2
The Widow's Wimple
This was the Triangle, as everyone informally called it: the long standing alliance between the island nations of Jishou, Ariavat and Caera. Jishou lay in the west, Caera in the east, and Ariavat at the southern tip that made the Triangle; in the months before the imperial princes' visit, Sayu had been slated to travel east to Caera for the summer, as she usually did every year. Tohouku was a beautiful port city close to the mountains, making it perfect for the hotter temperatures that came with the season, but she longed for Caera's warm, north-eastern climate and sprawling orchards.
But her father and mother, the king and queen, had ordered her presence here for whatever reasons unknown to her. So she stayed, and Sayu idly drifted in and out of the royal family's activities for the next few weeks. Most of it was getting Koumei acquainted with Jishou, anyway, and her older brothers would do a perfect job of that.
And it was not as if she was entirely without work to do, regardless: if most of the tradesmen and the courtiers were in Tohouku for the spectacle of the Kou princes' visit, she may as well maximize the opportunities presented. There were meetings to make, deals to cut, conversations to be had.
As Jishou and Kou's fates entwined, the rest of the world went on.
Koumei had to marvel at the architecture of the summer palace built into Tohouku's mountains: it offered a sprawling view of the port city, as well as captured both the fresh mountain air and the salty seaside breeze. The Jishouan people had artfully carved into the mountain, allowing for many structures, winding paths and gardens to be built.
He sat on a balcony high up on the main keep, and the true expanse of the summer castle stretched before his eyes. Temples, gates, storehouses, and turrets were built up and down the mountain, with many stone paths and trees in between. The complex was nearly labyrinthine in manner, and he felt a strange sense of awe looking at the marvel Jishou had managed to build.
Across from him sat Princess Mameha, who dimpled as she watched him gaze out at their summer palace. Under her gentle gaze, Koumei flushed; she was part of the entourage that sometimes escorted him to official events, and she'd been nothing but a semi-constant companion and a…lively partner in conversation.
The Jie family, which ruled Jishou, had a particular coloring to them; save for the king, everyone bore green eyes and silver hair. Mameha, who was pale-skinned, had a similarly light tint to her silver hair. Today the young princess had it pulled back in an elaborate hairstyle fitted with a single, beautiful metal comb; she was dressed in a summery, peach pink robe painted with the outlines of leaves embroidered in gold.
But her green eyes, which were a dark, forest-like hue, were concentrated on pouring a cup of tea.
He hadn't even noticed he'd been staring, lost in thought, until she spoke, "Tohouku is beautiful, isn't it?"
Blinking, Koumei looked at her fully. She cheerfully held out a cup of tea for him, which he took with a grateful nod.
She mirrored his earlier gaze and looked out upon the city. Mameha was too gracious to speak about his staring, so instead she said, "I can tell the architecture of the palace interests you. I would tell you about it, but unfortunately my knowledge in it is lacking. Sayu could tell you more."
Below, a small procession of officials made their way down a path and into a garden. From this distance, Koumei could make out the silver hair of another royal member amongst the cluster of robed figures. Mameha's eyes focused on this crowd as she sipped her tea.
Earlier indiscretion forgotten, Koumei wasn't sure if broaching the subject of her older sister would come off as indelicate.
It had been a slight curiosity to see the First Princess yesterday at the docks, and her appearance in court similarly intrigued him; their ambassador had never really spoken of her, even in private correspondence. All that had been said in the matter was that she'd been married into the royal family of Caera, widowed, and was thus spending the rest of her days in her homeland.
The truth was, when it came to the Jishouan princesses, their ambassador had always heavily preferred to speak of Mameha; it had wryly amused both Koumei and Kouen to see the official they'd appointed go out of his way to extol her virtues and her beauty, in a ridiculously enthusiastic endorsement for the marriage contract.
Princess Mameha is the most suitable of them all, my lords, he'd written. Now, Koumei regretted not asking about the First Princess more: he'd privately imagined a middle-aged cow as the First Princess, with the way their ambassador had spoken of her. So he hadn't been expecting a young woman wearing purple robes matching his when he actually met her.
"You've met my older sister, right?"
"Indeed I have, princess."
But curiously, he hadn't gotten to speak to her ever since the day of his arrival—and by then, an eventful two weeks had already passed.
The princess grinned at him, gesturing down at the crowd below. "She's a very busy person, you know. All the ministers are fond of her."
