ToJ: Now hold on Sesshomaru…
Sess: This Sesshomaru shall harm you greatly!
ToJ:Umm, no you can't.
Sess: Why not?
Toj: I'll stop feeding you.
Sess:blinks: You don't own me human. :shoulders slump forward: But You do have me on the Atkins diet…
Patience
Chapter 10: Killing me softly
Rin looked out of her litter and sighed. 'It feels so strange, not traveling with Sesshomaru-sama. Not to mention I'm not used to being carried like this.' She twisted her hands in her lap as she heard Hakaku approach. 'I hope he lets me visit Sesshomaru. I don't think he'll stay angry at me for very long.'
Hakaku's feet made a certain ungainly scuffling sound that Sesshomaru's never did, and the tears that she thought she had spent came pouring out once more. She could hardly detect the smell of cedar on her robes after a week of traveling, and she missed it.
Hakaku pushed aside the curtain that shielded Rin from seeing out and others from seeing in. "Lady, we have arrived." He waved his hand and the litter was set on the ground. Rin clambered out and stood shocked at what the wolf tribe considered to be home.
"This cave is your home?" She turned to Hakaku.
"Yes." He caught the look of dismay on her face. "Oh, but it goes much further back. And there is a large communal space aside from the privacy we will enjoy. Lord Kouga has given us our own corner."
"I see." Rin began to remove her silk robes that she had been wearing since she had left court.
"Oh, no. Leave those on. Tonight we shall mate in front of the entire council of elders and the tribe." Hakaku strode ahead of her.
Rin stood speechless for a few moments.
Hakaku noticed that she wasn't following him and returned to her side. "Don't worry. We only have to exchange marks. Usually we wouldn't have to even do that in front of anyone, but since this is a political union…" He watched as Rin's face darkened, and felt a pang of remorse for treating her so tersely. "I'm so sorry, Lady. Sesshomaru truly is a fool to have given you to me."
Fire sparked in the young girl's eyes and she spoke in an even, hushed tone, "Don't you ever speak ill of him to me! Ever, do you hear?" Her voice was soft and silken, yet there was a cold steel to it which Hakaku recognized as Sesshomaru's brand of anger. "He honored my request and that was a great thing for him to do. If you do not appreciate it, then I will leave as soon as you have marked and pupped me. But I will follow through with his orders." She shifted her eyes not to look at him, but to look through him. "Now, where is my corner so that I may prepare for this evening?"
Hakaku felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. 'She exudes power, but has none. She is nothing but a human, yet she inspires the reflex of a powerful enemy.' He called over one of the female wolves. "Take the Lady to her den. Prepare her for this evening." The girl nodded and Rin followed her into the recesses of the cave.
Hakaku watched her go and couldn't help feeling that he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life by taking her as his mate when she so clearly belonged to Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru sat alone in his room, which had been cleaned and sparsely refurnished. Many of the things he had so rashly destroyed had belonged to his father, and to friends that had gifted him at their passing. He sorely regretted his destructive tendencies, as well as his stubborn streak. He ran his claw along a pattern in the fresh tatami mats, watching even as it frayed and tore.
A shadow passed in front of the shoji, and he could smell Sumisu outside. "Come in, Sumisu. I am here."
The screen was pushed aside and Sumisu stepped through, knelt before Sesshomaru and bowed. "Sesshomaru-sama. Forgive me for disturbing you, but I would like to request your permission..."
A disgruntled look passed across Sesshomaru's usually placid face, "Yes, I know. To mate Aki. Well go on." At the shocked look on Sumisu's face he smirked. "What? Did you expect me to say no and end her existence?
"Sesshomaru-sama, I meant no disrespect."
"I know, Sumisu." He stood and paced back to the mural that remained on the wall. "I have a concept of how wrong I would be to part the two of you, now that I have… but anyway, my answer is yes. You may have her. She loves you despite her youkai heritage, and that is a strong thing and not to be tampered with."
Sumisu sat stunned on the floor, fingering the ties of his worn ties and silks. When he finally did speak, his voice trembled and his eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama." He went to rise, but Sesshomaru extended his hand.
"Hold. This Sesshomaru will not risk it being said that this was done without his consent. Call your love to you, and I shall return in a moment." With that he strode to his office and retrieved the ornate inkwell that had survived the tumult.
He kneeled and sat waiting for Aki. When she arrived, he gestured for her to kneel in front of him, beside Sumisu. "Come here Aki."
Aki's scent spiked in fear and she knelt. "Sesshomaru-sama, forgive us. We did not want to bring you difficulties. Please do not harm him. Take my life if you must, but do not harm Sumisu!" She bowed and touched her forehead to the ground.
Sesshomaru kept his voice deep and even. "Take off your outer kimono, Aki." Her hands shook as she removed the silvery silk and let it slip to the ground behind her, leaving her shoulders bare. "Sumisu, remove your haori and open your Yukata." Sumisu did so, and took Aki's hand in his.
"Aki, it's alright. Everything's working out just as Rin-sama said it would." With that, Aki's eyes lit up and a flush came to her cheeks. She looked askance at Sesshomaru, who had opened the inkwell and was pouring a bit out onto the convergence of Sumisu's neck and left shoulder.
Sesshomaru's voice came in a whisper. "Aki, take your mate and share his lifespan, for it is greater than yours."
Aki eagerly leaned in and sank her fangs into the area where the ink had been placed. Sumisu screamed out in surprise as her teeth punctured his flesh. Immediately the area began to pulsate, and the ink sank into the open wound, permanently marking him and binding him to Aki.
"Aki, will you submit yourself to have only one mate, and have it be human?" Sesshomaru held the inkwell poised over her shoulder.
"Hai."
The ink splashed out, midnight black against her pearlescent skin. Sesshomaru made a motion for Sumisu to make his mark, and the servant wasted no time hesitating to comply with the Taiyoukai's orders. The procedure was repeated, and when Sumisu leaned back, the wound had absorbed the ink and both bodies bore the color of the Lord's Ink, a sign that their marriage had been decreed and sanctioned by the Lord of the Western Lands himself.
"Put yourselves in order and be gone. I wish to be alone."
Once the two had replaced their garments they rose to leave. Aki stopped at the door. "Sesshomaru-sama, forgive me for speaking so openly, but Sumisu and I shall name our first female after Rin. She gave up her love so that we could keep ours. Allow her to visit you. It will kill her to break the bond she has to you, even if you do not reciprocate. Be a presence in her life. It is only fair that I ask for her when she has acquired so much for me."
Sesshomaru had gone expressionless. His knuckles turned white and his jaw flexed in anguish. "And who did she love, since I have ruined this love of hers."
Aki shook her head before departing. "It was always you, Sesshomaru. How could you not have known?"
He listened to the retreating steps of the lovers and stared blankly at the floor in front of him. His mouth fell slightly open, and silent tears streamed down his face.
"I was wrong." He looked at the sun setting in the sky and remembered that he had wanted to be alone when his bond to his mate was severed. 'She's being mated tonight. I still have time'
He stood and strode to the open window, and leapt out of it. 'I only hope I have enough time to reclaim her! How could I have been so foolish?'
It was a long distance for even Sesshomaru himself to cover, yet he didn't want to think about what would happen to his soul if he was too late.
"Please!" He grunted out a prayer as he ran towards the Wolf camp, "Please let me not be too late!" With that he transformed and sped off into the North.