Guardian of Heaven and Earth
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New Yogo
Part 3 - Heaven and Earth
Chapter 3 - The Return
It was a quiet morning in the imperial palace. The nobles and imperial family donned white garb and went to purify themselves and pray. Chagum’ s mother, the Second Queen, was absent from the proceedings. She had retired to the mountain villa in grief after learning that her son was dead. She did not see people much anymore, and the Mikado had not gone to the mountain villa even once to comfort her.
After the Holy Sage had died, Shuga and Ozuru were made apprentices to Gakai, who had been selected as the new Holy Sage. They attended the ceremony as well in their capacity as Gakai's apprentices. Gakai delegated most of the work for preparing the ceremony to Shuga. Though Gakai and Shuga had served Hibi Tonan as equals for many years, Shuga hadn't seen Gakai face to face in months. Gakai was usually in his own chambers or in consultation with the Mikado.
Crown Prince Tugum had just turned five, so it wasn't easy for him to sit still during the ceremony for very long. He fell sound asleep within a few hours. his grandfather Radou held him in his lap as he slept, looking around at the uneasy faces of the court nobles who were gathered for the ceremony.
New Yogo continued to suffer heavy losses. Akato Fortress was completely destroyed. If Yazuno Fortress fell, the Talsh would be able to march to Kosenkyo's gates unopposed. Everyone feared that the Talsh would soon arrive and burn the city. They would probably kill the Mikado, the imperial family and New Yogo's court nobles. Radou saw many pinched expressions and sunken eyes. No one could sleep when their imminent deaths were staring them in the eye. The court nobles faced the altar for the ceremony with poorly concealed terror on their faces.
The people of New Yogo had only one hope left, and that was that Ten no Kami would intervene on their behalf, sending lightning and storms to destroy their enemies and save them.
The sound of an ethereal flute echoed through the courtyard where the ceremony was being held. This flute announced the Mikado's arrival. The court nobles bowed their heads deeply and brought their palms to the floor.
The bright white of the Mikado's clothing contrasted with his dark, glossy hair, making him appear indescribably pure. He walked slowly along a white aisle runner up to the altar with perfect posture, not a hair out of place. He looked more like a carved marble statue than a man.
The Mikado faced the rising sun in the east and extended his hands to it. The court nobles watched him with expressions of reverence as he began a prayer chant asking the heavens for victory in war. Bright light illuminated the Mikado's face. His clear voice echoed to the farthest reaches of the courtyard.
Shuga stared directly at the Mikado during the ceremony and did not bow his head. This was a show of utter disrespect.
Even though the war was going badly and the country was as good as lost, the Mikado never stopped believing in his own divinity. He had never even doubted it. He considered all of his own actions divine, regardless of the consequences.
Shuga suddenly felt the strangeness and the enormity of the change in attitude he'd suffered over the course of his career. If he believed in the Mikado again, would the Mikado truly be able to work miracles? Maybe if he'd started his life knowing that the Mikado wasn't infallible, he could have prevented the country from being invaded and destroyed.
Shuga had no doubt that what he was planning now was the right thing, but he was still worried.
The Mikado continued to chant his prayer in a measured, unchanging rhythm. Clouds covered the sun. The Mikado remained rooted to the spot in front of the altar, like a white tree. The nation of New Yogo had been founded more than two hundred years before. The Mikado was the foundation of New Yogo's government. Assassinating him would rock New Yogo to its very foundations. It might never recover. It would certainly never be what it once was.
But perhaps that was for the best. What it once was had led directly to its destruction.
The wind picked up and the cloud cover overhead completely blotted out the sun. The trees in the courtyard swayed in the wind under a lead-gray sky. The Mikado took an evergreen tree branch in hand and sprinkled sacred water at the four corners of the altar. Birds chirped in the trees nearby.
Suddenly, a rider came over the bridge leading over the moat in front of the imperial palace. There was a deafening din like a sea roar as people reacted to the rider's arrival.
Only the Mikado remained completely unreactive. He continued with the ceremony as if nothing was going on. He burned the branch he held, sending perfumed smoke into the sky. The Mikado wrote a message in fire in the air to Ten no Kami, the God of the Heavens. As smoke from the branch rose, the cloud cover overhead dissipated, revealing the sun again.
The ceremony was over.
The Mikado left the courtyard, followed by the assembled court nobles. They gathered in a wide hall where offerings for Ten no Kami were brought in. After the offerings were made, a banquet began. Karyou would ask the Mikado to seclude himself with the Holy Sage during the banquet. The Mikado would almost certainly agree to his request.
