Traveler of the Blue Road - Part 5 Chapter 1 - Golden Clouds

 Traveler of the Blue Road

(Book 7 of the Guardian of the Spirit Series)

Author: Uehashi Nahoko

Translator: Ainikki the Archivist

 

 Part 5 - Traveler of the Blue Road

Chapter 1 - Golden Clouds

 

    Chagum stood on the deck of a ship that had been polished to a mirror shine. Below him, sailors scurried back and forth, preparing the ship for departure. When the sailors noticed Chagum standing there, they sent up a deafening cheer. 

    The sailors had spent a long time in captivity; their exhaustion from the ordeal was obvious. Still, Chagum could see the joy on their faces as they prepared to go home. They had all shaved their beards and cut their hair in anticipation. Everyone looked neat and clean. This felt like a new start. 

    The face covering Chagum wore fluttered in Sangal’s strong sea breeze.  A tall Sangalese man stood behind Chagum on the deck; he raised his hands up high to quiet the sailors’ cheers.

    “Sailors of New Yogo, you are extremely fortunate,” he said in accented Yogoese. “After long, long negotiations with Sangal’s royal family, your Crown Prince has managed to secure your release.”

    The Yogoese sailors sent up another cheer.

    Chagum was lost in his thoughts and barely heard what the Sangalese man said. Prince Raul had given Sangal orders; Chagum also had his own orders to follow.

    When the Sangalese man finished his speech and looked toward Chagum, there was a lengthy pause. Then the Sangalese man coughed, bringing Chagum back to the present moment. Chagum looked up at the mast of the ship and the boundless blue sky above it, then took a deep breath of sea air.

    When Chagum addressed the sailors, they arranged themselves on the ship’s lower deck in neat, orderly lines. They were all present: not a single one was missing. Jin, Tagal and Oru had been sent to a separate island after their attempted escape, but otherwise, everyone had been kept together. Chagum had to squint to find Ruin, but he was there among the sailors near the back of the final line.

    Yun hadn’t been permitted to return, though Chagum had asked for his release as well. When Sangal’s royal family had learned from the other sailors that Yun had tried to assassinate Chagum, they’d transferred him to a Sangalese prison.

    All of the sailors had recently been sent to the island of Rasu to await Chagum’s arrival. Rasu was a large island with an archipelago of smaller islands surrounding it, much like Kalsh. Rasu had many port cities; Chagum had docked at the one furthest to the south. The Talsh empire had already built a fortress there. More than anything else, that fortress made Chagum remember exactly how much time had passed.

    But the shadow of the Talsh had not yet fallen on the north. The sailors on board the ship likely had no idea that the Talsh had already found a way to conquer New Yogo. Part of the reason they’d been permitted to go home was that they’d been kept ignorant. Chagum couldn’t afford to do anything that might jeopardize their safe return to New Yogo.

    Grandfather, I’m bringing all our sailors home.

    Thinking of Tosa gave him enough courage to speak to the men on the deck below him. “You’ve suffered for such a long time,” he said “but we’re finally going home together. Try to remember your families’ faces as you sail; I hope that will make our voyage back to the Nayoro peninsula a little easier.”

    No one cheered. Some of the sailors started crying. They moved together and knelt down together on the deck in a position of prayer.

    Chagum’s mouth snapped shut. The men still didn’t understand the reason they’d been saved. He had to tell them.

    The sunlight shone so brightly on the freshly polished deck that Chagum almost thought he was seeing a mirage. He turned toward the Sangalese man behind him and said, “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

    It was a dismissal, and the man took it as one. He bowed gracefully, then left the ship by passing over a plank connected to the dock. Chagum watched him face his own ship and prepare to board. The man was the captain of the ship that would follow Chagum and the Yogoese sailors to New Yogo’s border.

    The captain’s ship appeared to be a Sangalese escort, but Chagum knew that the captain had received his orders from Prince Raul. The ship would watch theirs to ensure that Chagum and the sailors returned home directly and didn’t try to contact anyone on the way.

