Ken Liu - The Grace of Kings

Cogo, as always, has come up with some great ideas for improving the people’s lives — but he’s generous enough to let me take credit for them so that the people will think I’m a wise ruler. Ha!

For example, he thinks we should make the best of what Dasu is most famous for: our cuisine. Emperor Mapidéré had forced people to relocate all over Dara, and the most cosmopolitan inhabitants of the other islands have acquired a taste for Dasu’s spicy cooking. Now Cogo is offering restaurateurs a special banner they can buy after completing a course here in Daye so that they can call themselves Authentic Dasu Cooks.

I came up with the design for the banner: a little leaping whale, which happens to be also on the new flag of the Tiro state of Dasu. So far we’ve already had fifty or so restaurant owners from Arulugi and the Big Island take up our offer, and it’s a good source of revenue. Cogo tells me that one other benefit to this program is getting people all over Dara used to the sight of Dasu flags flying everywhere and associating them with good things — delicious Dasu food. That Cogo, always thinking.

He’s also introduced some new crops — like the taro they grow over on Tan Adü—that seem to do better than the traditional varieties. The farmers who have tried them are very impressed.

Cogo is also experimenting with a new, simpler tax code — though it still seems plenty complicated to me. But when I speak to the business leaders in Daye and the elders in the countryside, they tell me that Duke Yelu is a genius. (And I remind them that I’m an even bigger genius for letting Cogo do what he wants.)

He has also managed to win over Kindo Marana, the man supposedly watching our every move, by humbly going over to Rui on a little fishing boat to seek advice on taxation. Only Kiji knows how they can spend weeks talking taxes, but Marana seems now disinclined to treat us as a threat. His ships used to patrol close to our harbors, menacing the fishermen, and his airships used to circle over Daye daily, which got all the children very excited. But more recently he’s scaled back these spy missions.

On the recruiting front, things aren’t as good. Though Rin has spread the rumor through our network of spies on the other islands — mainly recruited through his connections with smuggling gangs — that I’m looking for able men to join us, few have shown up. Dasu is simply too remote and too poor to be really attractive.

Indeed, every day, a few of my soldiers desert because they miss home or because they don’t see much of a future here. They steal fishing boats at night and row over to Rui, where they board the bigger ships bound for the Big Island. Others have left to go join the pirates up north. It’s all a bit dispiriting.

But I keep on telling myself that this is just a temporary setback. Mata doesn’t have the patience for the boring details of administration, and the new Tiro states are already squabbling over the arbitrary borders he drew and fighting for advantages. Maybe I’m just fooling myself, thinking that I still have a chance to escape from my island prison, but hope is a good dish, even better than Dasu spices.

Above all, don’t worry. I’ll figure it out. I promise.

— Your Loving Husband

Kuni,

I must ask you to stop treating me like a delicate flower you must protect and stop thinking that you must come up with solutions for everything on your own. I fell in love with you not only because I knew you’d fly high one day, but also because I knew you’d always listen to my counsel and not dismiss me for “meddling,” the way the scribes and ministers are alway warning the noble ladies of Çaruza to not interfere in the serious affairs of their husbands, brothers, and sons.

Oh, I’m sure this will come as no surprise to you, but I’ve decided to no longer attend any parties among the nobles in Çaruza. It’s insulting, and frankly, I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing much. At the last party I went to — Mata actually sent the invitation himself: I guess he wanted to feel out your ambition by observing the way I conducted myself — a stupid man, some count or other from Gan, pretended to not know where Dasu was and called you the “king of a lobster pot.” And the other guests laughed like it was so witty. I had to go home before I did something I’d regret. Sorry, your wife is not much of a diplomat — I hope Risana will do better, for both our sakes — and I can never make my face say that which I do not feel.

It’s hard being here on my own. I had hoped my family would finally be reconciled with us after you and Mata made a name for yourselves — and indeed, for a while distant cousins and granduncles I had never met wrote to me, speaking of plans for visits. But now all the cousins and clan elders are pressuring my parents to stay away from me since you’re the hegemon’s least favorite person. Oh, I could scratch out the eyes of these distant “relatives.”

Soto has continued to be a great companion and the children love her. Despite her clear interest in politics, I find it odd that she goes out of her way to avoid the nobles of Çaruza. She disappears whenever any member of the nobility stops by — pretending to inquire after me and the children, but in reality just here to gather material for gossip. Even when Mata stopped by personally the other day — a very awkward visit, let me tell you — she hid herself in the kitchen and wouldn’t come out. There must be a secret in her past.

But I enjoy talking with her… and though I’m no Lady Zy, I want to tell you a few things, my husband, that I think you may be neglecting.

You mention that it’s hard to find and retain capable men who will serve you; but what about the ladies, Kuni? Remember that you’re in a position of weakness, and those with clear paths to success will want to wager on the hegemon and his new Tiro kings. But Mata is a man who believes in traditions, in proven ways of doing things. Those who cannot compete for his attention — the desperate, the poor, those without lineages or formal learning — may be far more willing to gamble with you. It’s not our custom or practice to look to women for talent, so who is to say that you may not have more success there?

Don’t be shocked by my suggestion. I’m not saying you should turn the world upside down and do everything that the Ano sages warned against in their ancient books. But think about what I have said, and perhaps you may find an opportunity you have overlooked.

Oh, I have some news about one of your old followers. Remember Puma Yemu, Commander of the Whirlwind Riders? He did so much to aid you and Mata back during the Battle of Zudi. But Mata has never liked him because of his criminal past and didn’t reward him after he took Pan from you. In fact, when he drove King Thufi away, he also stripped Marquess Yemu of his title and made him a lowly hundred-chief. Yemu was so mad that he quit the army and became a bandit again!

Just the other day, he came to see me in secret and brought me some very good tea that he had seized from a caravan going into Çaruza. Can you believe it? Such a great warrior reduced to banditry again. It’s hardly what he deserved. I dropped some hints about serving you again, and he is very much interested.

Take care of yourself.

— Your Jia, Tired But Happy

My Beloved Jia,

You’re indeed the wisest, my better half. I told Cogo about your ideas, and he immediately agreed that they were brilliant. We’ve been trying to think of ways to get our message out to women of hidden talent.