Previously on Cursed

Sesshomaru and Miroku well…you know.

When Miroku woke up the next morning, the sun streamed into his eyes before he could open them. He paused to think why he had slept in so long. Normally, the cold ground, damp with the morning dew would have him up at dawn; or the presence of others in some borrowed cabin. Neither of these were the case this morning. As he lay in a soft bed wrapped in next to a warm body his memories flooded back to the night before. He remembered that he and his bedmate had made love- no, that wasn't quite accurate. An accurate description would be that he and Sesshomaru had sex; wonderful, vigorous sex, although he had nothing to compare it to. He recalled how as Sesshomaru had thrust into him, he had demanded more and more, and how Sesshomaru, his body glistening with sweat, had given him what he wanted. He recalled submitting to Sesshomaru as pleasure and pain intermixed. As Miroku took in the sight of his lover's naked body, he felt his lust well up within him. Sesshomaru stirred.

"You're giving me that look," he said without opening his eyes. Miroku looked away, a tad embarrassed to be caught staring; and shivering slightly as Sesshomaru uncoiled his tail from around him. Sesshomaru noticed, and smiled to himself.

"I…am not."

"A lie." Sesshomaru had finally opened his eyes and regarded his lover with a lusty gaze. Miroku sat up, but Sesshomaru reached out to pull him back down.

"Sesshomaru wait," Miroku protested.

Sesshomaru said nothing, but cast him a sideways glance and raised his eyebrow, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm a little sticky and I need to…" he stopped short of telling Sesshomaru that he needed to relieve himself. Sesshomaru nodded ever so slightly, a little indignant that he had been refused of what he wanted.

Miroku slid off the bed, wincing slightly as gripping pains ripped through his backside and traveled up his back. As he made his way to his private bath, he thought on why he felt that he, a grown man, needed permission to bathe and attend to personal matters.

Miroku sank down in his bath, relaxing as the waters soothed his aches. Perhaps he was being overly sensitive, about earlier. It was obvious that Sesshomaru wished to couple again, and he had wanted to as well.

"Do you intend to lounge in here all day?" Miroku turned to see Sesshomaru standing in the doorway.

Miroku raised an eyebrow, that sparkle of mischief in his eye. "Perhaps," he challenged.

"Perhaps not. I have other plans for you."

"Oh? Do tell. Will you not join me?" Miroku invited, his voice as smooth as honey as he so often used when he was coaxing someone into giving him his way.

Sesshomaru slipped off his robe and Miroku caught sight of his magnificent body. Oh gods in heaven, he thought to himself.

Sesshomaru wasted no time in coming after what he wanted. He had Miroku straddling him even before he sat down. This time, they had their pleasure slowly and easily, Sesshomaru being mindful of Miroku's soreness. Afterwards, Miroku proceeded to cleanse them both with his bare hands. As he massaged Sesshomaru's body in slow circles, Sesshomaru stayed his hand.

"If you continue then I will have you again," he warned.

"Don't you have a meeting with your barons this morning?" Miroku asked him.

"My vassals will wait upon my arrival. They are on thin ice as it stands. I have a mind to execute every one of the cowardly bastards," Sesshomaru swore, his eyes suddenly growing cold.

Miroku stared at him in shock. "Will you at least let them explain their behavior?"

Sesshomaru met his gaze with disdain, Miroku realized it was not aimed at him but was still unnerved by it. "Why should I? They have sworn fealty to me, and are to defend my domains in my presence or my absence. They have violated their code and brought dishonor upon me. I will not tolerate it."

"But-"

"But nothing. I no longer wish to discuss this with you. It is my right to deal with them as I see fit. I might ask why you would rush to defend them so."

"I not defending anyone," Miroku said with a tinge of impatience in his voice, which did not go unnoticed by Sesshomaru, which looked upon him disapprovingly. "And don't look at me like that. I am only saying that you should at least hear what they have to say first. It can't hurt to have more information. And then if it pleases you to kill them-"

"I don't like your tone Miroku, nor your implication."

