Author's Note: I do appreciate all of the constructive criticism! And they were barely flaming! (Kero pats down smoke from a singed sleeve) Thanks so much for taking the time to R&R. Please note that my 12k Universe is generally based on the anime, and not the novels; although, I will try to stay true to the novels' overall themes as well.
-Kero (1/8/06)
Chapter Two: Standing on Ceremony
"To teach is to learn twice."
--Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
Youko traced a finger along the rim of her porcelain cup thoughtfully, sitting silently for her servants to dress her. The seamstresses had stitched in endless patterns her royal emblem onto the darkest ceremonial black silk for the occasion. As a set of hands continued to fix the silk hem and sleeves of her robes and another set of hands fastened the clasp at her neck for the outer layer embroidered in gold thread, Youko wondered if Keiki even noticed that she wasn't paying attention to any of the words that were coming out of his mouth.
"…and furthermore," he continued on in his usual, unemotional tone, "after the bonfire is lit the traditional dance will begin…." He stood in his formal robes, equally as majestic and godlike as hers. The dark fabric was drastically offset by his pale complexion. Youko watched her companion through her dressing mirror as the moonlight played with the flaxen gold color of his long hair. Keiki was a truly magnificent creature when transformed as a kirin, but as a man he looked very other-worldly, as if his color reflected how aloof and sheltered he really was to everything.
"You will be seated on the dais when the announcements are made, but once the fire is lit, you will stand and present the basket of assorted wheat, oats, fruits and rice in offering. This symbolizes your tribute to Tentei, the Will of Heaven that has allowed you to be chosen as Kei's Queen, and you will bow your head in blessing for an even greater harvest next year…." he continued, heedless that in her mind she was setting aside all of the words that were coming at her as unwanted thoughts.
The prior queen had fallen in love with the handsome and serious Keiki, whose gentle voice was never really stern, even when it was admonishing, and whose smile was more rare than the beautiful blue crystals that grew in the Kingdom of Shun. This was never far from Youko's mind whenever she watched her kirin.
"You will take your sword, Suiguu, the most treasured heirloom of all of Kei's monarchs, and you will come down the dais steps and offer it up to the fire..." Youko would never forget the moment when Keiki offered the sword to her. The tall stranger had sworn his fealty to her on the cold linoleum floor of her classroom, and offered up his allegiance of unquestioning loyalty to her throne in front of the chalkboard. That was the first time any man, albeit Keiki was more godly creature than man, had sworn such noble oaths to her. She admitted that his sincerity did move her, despite the fact that she had no idea what he was talking about. Her feelings towards Keiki had warmed considerably since then, but she rarely took any time to think of him particularly since he always kept her constantly occupied with tasks both great and mundane.
In truth, she could not at first understand why You-Ou had fallen in love with him, above all others. But, beneath the blunt and sometimes inscrutable exterior was the heart of a loyal, kind being who strove to be more empathetic towards his master, which is something Youko tried never to forget.
"…But most of all, you must remember to bow as the blessing is given…" Sometimes he was painfully aware of his lack of a sense of humor, and he was almost child-like in his need to understand human behavior. Keiki had lived long in the place of his birth as a kirin before descending to select You-Ou as ruler. His stay on the mountain of the gods, Mt. Hou, was lengthy and his contact with humans and making friends was limited. Youko intuitively knew that he had high hopes for the previous queen, that he had wanted her to succeed and her kingdom to succeed, despite the fact he had brought such misery to that simple daughter of a merchant. Alas, it was not to be.
Nowadays, Youko felt that his often stony exterior and his pointed criticisms were created just for her, to have Youko succeed where her predecessor Jyoukaku had failed.
He was a steady taskmaster and a strict teacher. Youko knew that he was not the correct source from which to requisition hugs, praise or words of encouragement. Still, thought Youko to herself as her kirin droned on, a kind word from you a little more often, Keiki, wouldn't hurt.
She let out a great sigh, and despite the fact that several people were in the room with her, Youko couldn't shake the feeling of being alone.
"Are you listening to a word I'm saying, Shu-jou?" asked Keiki. She looked at him and pursed her lips.
"Do you want a coated response or the truth?" she asked innocently. Despite his placid expression, his silence screamed with exasperation. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Keiki, you need to relax. It will be fine. I know what I'm doing. And if I don't, I'll just pretend that I know what I'm doing. I'm the Queen of Many Firsts, remember? I'm the fiery Red-Haired Child. I'm the Rebel Queen. I'll just make it up as I go along—" she chuckled and then looked at Keiki's disapproving face.
"—without ruining hundreds of years of tradition, okay? Just point to where I need to stand and cough when I'm not doing it right." She stood up and with a wave of her hand, she dismissed all the servants and lifted a long, trailing sleeve to pour a cup of tea.
"Your expectations of me, Keiki…sometimes I wonder if I'll ever meet them," she said partially aloud and partially to herself. The lack of response made her wonder if he had heard her. The queen rarely confided her feelings in Keiki and half of her hoped he did not hear.
