A/N: Hi. I apologize for misleading you, but nothing new here. I'm doing a large revision/edit of chapters in order to make them shorter and more palatable for readers. New chapters for those who are already tenured readers of Nocturne will begin at Chapter 53, which I may have up tomorrow after I do some revising/editing. Thanks for sticking with me!
Nocturne - Chapter Twenty-Six: To Answer A Summons
Rated - M (for suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, and coarse language)
o - o - o - o - o : Indicates scene or POV change
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
o - o - o - o - o
The palace of Fan Tsenpo was ornate and quiet, eerily so. Sesshomaru arrived in a ball of light, taking the fastest method of travel he was capable of crossing the sea. The journey had taken days, and he had made it known that he was nearby, traveling the remainder of the way on his cloud of yoki. To be called to heel made him bristle with discomfort. He, the great Sesshomaru, was being summoned like some unblooded pup?
He took a breath and reminded himself why he had come. Sesshomaru knew that his actions would come to this. He only had himself to blame for the events that came to pass. To care for others was a weakness. He would need to follow this through promptly.
Sesshomaru walked the remainder of the way, preferring to seem unassuming rather than showcase his abilities. He knew what he was capable of, and that is all that mattered to him.
A lesser but significant yokai manned the gates to the inner perimeter. It writhed and coiled within the gatehouse. Upon noticing his arrival, it wordlessly opened the gates making a hissing noise. His appearance was anticipated, and no one stopped him or questioned him as he walked through the many courtyards and gardens leading to the inner palace.
The palace itself was large and flanked by other diminutive halls compared to the sprawling building before him. There were two lesser yokai standing at the door to the ceremonial hall. They pulled the doors open, a feat that would have taken several men with as large as the doors were.
The hall was long and lined with sizeable ceremonial tanggu drums handled by mortals. All were blinded, their heads wrapped to cover their sightless eyes. It almost escaped his notice that all were female. Once he stepped a foot into the hall, the sound of a mallet hitting a drum skin reverberated through the long hall. The sound echoed down the hall, and other drummers began to join in, adding to the effect and causing the walls and floors to vibrate with the deep, booming sound.
Sesshomaru proceeded down the hall, announced by the drums. The tanggu drums were an attempt to unnerve all who entered, a feat that may have proven successful against those weaker than himself.
He could now make out Fan Tsenpo flanked by his sister, Tsering Dawa. The pair looked resplendent in their finely made garb. Fan was a little too flamboyant for Sesshomaru's tastes, his armor gleaming in the light from a skillfully placed opening in the ceiling. He noticed that the space was covered by a nearly translucent material that allows light in. Upon further discreet investigation, he discerned that there were many windows covered with the same material. How odd the man was to decorate his palace with such foreign material.
Before he reached the foot of the dias, Fan stood from his throne chair and put his palm face out. Sesshomaru stopped and took in a breath. The drumming ceased instantly, and the sound faded out to be replaced with silence. Sesshomaru vaguely wondered how the mortals were signaled to cease. Perhaps it was timing, he speculated.
"Welcome to my court, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands of Nippon. I greet you and bid you welcome!" Fan's smile spread across his face, disguising the venality of his true self.
"This one is welcomed," Sesshomaru responded. He refused to add any decorum or titles. This was business through and through.
Fan frowned slightly, though his smile barely left his face, "I see that you haven't the time to make pleasantries, but I do commend you for your timeliness. You must have learned from my dear sister how I hate to be kept waiting." Fan looked up at his sister, who wore a sinister smile of her own.
Sesshomaru said nothing. His hand had been forced to leave his domain to travel afar with no guarantee of a safe return. Now he was at the beck of a madman.
"Come, there is always time for tea, and I have grown parched from the wait." Fan's arms raised above his head, and he gave a loud clap of his hands. The sound broke through the area, and men and women began to file in with trays and cups lined with different foods and beverages. The servants, Sesshomaru noticed, were all half-bloods. Most were Inu-hanyos, but others were different hanyo variations. How peculiar and asinine.
Sesshomaru scowled at the sight, his lip pulling into a look of disgust. The thought of willingly defiling a bloodline was unseemly, but here Fan flaunted his collection before him in some absurd show of power.
Fan smirked. "Is the food not to your liking, Sesshomaru?"
He regarded Fan from level brows. "I do not eat human food."
Fan laughed, "Is that so?" He walked over to a tray held by a young boy with silver hair. The plate was laden with fruits and different cheeses, to which Fan grabbed a small piece and popped it into his mouth, relishing the taste. Still chewing, Fan shooed the servants away. "I've heard that you've developed a taste for some human things. Or maybe it was a specific human woman?"