Shuga climbed the plain wooden steps to a platform where he took his seat behind the Mikado and the Holy Sage. There would be no backing out of the assassination plan after tonight.
The Mikado and the court nobles all took their seats for the banquet. The doors of the banquet hall opened. The Mikado's chamberlain suddenly rushed in, red-faced and out of breath. He bowed low before the Mikado, then approached his chair and whispered something in his ear.
The Mikado was clearly displeased by what he'd heard. It was the first time he'd ever displayed emotion so openly in front of other people. He looked down for a few moments to compose himself, eyes staring into space as if there was something there that only he could see. When he looked up, he cleared his throat and said, "I have received joyous news. Our enemies have suffered a crushing defeat at Yazuno Fortress."
The nobles in the banquet hall whispered and tittered. Some broke out into actual cheers.
"The one who assured our victory at Yazuno Fortress was my son, Chagum," the Mikado said. "He is riding with the combined armies of Kanbal and Rota to Kosenkyo."
The people who were cheering suddenly stopped, mouths hanging open. Silence fell as everyone processed this news.
Shuga was no less stunned than anyone else. Crown Prince Chagum... He tried to focus on the banquet hall and the task at hand, but he couldn't. He could think of nothing else but Chagum's brave act in preserving Yazuno Fortress. And he was coming home. The world around him receded as if he were walking in a dream.
Was this a dream? Or would he wake and find the world as it was before?
Crown Prince Chagum is alive. He's coming back. And with the armies of Kanbal and Rota!
“Unbelievable,” Ozoru muttered next to Shuga. “How does something like that even happen?”
Ozoru’ s voice restored Shuga to where he was. His body felt light and warm, like it was being suspended in bubbling water. For the first time in years, Shuga was genuinely happy. He brought his hand in front of his face and choked back tears. He never thought he would see Crown Prince Chagum again. What is he like now? He’s completely grown up.
While nobles in the room cheered, Shuga cast his eyes down and prayed. Ten no Kami, thank you. When he looked up again, the mood of the room had completely changed. General Radou was standing in front of the Mikado’ s raised dais, arms akimbo and face red with rage. The Third Queen looked pale. Nobles and officials who had opposed Chagum’ s policies within the imperial court exchanged uneasy glances and spoke to one another in tense whispers. Of all the residents of the Third Palace, only Princess Mishuna seemed glad to hear that Chagum was alive.
Mishuna caught Shuga’s eye and grinned hugely. Shuga smiled back, encouraged by her show of goodwill. He still felt warm and as light as air.
“Silence,” the Mikado commanded.
The court nobles snapped their mouths shut.
“This is recent news that came in on the fastest horse available,” the Mikado said. “ Much about the situation is still unclear. Refrain from sharing this information and speculating until more reports come in. Karyou.”
Karyou looked up, startled.
The Mikado looked Karyou in the eyes and said, “ Ride out to the western gate and report back on all who approach. We need to be sure that this new report is not some kind of trick by the enemy.”
“At once, Your Imperial Majesty.” Karyou bowed his head, then left the banquet hall.
The Mikado faced his chamberlain. “ If Chagum truly is alive and has returned, he must be welcomed. Go to greet him and verify that he is who he says he is. Go and make preparations to receive him now.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” Karyou bowed his head.
The Mikado shifted his gaze from Karyou to his chamberlain. “ If it is true that Chagum has indeed returned to us, preparations must be made here as well. See to it.”
Shuga caught Karyou’s eye while the Mikado was speaking. There was pain in Karyou’ s eyes, poorly concealed. They were now in a very complicated position. Chagum’ s reappearance now changed everything. Karyou had good reason to believe that Shuga would back Chagum and recuse himself from their previous plans. He might even report Karyou’ s activities to the Mikado.
Shuga guessed that Karyou’s main objective now would be to keep Shuga from leaking information and plans to anyone else.
Shuga would support Chagum, of course, but he had no intention of revealing Karyou’s plans to anyone. Why would he? He hadn’ t told anyone else so far. He looked from Karyou to the Mikado.
Ordinarily, a father would rejoice at hearing their child was back from the dead and returning home, but there was no joy on the Mikado’ s face, only a cold, indifferent mask. Shuga kept his eyes cast down and took only surreptitious glances, but inside, he was seething.
Shuga and Karyou had lost their chance to assassinate the Mikado. Chagum’s return meant that the Mikado wouldn’ t go into seclusion with the Holy Sage after the banquet.
