Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Bound Through Space ❯ The Emperor's Quandary ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter Three

The Emperor's Quandary

Pacing his chamber the Emperor had been terrified as to what his beloved concubine would say about the most recent events. He hadn't even known about the arranged marriage until it was too late. Once again his consulate had acted without questioning him. Shaking his head the Emperor was frankly shocked by the greed of the consulate. The marriage was simply for protection, the union loveless. The queen of a small but vastly wealthy empire had recently been widowed. Left to unknowingly fend for her realm and her daughter the queen had been besieged by offers and threats. Running to the closest most powerful arms available she had come straight to Caladan. She had spoken to the consulate and with their approval offered to combine her realm with theirs in return for the eternal protection of the empire. Gladly the consulate had agreed fairly drooling at the thought of the additional revenue.

Now the Emperor was stuck in the uncomfortable position of having to explain to the one love of his life that once again she would have to wait in line for another woman. His first marriage had been to prevent war from destroying his empire. True he cared for his first queen she was one of his closest friends. But true lovers they were not. Neither felt anything more than the deepest of friendship for the other making the situation between himself, his queen and his concubine tolerable. But he doubted that his relationship with Washu could withstand the burden of one more marriage. No, he was sure it COULDN'T stand one more marriage, especially if a child was expected from this marriage.

Washu had tolerated his intimacies with his queen, just barely. Never truly forgiving him until the birth of the princess Sasami. The child had been the glue that held the misfit royal family together. Ryoko had been but a tender child of the age of five when the birth had occurred and had vowed in front of the congregation of the masses to devote her life to the protection of her younger sister. Washu had spoken to the congregation and accepted the child as her own a true sister to her little Ryoko and with her words the crowd erupted.

Looking back now the Emperor realized that until her words the crowd had been less than enthusiastic about the child. The people accept Washu and so far only Washu as their queen. Despite the fact that she never bore the title, the people of his realm afforded Washu with the treatment and devotion befitting of a loved Empress. It was Washu's picture that hung in the main rooms of every home in his realm not the queen's. It was Washu that could rally the people for any cause not the queen. And it was Washu that could talk the people down from a riotous frenzy.

The decision to take Washu as his concubine rather than as his queen had been once again a consulate decision. Hoping to save marriage as a bargaining tool the consulate denied the Emperor's, then prince, youthful request for permission to marry. And the crowd had taken the news violently, almost insultingly. Washu was a princess of the realm not some unknown foreigner. The populous of the realm had watched the seemingly fairytale romance form and shape under their very noses. The news had chronicled their burgeoning love and announced their intentions.

All except for the consulate agreed and approved of the union. The branch that Washu belonged to was a secondary branch of the monarchy that was maintained; as alternates to the throne should anything happen to the direct lineage. Washu had been raised for this one purpose and unknown to the consulate both he and Washu had already begun the bonding ritual. They had known each other since childhood Washu being the child of a distant yet constantly in touch branch of the royal family and he the heir to the throne. Never had the thought of being apart ever entered into either of Washu or the Emperor's minds so with an unwilling acceptance of the consulate's decision Washu took her place by his side as his concubine.

Sitting down in a chair and placing his face in his hands the Emperor wondered how his people would take the news that once again Lady Washu was being passed up by another for marriage. The first time had cause mild chaos to ensue. Now the Emperor was afraid of the damage the crown would receive. He knew about the jokes of how the king was the only man in the realm allowed to marry his mistress and not his wife. And it was true. He was not married to the only woman he considered his wife and his soulmate. And he was married to a woman that he occasionally took to his bed. Once Sasami had been born the need for coupling with the queen had been filled and so the Emperor had not returned to her bedchamber ever again. Instead night after night he slept in the peace of love with Washu at his side.

