Disclaimer: I will thumb wrestle for ownership of Sesshomaru!
Sesshomaru knew better than to resist. It would only result in more bloodshed and further the appearance of his guilt. He watched with unfeeling eyes as the men gathered the fallen boy and threw his body over the back of a horse already skittish from the scent of the demon lord. He was not so bold as to believe he would receive any mercy from Rin. He could still recall their heated and angry words to one another. Would she allow such a thing to cloud her judgement or would she see this farce for what it really was? The circle of men around Sesshomaru kept a safe distance from him. They knew the inuyoukai lord's fighting skills and none wished to die from stupidity. With a look of pure disgust Sesshomaru began the long walk to the great hall.
The peal of the warning bells had been silenced and the courtyard was filled to capacity with armed men. Though anger at the loss of a comrade filled their eyes, none could look directly at the Lord of the Western Lands. Look a dog demon in the eye was as good as challenging one. Sesshomaru noted that Bassarious was nowhere in sight. Probably already filling Rin's ears with tales of his guilt. One of the men dared to whisper that perhaps they should disarm the demon lord but none made a move to do so. The hushed whispers soon grew to a murmur as the back of the crowd began to part. Now Sesshomaru could see the blonde of Bassarious' hair. He had no time for this foolishness. By now Jaken had no doubt begun to wonder of his whereabouts and had left the seclusion of the camp. As he opened his mouth to speak, the scent of wildflowers seemed overpowering. The men before Sesshomaru parted and it felt as if one of them had struck him in the belly with a metal fist.
Rin stood in their midst, her eyes wide and dark against the whiteness of her face. Her mouth moved, silently saying his name even as she stepped closer to him. Bassarious' hand was swiftly on her shoulder, stopping her forward progress and digging into the material of her vibrant red kimono. As expressive as Rin's face was, Sesshomaru's own face was unreadable. He gave away nothing of the wrenching pain in both his heart and his gut at the sight of her. She was close. So close if he dared to reach out he could actually touch her. Seeing Bassarious' hand on her made Sesshomaru grit his teeth. Another alpha male was touching his mate. No...he had to cease thinking of her as such.
"We found him standing over the body of the stablehand, my lady. The boy's throat has been mauled. This is in violation of the peacebond we have with the Western Lands." Bassarious stated flatly, his eyes burning into Sesshomaru's as he watched him from over Rin's head.
'NO!' Rin's mind screamed in fierce denial, 'My lord would not do this! He does not kill humans senselessly! He never has! This must be a mistake. Please...please let this be some incredible misunderstanding!'
"I have told you, mortal, I did not kill the boy. A demon did this but not I. I had no cause to kill him. You rush to judgement and your case against me is weak. Because I was near the body does not stain me with the mark of guilt." Sesshomaru replied, his own eyes simmering with a deadly quiet rage.
Rin's eyes could not leave Sesshomaru. It was him. After weeks of aching for the sight of him, to hear his voice once again, he was standing only a few feet away...and accused of killing one of her own, a human. A knife twisted painfully in her heart. Had their parting turned him so completely against mortals that he could slaughter one with no provocation? Rin's hand fisted the material over her heart as she felt hot tears stinging at her eyes. If this were true, if Lord Sesshomaru had trully killed a human, it was in direct violation of the peacebond and she would have to judge accordingly. Could she trully sentence her beloved lord to death? She had to get answers and quickly.
"Who saw the Lord Sesshomaru on the grounds with the boy's body?" she asked, her voice already thick with unshed tears.
When the others could only glance around at one another Rin began to feel a sense of dread. Why was no one speaking up? Did they not want this matter handled swiftly? Sesshomaru's eyes never left hers. One moment they were the familiar warm amber she had always remember and then they would flicker to a blood red. He was doing all he could to refrain from transforming. She knew it. He was surrounded by humans who all wanted him dead and in such instances it was his usual practice to simply revert to his true form and send the humans running in terror. Why did he not do so now? After several moments with no one answering her simple question, Rin repeated it, louder this time so all might hear her.
"Someone must have seen him in order for the alarm to be sounded and send Lord Bassarious to the field! Step forward and speak! We have no time to dally!" she snapped.
Still no one raised a hand or came forward and she sighed in disgust. If no one had seen the attack then how did they know it was Lord Sesshomaru who had done it? Rin began to understand why the inuyoukai lord found humans to be lacking in intelligence. Sometimes these men could be so thickheaded. Bassarious' fingers dug into her shoulder once again and this time Rin could not stop the gasp of pain.
"There was no need to sound the alarm...I saw him myself in the field. All that white against the green of the grass wasn't hard to miss. When I approached, I found him standing over the body of the stableboy." the Northern lord answered.
