1.
He kept Shasai with him during his siesta. It was still a novelty to decide who he'd spend his siestas with- he hadn't done that since he first bound his hair- and almost as unusual to decide what he'd do with them then. But what Kaiei wanted this afternoon was to sleep, and so he did: and Shasai did too, of necessity and doubtless not by choice.
	
He'd told his bedpartners, once his time was his own, to dispense with the etiquette that required them to be up before he himself awoke. He was unwilling to forego the pleasure of waking warm and in company, and it was also useful to see how his servants dealt with a change in protocol. It would be several years before he was free to choose a proper favourite- not until Kaisou's training was finished- but it was no bad thing to use this halfway respite to test the possibilities.

For all that, when he opened his eyes he was alone. It was Shasai's voice that woke him, from the side of the bed where he was standing.

"My lord the Prince, it will soon be the hour for sword practice."

"Anhh." He sat up yawning. After a minute he took the cup of tea from the small tray Shasai held out to him; drank, and regarded Shasai over the cup's rim. His face was alive with some information he was clearly itching to convey. Kaiei raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"The Red Dragon arrived early this afternoon, without warning, and broke in upon the King's council meeting," Shasai told him eagerly. "The King took him to his quarters. He looked not pleased at the Red Dragon's behaviour and later called for the bamboo, but the two would seem to be friends again now."

"Ah." Kaiei sipped tea. Shasai’s eyes danced with speculation. "Where did you hear this, then?"

"From Hama when I went to visit the persimmon tree." 

"And where did he hear it?"

Shasai looked perplexed at the interrogation.

"He had it from the King's understeward."

"Ah." Kaiei drank more tea. "It will be good to see my uncle again."

"I wonder what could have brought the Red Dragon here?" Shasai prodded.

"Mh. I wonder." Kaiei put the cup down. "Send Hourin to dress me. You have leave." Discomfited, Shasai left the room to summon Kaiei's valet. Kaiei allowed himself a distinct regret. Shasai was very good-looking and his partnering exactly to Kaiei's tastes. But in the end... no. A first prince's favourites must have at least the beginnings of common sense. There was too much opportunity for scandal and complication otherwise.

His father entered the dining hall that night in lively conversation with Second Uncle who walked a pace behind him. Uncle looked happy and at peace with himself. Kaiei nodded mentally. He’d been thinking, as he washed down after practice, that it was perhaps natural for Goushou to seek the assurance of Goukou’s love in so rambunctious a fashion. The younger offspring of a family are used to being indulged and so, secure in their importance, can be charmingly at ease with the world. Like Uncle Gouen or little Kaimyou, for instance. But as a second son Goushou stood always in his older brother's shadow, his support and loyalty taken as a matter of course. A little outrageousness from time to time, with the consequent punishment and forgiveness, would serve excellently to call Goukou’s attention to himself, and equally well to demonstrate the understanding between them for all the world to see. Perhaps that’s why Kaisou too is such a handful? Though Kaisou had an impetuous and thoughtless nature as well, which added its own difficulties. Well, and was Second Uncle any less impetuous when he was younger? Gran'fers' gossip suggested otherwise. 

At dinner's end Goukou nodded to him that his presence was required after. His brothers bade their father and uncle goodnight, and Kaiei followed the two older men to the King's apartments. Servants brought tea and fruit. Kaiei would have waited on his elders but Goukou motioned him to sit instead. When the servants were gone his father spoke.

"It is my will that you go to the Southern Ocean for the period of Kaisou's respite. Your uncle has some concerns as to his son's Older. Since he may not deal with the situation himself, I would have you judge of the matter and handle it as you see fit."

Kaiei bowed.

"I won't prejudice you with my own opinions," Second Uncle said. "But Kaishou is unhappy and acting unlike himself. If the cause is not his Older then certainly his Older has done nothing to mend the matter."

"Or may not be able to mend the matter," his father intervened.

"True, ani-ue." Second Uncle grimaced. "I have my prejudices indeed, as you see," he continued to Kaiei. "I do not ask for miracles but I will be grateful for any help you can give Kaishou."

"I am happy if I may be of service to my uncle," Kaiei said. "My uncle will wish me to come as soon as may be?"

"With what haste you may. I shall announce your coming and have them make preparations for a stay of several months. Bring whatever servants you wish for familiarity. I will supply the rest from my own household."

In his own apartments the servants prepared him for the bath. Kaiei was silent in thought while Uncle Mou, his old bathman, washed him down, but when the massage began he spoke.

"Grandfather, I am summoned to the southern ocean for the next few months. Second Uncle is uneasy about my cousin's state of mind and wishes me to see what may be the matter. As I recall, his house is less informal than this one; I have the impression that servants do not speak so much with their masters there."

"That is true, lord. The Red Dragon is not as easy-going as your lord father. One must keep a still tongue before one's betters."

"And among one's equals, how does it go?"

"Why, men gossip all the more among themselves, I would say. That is only natural."

"Indeed. And so the bathmen there will talk freely to you?"
 
"If they're men I knew before, certainly. But many have grown old and left the King's service, and the younger ones-- well, the Red Dragon is particular about who enters his household. I find his junior bathmen to be prudent and well-behaved young men."

"Ahh. That's a problem. My cousin too is prudent and well-behaved, and not likely to show his thoughts openly to his eldest cousin. His near servants will have the closest knowledge of him and I will need that knowledge if my own observations fail me, as I fear they will. But I am perplexed as to how to come at it."

"For the junior servants, you need only have someone with a certain address of person and a small superiority in rank display an interest in them, and the confidences are sure to follow. Half your Highness' own attendants could do it if they would. Alas that chamber servants tend ever to be on their dignity with bathmen, and gran'fers on their dignity with both."
	
Kaiei nodded "Yet the bathmen always know most of a household's affairs, for hot water is a great loosener of tongues. And if Kaishou confides in anyone, it will be one of the gran'fers who cared for him in youth. Surely some of those must still be in his service, even now that he's bound his hair?"

"His household will be a mixture of old and new, Western men and Southern, but his nearest servants are doubtless the ones who came with him from the Western Ocean. They may still feel like outsiders to those of the Red Dragon's household."

