Chapter One
It has been quite a time since Sesshomaru had returned to his lands. His father's castle was still in a fine shape and the respect he recieved from his men and servants had doubled now that he was in a fit age of a ruler. They had even accepted his human ward the moment they saw her.
Speaking about his ward.
He had never mated with her, but he gave her the title of Lady of the Western Lands all the same.
She was a mere human girl. Not to mention stunningly beautiful. Soft brown hair, stunning honey brown eyes framed on her perfect oval face, pale smooth skin, pink lips, petit body, and luscious curves. She had caught the eyes of many men, humans and demons of all tribes, ever since she had turned twelve.
Suitors were always asking for her hand of marriage and this was something that angered Sesshomaru for some reason. He considered her as his posession, something that no one else could touch but him. He was the one who gave her a second chance in life, he was the one who protected her from the claws and fangs of hungry demons, and he was the one gave her a place to stay when she had become of age two years ago. Nevertheless, he would coldly tell each suitor to ask her himself, knowing that she would decline every one of them with kind words and a gentil smile. Although the smile was not the kind she offered him that made his heart skip a beat, it still bothered him that the disappointed men, who barely even knew her as well as he did, got a piece of memory to hold onto of how her eyes would shine as her lips turned upwards.
She had a sprightly personality. Young in nature, but yet mature. She was educated personally by Jaken, his obsequious servant, who had an astonishing amount of knowledge in his mind which had even surprised the inuyoukai himself. How she was able to remain so innocent like she was now no one was sure. But she was definitely a generous and thoughtful woman, no disagreements there. She was a woman who was loved by many.
Including the great inuyoukai lord himself.
He yearned to feel her milky skin under his fingertips, her long legs wrapped around his waist, her fingers tangled in his hair, her sweet voice whispering his name. Yet, he knew that he would never receive what he wanted. She was a human. He was a demon. She was innocently sweet, have never harmed a living creature. He was cold and expressionless, have taken the lives of many. He will keep her by his side with her eyes only for him, but he refused to follow the footsteps of his father, to love a human and grow weak. Never. And yet, here he was, worried and hurriedly heading towards her chamber, where she way lying in her bed down with some illness.
Already there were rumors that he had turned soft towards the girl. He scowled inwardly as he realized that for once such rumors turned out to be true.
His footsteps sped up as he caught the familiar scent of his ward. The flowery scent she got from spending her time in the gardens so much and the sweet scent that came off of her naturally, which always seemed to make his senses tingle with pleasure. There were four other scents that were lingering along.
Three were familiar. One was from Dakeru, Takemaru's half-brother and his loyal servant as well as the swordsmaster of the castle. The other was from Narita, the kind-hearted eagle demon who had been working as a faithful servant for the last three generations. The third was from his ward's personal maid, Kaede, who his ward was quite close to. The last scent was quite new. He had never smelt it before, although it was very unpleasantly familiar in some way.
His acute hearing picked up an angry voice.
"I told you to get her a gift!" He recognized the voice of Narita.
"It is a gift!" A cheerful but forceful voice of Dakerur etorted.
"No, that thing is not a gift! That thing is something that will lead us to our deaths if Lord Sesshomaru finds out!"
"Don't you think it's cute?"
A few ragged breaths could be heard from the eagle demon, which told the inu youkai that Narita was fighting the urge to hit someone.
"What in the world were you thinking?"
"You never know, I mean, Lady Rin does like it..."
"Exactly my point! If our lady starts to grow affections towards it, we, I mean you are-"
The yelling stopped as Narita's nose picked up the scent of the inuyoukai. Sesshomaru appeared a second later. His emotionless golden eyes saw Narita holding the scruff of Dakeru's hudoushi. The usually calm eagle demon was glaring down at an indignant looking Dakeru. He dropped the half-demon and smiled nervously at his lord as he bowed.
"Eh heh... Lord Sesshomaru."
His nose detected the foul smell. A smell that was even more disgusting than his half-brother's.
"My lord, Lady Rin is fine at the moment. I highly disagree that we interrupt her sleep."
Sesshomaru said nothing. He knew Narita was lying; he could hear her quiet breaths that were a little faster than usual, indicating she was excited or nervous about something. Definitely not sleeping. His two men were trying to hide something.
His gaze lowered to the wooden floors, where Dakeru was picking himself up on. He took a step closer to the anxious swordsmaster.
"...Dakeru." His voice seemed a little colder than usual.
"Ha, hai?" The young half-demon was already sweating.
"You carry an unfamiliar scent."
The eagle demon seemed to flinch beside him. The worst was yet to come.
"Well uh... It is from the present I gave to Lady Rin my lord."
"...Present."
"My lady had often told me that she would get tired of staying in her chambers for too long and I just happened to run across a suitable present for her, my lord," he laughed rather weakly.
A giggle was heard from the other side of the paper doors.
"My lady, Lord Sesshomaru will be furious..." a nervous woman muttered.
"I'm sure it will be all right," Rin assured in a joyful voice.
Sesshomaru moved towards the doors.
"Uh, my lord, please don't get too upset..." Narita said hurridly before Sesshomaru got to the door.
A clawed hand was on the handle of the door.
"May I please remind you that whatever you see on the other side of the door that may anger you, it is all Dakeru's fault."
"Hey!"
The hand slid the door open quite a little too roughly than Sesshomaru had attended.
There was his precious ward. Her silky tresses cascading down her back in a raven waterfall, her curves almost visible through the thin two layers of bed clothing, and her eyes sparkling with excitement. Sunlight flooded through the open window next to the bed she was in, giving her an even brighter atmostphere. It was a treat to his eyes.
Well, it was before he noticed the small bundle in her arms anyways.
A small, furry bundle in her arms.
A small, furry, live bundle in her arms.
And if his nose wasn't playing tricks on him, the pungent odor was coming from the bundle.
It was...
He immediately saw a flash of red. He took a few steps towards where she was, ignoring the hitched breaths of Narita and Dakeru behind him which he could pick up with his sharp hearing.
The furry bundle moved in her arms and gave a yawn, showing two little fangs. It's triangular ears twitched and hissed when he saw the approaching inuyoukai. All the silver hairs of the animal seemed to stand. It's yellow green eyes narrowed and the tail gave an angry flick showing the haughty personality of a typical feline.
His ward smiled brightly as she looked up at him with a pair of twinkling eyes.
"May I keep him, Sesshomaru-sama?"