Kanyou's War - Part 1
-Narrator-
While Link and Ganon were off on their adventure, and while the drama unfolding within the Majora as a result of the Dragmire Clan's presence with Ghiradrim's manipulation was occurring, Zelda was by no means idle. Events had taken place in the capital that would forever shake the kingdom, and in such a short time, that it would be remarked on even in the most summarized of historical records.
This would require going back in time a short bit, but allow this retelling the flexibility so as to provide Zelda the same due her compatrionts have been given.
-What happened last-
-Zelda-
Zelda sat on her throne. A meeting finished recently and she relaxed on the chair as best she could with a scroll in her lap. A few ministers lingered in the throne room talking amongst themselves. No one approached the stairs leading up to the throne so she was content to be in a space of quiet and thought.
Her musing was interrupted abruptly by Shi Ketsu throwing the doors open and running into the room. He panted and sweat from having run this way. Zelda looked at him worriedly a moment. The ministers asked what was wrong, but he ignored them. He ran up to the throne and bowed himself onto a knee in a hurry.
"Shi, what has come over you?" Zelda asked.
In answer, as he could barely speak while gasping for breath, he produced a scroll from his robe and handed it to a servant who handed it further to Zelda. Zelda inspected the scroll. It was left unopened and the seal was that of the king. The impression in the wax was the same as what she had used for official declarations.
"It has my seal. I don't understand," Zelda said. "Are you returning one of my scrolls to me? It is still unopened."
"Your highness!" Shi breathed heavily. "It is a message from the royal harem to you! I was given the scroll by one of their eunuchs."
Zelda felt her breath catch.
Immediately her ministers yelled, "The Royal Harem?! What are they doing with the official seal!?" Others yelled, "What business with us do they have?!"
Shi and Zelda stayed silent. Zelda felt a chill enter his spine as she gazed at the scroll in her hands. She didn't know what it said and feared to know. Shi silently watched her composure struggle to stay intact, knowing now why she struggled.
The Royal Harem was led by Bi Ki, Zelda's mother.
Zelda took a moment to breathe. She closed her eyes and breathed in and breathed out. She took the scroll by the seal, popped it, and opened the scroll. Her ministers fell silent, waiting to hear what it said. Zelda looked over the scroll, confused. She opened it further, and further again. She rotated the scroll's contents to the end.
"It's empty."
-Going forward from where we left off-
There was silence. Zelda was speechless, confused, and uncertain. Her ministers looked up at her, breathless, and equally confused.
Finally one minister cleared his throat and asked, "Empty, your highness?"
"Yes." Zelda answered. She waved the scroll, revealing all of its sides for them to see. "There is nothing written here. It is entirely empty."
Immediately her various ministers entered into heated discussion. "Why is it empty?" "What point is there for an empty scroll to be sent to the princess?" "The harem faction has been quiet and outside of official affairs for years, but now they have chosen to engage with us. The method is curious. Clearly there is a message here."
"Not so," Zelda argued. "I see no message. As I said, there is nothing written. You are free to inspect it if you think you may find something hidden."
The minister to have spoken last continued, "Princess, I do believe there is a message hidden, but it is not with any hidden inks. The message comes by way of their action over their words." He gulped, "I hesitate to assume, but assume I must. The message is nothing more than to garner attention."
"Attention?" Another minister questioned.
"Yes, as a passerby might greet you with a friendly 'good day' or call out your name. This message, in my eyes, is meant to do the same. The harem wants our attention. They want us to know, to remember, that the harem exists."
Shi Ketsu, the chief minister, nodded. "I believe you are right. The seal proves it. The harem could have used any seal, but they have chosen to send an empty scroll bearing the royal seal. I fear for what this means."
Zelda furrowed her brows. The royal seal used to bind the scroll was important. It was astounding, nigh illegal, for any to have it or use it besides the official holder: herself, and she had no memory of using her seal on any such scroll.
Zelda motioned to a servant and ordered, "Inspect my chambers! Bring me the royal seal!" The servant was gone for a short time and rushed back. The servant passed the seal's box to Shi Ketsu, who presented it to Zelda. Zelda unsealed the box. Inside was a signet ring bearing the name of her family in a pictoral pattern used to imprint the name onto wax seals. Zelda pulled it out for all to see.
"Good, so it has not been stolen." Shi sighed in relief, "But the alternative is not much greater."
"You think someone has made a copy of the king's seal?" Zelda questioned. Shi nodded.