If only he’d arrived just a little later...
If would have been better for Chagum to return to court after the Mikado was dead. Shuga had no idea how the Mikado intended to treat Chagum now that he was here. And Chagum had suffered two unsuccessful assassination attempts, both ordered by his father.
Shuga was nervous about how it would all unfold. He started at the ground near the Mikado’s feet with the nobles whispering all around him and worried.
The people of Kosenkyo thought they were walking in a dream when sunset came.
The failing light made the shiny roof tiles in the capital shine a bright gold. Yogoese soldiers in brightly polished armor rode beside the dirty and blood-spattered soldiers of foreign armies from Kanbal and Rota. They marched down First Street, which led directly from Yazuno Fortress to the Imperial Palace.
Toya was outside his Anything Store when the armies started passing by. He called out, “Oi! Saya! You have to come see this!”
Hearing her husband calling, Saya poked her head outside the door. Their young son hung from a sling on her back, sound asleep. Saya shifted him a little and pointed. “ Look at all those brave warriors! How fine they look!”
A cheer went up somewhere along the line that was repeated through the crowd. “It’s Rota’s spearmen! They ’re coming through! The Rotan army has come to save us!” The cheer was started by Rotan citizens who had been trapped in New Yogo since the borders had closed.
The Yogoese people observing the armies were stunned by how many men rode through the city. The street became crowded as Yogoese, Kanbalese and Rotan people pressed together to watch the armies pass through. Many of the people gathered there had been making preparations to flee their homes in case the capital was invaded and burned by the Talsh, but now, a huge new army had come to defend them. It seemed like a miracle.
People cheered with relieved tears streaming down their faces. The armies kept riding toward the Upper Fan and the Imperial Palace on First Street until they were lost from view.
The Imperial Palace was surrounded by a high white plaster wall that looked burnished in the light of the setting sun. The wall separated the Upper Fan from the Imperial Palace Complex. The only access point between the two was the large South Gate. A wide moat had been dug in front of the wall recently to make passage more difficult.
The combined Kanbalese and Rotan army rode up to the South Gate. They had been through many battles and suffered casualties, but roughly seventeen thousand men were still well and strong enough to fight.
The bridge over the moat was down and the South Gate was open, allowing the combined army to pass into the Imperial Palace Complex on a smooth path of crushed white stone. The imperial family was near the gate, with courtiers and lesser nobles lined up behind them.
The nobles all stiffened in shock when they saw Chagum. He was almost unrecognizable. When he’ d left the Imperial Palace last time, he had still looked like a boy and had comported himself with the grace and purity expected of a future Mikado.
Chagum now was entirely different. He stopped his horse in front of the gate, wearing a full suit of Kanbalese armor. Something about his aura was threatening, like he’ d killed people before, and there was a hard glint in his eyes.
Chagum settled his helmet at his side, steering his horse one-handed. There was a long scar extending from below his right eye all the way down his cheek. A bloody bandage was wrapped around his neck and shoulder.
As Chagum passed through the gate, his Rotan and Kanbalese guards dismounted. A young man rushed forward to help Chagum off his horse. The guards seemed concerned about Chagum ’s injuries, but he paid them no mind. He stood on the crushed stone of the path and looked around.
“Chagum...” The Second Queen called out to him from the crowd. She’ d come back from the mountain villa the moment she’d heard that Chagum had returned.
Chagum’s detached expression completely changed when he saw the Second Queen. “Mother...”
He walked closer to the place where his mother was sitting. He knelt down in front of her and took her hand. “I’ ve finally come back,” he said. “I must have worried you terribly. Please forgive me.”
The Second Queen wept openly, gripping her son’ s hands tightly and nodding over and over again. Her hands were shaking. Chagum squeezed her hands and tried to comfort her.
The Second Queen composed herself and stopped trembling. She smiled. Chagum stood up, letting her hands go.
Princess Mishuna was standing in front of him, grinning from ear to ear. One by one, the nobles of the imperial court approached to greet him. The chamberlain rushed up, cheeks red from running, accompanied by a young man that Chagum recognized as his body servant, Ruin.
The last one to greet Chagum was Shuga. He forgot to avert his eyes and started avidly at Chagum, who he hadn’t seen in so many years.
Chagum was sunburned. The uneven scar on his face shone in the sunlight. He appeared to be much older than his seventeen years. The long journey and battles had hardened the boy he used to be.
“I came back alive,” Chagum said with a bright smile.
Shuga swallowed heavily and fought back tears. He wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.
Chagum had returned.
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