"And there's my chance. They may be disposed to talk to a familiar face, regardless of rank. I'll hope your old acquaintance will stand us in good stead with the bathmen and lower serving men. Hourin goes with me as my valet. I'll see what he can do with Kaishou's chamber servants and junior gran'fers. But as for Shinran-dono's men..." He frowned.

"My lord carries his inquiries far afield." 

"One must not say this openly, but my uncle has concerns about him as well. Shinran will not show anything to the world but the prince and the courtier; his servants might tell different tales, but not to me."

"He is the son of the Duke of the Eastern Maelstrom. That family bears itself proud. He'll have brought his own servants, and they too will be on their dignity."

"Mhh." Kaiei thought. "Yet they might be pleased to converse with a close attendant of the Heir of the Eastern Ocean, especially if they could make a favour of it."

"Alas, your Highness' servants as well are prudent and well-behaved young men," his bathman observed wryly. "At least, *I* have seen no rattletraps amongst them."

"Oh, I can think of at least one," Kaiei said in satisfaction. "I shall take Shasai then. People will talk to a face like his and he will talk to me. Indeed, I shall be hard put to stop him."

2
He and his entourage arrived at the Southern Ocean. Goushou and his two sons were out on the battlements to meet him, as well as a full complement of King's councillors and guard-- almost as many as would be present for the High King's arrival. True, Kaiei was fully a man now, having completed his Final Dance, and true too that this was his first visit alone since that change. There was reason enough to make a display if one wished it. But Second Uncle had never been one to stand on ceremony with his nephews. If he chose now to emphasize that Kaiei was the Heir to the Eastern Ocean, it might have something to do with the tall broad-shouldered wind dragon who stood behind Kaishou, flanked by three followers of his own. 

Kaiei knelt to his uncle, who raised him and gave him a kinsman's kiss on the cheek.

"Welcome, nephew, to my ocean. We are most glad of your presence." He used the ancient phrase for nephew that meant 'son of my older brother' and spoke with as much formality as he would have used on a state ocasion.
	
"Your poor nephew rejoices to see the brother of his father in health," Kaiei replied in kind. Kaishou came in his turn to put Kaiei's hands to his forehead. He looked different with his hair bound: also obscurely ill at ease. The set phrases of greeting seemed to reassure him, and it occurred to Kaiei that some of the formality might be for Kaishou's benefit too. 

He received little Kaifu's greeting next, and then found the white dragon being presented to him.

"Nephew, this is my son's Older, Shinran-dono, first son of the Duke of the Eastern Maelstrom," Goushou said with faultless grace. 

"My lord the Prince." Shinran bowed with hands clasped. He straightened and gave Kaiei a smile, courteous but diffused with warmth. He had handsome features and a graceful assurance that made Kaiei think of his youngest uncle.

"Shinran-dono, a pleasure. I am glad to know my cousin's training is in such distinguished hands."

"Thank you, lord. It is an honour to be of service to the Red Dragon of the Southern Ocean."

"You will wish to rest and bathe after your journey," his uncle said. "Kaishou, accompany your cousin to his quarters and see him settled."

Tea and refreshments were waiting in his apartment. Shinran had discreetly disappeared, clearly divining that Kaiei wanted to be alone with his cousin. Kaishou poured his tea and stood silent by as Kaiei drank. Kaiei gave him a smile.

"Will you not sit, Kaishou?"

"I thank you, cousin. I will stand, if you please."

Kaiei raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. Are you in trouble with my uncle?"

Kaishou looked perplexed a minute, then frowned. "No, of course not. My father-in-law does not raise his hand to me."

"I doubt he has need to, with one such as yourself," Kaiei said mildly. "Shall we bathe now?" He stood up and noted, with surprise, Kaishou's sudden tension as Kaiei's chamber servants came to attend to their disrobing.

"Perhaps His Highness would prefer the service of his own valet?" Hourin suggested at his side. 

Kaiei picked up the cue. "Call him if you wish, cousin. The Prince's bathman is here already?" he asked Hourin, who replied in the affirmative.

"No," Kaishou said with hunched shoulders, "it is no matter. Your servants will do."

"As you wish." He glanced at Hourin, who signalled to Rouchi, the youngest present, to wait on Kaishou. Hourin began undressing Kaiei, positioned in such a way that Kaiei found himself with his back turned to his cousin. Hourin kept his head bent and his eyes on his work, and Kaiei felt a wave of satisfaction. He'd been right to put off naming Hourin his chamber majordomo. If he'd followed his first intentions, Hourin would have been left behind to keep the servants in order while he was away, and Kaiei would have been deprived of this fund of delicacy and experience. 

Kaiei's Older had told him that the early years of training may give rise to a certain sensitivity in young men. In not a few cases it leads to uncontrolled lewdness of attitude and speech, and he'd seen enough of that with his own brother. But in others it increases their natural modesty almost to the point of paralysis. No surprise, perhaps, that Kaishou should be the latter. Kaiei had no experience of such a case, but he followed Hourin's lead in keeping his eyes elsewhere as they proceeded to the bath and were washed down. Only when he was neck deep in water-- and a covert glance informed him that Kaishou was too- did he look over at his cousin. The yellow face was not so much composed as lacking expression. Kaiei tried for a sense of his soul energy but found nothing. Kaishou was never easy to read, for he kept a tight rein on his spirit, and it seemed he had only increased that control over time. 

"How goes it with your brother these days?" Kaiei said conversationally. "He must miss your company now you are a man."

"He is well. The air of this sea agrees with him and no wonder, given how my father-in-law indulges him."

"Ah. He is still a child and liable to indulgence, but perhaps you see some trouble ahead?"

Kaishou shrugged. "It is no concern of mine. He will be first prince of the Western Ocean when his father returns, and my uncle's problem then."

Kaiei couldn't keep the edge from his voice. "Kaishou, it is your own father you speak of so slightingly and your brother you dismiss so coldly."

Kaishou looked down at the water. "I beg your pardon, cousin. I was too round."

"That's all very well, but it wasn't your habit to speak thus in the past."

Kaishou said nothing.