Concubine, the title that to this day grated his nerves. He would marry Washu despite the consulate's machinations, before they married him to his pre-decreed royal limit of three wives. A tradition started and abided by many centuries ago, the Emperor was allowed three wives: one for strategy, one for stability and one for harmony. Had the Emperor been allow Washu, as his first wife there would have been no need for the other two. For Washu fulfilled all the requirements. She was his best political analyst, his best military strategist and in times of civil unrest his best public spokesperson.

She was everything that a queen should be and more, and yet she was still his concubine. Which placed her in a lowly position, and when there were social functions that required him to attend the best choice would be Washu her social graces and delicate manners charmed all that met her, but she could not attend. Instead the Emperor was forced to take Misaki the mother of Sasami. She was a delightful person and generally charming but she had an unusually spiteful streak that had a nasty habit of appearing at the most inappropriate times. More than one social function had to be left early thanks to Misaki's indelicate manner of speech when others were talking about either her precious Sasami or her darling Ryoko.

Misaki was to put it mildly the mother to end all mothers. She was overbearingly protective, and oppressively defensive of both her little angels. Once she had heard Ryoko's promise to eternally protect Sasami the timid bond that Misaki shared with the young princess had grown to a mother-daughter relationship, all under Washu's watchful eye. Ryoko had the privilege that most royal children raised in a multiple marriage home did not, truly harmonious parents. Neither the queen nor the concubine fought over the disciplining or the rewarding of the child Ryoko had been. Both were adamant that Ryoko be allowed all the opportunities that would have been afforded her had she been born a prince. And so with two fiercely protective and headstrong women as her role models Ryoko had grown to the fiercely independent, headstrong and self-sufficient princess that she was.

With a sigh of relief he had thanked all that was holy that his first-born child Ryoko the product of his and Washu's love could take the throne. Ryoko held the best and the worst qualities of her three parents. She held Washu's undying devotion, Misaki's tireless protectiveness and the Emperor's diplomacy. Those began the large list of her many virtues and her protectiveness started the list of her many vices.

Ryoko was overprotective at times seemingly more doubtful of the intentions of others toward Sasami or her family than Misaki could ever hope to be. Ryoko was mischievous and saying that was a vast understatement of the true nature of Ryoko devilish streak. Ryoko could find trouble while sitting in a padded room while chained to a wall. Ryoko had single-handedly been responsible for over 85% of the blazes that had occurred in the last millennia within the palace walls.

Ryoko was headstrong to the point of being unbelievable bullheaded. Taking after her father in this instance Ryoko very rarely took the advice of others. With age that particular trait had only worsened. Now where her father relented to the whims of the consulate Ryoko bulked. Where her father accepted the consulate's decrees Ryoko fought with a fury so venomous the consulate stop long ago trying to dictate their wishes upon the princess. At times the Emperor envied his daughter for her strength of mind at such an early age, but then if he had been like her back then he would have had to fought a war with an empire still reeling from the ravages of his father's senseless crusade.

Those days when Ryoko was so young and innocent seemed so far away now. The days before Sasami's birth when Ryoko was the darling of the royal court still seemed almost magical to him. The Emperor sat back in his chair and began daydreaming about his first and secretly his favorite daughter. While Sasami had been only an infant Ryoko had instantly taken a liking to her. Playing delicately and tenderly with the infant. Showing her all the wonderful tricks that Ryoko's favorite pet and plaything Ryo-ohki could perform. And as Sasami had grown so to had Ryoko's latent powers. Powers that the Emperor claimed she had inherited from her mother's side of the family. When she thought no one was watching late at night Ryoko still a little girl of only five or six would faze into the younger princess's room to hover above her bed and watch over her at night.

During the day at breaks between her many lessons Ryoko would sneak away and find little Sasami and steal her away from her lessons. Grabbing a hold of her little sister's hand Ryoko would fly her around the palace grounds, soaring above the highest spire and dancing among the clouds with her little sister. A faint smile crossed the Emperor's face as he remembered catching his tomboy daughter doing girly things simply to please her little sister. More than once he had caught little Ryoko dressed in full royal ceremonial garb being served tea by her sister as they both played games that would prepare them for the pomp of the royal court. Ryoko's seemingly boundless devotion to Sasami allowed Sasami the sole privilege of being able to bend Ryoko to her every whim.