    Chagum’s leash was invisible to the sailors, but he felt its restriction whenever he moved.

    When the Sangalese captain was back on his own ship, Chagum addressed the Yogoese sailors again. “Please listen to me carefully,” he said.

    The sailors rose from their knees and stood at attention.

    “There is something that I must tell you. Returning home with me may prove very dangerous. What awaits us when we arrive is not a peaceful reunion, but a violent storm.”

    The sailors remained completely silent and opened their ears to what their Crown Prince had to say.

    “You cheered for me before knowing that I would be leading you into a storm,” he said. “The Mikado allowed all of us to be taken captive by Sangal. It seems clear that he abandoned us here. I’m not sure what kind of greeting we’ll get when we go home. If the Mikado suspects any of us of colluding with our enemies, we may even be thrown into prison.”

    None of the sailors stirred. All trace of the previous joy Chagum had seen on their faces while they’d cheered was gone. If he looked closely, he could see signs of tension on many of the men’s faces.

    Chagum was significantly taller than he’d been the last time the sailors had seen him. He looked like a full-grown adult. There was a shared sense of pride, tinged slightly with sadness, that Crown Prince Chagum was no longer a boy.

    “Knowing all this,” Chagum said, “are you sure you want to go home? You’d be able to live peacefully in Sangal for a long time if you’d prefer that. There would be no shame in such a decision. If you want to stay here, cross that plank to the dock and your captors will take charge of you once more.”

    Chagum’s eyes scanned the sailors’ faces. “If there’s anyone who wants to get off the ship, please do so now. Do what your heart tells you. I don’t want to cause any more suffering for any of you.”

    No one spoke or moved. The only sound came from the waves lapping at the ship’s hull. Chagum looked out at all the sailors standing at attention with their heads down.

    One of the men near the stern of the ship was looking up. He was a young man, clearly a low-ranking sailor; his clothes were brown and unmarked by any insignia. His eyes darted back and forth between his fellow sailors for a few moments. Then he turned toward the sailor standing next to him and whispered something in his ear.

    The sailor looked at Chagum briefly, bowed, and slowly extricated himself from the tightly packed lines of Yogoese sailors. When he reached the plank leading down to the dock, he ran down it and didn’t look back.

    None of the other sailors tried to stop him. No one followed him, either. One of the older sailors kept looking at him as he ran toward the dock until he was taken prisoner once more. The old man was the First Officer of the ship and Tosa’s second-in-command.

    When the sailor who’d left the ship disappeared from view, the First Officer faced Chagum, bowed, and asked for permission to speak.

    When Chagum granted it, he said, “Crown Prince Chagum, I offer sincere thanks for expressing concern for such lowly people as us. The man who just left the ship fell in love with one of the Sangalese women who brought us our food. When you commanded us to follow our hearts, he decided to leave.

    “I would not usually permit such a display of disloyalty and immorality, but having sailors distracted by such things aboard ship would be a hindrance to us completing our voyage safely. I must thank you again for saving us, Your Majesty.” His voice was choked with emotion.

    “I suspect the other sailors here feel as I do. No one else wants to leave the ship, Your Majesty. I do not wish to overstep my place, but will you consider listening to what I have to say?”

    Chagum nodded. “Please speak without reserve.”

    The officer bowed again, then said quietly, “Crown Prince Chagum, I deeply regret leaving Grand Admiral Tosa to die. He was more than our admiral; he taught us all he knew of the sea for many, many years. I consider abandoning him on the flagship to be the most cowardly act of my entire life.” 

    His voice was hoarse with pain and grief. “I wish to atone in some way. I can’t do that unless I go home. It may be that we will all be thrown into prison, as Your Majesty said. We may even be sentenced to death. Perhaps you think it would be better for us to remain captives in a foreign land, Your Majesty, but I believe that all of us sincerely want to return home.”

    The expressions on the sailors’ faces hardened, but no one said anything to contradict the First Officer. The First Officer himself appeared a bit nervous, but then he smiled.

