The night the castle was taken was like any other. You fell into your usual, uneasy sleep in the small room you used to share with another girl, until she left to get married.
In the lonely darkness you slept till morning. You didn't know the castle had been taken until midmorning. All the servants were summoned to the largest courtyard, there were a lot of servants and this was unusual. All assumed this must be some kind of moral boosting speech, recruiting the kitchen boys to fight or encouraging them to work harder to support the master during this difficult time. When sesshomaru entered the court yard no one new what to do, was there a truce? Was this planned? What was happening? Sesshomaru, even from this distance you could see he was handsome. He seemed to you moonlight made flesh, with his pale skin and waterfall of flowing silver hair. And even near the back of the crowd you could see that his aristocratic features were beautiful and a little feminine. You felt something suddenly when you looked at him, but the emotion was fain and unfamiliar. Maybe it was hate, you had been told to hate him. But the feeling faded and you couldn't remember what it had been like.
Sesshomaru looked at the assembled crowd and announced the death of your master.
Reaction to the news was mixed, some screamed and wept over the old master death while some decided to embrace the new. Most though, like you, didn't care. It seemed sesshomaru had taken the castle himself, killing your master and seizing his land. No one else had died. No one had been expecting an arial attack, no guards had killed. It seemed as though there had been a traitor in their midst but no one new, and few cared who. The old lord's wife had died many years ago and he had never taken another. He was childless and had no siblings. No one contested lord sesshomaru's rites to his land.
After the announcement you went back to the kitchen. Demon lords ate too. Meals often took hours to prepare and the cook appreciated all the help she could get. Usually kitchen was full of people getting on with their work but today it was full of gossip. You slipped quietly into the kitchen to listen to what every body else had to say.
'God did you see his eyes?' one servant girl asked another, 'gold as the sun'.
'Oh yes, wasn't he just gorgeous….'another said only to be interrupted by the cook.
'Now don't you be getting ideas lil girl, them deamons can be tricky an violent, pretty he may be but don't you try nothing like that.' The older servants all agreed the girls should stay away from him with there silly notions, and that what had happened to the old lord was a shame but that life moved on. Lunch took longer to prepare what with all the gossiping and when it was ready there were a surprising number of girls prepared to help take it up. 'Miki the chief shouted over the noise, you help them take that food up'.
Hearing your name shook you out of your thoughts, you were a little shocked, you had never been asked to help serve the food before, but you did what you were told, grabed the heavy tray and followed the others.
You got to the top of a long flight of stairs. The dumbwaiter was broken and the tray was heavy. You headed after every one else. The great hall was large and when you got to the table you were told by the others that you had to take your tray to lord sesshomaru's room.
You weren't happy with the prospect of more stairs but set of quickly before the food got to cold. Before long you were in front of the great door to you new master chamber. Hesitantly you knock. Come in replied the cold voice on the other side. Slowly and carefully you opened the door….