Where Ryoko was the consummate leader Sasami was the consummate caregiver. Sasami's interests had been in caring for the home. She was an excellent homebody excelling in all things culinary. With age Sasami's talents had flourished to an amazing level. Despite being raised to privilege, just like her sister, Sasami chose her own path and her own desires. And once again because of her sister's example and her sister's warnings to the consulate Sasami rarely if ever gave a second thought to the wishes of the consulate. Going against the consulate's wishes Sasami had at the tender age of ten enrolled in her sister's footsteps in the Royal Academy of Art attending to solely the culinary division.

Sasami had more than just her talent for food she was a miracle with animals and befriended most everyone. With an almost physic ability Sasami could and did comfort anyone she came across. Sasami would make a good queen at the side of any leading king, but not a good monarch. Where as Ryoko would lead his empire to the future that he knew only she could bring.

He watched her grow, taking an interest in the strategies of warfare, the various styles and techniques of combat. But as Ryoko grew so too did her interests. She became an avid drawer, constantly scribbling something down. What had started off as childish doodles during boring lectures rapidly turn to talented and accurate renderings of anything that her eyes fell on. So along with her martial arts, fencing and combat training Ryoko also attended the Royal Academy of Art for training in all mediums. She excelled in the physical arts, her natural grace and sleek movements lending her fighting style an air of poetic motion. He had watched his daughter challenge every guard in the royal regiment and come out the victor. Even after explicit instructions from the Head Sensei of the royal training academy not to hold back. She had defeated everyone that came across her, and eventually one day even defeated the Sensei himself. She had no equal in hand-to-hand combat, and with a sword she was a fury. Training rigorously daily to keep in shape and to maintain her form Ryoko worked her hardest to keep her promise to eternally keep Sasami safe, and no one in the realm doubted her.

At first in the beginning there had been serious resistance from the consulate and from the people against Ryoko's training. Claims of having an unfit princess and who would marry such a manly-ish girl rose from the din. But all was silenced with Washu's steady question of "Did anyone wish her to raise a simpering, whinny little royal brat that had nothing better to do with her time than to complain?" Washu continued to question the crowd with "Isn't it better to have a princess familiar with the terms and difficulties of war than one that will simply shy away from her duties during a time of war?" And lastly, "How is Princess Ryoko to keep her vow to protect Princess Sasami if she cannot use the tools she needs to do so when she has to?" The questioning had stopped and Ryoko's training had continued.

It had been difficult for the Emperor and Washu to find challenging opponents for their little Ryoko but in the end they had found someone who exhibited one or two of the latent powers that Ryoko did. Until that moment none of Ryoko's powers had been addressed or even used during combat except for her unbelievable boundless strength. Neither the Emperor nor Washu knew where exactly the powers had come from since both had never seen or heard about such powers within the royal family. The Emperor smiled as he thought back to the first time his eyes had fallen upon his little angel, his little Ryoko. Yes, her appearance had been a shock, her golden cat-like eyes and astounding cyan hair were both things that had never existed within either his or Washu's bloodlines.

With hindsight maybe Ryoko's features should have tipped him off as to what was to come. Even then she had exhibited power well beyond the normal range of infants. With a scream that could shatter glass and eyes that seemed to mesmerize Ryoko had been if nothing else an intriguing baby. While still and infant Ryoko had seemed to develop an almost psychic link with her closest relatives. By seemingly whim alone Ryoko could summon without word any servant, friend or family member by the age of two.

As Ryoko matured so too did her powers, what in youth had seems like freakish coincidence to an unheard summoning by the age of four revealed itself to actually be Ryoko projecting a psychic request. By five Ryoko had master the skill and now could talk to anyone she made physical contact with. And the list of abilities continued. She learned to faze in and out of rooms almost by accident at the age of five after being corner by the cleaning and cooking staff after they caught her experimenting with industrial strength cleaning chemicals trying to make a witch's brew in the kitchen's largest stock pot (since dubbed "The Cauldron").

