http://clampfix.fanworks.net/rgv-fix/smile4.txt </head><body><pre>And To See Him Smile Part IV A RG Veda Story by Myranda Kalis Ryuu-ou prowled the corridors of Zenmi-jou, hunting the most dangerous prey to be had in all of the Heavenly Realm, padding softly on the balls of her feet, removing even her armor and sword so as not to be overheard. He walked several hundred feet ahead of her, his dark head down, contemplating some thought to which she was not yet privy--but, even so, she knew his senses were sharp enough to detect her approach, distracted or not. They were approaching the turns that led to the lower halls of Zenmi-jou, and from there, the entranceway to Ashura-jou, and she moved quickly to cut him off from his escape, dashing as quickly as she dared down the shadowed side gallery and lurking there until he came within striking range. The look on Ashura-ou's face, as Ryuu-ou physically pounced on him from the shadows, was beyond price, and Ryuu-ou laughed helplessly at it--though not before she reached out and restrained his hand from reflexively drawing forth Shuratou. "Skittish, are we not?" "Nagaina," Ashura-ou began, heavy repression in his tone. "I will take that as a `yes,'" Ryuu-ou's evil, elfin grin succeeded in melting Ashura-ou's disapproval of her lurking tactics, and relaxed his face into his softest smile. "I wanted to talk to you after the council meeting today, but you fled the chamber as quickly as your legs could carry you, and Jikokuten's rant about Taishakuten was too amusing to miss." "You will have to give me the highlights," Ashura's golden eyes sought the vaulted ceiling in an unconcealed expression of annoyance. "Provided he actually said anything new." "Nothing new, just a good deal less invective--he can be very clever with language when he wishes, the Eastern Shittenou." Ryuu-ou slipped her arm through Ashura's and allowed him to lead her from her skulking place and into the hall. "Needless to say, the good Shogun was less than pleased with the notion of Taishakuten's inclusion in the ranks of the Bushinshou, to the extent of refusing to even contemplate the notion of allowing him place in the East, should the Raijin decide to settle there." "I suppose it would be asking too much from the gods for Jikokuten to bend his mind, even a fraction." Ashura laced his fingers with hers, and smiled wryly. "Of course! Asking for open-mindedness and flexibility from Jikokuten and receiving it would be the ultimate sign that the world is about to come screaming to its end." Ryuu-ou snorted. "The others, however, were slightly more amenable to the notion, given his good service--and the strength of his sword. The Shittenou he serves beneath would quite possibly be the strongest in all of the Tenkai." She gazed at him from beneath the veil of her lashes. "Excepting the Emperor, of course." "Of course." Ashura's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I mislike it when you attempt to flatter me, Nagaina." "What flattery? It is pure truth, my brother," Sweetness incarnate. "Then why is it that I sense a trap about to snap closed around me?" Ashura halted in the middle of the corridor and pulled her to a halt with him, eyes catching hers and holding. "Because you are too sensitive?" Ryuu suggested helpfully. "Truth, my brother--the council of the Shittenou and Bushinshou has adjourned to consider the notion of Taishakuten's elevation, and Tentai has allowed the recess for the lot of us to gather our wits about us so we can advise him more wisely. I am going to be returning to Naga-jou for a few weeks." "I will be desolate in your absence," Ashura-ou promised wryly. "Do not be desolate--come with me. You have been promising to come to the West with me for months, and with the war ended and peace restored, you have no excuse not to." She wound her arms around his and gazed up at him cajolingly. "Please, Ashura. Father would love to have you, and my two nephews would supply you with all the awestruck adulation you could possibly require. Please, come home with me." "Tentai--" Ashura began helplessly, their tangled limbs preventing him from making an accompanying gesture. "Tentai and I," Ryuu informed him sweetly, "have already discussed this topic--at length. And, at length, the Emperor has decided that, should you express a desire to venture from Zenmi-jou and its environs for a time, the Twelve should be more than sufficient to protect his person in your absence. It has not escaped his attention that you have been in something of a mood, of late, and suspects that a change of scene might be just what you need to restore your good humor." Ashura blinked. "And to think, Nagaina, that I once believed you singularly unsuited for any sort of espionage." "It is always my pleasure to surprise you, brother mine." "I will remember that. This is not," he added suspiciously, "some elaborate attempt to throw your relatives off the track of finding a husband for you, by