Enlightened Empire

The fresh smell of paper rubbing on paper tickled Corco’s nose as he organized the books into their rightful places on his shelf. A sound made him turn and find a young priest enter his new study. Rather than a study, the rearranged furniture gave the room an appearance closer to a salon. Though the large tapestry, covered in cryptic symbols exclusive to the country’s elite, was still around and spoke of the archaic nature of the Medalan elite, most of the remaining room had been redesigned already. A small desk had been set up at the very end of the room, just large enough for the new king to work at while eating his food. It was placed right before an entire wall of shelves, on which the king had been placing the books of his collected knowledge until now, still surrounded by further stacks of his scribbled works.

The rest of the room had been freed of barriers and opened up as much as possible. All the comfortable seats from around the castle had been collected and put here in small, cozy groups, with plants scattered around to freshen the air. Distracted by the unusual surroundings, the young priest moved towards the new king of the south. Corco smiled as he waited for the priest to make the first greeting. He knew that the place already seemed quite unique to the eyes of a Medala man. However, Corco wasn’t even done with it yet.

"Taytakura greets the great king Corcopaca Titu Pluritac," the Taytakura, highest priest of Saniya said with a bow.

Corco simply pointed towards the chair in his front, before he put the book in his hand onto the shelf behind him and turned to sit as well. He could still finish moving in later. Once both Corco and the priest had taken a seat, Taytakura bowed once again.

"This mortal is deeply grateful for King Corco’s swift return. At last, the town has been freed from the grasp of the tyrannical Sawo. To our great fortune, the courageous king-"

"Stop. You weren’t invited here to be judged, so there’s no need for begging." The priest stared at Corco with blinking eyes.

"This mortal was never-"

"Look dude. I get it. Sawo had half the city in his pocket, including anyone who counts. I know that you got your share for playing along. The Pacha faith has far too much influence for him to not cut you in. I mean, look at you, you’re way too young. How many weeks has it been since the last Taytakura died anyways?"

At first, the priests face became red, from shame more than from anger, but by the end, his head was lowered and his body relaxed.

"Four years," a deep voice answered.

"...huh?" At once, all the confidence and kingly manner dropped off of Corco’s persona. Even though he had been careful to cultivate the image with his new subjects in Saniya, he couldn’t help but be surprised by the sudden announcement.

"It has been four years since the last Taytakura was taken by the floods. Since then, this mortal has been chosen to read the stars and curate the dead," saddened, the young priest continued.

"I didn’t know." Only a simple answer, but his tone was enough to show Corco’s remorse.

"In fact, this mortal was born in Saniya and has no connection to a foreign clan, unlike what King Corco might believe. Truthfully, our fates crossed in the past, when King Corco was still a prince and this mortal himself a young apprentice. Though of course prince would not remember one so insignificant."

For the first time since his arrival, Corco gifted the man with his undivided attention. Normally, recalling events seven years or more in the past would be difficult, but Corco had always had an excellent memory. It had proven invaluable when he wrote down the future knowledge which now surrounded him on all sides. His hand held over the book on basic physics, the prince observed the priest before him to jog his memory.

A youngster, sharp nose for a Yaku. He might have been a teenager back then, around Corco’s age or younger. Suddenly, lighting struck his head and his eyes opened in realization.

"You’re Oroculpa, aren’t you?"

Again, the young priest showed his look of surprise.

"It is a name this mortal used to carry, before he left behind the mundane, yes. This mortal is exceedingly honored that King Corco would remember his former name."

"How couldn’t I? You’re the one who prepared me for mom’s beacon initiation. You’re the one who helped me find the koto after it had disappeared. That last one must have been... eight years ago, I guess. No, nine." To his own surprise, the new Taytakura was someone Corco was intricately familiar with. As one of the few Saniya boys around his age with a status worthy of the prince of Medala, they had met on more than one occasion. However, the grace and weight of the seer position had changed the young man so much that he had become almost unrecognizable. "I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to accuse you of anything. If I had known it was you, I would have never even considered something like bribery. I’m sure you tried your best to resist the unfair treatment of Sawo."

As Corco became more and more convinced of his old friend’s innocence, flooded in memories of happy days long past, the priest’s shoulders turned stiff again. Soon, the stiffness spread like a virus, until it had taken hold of his limbs and clenched his fists like arthritis.

"No, King Corco. This mortal does not deserve this kind of treatment."

At last, the king returned to the present. Gone was the innocent apprentice and returned had the suspicious priest. A loud exhale of air took with it Corco’s last enthusiasm, before he continued their talk.

"So you were involved then, bought off by Sawo," the king stated with a calm mind.

"Yes, that is correct. This mortal is ashamed of his own weakness."

For a few seconds, the king considered his next move.

"Who else knows about this? The people of the city?"

"They do not. The transactions were very discreet, or else the men of Saniya would have lost their trust in the shrine. Administrator Sawo had asked me to speak for him and make the townsfolk believe in his divine right to rule. There were a few false oracles, but the shrine did nothing more."

"Good that you’re so flexible, I’ll be needing your help as well. Don’t worry," before the priest could even speak up, Corco had already raised his hand to alleviate his concerns. "I won’t let you lie for me, or betray your faith; I don’t need lies to legitimize my rule. Still, I need support from the shrine in my plans. For that reason, you can’t be hated by the townsfolk. So here’s what’s gonna happen:"

Corco righted himself in his seat. Meanwhile, the sinner became smaller in his, like a child in front of the school principal. A fitting analogy, Corco thought.

