Ch 35 Facing the Threat

Sesshoumaru didn't even try to sleep that night; instead he watched over his family as they curled up all together as usual. He would not be surprised if one or the other of Rin and Inuyasha had nightmares; even if they were both used to being in dangerous situations. Rin had had disturbed sleep before when they travelled together and he knew that Inuyasha's dreams were not entirely free of fear either. Besides, he too found it calming to be in control once more; overseeing his precious family that he could so easily have lost that morning.

His youkai had been so enraged that it was only now beginning to retreat and if not for his training, Sesshoumaru would have probably taken the law already into his own hands as he would have done before he had his responsibilities. With family, he now had to make sure that his conduct for the West was irreprehensible; they were no longer having to live in the wilds hunting a common foe and making decisions on their own. With his lands settled, diplomacy had to triumph over the sometimes physical need to rend and destroy. Sesshoumaru was a civilised creature and it was no problem to sort things out with the aid of, or at least the agreement of his peers.

Inuyasha whined and tossed a little but settled down again; when a gentle hand stroked his head petting his ears and Sesshoumaru stayed nearby all night, plotting dire things to be done to the Lord of the East. When the others awoke in the morning, Sesshoumaru was already ceremonially dressed for a council meeting and had breakfasted alone. He would take care of Western matters while the other Lords got themselves ready. He was to be accompanied by the other two cardinal lords, apart from the Wolf Prince and Inuyasha. Before they set off, Sesshoumaru had a final warning to Inuyasha;

"Remember what I said to you Little Brother; East will more than likely try to anger or distress you with his words again but he will not be allowed to come near to you and as you are not yet used to diplomacy, I must ask that you do not interrupt the speech. All I promise you is that you will be heard; just bide your time and this I do insist on, if you are to come along."

One of Sesshoumaru's court officials had been sent ahead to notify East of his impeachment by the other Lords and to arrange neutral ground for the meeting. Once the place had been decided, a tent set up and any other arrangements were completed; the Lords set off for the meeting. Shingi and his most trusted guards would stay behind to protect the Royal Family; along with those chosen by the other Lords from their own guards, for their respective families. The meeting would take place in two days; which was the time it would take to reach the designated place by the Lords and their escorts.

The day's journey was uneventful and all slept well and safely, the next day saw more activity on the road as persons stopped to see the cavalcade and various vendors attempted to sell food and drink. Then that night once they'd camped and eaten the evening meal, there were more discussions about the meeting for the next day. Inuyasha felt uncouth and very uneducated, as the Lords spoke together; he hardly understood a word of what they were saying, even Kouga was holding his own end of the conversation.

Inuyasha saw the wolf in a new light; no longer the friendly 'enemy' and sparring partner of past days but like Sesshoumaru, Kouga too was a diplomat and the hanyou felt as if the world were leaving him behind. Being a bit fed up, he decided to go for a walk and he found a nice tree to sit in; but not for long. Sesshoumaru came out and followed his trail and jumped in the tree to sit opposite his brother. He knew Inuyasha was feeling left out of everything, but he was not going to let him sit around to brood. Brooding never helped his brother; it just made him get the wrong ideas.

"You will return Inuyasha and you will sit and listen. Even if you are bored, it is time that you learned how to listen when others speak. You may understand more then, what is on the agenda for tomorrow." Then he jumped his brother down from the tree and escorted him back to the camp, where Kouga gave him a knowing smirk and Inuyasha growled at the wolf with a scowl. Getting his own back, Inuyasha grumpily lay down and rested his head on his brother's leg and went to sleep; while the boring talks went on over his head.

Sesshoumaru was so surprised and heartened at this display of trust from his brother and in front of an audience; that he didn't reprimand the pup for his show of disrespect for the other Lords. He did however, make a slight comment to the others about the attention span of pups; as he idly ran his fingers through his brother's mane. The sleeve of his kimono acted as a covering for Inuyasha and the hanyou felt warm and safe as he slept; his youkai appeased by the scent of his brother close by. In truth the Taiyoukai was glad that Inuyasha wasn't awake; because he could feel that the boy was tense and that usually meant brash words and rash behaviour, as he tried to hide his apprehension.