Her ability to channel her chi into a ball and fire it had come as an unsavory surprise during a routine visit to the dentist. The poor man had left the room singed and screaming about royal brats. It had taken Washu months of delicate diplomatic tiptoeing to wrangle another dentist in to the position of Royal Dentist. And it was at the very next session with the new Royal Dentist that Ryoko's ability to form shields had been discovered. Ryoko's startlingly rapid rate of healing had been discovered during a typical childhood incident. Ryoko fell.

But unfortunately for her nanny at the time, not from a small distance but instead from the fifth highest window in the entire palace. No one was quite sure how she had manage to get to the window as it sits above the great hall and is only cleaned once a year due to its inaccessibility. But some how and some way Ryoko manage to get up there and in her childish zeal had seen a dragonfly race past the window and promptly fazed through the high stained glass window. And fell. She fell several stories to what horrified onlookers took to be her imminent death.

The startled scream rocked the palace to its foundations disrupting all proceedings within its halls. As all members of the palace raced to the sounds of the falling child all outside watched in frighten horror as the heir to the throne plummeted to her death. And with a sickeningly bone crushing smash she hit the hard hand laid and polished granite surface below. The royal children were ushered to the farthest reaches of the palace to avoid them seeing the horror of the fall while the royal court stood stagger at the seen before them. There on the shattered glossy flagstones before the main entrance to the inner palace lay the broken and apparently dying remains of the first princess of Caladan.

The shocked silence of the unmoving populace was broken by the screams of the three parents as they poured out from the palace in search of their baby. And upon leaving the doors were faced with every parent's worst nightmare. The faint gurgling noises that issued from Ryoko's still tiny throat and psychic pleading drew her parents towards her despite their wishes. With strength that no one understood the broken child lifted itself enough to turn on its back and face its parents. Its once angelic face was shattered and bloody, the sight wrenching tears from all that saw. With swollen eyes that pleaded to be held the now unrecognizable Ryoko begged to be comforted. As one, all three parents moved and held onto the child, the Emperor held her left hand, the queen her right and Washu rested the child's head in her lap. With tear in their eyes they cooed and reassured the broken child of their eternal love and told her everything would be all right. And as the seconds past into minutes and the minutes swept on the three parents silently wept as the child's breathing slowly stopped.

In hushed disbelief everyone stopped, waiting against hope that maybe this was all a hideous prank. But nothing happened and as one, the surrounding crowd began to silently morn the loss of their heir. Not until the faint cries of the five years old Sasami became audible was the silence broken. Having broken away from her nanny Sasami was desperate for her older sister. The running girl in her childish words and voice screamed her demands for `Yoko not to leave, not yet.

And with the voice of her sister, the once seemingly deceased princess began to breath again. And as the three forlorn parents turned from one screaming child to the prone child before them, all three gasped in shock as the damage that had seemed to unrepairable was no longer evident. Ryoko began breathing and by the time that Sasami had reached their side Ryoko's eyes had fluttered open.

With great rejoicing the royal family embraced both living children. The surrounding crowd confused as to the actions was left in muddled bewilderment until the reunited family broke its embrace. With a shout of joy the Emperor lifted his precious little Ryoko high into the air and twirled her around for all to see. And to the amazement of the crowd the lively and boisterous Ryoko laughed with her usual zeal at her father's actions.

The memories of that harsh day still brought tears to the Emperor's eyes. He could lose his throne, he could lose his life but he could not lose a single member of his family, death would take him before he allowed hurt or harm to come to a single hair on his darling children's heads. With another large sigh the Emperor wipe away his tears and thanked kami that shortly after that incident Ryoko had learned to save herself from great falls by flying.