"The change to manhood is a hard one, and it comes when you've had other changes to bear. You seem disturbed in spirit. I can only hope you will find that things go easier for you in future."

"I thank you for your concern," Kaishou said, and there was nothing at all to be discerned from his voice. Kaiei sighed.

"This is not your ordinary siesta time, I think?" 

"No."

"Then Shinran-dono will have no objection if I ask you to share my rest. Come, let's to bed."

He signalled to his bathman who readied the towel for him to step into as he rose from the water. Again Kaiei kept his back to his cousin until they were both wrapped in their robes and in the bedroom. Hourin held the covers open for him on his side, did the same for Kaishou, and withdrew at Kaiei's sign. 

"Now, suppose you show me the Spiral Staircase?" Kaiei suggested. There was no answer. Kaishou lay beside him with a face that was an absolute blank: no resistance, no rebellion, but, very simply, no response. Surprised and not a little angry, Kaiei drew a sharp breath to call him to his duty, and then stopped. Kaishou was giving him a message if he could only read it aright.

"You have a distaste for that form?" he asked. Kaishou said nothing. So he was not to have his answer in words. 

"I see," he said, and turned to his other side. "Then I will sleep, for the journey here was long. Company my rest, cousin."

A pause. Then Kaishou's voice, barely audible, said, "Yes."

3
Hourin woke them after half a watch. They dressed again, young Rouchi attending on Kaishou and Hourin on himself. As Hourin knelt before him with his shoes Kaiei said, low-voiced, "I shall want your company tonight." Hourin bent his head in acknowledgement. 

In the great hall, Kaiei was introduced to the greater nobles among his uncle's courtiers, and to certain of the younger generation clearly selected for birth and abilities. After weighty conversation with the former, he was invited by the latter to view the practice grounds. Kaiei obtained Goushou's permission for this, though of course the young men were acting on the King's instructions, and spent the afternoon in light exercise and conversation with five or six dragons closer to his own age. 

Two of them he remarked in particular, a blue dragon called Hyakka, youngest son of the King's steward, and a red dragon called Enkei, heir to a Duke of the kingdom. Hyakka possessed an all-encompassing grace of manner and address that put Kaiei in mind of his own father's chamberlain. Partnering him in Push hands was like dancing, and dancing with more skill than he knew himself to possess, which was always the joy of accompanying a master. The quiet Enkei, by contrast, had a grave wit and quiet intelligence. He spoke little but always to the point, and his presence alone somehow lent an air of ease and warmth to the company.

After dinner his uncle asked him for a game of go. They bade goodnight to Kaishou and Shinran, who would be off to the evening's training, and to Kaifu, who had still an hour or so of playtime before bed, and proceeded to the king's apartments.

Pages laid out the go board and brought them tea. They played the first moves in silence. Kaiei saw that his uncle was using the classic manoeuvre of Three Herons and a Hundred Fish. He attempted to block with the customary counter of Fisherman's Net, at which Goushou changed his strategy to one Kaiei had never yet encountered. He frowned down at the board, trying to see what his uncle was aiming for, but the pattern was beyond him. He moved to the offensive with the Riptide. It seemed to work, for soon he had half his uncle's pieces surrounded.

"I cede," Goushou said. "You're a player out of my league, but I've always known that."

"Thank you, uncle. But what was the strategy you used after I'd begun Fisherman's Net? I've never seen that pattern before."

"There was no pattern. Those moves were completely random."

"Oh. Indeed."

"I should have known it wouldn't work with you. It's only effective if one's opponent can be caught off-balance."

Kaiei bowed, sensing that his uncle was approaching the real reason for this meeting.

"So," Goushou said, "you've seen Kaishou. What do you think?"

"I find him changed, and changed greatly."

Goushou sighed. "In what way?"

"Kaishou has always been so formal and correct that any departure in that regard is striking. Even now he's not openly discourteous, only..." He hesitated, unwilling to tell tales of his cousin.

Goushou nodded. "Kaishou's formality has always made it hard to know his feelings, but before he bound his hair he seemed not unhappy. Conscientious and duty-bound, of course, but from time to time he'd give me a glimpse of his feelings. It was you, I think, who said he uses etiquette as a kind of armour." 

Kaiei nodded. "So I feel."

"I thought we understood each other well enough. But now-- the armour has developed cracks, but what shows through is different than I'd have thought. I sense sullenness and defiance in him. When I question him he apologizes: the armour becomes perfect again, at least until next time. Whatever it is that ails him, he won't tell it to me. Which makes me wonder if he knows himself. Could this be anger at his father's death and his own fate, called forth at last by the unhappiness of adolescence?"

"It's very possible. He finds his adolescence hard, I think, and seems to feel some discontent in his new state."

"Ah? What is it discontents him?"

"I believe he envies his brother's closeness to you," Kaiei said carefully, "or rather, that his brother is more open with you than Kaishou allows himself to be, or *can* allow himself to be at his present stage of life."

Goushou looked distressed. "I've always tried to demonstrate my love and esteem for him. He's never opened his heart to me-- he's his father over again in that way-- but I felt he'd come to rely on me. So he believes I favour Kaifu over himself?"

"More, perhaps, that he's come to realize you and Kaifu are alike in ways he cannot be. Maybe he begins to sense his inborn limitations, which is always hard."

His uncle looked surprised. "You're the last person I'd expect to know any such dissatisfaction."

"Your worthless nephew has failed often enough in his duty and obligations, to my regret, yet even there I fell short only in determination and perseverance. The matter was within my powers if I'd tried. But suppose I were my uncle Gouen's son and not my father's? Think what a disappointment I'd be, who have little talent for verse nor ability to charm men's hearts. And nothing I could do would change it."

"Would you truly be as Gouen is?"

"I'm sorry that I'll never possess such talent as his, for it makes him loved of many. And thus I have sympathy for Kaishou, who cannot be what he would be either, even in everyday matters. For he has the sensitivity one has heard can happen, in the matters of bath and chamber, and it's a burden to him."

"Ahh. Then you think--" his uncle hesitated, then said with an odd awkwardness-- "do you think his unhappiness is connected to his training?"

