Chapter Twelve:

Amayami stirred awake with a stifled yawn, blinking at the faded rays of daylight that were spilling through the stain glass windows. A sliver of moon rose lazily in the sky, announcing the time as somewhere between daylight and nightfall.

More properly, it was dusk and the time that she normally spent within the confines of the dojo. There she would execute endless kata, honing her form to absolute precision, and stew over whose bed she would pry her husband from in the morning.

Certainly not hers, and for that she had been grateful and ashamed, as well as ashamed that she was grateful. But that was at the stronghold, which always felt more like a prison than a home. Here she could doze and dream, and think of the time before her marriage with far less pain.

She had been desperate then, but her goals seemed so simple. Protect her people, their way of life, and to stop the Inu no Taishou's advance on the Eastern provinces. Victory had never been anything she considered, but then again, neither had defeat.

"Defeat is when you are dead," her father had said just before the surrender. "Not before."

And so when Touga declared himself Inu no Taishou and offered her father an armistice, she had been understandably wary. She paid them little heed; the talks would unfold as they always had with Touga demanding too much, too soon and her father would be forced to turn him aside.

Then within a week, perhaps two if they were very lucky, Touga and the fiercely loyal band of marauders he liked to call an honor guard would rampage across her homeland with renewed violence. Men, women, and children, human and youkai alike would fall beneath their claws and blades.

They would spare no one, not the young or the infirmed, nor even the spiritual leaders of the humans who had come to ease the suffering of their people. As cruel irony would have it, their efforts often caused more harm than good.

Temples were second only to refugee camps of the things Touga most loved to ravage.

Amayami jerked and tried to sit up, but Touga flung one heavy arm across her middle and held her down. Sorrow and outrage became shame as the bitter tang of her innate toxins spread across her tongue.

Swallowing, she glanced sideways at his face; it was almost completely buried in a cushion. He was devastatingly handsome in his disheveled glory and undeniably dangerous. Heat scalded her cheeks as something fluttered low within her belly. Only Touga could have such power over her.

"We should get up."

Touga rubbed his cheek against the cushion, and then lifted his head just enough so that one golden eye was visible. "Why?"

Of all things he might have said or asked, none could have befuddled her as greatly as that solitary word. "We should," she began, floundering for a good excuse. Touga shook his head, grinding his face further into the cushion. "It's not proper that…we…Haru-san is looking for us."

With that, she tried to push his arm away, but Touga grumbled something incoherent into the depths of the cushion. He curled his arm around her waist, pulling her against him. His skin was hot and firm, and crisscrossed with fine, angry looking scratches.

As she brushed her fingers against his warm skin memories of the last few hours flowed over her senses. Beneath the warm heaviness of his of body, she had clung to him as he moved above her, inside her, and cried out for him when he came.

It hurt, he had hurt her. By accident or by intent, that pain was nothing compared to the guilt she felt for wanting him. Feeling raw and bruised had become second nature to her. Just like wanting him.

"Get up." Amayami winced when she heard her own voice. It reminded her, achingly so, of the tone she had often used as an officer in her father's army. She missed them now as if they had been her dearest friends, and wished she taken the time to learn their names. "Touga, get up. Now!"

She ground her teeth as a minute, then two, passed without a response. "Touga."

"I heard you the first time," he snapped, rubbing his face against the cushion and yawning. Muttering, he shifted and squirmed until at last he flopped over onto his side. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing," she said, defenseless against the bitterness in her tone. "I want to get up."

His knuckles brushed her cheek with a tenderness that was almost her undoing. "Then get up," he said, tracing the defiant line of her jaw. "Since when have you needed my permission?"

She snorted, but Touga thought he saw a faint smile twist at her lips. "I'm stronger than you think, Inu no taishou."

He crossed his arms behind his head, knowing he was pressing his luck, and allowed his lips to curve into a wicked smirk. "So stay in bed."

