Chapter 2:
Reirin Faces Execution
SHIN-U STARED UP at the sky, disgruntled, and then heaved another weary sigh as he took in its dazzling blue hues. It was a sunny day without a cloud in sight. The perfect weather for an execution.
“The Lion’s Judgment, eh?” he muttered darkly, stroking the ceremonial sword that hung from his hip. That was the name of the ritual he was about to perform. The suspect was thrown into the same cage as a lion; if the beast spared them, they were innocent, and if it ate them, they were dead. It was a truly brutal and arbitrary trial.
The practice could be traced back to the legend of a sage who had once led the Kingdom of Ei, whose noble soul had inspired a beast to spare his life, but the contemporary version called for riling up a starving lion before sending it into the cage. There was a zero percent chance of survival. In practice, it was no different from an execution.
An enormous cage had been set up in the courtyard at the end of the cloister, and there the court ladies and eunuchs had formed an audience. Their eyes sparkled as though they were awaiting a show. Their choice of humble black garb was nothing more than a measure to prevent the spatter of the defendant’s blood from staining their clothes.
Shin-u heaved yet another sigh.
If only I could kill her in a single stroke and be done with it.
The sentiment wasn’t borne of mercy. He was simply loath to watch the inevitable sight of the woman shrieking, begging for her life, and dragging herself around the cage in disgrace. He’d stood witness to the Lion’s Judgment several times before, and not even grown men could keep themselves from screaming. Knowing that a girl—and Keigetsu, no less—was bound to raise all hell, he dreaded the spectacle to come.
I know enough to understand what a pain Shu Keigetsu is.
Just thinking back on all the trouble she’d brought to the Eagle Eyes’ office was enough to make him grimace. Though the infamous Maiden of the Shu clan loved to adopt a sweet tone and cozy up to those in power, such as Gyoumei, Shin-u, or the four consorts, she always played the tyrant around the eunuchs and lower-ranked court ladies. Verbal abuse and insults were thrown around as a matter of course. On several occasions, she had accused her court ladies of invented wrongdoings in order to withhold their pay as “punishment,” and she had bullied the eunuchs.
With her being a Maiden—one of the highest-ranked in the court—the Eagle Eyes could do little to keep her in check as long as she steered clear of more serious crimes like theft or murder. Now that she stood accused, the tempest of resentment that had long simmered in the Maiden Court would surge forth and descend upon her all at once. Normally, there would be time set aside for mercy offerings, where those who sympathized with the criminal were allowed to feed the beast—in other words, the more virtuous you were, the better your chances of escaping with your life—but nobody was going to do that for her.
Put simply, Shin-u’s job for the day was to ask a hysterical woman a few questions as a formality, then retrieve whatever chunks of meat remained of her at the end of it.
“Captain of the Eagle Eyes” may sound like an impressive title, but in practice, I’m just another servant, he thought as he trudged over to the courtyard, his lips twisting in displeasure.
Being a prince with no claim to the throne was nothing but an inconvenience—both for himself and everyone else around him.
Shin-u knew full well why he had been handed such a bloody, tedious job. He was being tested. Could he devote himself to his role as a servant? Could he follow his orders and eliminate all enemies to the Imperial Court?
He was always being watched. Some looked at him with suspicion, wondering when he might turn traitor. Others feared him as a ruthless executioner. Most farcical of all were the women who gazed at him with unsightly lust, taken in by a beauty that ran only skin deep.
I’m sick of it.
Frankly, he found it all a hassle. His time at the inner court had taught him that the gorgeous compound housed nothing but a mass of malicious, self-interested, and egotistical desire. For that reason, Shin-u had never once cracked a smile since becoming the captain of the Eagle Eyes.
The moment he set foot in the arena, the gate in the back of the courtyard opened, and in came a giant lion the size of three grown men. Shin-u took the beast from its handlers and guided it carefully into the cage. With almost identical timing, Gyoumei, the empress, and the four consorts arrived on the scene and sat down upon the seats of honor.
All the Maidens except for Shu Keigetsu were seated one row behind them. In light of her fever, Kou Reirin had been given special permission to spread a rug under a garden pavilion a short distance away and watch from there. She looked even more helpless and disoriented than usual.
After casting a concerned glance Reirin’s way, Gyoumei calmly announced, “We shall hereby begin the Lion’s Judgment of Shu Keigetsu.”
Once he had read out the charges brought against the accused, he asked if anyone wished to present a mercy offering. The crowd responded with an immediate “no.”
A dark cloud settled over the gentle features of her guardian, Noble Consort Shu, but at length, she gave a deep bow and said, “If she is innocent, she won’t be eaten. If she is guilty of the crime, then what happens to her is no longer any concern of the Shu clan. Either way, a mercy offering won’t be necessary.”