"Certainly his training can't be easy, especially if his Older is impatient with his scruples. Yet Shinran-dono seems a man of experience and sensitivity in these areas. I think I must partner with him myself and see how it goes, and possibly put in a word or two if there seems need."

"Please do so. I can't say I've noticed much sensitivity on Shinran's part-- he thinks very well of himself-- and it troubled me how that would work with an overly-conscientious boy like Kaishou. But I've never partnered with Shinran myself and so cannot say if he's different abed."

Kaiei endeavoured to keep astonishment from his face. "My uncle did not partner with his son's Older when he first arrived?"

"I've never understood the custom. I think it vulgar, as if I were checking the man's qualifications. And what does one do if he fails to pass muster? Send him home again?"

"Ah, no. I see." To Kaiei it seemed the most ordinary courtesy; this differing view made him blink a little. And wonder how Shinran felt about the matter.

He returned to his chambers where Hourin waited to undress him, and one of the Southern Ocean servants stood to see to their needs. Kaiei looked around the bedroom and spoke to his uncle's man.

"I'll have the shutters opened."

"Forgive me, your highness," the servant said, "but the shutters are needed against the evil night airs."

"Night airs don't trouble me. I cannot sleep in a close room." 

"Highness, under favour, truly it's not advisable. The air of the Southern Ocean can be unwholesome in ways that the Eastern's is not." 

"I'll take my chances. You needn't stay and suffer these vapours. Hourin will see to our after-needs. But shut the chamber door when you go, lest my caprices disturb my uncle's household."

When the two of them were in bed the servant dowsed the lights and opened the heavy shutters on the main window. A salt breeze came in and the far-off sound of waves.

"The breezes of the Southern Ocean are gentler than the Eastern's," Kaiei observed. "Open the other two."

The man obeyed, bowed and took his leave, closing the bedroom door behind him

Hourin lay awaiting Kaiei's signal. Kaiei motioned him closer, and felt a sudden surprise as his servant came into his arms. The sensation of other men's bodies was still new to him, after all these years of companying only Suishou his Older and Kazan his Third- well, and Kaisou, but he doesn't count. But Hourin was different from the other servants he'd partnered with, Hama and the rest: not physically, but in some indefinable soul-sense. Hourin's touch felt like Kazan's: Kaiei's body responded to it unthinkingly. He pressed closer to Hourin's strangely-familiar and strangely-nostalgic solidity, finding the other's lips and warm breath in the dark. His arousal remained at bay, pleasant but not overwhelming, as it usually had during his training. And that suited his purposes too.

"So," he said, low-voiced between kisses, "do you know why I had them open the windows?"

Hourin's answer was a thin thread of sound. "For the same reason one opens the windows at home?"

Kaiei's eyebrows quirked in surprise. "At home I do it to have air. What other reason is there?"
 
"So that the servants and guards may not easily hear what noises one makes abed, nor what conversations one holds there."

"Ah," Kaiei said, with a small snort of laughter. Doubly assuring, the steady sense of Hourin in the dark and the steady intelligence of Hourin's soul. "My purpose was the second, though I shall be glad if the first comes later. But I wanted to ask you about my cousin, and I would not have what I say reach any ears but your own." 

Hourin nodded his understanding.

"You saw before I did that Kaishou is afflicted with shyness. You've had experience with those who suffer so?"

"One or two, and most particularly the third brother below me. It's a burden, but how it goes depends ultimately on the character of the youth who suffers it."

"How does one overcome it?"

"Some think a brisk impatience the best route so that the young man becomes accustomed to frankness, but to me that seems like lacerating a wound until the flesh loses all sensation. Better to avoid inflaming the sensitivity without need, I think, while representing to the youth that his outraged modesty is simply one of the pains of adulthood that must be endured. I found my brother more able to bear what he felt was the shame of training when he was relieved of the shame of being ashamed."

"Ahn. I would try that, except that Kaishou has become cold and brusque to the point of mannerlessness. Do you think this defiance is a part of his shyness, or has it some other cause?"

"If your servant may speak frankly, his anger seems excessive for the former alone. But again, Kaishou-sama is a prince and used to deference. His dignity may be outraged by what must be done during training, and in his case done by a stranger and by his lower servants."

Kaiei nodded.

"Do you know the real reason we were sent here?" 

"The Red Dragon is concerned about his heir and has doubts about the Prince's Older."

"My father's servants do indeed know everything that happens in his castle. Yet there was no one nearby when my father told me why I was ordered here."

"But there were several bathmen standing by when your father first made the suggestion to your uncle."

"Ah well. Men do talk in the bath, and that I hope will turn to my purposes. I expected difficulties in discovering what the trouble is, for Kaishou was never one for confidences, but now he simply refuses to say anything. I doubt that a plain order to speak will open his mouth, so I must rely on what I can glean through others. Thus I would have you make yourself agreeable to the men of Kaishou's household, especially those chamber servants who have known him since infancy, and Lord Shinran's men too if they should condescend so far. If it's possible to convey the same notion to Shasai without putting ideas in his head, do so. I count on his charm and abilities to gain me information, but, well..."

"Indeed. He's a natural gossip, and one shouldn't taint nature with artifice. I think it will do if I tell him that your Highness encourages his servants to form what liaisons they wish here, the better to promote good feeling among the oceans. Whether that will extend to Shinran's household, though, I'm not certain. Those of the Southern Maelstrom have a reputation for pride and coldness."

"I must partner with Shinran myself to see what I can make of his character. He struck me as a pleasant and sensitive man, but my uncle evidently disagrees."

"That's perhaps to be expected."

"How so?" Kaiei asked in surprise.

"The King has no great regard for Lord Shinran's father. He dislikes the Duke's poetry, and the more so, perhaps, because the Black Dragon esteems it so highly."

"I am no poet," Kaiei said, "and cannot understand the strong feelings the art arouses. But if this disagreement between my uncle and the duke is common knowledge... Is it?"

"Your servant is too small of talent to be admitted to the company of the great poets, but I fancy his Majesty's disapproval is known only to a few. Men of cultivation devote their meetings to talk of their art, not talk of each other."

