Ch 1

Lord Inu no Taisho and Lady Izayoi met when she was six years old. She had been playing a game of hide and seek in the woods with her older siblings, as they had done many times before. She had been 'it' and was trying to find her brother (nine) and sister (fifteen) when she had tripped over a large tree root and caused a deep gash on her left arm. As would any six year old child the young Izayoi started to cry. Inu no Taisho had been patrolling the lands when he smelled mortal blood and heard a child's cries. Rushing with all of his speed he found the source of the noise, a small girl in a pink kimono, the kimono indicated that she was royalty in the human world. Seeing the youkai stopped the girl's tears, for some reason she did not want to cry in front of him. The youkai bent down and held the small girl close to his chest, her fear nearly overwhelmed the smell of her blood. He felt a strange pity for the child and wished to give comfort. "My name is Lord Inu no Taisho child, may I ask yours?" She could do not more than look at the youkai holding her close.

The fact that this being was a youkai was more than obvious since no mortal looked that way. He had hair the color of fresh snow, eyes like blocks of pure gold, and stood at least seven feet tall. Looking into his eyes, she did not think that he would harm her, she decided to answer him before the soft look changed. "I am Izayoi my father is king of these lands." She seemed to have no idea who she was speaking to. The youkai lords eyes fell to the others children for a moment before he realized he did not care, a small child named Izayoi seemed to have captured his attention… for the moment. He began to carry the child to her village, he was going there anyway, and proceeded to ask questions about her life and family. She answered him in a quivering voice that betrayed her calm exterior, if the smell of fear failed to. As they moved she realized that her brother and sister fell out of view, she became terrified until he said "Hold on then Izayoi, I shall take you to see your village's healer." As he carried the bleeding girl, he wondered 'How strange that a mere child hold my attention for so long.'

Seconds later Inu no Taisho and an amazed Izayoi stopped outside the healer's door, Izayoi expected a lecture. As the youkai holding her prepared to knock on the door, a frightened healer stuck her head out. She was praying that he had the wrong building, she then spied Izayoi bleeding in his arms. She opened the door and bowed low to the ruling youkai, she wanted to live a while longer. "I think" The feared and powerful inuyoukai said harshly "Izayoi could use a FAST mending. We have better things to do than sit here and wait on you woman, hurry through your task, your life may yet depend upon it." Having been scared out of her mind, she left the door open for him and rushed quickly to the jars of herbs she kept in the back of the first room. Inu no Taisho carried little Izayoi to the small mat in the floor where the healer's patents sat during care, put her gently down, glared warningly at the old women, and sat by Izayoi's side. Seemingly forgetting the youkai lord was there the healer began to question Izayoi rather rudely. "I take it you and your siblings were in the forest again child. You know well that it is forbidden to you three. I shall be sure to tell your father about this mishap when next I see him. For now however I will tend your wound, come here Princess." Rising reluctantly the small girl went to the healer to have the gash on her arm, she cringed from pain it caused.

As young Izayoi sat there on the table having the healer tend her wound the Lord began to wonder why she held so much fascination to him. She was no more than the child of humans, weak and frail with little purpose. The healer spoke once she had finished tending the girl's arm. "I have put an elixir on it to prevent scaring, you should look the same as before. Let us go and tell your father where his favorite child has been and what has been going on. Thank you my Lord, she is sometimes a problem child but is the pride of these lands already. She seems even as a child to hold almost inhuman beauty, both parents however are human. No youkai runs in her veins, how she looks as such is a mystery. Well come now child, I am sure the lord has better things to do and you and I must speak with your father." Izayoi followed with a hurt look the old woman until the voice of Inu no Taisho rang out into the hut, stern and strong willed. "I have to go see her father anyway, I shall take Izayoi home if she has no objections." Shaking her head she ran over to his side and stood close to hide from the odd gaze given by the healer. In thirty some odd years of healing, she neared fifty and looked nearer a hundred with the wrinkles and spots she had, she had never seen a human and youkai act like that. She bowed lowly and showed the odd looking pair to the door.

