The next few months were busy—there was a lot they needed to get done, and Seiko hadn’t spent a large amount of time practicing like the others. Jukazu and Maenomi received a funeral the day they died; there was an ‘official’ coronation afterwards, even though Seiko didn’t feel like it was necessary.

She was afraid of what she would do if her voices returned, so she kept Asahi close—it was only two weeks after the official coronation that they were married. The Kinjo family was relatively surprised that their second son’s love turned out to be the bastard princess, although Asahi’s older brother was willing to act as an advisor and guide Seiko through the more mundane things of ruling.

It was near the end of spring when Seiko had a chance to visit Mikka. Ujuro had sent a letter inviting her there, and it took some time before Asahi would let her travel. By the time she could go to her old home, she had been married for a month and was a few weeks pregnant with her first child; Seiko wanted to tell Mikka personally about all of this, and she had questions as well.

There was a kind of tradition, when a king (or queen, in her case, as she was the first) would leave the capital for unimportant or personal reasons, to put dyes in their hair to mimic their natural color. It was their way of hiding their role—they wouldn’t have as much attention, and for the most part could go undetected. Seiko did something similar, and it was possibly the only reason some of the villagers recognized her.

They arrived in the morning, Seiko managing to convince Asahi to only bring along one guard for each of them—the rebel faction had mostly vanished, thanks to an actual heir ascending the throne. Asahi still had a weapon, of course, and Seiko kept her little knife, but she wasn’t fond of the idea of someone else guarding her; if she wasn’t scared of the voices, she wouldn’t even keep Asahi so close for so long.

Seiko briefly entertained some kind of tour around the small area, even if she had no one else to visit but Mikka. She was in a relatively good mood, all things considered, when they actually came to her mother’s house; by then, the two guards had dispersed, with only Asahi close to her.

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She knocked on the door, then opened it without a word. There was something…comforting about the smallness of the place and the familiarity she felt by being there. Ujuro, likely having been walking to answer the door before they entered, gave her a little smile; for once, she was able to return it.

“Good to see you, Seiko,” Ujuro said. He nodded towards Asahi. “And you too, Kinjo Asahi. Thanks for keeping an eye on the girl after I had to leave.”

“It wasn’t a problem,” Asahi replied with a little smile. He chuckled, pulling her closer for a second. “She barely let me leave anyway.”

Seiko took another step inside, likely speaking more kindly to her stepfather than she had in years. “I wanted to visit Mother,” she said. “May I see her?”

Ujuro nodded—albeit with a slightly changed expression—and gestured for her to follow. Seiko guessed he was going towards Mikka’s room, so she agreed; Asahi walked a few steps behind her. She paused as soon as she opened the door, however.

Mikka wasn’t actually there; the room was kept as she would have left it, but the only thing remaining of her was a picture of her on the bed. Somehow, Seiko hadn’t expected to be met with that sight.

She glanced at Ujuro. The question was quiet, and she tried not to seem angry. “When did she die?”

“She was on her way when I came to the palace to fight alongside you,” Ujuro explained. He seemed to expect some kind of frustration from her. “Her condition got worse, but she wanted me to protect you—make sure Lord Ozuru wasn’t going to give up on you.”

“Why was I never told?” Seiko asked. In a silent attempt to calm her, Asahi put his hand on her shoulder; it didn’t do much, in all honesty.

“Mikka decided it might distract you,” Ujuro said. He gestured to the picture of her. “That’s the closest you can get to speaking with her. I’ll…give you some time alone.”

Ujuro left, although Seiko brought Asahi inside the room with her. She knelt down beside the bed, and held a one-sided conversation with the picture—a detailing of everything she’s done, what she hoped to do in the future, and musings on why Mikka made the choices she did. There were some things Seiko wasn’t meantto know, it seemed. She sat there in silence once she was finished, and Ujuro returned briefly to offer the memory of her some tea.

The trip never seemed quite as happy afterwards. The village felt darker than the palace after that day.