Chapter Two: Spring 1512
As the light of dawn first began to appear through the window, Sesshoumaru, Taiyoukai of the Western Lands, lay upon the bed propped upon his elbow.He looked down upon the beautifully nude female youkai, allowing himself to grope a breast one last time before leaving the bed. It was the first time in a while that he had seen Ririka, who he at one time slept with regularly. They had met centuries ago but, while they found their connection in the bedroom was…passionate, outside their attitudes were conflicted at best. So they tended kept their "friendship" between the sheets. Behind him, Ririka moaned in her sleep, turning toward the warm area in the bed he had left.
Sliding open and closed the shoji doors, he saw Mizuki, a member of the small staff he allowed into the inner sanctum—his personal living area—of his fortress. She stood practically at attention, awaiting his orders. He nodded to her, the signal letting her know to follow normal procedure—allow the sleeping woman to bathe and eat if she desired before leading her out of the castle. He left, knowing she would do her job.
Mizuki was one of the few he trusted, which was one reason his personal staff was so small. The other being that he didn't want unnecessary servants milling about loudly. Currently on his personal staff were the cook and her helper, two general servants and the major domo. And, of course, Jaken, who had eventually proved his usefulness in helping sort through his paperwork and keep everyone on task.
However, the outer area of the fortress had many more people. This was where the guards were housed, where less important guests slept for the duration of their stay, as well as some artisans. As such, a much larger staff was required. His advisors, though they had the option of staying in the inner sanctum, opted instead to stay with their families in the guest houses scattered around the area, only a short distance away. And at this point in his rule, he had little need to call on them, as he was much more experienced and cunning than when he had taken the position over a century ago.
He continued down the hall to his room—he never allowed the women he invited for a simple tumble under the covers into his own chambers—where he could enter into a more secluded area of the hot spring the fortress was built around.
He took his time bathing; there was nothing of great importance that he had to do today, just the usual land requests, settling disputes, signing off for imports and exports.
The rest of the day, he would be free to research. He had been hearing disturbing news from the mainland lately. Foreign humans had been docking there lately, bringing with them new, more powerful weapons. Some of the weaker youkai had begun to flee to the Western Lands, bringing news of the loud, powerful projectiles that had given the humans more power. He needed to know what he would be up against, should the humans decide to sail east.
Dressed, but without his heavy armor he wore while patrolling his lands, he exited his room, ready to spend another day in his study. But he stopped. Just one door down from his was a room that was once the sleeping quarters of the bubbling little girl that had traveled with him for years.
Rin…
As always, he was unable to resist the pull to her room, to see if she could possibly be there, though he knew she wasn't. She had long ago died and rested, even now, in the gardens of his fortress that she loved so much.
He slid open the door and stepped into her room. Her scent, though slowly fading, was still there. The room was not dusty, as the servants cleaned it monthly. And it still held the feeling of Rin. A stack of papers—her drawings—lay on her bedside table. The closet still held a set of small, child-sized kimonos. A mishmash of flowers—the last "bouquet" she had ever picked—sat, dried, in a vase on her desk, lit by the morning light. She always did enjoy waking up feeling the warm sunlight on her face. And at night she would stand on the roof, watching the sun set until he or Jaken brought her to her room.
If… Rin should ever die… would you please not forget about me?
Startled, he abruptly left the room, walking at a much quicker pace to his study.
Such a foolish thing…
A week had passed now since the last time he had entered Rin's room. He was still in the slight depression he always ended up in every time he was reminded of her.
Naraku…If he had been killed faster…If I had been more aware…
Once upon a time, he had been alone. He traveled by himself, seeking power. Then he was joined by Jaken, who proved himself to be a loyal retainer, ready to die for his lord; and, in fact, had—though he was brought back to life.
And then Rin…True, like Jaken, she never really let her mouth have a break. She ways always talking or laughing, but he never really minded. There was something about her that made him want to relax, but always feel he must be on alert in order to protect her. When she was alive, his castle always felt much more…alive, real, home, just …more.
And now, it was just…empty.
He looked up from the book he had been reading (though he hadn't been paying any attention to it) when Jaken knocked on the door before entering the study with another stack of papers.
"This is the last of it, Sesshoumaru-sama. Correspondence from the other lords."
Sesshoumaru sighed. Jaken always saved this for last because it caused his lord the most frustration.
As Sesshoumaru perused the stack, he saw it was more of the same. The lords were all his late fathers age, and older, mated and with several children who they wanted either mated or trained. He mentally snorted. Like he would ever do that again. The last time he had opened his house to train another lord's son, he got practically no work done. Even Rin, human and young, knew better than that dolt. No, he knew better now. And he knew he still had another couple centuries before the other lords truly pressured him to mate—or had the right to force him to do so. By then, he would hopefully have found someone acceptable to his standards—strong, attractive, loyal, lacking complete avarice.
Almost finished browsing the stack, he found a letter that caught his interest, signed by the Lord of the North, Fuyudori Tanchou.
"…My mate has been complaining for some time of your absence at her parties. Perhaps you could take a break from the reigning of your lands to get her off my back…"
Sesshoumaru smiled at the tone of the letter. He knew for a fact what a handful the Lady of the North could be: a graceful, compliant lady of the court one moment, and a vengeful banshee the next. Yet, he found her company enjoyable as well. She was the only other he knew who shared his obsession with poisons, and other, lighter potions. She must have something new to show him to have bothered the easygoing northern lord to this extent.
He nodded, making up his mind. He would have to take a couple months to prepare, make sure everything would be properly taken care of in his absence, make sure everything important would be forwarded to the right place…but that was all that would be required to prepare for a long stay, perhaps even till next spring. After all, that's what advisors were for.
He quickly penned a response to the northern lord of his expected date of arrival before responding to the other taiyoukai.
"…This Sesshoumaru regrets to inform the Eastern Lord that I have already accepted the invitation of the Lord of the North Fuyudori Tanchou and do not expect to return to the Western Lands until after the new year. As such, this Sesshoumaru will not be able to visit the other Lords for some time…"
AN: Sorry it's a little late; I got a new book and, well...