The Elephant Prince
Their fight was fierce.
The prince’s body was hard and tough, his fists heavy as boulders. His uncle was thrown into disarray by achievements that far surpassed every expectation, and as the bout wore on the advantage tilted steadily toward the prince.
After a long stretch of brutal exchanges, the spar finally ended only once the training grounds lay half in ruins.
“I knew you were a genius, but…”
The uncle stared up at the sky and grumbled.
“Even so, isn’t this a bit much?”
He tried to move his fallen body and found he could not so much as twitch. It was the defeat of the man once called the greatest warrior in the land.
“To think I’d lose to a mere brat who only just awakened to the Four-Image Martial Arts.”
“Can you stand?”
The prince held out his hand. When his uncle managed to lift an arm and take it, the prince pulled him firmly to his feet.
“…Hah. When did that little kid get so big?”
“I’ve always been taller than you, Uncle.”
The uncle’s face was bitter. He ought to have rejoiced in his nephew’s talent, yet being surpassed so cleanly left his pride smarting.
“Elephant Prince.”
“Yes?”
“You really must never lose from now on.”
“?”
“If you were to fall like this, I’d feel terribly wronged.”
He let out a deep sigh, then asked,
“More importantly—what do you intend to do next?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve beaten the greatest warrior of the realm. So what’s your next goal?”
Next goal. Truthfully, he had never bothered to set one. The prince simply enjoyed matching himself against the strong. Yet the question left him feeling strangely adrift.
“Your Highness! Elephant Prince!!”
Just as his thoughts began to deepen, one of the servants came running into the training grounds and called for him.
“…What is it?”
“Huff… huff… Well, huff…”
He had run so hard he could barely speak. The prince stepped close and lightly patted his back a few times.
“Huff—huh?”
As if by magic, the shortness of breath vanished.
“How…?”
“I merely adjusted the flow of your Prana a little. More importantly, what brings you here?”
He can control another’s Prana? The uncle was startled to hear the prince speak of such a feat as if it were nothing.
“Yes? Ah—His Majesty is looking for you!”
“Father? Do you know why?”
“Yes, well… he said he has something to discuss regarding your fiancées…”
The prince’s face showed clear shock. News of fiancées was something he was hearing for the first time as well. Beside him, the uncle who overheard wore a sly little smile of his own.
Yet no reaction was more dramatic than that of Inanna, who had been watching from the closest vantage of all.
“Fiancées?”
Inanna tilted her head, as if turning the word over in her mind. Enki reflexively gauged her mood and carefully edged a little farther away.
“That’s right. He did mention having fiancées once…”
She nodded, recalling something Sunya had said in the past. Fortunately—or unfortunately—she did not explode at once. She looked poised right on the brink.
“A-are you all right, little one?”
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? After all, Sunya’s first is me.”
“Ah… then that’s fine.”
Enki swallowed the rest of what he might have said. Gods could not lie, but they could distort the truth when speaking. For instance, one might take “You’re my first here” and simply omit the “here.” He himself had used a similar trick before. He saw no reason to voice the possibility now and needlessly stoke Inanna’s temper.
“What the hell all of a sudden… Never mind. I’ll go ask myself. You head on back.”
“Yes! Elephant Prince!”
“…Can’t you drop the ‘elephant’ part?”
“Huh? Why? Doesn’t it mean you’re big and sturdy like an elephant?”
“…Forget it.”
The prince sighed and sent the servant away.
“Congratulations, Elephant Prince. At last your day in the sun has come!”
“It’s nothing. Father has forbidden me any sexual relations until I pass twenty-five, so it hardly matters. If he’s insisting on an engagement, it must be for political reasons.”
“Tsk tsk tsk! How can you only think of that when it comes to men and women? You still don’t know women, and your head’s completely soaked in that nonsense. What’s the use of having something as splendid as an elephant’s if you can’t even put it to proper use?”
The prince only flushed a little, but Inanna swung a fist at his uncle. Of course it passed straight through without effect.