Amayami looked back at him blank-faced, and then her eyes flashed. "We are not in bed," she pointed out, snatching up one of the cushions to cover herself. "We're in…"

She glanced around the room, frowning at its sparse furnishing and wide, stained glass windows. In one corner, a bizarre collection of musical instruments was stacked precariously next to a desk littered with scrolls and tiny tubs of ink. It was a room meant for idleness, for leisure, and yet there was subtle sense of passion, of creativity so contrary to her husband's nature that it could not rightly be ignored.

"You're right," she said, smiling softly, sadly, and sat up to hug her knees... "I do hate your stronghold."

Touga balled his hand into a fist and punched the floor. "I know," he said with long, frustrated sigh. "You've made it abundantly clear that you hate everything I do."

He grimaced, fighting a rather unseemly urge to fidget as her eyebrow arched just slightly above its usual elegant curve. No doubt she would lambaste him or at the very least chide him for whining. He knew that her tone would be dry, sardonic, and impossible to tell from insult or jest.

Just as he knew that he would take offense to her words, innocent or not, and make idle threats that were certain to provoke her. Then they would be right back to screaming at each other. He knew this because he knew her, just as he knew himself, and knew that every conversation they had was doomed from the start.

"Once again your powers of observation prove to be more than astounding. In fact…" Amayami paused, finding perverse joy in Touga's growing annoyance. He was such a prideful, impatient little thing that to be denied anything, even a wife's lambasting, was intolerable. "I may even be so bold as to suggest that your powers of observation are second only to your aptitude for exaggeration."

"You may," Touga conceded, fighting the urge to smile. Her words, her tone of voice, mirrored his prediction so accurately that he felt a rush of triumph, followed by the return of his customary smugness. "Or you could drop the pretenses and call me a liar and a braggart."

"I could," she began with equal smugness, "but that would be rude. And I am far more concerned with what you plan to do now that your solitary goal has been accomplished."

Touga opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it with a click of his teeth. She had done it again. With a single question, she had managed to turn the conversation on its axis.

"And what of your goals?" he countered, bristling with indignation. "Despite what you might think, Amayami, I am no fool! I know it takes more than an army to rule an empire."

"On the contrary, barring your bouts of idiocy, I find that you're one of the most intelligent people I have ever encountered." Her lips quirked. "As for whatever goals I may be contemplating…what does it matter? I'm not a tactician."

Touga's brows rose to his hairline and propped himself up on his elbows. "No?"

A laugh bubbled out of her, and then her expression changed, growing as cold and distant as only she could muster.

"Do you love them?" she whispered, tilting her head and smiling as she hugged the cushion tightly to her chest. "Is that why you won't send them away?"

Inexplicably, a chill ran through him and his heart began to thud rapidly in his chest. A lesser being might have called the sensation panic. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Our marriage is a matter of state," Amayami sighed and he thought he heard an undertone of grim amusement in the sound. "All we may hope for is a bit of fondness."

Touga fell silent, ominously so. The planes of his face hardened and his eyes narrowed until only a sliver of gold could be seen through the fringe of his lashes. Then he lashed out and snatched the cushion from her hands.

She raised her eyebrows and drew back enough that the heavy tangle of her hair spilled over her bare breasts. Her eyes hardened into a glare. "Or perhaps not."

Slow with deadly purpose, Touga shifted the cushion from one hand to the other, and then struck her soundly over the head.

"Damn…"

The moment the word left her mouth, Touga blindsided her with the cushion. He pummeled her again and again furiously, until the cushion's seams burst and feathers filled the air.

"You," she seethed, clearly aghast, accidentally inhaling a feather in her indignation. She coughed and wheezed, almost doubling over. "Ass…"

He snatched up another cushion and struck her again, this time hard enough that she tumbled over. She lay there for a moment, sprawled unceremoniously across the cushions, glaring at him through the tangle of her feather-strewn hair.

"Despise me if you wish," he said after a long moment, tossing the pillow harmlessly to the side. "But everything I've done, I've done for the greater good."

Amayami pressed her lips together in a thin line, refusing to dignify his statement with a response. Her hands trembled as she pushed the hair from her face, short, aggravated breaths shaking her chest.

He met her eyes expecting to find cold indignation, but saw only the barest hint of disappointment. It froze him in his thoughts and made him wish he could take back his words.

