Chapter 12

Shuurei tilted her head back against the side of the bath and sighed contentedly. Seiran would assist her. Definitely, he'd help her.

Yet, forty five minutes later, she was starting to worry.

"Seiran?"

The water was cooling; no one had even peeked their heads inside since she'd arrived.

While she'd requested absolute privacy, she'd been assuming that Seiran would be arriving back right away with her change of clothes after delivering her message to Kijin.

Of course she hadn't brought a change of clothes with her.

Some distance away she heard a soft clicking, and what may have been footsteps approaching.

A teeny chill swept through the room.

"Seiran?..."

It wasn't.

From behind his desk, Ryuuki listened impassively as Minister Kou relayed the progress that had been made on his audit.

"And so, we expect to have the results within the next week, and will have the full report ready within a fortnight."

The Emperor nodded and brought his hands together.

"We expected nothing less. Your diligence in ferreting out the cause of this matter is appreciated."

It was Kijin's turn to nod, and he bowed in deference.

When the tall advisor straightened, he tucked his hands in his billowing sleeves.

"We received the voluntary assistance of a former employee, in order to facilitate the investigation. His services and abilities loaned much to our inquiry. At the time of our full report, we will also propose the permanent hiring of this individual. His contributions and experience would greatly benefit the department of Finance, Your Highness. I have been very personally impressed with them."

Ryuuki's hands stilled.

He watched the councilor across from him carefully.

Such a proposal would obviously require imperial authorization; especially a hiring request for a department exiting such an intensive internal review. Moreso, both men were clear on this requirement, along with the fact that both already knew who this person truly was. Not to mention both already suspected the motivations and intentions of the other in relation to the mystery assistant.

There was only one reason Kijin would have brought it up in advance: He was staking a claim.

Ryuuki felt his chest tighten.

… and his sleeves slipped over his hands, which curled into tight, hard, white-knuckled fists.

He was ready to kick himself.

Seiran strode purposefully through the palace, slipping, whenever possible, innocuously through the hidden passageways and shortcuts he remembered exploring as a young child in order to locate the man he sought.

No one could have predicted it would be this difficult to avoid the servant staff and their gossip. Apparently there had been much talk through the night of the Emperor and Consort's recent activities, and as one of their closest associates—one privy to the goings-on of the most recent intervention—he was a prime target for their interrogations.

Really, the Uringun could stop headhunting mercenaries to handle interrogations and instead hire internally from the palace staff. It was obviously some kind of secret training they all underwent prior to taking their employment there.

Speaking of—

There!

Seiran caught sight of his quarry and slowed to a more relaxed pace.

"Minister Kou," he called out. "I have a message from—."

He jolted to a stop as he realized his brother was alongside the advisor.

But both men had already paused and turned to look at him.

Forget kicking, Seiran was ready to curse himself.

Kijin waited for the imperial guard to speak.

It appeared he was hesitant, though.

"Yes?" he prompted.

Seiran glanced towards and then bowed more formally towards the Emperor.

"I apologise, I hadn't realized you were already engaged in conversation. I will leave a message with your department. Please excuse me."

"You will continue," commanded the Emperor.

A quick glance in Kijin's direction again—who nodded—assured Seiran he would be avoiding food for the remainder of the day, his stomach was so tightly wound in knots.

"Of course."

He straightened and addressed (mostly) Kijin.

"Sir, I was asked to relay a message that your assistant, Shou, would be absent for the morning. He apologises for the delay in notifying you of this. He is unwell, but will return for the afternoon."

"Thank you," began Kijin, but was interrupted by the flurry of purple robes that shot past him.

"Your Highness—!"

"Dismissed. Excuse Us!"

The remaining pair watched him go, wordlessly.

As their esteemed leader nearly tipped over as he turned a corner too quickly, Seiran grimaced.

It took a moment before he realized Kijin was still at his side.

The masked man turned to face him again, and in a monotone, requested, "Could you please deliver my reply to Shou?"

Feeling even more trouble brewing, Seiran could only nod.

"Seiran?" Shuurei called again, more hesitantly, as she scanned the bathing chamber. Normally Seiran would knock and ensure it was safe to enter before daring to intrude.

Fabric rustled from behind the screen blocking the doorway, and Shuurei's eyes widened.

"Whoever you are, I demand you exit immediately upon order of the Imperial Consort!" she shouted, and prayed Shusui or Kourin heard her.

"Shuurei?"

"Your Highness!" Colour flooded Shuurei's cheeks as she ducked down in the water and turned her back towards the door.

"What are you doing here? It's mid-morning, did your meetings finish early?"

Shuurei glanced over her shoulder, and saw the Emperor's outline through the translucent paper screen, the hat with its dangling ornaments, his slumped shoulders, his hand reaching towards the screen, his fingers clearly outlined in shadow.

His head bowed forward and his voice was sad when he spoke.

"Is there something Shuurei is hiding from Us?"

Her throat went dry and Shuurei struggled to swallow her anxiety.

He knew?

"Does Shuurei need help? Is Shuurei in trouble? What happened that Shuurei is hiding secrets from Us? What can… he… do that We, the Emperor of all Saiunkoku, cannot?"

"I think this isn't the best time for conversation, your Highness," said Shuurei through her teeth. She sank lower in the water, and the chill sank into her skin. "Could I please have some privacy to complete my bath?"

"Do you need help?"

"No! I need my towel and my robe—which Kourin or Shusui can provide me!" she added before he could interject.

"They are occupied."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did You do?"

"Er… nothing. Permanent," he added, his shoulders hunching. "We can massage your shoulders."
"No, thank you."

"Wash your hair?"

"No, thank you."

"Scrub your back?"

"Your Highness—"

"They're assisting with other matters," he said. Re-organizing Shuurei's hair ornaments and re-polishing her silver, to be exact, but she didn't need to know that at that exact moment.

Shuurei splashed in the bath in irritation. "I need to finish my bath and get ready!"

"Ready for what?" he asked, head perking up.

"Ah ha ha ha… My afternoon duties," Shuurei said, thinking quickly, but frustration edged her voice.

"Your afternoon duties are attending Us in Court and through the Palace."

"No, I have plans—that is, I… already had planned out my afternoon. Perhaps tomorrow?"

"We'll see you dressed in your formal robes as soon as you are ready. You will attend Us this afternoon, and every day until We decide otherwise. When you are ready to tell Us why you are keeping secrets from Us, We can discuss whatever you'd like."

Ryuuki spun on his heels and left, while Shuurei fumed and bit her cheek to keep from screaming.

Damnit, what had gotten into him? Furthermore, now how was she supposed to get to work?

… and where was Seiran? Now she had another message for him to deliver.

Shuurei's face fell into her hands with a light splash.

How was she going to make this all work?

AN: Slowly but surely, I will try and get to the end of this story! I sincerely apologize for the delays.

This chapter posted January 26, 2014.