"Blasphemy!" Her ministers yelled. "To forge the royal seal is treason! Any who do deserve to die, them, and their household!" "Wars have been fought over the seals!" "If the harem has it, they could cause a civil war!"
"They are right, your highness," Shi said. "A seal can do untold damage to Qin. Surely the harem knew this when they sent it. Which makes their message all the more clear. It is a threat."
Zelda knew that. She knew why. If anyone had a forgery of the king's seal, they could send messages across the land with her authority. The message could be to have a governor or mayor promoted or demoted, to have land ownership changed from one hand to another, or even to have their esteemed generals move. If the forger wished it, they could order the Mitagi to gather and attack another Qin city under the claim that the city was plotting rebellion, or have them attack the Gerudo and die in a campaign to which there would be no logistics established by the other branches they must coordinate with. Bogus laws could be established, instruction for false coin could be printed, any person could be charged with treason and ordered to die by order of the palace at the hands of their local forces.
Even Chancellor Ketsu had not been so foolish as to forge a king's seal. He had a seal of his own in Prince Kyou's word.
With a single message from this accursed forged seal, everything Zelda had gained could be lost and she would be back where she started.
Zelda clenched her hands on her arm rests. No! She would damn everything before going back!
She would not go back a single step! Already Ryo had gained 1000 vassals and his households of 240,000 have doubled. The Zhao-Qin alliance had resulted in a great boost in his popularity. Zelda had accepted the loss in her reputation as a cost for benefiting Qin, but she was on the edge of a knife from defeat. She had underestimated how powerful Ryo was, how powerful he would look while defeating Riboku with his power, and how the eyes of the Qin families would turn to him as the best possible candidate for leadership. Ryo would not defeat her with brute force or wiping her out, but by continuously expanding his sphere of influence and grinding down her power until she could do nothing but beg him to be allowed to exist as a lowly servant before him!
If he didn't assassinate her last remaining vassals first.
She needed power. She needed to convert more to her side as quickly as possible and-
The harem faction.
What if this was an offer to join together?
"The timing of this message is no coincidence," Zelda said, regretfully. "We have in recent times gained much as a nation, but I have, as a faction holder, lost much ground to Ryo. Though my mother has been returned to Qin for some years, there has been nothing but silence between us. Yet it is only now, at this moment, that my mother chooses to send a message forcing me to acknowledge she exists." Zelda breathed deeply, her voice trembled and her throat burned. Though the scar and bruising were gone, she remembered vividly the frame of the fingers around her throat. "It is no threat. I assure you, if her intentions were so ill, she would have taken up on the action already."
"If it is not a threat..." Her ministers wondered. "Then is it a bid to join us? She is your mother. Surely this is her way of approaching us to join us against Ryo! If we were to extend a request for an alliance-"
Shi Ketsu argued, "If only it was that simple. Zelda has been home for years now, but do you not think we would have approached the harem already if that was an option?"
The ministers nodded. Shi continued, "Yet we have not because Chancellor Impa and Heir Apparent Zelda have chosen to keep the harem at a distance, engaging with it only at the minimum necessary by law for its use in bringing regular concubines."
"But why?" The ministers asked. "The differential power between Ryo and us would all but disappear if we have the harem's backing! The families of Qin back the harem almost as much as they would a palace. If the royal family between the Heir and the Queen Mother were to be joined, then we would be nearly even with Ryo's camp! Yet if the opposite were to occur, if the harem were to support Ryo Fui, then we would be completely powerless against them!"
Zelda gulped. She wished words could come to her to refute the minister, but she could find none because there were none. Shi did not immediately speak but looked back to her in concern. Zelda met his gaze long enough for her eyes to fall to the floor.
The ministers continued, "No matter which path we choose, the harem has chosen to speak up and show they exist, and so we cannot avoid them any longer." Zelda's hands trembled as they spoke. Other ministers spoke up as well, "Then we should take the initiative! Bring them into our cause in supporting Zelda before Ryo takes them from us! With the families of Han, Kai, and Ki supporting the Harem, and the Mitagi supporting Zelda alongside our Majora and Fae allies, it would bring the momentum we need to begin toppling Ryo!"
"I oppose this," Shi argued vehemently. "Your words are true, but you are ignorant of the harem's true power and their dangers. Yes, we shall balance the scales with Ryo, but this balance will be only temporary." Shi turned to Zelda, bowed, and asked, "Heir Apparent, as you have taken me into your confidant, may I speak plainly on this matter, even as rude as it may be?"