She stole a quick glance at him, partially grimacing as she expected to hear another lecture, but it did not come. Instead, he was walked over to her with a very intense, inscrutable look on his face.
"Your faults are my faults, Your Majesty. I should have taken more time to teach the fundamentals of tonight's ceremonies…" his voice trailed. She realized that he didn't want her to look bad tonight, especially in front of the Ministers as they were watching her every move ever since her upheaval of the ranks and hierarchy in the royal court after the Wa Province Rebellion. She needed the support of her Ministers most of all as they helped her govern the country. Keiki just wanted to reinforce her legitimacy whenever he could. Despite his eagerness to be a perfect kirin, Youko regretted that she rarely praised him. Did he seek her approval as well? Kirin really were such innocent beings.
She placed a hand swathed in long silken sleeves on his shoulder. "We'll make it, somehow, Keiki. We've battled tougher things than ceremonial niceties."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Youko frowned. "Can't you call me Youko, like the others?"
"That would be too informal, Your Majesty," he insisted. Youko rolled her eyes.
"Someday, I hope we can openly regard one another as friends, rather than as monarch and kirin," she sighed.
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Youko stifled a laugh. Of all the kirin to inherit, I had to get the most serious one.
"Let's go then, my faithful kirin. We don't want to keep the masses waiting."
000
Kimpa Palace opened the gates of its outer walls on rare occasions, and even rarer still, the very gates to the foot of the mountain on which the palace rested. It was set up with banners and a dais for the Queen to make her yearly descent from the mountain and begin the Harvest Moon festivities, which lasted one week. People in the capital closed up shop early in the days prior just to get good seats to watch their queen and be awed by her holy presence and flaming red hair, which was very unusual, even for a native.
Rumor had it that that her crimson hair reflects the origins of her throne; purchased with blood and bathed in war. Their queen was a warrior goddess. Word had traveled that she personally took up arms with her own people in the Wa Province rebellion, to show her support for them and to root out all of the wayward Ministers in her empire who wanted to hold on to their undeserved power. The people admired her for it. She was notably different from her predecessor.
Among the royal guests was Rakushun, whom Youko had not seen in a while due to his studies. In formal occasions, such as visiting her palace or in the presence of her Ministers, he would change into his human form. Her good-natured friend however preferred his mouse form when no one was looking. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity for him to be comfortable this night. After the opening ceremony, Youko made sure she had a chance to speak with him.
"Youko," greeted her friend casually, only one of five people in all the Twelve Kingdoms who dared to call her so informally. Shoukei, Suzu, and King En were among the others.
"Rakushun, is it over yet? Do I get a break yet?" asked the frowning queen, trying to balance her tall, five-pound headdress while reaching down rather unceremoniously to scratch her knee under layers of skirt.
"You can take one now, since no one is looking," smiled Rakushun, holding out his hands as Youko untied the ribbons that fastened the headdress to her skull and handed the blasted thing over with great exuberance. She let out a grateful sigh.
"Damn, that thing is heavy," she said rather lamely as she looked at the gold plated, peacock feather adorned, jeweled headpiece. The thing was not as heavy as her layers of embroidered robes, which felt more like ten pounds on her shoulders. It might as well have been made of lead; she didn't care for any of it. Her friend only laughed.
"It is a symbol, you know—" he began.
"Of the Queen's authority," finished Youko. "I know, I know." She rubbed a sore spot on her scalp where the circular gold base of the headdress had been chaffing. "The Queen's authority it starting to bruise me." This was, of course, one of fifty head dresses in her collection.
"You're doing a great job so far, Youko," smiled Rakushun. "The people have heard of your great deeds and they are willing to follow you. You are worshipped like a goddess; a curiosity and a treasure."
"You think too highly of me, Rakushun. I am more curiosity than treasure, I think. I'm just so awful at this! I can't imagine what Tentei was thinking when it chose me. Just this morning as I held court, I thought it would be great if I could find a place to hide. A place where even Keiki couldn't find me," she grinned. "Kimpa Palace is so huge. There must be a place like that."
"Keiki would be able to sense you no matter where you went. You do realize that, don't you?"
"Yeah. It would be like trying to lose my shadow," she uttered mournfully.
"Remember," said Rakushun. "You are like two halves, neither of you whole without the other. He needs you, flaws and all. You are the Warrior Queen and he is the Pacifier. He couldn't have uprooted all of those rotten ministers during the Rebellion himself. He couldn't have slain Jyoei or her followers. He's too compassionate for that."
Youko looked over to where a crowd was gathering around the dais. The nobles started to hurry along and find their seats. A troupe of dancers with long flowing sleeves and a group of troubadours with their instruments headed to the center square as the performance was about to begin. A few of the Ministers started to look around for their esteemed ruling monarch. Youko and Rakushun were hidden behind a pillar in the shadows and were not yet discovered.
