Alternate Generals II

"That would be futile. This is the Month Without Gods, the yearly time when the greatkami gather at Izumo. But even if our gods were here, your offer would be rejected. This war is the will of Amaterasu, benevolent ancestress of the imperial house. She first entrusted it to my beloved husband-"

"— the Emperor Chuai, yes. That nice young man told me. Is that the only reason why you pursue this war? Because you fear that if you disobey, the benevolent goddess will kill you, too?"

All that Jingo replied to this was: "Bah."

"You are so certain of her good will?"

"Naturally. She did not order this war for herself-what need does the greatkami of the sun have for mere mortal kingdoms? — but for the enrichment and advancement of her beloved descendants, the imperial house of Japan."

Old One's wrinkled face twisted into an expression compounded of disbelief, surprise, and unconditional rejection of every word she had just heard. "O wise Empress, with all due respect and every honor due to your position, I ask you: Are you out of your mind?What descendants? Your husband is dead, and you may correct me if I err but as I understand ithe was Amaterasu's descendant, not you."

"I will not correct where there is no error," Jingo said. "He was in fact then the last of her line."

"And he died three years ago." Old One felt uneasy in her bones. Surely the Empress did not need to have such things spelled out for her? Shelooked sane enough.

"I know it well. I mourn him to this day and will forever honor his memory. All the more reason to win these kingdoms for our son."

Old One's mouth opened. No sound came out. She closed it again, then made another stab at expressing herself, but this one likewise came a cropper. Closing both her mouth and her eyes she took a deep breath, mentally rattled through the names of her eleven husbands to center herself, and finally was able to say, "Your husband diedthree yearsago. Do they handle these mattersthat differently in Japan?" She pointed definitely at the Empress' flat belly.

Jingo laughed and placed her hands over her abdomen. "In the natural course of things, we women of Japan handle these matters much as do you women of Korea. I know I don't look like a woman with child, but-"

"Threeyears," Old One insisted. "He's been dead for threeyears not threemonths. You, a woman with child? By this time, you should look like a woman with water buffalo!"

"All thanks to Amaterasu. I fulfill her wishes and she permits me thus to carry her descendant, the Emperor-to-be, until this war is over."

Old One looked skeptical. She had had many years' practice at it. "Now let me see if I have this right," she said. "You are enduring a pregnancy of three years' duration, so far, that will not come to its natural end until you win a war that you are waging without bloodshed?"

Jingo graciously acknowledged that this was so.

"In that case, O Empress, I don't need to set up my tripod to read your future: You're going to be pregnant a long, long,long time."

"I disagree. In fact-" the Empress flashed Old One a playful smile "-the war is almost won. You see, I have within my power a weapon of such devastating strength, such awesome might, such-"

"I know, I know: The Tide Ebbing and Tide Flowing Jewels."

Jingo lightly waved away Old One's mention of Amaterasu's miraculous gifts. "Besidethis, they are nothing. For this is a weapon that slowly but surely devours from within, and against which there is neither protection nor remedy."

"Poison?"

"Boredom."

The Empress stood up and began to pace the rice-straw mats that floored the imperial pavilion. "You have lived long, Old One; you know the way of things. A man begins a war with his head befogged by dreams of wi

"If everyone deserts, how can anyone win?" Old One demanded.

"By the old rule of the last man standing. Only in this case, he will be commanded by a woman."

"What! You think your forces will triumph? They'll be as bored as ours!"

"Yes, but when my men debate ru

Old One stared in awe at the Empress. Brilliant, she thought. She may be crazy-a three-year pregnancy? — but she's right. A war without battles can only endure for so long until even the most glory-blinded man gives it up as a bad bargain. And there are practical matters to consider as well: Our kings can not feed their soldiers forever, not when those soldiers are the same men who must be home to till the fields. But the Japanese will be fed with supplies from their own land, carried on ships sped across the waters by those accursed Jewels. An empty belly swallows dreams of glory quickly. It is only a matter of time indeed, and then… defeat.

Old One got down on hands and knees and pressed her forehead to the mats. "O Empress, who can stand against the truth? I concede your eventual, inevitable victory and humbly offer you my services." Sitting back on her haunches, she added: "I have seen the ba

"Don't be silly," said the Empress. "What terms? I win, I get Korea. Well, my son the Emperor-to-be will get Korea, but I'll take care of it for him until he's old enough to appreciate it."

Old One did not care to hear her country spoken of as if it were a piece of Chinese porcelain to be kept out of reach of a rambunctious toddler. "Unconditional surrender? Is that all you will accept?"

"It's all I need to accept."

Old One scowled. The Empress met her angry look with an expression of utter composure. Both women knew that there was only truth behind Jingo's words, a truth that the Empress saw no need to honey-coat in order to make it more palatable.

The Empress could not know that Old One was as fond of honey as any bear, and just as liable to make reprisals if deprived of it.

You are as arrogant as a fortified town, O Empress, safe behind the walls of your goddess, and your Jewels, and your indisputable strategy, Old One thought, closing her eyes lest the sight of Jingo's complacent face should make her lose her temper at a diplomatically inadvisable juncture. I have never cared for walls. I swear that I will be the one to bring them down around your ears. Have I lived this long, mastered so much lore, learned so many spells, gathered so many memories and not one among them all will save my homeland? May the gods close my eyes with earth if that is so! The answer lies within me. The question now is only… where?

Old One retreated deep within herself, searching for the solution she knew she must find. With her eyes thus closed and her breathing slowed by deep contemplation, she lost all track of time. She was unaware that she had become the picture of an ancient woman who had grown weary of the world's commotion, had settled her dignity around her like a cloak, and simply had taken her leave. Her sudden silence and immobility alarmed the Empress, who grabbed her by the shoulder and called out her name in a most distracted ma