Chapter 6: A Princess Returns

Yui watched as Keisuke knelt in the shrine of Suzaku, praying yet again for his sister's safe return. "Keisuke… how much longer will you do this? It should be clear now, Miaka is gone. If she was still out there, don't you think the search parties would have found her or she would have come back on her own by now?" she asked softly. Keisuke ignored her, continuing his prayers. Yui turned and left the shrine, shaking her head. Seiryu, forgive me; all of this is my fault. Why did I let myself get so blinded by anger that I could do something like this? What a fool I was, and now so many are paying the price for it, she thought. Because of her, Miaka and her guards were missing, the dowager Empress was dead, and Keisuke had abandoned his people in his grief, leaving Konan on the brink of ruin.

Alone in her chambers, Yui lit some incense and knelt before the small, personal shrine to Seiryu she'd brought from Kutou with her. I swear, I never meant for it to go this far. Please, tell me it's not too late, show me that there's still a chance to make things right, she prayed in her thoughts. Don't continue making the people of Konan pay for my sins… punish me if you will, but don't make the innocent suffer any more for what I did.

"Princess, is everything alright?" Suboshi's voice called. Yui turned to face him, tears gleaming in her eyes.

"Suboshi… I didn't hear you. I was just… just praying for a sign."

"A sign of what, may I ask?"

"That Miaka will come back, that things are going to get better." Before Suboshi could answer, Amiboshi ran in.

"Princess…. Brother… you won't believe this!"

"What is it?"

"It's all over the palace. A messenger hawk has arrived from one of the search parties looking for Princess Miaka. They found her."

"Miaka's alive? Seiryu and Suzaku be praised!" Yui said with a sigh of relief.

"I guess your prayers were answered, then," said Suboshi with a grin. "Why the sudden change of heart, though? I thought that you hated Miaka."

"Things have been so bad since she disappeared… Keisuke neglects his duties as emperor and does nothing but pray and make offerings all day, especially since his mother died. People are dying of starvation and illness in the thousands, and the council does nothing! And all of it is on my head, because I had to be so reckless and cast that wretched curse. She never would've chased after them and got caught in the fire if it weren't for me!" Yui exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

The twins looked down at their feet in sorrow. They too had come to regret their role in Miaka's disappearance.

Yui sighed. "Does Keisuke know she's been found yet?"

"Yes, a servant went to him in the shrine at the temple and told him."

"Well, we'd better go meet him. There is much to celebrate."

Grand celebrations tool place all over Konan in honor of Miaka's return. Keisuke sent a grand procession to meet his sister and convey her to the capital. He would have gone to meet her, but Yui had persuaded him to stay and return to the business of government now that Miaka had been found and would be back with them soon. Having learned of his people's plight, he had begun dispatching aid from the treasury and called his councilors to account after being advertised of their misdeeds.

Several days after the news of her return had arrived at the palace Miaka arrived in the capital and was reunited with her brother. She explained via writing and one of the guards with her about the fire and falling into the river and being swept away. The experience had traumatized her so much, she claimed, she had both lost her memory for some time, and had been rendered mute.

That night, after the feast to welcome her home, Yui gathered her courage and went to Miaka's room, prepared to confess all to her. "Miaka?" she called, knocking on the door. "It's Yui. Please, may I speak to you in private? Knock on the door once if it's alright, twice if not," she added, knowing Miaka couldn't verbally answer. One knock came in reply. Unsure as to what she'd encounter, she took a deep breath and walked in.

Miaka made a gesture telling the maids they could go. Once they left, Yui approached, letting go of the deep breath she'd been holding in. "Miaka, there's… there's something I need to tell you," Yui began, but the angry look on Miaka's face told her she already knew what she was about to say. Miaka lashed out and slapped Yui across the face, knocking her to the ground.

Yui stood up, gently rubbing the red mark on her face. "I deserve that… that and so much more. Miaka, I am so sorry. I swear, I never meant for things to get so far out of hand. I just meant to separate you from Tamahome and the others, I never intended anyone to come to actual harm," she pleaded, tears gleaming in her eyes.

A harsh glare was Miaka's only response. "Why, you ask? I suppose… I was jealous. From the moment I came here as the seal on a peace treaty, everyone always seemed to treat me like an outsider, an intruder, but they loved you so much. And then I saw you with Tamahome, and I couldn't take it anymore… at the time, I thought I was in love with him, even though I knew it was hopeless, and I couldn't stand always losing out to you. I realize now I wasn't really in love, it was admiration, an infatuation because he had saved my life." The tears she had struggled to hold back began falling.

The hard look on Miaka's face softened, showing the compassion and sympathy she felt for the other girl. "Miaka… please, just give me some sign that you forgive me," Yui begged, looking into the other girl's eyes. Miaka smiled gently and reached out and hugged Yui, who burst into sobs.

"There's got to be a way to make this right," said Yui after Miaka had let her go. "Maybe I can figure out some spell to let you talk again. I don't know what to do about the others, though… even if we could find them now, the blankets that I used for the curse didn't survive the fire, and I'd need them to undo the curse and change them back."

Miaka shook her head. As much as she wanted to tell Yui about her plan, she knew it wouldn't be a good idea. Just because she'd forgiven Yui didn't mean that the others would, and she knew they'd never accept help from the one who had cursed them in the first place, even if she did have the means to undo it. As much as Miaka wanted to let Yui in on her plan to save her friends, she didn't trust Yui's servants, who she had no secrets from; in her relief at being forgiven, it was impossible to imagine that she'd be able to conceal anything from them. She couldn't afford to let anyone know due to the risk she was running by attempting magic in Konan.