"Rakushun, what would I do without you?" the queen smiled warmly, and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "I'm so glad you're going to become my advisor when you graduate."
"My, you people from Hourai are really affectionate, aren't you?" he said as he stepped away from her. "How could I refuse the beautiful and commanding Queen of Kei?" he blushed. "But I have to remind you to behave yourself. What if someone saw?" The queen laughed.
"Your Majesty," interrupted a familiar voice. Youko whirled around to see the familiar stoic face of her kirin. He seemed rather irritated at the moment. "Please place the headdress back on your head. The performance is about to start. They cannot begin without you seated."
"Well then, you're going to have to help me. I couldn't see where they had bolted this over-done hat onto my cranium," grumbled Youko. Her kirin sighed woefully as he took the head piece and deftly arranged the stiff, woven hat part of the diadem back onto the carefully arranged bun her servants had oiled, braided and coiled on top of her head. He then took from her a stray hairpin, long with dangling onyx on delicate gold chains, and stuck it rather unceremoniously through the headdress and her coiled hair to hold everything in place. Before Youko could reach for the black ribbons dangling at her ears, Keiki took them, knotted and wrapped the ends in an ornate knot and bow.
"There," he said self-assuredly. "I've placed an enchantment on it. Only I can take this off." Youko scowled at him and her emerald eyes started to gleam. Rakushun couldn't hold in his laughter. She shot him a withering look as she was quickly ushered back to her place by other Ministers.
000
The wind had picked up after the celebration was over. Youko sat alone in her private room on a chair in the corner of the unlit room and stared out the large window to the bluish tinted world beneath the moonlight. With one hand, she plucked a lonely, nameless tune on the zither sitting on the table next to her as she gazed out into the night sky. She always retreated to this chamber after a hard day's work in the limelight. Solitude helped set her nerves at ease. She wondered if being queen would always be this hard. Her heavy head, headdress and all, tipped over to one side with a slight "thunk" against the wall as she tried to ease the burden off her tired neck.
From outside she heard soft footfalls behind the closed door. Youko knew who it was before it even opened. Rakushun was right; he really could find her no matter where she was.
In her weariness she uttered the words of a poem she recalled from one of the Classics lectures back in school to accompany the sound of the zither,
"Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng
(Before my bed, the moon is shining bright)
yí shì dì shàng shuāng
(I think that it is frost upon the ground)
jŭ tóu wàng míng yuè
(I raise my head and look at the bright moon)
dī tóu sī gù xiāng."
(I lower my head and think of home)
"Shu-jou," he said quietly as he stood in the doorframe. She knew that Keiki only called her that when he felt guilty. The kirin looked in silence at his solitary queen, sitting in her dark private room. He had never been in this room before but he noticed the few oddities that hung on the walls, and the easel in the middle of the room were all artifacts of Wa, her old home, that had washed ashore from a past shoku. Merchants in En, Kei, and Kou sometimes sold such things as knick knacks in the marketplace, not really knowing their use. His Queen suddenly looked small and lonely in her private corner of the world.
"I've come to remove the ornamental head piece for you," he offered.
"It's about time," chastised Youko quietly, without moving. Keiki walked over to her silently and looked for the ribbon to undo the spell. He soon realized that the ribbons had already been cut off. Keiki looked around and saw that they were placed neatly beside the Queen's sword, Suiguu, on the table, but she had not removed the headpiece despite her obvious discomfort. He pulled out the hairpin and gently removed the headdress. Keiki then realized that his monarch was a very difficult young woman to understand.
"Shu-jou," he began hesitantly, overcome with guilt at having tortured his monarch so.
"Don't apologize just yet. You'll ruin the moment," she smiled and she plucked out a few more solitary notes. He sat down in the chair opposite and he too gazed up at the moon, pondering the words of his Queen. He wished he were better at giving solace to others. He wanted to say something that would brighten the room, but could not find the words to bring her back from her quiet reverie. She was already a world away.
The silence was unnerving for him.
They were then interrupted by a shuffle of guards rushing into the Queen's apartments at the front entrance.
"What's this about?" demanded her head servant, stepping forward and positioning herself in front of the captain.
Keiki stepped outside of the room, almost glaring at the guards. "The queen is at rest. Can this not wait until morning?"
"We need to tell the Queen! We have very urgent news, Excellency!" insisted the captain, bowing from the waist.
"What is so urgent that you need to speak with me at this hour?" The guards turned to see the Queen herself step out from the shadow and stare them down with her emerald gaze. They each touched a knee to the ground and clasped their hands in respectful greeting.
"Y-your Majesty," stammered the captain, still somewhat in awe of her presence whenever he saw her. "Lord Shoukou has escaped."
Additional Comments: Yes, this is turning out to be kind of frilly. Sorry, it gets darker next chapter.
Yes, there's supposed to be a collective GASP at the end there. Feel free to do so before turning to Chapter 3, or moving on with your life and never returning to this story…
The poem is called Thoughts on a Still Night, by Li Bai (706-762 A.D.)