Inu no Taisho spoke only once more to the healer, in his voice a blatant threat "Her family is not to know she tripped outside of the village, I will tell them she fell and cut herself on my claw and I brought her to you. Do you understand?" With little choice she nodded bowing again as the two, very large and very small walked away. The healer stood dumbfounded outside her hut. No one dared anger Lord Inu no Taisho, he was very valuable to them, so his order would be obeyed without outward question. The lord protected the village from lesser youkai and invading hordes, had for hundreds of years Angering him would be detrimental to her homeland and personal health. Why he wasted his time assisting with mortal child's physical and mental needs was beyond her understanding but she would forget in time. His unforgiving, harsh, and sometimes evil ways were all very true tales around the western lands, his son was worse but less strong perhaps, but even more heartless. Knowing Izayoi's kind and gentle nature she knew that the girl would be the perfect wife for some man one day, her children would be beautiful and strong.

As he walked the raven haired child home, drawing all eyes along the way, the wondered why he had volunteered to do so. Never in his long life had he felt the wish to help a mortal this much, there was something about her though. She had fallen asleep shortly after leaving the healer's home, he decided to carry her the rest of the way. What caused him to care, her kind nature, helpless looks, or big sad brown eyes he did not know. He knew however that she needed him, something not even his 'mate' or son could say, he felt a strange need to help her. As he was in no rush to get to the boring meeting with her father he walked very slowly, partly so he would not wake the child. She seemed to trust him enough to fall asleep in his arms, no being had ever trusted him so much as to do that, yet she slept soundly. As they approached the castle a servant girl saw them and began to scream the child's. They were far enough away that it did not wake her, luckily for the servant, and he halted for a moment. The new king came running out at hearing his baby's name called with such fear. He bade the maid quiet and waited for the youkai lord in a stench of fear, panic, and was that… urine? Inu no Taisho sped up enough to stand at the side of the mortal king. "She lives, she is asleep. She fell in the village and cut her arm on my claw. I took her to the healer so she should be better soon." Relief came to the king's features and smell, increasing the smell of urine as he excused himself change.

After he had finished changing his cloths he spoke to the youkai lord for the first time since his arrival to the village. "Thank you my lord, Izayoi can be a little clumsy sometimes. Shall I order her to be put to bed?" With that the king ordered his favorite child put into bed, the servant which happened to be Izayoi's personal maid began take her from the youkai lord. The girl shook with fear at having to take something the youkai held but attempted to take her mistress. A loud growl stopped her in her tracks, the lords annoyance had gone far enough in his own mind. "I will be sure she is well but we do need to discuss some things. She may stay with us until I am satisfied she is well enough to go about her day." The mortal king bowed and ordered a large silver cushion brought in the lord to sit on and a sizable pink one for Izayoi. Inu no Taisho decided that the one met for him was softer, so he placed her on it and took a place on the floor. "I am sorry if the color displeases you my lord, it is the softest in the castle, both are Izayoi's as it happens." The youkai said nothing until they began the discussion. Only half interested, the other half was making sure she was breathing right. Ten or so minutes into the meeting the child's breath sped indicating she was awake but in some pain.

He knew she was awake but her body faked sleep so he left her alone. 'Very well' he thought 'she will grow impatient soon enough, I shall let her listen.' An hour later little Izayoi still laid there, listening to the conversation and condition of her homelands, the lord was impressed by her willingness to wait something out. She had been listening to his voice, harsh and demanding, slightly cold, yet as warm as heated honey, she liked its soothing abilities. Before long it was time for the youkai lord to again leave her home and continue his patrol and she wished to say good bye. She sat up and gazed into his eyes, something no mortal could do without fear, and spoke with a clear and light heart. "Good bye Lord Inu no Taisho, will you again come to this village?" He could not help but admire her strangely out of place boldness, no mortal he had ever met was that bold. He could not help but wonder, was it innocence of age that gave her courage? The look in her soft brown eyes compelled his answer forward, her happy eyes could not be left to wonder. "I shall return in five springs to see about this village again, not before." She seemed satisfied, she bowed low and respectfully to her rescuer and smiled up at the honey colored eyes and white hair, his ears were so pointy. He nodded in response left as quickly and quietly as he had come. Her brother and sister had just made it in from the forest when a wind pushed past them, causing the eldest child of the king to fall. "Izayoi" her amazed father said in a low voice "what did you say to Lord Inu no Taisho? I have never heard of him assisting any mortal, even if he accidentally injured them." Truth be told, most stories of the youkai lord of the West were of him destroying whole youkai armies in under an hour to extend his lands. "I do not know father" the girl replied "I think he may have wished to have a way to take up time. I think it rather sweet of him." He gave the child a look of disbelief and smiled. They agreed to not tell her mother and went in for dinner, her siblings finally reached the gate of the castle.