"Ah. So my uncle may have a prejudice against Shinran because of his father, which Shinran must take as a dislike of himself. For certain, my uncle didn't company with him when he first came here, which anyone would think a slight. And in that case, it would mean--" Kaiei frowned, wondering why his mind felt so muddy of a sudden. "I'm too tired to think properly. We'll leave this for tomorrow." 

He shifted in Hourin's arms and burrowed his face into Hourin's neck. As if of its own will his mouth lipped at the sleek skin of Hourin's jaw and the sharp edges of the ear above it. Hourin drew a deep breath and turned so that his thigh pressed against Kaiei's emerging root. "Will my lord have the Serpent's Coils, or will he come above his servant?"

Kaiei sighed his indecision. "The Serpent's Coils are never enough for my satisfaction, but I don't want to leave your arms. If only there were some way to reach fulfillment as we are--"

"Let my lord put his leg across my hip--" Kaiei did so. Hourin's fingers played about his sheath, enticing him into full emergence, and then stroked steadily at his root. Kaiei pressed closer to Hourin, twining an arm about his neck to bring their mouths together: and so found his delight drawn out for some time before pleasure weakened all his limbs and sent him to sleep.

4
Hourin was still beside him when he woke in the morning, awake and attending his lord's pleasure. Kaiei loosed him, thoughtful. Hourin brought the tea that the Southern Ocean servants had brewed and laid it on the side table.

"Will my lord bathe?" Hourin asked. "I washed my lord last night after he was done." 

"I thought as much; but it's true, the night air here is heavier than in our sea, and I could do with more than a sponging down. Send for the bathman. Then you may go to your own toilet." An obscure impulse made him add, "My thanks for last night."

"My duty to your Highness," Hourin said, a faint note of pleasure in his voice, and departed.

Thoughtful, Kaiei proceeded to the bathplace where Uncle Mou washed him well, with much splashing and rinsing of the soap.

"I passed yesterday afternoon with several friends from the Western Ocean," the old man said in the middle of this, "and the evening with one in particular, that I've known these past twenty years and more. We spent some time catching up with each other's news, and I heard a little of how it goes here in the Southern Ocean. They say Lord Kaishou is having a hard time of his adolescence."

"In what ways especially?"

"Moodiness and sadness, my friend calls it."

"Not sensitivity and shame?"

"He said nothing of that."

"Odd. But with a servant from his childhood he might feel none. Did your friend say how Lord Shinran behaves towards my cousin?"

"No. Lord Shinran doesn't bathe with Lord Kaishou any more."

Kaiei's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"He hasn't joined him in the bath for some time now," Uncle Mou went on. "My friend wondered if some accident had befallen the Duke, for he suffers no bodily deformity that would make him conceal his person."

"No," Kaiei said, "but my cousin now suffers from an excessive modesty, even with myself who has known him from birth. Maybe the Duke is unwilling to exacerbate it with sight of his own nakedness. That suggests a fine tact and consideration in him. Or else that my cousin's sensitivity is morbid to a degree I hadn't realized."

"Could it have to do with the stage Lord Kaishou is at now?" 

"Meaning-?"

"His Highness must be approaching his First Crossing?"

"Oh, of course." Kaiei frowned. "A hard time for anyone, but for a shamefast youth the thought of partnering with an older man, and in such a fashion, must be unusually painful. And how is his First Crossing to go, if he suffers so much already?" 

"Hard, as your Highness says. But since Lord Shinran is aware of Lord Kaishou's scruples, he'll be as tender of them as he may. It could be much worse."

"That's true." He bit his lip in thought. "My cousin is sensitive and proud. I could help him if he'd let me, but he keeps the gates of his heart closed against me. I think I may have to storm them by force if reason doesn't prevail, but that may make him hate me."

"Or relieve him completely. Youths who are paralyzed by shame often wish that another would speak of the things they feel they cannot."

"Indeed? What if their shyness makes them unwilling to undertake the Forms at all?"

"Well now, I did hear of one case where it was necessary for the young man's Older to take hold of his hand and make the proper motions for him. Once he'd completed the form not of his own will, so to speak, it became easier to do it voluntarily."

"Ahh." Kaiei nodded; and sighed unexpectedly. "I'm feeling all my inexperience just now." 

"Your Highness is not a man of seventy winters, shall I say?"

Kaiei laughed. "It's not just you. I partnered with Hourin last night. I'd always assumed-- well, that after the Final Dance one is a man, and so I find it with Shasai and Hama and the rest. But with Hourin I felt as if I were still a youth in training. It's no fault of his. There seem to be things I never learned with my Older..."

Uncle Mou chuckled. "Shasai and Hama are of an age with your Highness, young men just out of their training. Hourin is in his middle twenties and has all the experience that goes with it. Naturally he'd recall your Highness' Older and Third to you. Training merely gives a man the foundations of the art. Like swordsmanship and dancing, it's practice with different partners that brings the skill."

"It's a problem I hadn't looked for. I shall be partnering men older than myself as a matter of diplomacy, and it seems I must appear to disadvantage with them."

"But no one expects one just past training to have the abilities of a man old enough to undertake the Great Dance, and certainly not if he's the heir of the Eastern Ocean. It's they who must provide pleasure to your Highness, not the other way about."

"Still I must regret my awkwardness. I dislike not to do credit to my teachers, or worse, reflect badly on Lord Suishou's instruction."

"Well, but, that's what the Respite is for. Choose partners of Hourin's age and let them instruct you by example, as all men do. Is it so hard for your Highness to be a learner?"

"Hard maybe to be a learner still," Kaiei said ruefully. 

After breakfast Kaiei found his company claimed by several of the young dragons he'd been introduced to the day before, the red Enkei among them. 

"What is your Highness' pleasure for the day?" he was asked, and answered, "I would take some exercise, either of body or sword or both." And so it was they repaired to the dojo and spent an hour or so in the warriors' exercises. They finished and were walking about the outside practice area to cool down when Kaiei espied his cousin at sword practice with his tutor in arms. He stopped to watch. Kaishou was unaware of him, for his master pressed him hard and Kaishou's attention was focussed on the moves. 

"Stop, Highness. Your thrust is again too long. Repeat the movement." He came at the attack and Kaishou moved to block him, still overextended.