Remorse washed over him, but he stifled it, hardening his resolve. To need her approval could only weaken him, yet…for the first time since his father's death, he cared what someone thought of him. "Put this on," he ordered, tossing her his kosode. "And get out."

Amayami caught the kosode, wanting to throw it back in his face. His expression was unreadable as he glared at her with barely concealed disdain. Meeting his eyes with equal scorn, she shrugged in the kosode and yanked it closed. "Rest assured, Inu no taishou, that had circumstance not denied me the luxury, I would most certainly despise you!"

Touga laughed, a great, rolling chuckle that seemed to fill the room, and then sobered beneath her withering glare. "That's my Amayami," he mused, reaching up to rub the furrow between her brows. "So chatty…"

My Amayami. She shifted uncomfortably, shyness creeping across her nerves. No one, other than her father, who was now banished forever, had ever addressed her with such obvious affection. "I'm not your anything," she hissed, ice coating her voice. "First you complain that I seldom speak to you…"

"No," he corrected, smug and probably more amused than was healthy. "I complain that you always wait until you're furious before you try to speak to me."

She looked away for a moment, and then back at him, her eyes hard and accusing. "Do you strive to irritate me? I'm ordinarily a very practical person!"

A smile floated across his face. "You are never ordinary."

Heat rose to Amayami's cheeks as she dropped her gaze to his chest, fighting the urge to smile. Once, not so long ago, she had thought herself immune to flattery. "Is that so?" she whispered, lifting her head to meet his eyes as he cupped her cheek. "I thought you wanted me to go."

Touga shook his head and chuckled softly, drawing the sound out until it became a low, sensual sigh. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush with his body, and buried his face in the crook of his shoulder. She smelled of warmth and flowers, of youth and vitality, of all the things he had forsaken to become what he became. "Since when have you obeyed my orders?"

"I wasn't."

Touga smiled into her hair, feeling her muscles tense with renewed defiance. Unlike other women he had encountered, Amayami offered no pretense of obedience. "Oh?"

He felt her sigh as she combed his hair with tender motions of her hands. Every touched reminded him why this, the circle of her arms, had become his favorite place to be.

"I wanted a bath," she said, pausing to unsnarl a knot with her claws, and wrinkled her nose. "I smell like you."

He peeked up, narrowing one eye at her. "Is that so terrible?"

Amayami shook her head despairingly, but he could see a hint of amusement in her eyes. "No. Not so terrible."

Feeling triumphant, despite the niggling voice that warned him of an unseen trap, he affectionately patted her bottom. "Then it's settled. Your bath can—"

"Except," she countered, grinning at his plaintive groan, and began stroking his head as if he were her favored pet. "You spent half the afternoon…"

He pinched her, making her stiffen in response. "What was that?" he asked, rubbing her offended bottom. "I don't think I heard you right." He pinched her again, this time hard enough that she squealed.

"You didn't let me finish!" she cried, her voice cracking with laughter as she slapped at his pinching fingers.

Laughter rolled from his chest as he playfully dodged her half-hearted slaps. His pinches became lighter and quicker, moving up and down her spine, her ribs, until she doubled over in a fit of wheezing laughter.

Without wasting a second, Touga began tickling her with renewed vigor, laughing as she shrieked and flailed her arms. It pleased him to have Amayami at his mercy, if only in pretense.

No, he thought, smiling ruefully as her shrieks of laughter became fits of coughing. This had nothing to do with mercy or power struggles. This was…

"St—op it!" Amayami managed to sputter, color flaming in her pale cheeks, and then socked him hard on the leg. "You're awful!"

His grin was quick and feral as he offered her his hand. "So I'm told." With a tug he pulled her to the cushion next to him. His humor left in a sigh. "And I'm a worse husband."

His sudden change in mood made Amayami's heart hammer in her chest. For weeks, she had longed for him to acknowledge his failings as her husband. If he could do that then, perhaps, her people and their way of life might the unification. And her father's exile would not have been in vain. "I never said…"

Touga thrust his legs out before him, scattering cushions across the hardwood floor. He was tired of the excuses, especially those offered on his behalf. "You don't have to! I have eyes, and I'm not stupid! I felt you recoil when we fu…you let me use you."