Inuyasha awoke most surprised to find that he'd slept the night away; not having moved from where he'd gone to sleep. He could feel Sesshoumaru's arm resting across his back and hear his brother's amused chuckle, knowing that he was awake. Before the bluster could erupt from Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru forestalled him by saying that there was breakfast ready outside; as the camp cooks had started at daybreak preparing the food. As he hoped, this was distraction enough for the boy who leapt outside and went to the river to freshen up before he ate.

When the camp was packed, everyone was ready for the final part of the journey to meet with the Lord of the East. Inuyasha was beginning to annoy everyone by jumping around and getting his nose stuck in everyone else's business, in his eagerness to be off; until Kouga grabbed hold of him and bowled him over to start one of their 'old' fights and kept him occupied until the rest had started to leave. Kouga saw Sesshoumaru nod at him slightly as the youkai recognised what the wolf was doing. Kouga grinned back and just said;

"Just getting in practice for when my own arrive." Then he met Inuyasha's deathly glare with one of his own and they were off again. It worked though and burned off some of Inuyasha's nervous energy and soon they were running to catch up with the more sedately paced Lords. Sesshoumaru sent Inuyasha off to scout around the area before they reached their destination; in case of trouble attempting to ambush them. Not that he thought that was likely; this was just to keep the boy's energy levels lower, as he knew it was going to be difficult for Inuyasha to just be sitting in the tent listening to double talk when he just wanted to blast away with Tetsusaiga.

After a quick refreshment break the final part of the journey was soon over and the meeting set for later that afternoon. Tents had been placed for the general needs of common hospitality, but soon the time had come and the opposing parties were kneeling on mats with advisors all around. Seshoumaru and Inuyasha sat side by side with the other lords either side. The Lord of the East sat in front; his eldest two sons either side of him and his three sons-in-law who also were his advisors, next to them. For a while no body spoke and then one of East's men broached the silence.

"My Lords you have charges against My Lord that you wish to have answered. Would you like to explain?

"Lord East abused This Sesshoumaru's hospitality to cast verbal and physical insults against my marked pups and sending an assassin to kill them. In doing so, he also put at risk the life and wellbeing of Lord Kougs's mate and unborn cub. These charges require that his life be forfeit."

"Is there proof of these allegations My Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"The assassin reeked of only one other scent than his own and that was East's. East also was in the area and did nothing to assisst my brother in defending those he was protecting; only to appear once my brother was alone in the area with the express intention, to assault and intimidate him."

"So far this is only circumstantial evidence to support your allegations, My Lord. You will have to offer firmer proof to make such charges stick."

"The remains of the panther assassin with only East's scent on it was verified by the other two cardinal lords and the wolf prince. His mate saw the assassin creeping up behind my brother. East was immediately in the vicinity of my brother after the attack; as can be deduced from the fact that Kouga and Lord Setsuzentaru were on the scene within a few minutes of the attacks, one of which caused my brother to vomit over East who left that unmistakeable scent in the suite he vacated. This was also verified by the same lords."

"These are serious allegations indeed. Lord of the Eastern Lands do you have anything to offer to help these proceedings? Did you send an assassin to murder Lord Sesshoumaru's offspring?"

"Categorically not." East said in a loud enough voice to be heard by all present and he smirked as Inuyasha jumped up in indignation, only to be pulled back down by his brother.

"He does not lie." Was the surprising statement from Sesshoumaru. All eyes turned to him in amazement; "But, he evades the truth." The Taiyoukai turned to the accused and asked him if he had hired the panther or caused him to be in the Western Lands. Faced with that question and the knowledge that the Inu's could detect a falsehood as well as several of his own people, East nodded his head.

"He was not hired to kill any of your pups Sesshoumaru; that would gain me nothing and I do not agree with mindlessly killing anything, least of all the defenceless. I presume your hanyou killed him before determining his purpose; rather a foolish thing to do wouldn't you say?" His eyes never left Inuyasha as the boy leapt up out of his seat again; only this time Sesshoumaru got up as well and with a nod of apology to the assembly, he took his brother outside privately.

"Inuyasha you must sit still; or I will give you a valid reason to remain standing."