Days later as the youkai lord patrolled the parts of his lands nearest his palace his thoughts still remained on the mortal child. He kept thinking 'It will be interesting to see what becomes of her' until it became nearly his sole thought. For months every other thought was like that, why did the little Izayoi command so much thought, a mere mortal child? His mind would stop wondering in five or so years. For him the time passed quickly torn between teaching son, patrolling his lands, and attempting to not kill his mate. His had been a forced mating, he hated the bitch his father had bade him mate, his sixth or so cousin. Inbreeding was common to preserve the pure blood line He would no doubt do the same to his own son Sesshoumaru when the time came. He would not suffer the same fate his father had, he had killed him in a battle centuries before the birth of his son and after his mating. His son's abilities had always been a source of hidden pride for the inuyoukai, he knew his son was to be very powerful and rule well the lands when he grew tired of it, unless he retained the solely icy demeanor of his mother. The years had gone by now and the child Izayoi neared eleven, the right age to begin searching for her a future mate that undoubtedly would be chosen by her father. During the years he had secretly looked in on her, she was safe and looked happy, he had no idea why but this pleased him greatly.

Thankful for the five long springs having passed by, the now eleven year old Izayoi sat on a hidden rock near a stream in the forest. She waited for the youkai lord to again come to her village as she had every day for a month or more. She knew that the time was getting close and he would be along soon. She had been taking 'princess lessons' as of late to learn how to act in court. Though she tried to act like herself while there she found it hard, they put her to sleep as dull and long as they were. Instead of going this month she went to wait for the Lord Inu no Taisho, telling her father that he had requested she do so solved any arguments he had tried to make. With little trouble here she sat day after day waiting for hours on end, waiting to guide the youkai lord to the village. It was nearing midday and getting hot. Her kimono, which was midnight blue and drug on the ground behind her, was causing the temperature to rise even more. Her father had ordered it for the colors of his house. She looked up to what she thought was the rustle of trees in the distance. This was odd since it had been a windless day and no wind came to cool her face.

He could smell her, she was close, by the river and less than a mile off. He had not expected what took his every thought, however inadvertently, to be waiting for him. He saw the thick kimono that covered her whole body, a court kimono often worn by royalty of the human race. 'She must be burning' he thought as he quickly approached her. His sudden appearance would have sent her into the river if he had not caught her, effortlessly, and sat her back down. "Now Princess Izayoi, not waiting in this hot forest for me were you? You may yet get your lovely kimono dirty, or soaking wet if you fall into that stream behind you." She smiled, and with a little help from him, got to her feet. "I must confess my lord, that I was waiting for you. In heat such as this, the waters coolness would be welcomed greatly." Laughing they both started back to the village, side by side, the youkai thousands of years old, and an eleven year old human. "Should a girl as young as yourself be training for court already?" She smiled and looked in front of her. "I am my father's favorite child and as such he wishes to show me off early I guess." She did not wish to be what she was, that was easy for him to detect, but that was the role into which she was born. The role into which one is born is their place assigned only to them and should not be taken lightly. 'She just needs time adjust' he thought as they walked together to her father's castle.

