"Fuushin" takes us back to the same time frame as "Hisho's Birds." During the short and destructive dynasty immediately preceding Youko's, Empress Yo attempted to banish all women from the kingdom. Some of the reasons are laid out in chapter 59 of Shadow of the Moon.

The word fuushin (風信) can refer to 1) information about the wind, such as that obtained from a weather vane (風信器). As in English, it can also figuratively mean to 2) "catch wind of something," gossip and rumors (風のたより). I'll use the first to refer symbolically to the second.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, hisho