    “We may be disgraced, but we are still sailors of New Yogo. If there is a storm waiting for us, we will brave it. No man here is a coward.”

    The Yogoese sailors on the deck smiled, first at each other, then at the First Officer. When one of the sailors started clapping, the others joined in, filling the air with the sound of prolonged applause.

    Chagum felt the sailors’ sincere wish to return home like the force of a cresting wave. “I understand exactly how you feel,” he said. He took a deep breath and said, “Well, then, men. Let’s go home.”

    All the sailors saluted in unison, then cheered as they took their assigned places and prepared for departure.

 

 

    Chagum listened to the ship’s white sails flapping in the wind. He felt the ship coursing over the waves with his entire body as he gazed out at the sea. He clenched his fists; now that he’d begun the voyage home, the next steps he was forced to take seemed a lot more difficult.

    The image of Talsh warships with their black sails encroaching this far north was burned into his imagination. There were more stone Talsh fortresses north of Rasu; Chagum saw them on many islands between Rasu’s archipelago and the Sangal peninsula. It seemed that Sangal had fallen completely to the Talsh. Every fortress Chagum saw seemed like the footprints of the Talsh army marching north.

    Chagum’s ship for this voyage was small like Senna’s, so it didn’t need to stop to resupply very often. Prince Raul probably wanted Chagum to hurry home. It would take less than two months for Chagum to arrive back in Kosenyko.

    Some of the ships in Chagum’s escort did stop at various islands to let off soldiers and workers to assist with the building of other Talsh fortresses and structures. Chagum saw Sangalese soldiers doing drills beside Talsh ones. They’d probably been preparing for war for all these long months since Chagum had been taken captive. Perhaps Prince Raul wanted to make a spectacle of how thoroughly Sangal had been conquered in such a short time.

    The ship escorting Chagum’s had clearly been given detailed instructions about where to stop and what to allow Chagum to see. Chagum was glad that he’d managed to meet Prince Raul in person. He had to do a lot less guesswork regarding his motives and intentions thanks to that meeting. He’d only been permitted to go home in exchange for betraying his country.

    But there was nothing for Chagum to do now except go home. His grandfather had died before his eyes. He’d been taken captive by the enemy. His safe return with the sailors would certainly look suspicious; he had no doubt that all of these sailors would be imprisoned or punished in some way when the ship arrived at Choron. He wanted to get a letter to Shuga to warn him about Talsh’s plans, but even if he could, he still didn’t know who the betrayer inside the palace was. Without that knowledge, he had no way to protect his father from assassination.

    He felt terrible even thinking it, but he would have a lot more freedom to act after his father was dead. He kept imagining and discarding possible future scenarios in his mind throughout the voyage.

    The Mikado’s assassination would send the palace into chaos. The Talsh would invade; Sangal would likely assist them. Army General Radou would undoubtedly put forward Tugum as the next Mikado. He might even be inclined to accept Prince Raul’s deal without too much convincing. New Yogo would surrender without a fight to avoid the tragedy and destruction of war.

    But after that, New Yogo’s people would become the vanguard of the army that invaded Kanbal and Rota. They would be embroiled in a war that could last for years. The people of Kanbal and Rota would never forgive New Yogo for what it had done--for what Chagum had done.

    Clouds drifted slowly across the blue sky. Chagum narrowed his eyes and looked all the way up: up and up and up. I can’t condemn all those people to such a future, he thought.

    Prince Raul had pointed to the northern continent on his map and called it his last prize. When Chagum remembered that, he felt the stirrings of a red-hot rage. All of the people living on the northern continent had lives and families and ambitions for themselves. Thinking of them as some kind of prize to be won infuriated Chagum.

    I won’t let Prince Raul make me into what he wants. It would be too shameful.

    Prince Raul viewed Chagum like an insect that he’d caught inside his web. It was only natural that he would think that way; Prince Raul had experience and the might of his huge military behind him to intimidate Chagum, but Chagum refused to be intimidated.