Just after infancy Ryo-ohki had appeared out of the blue, with a fierce bond that rivaled that which Ryoko shared with either Sasami or Washu. At around this same time Ryoko's imaginary friend started making a regular appearance in her daily routine. The infant Ryoko would seemingly be nattering on to some invisible object for hours at a time. Being the darling of the court Dukes and Duchesses allowed the young princess her eccentricities. Preferring to play with Ryo-ohki and her imaginary friend than most of the other children residing in the palace, Ryoko still enjoyed playing with the others occasionally. But with the birth of Sasami all that changed. Ryoko's spare time was nearly completely absorbed with the usual royal lessons, then sparing practice, then martial arts and combat training, then her painting, sculpting, drawing/rendering and composition classes. All this left little time for her friends, but as devoted, as Ryoko was she always made time to find and play with Sasami. And she always, absolutely always in some way or another brought her imaginary friend.

With age Ryoko's drawing skills flourished so to did her obsession with that dream boy. She drew him constantly, incessantly, and endlessly. In every pose in all manner of clothes, and even nude, she drew him with a seemingly unerring intimate knowledge of his form. Seeing his daughter's interest in the boy and lack of interest in all others the king sent his most reliable knights on a search for the boy. Nowhere, nowhere within federated space had the boy turned up.

Was he nothing more than a figment of his daughter's obsessive imagination? It had taken many years but, finally at the age of nineteen Ryoko completely ended all reference and drawings to her imaginary friend. And at this same time Ryoko had warmed up to a pleasant and intelligent young lord of Jurai by the name of Ibara. He had been sent on a routine emissary mission to question the Emperor about the marriage and treaty ritual. There had been a now ostensibly eternal treaty between the Jurians and Caladain Empires that once every fifty years the first-born female heir must marry one of the Royal House of Jurai.

Over the next few years the public of both empires became engrossed in the fairytale romance of the young couple until that fateful day two years ago when everything between Ryoko and Ibarra had hit the proverbial fan. The picture had scandalized both empires. Ryoko locked in a passionate embrace with a young man that could have passed as the twin of Ibarra right in front of Ibarra. And just as suddenly as her obsession with her imaginary "dream boy" had ending, it began again. Ibarra returned to Jurai on the friendliest of terms between him and Ryoko neither would lose their friend and all wedding plans had been cancelled.

With his largest sigh yet the Emperor shook his head and ran his hand across his forehead as if to ward away the growing headache that he knew would come. For the past two-years a mysterious young man in the most powerful of Jurai space trees Tsunami had been frantically completing every one of the required tasks of the betrothal ritual. A process that had for every suitor prior to him (every suitor that is, that had succeeded) taken at least five years to complete.

And when the young man had arrived and the Emperor had seen him with his own eyes…the Emperor had all but fainted. It was him! The elusive boy that his daughter obsessively dreamt about drew and talked about. The near twin to Ibara and the replica to the marble bust that for the past two years his daughter had slaved almost all of her spare time over. Down in the royal retaining cell sat a young man that claimed to be the First Prince of Jurai. With the same name that he had countless times watched his daughter scribble under all her drawings of him. Tenchi. And yet when Jurai was question as to the boy's origins the empire claimed no knowledge.

And like a sphinx's riddle the boy-defied explanation. If he was not of Jurai how was he able to command Tsunami? Tenchi…the same name as the master key the boy was an enigma. If he was not of Jurai how was he able to generate the legendary "Wings of the Light Hawk"? Jurian prophecies had foretold of a young man from another planet with the blood of royalty in his veins that was able to command such legendary powers could this be him? The same prophecies spoke of a woman unsurpassing in beauty with powers that potentially rivaled the mystic prince could that be Ryoko? The prophecies spoke of the two being the opposite sides of a matched soul, and together they would unite all realms and empires in a gloriously peaceful kingdom.

As the Emperor rose to answer the knocking at his chamber door he gave one last thought to the quandary of Tenchi. What was he going to do about Tenchi?