A/N: happy summer holidays to all my fans! Also, if anyone has little ideas they want to see done with Inu and the gang, go ahead and send me a PM and I might make your idea a short story with the InuYasha Shorts Collection!
Saturday (maybe teaser?) chapter!
"Murdered?"
Sesshomaru repeated the word in slight shock, looking to Azumi for confirmation. She nodded deeply. "She was given an herb that prevented her body from healing, and she bled to death."
"Are you certain of this?"
The servant girl nodded again, looking very sad suddenly. "I know poisons and herbs, milord, you know that. My best guess is that it was made from the same plant that Nise no Tsuki is derived from." She shivered slightly. "I was there when she died. As soon as Aki called me in and I saw her I knew it was too late to save her."
Sesshomaru sighed, not bothering to try comforting her as he had no idea how. "Who could have done it?"
"The herbs could have changed hands many times on their way to her. I am not the one to ask." She looked down, going back to sorting herbs. "Aki may know, if you can find her. I do know that the woman's drink was brought by a kitchen servant, rather than a midwife, because her water broke very suddenly."
Sesshomaru thanked Azumi for the information and quickly left, wondering where he would be able to find the Royal Midwife in the middle of the festival. He was most of the way toward the forbidden wing of the palace—forbidden for males, at least—when she suddenly bustled right past him. "Aki!"
"I'm busy! If you need to talk, walk with me!" she said over her shoulder, not even breaking stride. He quickly hurried after her, catching up to walk beside her. "What is it, Sesshomaru-sama? Is Rin-sama well?"
"She is," He quickly assured her. "However, it has come to my attention how the Nami woman, Chieko, died."
"Oh…" She realized what he was referring to quickly. "Yes. I brought your servant girl in, since she knows so much about herbs, and she confirmed my suspicion. I'm sorry it was too late to save her—she was one of my best underlings, and the last Nami female from the higher bloodline." She nodded to herself and continued, "Did I hear correctly that you are going to adopt her son?"
He nodded, not too concerned with how she knew when he had hardly made the official decision himself. "Do you know who handled the tea?"
"The main pot of water is watched by Akemi, Azumi's mother, and the two of them handle the herbs as well, and the midwives usually get herbs for their charges personally. Chieko was a rare case, as she went into labor unexpectedly quickly and her personal midwife hadn't arrived yet. A different kitchen servant brought her tea."
"Do you know who it was?"
"Am I to know every palace servant?" She quipped, glancing sideways at him. "He was a Shiro-Yama, I believe. White hair and marks identical to yours, only he was barely as tall as me and lacked a moon, of course." She reached her goal and bustled off, leaving him to go to the kitchens to seek the man.
The kitchens were every bit as busy as they had been at the new year, with servants of nearly every clan scurrying to and fro, making food and keeping fires burning. As he stood in the doorway, someone called in his direction, "Masaki, don't just stand there! Come help me with the firewood!" The man went pale as he realized—too late—that it was his master, not his friend. Sesshomaru strode up to the man briskly, who quickly offered a deep bow and an apology, which he ignored.
"Have you seen a Shiro-Yama servant with markings like mine recently?" He asked calmly, and the man quickly nodded.
"Of course, Sesshomaru-sama. You mean masaki. He was just here a minute ago, but he ran out for some reason. He's been on edge all day—it's his daughter's firstborn." The man went back to stacking firewood while he spoke, trying not to get behind on his duties.
"Do you know where he might have gone?" Sesshomaru asked, mouth drawn in a thin line.
"I would guess to the forbidden wing. He was muttering something before he ran off, about unfinished business or something, and he seemed pretty scared. That's very unlike him." He finished his stack of firewood and started on the next. "If you find him, send him back. This is a two-person job."
Sesshomaru nodded and hurried out again, cursing the many times he had crossed the palace in the space of an hour. It was fairly easy to find the man he was seeking—he was making quite a fuss, held in a Ka guard's arms as he kicked and struggled. As Aki had said, the Shiro-Yama male was not only short, but small, and looked more like an adolescent than an adult and soon to be grandfather. He was as slight as Sesshomaru's mother, and every bit as feisty. "Let me go! Let me go! They're going to kill her!" He was yelling as he arrived.
"Who is going to kill who?" Sesshomaru asked coldly. "You, as you did Chieko?" The man finally stilled, turning to his master with frightened, wild eyes.
"The Dō men! They told me if I didn't get rid of the nami woman and her pup they would kill my daughter and grandchild! Please, you have to let me through!" He started to struggle again.
Sesshomaru growled low. The Dō and Shiro-Yama clans were not present at the festival and there should have been no one but the usual palace servants belonging to those two clans. "Where are they?"
"I don't know!" Masaki insisted, struggling harder as the guard held him tightly. "Please, I—" He was distracted by the appearance of a midwife at the end of the short hallway, hurrying towards them. "Please, my daughter, is she-?" The midwife bowed low with a smile and told him that his daughter and her newborn daughter were both fine and healthy. Masaki's face crumpled and he started to weep with relief.
Sesshomaru turned from the crying man who was no longer a threat to one of the guards. "Go and find all members of the Dō clan present in the palace. Nobles to servants, I want every speck of the grounds searched!" The guard saluted and quickly hurried off to fetch the reserve guards. The guard holding Masaki had put his feet back on the floor, still keeping him restrained in case he tried to run, though it was obviously unlikely now. Sesshomaru turned back to him, still frowning dangerously. "You will not go unpunished for your deeds."