Coldness washed over Amayami, his meaning all too clear. "How causally you insult me!" she seethed, incensed despite the nausea rolling in her belly. "Do you believe that I would allow you to dishonor me and live?"

"I don't know what I think!" Touga gave a sort of grinding sigh and fell back amongst the cushions, his mood suddenly black. He stared at the ceiling, as if imploring its irregular tiles for aid. "You denied me what should rightfully be mine."

He heard her swallow and felt her resentment like a palpable force in the air. "I denied you?" she spat, her upper lip curling back in a snarl. "I comprised my principles, and gave you the last thing I had that was truly mine! Now, you have the audacity to…"

"I hurt you."

Amayami's anger plummeted, leaving vulnerable to the all too familiar shame creeping into the pit of her stomach. "We are not talking about this now," she blurted out, and saw a muscle jump at the base of Touga's jaw.

"Fine." The cushions shifted as he rolled onto his side, revealing twin dimples at the base of his spine. "I suppose you'd rather speculate about the stamina of my allies!"

"We could," she mused, her eyes sparkling with mischief. She shifted closer so that she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. He was always so warm, almost feverish, and she loved the way his skin felt beneath her palms. "Or we could…find other ways to waste our time."

Unable to resist, she trailed the backs of her claws down the supple line of his spine, delighted when he shivered. She smiled, and then sighed, sobering. "That wolf is not your ally."

"You confuse ally with friend, Amayami." Touga flopped over onto his stomach and laid his chin on his stacked hands. "I once did the same. You'll understand better when you're older."

"When I'm older, you'll be dead or too senile to remember." Amayami reached out and patted his bare bottom, smirking when he jerked. "Perhaps Haru-san will lend you his rake."

"It's a hoe," he corrected, and Amayami lifted her eyebrows at the pouting in his tone. "And he wouldn't lend it to anyone. Not even you."

She stroked his hair absentmindedly, sensing his words were more than simply offhanded. "He doesn't know me."

"He adores you." Touga sighed and buried his face into his folded arms. It troubled him how quickly Amayami could change her mood and lock away her feelings. She was such a bundle of contrasts that the opposite and inverse of everything he knew about her was also invariably true. No one else could be so cold that she burned with fiery passion. "I suspect Cho has taken a liking to you as well."

Amayami frowned, withdrawing her hand. His tone seemed preoccupied, but it could have simply been muffled by his arms. "Should I consider them friends or allies?"

Sighing, Touga lifted his head just enough so that she could see the annoyance in his eyes. "Youkai of our power and position cannot afford friends."

Amayami studied him sadly. "Do you truly think like that?"

He dropped his head back into the valley of his arms. "My thoughts are my own." He heard the finality in his tone and wondered at the person he had allowed himself to become. "Haru likes to hide wood in a shed out back. You should find enough there to warm your bath."

After a moment, he heard Amayami breathe a little sigh and felt the ends of her long hair brush along his skin as she moved across the floor. He tensed and waited, wishing he could take back his words, but he would not beg her to stay. Beside him, Amayami scooted and squirmed, rolling across the floor until she was on top of him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, gritting his teeth as wiggled and shifted, jabbing him with her bony knees and elbows.

She uttered an exasperated sigh, but otherwise ignored him as she stretched out fully on top of him with her belly pressed against her back. Stacking her hands neatly on top of his head, she angled her chin just enough to see the scowling line of his brow. "What am I ever going to do with you?"

"You can start by..." He arched his back, trying to buck her off, but, short of violence, there was no was no budging her. "Get off of me," he bit out, straining against her tensed muscles, then the seemed to leave him in a single breathy pant. "You're heavy."

Amayami nodded sagely. "I understand."

If it had been anyone else, Touga would have believed she did understand, but Amayami had a way of twisting the simplest matters into complexity. "What do you understand?"

"That you are only a puny warlord," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, "whereas I am the Inu no hime. Pity really, I would have thought the Inu no taishou would have been something grander."