Zelda closed her eyes and focused on breathing. Bit by bit, every part of her was trembling. This was not a conversation she wished to have. If it were up to her, this would be flung far into the future, hundreds and thousands of years ahead. Yet it seemed her mother was a cruel one. Her mother had taken the initiative between them to remind the other that they existed.
Zelda opened her mouth but promptly shut it. She felt she didn't have the strength to speak as she should. If she were to say anything, it would be trembling. So rather than humiliate herself when she should try and present some measure of strength, she chose to nod.
Shi returned the nod, stood, and took a single step up to be seen by the crowd.
Shi Ketsu exclaimed, "Do not fool yourselves! The Queen Mother is poison! Its true that the families behind the harem are a powerful force, an unseen faction that still has the potential to rival Ryo Fui, but they are nothing but the poisonous fangs of the Queen Mother. Remember to Batsuki of the Xia kingdom and its fall. Remember to Dakki of the Shang kingdom and its fall. Remember to Houji of the Zhou kingdom and the schemes of Lu Buwei the Kingslayer! These three, though mere concubines, were the downfall of three dynasties! How much more lethal is a Queen Mother than a concubine? A Queen Mother whose history with the Heir Apparent is a history of darkness and pain."
Shi continued, "Though the two may share a common pain, there is no reason to believe it will mean cooperation. Remember the weapon of the harem is sex, and the weapon of the palace is politics. This weapon of sex is one where the families supporting the harem must rival with one another over attention while our weapon of politics is one where we seek to unite them! Already this creates friction in culture and tradition whereby we may find ourselves dragged down into their ridicules schemes and petty vices. If that were to happen, even should we have the backing of the Harem, we would be unable to stop Ryo! Ryo would turn us all against each other!"
"So we should accept them as rivals and enemies?!" The ministers questioned. "That is suicide!"
Zelda closed her eyes, leaned back, and sighed. They were right. The game was changing. The battlefield would shift with a new player entering the ring. Before, it was Ryu and her. Now it would expand to include Bi Ki. The thought terrified Zelda, not because she knew the mind of her mother, but because she did not. Her mother was a stranger to her at best and the greatest of tormenters and demons at worst. Would her mother seek to be a rival or an ally?
"There is no way of knowing my mother's intentions..." Zelda concluded. "Not without reaching out. And that is perhaps the true meaning of the message. This is not a message for Qin or any of you. It is a message to me, and me alone. This is bait for me to acknowledge her."
The ministers fell silent as Zelda spoke and considered. Ultimately the decision was hers.
Zelda stood, patted down her robes, and said, "Allow me the night to think on it. You all have work to do of your own, and I have mine. Ketsu, stay in the palace tonight. I may need your council tomorrow."
Ketsu bowed and Zelda left the throne room. She heard the conversations resume and debate continue behind her, but that was not her concern tonight.
The princess returned to her room and stood on the balcony. Zelda meditated on herself and her mother. She thought back as far as she could. In the furthest back of her memory, whether it be solid recollection or wishful thinking, there was a sense of warmth and song and dance, of being held close. Then just as quickly all sense of brightness and warmth in the blur of times past turned grey and then dark, the song turned to shrieks and begging, the dancing turned to fights and raping, and the sense of being held turned to a choke hold around her throat. Zelda touched her throat. Though the action had not left a physical scar, she remembered it vividly.
Was the warmth wishful thinking of a child or real? Was her mother once one way and turned to another by event and time? Or was the final memory of that woman the same as the first?
Zelda knew how she looked. It was a compliment given, but offense taken, that she would come to have the same beauty as the woman from her nightmares. Unlike the legend that was Bi Ki, spoken of fondly by Ryo Fui and Kei Ki, Zelda had no talent in song or dance. Thankfully that was one area to which Zelda did not share.
Beauty was a curse. It was a useless vice draining one of attention to proper traits and it was a tempter to the other to take the former. It was the source of greed. It destroyed kingdoms, ruined good men, and brought out the worst in evil men while woman either hid behind it or used it as a sword.
'Mother supposedly was a dancer.' Zelda thought. 'Just how beautiful would she have been to gain the king's attention?'
As mentioned prior, Sarah came out, tempted Zelda to return as it had turned night, Sarah told the tale of the hungry snakes, and they slept.