Rin was puzzled. The answer sounded so wooden and rehearsed. Perhaps it was Lord Bassarious' shock at the attack on one of his people. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and struggled to make sense of it all. Over and over she played Lord Bassarious' words in her mind as he had told the tale to her. Then she would recall Lord Sesshomaru's own words in his defense.
'Because I was near the body does not stain me with the mark of guilt.'
Slowly her head came up and her eyes rose to meet Sesshomaru's. He was innocent. His own words had brought something to her attention that the others had missed in their hurry to place blame. Quickly she turned and looked to Bassarious. There was a tick in his tightly clenched jaw and he looked ready to attack. Before there was further conflict Rin spoke.
"He's innocent, Lord Bassarious. Lord Sesshomaru did not kill the stableboy."
The men surrounding them instantly began to shout their objections. How could she make such a hasty judgement? The evidence clearly pointed to the inuyoukai lord as the culprit! She was siding with the demon lord because of her time in his household! She was turning against her own people! Bassarious raised his hand for silence and the men were slow to obey but silence eventually fell over the courtyard.
"How can you say such a thing, Lady Rin? You have heard what we all saw. The boy has the marks of fangs in his throat, a dog demon lord was found with the body. Who else could have possibly done this?" Bassarious demanded softly.
'Because I was near the body does not stain me with the mark of guilt.'
"There is no blood staining his clothes, my lord. Had it been Lord Sesshomaru who killed the boy, torn his throat, there would be blood on him. Demon or not, blood would mark his clothing. Its not possible that he is guilty." she answered.
Those who seconds ago were thirsting for revenge saw the truth in Rin's words. Not one drop of red blood could be seen on the inuyoukai lord's white clothing or the length of fur over his shoulder. Had he trully be the guilty party Sesshomaru should be covered in the substance. The blood had pooled in the hay in the stable, had left a trail for anyone with a pair of eyes to follow but none was to be seen on the lord. Slowly the men began to pull back. Rin could feel Bassarious' fingers biting into her shoulder.
"The boy was killed by a demon with fangs and the only one seen near him was Sesshomaru. The dog demon is guilty! A simple matter of a lack of blood on him hardly exonerates him! If not the beast of the Western Lands than who!" Bassarious spat, shoving Rin behind him and coming to stand before Sesshomaru, eye-to-eye with him.
"Perhaps the lord who seemed to know to look to the fields and find the Lord of the Western Lands over the boy?" Sesshomaru replied smoothly, quirking an eyebrow.
Rin gasped at what her former lord was implying and moved to speak when Bassarious swiftly drew his sword, the razor sharp tip pointing to Sesshomaru's throat. As the men surrounding them quickly drew back, one grabbed Rin's arm and pulled her a safe distance away. This was madness! Sheer madness and she had to put a stop to it before her first successful peacebond was destroyed before her very eyes!
"Were the Lady Rin not present, dog, I would end your cursed existance. You dare to slander my good name with the accusation of murder of my own kind. I knew you were a bold and arrogant bastard but you have overstepped. My lady, find your rooms. I will not keep you in the company of a coldblooded killer."
"No! Lord Bassarious, stop! I tell you, Lord Sesshomaru did not kill that boy! My judgements in these matters are final! I have judged him to be innocent and so you must let him go! The peacebond with the Western Lands has not been violated!" Rin objected, struggling to jerk her arm free of the man holding her.
"And I say you have been blinded by your love and devotion to this...this THING, my lady!" Bassarious shouted, turning on her, his blue eyes blazing, "Now seek your rooms!"
He was going to go against her judgement! Rin could hardly believe it. What madness had possessed him? It was as if he wanted Lord Sesshomaru to be guilty! Rin's eyes flew to the inuyoukai lord and she bit on her lip. His eyes blazed with such hatred it was as if he were someone else looking at her. Could he not hear! She had weighed and measured the facts and found him innocent! She had not sided with her own people! She had judged fairly! Again Bassarious snarled at her and Rin took flight, running to her rooms as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart slammed in her chest and those tears which had threatened now came. Safe away from the shouting and the anger that so polluted the courtyard, Rin barred her door and slid down it, her forehead dropping onto her knees as sobs overtook her. What was she to do? She was powerless. Bassarious would go against her word which til now had been like law. He would slaughter the Lord of the Western Lands for a crime he did not commit. All of her hard work, all those weeks of establishing peace between humans and demons was going to be destroyed with the swing of a sword.
"Cage him like the filthy animal he is," Bassarious order, sheathing his sword with an angry thrust, "And so help me, Sesshomaru, if you fight us you shall not live to regret it. I know not what enchantment you cast on the girl but I'll be damned if I shall allow her blind allegiance to you to alter anything!"
