad's series.
Sayu pursed her lips. She looked at Kouen again, saying, "There's no need to thank me."
Besides, Koumei has done that on his own often enough.
She silently wondered where he was steering this conversation.
Kouen nodded. He then stared at her intently, and Sayu fought the urge to bite her lip at the scrutiny of his dead serious red eyes. He then said, "Tell me, Princess Sayuri. What do you think of this alliance?"
She raised a single brow at his question—but she didn't expect him to explain himself, so she readily answered, "It's a return to our old ties. Jishou was once closely allied to Rakushou—as you've no doubt noticed by now; our cultures have developed along similar lines because of this. It will please a lot of people who have their roots in Kou, but whose families migrated to Jishou long ago."
His dispassionate expression didn't change. He said, "That may be true. But I asked for your opinion." And then he added, "Princess."
She didn't hesitate.
"It's a good alliance, and I'll be glad to see it happen."
He looked unmoved by her simple answer. So Sayu retreated within herself, eyes never leaving his as she reached for her tea and took one long swig.
Her answer was the truth—stripped away of everything else, it would be…good to have this alliance. Good in that there wasn't really much for Jishou to do other than accept the alliance Kou had offered, or else they refuse and war would have followed after.
And who would benefit from that? Nobody, obviously.
Wars will always go badly, she remembered with a shiver. That had been the single most important thing someone ever uttered to her when she'd been a handsome prince's young wife in Caera—wars will always go badly, Princess.
Kou's generosity in this alliance was an axe she and her brothers were still anticipating to fall upon their necks, but until then they would cautiously tread through its mores.
Kouen watched her as she put her cup down. Licking her lips, she threw his question right back at him. "How is Kou benefitting from this?"
He didn't even bat an eyelash, didn't even skip a beat. There was a casual, blasé quality to his words as he said, "The Magisterium is our priority."
Sayu felt herself grow still at this statement.
They were searching for not wealth, not resources, not trade, not even extra fodder for their imperialist war machine, but…"The Magisterium?"
She'd known Koumei had had a fixation for the Magisterium, but to hear Kouen say it was Kou's priority? It was both baffling and worrying.
He nodded, but she didn't miss the curious glint to his eyes as he looked at her. "I've been told you know about it."
Her tongue felt heavy with lead. But she managed, slowly, gracefully, to recover and say, "The Magisterium is strictly apolitical, and based in Ariavat," she narrowed her eyes at him, "what does it have to do with anything?"
Ren Kouen smirked enigmatically.
"Everything."
Notes:
Knock knock. Who's there and why is this transition chapter boring? It's the plot.
New story arc! Also: my responses to all your questions and reviews, soon! Thanks you guys for the overwhelming feedback ;-; this chapter's for all you folks who reviewed, faved, and followed, because I was supposed to update on Tuesday!
(1) I hope people aren't put off by the political overtones; I mean, Koumei and the Jie siblings are friends but their countries (who are engaging in a seemingly tenuous alliance) are still sort of at odds with each other.
(2) I'll be introducing a very important OC as we get into the next arc, and he'll be sticking around for most of the plot. We've talked about him for quite a bit in the past chapters, so hope y'all don't mind (can anyone guess who it is?)
(3) We're starting the next chapter in Kouen's POV. And...we'll be returning to our, uh, "fun" tone.
Anyway, since not much is happening in this chapter, y'all could take the time to ask me any of your questions in a review, if you've got them! Of course, all comments are most definitely appreciated too, so if you've the time, please write me about how this fic is doing so far. Thanks again, everyone, expect a new chapter next weekend!