"No, Highness. Hold your arm back." He thrust his sword into the earth, took hold of Kaishou's arm from behind and pushed it forward. "There. There and no further. Can you remember this time?"

"Yes, Lord Kankyo. My apologies."

They repeated the movement, Kaishou's face screwed up with effort.

"No. Still too far. Come over here. Stand there. Now, thrust until your point touches the wall." Kaishou obeyed. "Keep on doing it until I tell you to stop." He watched with folded arms as Kaishou thrust over and over again. Sweat ran down Kaishou's face, but he continued doggedly, and his mouth curved up almost as if in pleasure. 

Kaiei turned back to his companions, courteously waiting to have his attention again, and said, "Your ocean's waters are peaceful and their depths full of wonders. I could relish a swim in them now."

They repaired to the edge of the battlements, changed into dragon form, and plunged in. Kaiei slid happily down through the pale green world. So calm, so warm, so clear was the Southern Ocean that it brought his soul to an instant tranquility and Self-lessness, of the kind he achieved only in deep meditation. 

He looped and glided through the fathomless depths, letting his soul go free from him for a space. In the air one might become lost, but in the water there was no such danger, only refreshment and happiness and the dawning of insight. It was with a small reluctance that he returned to the present when his mind told him they were approaching the noon hour and the mid-day meal.

His companions went with him to the entrance to the palace where they bowed and begged leave to depart. Hyakka, Enkei and two others of higher birth stayed to escort him to his chambers.

"Tell me, Lord Hyakka, where do you serve in my uncle's household?"

"I am attached to Prince Kaishou's household, your Highness."

"I'm glad to hear it. Are you on duty there most days?"

"For the present your servant has been commanded to see to your Highness' needs."

"I may hope then to spend the siesta with you some day."

"It will be my very great pleasure to do so."  

His uncle kept him occupied at lunchtime with enquiries as to his two youngest brothers' health and progress. Kaiei answered as well as he could, though to many questions he could only say, "My uncle's pardon, your foolish nephew doesn't know."

"I suppose I shouldn't expect a young man to concern himself with nursery affairs," Goushou said ruefully, "but I'd wondered how the little ones were getting on. Your father never thinks to tell me. Perhaps he doesn't know himself." He sighed and rose, and the company with him. "Come, let us take our tea out on the terrasse."

Kaiei wondered that his uncle would prefer to sit in the blazing noonday sun, but discovered that light awnings had been set up to admit the breeze while deflecting the sun's stroke. They sat and drank their thin fragrant tea in peaceful silence.

"I hope you amuse yourself here, Nephew?"

"Very well, I thank you, Uncle. The young men of my cousin's household see to my entertainment, and a little, I may hope, to my instruction."

"That's what the respite is for," his uncle nodded. Kaiei felt heat in his face.

"True, though I was thinking more of the martial arts. Several of them are my masters in hand combat and swordsmanship, and I must be on my mettle when I partner with them."

"You have a fondness for the dojo then?"

"Yes, since I lack talent in the scholarly arts. I observed my cousin there today. He puts forth great effort for his master-at-arms."

"Kaishou is always conscientious about study. That at least hasn't changed."

"This went past conscientiousness, I think, into real enjoyment. His tutor works him hard but he seems to delight in the challenge."

"Mhh. Perhaps he finds the release there that he cannot find in his training in the Forms."

"Very possible," Kaiei said, much struck with this. "For in the practice of arms there's no room for shame of the body. And now I wonder..."

"What?"

"His tutor pressed him hard, over and again, and Kaishou revelled in it. And I remember that he was raised by my uncle Gouron, who is as strict with his sons as my father is with me. Firmness is what Kaishou is used to. So I wonder if the problem is not that Lord Shinran indulges him too little but that he regards Kaishou's feelings too much." 

His uncle looked perturbed. "You must speak with him about the matter. Certainly it's not there that I expected the trouble to lie." He was silent a moment. "Do you think I too have been overindulgent?"

"I would never suggest such a thing. My uncle is naturally tender with children, as I know from experience. But it may be that in his unhappiness my cousin requires a firm hand, and to hear that he must behave as is expected of a Prince."

"I would sooner give him sympathy and understanding of his pain. You too are firm with your brothers, I know, for you are so much your father's son. But firmness without sympathy leads only to increase of suffering, and that is something *I* know from experience."

"Kaishou knows that my Uncle is sympathatetic to his troubles. If you were firm with him as well you might find him much relieved."

"Or I might find an increase of sullenness and resentment. I've been as strict as it lies in me to be, and it hasn't eased his unhappiness."

"Yet my uncle has not tried discipline with him yet?"

"Nor will I. I will not have my sons abused as I was."

"Abused?" Kaiei said in surprise. 

"Unhappiness is no crime, and I won't punish him for it."

Kaiei was silent, knitting his brows. "Forgive me, uncle, but I cannot understand. Certainly unhappiness is no fault, but rudeness and carelessness are. Kaishou knows that, and is rude and careless anyway. If you let it pass--" 

"I do not let it pass. I've remonstrated with him often enough."

"But when remonstration fails, the matter is allowed to rest. Is it possible that Kaishou thinks it's because you believe his misdeeds not important enough to merit punishment? That you are indifferent to what he does?"

"Kaishou knows that I will always be kind, no matter what he does! How could he take that for indifference?" 

Kaiei lowered his gaze and didn't answer. 

"Speak," his uncle said. "I asked you here for your help. You are a man now and may say your mind openly."

"I have no wish to anger my uncle."

"No matter if you do. I won't require it of you." The king gave a bitter laugh. "I am tender of my nephews, as you said."

"There is kindness and kindness," Kaiei said carefully. "And at times it may be no kindness to be kind. Kaishou is used to my uncle Gouron's ways and it seems to me that he flourished under them. You are tender of him and never call him to account. But that is how one treats children, and Kaishou is a man. Perhaps he feels slighted by your leniency, believing that you still think of him as a child to be cossetted and indulged?"

His uncle looked stricken.

"Has he said anything to make you think so?"

"No," Kaiei admitted. "He says nothing, nor would I expect him to. He was never one to complain. If he has a grievance he would scorn to speak it, and certainly not if his resentment was against my uncle."

