Presently, the steps grew closer and an old man, clad in simple, but fine silken robes appeared before them. 

He smiled as he saw them, a bitter troubled smile.

"Ah..I was wondering about all the noise, so it's you guys, I see. "

At the arrival of the master of the manor, the small spirits ceased their clamoring and each stood politely at the wall, greeting Seimei with puffed out chests and refined posturing. 

"h.e.l.lo Lord Seimei! "

"You look as young as ever!"

"You should come visit us something."

Seimei signed at the gathered spirits before taking a seat next to Akiko. 

"Lady Akiko, you look a bit pale, what have they said to you?"

Seimei cast his gaze to the two fidgeting mononoke, before settling his questioning gaze on Suzaku and Tenitsu. 

A moment of tense hesitation pa.s.sed before Suzaku nervously cleared his throat and quietly answered.

"They were merely pa.s.sing on a message. They had informed us that Lady Shouko at the Palace has fallen very ill, and her palace induction ceremony has been cancelled. "

Seimei gaze fell as he nodded gravely... so that was the matter. 

__________________________________________________________

The change in the constellation's orientation had been discovered by the astrologer Masachika. The news was pa.s.sed to the head astrologer, Yos.h.i.+masa, before it reached to bureau of onmyou. From there, news traveled to Seimei, and he was summoned from the manor to divine an appropriate time to reschedule the induction ceremony. That had been mid-March, at least. 

That had been an otherwise uneventful spring evening, the sakura trees in the courtyard were in full bloom, dark branches festooned with pink blossoms, each more delicate and exquisite than the last. The fragrance of the flowers hung on the breeze, mingling gently with the spring breeze. Had he not been summoned to preside over the troubling affairs, Seimei would have gladly taken the night off to quietly meditate in the garden, lost in the meandering paths of his thoughts. 

That had been a month ago. (Translator's note: One month pa.s.ses between chapter one and chapter two of book 10)

Now, only the most steadfast of the sakura blossoms lingered on the budding branches, the petals of the fallen flowers cover the cobbles of the courtyard like a fresh snow. It had been so long that Seimei had nearly forgotten the incident. 

As the head of the household, he often gave an image of unhurried leisure to outsiders. His days of quiet reading and meditation, and long hours spent over a cup of tea in the garden made it difficult to fathom that he had any work to do at all. Yet, unbeknownst to most, the work of a head onmyouji was endless and relentless. The constant barrage of threatening demonic signs, unfavorable astrological conditions vied for attention with reports of invading monsters, hauntings, and unexplained illnesses. Juggling the resolution of these affairs was not a task for amateurs, it was quite easy and natural to forget something that did not const.i.tute an immediate threat. 

Akiko was silent, she gazed at Seimei with wide troubled eyes. 

"Lord Seimei..."

"Yes?"

Akiko hesitated.... a tense, trouble moment pa.s.sed before she hesitantly confessed her fears.

"Shouko's illness....do you...do you think it was caused by the mental and emotional burden of undertaking the fate meant for me.....of her taking my place at the palace? "

Seimei's eyes widened with shock. Behind Akiko, mononoke and s.h.i.+nshou alike were taken aback at her words. 

Akiko's pale hands wrung in her lap, her delicate fingers trembling with every word. 

"Originally..... Originally... it was me who was meant as an offering to the palace...... It was me who was destined.....Lady Shouko..... she would have been spared..... she could have lived her life peacefully at home."

At her side, Seimei was quiet and contemplative, giving Akiko the s.p.a.ce and the peace to express her thoughts. 

"Perhaps it was because I violated my fate, my destiny inflicting it's dues on Shouko, who took burden in my place."

She was happy here, but her freedom and contentment came at the price of another. Her half-sister Shouko had become the victim to her freedom.  

Mokkun had once said, that had events not transpired as they did, Shouko would have been destined to spend a dull, lonely life in the manor, surrounding only by her servants. Of course, her father, the minister of left, had not wanted this fate for her. He cared about her after all, though far far less than the care he afforded to the children of his main wife. Mokkun had a.s.sured her, that for Shouko, entry into the palace was a fortunate thing. 

Akiko wasn't so sure.   

"I've thought about this a lot..." She continued.

"What is the price exacted for violating destiny? If it were my own life span that was reduced, that would be acceptable..... But it's not like that....."

"Lady Akiko!"

Akiko looked up in surprise as Seimei interrupted. 

Though a man of eighty, Seimei's gaze still retained the sharpness and fiery pa.s.sion of youth. His steely gaze seemed to cut through her as he spoke. 