throwing them on the track of finding a wife for me, is it?" "Would I do that to you, Ashura-chan?" She looked up at him, dewy aquamarine eyes agleam with wounded innocence. Ashura snorted in a most un-Ashuralike manner. "In a heartbeat." Ryuu-ou was, for an instant, the picture of aggrieved sincerity and filial sentiment. Ashura was forced to laugh. "I should leave you hanging for at least three days, you know. Yes." Ryuu-ou bounded up the four inches it took to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Oh, thank you, Ashura! Now I can hide behind you when they start throwing unmarried young men at me! Shall I tell Tentai of your decision, or will you?" "You shall," Ashura smiled wryly. "Tentai banished me from his presence under less than pleased circumstances, the last time I spoke with him, and, in any case, if I am going to make the excursion to the ends of the world with you I will have to begin my preparations immediately." "Do not pack half your life, Ashura--Naga-jou, if you will remember, is not that large." ************************************************************************** Disbanding an army was, by far, less satisfying than building one. It was, however, substantially more satisfying than writing letters of condolence to bereaved parents, wives, siblings, and children, an activity that Taishakuten had never felt himself quite good at. It was not that he hadn't any sympathy for bereavement--expressing it was simply never his strong suit. It was with that thought in mind that he had settled down upon his return to the northern base camp, and begun the laborious process of reviewing, paying, and releasing his troops back to the lives they had occupied before the war. The ones that had lives other than the service to the imperial armies, about a third of the total force that had been under his command, according to the plethora of documents that accompanied the task of demobilization. True, the army scribes and clerks did the vast majority of the paper work themselves, but, as the general in command, it was required that he read nearly every scrap of it and then sign off on the various commendations, disciplinary actions, documents releasing traveling funds for units and officers returning to their home regions, documents releasing funds for the renumeration of the various merchants who had provisioned and supplied his army, as well as every single other detail he might have let wait until this moment. It was closer to dawn than midnight when he finally finished the last bit, crossed his final word, and signed his last signature, laid aside his pen, capped the nearly empty bottle of ink, and flexed his terribly cramped hands. "My wrists did not hurt this much after my first lesson in sword," Taishakuten muttered to himself, as his knuckles cracked and the tendons creaked and groaned in protest. "You could," his elderly servant pointed out pleasantly, emerging from the sleeping chamber of his tent, carrying a bowl of warm water fragrantly scented with herbs, "have let some of this wait until tomorrow." "I could have," Taishakuten acknowledged, as the old man set the bowl down before him, packing up the neatly stacked documents and binding them together with ribbons and wax, "but all of this--" His gesture took in the documents, the now-empty sacks containing the funds he had been supplied, the ribbons, and the sealing wax sticks, "would still have been here. Better to finish quickly." "Soak your wrists and hands, or they will cramp," the servant, defeated on one front, turned immediately to the next vulnerable approach. Taishakuten smiled tiredly and did as he was told, too weary to argue. The warm water soothed the cramps from his muscles, relaxed the tension from his tendons, and even made the bones seem to ache less. The old servant busied himself for several moments, wrapping and dripping wax and stamping the neat bundles closed with Taishakuten's seal while the Raijin watched in companionable silence, letting the fatigue push him closer to sleep. His bed awaited him in the next room, and his dreams, for the last several days, had been more and more pleasant. "So," the old man asked quietly, startling Taishakuten at least half awake again, "did you meet him?" "I met him," Taishakuten affirmed, the memory no longer inducing a desire to cringe when he thought of it. "And was he all that you might have desired?" A leathery hand touched his elbow gently and drew him up, against no resistance at all. "More," Taishakuten admitted, trying to keep a foolish smile off his face and only half-succeeding. "That is good," He allowed himself to be guided to his bed, the old servant automatically assisting him in removing his armor, stacking it neatly on his travel chest. "And what else?" "The Emperor is considering the possibility of elevating me to the rank of Bushinshou," Somehow, that seemed less important than it might have a year ago. "It is my understanding that the