Wondering what she was gesturing at, Koumei looked down and was surprised to find that the small procession had drawn closer to the keep; the silver head turned out to be Sayuri, speaking to an elderly official.
Beside him, Mameha waved a hand at the gathered people. Sayuri looked up, and while she was minutely surprised to see them both there, she returned the wave. She nodded at Koumei, before returning to her conversation with her companion.
Mameha was smiling into her teacup. The girl took a sip before remarking, "See? If you have any questions, you should ask her. I can't think of a person more knowledgeable than Sayu. Other than father, that is."
And so, without really knowing why, Koumei sought out the First Princess on one of the rare days he could spare the time. Kouen was due in Tohouku in a while, anyway, and thus he was out of work for a bit.
The excitement the arrival of his older brother made was evident in that some of the parts in the summer palace were quieter. Most of the activity was concentrated in the main keep, and he was left to meander the palace grounds with no fawning nobles trailing him. It was only him and his personal guard now, mindlessly searching for the First Princess.
At breakfast, he'd asked Mameha the whereabouts of her older sister. To his utter surprise, she'd shaken her head apologetically.
Nobody really knows her personal schedule, Mameha said as her brows furrowed and she popped a candied plum in her mouth, she does so much no one really knows where she is most of the time.
He'd politely asked a few other people as well; the queen, who he had tea with mid-morning, had said something in a similar vein; the Crown Prince, who'd been sparring with his younger brother, had outright shrugged with a laugh; the Kou ambassador, who Koumei hadn't really been expecting to have an answer anyway, had only used the chance to ask about his next meeting with Mameha.
It had been the Minister of Rites, an old diplomat that Koumei had been introduced to in the first week of his stay, that had provided an even remotely useful answer. The old man had dotingly said: search the west gardens, Prince Koumei. It was our meeting place yesterday, and she seemed to take a liking to it.
So here he was, navigating the fir and cypress trees with an increasingly despondent chance of finding the person he was looking for.
Why am I even doing this when I can be sleeping.
Koumei sighed, fanning himself. His guards seemed to be getting tired, so when they passed under a large wooden gate and entered one of the gardens, he bid them rest on the stone benches.
It was one of the larger, more meticulously maintained gardens that they had entered. A great deal of landscaping had obviously been put into its making, since part of the grounds had been leveled to make way for a modestly sized artificial lake. Koumei crossed the bridge built on top of the lake, absentmindedly gazing into the waters swimming with red and white carp.
Hm. Kougyoku might want to have these colors of carp in her own garden.
On the other side of the lake was a grand pavilion. There were a few people there already, to his dismay, but when he neared it he noticed the Jishouan guards stationed nearby, and one attendant in particular seemed to recognize him.
She stood at the foot of the pavilion, half-shaded from the summer sun, and bowed low, "P-Prince K-Kou-m-m-mei!"
A voice from within the structure called out, "Fuu? What is it?" Another person joined the attendant, and it was Sayuri; her own silvery white hair had been let down, and she wore layers of burgundy and white robes, a scheme strangely reminiscent of Kou.
It was her turn to look surprised. "Prince Koumei. Would you…like to join me for tea?"
Having walked all afternoon in search of her, Koumei replied in the affirmative. Behind him, his guards arrived and restationed themselves right by.
Sayuri gestured for him to follow, and she led him inside the wide pavilion. A rug and tea setting had already been laid out, and she let him sit on one of the cushions before settling across him. Servants served both of them desserts. They were mostly sticky sweet confections with bits of fruit in them, and Sayuri poured him a mildly bitter tea that complimented the flavors nicely.
"You've been admiring the west gardens, I see," The princess commented lightly.
There was this certain self-possessed air about Sayuri that Mameha didn't have; although she appeared to be just as amiable, Koumei hesitated more in talking to the older princess. He still didn't know her very well, after all, and she seemed to be much more influential in court, now that Mameha told him about her friendships with the high-ranking officials. One misstep and perhaps some of the foundations for the alliance that he'd carefully laid out might come toppling down.
"Actually, princess, I was looking for you," He said, taking a tentative bite out of a squishy dessert that he could pinch in between his fingers. To his surprise, it was filled with a delicious strawberry and a bean paste.
She raised both her brows, putting down the cup of tea she'd been about to sip. "Oh? I apologize, then. If I'd heard you were looking for me, I wouldn't have set out so far from the keep. My attendants have been very busy, I wasn't made aware."
"No, no…" Koumei scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what to say. "I hadn't thought of informing your attendants beforehand. I only thought of it this afternoon, really."