Curious eyes looked up at him with innocent wonder showing brightly. "Is all well in your lands Lord Inu no Taisho? I hope it is." He smiled, half in disbelief that a mortal female would care to inquire as to the state of his lands outside of her own village. "Yes Izayoi all is well, there will be very few youkai attacking your village I suspect." She did not get time to answer as her Ladies maid called her name. "Lady Izayoi, your father wishes to know where you are." She halted upon spying the two and bowed to them both, addressing only the visiting lord. "Lord Inu no Taisho, welcome to the village." Izayoi quickly told him that her father thought he had asked her to wait, he nodded in understanding. He looked over to the quivering maid and spoke in a tone as soft as possible. "Izayoi is to stay around me today, I may need her to take some notes as I hate that chore. Tell her father I will let her return to her lessons when I leave." The maid bowed again and hurried off to do the lord's biding. "Thank you my lord, I do hate court lessons." He laughed and looked at the child. "Two things Izayoi, the first is that you may hate court lessons but they will help you later. Do you understand?" She gave a depressed sigh and nodded, he went on. "The second is that despite you skipping your lessons to see me I am glad you came, I enjoy your company." Her eyes glowed with happiness and she nearly hugged the youkai but thought better of it.

As they approached the gate he told her one last thing on court lessons, about his own training and hers. "I hated my court lessons just as much as you do yours Izayoi, ours however is much harder. Keep up your lessons Izayoi, they are dull I know but they shall be of more help than you know. It is important that you learn all you can." She nodded and they entered the gate. The rest of the day went by quickly, she took notes for him as he spoke with her father, Sake was passed to the males, she could not have any, and the lord got up to leave. "Your notes my lord." He thanked her and left the mortals with a single fact. "I shall return in three years and then again in two I wish to see progress." He pulled her aside and spoke softly "Beware your maid Izayoi, she is going to do something. Do not trust her, do you understand me?" Izayoi nodded and watched him leave. Some months later she was being served dinner in her chamber, by her maid, she realized it tasted and smelled odd. She called the stray cat into the room and fed it a large portion of the fish. The cat soon died, Izayoi became sick but not before telling her father of the lord's warning and ofwhat the maid had done. With his favorite child fighting off a horrid rat poison used to clear the storage of rodents and someone would be punished. The maid earned a knife across the throat as Izayoi fought the poison off slowly. After her thirteenth birthday, the poisons effect long gone, her father announced her impending marriage to the son of his old friend at a dinner party. The two were to wed the year she turned twenty summers old. Marriages were arranged well in advance, usually for loyalty or profit of one or the other. This one was to strengthen old family bonds by forming a single family of the two and allowing them to share lands and profits.

By the time Inu no Taisho returned to her village, after she turned fourteen, she had all but accepted her impending marriage to the abusive older boy, he was near eighteen already. He was a well known rapist, and all around abuser to all women in both of the villages, her father refused to consider the possibility that it was true. She went along with it and prayed that somehow she could find a way out. She thought it impossible however, she would soon enough be his to do with as he wished, and he wished a lot. The lord spent the three years training his son to take his place one day, when and if he tired of it. The boy he named Sesshoumaru was strong and skilled in all necessary arts and battle skills, he would make an amazing Lord of the Western Lands one day. He had inherited his mother's coldness and acidic abilities, his father's strength (most of it) and the looks of both of them, a handsome young boy that would make any father proud. Inu no Taisho was proud, proud of the only thing that was good about his mating to that damned bitch. He still hated her, now more than ever and he did not hesitate to tell her so. Izayoi, he learned, had finished court training in a little over a year and been promised in marriage to a young mortal male. This mortal, so reported the youkai he had bade watch over her and not be seen, said that the male had a pass time of drink then brutalizing and raping women. He had time to save her though, she was marring at twenty summers, she was but fourteen.

True to his word he returned in three years time, this time however under dire circumstances. He had gone into a fierce battle with a large snake youkai which had two faces, a small glass one, and one like a snake head should be. He managed to drive it away but not to kill it, its skin was thick and rock hard. He was badly wounded and very tired but wanted to see how Izayoi faired not far off, his injury would not kill him. She sat on the rock in the company of the bastard she was promised to waiting for the lord. She waited only for a few minutes before a large amount of blood hit the ground in front of the boy. Inu no Taisho landed before Izayoi dizzily before she noticed that his arm was nearly cut in half just below the shoulder. She bade the pest fetch the healer while she ripped fabric from her kimono to tie around the gaping wound in the lord's arm. She had the lord lay down so she could access the wound, distress and fear for his life darkened her eyes. He realized where the silk had come from and vowed to himself to replace the lowly silk with youkai silk, the same his cloths were made of, but in pale pink. He smiled at her futile attempt to stop the blood and looked at her hands, they were covered in his blood. "Worry not Izayoi I have suffered worse wounds and survived, this is but a scratch. Who is the boy?" She did not know he knew of her impending doom as she now called it. She told him, choking back sobs of worry over his arm.