possibility was presented to the council of Tentai's advisors, who are debating it even as we speak." A yawn. "That is good." The old man pulled down the covers and Taishakuten obediently sought the comfort of his pillows. "And are you now well-pleased?" "For now," Taishakuten murmured, remembering the sensation of pale soft skin beneath his hands, "very well pleased." A smiled creased the old man's leathery face. "Good. A good rest to you, Raijin Taishakuten. May your dreams continue to please you." Taishakuten let his strained eyes slide close as the servant leaned over and blew out the lamp. "I do not see how they could not." ************************************************************************** * "Ashura-ou is no longer at Zenmi-jou." Taishakuten froze, his cup half-way to his mouth, silver eyes wide as he regarded his aged servant over the polished rim. "What....?" "While we were at Zenmi-jou, I spoke often with the servants of the other generals and nobles that shared accomodations with us." The old man continued his industrious packing of Taishakuten's belongings into the several travel chests, packs, and saddle bags scattered about the interior of the tent. All around them, the sounds of the camp breaking--chattering people, collapsing canvas, ill-tempered horses and other pack animals being loaded--travelled through the walls of Taishakuten's own pavilion, providing a pleasant enough background noise to his own preparations for departure--back to Zenmi-jou, he had already decided. Taishakuten lowered his breakfast cup back to the table, untasted. "I received a letter this morning from one of them--a young lady of the Ashura Clan. She tells me that the council of the advisors has adjourned until Summer Court is called several weeks from now, where they will speak with Tentai concerning your elevation. She also tells me that Ashura-ou has departed from Zenmi-jou in the company of Ryuu-ou. He is accompanying her to Naga-jou in the West for the extended visit he had promised her some time ago, and has finally been coaxed into taking." Silence. Taishakuten lifted his cup again and sipped its contents meditatively, silver eyes wide and unseeing. He had not thought of the possibility that Ashura-ou might leave Zenmi-jou before he returned from disbanding his army--not, he was forced to concede to himself, that there had been much precedent for it. Ashura-ou almost never left Ashura-jou, much less the Heavenly City; the concept of him on a lengthy journey from the Emperor's side was almost beyond consideration. "Friends among the servants, eh?" "Servants often know far more than we are given credit for," the old man informed him primly, buckling another pack closed. "Oh?" Taishakuten set his cup down again and focussed all of his considerable concentration on the old man. "Such as?" "Ryuu-ou, of all the Bushinshou, is the one most potentially friendly to your elevation to that rank--she has, after all, served at your side and, while she was silent in council, it is suspected that she favors you for your strength. Koumokuten is neutral, though Ryuu-ou's good opinion could sway him." The saddle bags joined the packs stacked next to the door. "Jikokuten of the Shittenou is active in his antipathy for you--I believe he disliked the manner in which you addressed his wife, the illustrious Kendappa-ou--and will in all likelihood oppose such an elevation. Kendappa-ou herself is unlikely to advise against her own husband. Karura-ou is neutral, though Zouchouten admires your boldness. Bishamonten is of an age with you and one can expect that he appreciates your strength and ambition. Yasha-ou has not had anything to say publicly in one way or another." "And Ashura-ou?" Taishakuten asked wryly. "Ashura-ou has also been silent--and one does not question the words or silences of the Lord of the Ashura Clan for any reason." He locked the travel chest, lifting it with surprising strength and setting it down with the rest of the baggage. "Though, it can be said, that the only opinion that matters more to the Emperor than Ashura-ou's is his own." Taishakuten's eyes narrowed a contemplative fraction, and the old servant paused briefly to watch the thoughts that flickered through them before stepping out to summon one of the stable servants to bring the Raijin's mount and pack animals. By the time he returned, Taishakuten had formulated a question to go with his thoughts, and he looked up sharply. "So," he began quietly, "it can be conceived that the council of advisors can be turned on the pivot of the West?" "That is," the servant admitted, "a strong possibility." "And Ashura-ou's opinion also carries greater weight with the Emperor than all the Shittenou and Bushinshou combined." That was not a question, but a musing, and the servant felt no obligation to answer it. "I think, perhaps, it would be a pleasant time of year to visit the West...." </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>