"I care not," Masaki sobbed, tears falling from his golden eyes. "My daughter, my granddaughter, are safe. Should I die today, I will know they are well. It is enough." Sesshomaru stepped back and nodded to the guard to take the man to the dungeon. He also had word sent to his mother to guard the newborn closely, in case anyone else had designs on his young life. That done, he hurried back to Rin, who was just stirring from her nap, yawning and stretching, rubbing her swollen belly with a soft smile.
Rin looked up in surprise as her beloved suddenly returned, looking a bit harried. "Is something wrong?" she asked, struggling to her feet. He helped steady her and pulled her close, gently kissing the top of her head.
"It is nothing you need concern yourself with. Not yet, at least. I will explain later." He looked down at her face, which was frowning, now, concerned for him and whatever he wasn't telling her. He gently tucked a loose lock of hair behind one of her delicately pointed ears, resting his hand on her cheek for a moment, rubbing the marking on her cheek with his thumb. He was saddened to see so much worry in her liquid brown eyes—worry for him, for herself, for the pup she carried and the one they would soon adopt, for the enemies who were clearly still out there, and more, Sesshomaru was sure. He wished he could take her fears and worries away, but many he could do nothing about. He tilted her chin up to give her another gentle kiss, then stepped back as he heard running feet.
"Milord! They are assembled in a conference room for you. We found five. And do you want their mates as well?" Sesshomaru nodded and the man hurried off again. He turned back to Rin, who looked even more confused and worried than before. "I will return shortly, Rin. Do you need anything?" She shook her head and let him go with a slight shooing motion, watching him leave as quickly as he had come. What was going on?
Sesshomaru was rather displeased to find the first face to meet his was the furious Azumi's. she seemed to be fighting back a growl of frustration. Another was a blonde half-Umi child clinging to Akemi, Azumi's mother, and an Umi male was holding both of them close for protection. The last two were men, and unfamiliar to Sesshomaru. "Guards," He said calmly, gesturing to the women and the Umi male, "These are free to go."
"Why are we here?!" Azumi demanded of him. "We have work to do!"
"I know," He replied evenly. "I am here to find a murderer, and I know you are innocent."
"A murderer?!" She repeated incredulously. She pointed sharply to her terrified half-sister. "Does Kyoko look like a murderer to you?!"
"No," He replied evenly, his patience wearing thin. "I was not specific enough in my instructions, clearly. As I said, you are free to go and resume your duties, and I suggest you do so." She finally got the hint and hurried out, leaving only the two shifty-looking males who seemed to be eyeing the guards in search of a means of escape. "You two," he stepped in front of them, frowning slightly. "Where have you come from? I was told no one from the Dō or Shiro-Yama clans made the journey this season as the passes were too dangerous."
"Well, we were told to stay back at the new year," Said one of the men. "I guess the kitchens were a bit understaffed so they asked for us. And it's nicer here than back home for sure."
"You're kitchen servants?"
"That's right, milord," Confirmed the second man with a nod. "We've got jobs to get back to also."
"You had access to the herbs and the tea."
"No we didn't!" The first man immediately said. "We're rice-makers, we don't serve tea!"
"Nevertheless," Sesshomaru frowned slightly deeper, growing more suspicious at their twitchiness, "You were in the right place at the right time."
"What has that got to do with anything?" The man insisted. "You picked us out because we're Dō. What does our clan have to do with some dead Nami woman?" Sesshomaru's eyes instantly narrowed. He had not made any mention of whose murder he was investigating, and he knew that no one knew Chieko's death was considered a murder except 4 people, one of which was him.
"I never said I was looking for the murderer of a Nami. How did you know?" The men immediately realized they had made a mistake and tried to backtrack. "W-well, that's the only death been reported here, so it must've been that, right?" Sesshomaru stepped back from the men and nodded to the guards. "Take them to the dungeons and strip them of anything that may pose a threat."
"Hey! Get off me!" As one of the men was grabbed, he pulled a small knife from somewhere and stabbed the guard before a blow to the head knocked him unconscious. The men were quickly bound and taken away, both stripped of their knives. Sesshomaru stayed as a healer was summoned for the stabbed guard and the wound was cut and cleaned, as the knives were poisoned with Nise no Tsuki, as the one from the assassin months ago. After being sure that everyone was all right now, Sesshomaru returned to Rin, who hugged him as soon as he came in.
"It is all right, my dear. The murderers have been caught." This did nothing to calm her, as he had hoped, for he had forgotten she knew nothing about the situation.
"What?! Murderers!"
"Chieko did not die naturally. She was killed, but I have found and apprehended those responsible. They will be punished." She put her forehead on his chest as he spoke, starting to cry.
"But why? Why would they kill her? Because she was my friend?" Rin sniffled.
"I do not know. But all is well now."
"…I want the pup." She looked up at him, begging with those soft brown eyes that could bend even his iron will.
"My dear, you know it is not good for you to keep nursing him—"
"I won't though. I just want to hold him, that's all. I have to know he's okay, I have to see him…" She begged, those cinnamon eyes sparkling. It was useless to resist, and he didn't want to anyway. He sighed and nodded. "I will fetch him for you. Wait here." She cheered up instantly and went back to what she had been doing before he arrived—making an apparent nest of blankets, cushions and her fluff, driven by some sort of instinct or internal clock, she wasn't sure which.