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A beautiful, silent morning greeted the first waft of winter for Lajandra. It was closed day for the market, so the country�s capital, Sairan, was at relative peace, without the sounds of haggling women and angry men. A gentle breeze blew through the land, with just a touch of the bitter cold, which was to come, and the long blades of grass swayed to its music. Children, in ragged clothes, ran quite happily through the streets of the capital, making the usually impatient adults smile. Things were at general peace.
�KOJISHI! What on EARTH do you THINK you�re DOING?� Well, most things anyway� The voice of her Highness, Queen of Lajandra echoed through the royal palace. The serving women looked up and then looked down, hiding their amused smiles. The guardsmen guffawed in delight, and the sons of the oldest, most wrinkled gardener all tried to peer in through the window to the Princess�s room, which was, fortunately, far too high for this misconduct. Kojishi, princess of Lajandra, only daughter of the King, stood in the middle of her own room, trying to look ashamed of herself, and failing miserably. Her mother was glaring at her murderously, enraged by the utterly �atrocious� and �delinquent� behaviour of her only daughter, and oldest child. �I thought I had disposed of that repulsive� that horrible� that thing!� shrieked her royal highness, pointing at the grubby brown garb that the sixteen-year-old Kojishi was currently wearing. �You were planning to go out again, weren�t you? You insolent� you� and what are YOU laughing at??� she demanded, turning furiously on the snickering boy who was not even trying to suppress the fits of laughter that he was being overcome by. �Kin!! I am ashamed of you!!� A snort from Kojishi sent both royal children into fits of mirth, which neither could control. Queen Anactoria stood by the bed and glared at them both, failing to see what was so amusing. The Queen, still young, still beautiful, was an embodiment of good conduct and proper behaviour. She failed to see eye to eye with Kojishi on many matters on account of this. Kojishi, the wild one, who loved to roam the land she was born in. The girl had an uncontrollable, inexplicable sense of adventure and was fiercely independent. Needless to say, she didn�t quite fit into the role of the polite, ladylike princess her mother had set for her. Kin did. Twins though they were, the two children could not have differed more. Kin was a gentleman. At sixteen, he was polished, refined, and everything that Kojishi was expected to be. Their parents did not like this too much either. Kin was a boy. He was almost a man. He was meant to run around, go adventuring over the country looking for lost treasure and what not. Arguments, consequentially, were a rather frequent occurrence in the royal household. The Queen, frustrated with the rather innovative manner in which her children had grown up, tried time and time again to �fix� them and find out �what had gone wrong�. She had failed miserably each time. �I do not understand you, Kojishi,� began her mother, but Kojishi shook her head and her long black hair swayed, glinting in the light of the sun that came in through the window. �I know, Mother,� she said, without the slightest trace of anger in her voice. �You never have. I do not understand you either.� �Why can�t you just be a normal girl�?� �But this IS what normal girls do!� said Kojishi, emphatically. �They run, they dance, they go out� don�t do any of those things!� �You�re a princess!� said her mother, aghast. �So?� �Princesses,� said her mother, in a restrained voice, �do not run or dance or go out looking like that!� �If they went out looking like that, Mother,� said Kojishi, pointing at the adorned garb her mother was wearing, �it would unnerve the people!� �Then don�t go out!� declared her mother, exasperated. Kojishi looked scandalized. �But I hate being inside!!� �This is your home!! You belong here!!� �It�s a cage! I don�t belong in a cage, thank you very�� �You are not going out,� finished her mother, in a very final voice. �And that�s my last word.� A silence fell over the room hereafter, in which Kojishi glared at her mother, looking sullen and angry. Her brother, who had said nothing throughout the entire exchange, looked at her anxiously. The Queen, quite in her element of commanding and giving directions to people, spoke once more, her voice majestic. �Get rid of those rags. If I find them again, I will be very upset.� Kojishi said nothing, scowling as her mother swept out of the room. There was silence, in which Kin leaned back on his chair, and looked at his sister. The two looked very alike. Aside, of course, from the obvious fact that they were not of the same gender. They both had black hair which shone in the sun and swayed in the wind, never in place, large dark eyes which made them look younger than they were, and a slender, elegant build, which did nothing to diminish the clarity of how inappropriate both of them really were to rule the country. Kojishi was too wild, and Kin, too tamed. They were mismatched as siblings. But since neither had ever really cared, this was not a problem. �I HATE THIS PLACE!!!� yelled Kojishi suddenly, startling Kin out of his reverie. The princess stamped her feet and hit the bedpost, which made Kin smile. It was a very typically Kojishi thing to do. �She�s an oppressive, horrible, mean� DICTATOR!!� �Shhh!� said Kin, urgently, getting up, and looking out of the window. �She�ll hear you!� �Let her!