Sesshomaru was not one for games and was done bandying words with the man. "You've summoned me. This one has come," he urged.
"Straight to the point "this one," Fan mocked. "Tell me, Sesshomaru. I'm dying to know...What part of my invitation motivated you to arrive so swiftly?"
He sat back down in his chair and grabbed Tsering's hand, placing it upon his shoulder and stroking it lovingly. She still wore her smile, but Sesshomaru could sense her discomfort.
When he was not answered, Fan merely chuckled. "My dearest sister returned to me with the most distressing news! That you had left her and broken the engagement for a human!" He spoke the words with concerned outrage. "I was aghast to learn of this, not from you, but from her mournful cries as she returned to my court unwed and unmated."
"The match was no longer in my best interest," Sesshomaru replied.
"And why is that? How could an alliance with the greatest family in all of Zhongguo place you at such a disadvantage?" Fan pressed.
Sesshomaru needed to choose his words carefully. If he openly offended Fan or Tsering, it could be disastrous for all. "There are other families that prove more advantageous to ally yourselves with. Send your sister off to them. Our coupling was only to provide an heir," he said.
"To which it would seem you already have. A bastard by blow from a human woman, I'm told."
"My affairs are my own."
"Hn," Fan said with mock consideration. The man knew exactly what he was about but was pretending otherwise. "While true that may be, a great offense you have brought upon your house and my own. I cannot overlook that offense, and amends must be made. Otherwise, I'm afraid certain measures will need to be taken."
"What do you propose?" Sesshomaru sighed.
"I offer you two choices," he smirked and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Reconfirm the alliance by honoring the betrothal or...do not." He smiled as if to suggest he was being entirely reasonable.
His choices were much too one-sided for the latter to be a serious offer. "Should I decline?" he asked, already knowing the consequence since it was being paraded before him.
"If you decide not to honor the betrothal, then I must find a way to bridge the gap. I've mulled the idea over, and I am inclined to make your mortal woman my mate." He watched Sesshomaru intently for any sign of that agitation or duress.
Tsering leaned forward. "Brother? A mortal?" Tsering said quietly, turning to Fan with concern and confusion evident in her eyes. It was plain that Fan had not queued her in on all of his plans. When he did not respond, she turned back to watch Sesshomaru, her features placid.
"One cannot tether a mortal's life to their own," Sesshomaru stated.
Fan shrugged. "There are ways," he said simply. "Many of your Mononoke were once mortal."
Those ways were likely dangerous and unlikely to succeed, but there nonetheless. He bristled with contempt and ground his teeth, a reaction picked up by Fan, who smiled broadly at his success.
"I can see I've struck a nerve, Lord Sesshomaru." He let out an amused breath. "Tell me...which part of my proposal strikes true?"
"Release the woman to me, and I will honor the alliance."
Fan immediately responded, "No."
"No?" Sesshomaru questioned.
"Honor the alliance, and I will release the woman then." Fan allowed his unabating smile to deepen.
Sesshomaru gave great thought to what he would like to do to ensure Fan never smiled again. "Done."
"Good! Tsering, you will accompany your future husband back to Nippon. I will join you shortly after to attend the ceremony."
"This one demands a good faith gesture."
"I do not believe you are inclined to make any demands of your betters; however, I will allow you a boon. I am, if anything, good-natured. What is it, you ask?"
"You have the woman. I will see her...unharmed," he added.
"You do not trust me? To think I would harm a hair on her fiery head. Quite a little spit-fire that one. I can see why she has you entranced so. Well enough. I will grant you the request just so much that you get it out of your system."
o - o - o - o - o
Kagome paced around the room. It had been days since she'd been brought to this place and locked inside. The yokai brother, Fan, had made sure to visit each day and taunt her. He claimed to enjoy her 'fiery spirit,' which was her temper unleashed.
She knew that she was pressing her luck with this one, but she also knew that he could gain nothing by killing her. Otherwise, he would have done so immediately rather than go through the trouble of abducting her and keeping her detained with specific amenities.
A hearty meal had been placed in her room before re-entering the sitting room from an excursion to the inner chambers. She'd heard the sound of drums and ran to the bedchamber where a large window overlooked a garden that butted up against what Kagome assumed to be an entry path. She tried to crane her neck to see who may have come since that was the only plausible explanation for drums to sound. Could it be Sesshomaru, she wondered.