"Yet it is not in me to ill-treat my sons-- no, even if they wish it of me. And surely no boy would ever complain that his father failed to whip him." 

"But I have thought so myself. Punishment is hard to bear, but easier than knowing one has grieved or angered one's father without being able to make amends. My father has sometimes let pass faults in my brothers or myself, and the sense of my own shortcomings was only doubled thereby." He smiled suddenly. "Possibly that's why he refused to punish me for them."

Goushou gave an unhappy little laugh. "That sounds like my brother. But Kaiei, I must leave this in your hands. If it is firmness and discipline Kaishou desires, he may have them of you. I cannot do it myself."

6
Siesta was approaching. Hyakka had indicated his willingness; it remained only to send for him. Kaiei turned to give the message to Shashi walking two paces behind him, but stopped in sudden realization.

I should have spoken to Shinran at breakfast, or sent a message asking for his company today. How could I have forgotten?

"Highness?"

"Nothing." It's too late now; he'll be with Kaishou. I'll write to see if he can arrange to be free at tomorrow's siesta, and summon Hyakka now...

But yet he did not. Brows drawn, he proceeded along the colonnade to his rooms. The idea of partnering with Hyakka was enticing and filled him with anticipation. Which made him realize all the more clearly how reluctant he was to company with Shinran. 

'Lord Shinran is a man of address; why should he displease me?'

The answer was both easy and mortifying. With Shinran his lack of experience would be exposed to a more discerning and possibly less forgiving eye.  An underling would occasion no such chagrin; he could happily learn from and with one such as Hyakka. But it was painful to lose face before a noble in the full flower of manhood.

Kaiei rolled mental eyes at this childishness. 'I was mistaken, no more. I thought I'd be a complete man after the Final Dance, not knowing that the rest of the world sees us as still unpractised in the ways of society. What's odd about that? No one expects me to have a true warrior's ability in the art of weapons, even though I am of an age for war. I'm the only one who thinks it shameful to lack a grown man's mastery of the Forms.'

And in any case, the state might turn to his advantage. 'It will be an opportunity to see how Shinran behaves when he finds inexperience and clumsiness in those of superior rank.' 

Aloud he said, "Have ink and brush ready for me in my rooms. I must write a note before I take my rest."

"Yes, lord. Should I send for one to company you?"

"Yourself will do." Shasai looked pleased, and Kaiei sighed inwardly. Let's see what he's found out this last day; Hyakka can wait until I've learned to keep my mind on my duty. 

But there was an unfamiliar serving man waiting for him in his apartments, who knelt and offered him a scroll.

Shinran son of Youmei, Lord of the Maelstrom, gives greetings to Kaiei, First Prince of the Eastern Ocean. If his Highness is at leisure this siesta, or on some near day, I would ask for the honour of attending upon his rest.

	Happy the cloud-chasing petrels, two by two,
	That stitch the air and ocean in their flight.

"I shall be delighted to partner with your master," Kaiei said. "Pray invite him here." 

Shinran arrived with both serving man and bathman. Together he and Kaiei disrobed and washed in the steam of the bath. Kaiei observed Shinran with a civil eye. There was no reluctance to be seen naked, and no need. Shinran was well-proportioned, muscled without bulk, and as graceful out of his clothes as in them.

"You seem to be well-practised with weapons," Kaiei said when they were in the water. "Is it the sword that gives your arms such strength?"

"Some sword play, yes, but I prefer the lance that warriors use on the continents. It's a different kind of weapon-- longer and differently balanced, and it requires a different set of movements to wield. I had tutors brought from the court of the Yellow River, and they advised me that our usual exercises in the dojo would be insufficient to learn mastery. And therefore I set about special training, that involved swimming through the roughest seas and climbing the mountains of the continent."

"Climbing? How does one do that?"  

"One pulls oneself hand over hand up steep slopes and vertical rock faces. Nothing strengthens the shoulders and wrists so well." Shinran flexed his arm to demonstrate.

"I've never heard of such an exercise. But it would be more common on the continents, naturally, that have mountains to practise on. I wonder how one might attempt such a thing here in the oceans." 
 
"Not easily. The oceans lack the variety of the fixed lands, and their sameness induces a certain commonness among us. I find this in poetry as well. Ocean dragons employ the same figures and tropes, often of things they know nothing of first hand. Unless one has friends on the continent, or has accepted invitations there to the Great Dance, how many men actually know what a pine tree looks like, or have seen the colour of a peony?"

"That is true," Kaiei agreed. Pine trees and peonies he had always assumed to be simply figures of speech, but knowing himself no poet he kept that thought to himself. Shinran happily overlooked his vague replies; like Kaiei's uncles he was happy to talk at length about poetry and seemed not to notice the lack of real response. He broke off at last, in the middle of an exposition on which colour words might be used to describe mid-sea waves as against inshore ones, to say, "Ah, but I see the water is growing cold. Perhaps we should proceed to bed?'

"A good idea," Kaiei agreed. The servants dried them and wrapped them in thin gowns and Hourin saw them into bed.

"No need of the covers," Shinran said, casting them off. "What do you say to the World Serpent, Highness?"

"Personally I find the division of attention it requires an impediment to pleasure. The Tunes for the Jade Flute please me more."

"Certainly," and Shinran opened his robe. Kaiei raised mental eyebrows, but set about to work, and soon accomplished Shinran's arousal and satisfaction. 

"Ah, good." Shinran sighed deeply. "Shall I do the like for your Highness?" Kaiei nodded. Shinran parted the skirts of Kaiei's gown and lowered his head. His technique was impeccable, Kaiei realized, better even than Shasai's. The timing was perfect, the pressure nicely gauged, and Kaiei felt himself ungenerous for missing the sometimes clumsy enthusiasm of Hama and his usual companions. 'Lord Suishou said that the focus must be on technique when one partners for diplomatic reasons. A pretense of affection or personal interest is vulgar, and I would certainly not wish it from Shinran." 