Zelda did not sleep. She watched Sarah as she slept. She studied the concubine. The concubine was plain to the princess, and by the standards of nobles to which Zelda had heard in whispers, was ugly. Her bones were a touch too exposed, her skin was a touch too dirty, her hair was a bit too short and unkempt, she had a tiny scar on her palm from cutting herself while cooking, her clothes were, originally, of less than masterful quality, her speech was not clear as a still lake and meant for singing or poetry, she was not born from a noble home nor had the manners and demeanor of a court lady but of someone from a warm, simple home barely managing while filled with organized chaos. And her stuttering! No noble would ever accept a concubine of such poor speech! Any man of standards would ignore her and leave her be.
Perfect.
But this was an imperfect world. How many men would watch Zelda with predatory eyes because she was a woman and because she held the throne? How many court ladies would whisper jealousy of a thing that tempted evil?
Zelda had not the strength to have a mirror, lest she sees a look-alike to her nightmare. Could she handle seeing the nightmare for itself? The princess sighed. It didn't matter. She wouldn't know what she could handle until the moment of truth.
Her mind decided, Zelda told Sarah to return to the harem at first light.
-Ryo's Estate, Kanyou-
High pitched screams filled the air. A door flung open, the birds squawked and flew in dust, and six tiny feet scurried out fast as they could. Fearfully they looked back, but kept their attention forward. They hurried to the wall outside of the building they had escaped, and finding it too tall and without passage to traverse, took right along the outer perimeter between the wall and the bushes. The bushes snagged at their dresses, but they did not, could not, let it deter them. Guards stood in the distance, and though they could be seen the guards would likely not aid them. They were on their own.
They fell into bushes and crouched down. Their eyes glued to the doorway they had left, unknowing of the hands behind them.
In a swift movement one of them was scooped up and lifted into the air. She screamed, the other two squealed and ran, and the guards glanced in their direction only to return to their patrol.
Everyone fell, laughing.
"Ryo!" The caught one cried, "How do you always find me!"
Ryo continued to hold her and spun around with her enveloped in his large clothes. The girl was much smaller than himself and so was swallowed up entirely. After spinning a time or two he stopped and put her down. Giggling, he lifted the blindfold, "Because I know your smell well, my dear."
"You cheated!" She pouted.
"I am guilty of nothing more than an ambition and virility far beyond my years! And a large nose!" He laughed. He softened her pouting and turned them to squeals with kisses before chasing after the other girls as well. They played for some time but it stopped as Ryo saw Rishi approach with a disgruntled look. This was nothing new, as Rishi, Ryo's chief minister of law, seemed eternally vexed by human's fallacies in the face of order. He spent his days, weeks, and months in isolation writing and was unnaturally pale, though also handsome as he was never burned by the sun.
"Ah, Rishi!" Ryo greeted his friend and ally. "Come join us! Sukki there is still beyond my reach and speed. Your aid in catching her should end her reign! To the winner goes the spoils, aint that right my pretties?" Ryo smiled lecherously towards his little concubines.
Rishi eyed them with disdain, frowned at their dirty, sweaty appearance, and sighed at their perverted antics. He shook his head. He said, flatly, "We have a report from our spy in Zelda's camp."
Ryo caught another girl and held her in a bear hug, but stopped on hearing Rishi's word and tone. He let his own demeaner fall from being so cheery, though he continued to hold the concubine. She looked up curiously at him.
Seeing he had Ryo's attention, Rishi continued, "The harem has sent a message to Zelda. The message bore the king's seal and was entirely blank. No words were written on the scroll."
Ryo's expressions shifted between various levels of confusion and thought, before becoming stoic. "I see." He said, simply. "I knew my plot against Zhao would shake Qin's foundations as well, but I hadn't expected that woman to be amongst the fruits to fall from its branches. Perhaps it is wishful thinking that I could peacefully swallow up Zelda's power without interference."
Rishi raised an eyebrow, "You actually think the harem seeks an alliance with the royal family after all this time?"
Ryo's eyes drew out towards the city. In the center, high above all though encased in walls was the palace. In a distant part of the city though, was another palace with just as many walls and just as tightly secured. The royal families' personal harem. It was here the princes and princesses were born and raised. It was here the jewels of the kingdom were locked up and preserved for the piety of the monarchy. Its walls and doors were shut tight as any fortress and armed by as many guards as the royals through their eunuchs.
"Honestly, I don't know." Ryo admitted. "Though I know them both, and I know the darkness they endured, their relationship cannot be so simply defined as 'mutual hostages'. Those two share a history and painful darkness I do not understand. If those two were to meet, I have no idea how the conversation would go."