"You will return whatever silver you have taken, discreetly. I will trust you to understand that skimming here will only be to your detriment. We will check the books here in the castle, so if you leave too much behind we will find out. Try to restrain your greed and be as truthful as possible. Apart from that, your sentence is suspended until you have done the duty I require of you."

Small, repeated nods showed the priest’s understanding, as well as his shame and eagerness to remedy his mistakes. Still, Corco would have to make sure the man kept to his promises. It was unfortunate, but he would have to keep an eye on Oroculpa’s actions. He would’ve much rather had another ally in his fight for the city and the surrounding area, but he really couldn’t have someone this corrupt on his staff.

"Then what is it King Corco asks of this mortal?"

"First, I’ll be sending out an expedition to the villages in the region. I’m sure you and your apprentices know the place fairly well. I want you to send a couple of beaconers with them. They will both serve as guides, as well as legitimize the actions of my men."

Again, the priest only responded with nods. The beaconers would go around the towns and help create the beacons, stone tablets inside shrines which recorded the names of the deceased and would be used for worship.

"Also, I will be setting up a new legal system soon. I understand that until now, the priests have been responsible for teaching the common folk some simple letters for beacon worship, but in the future this will be handled by the lord’s estate. However, since I’ll be lacking judges to speak law, especially early on, I expect the shrine to provide some manpower for this."

"Of course. Is there anything else this mortal can be of service with?"

"No, not for now. You can go."

In the end, the Taytakura’s betrayal had turned out useful, as painful as it had been. Ashamed and afraid of repercussions, the priest didn’t even resist his loss of local power and just accepted all of Corco’s terms without question.

"Of course, this mortal will retreat swiftly. Surely, the king will be busy with many matters."

"In fact, work is done for the day. It’s getting late after all." Corco said as he looked out into the last remnants of the disappearing sunshine. "But there’s someone I still have to visit, and I’d rather be alone for it.

__________________________

Up above, the stars darted in and out of cover as streaks of clouds migrated across the black sky. The night was not perfect, but clear enough for the moon and stars to shine their lights and illuminate the world below in a dim, silver glow. After the priest had left, Corco had scaled up the stairs of the main castle, even higher than the lord’s study had been. Up here, at the highest point of Rapra, the highest point of Saniya, was a place even the overconfident Sawo wouldn’t dare enter lightly. The large room was built entirely from paper doors, without a single solid wall or ceiling. Tonight, for the king’s visit, the shrine servants had removed the paper and only left behind the wooden frames. Thus, Corco stood above the city, his view unobstructed to the night around himself, to his new lands.

With slow, measured steps, the king walked over, towards the only object besides himself to catch the moonlight. He stopped in front of the well-maintained, wooden shrine, surrounded by old, pressed flowers and carved with the symbols of royalty. Inside the beacon, which was little more than an open shelf, he found sitting the old stone tablet with the carved name and life, written in the ancient words of the Yaku.

With only the darkly glistening lacquered koto between him and the beacon, Corco kneeled, in the same position he remembered from his youth. Back then, he hadn’t come to Saniya only to escape the poisons of Arguna. He had also come here for this, to worship at this very spot.

"Hey Mom," the son said with a soft voice. "It took me a while, but I’m back."

For a while, he just sat and considered his next words. Unlike the ritualistic meeting he had performed at his father’s body, his mother had passed many years ago. As such, her spirit had long completed its journey through the underworld and reached the stars in the sky. The ancestral tablets, recording the names, family and life of the deceased, would function as a conduit, a beacon to focus the eyes of the divine stars back onto earth. Talk with the tablets was far less formal and far more personal. In fact, many Yaku would rarely talk at their family beacons. They would consider talking to someone who had been gone so far, all the way to the heavens, pointless. However, Corco had always insisted on the talks with his mother, if only for his own comfort.

At last, the son had organized his thoughts and began to catch his mother up on his life.

"So... dad has been held up for a while, but I guess he’ll be with you soon. I cleared that up, if nothing else. And hey, I got this place all to myself now. Yup, heard that right. I’m the proper ruler of Saniya. Don’t worry though, I’ll keep the lavender around. They fit nicely into my idea for early development and later, they’d make a pretty tourist attraction I guess... but I’m sure you don’t care about any of that. Economics and such... never your strong suit... you were never that superficial."

"Just know... that things will only get better from now. So please come by every now and then, and take a look at your fields, from up here. This place, this very spot, I will make it the center of the world, so you will always have something good to see. Oh, and I learned some new compositions. I know you must be busy up there, but please stay around and listen for a bit. I’m a bit out of practice, just getting back into it over the past month."

With nothing but the rustling of Corco’s blue clothes to disturb the peace around them, the son stretched forward and grabbed the instrument positioned in front of the shrine, his mother’s. Slowly, to make sure not a scratch would be left, Corco held up the koto and set it down closer to his front. It took a few seconds of concentration before the prince began to play, but the first note had a timbre and surety far beyond what he had produced back on Mount Urquna. Soon, the top of Rapra castle was filled with the strange sounds from Corco’s memory, with all that music he held within, ready to burst out and change the world.

As the piece carried on, the sounds poured out of the opened room, past the frames, down the castle walls and into the surrounding lands. The king’s song greeted his new people, though his own view was aimed upwards, towards the eternal stars, and towards the memories he shared with every stone around him. At last, Corco had come home.