AN: Sorry all for the long wait. Here's another chapter
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That is what she did, the dinner table at in hushed silence as she explained the new information they had gathered. Even Tsuki who was usually so animated wore a grave expression on his handsome face. He had left his long silvery hair to flow down his back and shoulders, the near identical color of Sesshoumaru's and Tsukasa's.
Setsuna for the first time in a long time was absent and Rin missed his comforting presence. Not only that Tasogare- sama had been subdued- his wickedly teasing personality somehow closed off. Without the teasing his handsome face was almost frightening- clearly something was bothering him.
However Rin did not have much time to ponder anything for she was torn between helping Botan- or taking care of Alack's 3 boys. Jun being the boldest, helped her with all the little chores that Botan had given her to do. He really was a sweet child- Rin almost forgot he was a tengu. Until he turned around and displayed those small inky black wings.
"Botan- where is Setsuna?" she asked the demoness as they washed yams and potatoes to roast over the fire in the kitchen. The two elderly mortal women were in the pantry pulling out further ingredients for the dinner. Jun had gone to help, despite his age he was fiercely strong.
"He is resting- apparently Tsukasa has told me he is very ill since Kou has come. He is not allowed to leave the Palace grounds- and he did so under pain of death to thwart the mortal assassin."
Horror dropped into the pit of her stomach, she set the knife down "Setsuna!" she called. A soft energy came to her then, but it was weak. A physical caress touched her cheek
"I am well Rin-sama. Let me rest for a time" came that deep voice as sinful as her husbands.
Rin clenched her fist to her chest "I miss you" she whispered
A soft laugh sounded in the kitchen "I am everywhere. There is no need for that" and abruptly the soft energy faded leaving them alone once more in the kitchen. Rin turned to Botan in horror and the demoness rose coming to put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Please Rin it is alright- Tasogare-sama has already gone to the Heart of the Palace to take care of the situation. Setsuna is in no danger of perishing" she said soothingly, giving her thin shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
The immortal gave a soft nod "A-alright, sometimes I am so afraid of losing someone else I love" she whispered her hands clenching into fists. Tears filled her eyes but she did not let them fall- such emotions brought back old memories. Memories she thought she had buried…
Botan suddenly engulfed her in an embrace "We will all be here for you as long as we can Rin" she said gently. Rin nodded and returned the embrace tightly.
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The morning dawned bright and early- the air still warm even though signs of fall began to grace the land. Sesshoumaru's Mother stood outside the Western Palace, gripping the thick rope that was attached to the bound and gagged form of Kou. Last night she had thoroughly broken him- he now was barely able to stand. It was Tasogare's Power that was keeping him standing and Alack's magic that kept him from speaking. Indeed this stupid mortal would pay dearly for hurting anyone belonging to this clan and when she found who the ringleader was she would give them their 'just desserts' so to speak.
"Tasogare!" she called delicately "do hurry up Alack is summoning the Clouds!"
The Great Lord Tasogare lingered in the threshold giving as much of his spiritual energy to Setsuna as possible "At least have the decency to see me off Setsuna. I have manju buns for you" he said unwrapping the still warm buns from the wax paper- he had gone down to Shima before the sun had even kissed the horizon to bring them back for the Avatar. There was a flurry of power before the strong comforting scent of cedar and sandalwood filled his nose. Setsuna appeared in front of him, ever short those red eyes screened by thick white lashes. He was dressed simply as if the effort was too much; no flush of pink stained his lips or cheeks.
A single long fingered hand closed over a manju bun "Setsuna"
The Avatar looked up, white hair spilling over those thin- yet wide shoulders. Before taking a huge bite of the confection, he grinned.
"You know bribery will get you nowhere" he said upon swallowing, polishing it off in about 5 bites. He had just extended his hand for the other when Tasogare reached out and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Setsuna seemed to still.
"Will you be alright?" Tasogare whispered his grip tightening on the Avatar's bony shoulder.
The former god smiled bitterly, eyes clashing with his "Of course I will be. You didn't kill me when you bound me to this place, do you think I will die now? How terribly anti-climactic" he wrinkled his nose, taking the final manju bun- and polishing that off in a few moments.
"Tasogare!" called the feminine voice from beyond the doors.
"My sister in law awaits" he rolled his eyes with a grin, as Setsuna cupped his cheeks with those warm- delicate hands "Be well Tasogare- kun I will miss all this lovely spiritual energy" he gave a little sigh of pleasure.
Alack suddenly appeared at the threshold, black hair shimmering like silk in the early morning light. He approached Setsuna and clapped him on the back before looking up at Tasogare and declaring.
"Are you coming?"
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It was only hours for them to reach the Imperial Palace, at some point the assassin had gone to sleep and Tasogare had let him. Tasogare sat on the cloud with Alack conversing quietly while his sister in law sat in the front with their sleeping prisoner. Something had been nagging him since she had come.
"Dearest sister in law" he began, elegantly she turned to look elegantly over her shoulder "What is it Tasogare?"
"How is it that you came at such an opportune time? One would think it was you- who planned all this" he began shrewdly. She gave one of those little smiles- her face a carefully neutral mask.
"What makes you think that? I would never do anything to harm anyone who belongs to the clan"
"Including myself?" he inquired. Alack nudged him to stop- the ancient tengu knew that her dislike of him was created when she had first married his brother. Though his older brother had been a philanderer as Tasogare was- this demoness seemed to harbor a special dislike for him.
