The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

by the likes of you. It'd be like a slap in the face."
    Suzu's couldn't hold back her smothered sobs and Riyou raised her eyebrows. Having forced her victim to yield, her interest faded. "You may leave," she said dismissively. "I don't want to look at your wretched face. Get out of my sight."

    Suzu ran to the garden, to the twisted old pine tree in the heart of the garden where no one could see her. She clung to the trunk of the tree and wept.
    Yamato, the country she so longed for.
    "What happened to you, Mokurin? Did the mistress say something to you?"
    The old man hurried over to her. Suzu could only shake her head. It was just Riyou being her normal self. She lived to ride Suzu like that. Did she find Suzu so detestable? She couldn't imagine what it was about her that made her so hateful.
    "I don't know what she said, but you mustn't take it to heart. Serving the mistress requires a lot of patience."
    "I know that."
    Even knowing that, it didn't mean being ridiculed by others didn't hurt.
    "Then why . . . ?"
    Suzu collapsed to the ground in tears. Behind her, the old man sighed. "The Royal Kei," Suzu said between sobs. The Royal Kei was from Yamato. If she was, then from where? What had become of her home country? "Um . . . " she said, raising her tear-streaked face. When the flustered old man turned around, she asked, "The Royal Kei, where does she live?"
    "She lives in the Kingdom of Kei, of course. In the royal palace."
    "Oh."
    A girl who had come from Yamato just like she had. Like her, she had probably been washed onto the shores of Kei. And she became a king. In this world, with their respective stations in life, their paths should never cross.
    I want to meet her. Perhaps even find out what kind of person she is.
    Another woman like her should have some sympathy for her plight. She would understand what it was like to be separated from her homeland, the distress of being swept into this strange land, the pain of understanding nothing, the torment of her situation.
    "Do you think the Royal Kei will ever come to Sai?"
    The old man shook his head. "Can't see why she would. A king coming to visit from somewhere else, it hardly ever happens."
    "I see."
    I want to meet her, Suzu again whispered inside her heart. How could she ever make it happen? As far as going to Kei and finding her there, what were the chances? How would she get to Kei? If she asked Riyou, the woman would just laugh at her. If she asked for the time to journey there, without giving a reason why, it was hardly likely that Riyou would ever let her go. Simply imagining Riyou's abuse and ridicule made Suzu tremble.
    I want to see her, but have no way to go to see her.
    What kind of woman was she? If she was good enough to sit upon the throne, she should be a person of great charity, not a cruel witch like Riyou. There were so many things she wanted to ask. More than that, so many things she wanted to plead for.
    Come. Suzu looked up at the eastern sky. Please come, come to Sai. Come to Sai and rescue me.

Chapter 10
    T he wind blew across the white hill, scattering the fallen snow like a blanket of cherry blossoms.
    Shoukei rested her hands from pulling the sleigh and stretched her back. In the distance she could see the walls of Shindou. At last she was drawing near to the town. The town itself looked like it was buried in snow. The dusk was falling, Shoukei's breath blossomed white against the hazy darkness filling the landscape. Winters in the northern kingdoms were severe, especially the winters in Hou, where the snowfall was considerable. More than the cold, it was simply getting around that was so difficult. The roads were buried in snow, the cities shut off and isolated.
    Everyone practically holding their breath and waiting for the thaw.
    Because nothing could be moved during the winter, the smaller shops had to close their doors. When inventories ran low, only those establishments with horse-drawn sleighs could be depended upon. And if you didn't have the patience to wait for the next sleigh to arrive, your only other choice was to wade through the waist-high snow to the next town.
    Which is what Shoukei was doing now.
    She drew back her shoulders and took a breath. She picked up the rope and draped it over her shoulders. She had to get to the town before the gates closed. Get shut out of the town in this weather and she would surely freeze to death.
    The grade of the road was indistinguishable from the white, rolling hills of