it came. His generals alone saved the empire from being overrun, and a border siege began.
In the summer tower the siege was but an abstraction. The emperor’s every thought was of his wondrous bride. When the generals petitioned for his advice in the siege he told them, “Do what you feel is necessary,” and then dismissed them. The greatest strategist their people had ever known had deferred to his generals and his advisers. The agents of Maitake gleefully reported that the empire must fall, and recommended more assaults on the borders.
The emperor’s advisers held an emergency meeting. “Can we trust the generals?” one adviser asked.
“Their allegiance certainly. Their skill against this formidable foe is…untested, though. They’ve never had to concern themselves with strategy before. We cannot be certain of the outcome.”
“We need him!” someone cried.
“He won’t listen. We’ve implored, importuned. It means nothing. He moons over his lowly gardener and waves us away. What fools devised this enchantment? Did someone here provide some potion in the hopes of producing an heir? Well, he may well produce one, but shortly there will be nothing to inherit.”
No one admitted anything but they all eyed one another distrustfully.
“There’s no way to move him,” said one. “The empire is surely doomed.”
Then a young member of the entourage said, “Wait, there is a way I’ve just thought of.”
“What?” cried the others—the two spies especially.
“If the empress were kidnapped by Maitake, then he would pay attention.”
“Brilliant!” they all cheered, until someone said, “But how do we get someone from Maitake to do this?”
“Ha!” cried the young man. “We don’t. We convince the empress to pretend to be kidnapped—for the good of our land.”
“Brilliant!” they all cried again.
The difficulty was in approaching her, since she was rarely out of his company. Finally the advisers approached her personal bather and explained to the woman what she must say to her mistress. The girl complied, and finally the fox-woman understood the danger she had brought to these people. Yet she could not unmake his devotion any more than she could stop her own heart from adoring him.
She stole from the bath to meet with the advisers, and agreed immediately to go along with their deception.
The two spies, at some risk, hastily returned to Maitake and reported the plot. Seated before their lord and his advisers, they said, “Look at this opportunity! We can put our own men in place and kidnap her for real! Isn’t that wonderful?”
The warlord of Maitake leaned forward and said: “Are you both idiots?” The two looked at each other. They didn’t think so, but this was hardly the response they’d expected. “If we kidnap her,” the warlord explained, “then her husband will bring all of his attention to bear upon our invasion and he’ll destroy us, just as he will if he thinks she’s been kidnapped. You fools must do everything in your power to disrupt this plot. She must not be taken by anyone!”
“But she’s in on it,” they complained. “She’s going to help.”
“Then,” growled the warlord, “you have your work cut out for you. We launch our supreme attack in two nights, and he had better not be paying attention if you want to have a home to return to.”
The two spies crept back into Kochokana and debated about what they should do. They knew they couldn’t stop the plot from unfolding. The empress would steal away in the middle of the night to the gardener’s shed in the royal gardens where the emperor had found her, and his advisers and generals would swear she’d been kidnapped. If they said anything else, their true allegiance would be revealed. “I suppose it could be worse,” said one. “How so?” said the other. “Well, the advisers could just have asked her to ask the emperor to destroy Maitake as a favor to her.” His partner pulled at his lip. “Let’s not mention that to anyone, all right?” he said. “But I do have an idea how we might undermine this without implicating ourselves.”
The “kidnapping” of the empress went off without a hitch. She withdrew to the hut in the gardens of the main fortress. Her disappearance was discovered by one of her women, and the alarm sounded. The generals importuned the emperor to gather his wits and help them destroy the enemy who had obviously taken her. But before they had even laid out their maps and battle plans, the emperor received a note from his queen, which told him to come to her