"And I don't like being interrupted constantly. I suppose that makes up even." They locked eyes, each determined to have his own way and that he was in the right. Sesshomaru decided to end this little war of words.

"As I stated before, I will not continue this discussion with you. The decision is mine to make. Meet me in my quarters for breakfast in thirty minutes."

"Is that a request?"

Instead of answering, Sesshomaru simply looked at Miroku, his face unreadable. Then he walked out of the room.

Miroku sighed and sat back, berating himself for his role in that pointless argument. Sesshomaru was indeed as stubborn as his younger brother, as many had pointed out before. In the end, he would simply do as he pleased, regardless of reason. If Sesshomaru let his temper rule him, as Inuyasha so often did, then the results would be disastrous with Godatsusha. Miroku was sure of it. However, he could have gone about it a different way. He tried to think of a way to smooth things over, but Sesshomaru wasn't big on apologies. Miroku had observed that the words 'sorry' and 'forgive me' ignited his temper faster than any others. But Miroku was a smooth talker and a master of persuasion and was confident that he could win Sesshomaru over and bring him around to his reason.

Next door, Sesshomaru paced the room and fumed silently over the argument this morning.

How dare he! How dare that monk presume to interfere in my affairs! I will deal with my vassals as I see fit. It is of no concern of his. These are my lands. I will be instructed on how I 'should'govern them by no one! 'Should' was a word that Sesshomaru didn't tolerate from anyone, it ranked up there with 'sorry' and 'forgive me' for irritating him. When someone said 'should', it meant that they thought to know what was best, which was not the case when governing his lands. He would just have to put the monk in his place.

But then he paused. What Miroku had said was not unreasonable. Listening to their excuses couldn't hurt, he might find out some information that he had not previously known. Then he could dispose of them. He decided to take that course of action, not because the monk said so, but because it made sense.

Miroku stepped out of the tub and wrapped himself in a large sheet. As he entered the bedroom, Aoi was there, remaking his bed with fresh linen.

"Oh! Master Miroku, excuse me, I thought you were breakfasting with Lord Sesshomaru," she explained.

"Not yet," Miroku replied. He noticed that she had the laundry in two separate piles. One for his purple monk's robes and the other for the sheets. This gave him pause, probably unnecessarily, but he inquired anyway.

"Why are my clothes in a separate pile?" he asked her.

"Oh…Master Miroku….I thought you knew." A look of discomfort crossed her face, and Miroku could not figure out why she should be so discomforted over a simple question.

"Aoi, what is it? You can tell me," he said gently, touching her shoulder.

"Lord Sesshomaru ordered me to throw them out," she said.

Miroku kept his face calm, but inwardly his thoughts were in turmoil. These are my clothes. Why would he order them to be thrown away? he thought to himself. No, he decided. It was a simple misunderstanding.

"Aoi, I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. Please have them laundered and returned to me."

The look of terror on her face told Miroku that she saw through his white lie. "Sir, I dare not defy my Lord's orders. If he found out, he would be…displeased."

"Aoi," he said in his smooth, persuasive voice. "It's fine. Just have them given back to me. I'll make sure he never finds out."

"Sir…" she said uncertainly, shifting a little. She had never considered defying her Lord before.

"Trust me. I will take all the blame," he promised, though he could hardly be faulted for keeping his own property.

She didn't respond, but she scooped all of the laundry in one pile, bid him farewell and left the room.

Miroku joined Sesshomaru through the door that connected their suites that he had not noticed previously, and only spotted because it was slightly ajar. Before they began to eat, Miroku decided to clear the air of any tension.

"Listen Sesshomaru, about this morning…" he paused, half-expecting Sesshomaru to interrupt and snap at him for interfering in his affairs but he did not. He simply paused without looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Perhaps I was too presumptuous. I only sought to make sure we…you…were as informed as possible before making a decision," Miroku explained.

"I see."

"It was a pointless argument. I hope we can put it past us."

"It is done." Sesshomaru found that forgiving Miroku for his impertinence (as he saw it) still left an odd feeling in him, what was it? Doubt? "Your recommendation was not unreasonable. I will…" he stopped short of telling Miroku his course of action. "…consider it. In the future I shall not take offense so readily." It was the closest he had come to an apology. He hoped Miroku would appreciate it.

