Fourth Movement: Saiyo no Monogatari

(The Tale of Saiyo)

When Jaken saw the morning breakfast tray being brought to Lord Sesshomaru's chambers, he almost winced at the missing flower vase on the lacquered tray. It was Rin's custom to deliver flowers to Sesshomaru-sama on a daily basis. Though he never mentioned them, Jaken noticed that from time to time Sesshomaru-sama would actually look at them, and contemplate their arrangement. Rin would use different styles and blossoms every time. The girl was long gone by now, having no trouble getting past the palace's barrier from the inside. She would not be able to return even if she changed her mind now. Jaken was afraid to think of Sesshomaru's reaction. The servant knelt and slid open the door to Sesshomaru's chambers. As always, his master was already dressed, though it was still early. Sesshomaru was meditating silently in one side of his room. He was staring out through the open door that overlooked a smaller private garden with a small pond filled with lotus blossoms. His silhouette against the sun's morning rays was magnanimous.

"Your breakfast, Sesshomaru-sama," said his head servant. Jaken coughed nervously as he bowed in morning greeting to his master, and hoped Sesshomaru-sama would not notice that his nerves were fraying at their ends. Large beads of sweat rolled down his green face. He moved to exit the room and slide the door shut behind him.

"Jaken," said his master before the door was closed.

"Y-yes, Lord Sesshomaru?" he stuttered. Sesshomaru turned to face him and looked down at the tray. Something was missing. His inu instincts and keen sense of smell told him that his servant was nervous and sweating profusely as well. There were no flowers.

"Where is Rin?" asked Sesshomaru-sama directly. Jaken almost fainted.

"Rin?" he squeaked innocently. His master's eyes narrowed. Jaken did not want to die but he really did not have an answer.

"S-Some saw her leave while the sky was still dark, my Lord, carrying a knapsack and dressed in a cloak. She crossed the barrier and disappeared beyond the meadows," responded the servant haughtily smirking at Jaken. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Jaken," said Lord Sesshomaru; his tone was demanding an explanation. His face was still expressionless.

"At her request, I was not permitted to tell you until you asked, master Sesshomaru. Forgive my insolence," replied Jaken, prostrating himself on the ground, but not before glaring at the other servant. "She asked me to give you this, as her explanation," he added, pulling the letter from his waistband and laying it flat on the breakfast tray.

"If I may say, my Lord," added the servant. "Considering the importance of your guests at present, her absence is quite a blessing. Her presence here was like a weed, a common flower among roses. You are fortunate to be rid of her."

"I did not permit you to speak," hissed Sesshomaru in slow, even tones. The glare of his eyes made the servant bow low and prostrate before his master.

"F-forgive, me, Sesshomaru-sama!"

"A flower is still a flower," mumbled Jaken under his breath. Sesshomaru's expression, it seemed to Jaken, tightened. In that moment, the little imp wanted to be as far away from there as possible. Rin, thought Jaken to himself, I hope you are doing well. If anything happens to you, it will be my head!

She was quite unaware of her friend's dilemma at the time. Rin had been traveling for days on the road alone without incident. Many passersby did stare at the strangely dressed and slightly elusive figure that walked in the shadow of the trees, never in the direct summer light. She could hear their whispers but she was glad that she was generally left alone. Rin had anticipated that she might encounter mountain bandits or such, but they were apparently pillaging elsewhere. She was still very close to the demon palace of the Inu Clan. Most humans dared not travel so near. Though she was hot, she did not remove her cloak as she did not want others to know that she was a woman traveling alone.

Her journey was quiet and slightly lonely. Rin could not remember a time when she was not traveling with Sesshomaru-sama. Her heart ached at the thought of never traveling again with him, or ever seeing him for that matter. But, having made her decision to live her life the way she wanted, without waiting to be cast out, Rin was determined. She felt that she had relied on him too much. It was unreasonable for her to stay with him any longer. Rin would be far too embarrassed to stay when she was old and wrinkled next to such a glorious immortal. It was better like this. He would always remember her this way.

Part of her wanted to be found by Sesshomaru-sama. But as the days rolled by, she realized that no one was coming for her. He should have read her letter by now, and so made the conscious decision to let her go, thus breaking whatever ties he had with her. Rin was almost angry at herself for making the first move, but she decided that this route was more dignified that being harassed by Sesshomaru-sama's future mate, or worse, being cast out without being emotionally prepared.

