Lost Dogs

An "Inuyasha" Fanfiction by

Nicole G.

Chapter Two: Undone

Akima's father did not speak to her of Tsume's request for several days after the conversation on the cliff. It was not until five days later that she was faced with the issue again. Her father was holding a banquet for matters of diplomacy, and most of the nobles from the mainland were to be attending. Tsume would be present, and Akima would finally get to meet her father's old friend, InuTaisho.

Akima spent most of the day away from the palace until the time came for her to retire to her room and ready herself for the all-to formal banquet. In fact, she had spent most of the last five days avoiding her father. She didn't want to rehash the conversation they had had on the cliff until she could find a way to convince him of what a vile creature Tsume was.

So, she returned to the palace that evening as late as she could get away with, and went straight up to her room to change. An elegant black kimono with red and gold trimmings had been laid out for her. Akima dressed hurriedly, throwing her hair up loosely with a black comb at the last minute as she hurried out into open-air courtyard in front to greet their guests with her father and adoptive mother.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Akima," her father said to her as she came hurrying through the door into the open-air courtyard where he and his mate were standing.

"Made it in time though, didn't I?" She asked with a quasi-sweet tone in her voice. Her father said nothing and she took her place off to one side of him.

Akima grew bored very quickly as the guests trickled in. None of them acknowledged her much, if at all. Most barely even glanced at her when her father introduced her before moving on into the palace proper. About halfway through, Akima's adoptive mother, Izaya, excused herself to go inside and play hostess to the guests that had already arrived and Akima was left alone with her father. She stood with him, mostly silent, playing the part of the dutiful daughter, but refusing to speak to him any more than was necessary.

"Ah, Taisho," he said as a tall, white-haired youkai entered through the doors with a very pretty female, also white haired, at his side. The youkai Lord smiled at her father and they embraced briefly when he reached them. "Welcome, old friend," her father said. "It has been far too long. If I may introduce my eldest daughter, Akima."

Akima bowed slightly in greeting, saying his name quietly.

He nodded in return and spoke her name. Then gestured to the woman by his side. "My mate, Inari."

The woman greeted Akima's father just as Akima had InuTaisho.

"We are expecting our first pup any day now," InuTaisho added.

Akima smiled. "Congratulations," she said politely. Inari was very, very pregnant and looked about ready to give birth any minute.

"So, still no son, Keiji?" InuTaisho asked her father half-jokingly.

"Four daughters," Her father said. "And not a one of them looks anything like me."

"Maybe that's a good thing," InuTaisho joked. Akima let out a small murmur of laughter and caught Inari's gaze for a moment. The older woman was smiling politely, but Akima could see amusement in her dark eyes.

"Akima, why don't you take InuTaisho and his mate inside and introduce him to Izaya," Akima's father suggested. Akima nodded and gestured for the demon Lord and Lady to follow her.

"Izaya is your mother?" Inari asked.

Akima shook her head. "My mother died in childbirth. Izaya is my fathers mate and my half-sisters' mother," she explained.

"That's odd," Inari mused, turning to her mate. "You don't often hear of Inu taking second mates after the death of the first, do you?"

"He was trying for a male heir," Akima said. "That plan hasn't worked out very well though," she added with a smile.

"Then you're heir to his lands?" the elder woman inquired.

Akima nodded. "Yes," she said. "Though I'm sure he'll arrange something eventually…" she trailed off, scanning the room for Izaya. She spotted her on the other side of the room and tried to catch her eye. When she did, she signaled her to join them and introduced her to InuTaisho and Inari. The two elder women hit it off well and began chatting amicably, leaving InuTaisho and Akima standing alone in silence. Akima tilted her head as the woman wandered off, Izaya wanted to show Inari some odd plant in the garden she loved so much or some such nonsense.

"I don't get it…" Akima muttered.

"Don't get what?" InuTaisho asked. She hadn't realized she had spoken out loud.

"Oh. Nothing," she said quickly. "Just thinking out loud."

InuTaisho nodded, but she could tell he didn't believe it was nothing. In truth, Akima had been wondering how the two women who had just wandered off together could possibly be happy having had their entire lives planned out for them by their fathers. It didn't make sense to her.