Sayuri nodded slowly. Then she smiled, "Well, it's been a while since we last spoke."
Surprisingly, there were about a dozen things buzzing in his mind about the First Princess, and about a few dozen more things he wanted to ask the First Princess, but he settled for the easiest, simplest one: "Princess Mameha told me that you would know about the architecture of the summer palace. I wanted to know more."
To his surprise, the princess chuckled and with a wave the attendants cleared some of the food and plates they'd used. She whispered something into the ear of that handmaiden—Fuu, was it?—and the handmaiden bustled away, and Sayuri turned her attention back to him.
"You would have done better by asking my father, the King," She said, not unkindly. Koumei was minutely surprised again at the positive reception his question seemed to have, before she went on, "but I'll tell you, if you want to know."
And she spoke of the keep, first, because that had been the first thing to be planned.
"Centuries ago, a Jishouan king had the idea to build a fortress in the mountains…"
She spoke of the stonemasons, the woodcutters and the local lord who had come together to see the castle built, and when that was finished, he asked, "But that was only the keep. When were the turrets, the gates, the storehouses, the maze of paths built?"
Sayuri seemed altogether not surprised when he asked that question.
A question befitting a Kou prince, Koumei thought sardonically. But instead she shrugged, going on to tell him about the civil wars that followed, without any scruples. Then she spoke about the palace's unified design, the keep's gently sloping roofs, its great wooden pillars, its thousand straw mats, its temples, its pavilions, its wells.
Koumei found her to be far more informed than he'd expected; talking to her, and by the end of it, he surprised himself when he felt that he'd genuinely enjoyed the conversation they'd shared. She'd shared her knowledge freely, willingly, and all because he'd simply asked.
When he looked up at the sun, he found that it was setting fast into the waning day sky; Across from him, Sayuri waved again and all the food they'd eaten and all the tea they'd drank was cleared away. They both stood, and for a moment they were both locked in silence, having not expected the afternoon to play out the way it did.
The princess opened her mouth, "Ah…"
"…um." the same time he did.
Koumei flushed, reaching up to pat the back of his head. Sayuri furrowed her brows, before she broke out in a laugh. In a decidedly unprincess-like fashion, she bit her lip as she stared at him, looking the slightest bit perplexed as to what to say next. He didn't blame her; he felt dry-mouthed himself, a little bit wishing that they could continue their conversation but also knowing that if they didn't return to the keep now, night would fall soon.
He sensed that there were still a number of things (to say the least) he could ask her, a few of which might even be instrumental in forging the alliance between both their countries.
Koumei didn't quite know how to put his request into words. But he was saved the trouble of doing so, when the princess stepped beside him and lightly said, "I haven't told you about the trees and birds that live around the keep, have I?"
Seeing what she meant, he quickly played along and said, "I don't believe so."
With a quick curve of her lips, she nodded. "If you have the time tomorrow, you'll be more than welcome in joining me for tea again in the afternoon."
"You honor me, Princess Sayuri."
She was twenty-three, a year older than him.
"She's practically a spinster, my lord," His ambassador complained by his side that night when he found Koumei reviewing all sorts of records and written testimonies kept in the embassy about the First Princess of Jishou.
She was twenty-three and had been married off at fourteen, to a land even farther east than Jishou, where she had one day been expected to be the queen. She was the polar opposite of a spinster, and Koumei felt his patience grow thin at the wheedling tone his ambassador apparently preferred to use.
Koumei tried to hide his growing irritation. He barely restrained himself from snapping at the official, but his voice was less than friendly when he finally spoke, "She's been married once, if you did your job about knowing the way of things here, you would know that."
Sufficiently chastised, the ambassador pitifully sputtered, "But I-I do know, my lord, I simply didn't mean it tha—"
"Your comments are valuable but sorely unneeded at the moment. Please, leave."
She was twenty-three, married at fourteen, widowed at eighteen. And she'd been back in her homeland for five years now, doing—who knew what, for who knew what reason. The records his ambassador kept about her were nearly non-existent.
If only I could get information straight from the source all at once, he privately mused. But soon even he retired, cleared his bed of all the scrolls, and blew the lamp by his bedside. Nights like these reminded him of his older brother, who always toiled late into the early hours of the morning but still manage to look presentable the next day.
He sighed to himself as he lay down. Finally Kouen would be departing for Jishou soon, and he could share his worries in person to him at last.