Technique in the event was enough to secure him a swift release. He waited to see what Shinran would propose next, the better to understand the man's tastes; but Shinran lay down as if composing himself to rest. Kaiei remembered something else Suishou had said-- "When partnering an older man whose good will you seek, put rank aside, adopt an easy complaisancy, and follow his lead. Young men are readier for this activity than older ones, and you may embarrass him if you require response where none is possible." "How old is old?" Kaiei had asked, and been shocked at Suishou's answer: "After two or three Great Dances, especially if he has growing sons. Truly, Prince," he added, seeing Kaiei's surprise, "the energy and appetite of youth have a short span and begin to slow early."

Kaiei doubted he'd be happy to stop after a single bout had his partner been Hyakka or even Shasai. 'Diplomacy is indeed different,' he mused, for in fact he was content to leave the matter. 'There's always tonight for my pleasure, unless I summon Shasai this afternoon.'

Shinran's voice interrupted his thoughts. 

"You must have guessed that I had a reason for coming here."

"I thought it possible," Kaiei answered. Kaishou was approaching his first crossing, and might well be left to his attendants' preparations at siesta time. "My cousin, I assume?"

"Yes, exactly." Shinran sighed. "How do you find him?"

"Much changed from before-- more withdrawn, less willing to please."

"Indeed." Shinran's tone spoke volumes.

"You do not find him amenable to instruction?"

Shinran sighed again. "I do not speak ill of Kaishou's temperament. Doubtless he would like to please if he could. But-- how shall I say this?-- he has no understanding of what the Forms are for, or why his body must be trained for them."

"But surely you have told him what purpose the Forms have, and how necessary they are both for social life and a well-balanced nature--"

"Naturally. He understands with his head. But for the rest-- if I may speak frankly, he might as well be a child of eight years. His body responds to the early Forms of its own volition, but his will is not part of it. He-- well, he doesn't understand. It's ridiculous to say a boy of thirteen is too young for training, but in Kaishou's case, that is what I must conclude."

Kaiei raised eyebrows. "That's a problem indeed. For Kaishou's of an age for the First Crossing and his hairbinding--"

"-- and men will wonder when it's to take place, and the King most of all. But it cannot happen now. Kaishou is nowhere near ready. And I may not even mention the matter to the king in propriety. You see my problem?"

"Yes, indeed.

Partner Enkei as practice to partneirng Shinran
Signal

Overtures to Shinran- free at siesta http://chomiji.livejournal.com/71926.html

	

	Hourin re sensitivities, mentions past history maelstrom Goushou's dislike of family. Kaiei partners for instruction not pleasure.
	Kaiei questions g's worries re duke. Remembers shou's blankness, thinks it more than that. Change in status, change in residence, los sof father. 
	Shinran: not ready fr hairbinding or first crossing. Doesn't understand what it' all about. Gives Kaishou a distaste for him; 'how can I carry out his crossing under these circumstances?'

Learns from Enkei

"How often does Lord Shinran come to my cousin's apartment?"
"One day in ten, maybe; or less."
"And you told no one of this?"
"No, your Highness. One cannot bear tales against one's superiors, or seem to criticize the behaviour of the great. His Highness' gran'fers seemed to show no concern--"
"Do not make excuses. You have been most remiss in your duty, Enkei."
"Yes, Highness. Your servant will bear what punishment is due him."
Kaiei grimaced inwardly. Finally there was someone who took responsibility, someone who spoke the same language as himself-- and of course it was the one man who seemed least at fault.
"Kaishou's gran'fers should have known better, but they're outsiders here and may not have known who would listen to them. You are native to this ocean. Why did none of you speak to your fathers, who might have told the King?"
"The situation is delicate, Highness. There's ill-feeling between the King and the Duke's father, for reasons your Highness must know--"
"They disagree on matters of poetry, that I know. Has it sparked so much ill-feeling between them?"
Enren regarded him. "Your Highness has heard of the silver pears?"
"No. What are they?"
Enkei dropped his eyes to the floor and kept them there. "The duke of the Eastern Maelstrom loved an Ocean King and addressed this poem to him-" and he quoted it. "The King was so moved by its excellence that he consented to the Duke's desire and lay beneath him."
Kaiei blinked in shock. "This is true?" 
"Yes, Highness."
"No wonder that my uncle has a distaste for the Duke." The thudding of his heart settled to a more regular pulse. "But yes, I see this makes difficulties. I must go roundabout to settle the matter. From what he's said, some of Shinran's neglect may have arisen from honest error." He stopped, aware of Enren's silence. "But I see that the rest of it is due to some affection he developed elsewhere. Who?"
"The duke companies with this man and that, but chiefly with Hyakka."
"Hyakka." Kaiei swallowed disappointment. "One of Kaishou's own servants. No wonder that he's outraged. And what was Hyakka thinking of? A steward's son should have more sense."
"The duke is a masterful man and Hyakka-dono is in the same quandary as the rest of us. He feared that a refusal would make the duke unkind to his Highness."
"That is not reason enough to have occupied the duke's time that should have been devoted to my cousin. I will deal with him." He looked at Enkai. "You have my thanks, Enkei-dono. I wish only that you ahd spoken earlier." He nodded dismissal. Enkei bowed and departed.
	Kaiei rose and walked over to the window. The deep blue waters of the southern ocean lay spread out below the deep blue sky. His mind moved slowly over the pattern that lay in his mind. Shinran; Shinran's father; who loved an Ocean King-- Second Uncle himself? Surely not, unless there'd been a falling out... He flinched from his thoughts: it is wrong of me to consider these things. But consider them he must if he were to proceed justly. If not Second Uncle, then-- And then he remembered Hourin saying how much Fourth Uncle esteemed the Duke, and how little that was to SecondUncle's tastes. Fourth Uncle? How... very unexpected.

Yes, he thought as he fell from the daylight world, and that one other time as well. His eyes watched the sun-filtered water before them, but in his head he saw the darkness of night and the flickering of a multitude of torches. His ears heard the shrilling of conches and flutes, and his senses registered the dragons standing on all sides, motionless as statues, intent on the two forms that were all that moved in that entire world: himself and the tall figure he danced with across the width of the great square of the palace of the Eastern Ocean.
	I am a man now. That has changed for me since I was here last.