He nearly growled of frustration, anger, and arm pain as she replaced the soaked strip with a dry one as he responded. "You fear him do you not Izayoi?" She nodded and averted her eyes to the wound to keep form meeting his own intense stare. He tried to rise but she begged him to stay there and relax. When the mortal male she spoke of returned with the healer it took all he had not to kill him. His arm was tended and he was led, by a worried Izayoi, slowly to the palace that he may recover in some better soundings. The youkai staid in the palace for nearly a week healing and talking to Izayoi of the youkai that caused the injury and the battle. She listened intently and was glad he was going to live. They walked through the garden and spoke of many things in the days of his later recovery but mostly of her impending marriage and fear for any children she bore him. Before leaving he told her he would replace her kimono and them some when next they saw each other. He left swiftly and finished his rounds before ordering yards of pale pink youkai silk brought to his castle and turned into a fine but small kimono. He ordered patterns of soothing curves embroidered and beading around the sleeves with pink gem stones. He ordered an armored red fabric obtained from the pelt of the fire rat made into a hori suit too small to fit himself or his son. He found a blue youkai cow during his patrol one day and decided that it would make a fine snack. As he was about to bite the thing in half to savor its taste a voice pleaded with him to rethink his decision. A small youkai, much older than himself, was standing there begging him to spare the thing.

Upon learning that he was a sword smith the Inu no Taisho changed his mind for the moment. Once the old youkai agreed to forage two fine swords, he not eat the cow. It was agreed that the inuyoukai would give his fangs and return for his swords in four days. With this he put down the cow and walked away, fangless. Four days later he came back, fangs and all, to get his swords. One had to be a joke he decided when looking at it, it was rusted and dull, the other one could cut but otherwise was useless in the older youkai's hands. The inuyoukai took the dull sword just as he thought of safe guarding Izayoi and it changed into a fantastic sword sharp and strong enough to kill anything. The blacksmith explained his treasures, his two best swords to date. Satisfied the lord turned to leave before he was stopped with a single funny comment. "I did not think you would be able to wield a one of these swords. They both require a understanding and love of humans I did not think you had." The lord laughed and ascended into the air, shouting a name behind him. "Izayoi" the youkai nodded understanding, the powerful lord loved a human, how funny.

The time of two years had passed slowly for the now sixteen year old Izayoi who waited as always for the youkai lord Inu no Taisho to come to her village. During the time she waited for his return she had grown into the most beautiful mortal any who saw her had ever seen. She had rose colored lips, sensuous curves, and soft silky black hair stopping just above her ankles. The man she was to marry had voiced his opinion, too many men stared to long, come the day they wed, her hair would be cut to the middle of her back if not shorter. Izayoi loved her hair, she took great pride in the length of the straight silken strands, cutting it would devastate her. She had small burses on her arm form the tight and painful squeezes he gave when she did something he disliked or said something he felt she should not. For now the evidence of his future brutality was easily hidden from the world. Unlike most of the times she had waited for him she waited for hours, this time she waited less than a five minutes. The youkai lord landed feet away from her and called softly. "Izayoi, come with me." She went to his side, he lifted her in his arms and sped off. Miles away he stopped in front of a large waterfall and huge wide thickets containing ample hiding spaces. He sat the beauty on a rock and handed her a large brown package. As she took it he saw the marks the her otherwise flawless skin of her right arm. "Where did the marks come from Izayoi? Did the boy hurt you?" The very thought made his blood boil, no one hurt her, she already belonged to him, that thought alone made her his responsibility.