� declared Kojishi, recklessly. Not having anything to do did not suit Kojishi. She was always looking for something to do. Her sense of wonder was a magnanimous gift, but it caused a great deal of boredom at times. Sitting with the ladies of the palace and weaving held no excitement and consequentially, Kojishi never did it. She was impatient with women who were content with living life in the house, never even wondering what lay outside. She was impatient in general. She looked outside, and her heart immediately longed to be there, amongst the pink and white flowers that grew in plenty in the green grass, beyond which lay a series of never ending tall peaks, above which was Kojishi�s favorite part of nature, the Sky. Every oh-so-often, Kojishi would sigh and say, �Oh I wish I could fly�� At times like these, Kin was the only one who would nod along and understand what she was talking about. No one else understood. No one else thought this was a very relevant issue, or one that a lady of the palace should be thinking about. But the lady of the palace in question was bored, and boredom was unbecoming to the princess. �I don�t care what she says,� said Kojishi, presently, in a calmer voice. Kin, however, looked alarm. �Koji, don�t�� he began, but his sister was already closing the windows to her room. �I don�t care, Kin!� she said, emphasizing on how much she cared by slamming a window shut. �She can�t control me! It�s�� �Not fair,� finished her brother for her. �I know! But you will get into so much trouble if she finds�� �Well, she won�t,� said Kojishi, in a decided tone. �What if she does?� said Kin, in a voice only an ounce louder than his normal, calm voice. The young prince never raised his voice. He was not accustomed to it. It was hard to imagine him raising his voice and commanding an entire country once his father passed away. After all, being the oldest, and only, son, made him the heir to the throne. The thought of him shouting commands made Kojishi giggle and him feel really embarrassed. So no one mentioned it too often. �She will not,� said Kojishi, and opening the door, yelled, �YUME!!� From somewhere in the palace came an answer, �Yes miss! I am coming!� Kojishi smiled in satisfaction, while Kin rolled his eyes and shook his head. Yume was not much older than Kojishi, and had been working for her since she was a baby. She was more than just her serving woman. A soft-spoken, dutiful girl, loyal to her mistress whose beauty, wits and guts she admired thoroughly, Yume was every princess�s dream. She had vowed to stand by her princess, and nothing, not even death, would shake her from that vow. And since her vows were to the princess and not to her mother, a concept that Kojishi had explained to the young woman very carefully, she was not obliged to be perfectly honest to the Queen about all things. Kin had such a serving man too� only he was a little shady and usually very drunk. Kin did not care too much. It meant more freedom for him, and freedom, despite his rather quiet nature, was something Kin valued. There was a knock on the door and a moment later, Yume walked in. Her expression changed from one of polite inquiry, to one of mock surprise. �Princess Kojishi!!� she said, dramatically. �Oh madam!! What would the queen say?� �Nothing,� replied Kojishi, smirking, �because the queen won�t know.� Yume smiled and nodded. �You are tired, yes? I will tuck you in and tell the Queen you have retired.� The serving woman proceeded to put pillows into Kojishi�s bed and cover them up. Kojishi looked at her proudly. �You make me proud Yume.� Kin snorted. �If either of you gets caught, you shall be � sorry,� he finished, a little lamely. The princess grinned, her mood back to normal. She didn�t care what her mother said about going out being unladylike. She really didn�t care. All she wanted was to be outside. To be among those free butterflies that flew over the pink and white blossoms, swaying in the gentle breeze under the warm sun. That was all she wanted. Freedom, to Kojishi, was a delectable prospect, and the ultimate gift of life. Man was born free like all the other animals. Man was a part of nature. Then why should he be cooped up inside a palace with all the material luxuries life had to offer, when true happiness lay outside in the simplicity of real life? And true happiness was every being�s destiny, according to Kojishi. If, at the end of your time on earth, you were happy, then that was all that mattered. Yume smiled and sighed. There was no stopping Princess Kojishi once she decided to do something. �Do you promise to come back soon?� she asked. �Of course I do!� said Kojishi, in an almost convincing manner. This was a game they played. Having played it quite so well so many times, they had nearly perfected it. Yume looked at her for a moment. �Okay, go on. Be back soon.� Kojishi hugged the older woman impulsively. �Thank you!� Turning to her brother, she said, �Coming?� Kin shook his head. �No, I don�t think I will, thank you,� he said, politely. There was nothing impolite or impulsive in Kin. Everything was premeditated. Otherwise life threw surprises at him, which he was not too fond of. Plus, as he always said, while trying to justify the way he was to his ever-questioning father and mother, there was no harm in being polite. No one ever told Kin that being impolite and a little arrogant was expected of him. He was to be king someday, after all. Evidently, being a proud, self-consumed pig was mandatory in the royal line of work. Everyone was under the impression that the best kings were the ones who were idiots in their adolescent years, and redeemed fools later in life. Like Kin�s father. Kojishi was perhaps the only one who believed Kin would be a good King. It was commonplace, therefore, to find her defending her brother in loud, obnoxious tones, against all those who dared contradict the firm faith she had in him. �I�ll just go for a� ride,� said Kin, after a moment. �Without the horse, little brother?