Once the uproar over her return had begun to settle down and things had started to return to normal, Miaka began to focus on preparing the final blanket. She would sneak out at night to the local churchyard, which she well remembered was abundant with the nettles she needed. Gathering an armful at a time, she'd sneak back into the palace, create the flax, and weave. Unfortunately, Miaka was unaware that Nakago had seen her and figured out what she was up to.

And he was livid about it, to say the least. Having lost his father to the wars between Konan and Kutou, he'd been furious at the peace treaty and royal marriage. After they first came to Konan, he'd had Tomo use his magic to turn the courtiers and servants against Yui and feed Yui's jealousy and anger. When he and his mother were sent home, he'd taken every opportunity to use his correspondence with Yui to spur her homesickness. He'd continued in his efforts especially after returning to Konan to join Yui's household. His goal was to get her to do something that would cause Konan to reject the marriage and peace treaty; naturally, Kutou would take the rejection of their princess and the treaty as an insult and the wars would begin again. He wished to hurt Konan in any way possible, in revenge for his father.

When the wedding was postponed after Miaka vanished and diplomatic relations began to break down, he thought he'd had his chance. But then Miaka returned, Keisuke resumed running the country, and relations improved as plans for the marriage proceeded. He had a new plan now: expose Miaka's efforts to break the curse in hopes of Yui's crimes coming to light. Ultimately, the result of all this would be Yui's execution and the end of the peace agreement. Yui's sacrifice would be no great loss to Kutou; their Emperor's vast harem had presented him with an heir to the throne and numerous spares. What's more, by Kutou law, a princess couldn't rule in her own right, so she was only valuable as a tool for forging alliances by her marriage, and she had sisters who could replace her.

He kept a careful eye on Miaka and determined she would make her last trip to gather nettles soon. Over the years he'd learned much about sorcery from Soi, Miboshi, and Tomo, who were loyal to him before anyone else, so he knew that Miaka must be planning to undo Yui's spell.

The afternoon before Miaka made her final trip to the churchyard, Nakago met privately with the emperor.

"Sire, have you not noticed that Princess Miaka has been acting odd these last few months?"

"After all that she's been through, it wouldn't shock me in the least. But I haven't really noticed any truly odd behavior."

"A few nights ago, Lady Soi told me she went for a walk because she was unable to sleep and saw Princess Miaka wandering the halls. She left the palace, but Lady Soi knew not where she went."

"That is odd…"

"Sire, perhaps we should follow her this evening and see for ourselves, that we may determine what should be done," Nakago suggested.

That night, Keisuke and Nakago followed Miaka as she left and went into the churchyard. On Nakago's orders, Tomo was waiting, hiding behind a tree. He cast an illusion over the churchyard as Miaka entered, so that Keisuke saw her met at the gates by evil spirits. While Miaka walked throughout the churchyard gathering the last few nettles, Keisuke saw these spirits flittering around, scratching their claws on tombstones, digging up corpses, and tearing them to pieces as if they were made of paper.

"What is the meaning of this?" Keisuke cried in horror as he and Nakago slunk out of sight when Miaka left the churchyard.

"It's worse than I feared… the princess practices black magic! She is a witch!" Nakago declared.

In the glimmering fog and moonlight, the statue of Suzaku in the churchyard seemed to shake its head and beat its wings as if in protest and proclaiming Miaka's innocence, but Nakago convinced Keisuke it was a sign from the god declaring her guilt.

Miaka had just finished creating the flax as Keisuke and Nakago came to accuse her of witchcraft. Though horrified, she would not, could not, speak a word in her defense. Using her silence to his advantage, Nakago even managed to convince not only Keisuke, but also the court of officials before whom Miaka stood trial several days later, that she was an evil witch who intended to do harm to both the Emperor and his councilors through her sorcery, perhaps so she could claim the throne for herself. She had no way to prove her innocence; she couldn't speak, and all she would do if she explained would be to drag Yui down with her. In spite of all that Yui had done to Miaka and those closest to her, she couldn't bring herself to do anything that would harm her.

In accordance with Konan's laws, Miaka was sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Yui, who stood by Keisuke's side as the verdict and sentence were pronounced, turned pale. She bowed her head slightly as she watched Miaka be led from the throne room in chains. If she tried to speak on Miaka's behalf, it'd mean she'd have to confess everything and she'd be the one to burn. But if she didn't, yet another innocent person would suffer and die because of her selfish actions.

Later that night, Yui had Suboshi and Amiboshi sneak into Miaka's room and fetch the loom, blankets, and weaving supplies she had seen out that time she'd gone to confess and beg Miaka's forgiveness. Once she had the items, she and the twins smuggled them to Miaka in her jail cell. Though she didn't know how, something told her that these were important and that Miaka needed them.

"Miaka, you shouldn't feel grateful; this whole thing is my fault," Yui said as she saw the look in Miaka's eyes when she presented the items to her. "If it weren't for my foolishness, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place and none of this would have ever happened. But I promise you, I'll try to think of something… figure out a way to stop this." She might be able to appeal to Keisuke's deep affection for his sister, get him to grant clemency. He might be persuaded to commute the sentence to imprisonment or banishment if she could just get through to him and plead Miaka's case.

*End Chapter*