She gave a little shrug "Of course you are part of a clan too" she turned away. Tasogare rose to sit beside her, the wind whipping back his long hair.
"I think you are lying" he said
"Tasogare, stop" Alack warned from behind him.
She turned to him then- her golden eyes glimmering with a fierce light "Though I disliked my husband siring a son with a mortal princess. I dislike it even more that you followed in his footsteps and then ran off to the Celestial Realm when you felt the weight of your many sins upon you. Your half mortal son is surely beautiful- but I will not have a child of heaven inherit that Palace or Setsuna. It will be Sakuya and all of his descendants who will. Do I make myself clear?" one of her silvery brows arched.
For a brief moment Tasogare was stunned by her beauty and her reasoning. She was mad- as plain and simple as that. To everyone's surprise he threw back his head and laughed.
"Was that your reason for coming all the way here? To make sure that your precious son hadn't bent to the will of my own child? Does the fallen Prince look like a kind of person to usurp the Head of the Clan for his own selfish purposes?" Tasogare replied, reaching out to affectionately tuck a strand of silken hair behind her ear.
She blinked slowly "That is not my only reason for coming, I wished to see my son and his wife. Rin is a pretty thing is she not? I always knew my son's unnatural softness for her would pay off." She added as if he had not spoken.
Tasogare watched the lights of the Imperial Palace appear in the darkness.
"I can most heartily agree. If Sesshoumaru did not love her so- I would steal her away" he replied wickedly.
A fire suddenly entered her eyes "If you so much as lay a hand on Rin, I will make sure a certain extremity of yours does not survive the experience" she looked pointedly downwards at his abdomen.
Tasogare was on the verge of bursting into laughter again "I can assure you she is sacred. But you still haven't answered my question- how did you know about this wretch" he indicated the sleeping prisoner with his hand.
"I Saw it, you know that my clan of inu-youkai are valued for their premonitions. Even though it hurt Setsuna you know that as a former kami he will not truly die"
All the humor abruptly left Tasogare's face "Yes- yes you are right"
"We are almost there" Alack added as the huge cloud began to descend.
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"This better be good Tasogare- sama" the Emperor said drily from behind the large screen that shielded the throne from mortal eyes. Rubbing the sleep from his eye he watched this wife and son slide quietly into their appointed seats
"Heika- we bring an assassin. Sent to my clan's lands to assassinate the exiled prince" Tasogare said with the utmost diffidence.
A pang hit the Emperor somewhere in his chest- though he hated his oldest son he also loved him in equal measure. From her seat the Empress pulled in her breath and Tsume looked stricken. Actually if he studied his son carefully- he had gone full white.
"How is it that you knew of him? Did he try to attack the Prince?" the Emperor continued unhurriedly, stifling a yawn.
"No High One" it was now Sesshoumaru's mother who spoke " I Foresaw his coming. The Avatar of the Clan Palace and myself thwarted his plan in the woods."
He made a motion to the attendant who asked the both of them to rise. Alack still remained head down, his magic forcing the injured assassin into the same position. His soft whimpers of pain breaking the utter silence of the throne room.
"This is very good of you- even though my son is not of my blood. He still carries royal blood in his veins. In the day and age as this- it is imperative that we do not lose any of Amaterasu- kami-sama's blood."
He motioned for the screen to rise and he stood. Elegantly descending the dais to step onto the highly polished granite floor of the throne room. Tasogare kept his eyes to the floor- for even though he was a mortal he was still Emperor. Proper respect was due
"Sit him up Alack- sama" the Emperor demanded. Alack sat up- pulling up the assain in one smooth motion. For long moment he studied the blackened and brusied face.
"What is his name Tasogare?" he asked
"Kou- Heika. He claims not to know who hired him- only that he had to be a noble judging from his accent"
The Emperor took a few steps forward and grabbed the assassin's hair, Kou winced trying to speak even though his lips had been magically sealed.
There was a sudden great building of heat of Power that seemed to be gathering around the Emperor. The stylized sun of Amaterasu blazed on his forehead for a brief moment and the Emperor sighed. Kou collapsed to the floor in a dead faint and the power faded, before with the cool grace of a swan turned to his son.
"Tsume- why don't you go join your brother in Exile"
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"WHAT?!" Tsukasa cried gazing at the two women with an open mouth.
"What does it say?" Botan said impatiently taking the scroll from Tsukasa's frozen hands. Tsuki came in to join them- a tray of green tea appearing beside him. Thanking the Avatar, Tsuki poured himself some tea and waited as Botan's quickly read the scroll "We will have another Prince Exiled here"
The teacup chattered to the tatami floor "My brother is coming here?!" he asked stunned.
Botan looked up- unaware he had come into the dinning room. "Oh- oh yes. Its official" she handed him the scroll- the seal of the emperor stamped on the bottom. Tsuki took the half open scroll- gently running his thumb over the seal.
"I suppose it was my brother who sent Kou then" he asked in a defeated voice. Rin squeezed his hand gently, mute with shock.
"It was. Apparently Tsume will be here on a serving capacity only. He will be assisting our mortal servants in taking care of the Palace…" she hesitated briefly "the emperor has also asked us to devise a kind of device to keep him from escaping. After a trial period of a year, the Emperor will decide whether or not to Exile him far past our borders. Even past Chin"
"What of an heir?" he asked as Rin helped him clean up the mess on his hakama.
Botan shook her head "The Emperor mentions nothing of that. Maybe it would be best you wrote to him" Botan replied her eyes settling on Tsuki. The fallen Prince only nodded.
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