� asked Kojishi, slyly, while Yume hid a smile. Kin went red. Constant badgering made him a little embarrassed about his fondness for walks. It was an �utterly effeminate� thing to do, in the words of his mother. Kojishi laughed kindly, and ruffled his hair. She was older than his, after all, even if it was just by a couple of minutes. �I will see you then,� she said. The window that opened outwards, towards the gardens, was flung upon. Outside was a tree, which had assisted Kojishi on many previous endeavours of this kind. It stood strong and still, quite ready to do what was asked of it. Not, of course, that it had a choice. Kojishi was out of the window and down in the gardens in a moment, smiling at the amused sons of the wrinkled gardener. She waved and then ducked out of the way suddenly, as though she had just seen someone who would not be too much in favor of her little escapade. Kin shook his head and nodding at Yume, walked out of the room for his �ride�. Yume simply smiled for a moment, and then proceeded to clean up the princess�s room. Which was, naturally, an epic venture. Once she was outside the palace, which didn�t take long for she was unrecognized in her common clothes (and those who recognized her had been sweet talked or bribed into keeping shut), Kojishi breathed freely. Winter was on its way, she realised as the sun�s rays warmed her skin. Even through the warmth, Kojishi could sense the cold. Another few weeks and the place would be covered with snow, she realised, as a vision of the village covered with a blanket of soft white snow came floating into her mind. Kojishi smiled at the shopkeepers brightly for no reason in particular. Her mother and tutors had taught her that a smile brightens up someone�s day, a concept the salespeople were not familiar with. She smiled happily and skipped down the market place, ignoring the looks of utter bafflement the shopkeepers shot at her. No one in the village was as happy as she was just to be in the village and seeing someone in such good spirits was, needless to say, a little surprising, but it also did them all a whole lot of good. Kojishi�s smile was infectious and bright, and it seemed as though there was a ray of light and hope shining upon the streets she bounced through. She stopped beside a shop, catching sight of some very fresh and very soft looking bread. She was hungry. It was nearly lunchtime after all and the bread looked very inviting. She fumbled about her pockets and brought out a gold coin. Would this be enough, she wondered quietly, not noticing the several pairs of very large eyes staring at her in surprise. �Could I please have a loaf of bread, kind sir?� she asked the owner of the stall, who looked at her as though she was crazy. �Um� yes,� he said, handing her a loaf of bread. Unaware of his dirty hands, Kojishi handed him the gold coin, at which he stared in even more surprise. �Um� madam?� he said, at a loss. The people of Lajandra were a little scruffy, and enjoyed noise and fighting, but they were very honest folk. A loaf of bread was the cheapest thing available in the market, and the gold coin was enough to buy his entire shop. While he tried to explain to Kojishi exactly why he couldn�t take the coin, and Kojishi insisted he did, and that it didn�t matter, two deep blue eyes watched them from the end of the street. The loaf of bread in Kojishi�s hand was being held very daintily, and she was so engrossed in her little argument, that she wouldn�t even notice if someone just snatched it out of her hand. Or so the skinny, blue-eyed pickpocket reckoned. And thus, a moment later, Kojishi shrieked loudly, and the shopkeeper stared at her, now completely sure that she was nuts. She turned around to see a skinny body disappearing through the crowds. A thief! Well, Kojishi was a princess and she was NOT going to stand for this. She ran after him, leaving the shopkeeper behind in a state of moral dilemma. Ignoring the cries of protest from the crowd, Kojishi pushed through. She was a princess, given, but she was a very active princess with nothing to do most of the time. She ran every now and then, all around the palace, ignoring her mother�s shouts. Yume would be sent after her to catch her and bring her back, and the country girl had failed to do this � mostly because she never really wanted to. Kojishi had a natural inclination towards any physical activity, and presently, she ran much faster than anyone would have expected a young girl, let alone a young princess to. As she turned around the corner, she saw him. A skinny little boy with a mass of dark brown hair, which fell over deep blue eyes, wearing a raggedy shirt and very loose pants which looked as though they were twenty years older than him. He stood there, panting, clutching the loaf of bread in his hand. Had Kojishi been a little more patient, and a little less impulsive, she would have crept up from behind him, and caught him. Instead, being who she was, she shouted, �YOU!!� The thief looked up, winced, and turning, sped off at a great pace. Kojishi took off after him. He kept turning back to see if he had lost her, and every time, he was surprised. No one had ever chased him for this long, and definitely no woman. All the women from whom he had stolen something or the other had merely stood there and shouted, �Help!!� � a practice our little thief found highly amusing. Kojishi surprised him. As he pulled himself onto a balcony of a house, he grinned. She�d never follow him here! But she did. Pulling herself onto the balcony, she smirked and ran after him, through the house, the occupants of which were tremendously shocked. �Sorry!!� she called out, as the oldest daughter fainted. The thief led her through a number of obstacles that she crossed only because of this urge in her to do something different. Had it been another normal afternoon, and had she been running around with Yume after her, Kojishi would never have managed to jump a height of ten feet into a mud puddle below, or run through a filthy street with a smell that reminded her strongly of the time the royal cat had killed the not-so-royal rat in a rather imperceptible corner of her room. But she did, and though admitting it was not something she would ever do, she rather enjoyed the whole chase. It left her energized. But as she turned around a corner, she stopped. Where was he? The entire street was deserted, except for a brown dog, which lay on the side giving her a look of unadulterated boredom. She sighed. �Oh� dear!� she muttered under her breath, wishing she had it in her to use something a little more emphatic than �dear�. This was most inconvenient and terribly irritating. She sighed and began to walk through the street, wondering exactly where she was. She stopped again, and groaned. She didn�t know where she was. And even if she did, she didn�t know the town well enough to tell how to get back home. Not for the first time, she cursed her position. What good was it to be a princess and not even know what her own town was like? Despondently, she began to move towards the end of the street, where she could see a donkey being loaded with large sacks of some crop. She shook her head, and sighed, dejected. �Oooh!! Niichan! Thank you!!