The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter I: Have You Heard?

"Look, how about this? Let's pretend we've had the row and I've won. See? It saves a lot of effort." -- Terry Pratchett, Mort

The Palace of Serenity was not nearly as peaceful as its name suggested. One would think that it would have become much more serene since both Abihira and Kiriyuki had left it. After all, one was the biggest troublemaker Seroyawa had seen since Hiyori Nanairo kou Amatsukaze[1] while the other was the Crown Princess and constantly involved in some political drama or other. One would think wrong. Mirio had never seen the palace in such an uproar. Diplomats, politicians and scribes sent and received letters from Saoridhlém every few hours. Everyone was trying their best to pretend Kiriyuki hadn't run away but had simply made an unexpected visit. To keep up the pretence they were hastily cobbling together a list of places for her to go before her return.

The whole charade was invented for the benefit of the tabloids. A princess disappearing was the sort of scandal a certain type of journalist thrived on. Unfortunately they weren't fooled. On his most recent trip into the city Mirio had seen a shop full of gossip rags discussing Kiriyuki. And not just Kiriyuki. The anonymous authors already moved on to speculating on what the emperor's other children were doing behind closed doors. The mildest of those speculations could have landed the author in jail for libel. The strangest piece of gossip said Kiriyuki had run away as part of a plot to frame someone for murdering her.

When his idiotic sister finally deigned to come home Mirio didn't know how he'd resist the temptation to throw her into the fishpond.

For the sake of his sanity he avoided the rest of his family as much as possible. On the rare occasions Mirio did meet them he saw they were as unhappy as he was. His father was constantly growling imprecations under his breath. His step-mother was beginning to look mildly strained, which meant she was near breaking point and would decapitate the next person to give her any reason to worry. Nozomi took up the duties Kiriyuki had abandoned -- in addition to his own duties -- and spent most of his time visiting one or other of the charities Kiriyuki funded. Seitomu was seized with a sudden bout of familial affection and went to stay with Aunt Sumire. Azurin gained a newfound enthusiasm for her studies and rarely left the library.

Mirio had no friends and few acquaintances. For over five hundred years his closest friends had been Kiriyuki and Abihira, both of whom were now on the other side of the ocean. He didn't even have someone he could go to for advice or a friendly chat -- unless you counted his mother, who in accordance with protocol he should only visit once a month.

Seroyawan emperors traditionally had only one official wife but as many concubines as they wanted. The previous emperor had sixteen concubines and two children by each of them. The royal court knew how to deal with a situation like that. There was protocol, precedent, and a strict hierarchy among the wives and child. But then there was the current emperor. By his ancestors' standards Mirio's father was practically a bachelor. He had only one concubine, and one who he had married for political reasons rather than through any wish of his own. There was no precedent for a situation like this. Nor could there be a strict hierarchy when the empress's children insisted on treating the concubine's son as their full brother.

No one knew what to do in a situation like this. Hence the icy politeness the rest of the court showed to Mirio and his mother, the sort of politeness that kept them at arm's length. So while his half-siblings found various ways to occupy their time, Mirio was left alone without anyone to talk to and nothing to do. It was the sort of situation that would grate on anyone.

If he had been less bored he might not have jumped at the chance to visit his maternal uncle. And if he hadn't agreed to that visit, everything that followed could perhaps have been avoided.