The First Princess had let her long hair down again that next day. This was not a common practice in Kou, and from what he had seen in court, neither was it common in Jishou; even Hakuei, his lady step-sister who liked to let her hair down whenever she could get away with it, arranged her hair in loose pig tails and bound them with jewelry at the very least.
Thus far he hadn't even seen Sayuri with any kind of jewelry, or any other ornamentation really; although she clothed herself in fine silks, she armed herself with nothing more than her conversation.
Today she waited for him in the same garden, albeit at a shaded spot by the lake; above her, the mountain wind blew and swayed the long branches of a willow tree. He joined her at the rug and tea setting already laid out for them.
"Prince Koumei, may I ask you a question?"
He'd been about to pop another one of those strawberry treats she'd offered him yesterday. He put the treat down, blurting, "Any question, princess."
She smiled at his answer. She poured herself a cup of tea and brought the drink to her lips as she said, "Have you been sleeping well in the palace? Forgive me for the intrusiveness of the question, but…"
Koumei felt himself go red. He knew what she saw; dark circles smeared the skin underneath his eyes and pimples mottled his cheeks. He was then babbling no no no no no this is through no fault of Jishou's, I just really have poor sleeping habits and my face has always been like this…please don't concern yourself, princess, I just like reading late until sunrise and I have poor self discipline and…
"I—ah."
Across him, the princess was turning a bit pink herself. His babbling died down as he realized this slowly, and it almost started again as he began to apologize—
"No! No! Please, you don't have to apologize. I was—concerned. Perhaps the servants around your room had been too noisy, or the…floorboards too squeaky."
This had been the first time he'd seen her composure melt away, and despite himself, Koumei laughed at the absurdity of the situation. The princess chuckled with him, and she continued to drink the tea she'd prepared for both of them.
"Now, do you really want to talk about the birds around the keep? I can name a few, mostly the noisier ones. I do wonder if they're any different from the birds in Kou."
Glad for the change, Koumei readily welcomed her steering of the subject. For the first time in the duration of his stay, Koumei felt a genuine lopsided smile take over his face, "Do you happen to know any pigeons endemic to the region?"
"Back from a meeting with the Kou prince, I see."
Sayu didn't look up from the scroll she'd been reading, able to recognize that sly tone of voice anywhere. She sat down by the low table in her room, unfurling some sheets of rice paper, readying her writing utensils and mixing some ink for the reply she was supposed to make.
Nobushiro, her older brother and Crown Prince of Jishou, stood behind her, reading over her shoulder. He mouthed the lines to himself as Sayu lifted her sleeves and dipped a brush into her ink stone, "Oooh, another letter from our dear friend in the Magisterium. If only he wrote me as often."
Sayu shrugged. "He doesn't send me letters as frequently as you think. The magisters have kept him busy, but he says he'll put in an appearance…imminently. Not like he even pretends to know what he means by that."
Then, she looked up from her letter. "And Prince Koumei's a nice man, if you must know."
Her brother shrugged again. His trademark nonchalance was sometimes frustrating, but mostly it was amusing. Out of her six siblings, Shiro had always been the one she was closest to; he'd been the one to hold her when she cried about being wed, and he'd been the one to write her constantly when she was shipped off to Caera, isolated from the rest of her family.
"He actually fell asleep while having tea with me and father," And he sardonically mimicked her more feminine voice, "if you must know. I believe it's called narcolepsy."From his own billowing sleeve, he produced two apples, and he placed the other by her inkpot as he bit into his own and she continued writing. He plopped down across from her, lounging in the pillows.
"I asked him about his sleeping habits. Safe to say, Kou gives him too much work and he loses sleep over it. But he truly is rather smart," She stuck her tongue out at him, "smarter than you, without a doubt. You two need to talk more."
"Hey, I wasn't insulting him! Merely…" Shiro gestured helplessly with his other hand, "…telling you an amusing anecdote. Father laughed it off—we also think Kou's given him too much responsibility. We've been lending him every bit of help he could possibly need."
"Doesn't matter if you were being mean, he is genuinely smart. You could stand to learn a lot from an imperial prince like him."
He groaned. "That's what all the old geezers in the palace whisper to me, please stop. And it's not like I can just walk up to him! He's always got tons of work to do, and always retires early. Quite the elusive prey, and very much like you, actually."
"Have you tried challenging him to a duel? Isn't that what men do? The maids tell me he's an adept at swordplay. Not as good as Kouen, though."