“What do you mean he can’t use it properly! He’ll use it on me all he wants later, so mind your own business! Looking like a hairless monkey. If you weren’t Sunya’s blood, you’d be finished—finished!!”
“Why get so worked up? It’s all in the past anyway.”
“I know, but it’s annoying, okay? This guy keeps trying to push Sunya that way. Tempting pure Sunya down weird paths.”
Just then the prince walked past Inanna and Enki and headed off somewhere. The two of them followed.
It was the royal court where his father waited.
“You’ve come, Siddhartha?”
“Father, an engagement all of a sudden? Isn’t it rather much without any prior word?”
“Haha. First come over here.”
The king drew the prince to stand beside him. Already his son was taller and broader than he was. The royal palace crowned a small mountain peak; the uppermost floor stood open to the air, so that rising to one’s feet brought the entire city into view at a glance.
“Do you see?”
“…I can’t see, though.”
“Ah—forgive me. I keep forgetting that you cannot see well ahead of you.”
Ahem. The king cleared his throat and composed himself.
“Siddhartha. You must succeed me and rule this country.”
“…”
“Then what is a king’s duty?”
“Is it not to make the nation prosperous and govern the people well for the greater good?”
The prince’s voice was faintly curt. He was weary of his father raising the matter of “duty” yet again. Another tedious lecture seemed about to begin.
“Correct. A king’s duty is to stabilize the realm and benefit the people. Then do you know how a country becomes stable?”
“…There must be any number of complex reasons.”
“That is also true. Yet if just one thing is not properly secured, that country falls into chaos nine times out of ten.”
The prince knew exactly what his father wished to say. At times like this, playing along was better for one’s peace of mind.
“…The succession, I suppose.”
“Precisely. A nation without a clear heir always slides into turmoil, and its fortunes dwindle. A truly pitiful thing.”
“…”
“This father is deeply afraid that if our own land likewise fails to establish a proper heir, a catastrophic future may draw near.”
“Who is the fiancée?”
“Haha—so you are curious as well. In a week a banquet will be held, and women who may become your brides will arrive from many countries. Choose among them there.”
“…If she is young and healthy, beautiful yet not arrogant, harbors no wicked thoughts, serves her parents-in-law as her own parents, cares for those around her as for her own body, and is diligent—then I will accept.”
In truth he had merely offered words his father would like to hear. It was a formal reply and nothing more; the prince did not particularly care who the fiancée might be.
In the end, following the king’s command, the prince prepared flower garlands and resolved to appear at the banquet.
When the day arrived, more women than expected thronged the court seeking the prince’s selection. Just as he was reflecting that this must be the authority of a crown prince destined to rule a nation, their whispered talk reached his ears.
“Did you hear? The Elephant Prince’s thing is enormous!!”
“Hey! Why ask the obvious? His name is Elephant Prince from the start!”
“Handsome face and big down there. What does Prince Siddhartha not have?”
“Kyaaa! I want to marry him right this instant. I want to bear the prince’s child right away.”
“Get out of the way, you bitch! Stay out of this!”
At the unexpected lewd chatter the prince was left speechless.
When the banquet began he exchanged polite greetings and, as planned, handed baskets filled with jewels to the maidens one after another. Originally the custom was to offer a jewel basket to a woman one favored as a sign of interest, yet the prince simply passed them out in order of arrival.
From a distance the king watched carefully, trying to discern which woman his son might take an interest in. But perhaps because the prince could not see, he merely delivered the baskets, showing no particular reaction even when women in alluring dress or of striking beauty approached.
“…Did I raise him too ascetically?”
While he fretted, a strange girl came striding from afar with confident steps.
“A child?”
The king was startled. The prince himself was more startled still. His feelings grew complicated at the thought that such a young child had come here seeking selection as a bride.
“Give me a basket too.”
“I’m sorry, but there are no more baskets left.”
“Are you trying to humiliate me?”
She thrust out her broad chest as if in anger, and the prince had no idea how to respond at all.