Miroku stared at Sesshomaru, blinking several times as he took in what he had heard. He stood up and walked around the table and knelt in front of his lover, planting the softest of kisses on his lips. Sesshomaru responded by deepening the kiss and sliding back in his chair so that he could pull Miroku closer to him. Miroku stood up, leading Sesshomaru to the bed.

Later, as Sesshomaru begrudgingly set about the task of meeting with and berating his vassals for their cowardice, Miroku asked if he might join him at the meeting.

"No," Sesshomaru answered as Miroku knew he would. "I shall deal with them myself. I will give them a chance to explain themselves before taking action," he added, assuming that Miroku would not take offense at being left out of the meeting. He had a very good reason for doing so. "I shall see you at dinner. Feel free to tour the castle and grounds, but I would prefer if you stayed inside the gate."

On the Castle Grounds

"So he wouldn't let you go either, eh?" Inuyasha asked his friend.

"No," Miroku replied.

"He's so damned stubborn. He insists on doing everything himself," Inuyasha groused. He didn't come all this way to be left out, sitting idle in this stupid castle while Sesshomaru was in on all the action. "What are you looking at me like that for?" he demanded of his friend, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. He is just as stubborn as you."

"What! That's not true!"

"It is. You both insist on doing everything yourselves. You also both think that you are right all of the time and," he paused before adding the last part. "You are both equally hotheaded."

"Whatever," Inuyasha grumbled. Why did people always say that? They were nothing alike. Sesshomaru was overly proud with his high and mighty attitude, thinking he was better than everyone else. Inuyasha was nothing like that.

In the meeting

Sesshomaru surveyed his vassals, and he was pleased to see that they were all quaking in fear. He let his look of cold fury rake over all forty-nine of them. Wait…forty-nine? Who was it that dared not to come when he had summoned them? As he accounted for each baron, he noted that the missing one was none other than Hideo, his supposed chief vassal and the author of letter that was severely lacking in humility.

"Your cowardice has displeased me," Sesshomaru began. "However," he paused for effect. "Before I execute you all I will hear your explanations."

No one stood up. There was a pecking order, and since the senior vassal was not here they should gone according to rank, in a further act of cowardice, none of the other ten lower ranking barons stepped up to speak.

"My lord," Tsuyoshi, the youngest of his vassals began, "we were only followings Hideo's lead," he explained. Sesshomaru noted that he said 'lead' and not 'order'. He had made a good start, but Sesshomaru was not satisfied. There were murmurs among the others about how the lowest ranking was not following the unspoken protocol, which was silenced by Sesshomaru with a look.

"You would betray Hideo by laying the responsibility at his feet?" Sesshomaru asked, seeking to trap the young baron.

"No, My Lord. But when you left the Western lands, you commanded that we comply with Hideo as we would obey you; as he was your deputy," he concluded.

Ah, Sesshomaru observed. He didn't fall for it. And he used my exact words. I might spare him, he thought to himself. He also noted that he did not apologize.

"Is that a fact?" Sesshomaru asked him.

"Yes My Lord. And I have brought eight hundred combatants who are ready at your command," he added.

"Tsuyoshi. You may be seated."

He bowed and sat down. Just then, Hideo burst through the door. A look of horror crossed his face when he saw that the meeting had already started.

"Hideo, so glad you could join us," Sesshomaru said. "Please take you seat."

"Yes My Lord," he bowed again and scuttled to his seat.

"But first," Sesshomaru halted him before he could sit down. "I summoned you to meet at noon. Why did you tarry?"

Hideo knew apologizing was useless. "My Lord, it is noon just now…"

"On the contrary My Lord Hideo. It is now thirty seconds past noon."

Hideo swallowed hard.

"Furthermore," Sesshomaru continued. "If I summon you to meet me at noon, should you not be here before noon to await my pleasure?"