� Kojishi paused. �Eat slowly Hana. You�ll choke.� Frowning, she peeped into the narrow lane that joined the large street she was on to find a young girl gobbling a loaf of bread, and her elder brother, the thief Kojishi had chased through the town, telling her not to. As he had predicted, she choked and coughed. He patted her on her back, saying �Told you, didn�t I?� All anger she might have felt towards the thief left Kojishi. The scene in front of her was so innocent, so pure, that she hadn�t the heart to walk in and demand her bread. The boy looked up at her, and got up with a start. She shook her head. �No! Don�t run!! I�m not going to do anything.� The boy paused. �Really?� �Really,� affirmed Kojishi. For a moment they both just looked at each other. �Alright,� he said, finally, taken aback to some extent by this most unconventional form of behaviour on the young woman�s part. He opened his mouth, as though trying think of something to say, and then shut it, having failed in that enterprise. Kojishi grinned. �Do you want some soup to go with the bread?� she asked, making the boy stare at her in a way similar to the shopkeeper�s. �What?� he asked, though his sister jumped up, really happy. �Soup! Thank you Neesan!� And she hugged Kojishi�s legs, for that was all she could reach. Kojishi laughed and ruffled her dark brown hair. *** An hour later found all three of them, bursting of soup and bread in the fields a little outside the town. Technically, they weren�t supposed to be here, as Kazu had pointed out. But then again, Kojishi had mysteriously declared that this wouldn�t be the first thing she wasn�t technically meant to be doing, and that it was quite alright. Well, actually it was not. But no one cared. They spent a highly unproductive afternoon. Under the sun, there was no one doing so little and getting so much satisfaction out of it as these three. They sat around and watched the clouds go by. As seven-year-old Hana chased the squirrels and the butterflies, her elder brother, Kazu, climbed the trees and swung in the big strong branches, throwing down the juicy fruit the trees offered for Kojishi and Hana to eat. They laughed and joked about the most pointless of things. They sang songs of ages old, and danced to tunes Kazu conjured up using his old battered flute. His music was very soft, and very melodious. He loved the art, though unlike the princess, he had received no formal training. To Kojishi, his music far sweeter and beautiful than all those songs her instructors had taught her. Kazu liked her. He wasn�t the kind of person who�d like too many people, but Kojishi had impressed him. She was like a lioness. A very beautiful lioness that did what she pleased, when she wanted to. The way she had chased him through town, according to him, was �beautiful!� Kojishi let her hair down, the way she liked to. The fields were a place where anyone could do anything. It was freedom in its purest form. Her ribbons fluttered and flew away, and she didn�t care. Presently, all that mattered was the cool breeze flowing through her hair, caressing her cheeks gently. Hana was completely fascinated by her natural beauty, and within an hour declared that she was going to be �just like Kojishi-neesan!!� The children were both very fascinating to Kojishi. All children were, in fact. She loved children, even the dirty, grubby ones. She saw a strange innocence in them that fascinated her. Living in the palace allowed very little time for innocence. If you were a princess, you were supposed be mature and ladylike from the time you could talk. It was nauseating, and Kojishi hated it. On these occasional breaks she took, she sat down and observed the children, trying to see what they had that she had missed. Both these children were, for her, the most enchanting people in the world. Hana was so innocent, and so wild. Like a flower growing in the Sun. Kazu was the protector. The thorn standing beside his little flower, ready to defend her from all harm that may come her way. He was fourteen, just two years younger than he princess, though his short, skinny body made him look like he was a lot younger. The look in his eyes, on the other hand, was that of a man. It was strange, Kojishi realised, strange and cruel, how the world didn�t allow anyone to be a child anymore. She glanced at the dancing Hana and grinned. Or maybe I�m just being a drama queen. In less than a day, Kojishi became very fond of Kazu and Hana, particularly Hana, who, in her mind, represented what Kojishi would have liked to be when she was growing up. The children both took to Kojishi, and as they danced, sang, and played in the fields of Kounan, they all lost track of time. Suddenly, Kazu looked at the setting Sun and jumped down from the old oak. �We�d better be going,� he said. �Our father will be very angry if we are not home before dark.� Hana winced and ran to her brother, while Kojishi stared at him. Dark. Now that rang a bell. Staring in dismay at the eerie grey of dusk, which was spreading rapidly, Kojishi leapt down from her position in the tree like a graceful deer. �I am�� she began, worriedly, and then stopped. She was not in trouble. Yume would see to that, Yume had been known to stand up to the Queen when she had wished to converse with Kojishi and Kojishi was �sleeping.� Yume, Kojishi had concluded, was awesome. �You should leave. So should I, but it is less likely that I shall get into trouble than you.� �Reeeeeeally?� asked Hana, completely fascinated. �Oh, I wish we could be like that. I wish that I could be as pretty as you. You�re like a PRINCESS!� And she flung her arms around Kojishi�s legs, as Kojishi laughed in delight. Kazu shook his head and pulled his sister off Kojishi away. �Come on, you little idiot. Father�s going to kill us.� �I should hope not�!� Kojishi began, tying her hair up with a stray piece of ribbon floating about among the tall grasses, looking rather appalled, but Kazu shook his head to put her at ease. Of course he wasn�t going to kill them. �Goodbye Koji!