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A moon spirit must live above the clouds, away from humans. Such a celestial beauty should not be tainted by the humans below. Humans might corrupt it with their disgustingness. My great-grandfather told me the story of a nymph who defied these expectations, and came down to earth to deliver a dazzling performance.
Of course she didn’t come to Shaoh; my country is filled with matters that do not concern a fairy. I work with our shrine maiden to deal with these issues, but it seems that they just keep piling up.
A locust plague is coming. The shrine maiden told me herself. I’ve seen reports of lower harvest and minor swarms, soil filled with tubules and I know we do not have much time. There is one thing that maybe will help us.
Trade with Li, that is what I want. That is what Ayla and I travel for months to seize for ourselves.
Ayla is too hotheaded. She is too fierce and I know that one day it will be her downfall or mine, I cannot be sure. She’s the greater power of us two.
I do not want to go along with her plans, but what else is there for me to do? I helped her meet with the insect clan and now I am going with her to see Li fail spectacularly at showing us a celestial nymph.
My dear cousin that I do not hold dear gave the emperor an impossible request, to show us the maiden from our great-grandfather’s tales. It’s just a fable, I am sure. We are going to embarrass the whole country.
The thing I have learned about politics is this: whatever happens at the top of the hierarchy is the last concern of those on the bottom. I was taught this by the shrine maiden. I hold her closer to myself than I hold Ayla. An embarrassment to the emperor hardly affects a beggar.
That is not my concern; I am an emissary who lives at the top. Though really it is; whatever comes out of this trade deal can save the lives of thousands.
I wonder what will happen if this goes awry. Perhaps Ayla will expel me from Shaoh and I’ll be left as a fugitive between nations. How can I avoid this miserable fate? Someone will grant my political asylum, I’m sure. The question is who.
Hokuaren? I don’t think I want to go there. It’s not just one country, and is in fact a collection of lots of small ones. The closest to me are the Ri people. I met their prince once a long while ago.
Li is my best choice, I know. I’ve pondered this hundreds of times. Ayla will join the faction of Shaoh’s king in the future. This is not a question, it is something I’m sure of. That is why I think about my future so often.
My cousin and I are a duo of emissaries. Today we are foreign envoys whom the royal court of Li must scramble to please.
This performance doesn’t interest Ayla so much. She is restless, I can see her foot tapping beneath her dress. No one else can see it but me. There are a lot of things only I can see. I can see my cousin's intentions to become a high consort. To do so I know there is a plan she has in store.
That poor young girl, she’s only sixteen. Ayla heard me voice my thoughts some time ago, and she decided to gift her a pair of pigeons.
I can at least act respectful to the performers. Why can’t Ayla just be patient for just a while? This performance is wonderful. I have seen better, but it is still wonderful.
There is no moon fairy here. Just particularly beautiful women. Ayla is so confident in her own appearance she believes herself to be above these dancers. She has struggles making her mind up. We look very similar, but she looks down on me as if I am uglier than her. Maybe I should give her a mirror this time, and I’ll remove the glass bit and just make a frame. Then I’ll stand behind it and she’ll admire herself, when it’s really just me.
A few other times we have been presented with Li’s beauties, not their high consorts, just beauties. They are hiding their most radiant. Do they think we are so below them that we shouldn’t see the blooming flowers?
I know this is not the case. It is rare for a consort to leave the inner palace. Ayla has complained about this to me many times. Maybe if we were men they’d just send someone to us at night, but we are women and cannot be impressed that way.
In actuality, the four radiant beauties are here with us today. They are in modified carriages for the sake of modesty. Ayla and I sit in a larger carriage. We are the center of attention. I notice many ladies-in-waiting staring up at us in wonder.
I’ve heard that most people thought there was only one envoy, that being Ayla. Hah, I am being ignored. I wonder how many people are surprised that we are in fact two people.
Not far away is his majesty, in a larger carriage than ours. It so happens his favorite consort is a western woman like us. Consort Gyokuoyu, with jade eyes and red hair. I myself have golden hair and blue eyes. So does Ayla.
We both wear red dresses, with only jewelry to differentiate us. It is worth noting that she wears red jewelry and I wear blue. I do not get my own color.
In Li’s rear palace, there is a wonderful peach orchard. That is where we are right now. I’m sure our shrine maiden would love to see this.
The food is quite nice here. It is not to my taste but I do not let it show. Our food is more spicy, in comparison, this tastes bland. The lake in front of us is very beautiful, however. The full moon is lovely. I wonder why they felt the need to include such large torches.
An orchestra plays as we are presented with various methods of entertainment. A play, a sword fight, oh, more dancing. This skit is quite funny.
Ah, are we laughing now? I laugh alongside Ayla. Her laughter is contemptuous. I shoot her a glance but she is so amused at Li’s performances that she does not notice.
This wasn’t what Ayla was hoping for. She wants to see the fabled moon goddess our great-grandfather told us about. Or, more accurately, she wants to see a fake moon goddess. We are not stupid, we know there is no woman that is two meters tall in Li, and if there is, she does not look similar enough.