Hideo knew he was beaten. "My Lord! For-"

His head bounced on the floor before he could finish his statement, much to the other vassals' horror, except Tsuyoshi, who kept a neutral expression.

"Now that Hideo is no longer with us," Sesshomaru continued, "You can no longer use him as an excuse for your cowardice, and I no longer have need of listening to your explanations. Tsuyoshi, come forth."

Without hesitation, the lowly baron rose to his feet and knelt before his overlord, not knowing what to expect. He showed no fear. If he were to die by his Lord's hands, so be it. No amount of groveling would change that.

Sesshomaru raised his sword. "Tell me, Tsuyoshi are you ready to die?"

"Yes my lord." His voice did not quaver, which surprised Sesshomaru.

"You would forfeit your life so easily?"

"My Lord, my life is in your hands; be it by execution now or preparing to give my life defending your domains in battle."

"You insolent fool!" exclaimed one of the senior barons. "How dare you presume to speak to Lord Sesshomaru like with such impertinence! Mind your place!"

Tsuyoshi said nothing, keeping his head bowed before Sesshomaru in obeisance.

"So this lowly baron has offended you?" Sesshomaru asked.

"My Lord I am offended on your behalf!" he declared passionately.

"I was just about to behead him. But come forth, you can do the honors." The vassal leapt from his seat and sprinted forward to do as he was commanded.

"And have your senior peers join you, I wish to teach a lesson in humbling one's self sufficiently."

The other nine vassals joined him at the front, relieved that their lord wasn't going to execute them, and that this insolent new man would be taught a lesson.

Sesshomaru nodded to the first baron, who unsheathed his sword and raised it high in the air.

The sword clattered to the ground, followed by his headless body. Sesshomaru had moved so fast that no one knew what was happening until it was over. Before anyone could react, he beheaded the other nine vassals with one swing of Bakusaiga.

"Rise," Sesshomaru instructed Tsuyoshi. "Face your former peers."

"This," Sesshomaru announced, "is my new deputy. You will follow his command, as it will be given by me. His first order will be to instruct you as how to deal with the traitors' liegemen." Sesshomaru nodded to his new deputy.

"We will execute them," Tsuyoshi decided.

"Interesting," Sesshomaru observed. "Does anyone wish to contest? You may speak freely without fear of punishment or reprisal from me."

"My Lord," one of them began nervously, "could we not incorporate them into our own army or imprison them?"

"No," Tsuyoshi said firmly. "Traitors are the enemy. Therefore, these men who hath served these traitors are also the enemy. And imprisoning them would be too cumbersome. We are at war, or soon will be. The amount of guards and other supplies needed to secure them could better be used elsewhere."

"Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed.

"What of the twenty who were imprisoned by Godatsusha?" another asked. "Shall we execute them as well?"

Sesshomaru had been thinking on that for quite some time. "Their fate does not concern you at this time. Tsuyoshi will instruct you on how to deal with them." Sesshomaru turned and left. He was anxious to quit of these useless cretins and get back to his Miroku.

In Miroku's Quarters

"So Aoi," Miroku remarked, ready to lay on the charm. "Tell me about yourself," he said as he folded his own robes and put them away, much to her surprise.

"There's not much to tell," she answered, not understanding why Miroku would be interested in a lowly servant such as herself.

"Sure there is," Miroku prompted. "Where are you from? How did you come to be in Sesshomaru's service? What do you do when you're off?"

He listened, giving her his full attention as her story spilled out. It turns out that her family has been serving Sesshomaru's family for hundreds of years. She was born and raised here, as was her mate. As Miroku suspected, she began to relax in his presence.

"Oh really? How does your mate serve Sesshomaru?" he asked.

"He is one of Lord Sesshomaru's grooms," she said proudly.

"I wonder if he was at that meeting today," Miroku mused.

"Oh yes. He accompanies Lord Sesshomaru to all of his meetings," she replied.

"Hmmm."

Miroku? What are you up to? Find out as Cursed continues!

I know you might be getting tired of the oc's but Tsuyoshi and Aoi are important in the story, and will play a bigger role from now on.

Tsuyoshi is a Japanese name that means 'brave'.