� he grinned, saluting her. �See you sometime!� Kojishi smirked. �Bet on it!� she said, and then laughed as Kazu, taking Hana�s hand, started running towards the setting Sun; Hana�s high-pitched voice cutting through the air. �GOOD BYE KOJISHI NEEEEEEEEEE-SAAAAAAAAAAAN!!� Kojishi chuckled, and shook her head, walking out of the fields in a leisurely manner. But Hana�s scream had disturbed the owner of the field from his evening meal, and he came out, fat and balding, yelling atrocities and expletives that no reader would really want to hear. The long and short of it was that Kojishi let out a frightened sound, which sounded somewhat like �ACK!� and proceeded to race out of the fields. She ran like she had never run before, not because she was afraid � really, being a princess usually grants you freedom from such feelings � but because she loved to run. To feel the wind against her face, the sharp pull in her side � these were things that made her feel alive. Once she reached the ends of the fields, though, she stopped, panting. And then she laughed, in a generally delighted sort of a mood. The day had been amazing. She had only meant to go down to the fields and have a bit of fun by herself. She hadn�t anticipated this kind of fun. She didn�t realise how much enjoyment chasing butterflies could be. She grinned at the memory of Hana falling flat on her face into the mud, the butterfly way out of her reach. It had been worth it, she realised as she ran through flowers. Even if she got caught, which seemed very likely at the moment, she had enjoyed herself thoroughly. The lamps had been lit in the city streets and every corner was now full of light. It was a beautiful sight, and she had the time to enjoy it. Rather unconcerned about the trouble she could get into � trouble she would get into � Kojishi sauntered through the streets, feeling like one of the people. Like she belonged here. Which, yes, she didn�t. But that feeling was stronger here than in the palace. It was impossible to relate with people in the palace. It was also impossible to relate with people here � she didn�t know anyone. But at least here she could mingle and hide. Here, she didn�t stand out� �THERE SHE IS!� Kojishi looked up, alarmed. And before she could really have the time to register where who was, she was standing face to face with a big black horse and a big black solider on top of it. Kojishi tried to pretend she wasn�t truly there, and failed miserably. �Princess,� said the soldier, in his solid, deep voice. �You must come home.� Kojishi raised a critical eyebrow. �Why?� she asked, obnoxiously, conscious of all eyes in the crowd on her, and of a few people even pointing fingers. The soldier seemed baffled. Kojishi shook her head, acknowledging, resignedly, that the endeavor to hold a conversation � meaningful or not � with a soldier, unless it was about how to throw a decent punch. And Kojishi already knew that. �Never mind,� she said, dejectedly, and mounted the horse that was given to her. What a perfect end to a perfect day. Kojishi sighed, and was about to kick her mount into a fast gallop, when another voice stopped her. �Princess!!� Kojishi looked up and found the shopkeeper who had sold her the bread running to her, with a bag full of more bread. �Princess!� he said, panting, and could say no more. Whether this was on account of awe for the princess, or exhaustion from running � he was a little on the heavier side � was debatable. The young girl, however, smiled, and nodded, and took the bag he offered to her. �Thank you,� she said, and this time no one looked at her like she was crazy. This, however, did nothing to improve Kojishi�s mood. This meant that people would now recognize her for the royal blood in her when she tried escaped the clutches of the same recognition in the palace. It was simply not fair. But Kojishi smiled, and waved, and then, kicking her horse, began to gallop away, riding, effectively, to her doom. *** Kojishi was expecting a scolding from her dear mother, a declaration that she was not to leave her room until she turned eighty-two, and perhaps an attempt to make her promise she would never the Palace leave again without her mother�s permission. She had been through it before. It was the same old procedure, and Kojishi was not very concerned about this. Her mother had spent sixteen years trying and failing to make her behave like a �proper lady�, and as far as Kojishi was concerned, she could have another go, and may the Gods be with her. What the princess was most definitely worried about was, however, her father. The look of sore disappointment on his face had worked far better than the angry shrieks of her mother. Kojishi would stay home for weeks, pining away for the outside because of that look. It was a tactic, of course, and the princess was well aware of this. But it was difficult to remember when the guilt, however reluctant, took over. Her mother just added to the already incensed fire inside Kojishi, and made her want to leave all the more. Her father, however, was a different story. Thus she took a moment right outside her father�s chambers, closing her eyes and telling herself that it would not work this time, no sir. She was free. It was her right to be able to roam in her own land like every other person living upon in. Her father was not going to make her feel guilty. No sir. This done, the princess opened the door and walked in, expecting a �What WERE you THINKING?� from her mother. All she heard, once she had shut the door, was, �Thank the Gods!� And her mother was hugging her. Not delicately embracing, but hugging. Tight, close, tearful hugging. �Ma?� said Kojishi, taken aback by this unnatural behaviour. And then, when the woman wouldn�t let go, she added, �Mother!� in a reprimanding sort of a voice. �Oh Kojishi!� said her mother, pulling away, all teary eyed. �What were you thinking?� This was not what Kojishi had expected in the least. Rather worried now, the princess led her mother to a chair, and made her sit. �What�s wrong?