    It may be foolish for one person to stand before ten thousand and hope to successfully oppose them, but I’m still going to try.

    He understood Prince Raul’s plans very well, even if he didn’t completely understand his motives. And he’d realized during his conversation with Prince Raul that he might not have to stand up to the Talsh alone. The only way to save New Yogo, Kanbal and Rota was for the three nations to form an alliance against the Talsh.

    Accomplishing such a thing would be unbelievably difficult. Even if he begged the King of Kanbal for help, he would probably choose to hide behind the wall of the Misty Blue Mountains. The King of Rota was an honorable man who had always been on good terms with the Mikado; he was also shrewd enough to see the benefit to himself in such an alliance. Chagum believed that he would agree to it, if asked.

    But the Mikado would never ask for assistance from New Yogo’s neighboring nations. Prince Raul knew that. Hugo and his other spies were entirely familiar with the political situation on the northern continent.

    I could contact Rota as New Yogo’s regent.

    But even as he thought that, Chagum knew that sending messages secretly would be impossible: the Talsh would intercept and read all of his communications. And besides, that would be too slow. The Talsh would have already invaded by the time any message arrived in Rota’s royal palace. With New Yogo’s military force crushed or absorbed into the Talsh army, Rota would have no hope of victory.

    King Yosam was a very wise ruler, but Chagum saw no way for Rota to successfully resist invasion after Talsh forces landed on the continent. He would probably try to hunker down and fortify his position as quickly as possible rather than rush to New Yogo’s aid.

    Rota was much larger than New Yogo. Their religion and culture was also vastly different: Rota’s people were excellent horsemen and could send huge cavalry forces to war. Chagum believed that this was one of the reasons why the Mikado would never consider asking for an alliance with Rota. He would have to accept that, in some things at least, Rota was superior to New Yogo.

    That was probably at least part of the reason that Talsh had targeted New Yogo first. If they attacked Rota first without conquering New Yogo, it was possible that New Yogo would send aid to Rota. Rota was also better-equipped to fend off attacks from the Talsh, even on their own. It made sense to conquer New Yogo first: it was smaller and its resources and people could be used against Rota and Kanbal.

    Chagum gritted his teeth. If he wanted to request help from Rota, he’d have to do it before the Talsh invaded. His father would never ask, so the only person who could even attempt to make such a request was Chagum himself. If he sent someone like Jin, the messenger might be refused a hearing because he lacked the full support of the Mikado and the court.

    It would also be difficult to reach the King of Rota quickly. The more Chagum thought about it, the more he understood that he was the only suitable diplomat to forge an alliance with Rota before it was too late. Even Chagum’s rank as Crown Prince might not be enough to sway the King of Rota, but Chagum had been to the Talsh Empire. He knew what Talsh was planning. He could warn Rota, at the very least.

    But how will I get to Rota?

    The ship definitely wouldn’t stop there. If Chagum ordered the ship to stop in Rota, Prince Raul would probably grasp what Chagum was planning right away. If he tried to sneak away when the ship reached the Sangal peninsula, he would almost certainly be observed by spies and caught. He had to think of a way to escape that Prince Raul wouldn’t expect.

    Chagum felt the gentle rocking of the ship around him and listened to the waves. The sea spread out before his eyes to the very limits of his vision. Chagum stared at it for a long time.

 

 

    Chagum’s ship left Rasu’s archipelago at the beginning of summer. The warm winds from the south helped propel the ship through the Tara Ucham, the Dead Sea to the south of Nayoro Peninsula, at a fairly fast pace. It was still too early in the season for rakkaral, the great whirlpools that formed in the sea in the summer. The ship was fortunate in its journey and encountered no storms.

    Chagum spent most of his time alone, lost in thought. He permitted no one but Ruin to stay near him and spent long hours writing letters. It was difficult to write clearly due to the motion of the ship, but Chagum was powerfully motivated to write down everything Prince Raul had told him about his plans before he forgot anything important.