When she came back into the main room, she noticed the trays arranged on a table. Kagome scowled at the display. Despite there being items in the room to keep her occupied, she still felt wracked with anxiety at all times. Was Setsuna okay? Were her friends all right? What would happen to her? Kagome kept playing different events over and over in her head.
The door to her room slid open, the only announcement of company's arrival. Fan Tsenpo did not knock. She had asked this of him once, and he had merely replied that it was his home, and he would do as he pleased.
"I have news, little one," he purred out upon entering. He strode past the spread of food and grabbed a sliced peach. He did not eat it as she had anticipated but carried it over to her.
Kagome tensed as he drew closer. What news could he have for her? Perhaps he was to tell her his plan. Fan held up the peach slice, offering it to her. "You haven't touched any of the food I've had brought. You are beginning to make me doubt my knowledge of humans."
"You're an idiot if you think to know anything about humans, let alone me." She stalked around to another part of the room. He always drew too near, and it was unsettling.
Fan laughed. "Perhaps you are right! I have much to learn," he said with a little too much altruism for her taste. He smiled and took another step towards her. Kagome finally decided to stand her ground. The dolt always got a rise when she retreated, so she stood tall with her shoulders rounded. Fan took the peach to his lips and sucked on the slice delicately, his eyes never leaving hers. He popped the remainder into his mouth. "Suit yourself."
How uncouth! What did he think he had to gain by trying to be so coy? "You said you'd brought news. Say your piece and leave," she demanded.
He laughed again, bringing a hand to his mouth in amusement. "You are ever so surprising and untiring with importunity. Need I remind you that you are a guest in my house?"
"Guest?" Kagome repeated. He was using the term loosely.
"Hn," he smiled. "The news is that my sister is again to marry. Quite fortuitous for us both!"
Kagome felt her heart sink despite herself, "Why is that?" Her words fell flat, and Fan could see that he had affected her.
Fan grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. He directed her to a wall where a large tapestry hung, depicting a western unicorn enclosed in a cage with a collar about its neck. Kagome had already had ample time to study the tapestry, which had been clearly procured from foreign lands to the west. She had wondered the significance behind placing such a decoration but had not questioned it much with Fan's apparent eccentricities.
"I've already laid eyes upon your tapestry," she spat when he pushed her closer to the artwork.
"I should find it no surprise that you are educated on what it is. You cease to amaze me with your knowledge of alien things. Most would marvel at its peculiarity and strike it down as different, but not you." He spoke to her ear from behind, his breath warm on her neck. "But what I want you to see is beyond the tapestry." He reached from behind her and gave the tapestry a firm tug, which pulled it down from its hooks on the wall.
Behind the tapestry was something that caused Kagome to gasp, a reaction she was sure Fan would relish. She reached out a hand to touch the large pane of glass. Kagome had seen glass, of course, but such a large, flawless pane of glass was unheard of in this day and age.
Its placement was quite unusual, a window into another room. She could feel her brows draw together in perplexity. Once she'd allowed herself to get over the awe, her eyes began to roam the room she had been driven to look through. Kagome knew there was something she was meant to see within, and it only took a second for her gaze to settle upon it.
She bit her lip hard, likely hard enough to draw blood, she gathered. She could taste the coppery liquid, quickly discerning that she had broken skin to keep tears from welling. The smug bastard behind her was likely grinning ear to ear. There was no way he could not smell the saltiness of her unshed tears, the copper of her blood, nor hear the skipping beat of her heart. Kagome turned and walked away from the window.
"You should not pretend that sight did not bother you, just as I would not feign shock at your reaction."
Kagome worked hard to compose herself. "Then why show it to me?" There was a purpose, she was sure.
Fan walked up behind her again and lowered his head to her ear again. He seemed to enjoy invading her personal space to try and get a rise. It would not have surprised her to learn that he did this regularly to anyone he tried to intimidate. "To gauge your reaction," his velvety words whispered.
"Are you satisfied then?" she snapped, nearly snarling, and fled to another part of the room.
"Immensely," his word was drawn out and enunciated.
Kagome grabbed something to throw, a peach from the spread of food, but when she turned to aim it, Fan Tsenpo was gone from the room. Her head turned involuntarily towards where the window was only to find that the tapestry, too, had been replaced. Good, she didn't want to know what else may be happening on the other side.
A/N: Nothing here. Carry on.
Oh...wait...hey! Before you go, um, could you please...maybe...I don't know...if you can...if you want...leave a...nothing...nevermind.