� she asked, thoroughly thrown off her fiercely independent stand. Her mother swallowed, and shook her head, wiping away the single tear that had managed to roll down her cheek. Kojishi was alarmed. The Queen never cried. Whatever could have happened? There was a knock on the door, and it opened to let in Kin, who was looking somewhat baffled, and a middle-aged man � Kojishi�s father, the King. Kojishi looked up and her mother abruptly stopped behaving in that �most inappropriate manner� as she would have called it. �Arthur,� she acknowledged, and the King nodded. He was a tall, strong man with a very determined looking face. The eyes set in this face, however, were kind and gentle, exactly like Kin�s eyes. Kojishi had often wanted to point out that Kin and her father were very definitely alike, but no one believed it. Arthur looked strong and capable. Kin looked young and gentlemanly. But their spirit was much the same. No one was willing to believe this, though. Everyone seemed to be comfortable believing that their country was destined for doom once Kin came to the throne. Idiots. �Sit,� said the King, to both his children, and they both sat. The Queen rose and walked to the side of the room, pouring herself a glass of cool water. Kojishi felt a surge of foreboding. What was going on? Her father looked at them both seriously, looking for the words to say what he was trying to say. Beside her, Kin swallowed. Both twins felt it, the seriousness, the solemn tinge to the air. It was like an electric charge, this sensation that their lives were about to change. The King took the plunge. �We�re going to war.� Later, when Kojishi look back on this day, she would realise that in comparison to all the days to come, it was an amazingly carefree experience. She would think about all she had done in this day and realise that while she had just lived through one day and moved on to the next, that day had lived on throughout her lifetime. In everyone�s lives, there are days; moments that change the way things are, and the way they are perceived. Kojishi had never had one of those days before. This was just the first of many. �We�re�?� Kojishi started, shocked, and could not bring herself to repeat what she thought her father had said. Beside her, Kin sank back in his chair, looking taken aback. ��going to war,� her father finished for her. �In less than a week.� Kojishi opened her mouth to object. No we�re not going to war, Father, she would say. You�re just joking around and trying to make me see how stupid I was for going out alone� right? But no words came out. �We received news of this a few days ago. Tzorke is planning to attack Lamarke to try to get it back. Again,� added the King, wryly. Thirty wars over the same district and they still didn�t get the message. �Our troops are stationed there, so it should really not be quite so big a problem. Tzorke has had a rough couple of centuries and they are not as strong as we are.� He paused for a moment, looking at his children. �However, they have spies and assassins who are trained better than our soldiers,� he said, heavily. �Which is why roaming the streets with no escort is not advisable.� His eyes fell on Kojishi, and she bowed her head sheepishly. A moment of silence passed. Kojishi and Kin were taken aback more than scared. War was not something they had seen in their lifetime. It was not something they understood or knew enough about to fear. Their parents thought they were taking it well for a couple of young children. Which was all very good. But in truth, they were not taking it at all. What was war? Nothing had harmed them within the realms of their Palace and nothing ever would. They were sure of it. �Kojishi, you are to be escorted to the Summer Palace with your mother. Kin, however, must stay here and�� �Why?� said Kojishi, snapping out of the depressing gloominess that the prospect of war had sent her into. �I am not going.� �Yes, you are,� said the King, calmly, like he had been expecting this (which, to be fair, he had), �with your mother�� �I am not going!� �Yes,� said the King, in the kind of voice that had to be obeyed, �you are.� �Why can�t Kin go?� demanded Kojishi. �Because Kin has to stay here and fight, if necessary, which,� he added, at the look of alarm on Kin�s face, �it will not be.� �I can fight too,� said Kojishi. �Of course you can, but this is a matter of duty and procedure, not of what you can do.� Kojishi shut up. She thought that was incredibly stupid, but did not wish to voice this thought. It indicated that she thought her father was stupid, which she did not. She thought he was stuck on ideals and duty and all of that rubbish, which was stupid, but that was not his fault. Shaking her head, she sat back down, having stood up while arguing her point ineffectively. Her father smiled at her, but it was a strained sort of a smile that she did not return. �When shall we leave, Arthur?� asked the Queen. �Tomorrow morning, before dawn.� Kojishi groaned, as outside there was roll of thunder. The rain poured down, clouding the vision of the palace guards, conveniently hiding the crouching figures of the soldiers of Tzorke in the bushes and trees and tiny crevices between the houses outside the Palace. Nature, it appeared was throwing a tantrum. Angrily, it thrashed around, roared with a rage of indefinable proportions and threw about flashes of lightning, burning this, burning that and burning the other. The weather had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. It was freezing. Kin shivered though he was covered with two thick blankets. He pulled her covers around himself and closed his eyes trying to sleep, considering he would have to get up at an unearthly hour to say goodbye to Kojishi. But the racket outside was too troubling. His mind seemed to be in a similar state. Though he had put on a brave front � or at least a quiet front, not yelling and screaming in horror � while his father had been telling them of the war, he was very scared. The idea of war was frightening enough to drive someone to the edge. That, coupled with this storm, was enough to give anyone an anxiety attack. Kin was not having an anxiety attack. He just had to make an effort to breathe in and out calmly. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He tried to put it off as his imagination running wild because of the news of the war, but this voice kept nagging him from the inside of his head and try as he might, he couldn�t switch off his brain and go to sleep. Finally, he sat up on her bed, tired of trying to sleep and not getting anywhere. Outside, he could see the lights of the guards� lanterns. It made him feel a little better, knowing there were people guarding her. Nothing could go wrong, right? He was in his own home, in his own room. Nothing could harm him. Nothing could� A knock on the door made him jump. It�s them! He thought irrationally. They�ve come early. There was another knock, more urgent, and a voice that said, �Kin! It�s me! Are you asleep?� Kin stared at the door, feeling relief spreading through his body, mingled with a good doze of shame. He couldn�t jump at every little sound. He had to be brave. The war had not even started yet. The knock came again, for the third time. �Kin! Let me in, you fool, I�m freezing!� The boy jumped off his bed, running to the door and opening it. With a wave of cold wind and hard raindrops, Kojishi came in, and then shut the door. �What took you so long? Were you asleep?� Kin yawned a fake yawn. �I�m not now,� he said, and ignored Kojishi�s look of incredulity. She knew him better than he knew himself, really. It was stupid to think he could fool her with the fake yawn and fake smile. Kojishi could see right through that, at least with him. It was something Kin found alternately annoying and calming. �You�re a very good liar, Kin,� said Kojishi, pulling her cloak off and sitting down on one of the cushions Kin had on the floor of his room. �I�m better, of course, but you�re not bad.� Kin gave her a little, friendly kick before joining her on the floor on another cushion, as there was another roar of thunder from the outside. The prince shivered and sighed and leaned back against the wall, his mind on the responsibility his father so easily expected him to take up. To stay and fight, if necessary? Fight? Kin could not fight! He had the basic training of course, but he could hardly take down an opponent. Kojishi could fight better than him, to be perfectly honest, and since she was not spectacular at swordplay either, that did not say too much about him. Nothing seemed to say too much about him. Kojishi poked his cheek gently. �What are you thinking, little brother?� Kin snorted. �Little by about two minutes,� he reminded her. She shrugged, poking his cheek harder. �Still little to me.� �I am far more mature than you are, dear sister,� he said, getting a feeling that this conversation should not be about trivialities and foolish mock-fights they had been having since they were children. That it should have been about something more serious, something important. But at the moment, this was important. The strong feeling of familiarity Kin got from the conversation was comforting to him. He was no fan of change and tomorrow everything would change. This sobered him up. �What is it?� �I don�t like it,� said the prince, without much hesitation or thought of how immature that sounded right after his claim that he was mature. But with Kojishi, it was of no consequence. He could be whatever he liked with her, and she would not care because she loved him without questioning him. Even if she kept saying it was only because they were related. Kin would not believe that, because she didn�t either. It was all very simple, just like his words right now. Kojishi nodded. �I don�t either,� she said, understanding what he meant. Then, with a sudden grin, she added, �Want to trade places?� Kin grinned suddenly, his mind thrown back to a time when they were really little. Kin had to take up horse riding and fighting and all those very typically �boyish� things to do that he was not specifically fond of. Kojishi, on the contrary, was supposed to sit inside and knit, or sow. They were small enough and looked exactly alike, and had traded places with ease. No one ever found out. It was the reason why Kojishi was better at fighting than Kin, and the reason why whenever the Queen asked for testament of all those hours of sewing from Kojishi, Kin had to sit up all night and make her a cushion cover or something. Not a bad arrangement, really, only now it could not be done, because, in Kin�s words, Kojishi �had to go and� turn into a woman.� Thunder rolled overhead, and Kin involuntarily jumped. Kojishi smirked and put a placating hand on Kin�s shoulder, which the much-abashed Kin promptly pushed off, looking indignant. This was the sort of easy conversation, the sort of foolery that the two indulged in, away from the judgmental eyes of the world. Lightning flashed, illuminating the suddenly, briefly room in an eerie manner that did nothing to placate either of them. Outside the castle, a troop of soldiers, foreign to the land, slipped into the shadowy embrace of the forest, hiding carefully from the watchful eyes of the guardsmen of the palace. They did not notice the young boy and his even younger sister watching them from their tumbledown shack. They did not hear the little girl ask, �Are they ghosts, Kazu-niichan?� her voice a mixture of awe and fear. They did not see the boy shake his head, a puzzled look on his face. Then, the rain swept down and the figures were gone, deep into the darkness of the forest. And before dawn, the storm was over. A thick fog settled on Lajandra, and when Kojishi awoke to the banging on the door of Kazu�s room, the first thing she registered was the cold fingers of the coming winter creeping around her ankles, clutching them gently, firmly, like they would embrace and keep, never hurt, but never let go either. The second thing she registered was that she was still in Kazu�s room. And the third was Yume�s voice, urgent and low. �Princess! Are you in there? Your mother is coming!