    He did permit Tagal and Oru to visit him out of gratitude for helping him try to escape, but he didn’t meet with Jin. He thanked Jin for help in another letter, then kept recording the Talsh invasion plan. He had no idea what Jin planned to do after returning home. Jin had helped him before, but Chagum was still afraid to trust him.

 

 

    There was a knock at the door of Chagum’s cabin. He looked up at his scroll and said, “Come in.” 

    Ruin entered and shut the door. When Chagum noticed what he was carrying, he blinked. It was a porcelain bowl full of freshly cut fruit. Although it was hot outside, there were chunks of ice mixed in with the fruit in the bowl.

    Ice? How could ice have gotten here? We can’t be storing it anywhere on board.

    Chagum noticed that the edges of the bowl were slightly wet as Ruin placed it on the table. Ruin smiled and said, “I had the sailors search for an ice cave near the harbor we stopped at this morning. You haven’t been eating much, Your Majesty, so the sailors and I wanted to get you something special.”

    Chagum stared at the fruit and ice in the bowl and didn’t say a word. Ruin and the sailors had clearly become friends during their long captivity. And they were all worried about Chagum, who had shut himself up in his cabin for days without seeing anyone aside from Ruin.

    He imagined the sailors running through the harbor town, trying to deliver the ice to the ship before it could melt.

    “Thank you,” Chagum said. His voice was hoarse from disuse, so his words were scarcely audible. He ate some of the fruit and felt refreshing coolness spread through his body. “It’s wonderful.”

    Ruin’s smile grew wider.

    Ruin was always taking care of him. Chagum felt his solicitousness strongly now in a way he hadn’t since the start of this voyage. Ruin had become Chagum’s personal servant three years before; they were roughly the same age. Ruin had always treated Chagum like the son of a god. Chagum thought that this might be the first time Ruin had ever looked at him like he was a person and let his feelings show plainly.

    He’s gotten taller in the past year, hasn’t he?

    Chagum hadn’t noticed any change at all in Ruin until this moment. Chagum could tell from his own clothes that he’d grown quite a bit over the past year or so; it seemed that Ruin had as well.

    It could have been his imagination, but he thought Ruin had looked him in the eyes for the briefest of moments after bringing him the fruit. Chagum thought about that as he ate all of the fruit in the bowl. It was delicious.

    “Thank you again, Ruin. Please convey my thanks to the sailors as well.”

    Ruin was smiling when he bowed to Chagum and left the cabin.

 

 

    Ruin came up with excuses to visit Chagum almost every day, even when he wasn’t summoned. He brought news from the sailors and Jin. Chagum understood that Ruin was trying to demonstrate that the men on the ship cared about him and were watching over him. Chagum didn’t have the heart to order him away, but whenever he looked at Ruin, he saw the faces of all the innocent people of New Yogo. The reminder that Ruin and all of his people would suffer no matter what he did was painful.

    After a few days spent in total confinement, Chagum started venturing out to the deck late at night after dinner to stare at the sea. His dinner was prepared before that of the sailors, so he was usually on the deck alone while the others ate their evening meal in their cabins. There was no one else on the deck at this time aside from a skeleton crew.

    As Chagum looked out at the ocean as the sun set, he felt a profound sadness. He thought about the palace where he’d been born and raised and the worried faces of his mother and Shuga. The sea view was beautiful, but the last lingering light of the sun reminded him of how fragile his current situation was. Like the light, everything about his current life could vanish at any moment.

    Chagum shifted his gaze to the northern sky. Golden clouds spread over the horizon like a mirage in the direction of his home. The wind made the clouds drift and clump together, then dissolve apart. Chagum extended his hands to the sky and traced the movements of the clouds with his fingers.

    He heard footsteps approaching behind him, but he didn’t turn. “Don’t worry,” Chagum said. “I’m not going to jump in.”

    “Uh...I wasn’t thinking that at all, Your Majesty,” Ruin said.

    Chagum turned slowly. His face was pale and slightly chilled from the night air. “You can go back to my cabin,” he said. “I’ll return shortly.”