What Ayla wants is to see them fail to show someone more beautiful than herself. What a shame! She says. What a shame those four beauties are hidden by screens! I feel my smile fade away and I fell my face grow dark.
We speak in Linese sometimes, and sometimes we speak Shaohnese. I talk less than her. I am afraid my skills in Li’s language are not as apt as should be expected. I am afraid I will say the wrong thing, but not too afraid. I am a trained envoy, after all. I keep my speech to a minimum.
Ayla has more of a Shaohnese accent than I do. During our trainings before we got our cycles, she didn’t care too much about foreign languages. She thought herself above it, though she knew she needed it to succeed in being an emissary. Her way of rebelling against this requirement was to never work on her accent.
Why is she leaning out of the carriage? No, stop! Ahh, I can’t believe this…
She refuses help from the servants, and walks confidently across the grass. Just displaying herself for everyone to see. I understand this, she wants to evoke a sense of wonder in the people present. But why must she do it in this way?
She greets him good evening, a slow curtsy as well. I wish you were closer to us so we could converse, she says. Ayla takes a step back as well, and this causes the emperor to deem her not a threat.
I’m so sorry, sir. She is. I wish I could tell you this. There is one thing I can do, however. I walk where Ayla walked and I stop her from getting closer to his majesty.
I think it’s time you came back and sat down. They’ve gone to all this trouble to put on a lovely performance for us. The least you could do is enjoy it. In addition to this I whisper something in her ear. Please, do this later. You’ll have many chances to go through with your plannings sometime that isn’t now. Besides, don’t you wish to see the moon fairy?
She is less than pleased. I am also less than pleased. I bring her back to the carriage. She insists on walking in front of me. That is alright; it means I can stare holes into the back of her head. No one will notice me. It is getting dark.
Hm. It seems there will be no moon fairy today. Let us try again next time. Our carriage rolls away. Is that two maids I see? Nothing important, I look away for five seconds and-
Oh-! A-? What? What is…
Glistening black hair, dazzling in the moonlight. Silver ornaments, pale skin, red lips. Two meters tall. Long fingers, shining almond shaped eyes. Dark eyebrows with a red flower between them, the trailing hem of her pale white outfit, the long, glimmering sleeves, the gleaming silver hairstick!
Where did-?
It can’t be!
She appeared straight out of the moonlight!
It’s like I have been fatally poisoned. I cannot pry my eyes away. There is no controlling my expression now. I am thoroughly, truly, shocked.
Why are we still moving? We continue to roll along the pathway, but all I want to do is continue staring at the…
My carriage has passed by before I know it It is Ayla's turn next. They let her gaze a little longer.
My cousin’s privileges outshine mine, I see. It is fine. I am used to this. Many of the envoyage missions we have partaken in have gone this way.
Dozens of tiny lights surround the fairy. Yes, all fairies must do this, it is their way to outshine all the rest. Their heavenly beauty will attract all manners of tiny spirits.
Our carriages are stopping now, in front of a pond. It is all I can do to lean out of my seat, trying to get another glimpse of this radiance. The beautiful figure stands there waving the scarf against a background of bobbing willow trees, dancing lights, and the moon reflected on the water.
Is this what my great-grandfather had seen all those years ago? It must be, this performance is something that does not come from this world. An immortal moon spirit, that is what this is.
Her red lips curve into a smile more alluring than I have ever seen. The willow branches shake as if to conceal her from disgusting humans, and how can I blame them? Even I wish to do so as well. The flutes from earlier are playing still, but now they feel so much more enchanting.
The beauty raises her hand, and the small lights disperse. How? Are these stars that have lost their ways, and followed the fairy down to earth? Oh! Blossoms rain down from thin air. How?
And all of a sudden she is gone. No! I want to reach my hand out, call her eminence back, but I cannot. There is no time for it now.
Ayla, what are you doing? Why must you do this every time we work together? Why does the shrine maiden send me with her? She knows how terrible Ayla is, why is it my job to keep her in check? I know this is the answer; I am the only one who can.
My cousin shouts and yells. She jumps out of her carriage and corners one of the maids. Ah, I did see her earlier, didn’t I? The moon fairy was holding her hand. She had outshined her so much I barely paid attention to this other young woman. I see she is fairly pretty as well, and holds a long paddle and has a scarf draped around her.
I feel bad for that poor maid, Ayla is becoming so angry at her that she has slipped back into Shaohnese.
What’s going on? Where did she go? In fact, who was that? She questions the young maid in this way. Ayla is more than a head taller than her, and looks so imposing.
The maid is not fazed. All she does is point upward, to the moon hanging in the sky. She waits a beat, and then utters one word.
Diana.
Ayla’s jaw drops, I can see her pride has been utterly shattered. I walk over and grab her by the shoulders, and forcefully take her away. She is so numb and stiff.
The maid bows her head and walks away as if nothing happened. I turn my head to watch her as she goes. She does not see me. It is fine.