"The girl saw the truth which you choose to ignore, mortal. Tell me, Bassarious. Is it your thirst for justice which drives you...or perhaps is it your desire for warfare which prompts your actions?" Sesshomaru smirked as he allowed himself to be led across the courtyard to the massive cage he had seen being built.
Only when the door slammed behind Sesshomaru and the locks and chains were secured, knowing the inuyoukai lord would not be able to escape the enchanted metal enclosure, only then did Bassarious speak with a cold smile.
"I told you there was more profit to be had in war than in peace, Sesshomaru. This little game took longer to play out than I had intended. The stableboy had to die in order for my original plan to work. However, you made a real mess of that by getting no blood on you. It would have been a simple matter to turn Rin against you and think you a killer of her own people just because of a few drops of blood on you and the corpse of an innocent boy found with you. She would declare the peacebond broken and war would quite naturally follow. Now I must change my course of action. You see the people of these lands do love their precious Lady Rin. They would never want anything to happen to her."
"Harm the girl, mortal, and I assure you, you will have your war." Sesshomaru responded, his eyes so bright and blood red it was enough to turn a person's blood cold.
"The demon who slaughtered the boy will be destroyed in order to insure his silence in the matter. I cannot have it getting around to my fellow humans that I conspired with a demon to begin a war. However, a dog demon lord will serve nicely in his place. When the Lady Rin is found deep within her favorite woodlands dead, her body mangled and marked by the claws of a massive dog..."
Bassarious' smile was tainted with pure evil and hatred. Sesshomaru felt his body already starting to transform. He would never allow this pitiful excuse for a man harm Rin. And he certainly would not be set up as an instrument to start a war against Rin's own people. Sesshomaru's demon blood was boiling. His instincts to defend himself, protect what was his, to break free of the cage all became almost overwhelming. His hand went to Toukijin. He would strike the fool down where he stood.
"I would not do that if I were you, dog. You are within a metal cage, lets not forget. It would be a pity for you to send a charge through those metal bars and do yourself any harm. Besides," Bassarious sneered, "when you die you will revert to your true form and I don't want that fur singed. I plan to use it for my bed."
Sesshomaru gritted his teeth in pure frustration. Of all the times he wished that worrysome vassil of his would come looking for him! If he were to transform within the cage he knew he would be putting himself at a disadvantage. There wouldn't be room enough for him to move and defend himself from any stabbing attacks. Very well. If he couldn't use his Toukijin or Tenseiga for risk of doing damage to himself, that left him with only one option. With little effort he lashed out through the bars of the cage with the energy whip from his fingertips and caught Bassarious' left cheek, sending the lord sprawling with a howl of pain.
"Never think me powerless or helpless, mortal. Such arrogance will be your downfall. I give you one final warning. You harm Rin and you won't live to see your precious war. I will gladly rip you to pieces, human or not." Sesshomaru said softly before sitting in the corner of the cage, his arm resting on a raised knee, the tips of his fingers still glowing with the threat of the whip.
Bassarious held his injured cheek, panting in pain, rage and humiliation.
"You can do nothing to save her, dog. Already my men are searching the area for your obnoxious little whipping boy and the two headed beast. Rin will die, you will be excuted for her death and my people will have their war on the Western Lands. All it cost me was letting a ravenous demon devour any and all the animals it wished. His payment for his silence which will soon be permanent. People starving and ready to believe any tale I tell them will rise up to fight. A demon lord depleated their lands, killed their beloved mediator and all because she left to him to live amongst her own kind."
"Your people will only believe such an outrageous lie if they are as big a fool as their lord."
Bassarious looked ready to kill. Did this fool think he would not do it? As beautiful as Rin was and as much as Bassarious lusted for her, he knew she would never yield to him. This thing before him had captured the girl's heart and none could wrest it from him. If he had not hated the arrogant Lord of the Western Lands before, Bassarious carried such a festering loathing in his heart that none could comprehend it. With the inuyoukai lord safely locked within the enchanted bars of the cage, the Northern Lord turned and disappeared into the great hall.
"All you had to do to save yourself, sweet Rin, was simply heed my words and find the dog guilty. Then there would be no need for you to die. I always knew that sharp mind of yours would get you killed." the lord spat as he strode down the hall to Rin's room, drawing his sword.
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"They captured the dog demon lord. Even now he is caged. The girl judged him innocent. So it would seem the human lord has formed a second plan of action."
"We have soiled our hands with enough blood for this fool's need for war."
"He...has turned on you. I overheard him. Should you speak with him again, it will be your life."
A ghastly smirk spread over the demon's face.
"Free the dog demon lord. If the human thinks to toy with me, he is going to find the tables swiftly turned. I will take care of the girl."
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