    Ruin looked slightly embarrassed as he said, “Perhaps I will if the waves get stronger, Your Majesty, but my place is by your side.”

    He looked so grim and serious that Chagum laughed a little. “That’s true, but we’re not usually at sea, are we? I know you dislike the water and I’m perfectly satisfied with your service. You don’t need to force yourself to remain.”

    Ruin looked at him with an entirely blank expression. After a long pause, he said, “Forgive me for saying so, Your Majesty, but there are times when I find you very confusing.”

    Chagum didn’t understand what Ruin meant by that. He frowned.

    Ruin smiled timidly and said, “You’re the Crown Prince, but you have always treated me as courteously as if I were a friend. I’ve been thinking a lot about the palace lately, and...” he trailed off, then looked down. “I was given into service at the palace when I was eight. I originally served your honored brother, His Majesty Crown Prince Sagum. When I entered your service, I was sure you would treat me the same way he did.”

    Chagum’s older brother had died of an illness when Chagum was twelve years old.

    That’s right--Ruin became my servant after Sagum died.

    Sagum had been very like the Mikado in that he had no experience of life outside the palace. “I suppose I must seem quite strange, compared to my brother,” Chagum said. He chuckled.

    “You know this already, but I’ve been away from the palace once before this. A strong and kind-hearted bodyguard protected me and took me on an unforgettable journey. I met many people on that journey who treated me with warmth and kindness. I’ll never forget them.”

    When Chagum had first returned to the palace, what he’d wanted more than anything else was a friend. Perhaps that was why he’d treated Ruin as one, despite their gap in status.

    “I think I understand what you feel, Your Majesty,” Ruin said softly. “When I first started living and working with the sailors in Sangal, everything shocked me. But after a while, I liked it. Having friends. They were always looking out for me, so I tried to do the same.” Ruin smiled brightly. “They even taught me how to swim. Our captors allowed us to go swimming sometimes. The Sangalese sailors were a bit rude--and, um, loud--but they also seemed happy to teach me.”

    Chagum smiled. “Well, they’re Sangalese. The idea of not being free to swim in the sea probably wouldn’t occur to them, since they were born and raised on the ocean.”

    Ruin nodded. “They’re a strange people. When I asked them what they would do if we tried to swim away and escape, they laughed at me and said, ‘Yogoese people are terrible at swimming.’ Even though there are plenty of strong swimmers among the sailors.” He shrugged. “If we’d all formed a line and and swam away together, we might have made it.”

    As Chagum took in Ruin’s slightly self-deprecating smile, an idea rose to the surface of his mind.

    I could swim.

    His eyes widened. He heard his heart beating louder in his ears. He’d been thinking for days about circumventing Talsh surveillance, and now he’d finally thought of a way. The path before him, once shrouded in darkness, was now clearly illuminated.

    I could probably swim to Rota from here.

    If he tricked or distracted the sailors, he might be able to buy enough time to get away. The longer he thought about his potential escape, the more possible it seemed. Obstacles that had seemed impossible to surmount before now seemed manageable.

    Escape from the ship was still a reckless plan with a low chance of success. It was also so stupidly risky that it was likely Prince Raul hadn’t even considered it as a possibility. There’s a way--just one. I can get away from the Talsh.

    His entire body felt flush with excitement; he was suddenly far too warm. If he planned well and was lucky, he might be able to avoid interference from his father and the imperial court as well.

    The heat in Chagum’s blood turned to ice as he considered the difficulty of the plan he was devising.

    If I choose to do this...

    The person he currently was--Chagum, Crown Prince of New Yogo--would have to disappear. If he failed to gain allies for his nation against the Talsh, he might have to vanish forever. Ruin and the other sailors would certainly be blamed and punished.

    Chagum was as still as a statue as he considered his plan. Looking at his expression made Ruin uneasy.

    “Your Majesty?” Ruin asked. His face was bathed in the soft light of the early evening sky.

    Chagum didn’t say anything for a long while. When he broke free of his thoughts, he said, “Ruin, please listen...”

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