� Kojishi winced. �Oh no,� she said, getting up hurriedly, ignoring the way the room was still blurry, and the way her getting up all suddenly had woken her brother, who�d been sleeping with his head on her shoulder. He moaned something incomprehensible, and then opened his eyes, for Kojishi was pulling his to his feet and pushing him towards his bed. �Get in,� said Kojishi. Kin fell backwards and went right back to sleep, quite unaffected by the slamming of his door by Kojishi, who raced to her room, Yume at her side. The Palace was built in the shape of an octagon, with rooms up to four floors all around the center, which was hollow but for the ground floor, on which it had the King�s official chambers where all meeting were conducted, and the first floor, which had a prayer room. Kojishi and Kin�s rooms were on the second and third floors, and there were four staircases, one on each side, coinciding with alternate angles of the octagon that the Palace was. Kojishi and Yume ran down the south staircase, knowing the Queen would take the eastern one, for her chambers on the first floor, next to the prayer room, were closest to that one. Kojishi�s room was closest to the southern staircase, but even so, despite these most careful measures, their very noble endeavours to get back in time so as not to upset the dear Queen were for naught. For by the time they got to the second floor, cheeks red against the cold of the morning, the Queen was already at Kojishi�s room. Yume gasped, and Kojishi, stopping abruptly, pulled her back, whispering something in her ear. The serving woman looked somewhat skeptical, but the princess nodded reassuringly. There was a shriek from the room. They waited for the second, and once that was done, Kojishi put a hand on Yume�s and the serving girl lead the princess, who was now looking a little faint to her room. �Come now, princess,� said Yume. �You just get back to your room and it will all be alright�� �Kojishi!!� said the Queen, predictably, and then stopped, for her daughter looked rather ill. �My dear, what happened?� �She was sleepwalking, madam,� said Yume, swiftly. �The pressure was too much for her, methinks. Snapped under it.� �Be quiet Yume,� said the Queen, who did not like to see serving women talk quite so much. �Kojishi, my dear daughter�� Kojishi allowed her to be taken to the bed and lay down. �Sleepwalking� of all things!� �Don�t tell father,� said Kojishi, dramatically, closing her eyes. �He has enough to worry about.� The Queen, most impressed with this display of sensitivity, nodded. �Of course dear, of course. I was coming to wake you. We are leaving in an hour.� This brought on a groan from Kojishi. �Mother, can I not stay behind? Please? I really don�t feel very well.� �Oh, Kojishi, be brave, child. You are the daughter of Kings!� �I am sick, mother, please!� The Queen was distressed. It was not right to make a sick girl travel. Thinking hard, the Queen arrived at a conclusion. �Very well,� she said, and Kojishi opened an eye in disbelief. �We shall stay for the day and leave tomorrow.� Kojishi shut her eye. �Yume, send word to my husband that I will see him in a moment. In the meanwhile, I will call the priest.� Kojishi bolted up. �No, mother! Forget the priest. I am fine.� The Queen narrowed her eyes. �Or not,� said the princess, quailing under the suspicious look her mother was giving her. Satisfied, the Queen got up and left, leaving behind an amused Yume and a most frustrated Kojishi. Kazu went to pick berries in the forest. His sister went with him despite his wishes for her to just stay the bleeding devil behind. She was not affected by his wishes, of course. Little sisters make it a point to ignore their elder brothers� wishes, and Hana was no exception to the rule. Why, she wanted to know, was he picking berries? To make soup, said Kazu, unconcerned by this little query. But then it brought around a flood of questions. Why was he making soup? Did he know how to make soup? What would berry soup taste like anyway? Wouldn�t it be better to make a pie? But then again, did he know how to make pie? Rather frustrated by all this, her elder brother tapped her smartly on the head and told her to shut up (or he would tie her to a tree and let the big � and non-existent � bears in the forest get her. This, by Hana�s standards, was a suitable threat, and very graciously, she closed her mouth and let Kazu pick his berries in peace. Through the thick fog he walked, poking the bushes, examining the trees. They went rather deep into the forest, farther than Hana had never seen before � although Hana had not been very far into the forest to begin with. Here it was all very quiet, and it smelt nice and fresh. Around them the trees let down long roots, which formed strong pillars. Kazu found this place comforting. Hana found it pointless. There were no berries here. Whatever was Kazu doing? Kazu, himself, seemed to be a bit baffled. He looked up and down and all around, and then frowned. �What�?� he said, to himself, and Hana bit her lip, not liking the look on his face. She slipped a small paw into his large hand and squeezed in an attempt to make him feel better about not finding any berries. �Shall I help you look, niichan?� she asked, looking at him seriously. Kazu shook his head, still lost in thought. His eyes were upon something quite inconsequential a few meters away from them. Hana strained her eyes to see what he saw, but could not make sense of the stationary shapes in the fog. �What is it, niichan?� she asked, quietly, now holding his hand tightly to comfort herself. It was eerie, the foggy morning, the shapes. One of them seemed to be moving, but Hana did not mention this to Kazu, for fear of being teased. She was not a ninny, now was she? All the same, she couldn�t help but be reminded of the ghosts they had seen disappear into the forest the previous night. Suddenly afraid, the little girl clutched at her brother and closed her eyes. �It�s nothing, Hana,� said Kazu, loudly, as though he�d been shaken back from the land of his thoughts by Hana�s clutch, and turned to go. �There are no berries here. Let�s go home.� But the look on his perpetually hungry, gaunt face was one Hana had never seen before. The trees whispered secrets in the cold breeze and Kazu�s eyes remained quite steadily on the road as he led his sister back home, to the safety of their tumbledown hut. No cold fingers gripped at them there, no shapes in the fog haunted them, and no unseen watchful eyes penetrated the weak wall of their hut. |