"He is a damn twisted, lying, scheming...and you wouldn't dare!"

"He may be all those things, but you are playing into his hands by showing yourself up as a hot headed and possibly unreliable witness. Do not make me prove that I carry out my threats; Father taught me in the same way and I found, to my personal cost and pain, that a threat is only worth making if you carry it out where neccessary and Father always followed through. Now are you prepared to trust me and sit still? Next time I have to take you out; everyone will know why."

"Sadistic bas..." He stopped when he saw Sesshoumaru's face warning him. "You're enjoying this aren't you? Treating me like a whelp...Still better your whelp than when I was less than the dirt under your foot...Feh, I'll be good. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"That will do nicely; thankyou Inuyasha." And Sesshoumaru ruffled his brother's hair fondly and annoyingly; very relieved that his brother had accepted his discipline without too much fuss. He had been prepared for the pup to storm off in a major sulk; rebelling against his brother's authority and yelling that he could look after himself and not be told how to act or behave. In fact he had two soldiers ready on standby to follow Inuyasha discreetly if he did in fact do a runner, they were already and waiting as he had taken the hanyou outside.

Sesshoumaru would have understood; for although Inuyasha was still technically a pup, he'd had to grow up far too soon and be responsible for himself far too early, in his short but traumatic life. This acceptance was a breakthrough for Seshoumaru and he would have to take great care in nurturing the small flame of parental trust that Inuyasha was granting him.

"Tell me about you and Father; what had you done? I can't imagine you as anything but the 'perfect' son." Inuyasha looked at his brother in genuine interest and Sesshoumaru sighed and looked away; he was not used to speaking anything of his past with his father, let alone when his father was less than pleased with him. But if anyone was entitled to know it would be the sibling he had just threatened as if he were a small pup and if it would help to convince him...

"It was because I too, thought I was the perfect son Inuyasha. I was for the main well behaved, but overly proud and haughty; thinking that everyone else was only for my personal benefit. I was constantly praised for my skills in the dojo and with my tutors. I found all such lessons easy and my own nature made me want to excel in all the things I was being taught. I started to look down with great disdain upon the more humble creatures of the Palace and eventually it came to a head.

"One of the Palace cleaners, an old youkai who I later learned had asked to serve in the cleaning department rather than retire away from the home he knew and loved with his friends; had been cleaning the hallway and I thought he had not removed himself quickly enough from where I wished to walk. I kicked over his pail and walked my muddy boots all over the fresh floor. Unfortunately for myself, father had seen it all and took me to task. I was to clean the floor in stead of the old servant, to learn how important everyone is in the running of a great Palace and it's upkeep or accept alternative punishment.

"I of course, refused such a menial task and once asked if that were my final say, I said yes. Father then, without warning or further option to me; proceeded to upend me over his knee right there and then, where anyone could walk past and I believe you would say 'tanned my hide' until I was reduced to tears. Then I had to apologise and still mop the floor myself; under threat of another humiliating spanking. Needless to say, I learned how much effort it took to keep my home clean and tidy and I have had a healthy respect for all the work my servants do since then."

Inuyasha was astounded at this little tale, he couldn't ever have imagined his brother in such trouble; but it made both Sesshoumaru and his father seem more real, as family to him. He leaned against Sesshoumaru grinning and said;

"Let's go back, I'll be good and wait on you. I trust you." Realising they had now been gone quite some time; they both walked back and apologised for the delay, but to both their bond was more important than any meeting however important the matters being discussed. Eyebrows were raised slightly as the brothers retook their seats and Kouga was surprised to see the calmer and more contented look on Inuyasha's face.

The Lord of the East too realised that things had changed and his moment to disconcert the young hanyou might be lost. But he was long in the tooth and far older than either of the Inus; he would change tack if need be and then come back to his original course. It would lead to the same thing in the end.

"Are things settled now between you My Lord? Good, then perhaps you wouldn't mind explaining why your half brother murdered one of my servants before ascertaining the reason for his presence. Surely although a servant this time, next time it may be someone of your own household; even your own child perhaps, could be removed for trying to 'play' with the nervous creature."

TBC