"I'm sure you speak in jest, but please do not ever repeat what you have just said, or my grandson, who has countless perils to save you.... his efforts would have been in vain."

"ah..."

Masahiro's smile flashed into her mind. They day that they had met, with the bamboo curtain between them seemed so long ago, a distant memory. 

Her life.... she no longer solely for her own sake.

"But......but...."

But she could no longer finish the her words as her hands came to cover her face. 

The sister that she had scarcely ever met, the life that had taken her place..... did she hate her for condemning her to such a fate? 

Her nose was sore. Akiko gritted her teeth, forcing her tears back. She couldn't cry... to cry was to escape the reality, to s.h.i.+eld herself with comforting tears. 

"Please calm yourself and listen to my words... Lady Shouko's illness was far from your doing, and the burden of destiny that once awaited you has been lifted. It not longer exists and will never exist again."

"What do you mean? "

"The stars have bee changing. Their pattern and course has undergone fundamental changes..... and so has the fate that awaited you. The stars have s.h.i.+fted to a positions that defy even MY vast experience. The path that awaits you, Lady Akiko, and your half-sister Lady Shouko is now uncertain."

The oracle that determined Akiko's unsuitability for the palace was read and delivered by Seimei himself. To find a replacement for her intended course, he must find one with a similar star sign. 

The daughter of the house of Fujiwara was destined to enter the royal harem, that is an unchangeable, indisputable truth, long set in stone. But it couldn't be Akiko.... It had to be someone born under the same star sign, the same constellation group. 

Seimei had never heard of Shouko before she had been mentioned by her father, Lord Fujiwara. Nor had he know of her existence. Seimei had merely based his decision from his divination and a.n.a.lysis of the star signs. 

"Shouko's sign has s.h.i.+fted. Her stars have begun to move north. Your stars, on the other hand, are far from the polaris group. ( translator note: the group that represents the royal court.) The path ahead has diverged. Your stars... your destinies, will never again converge...." 

Seimei smiled as he patiently explained to Akiko.

"Will you feel left out? For from now on, you are no one else, but Akiko, not a princess or a courtier."

Akiko had listened quietly, as if silently absorbing Seimei's every word. 

"Is .... is it then my destiny to remain here? "

"Yes......"

He paused before speaking again.

"Shouko has taken on a different name. Her ties to her birth family has dissolved....as it will be for the rest of her life."

"Really?"

Akiko pondered this in silence. Gradually, the heavy burden of guilt the regret that weighed on her began to ease.

She had always felt that condemning Shouko's to a life of solitude in the palace was her greatest shame and regret. For all the hards.h.i.+ps that Shouko faced, the solitude, the unforgiving decorum and even the illness, had been the burden of destiny meant for herself.  

"But...."

"That's right..... From now on, your destiny is in your hands. It is your own. The path that Shouko walks was not the one meant for you. Her path too, is her own.... distinct from the one you would have traveled had you entered the palace. So there's nothing to blame yourself for. "

Her illness, was not because she took your place..... that is absolute. 

The previous winter, on the eve of Akiko's departure for the palace, Seimei had met Shouko. Indeed, she and Akiko looked nearly identical. Even Seimei who had known Akiko since she was young had difficulty telling them apart. But they had grown up under different circ.u.mstances, they had different personalities and modes of thought. Shouko was quieter than Akiko, more adherent to authority, and more obedient and sensitive to unspoken rules. She was quite malleable too, open to suggestion and less likely to stubbornedly persist in her views. But that's not to say that she's lacking in resolve or resigned to her fate. She was merely more aware of her place, more accepting of the reality of life, and more able to make the best of things. 

Akiko had never known of Shouko's existence before all this, but Shouko, naturally, had heard of Akiko. Akiko was the daughter of the main wife, the princess that would grow up to to wed the emperor himself.    

That day, when her father had ordered her to leave for the palace at sunrise, Shouko's eyes had be as clear and calm as the first river ice. It was a look that had to this day dug deeply into Seimei's memory. She had accepted her father's command without a word, as though she had always known her fate. 

The young woman before Seimei now looked nearly identical, but she was full of life and energy. It wasn't the first time he had wondered, if perhaps the G.o.ds had sent Shouko to prepare for what may befell Akiko. If nothing befell Akiko, Shouko would have been destined to live and grow old in quiet solitude. The s.h.i.+ft in her role was likely a side effect of changes in the stars that followed the birth of Masahiro. 

The child that had the talent to change the stars, to divert fate, was the heir that would carry on his bloodline.