"Dear sister," Her brother deadpanned, "nobody will ever be as good as Ren Kouen. And besides—me? Duel with a metal vessel user? Nobuyuki would have a better chance at winning; at least he's a magician. I, on the other hand, am nothing but a humble swordsman."
"Humble swordsman my ass, you're supposed to be the Crown Prince." Sayu muttered.
He stopped mid-bite to indignantly squawk, "I heard that!"
He took another bite out of his apple, before suddenly sitting up and placing a hand on her wrist.
She looked up to find him staring gravely at her. She huffed as she put her brush down; reaching forward to brush his short silver hair out of his eyes, she wondered what it was this time.
A corner of his mouth lifted when she lifted a strand out of his left eye, but his face soon turned serious once again. "You do know that father wants Mameha to marry him, right."
Sayu rolled her eyes. "Why do you think I've been making the time to speak to him? I've had to shelve some appointments with the ministerial board of trade just to see for myself if Mameha's marrying a prick. An older sister has her responsibilities."
Shiro retracted his hand. He folded his arms, drawing his brows in a frustrated look. "I know."
Exasperated, she cattily sniffed, "Then why did you ask?"
"I just wanted to know what you've been doing the past few days." He looked at her pointedly, "we haven't seen you all too much. Mother and father fret when they only see you during some meals."
She returned to her letter, sighing. "Shiro, I'm a twenty-three year old widow who failed to produce any children in her previous marriage, if you haven't noticed. Most of the appearances the family makes these days have to do with Prince Koumei, and this widow wasn't exactly needed for any of them."
"But you still are a princess of Jishou, yes?"
"Only by technicality," Sayu grumbled, "but believe me, I understand, father."
She laughingly dodged the apple he lobbed at her.
My brother and king,
No doubt this missive will reach you just as you begin the journey to Jishou. I would offer blessings of safe passage, but realize the futility in such a gesture.
This is meant to be short, because I've secured here several reports that I'd written on a few matters of interest to the empire. I hope they will make for good reading on the ride to Tohouku, at the very least.
Lastly, I (here there are small drips of ink, as if the writer paused thoughtfully with his brush in the air) seem to have made a new acquaintance in court. She has shown herself to be an astute source of information, and I believe she may prove useful in the coming weeks of negotiation.
I humbly await your arrival,
Ren Koumei
The First Princess had suggested they go bird watching the next day, Koumei recalled. So when his attendants slid open the doors to the rooms he'd been given at the summer palace, he was taken off guard when he saw none other than the silver-haired princes of Jishou standing outside.
Nobushiro, the heir to the throne, had his arms crossed with an earsplitting grin that made the hair on the back of Koumei's neck stand on end. Nobuyuki, the younger prince, stood beside him with his arms clasped behind his back, an irritated expression on his face.
"Prince Koumei," Nobushiro greeted with a dangerous twinkle to his eye, "my sister sends her regrets that she can't make it to your engagement this morning."
"Maybe you shouldn't sound so snide when you say that, Shiro," Nobuyuki sighed by the Crown Prince's side. The younger prince looked at Koumei, shaking his head apologetically. "Good morning, Prince Koumei. I hope you don't mind if my sister sent us in her stead."
"…Not at all, Prince Nobuyuki." Koumei cautiously said, alarm bells ringing in the back of his head. If they were both here, with Nobuyuki looking irritable and Nobushiro looking plenty like the cat who'd swallowed the canary, it didn't bode well for the Kou prince.
This can't be anything good.
Already he was beginning to regret the decision of waking up that morning.
"Now perhaps we don't have Sayu's charm, but we manage on our own nicely enough," Nobushiro smirked. "I've had word that you're quite the swordsman. So how would you feel about a little friendly bout of sparring?"
Notes:
Early update. Just a quick treat, because the response so far has been very encouraging! Thank you so much for taking the time to write the kind words and reviews so far, I'll respond to some questions as soon as the next chapter comes out in a while!
(1) The Jie Family: The royal children, from oldest to youngest-The two princes, Nobushiro (27) and Nobuyuki (25); the five princesses, Sayuri (23), Mameha (18) and three other girls who won't really be appearing much (ages 14-10.)
(2) The Triangle: again, it's way east and the only things that come its way periodically are (probably!) merchant ships. We'll talk much about Jishou, obviously; Ariavat and Caera, less so. But they're still rather important.
Please tell me your thoughts so far in a review, if you feel like it; I'll be responding to all your kind comments / questions / suggestions when I post the next chapter. So until next time!