She had to remember who she was, and this gave her strength. Rin was not about to let a she-demon best her. In silent testament, she would prove to Sesshomaru-sama that she could take care of herself; that she was not useless. Though born lowly, her mother once told her how their blood ran blue. Her mother would not tell her details, but she was certain that a woman like her mother who was both beautiful and talented could not have been born poor. Her mother's hands and skin were soft and pale, not tan and roughened by work as the common villager's. As she grew older, Rin tried to be more like the person whom she believed her mother had been. But aside from a few scattered memories of her family, the details of her ancestry and their prior home were shrouded in mystery. Rin would have been far too young to remember any home outside of the village.

Rin had been playing in a nearby stream when she returned one day to find the village in chaos and her parents and brother murdered. No one else in the village had been harmed. The villagers said that the murderers were bandits, but the village elder did mention something about her father's clan. She did not ask him to repeat it at the time, as she was filled with grief and was too young to comprehend very much. Rin did not have the chance to ask after that as the villagers turned their apathetic backs towards her. No one could afford to take in a girl, so after the villagers buried her family, they let her live in a hut but did not bother looking after her. They even said she was cursed because she would not speak a word to them and avoided her. It took her almost a year to regain her voice; but even then, she did not have anything worth saying. It was not until she met Sesshomaru-sama that Rin spoke again. It was at that time that she found her smile again.

"Why do all my thoughts go back to you?" asked Rin to no one in particular.

Up ahead beside an intersection in the road was a tea stand. Yoko had given her some human money, though Rin dared not ask where a demon could find such things, and Rin kept it in a pouch at her side. She picked a table in the corner and took off her hat to wipe the sweat off her brow with her sleeve.

"What shall it be, ojo-san?" asked the stand keeper. Though she had tied her hair up tightly in a bun and wore no make-up or adornments, he could still tell she was a girl.

"I cup of cold tea, please," said Rin, placing the proper amount of money on the table.

"At once," he replied. There was barely anyone about as this road was not well traveled. She watched in silence at the stand keeper bustled about, swatting the bugs out of his way and making sure the tables and stools were clean. Rin wondered how she was going to make it in the human world by herself.

She could run a stand such as this and wait for travelers to come along. But it seemed like this man was eking out such a meager existence. Her thoughts ran back to her love of all things green and alive. If she remembered correctly, the half demon Jinenji lived just south east of this road. She could offer her services as his assistant in growing herbs as she was well schooled in demon herb-lore. Surely she could be of help, considering that she had heard that his mother passed away a few years prior. A human assistant would aid him in herb sales, she imagined.

Rin could also play and write music, although she wrinkled her nose as being a geisha. Though she was cultured enough, it was not a profession that she looked well upon. Her parents would not have approved and her ancestral lineage would be offended. As she sipped her tea, Rin thought hard about how she was going to support herself on her own in the world. Sesshomaru-sama had always provided everything for her; clothes, food, shelter, protection.

"Again, my thoughts return to you," she sighed softly. "My existence henceforth will be lonely without you, Sesshomaru-sama." Rin sipped her tea and thought about visiting her family homestead in the village. She wondered if their cottage was still there. Aside from her times with Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken, the brief time that she did spend with her family was the happiest in her life. This saddened her.

As she was contemplating her purpose in life, she noticed that a long entourage was approaching the tea stand. The entourage escorted a noble, surely, for the sedan was draped in silk and several armed soldiers walked in front and behind it. The party was led by two spearmen in the front, and another four taking up the flank. They were all heavily armored as it was unsafe for rich people to travel long distances. Rin wondered if the person in the sedan was royalty. She did not really care. Having lived in Lord Sesshomaru's court, she had seen enough of haughty nobles, even if they were demons. Rin sipped her tea quietly in her corner, avoiding eye contact with any member of the party. Suddenly there was a commotion just beyond the entrance of the canopy that sheltered the tables and stools from the hot sun.

"What are you, blind?" shouted one of the lancers, brushing what appeared to be tea off of his leather armor and plated jerkin. The stand keeper profusely apologized but the thuggish man looked as if he was about to strike him. Almost instinctively, Rin reached down to touch her knife handle. Too often were people killed for trifling reasons in the human world. Rin would not be forgiving if such a thing happened before her eyes.

"Sanno!" ordered a voice from behind the curtain of the sedan, now being placed on the floor. A young, richly dressed man stepped out from behind. "Do not be rude," he said. The soldier bowed low and grunted forgiveness at the stand keeper. The young man's eyes looked over to Rin, the only other customer present at the rest stop. Their eyes locked. Rin wanted to look away but she was held in his gaze. She could not help but stare at how familiar he looked, but she was certain she had never met this man before.