She tired to hold back a sob as she told him of the marks, of her future husband's treatment of her, and lastly of her hair's fate. He growled possessively, 'I will deal with him later' he thought "Open the package Izayoi, worry no more." She smiled at him, a sweet and almost loving smile. She pulled the binding off to revel two things, a red hori, and an elegant pale pink kimono of the softest silk she had ever felt. "I told you I would replace the one you ruined. The pink one is for that purpose, the red one is to protect you. It mends itself, and is a sturdy armor, made from a certain pelt." Telling her the animal would ensure she never wore it, he could not take a risk such as that. She got up, walked to the great inuyoukai lord Inu no Taisho and pulled him into a warm and loving embrace, thanking him for the gift. She rushed to try on the flowing garment, it was easily the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen. It fit perfectly and would be a part of her daily wardrobe form now on, the one she had loved as long as she could remember had given it to her. She could not resist the urge to hug him again, so she did letting a slight confession she was not aware she said pass her lips. "I love you." Came in a weak, unknowing voice from his mortal, she had always been and would always be his, even if she refused him. He laughed hugging her snuggly to him, his voice was soft and directed. "Izayoi there is something I wish to ask but something I must say first, do you understand?" She nodded, she would always listen to him.

He sat her on a rock by her side, and looked into her now more womanly face, sweet and beautiful, beyond mortal beauty. "Izayoi, I am mated, I suppose you call it married, to a woman of a distained coldness and no warmth. When I was young my father, much as has yours, forced me to mate her. She, who will not even get a name with you, I could kill without a moment of thought or sadness. She is an unfaithful mate, I have found her in the beds of too many servant youkai for me not to know that. The only good I have gotten in the time I have been mated to her is my son Sesshoumaru. Almost from the time of our mating to the time he no longer needed her to feed, she was locked in a room. Think me not cruel Izayoi, I did it for my son, she would have found some way to dispose of any babe she carried, I would not have that. Once the pup was eating other things she was allowed to be let out but was always watched. She is no mate and no mother. She is nothing like you, you who are soft, loving, and full of life and warmth. You have long been my solace while keeping my lands safe. I assure you I never bedded her after I knew she carried my son, I had no use for her then. My existence for a long time was only to patrol my lands, no joy introduced to lighten my existence. I then met you, watched you grow, and at some point unknown to me fell in love with you. I watched you become a beautiful kind and loving woman. I would be honored if you would consider taking her place and mating with me Izayoi. I would not force you into anything you would not like, I will take you at you word if you say no and never ask again." She let a tear fall from her cheek, she slowly moved to lace her arms behind his neck and hugged him tightly. She did love the lord with all she had.

He spent some time looking into her face and eyes, committing every detail to memory for ever. "With your help I learned how it felt to love something more than myself and have it depend on me, even if it was unknown to you. My own son is long over depending on me and she never did. Let me take care of you, love you, we could be happy together. I know you are to be mated to that boy, I will protect you Izayoi you have but to trust me and I will keep you safe. I knew I had fallen in love with you the day you ripped up that kimono to stop my bleeding arm from killing me, my own mate would have let me die. Mate with me Izayoi please." She wanted to laugh, cry, and scream at the same time, instead she answered him with a question. "I would like nothing more my lord, if you mated me what would happen to her?" He laughed aloud, she actually cared, a loving look hit his eyes, she cared for every living being, he knew from his time watching her care for villagers and do things for those who could not. "You seem to be worried too much for the welfare of that disgrace; she will not loose anything she has. She has money, power, and servants. I have my son we are even and on hateful terms. We were forced to mate and care nothing for each other. I love you Izayoi, she will not care as long as I do not take her bed from another. Mate with me will you?" She could do little more than cling to him tightly and press her face into his white hori.

She nodded her head and looked up at him. He bent toward her, intent on a gentle kiss and was surprised when she returned it with a passionate but innocent kiss that surprised even her. Noticing his change she pulled away. "Forgive my forwardness but I have waited so long to do that and it seems my common sense did not stop me. I beg you not to think ill of me, I assure you I am as yet untouched, he dared not risk my father's anger." He laughed and gently pulled her back into a kiss, his intent to take new mate. He took her to a hut like thicket where a silk blanket was laying ready, she knew he planned it then. They mated there, softly and gently, full of love and understanding. Never before had she known such pleasures, never before had he had such a peaceful mating with someone he loved so much. Before leaving to see her father he bade her not mention it until his return in four months.

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