"So, Lord InuTaisho, do you think you'll be having a son or a daughter?" Akima asked, attempting to make small talk. It was better than standing there in silence.

"Well, she's convinced it will be a boy. How she can be so sure, I have no idea, but she is."

"Izaya knew all three of my sisters were girls before they were born," Akima replied. "Must be an inu thing, because my mother was convinced I was a boy before my birth." Akima winced inwardly as soon as she realized what she had said. Her coyote blood was not something she liked to broadcast to people. It wasn't like it was a big secret, but she still liked to avoid the topic.

"Your mother was a coyote, wasn't she?" InuTaisho asked.

Akima nodded. How had he known? Of course he knows, you dolt, she thought, realizing her mistake. He's your father's oldest friend, why wouldn't he know who his first mate was?

"Lord InuTaisho," Akima turned to see Tsume bow low before the demon Lord in greeting and her heart dropped. "If I may steal princess Akima away from you for a moment, I need to have a word with her."

"I have nothing to say to you Tsume," Akima broke in before InuTaisho could reply. Tsume smiled. It was a smile that would fool most into thinking him a perfect gentleman, but Akima knew better.

"Now, now, Akima. Please. Just a moment of your time. I trust your father spoke to you about-"

"Yes, and I told him the same thing I'm telling you now. No. Not in a million years."

"Lord InuTaisho, perhaps you could be of assistance?" Tsume said to the demon Lord. InuTaisho raised an eyebrow but said nothing, prompting Tsume to elaborate by his silence. "Akima seems to think an arranged mating is something to be scorned, feared even. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your mating was arranged with your mate's father from the south, and the two of you are quite happy, it would seem. Perhaps you could explain to Akima that an arranged mating is nothing to be feared?"

"You're courting the princess, Tsume?" InuTaisho asked.

Tsume nodded. "I have been pursuing her for quite some time. She is quite beautiful, and a strong demoness. But I fear the same strength that draws me to her also makes her afraid of tying herself down, so to speak. She is quite the free spirit, you see. Like her mother."

He was talking as if she wasn't even there, and although Akima was careful to hide her rage, she was fuming inside.

"Her father has been unable to sway her. He tends to favor her, you see. She's the only daughter of his beloved first mate, and he his loathe to fall from her favor. Perhaps if she received some kind advice from a respectable demon Lord whom she is not so close to, her mind could be changed."

"You're deluding yourself if you think anyone's words could change my mind, Tsume," Akima broke in, tired of being all but ignored by the cocky inu.

"The princess does not seem to reciprocate your feelings, Tsume," InuTaisho offered, making an attempt to cool the young womans anger.

"That's one way of putting it," Akima murmured bitterly. InuTaisho looked at her sideways and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Did I say that out loud?" She asked. Both men nodded.

"Well, in that case, let me elaborate. Lord InuTaisho, pardon my brashness, but I would sooner lay down my life this instant than live out the rest of it by the side of this spineless excuse for a demon. He wants nothing from me but my father's lands, and perhaps my body, because his own needs are all he cares for. He attacks first and asks questions later, and he gains pleasure from taking the lives of other creatures, whether they be demon, human, or a deer being hunted for a meal. He lacks any sense of honor that-"

"Akima!" She was silenced by her father's angry voice from behind her and she closed her eyes momentarily, silently chastising herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. "That is enough," her father snapped, coming to stand at between her and Tsume. "Tsume, I apologize for my daughter's harsh words. She has been under a great deal of stress lately and has been acting out as such all too often."

Bullshit, Akima thought.

"Lord InuTaisho, please excuse Akima's outburst. She's looking for any excuse she can find to get me to change my mind about her and Tsume."

"I'm not making excuses," she said calmly, having regained a bit of her composure. "You've seen him on the hunt. He enjoys killing. It-"

"Akima, you can't possibly know what he's feeling when-"

"Mother could have. Why's it so hard to think I would have inherited a bit of those abilities?"

"Akima, please go and find Izaya. It's nearly time for dinner," her father said coolly. She could tell he was angry. He had never been very good at hiding what he was really feeling. Transparent as anything, he was.

She only nodded in response before turning on her heal and disappearing out the door, towards the gardens.