"Saiyo-sama?" he asked, astonished that she should be sitting there. Rin looked around her to see if he was addressing someone else. He walked up to her with two of his servants flanking him.

"Saiyo-sama?" he asked again. Rin shook her head. "That is not my name, Sir," she responded politely. He stared for a moment longer, and then regained his composure.

"I beg your pardon, Miss. It's just that you resemble someone I knew long ago. Someone whom I know to be dead." Rin stared at him but did not venture to say anything more.

"She, my aunt, was a renowned beauty, you know. But she married into the wrong family and died an untimely death," he sighed. The young man sat down at her table, though she did not invite him to do so. Rin concluded that it was his nature to do such things without permission. "Would you like me to tell you her story?" he asked, both cheerfully and wistfully at the same time. "I thought I would ask you since you resemble her so much. Do you believe in reincarnation? I daresay that you might be her. Judging by your age, you could not be over twenty years old."

"I am sixteen," said Rin.

"Yes, that was how long ago she left our society for a new one. This meeting must be fated," he said. "Perhaps you would like a little diversion on a slow summer day such as this?"

"I would not be adverse to hearing your tale, as I am sure it is diverting," she responded politely. The young man waved to the stand keep to bring him a glass of cold tea. Taking a sip, he visibly relaxed and studied the contents of his cup.

"This is very good," he smiled.

"Thank you, my Lord. It is a family recipe. We grow our own tea," answered the keeper.

"I shall have to remember this place when I am traveling near this province again," said the nobleman. He looked up and studied Rin's face. She could not tell what he was thinking for she had not been in human company for quite some time, and she was unaccustomed to the variations of human expression. Sesshomaru-sama seldom showed any expression.

Again, my thoughts find their way back to you, she thought to herself and sipped her tea.

"My aunt married into a clan, well known for their talent in the martial arts," began the young man. "They had even formulated their own style of fighting. The Yamazaki technique of sword play is not commonly used now, but they say it was quite deadly in its time. Her husband was one of four brothers who might inherit this style from the clan leader, a king by his own right as the protector of a large fiefdom. After the leader's untimely death, without naming his successor, the four squabbled among themselves. The youngest, Makoto, did not have his father's favor to begin with, and he knew that he had very little chance in succeeding his father if his brother's had anything to say of it. He was rash and impatient, rude and unqualified for the position.

He had the darkest heart, they say, and rumor has it that he plotted the demise of each of his brothers. The youngest was popular in his father's court, and with the help of some lesser servants, they planned his ascension to the throne. One brother is rumored to have died with poison; another by an accident during the confusion of a boar hunt. My aunt's husband, knowing the danger of his position at court with a wife and young son, fled the castle never to be seen again. He was wise in his decision for his supporters were outnumbered anyway, and such a division would have destroyed the clan and endangered his family. They say that his brother, Makoto, after ascending to the seat of leadership, had assassins kill off his remaining brother, his son and my aunt. This was despite the fact that Ryonosuke-sama had already renounced his claim to the leadership of the clan by leaving. It was quite despicable in my family's eyes. Some say the dishonorable son loved my aunt Saiyo-sama secretly, and he took great pleasure in having her husband killed. My aunt, who was my father's cousin and was close to my family, deserved better.

My late father confronted the new leader, and a battle was fought and won by my family to restore my aunt's and our family's honor. Makoto-sama was severely wounded in battle, but he suffered a whole fortnight before succumbing to the call of Hell. My late father, and now myself, have retained stewardship over the Yamazaki clan and Yamazaki Castle and its fiefdom, in addition to our own. Lady Saiyo, my aunt, is still remembered as being the most beautiful woman ever to grace our court." He paused thoughtfully and then looked up at her.

"Isn't that a sad story?" he asked. "When I saw you I knew that I had to tell this to you for your appearance is uncannily similar. Are you pleased to have heard the tale?" he asked with a soft smile. "Or have I completely ruined your day?" The nobleman took another sip from his cup.

Rin did not respond. In fact, her face had grown quite pale. She began to see the world in a different light.

"Are you all right?" he asked, hesitantly. Motioning for the stand keeper to get another glass of cold tea. "You don't look well at all. Has my story upset you that much?" he asked.

"Saiyo is…was my mother's name," she whispered almost inaudibly.