At that, he sighed despairingly, allowing his shoulders to slump, but there was no stopping the grin tugging at his lips. Amayami had done it again. With a simple gesture and a few teasing words, she had managed to mold his temperament to her liking.

Changed his, he realized, to conceal her own. Still, he would play her game, if only to see where it led him. "Only a warlord?"

He caught a flash of triumph in her pale blue eyes just before she shoved his face flush with the cushioned floor with the palm of her hand.

"Yes," she drawled, seemingly obviously to his muffled curses, and then wrenched his head up by the hair. "So are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or shall I torture the truth from you?"

The intent was there, in her voice and in the predatory gleam in her eyes, but the promise was of cool flesh and burning touches. Anticipation sang through his body as he felt the warmth of her lips moving against his cheekbone.

Her grip slackened, slipping from his hair to rest at the back of his neck, and turned his face towards hers, lips a breath from his. "Well?"

"You should be more wary of who you threaten."

A smile lit her face, igniting her from within. Her laughter stroked his face in warm, breathy caresses. Touga glanced away from her, refusing to respond, but the wheels of his mind where turning. Amayami had not only changed his mood, she had also changed the subject, and done so with a telling skill.

"No more games, Amayami." Annoyance tightened his throat, thinning his voice. He patted the floor beside him. "Get off."

"I don't play games, Inu no taishou." She rolled onto the floor with one easy movement, and sat cross-legged away from him. "I divert."

Touga shook his head and chuckled grimly to himself. As always, his little wife was impudence incarnate. "You split hairs."

She smiled a slow, easy twist of lips that could have been considered derision. "Perhaps."

"Again with the half answers!" he grumbled, not nearly as annoyed as he pretended, and pushed himself up by the elbows. "Don't you ever tire of all this…" He made a face. "this subterfuge?"

She cocked her head and smiled sweetly. "No."

Touga gave a long suffering sigh. Trust Amayami to offer absolute honesty where tact would have been more prudent. "I suppose not."

"Bring me a cup of tea."

Touga laughed hoarsely and shook his head, strangely content to be addressed as a common servant. Perhaps, he was simply feeling indulgent. "Will there be anything else, milady?"

She seemed to consider a moment, tapping her fingertip lightly to her chin. "A bath."

He nodded as his mouth opened in wide, tongue rolling yawn and pulled on his hakama. "I'll have Cho make you some tea," he said as stuffed his feet into his boots, and then breathed a put-upon sigh, "while I draw the water for your bath. Anything else?"

Amayami bit her lip, her playful façade dissolving, and then pounced on the question she had hoped he would ask. "Tell me about your father."

The change that fell over him, the subtle sag of his shoulders, the slight twitch of a muscle beneath his jaw, was subtle, and yet wholly devastating. He ran a hand down the length of his face and stared through his splayed fingers into the lonely courtyard.

Once, centuries ago, when he was still young, and Amayami had yet to be born, this place had been a bustle of family and friends. Children had once bounded through the courtyard, shrieking and laughing with a scolding mother at their heels.

They never saw the smoldering resentment in her eyes when they fled to their father's lap to escape her wrath. It was never in cruelty, just childhood mischief. Mother was the one who wanted manners minded and rooms cleaned, while Father…If only I had…

"He's dead." The words still pained him, sharp at first, then dulling into an ache of guilt.

A shiver of instinctive apprehension rippled through him as he heard Amayami rise from the floor. He could feel her displeasure from across the room.

"That's not what I asked."

He turned and caught her to him, feeling the softness of her breasts and the fine bones of her back. He buried his face into her crook of her neck, sighing as her arms wrapped around him. "You're impossible."

She thumped his chest with great deal of force before darting around him. "I'll just ask Haru-san about your father," she teased, sidestepping when he tried to grab her, and bounded halfway down the stairs.

"Giving up so easily?

Amayami paused, standing on one foot, and then lowered it slowly to the step, and slowly turned around. His voice was more teasing than challenging, yet, the question still rankled.

Touga winced as her brows lifted to her hairline and her mild, vaguely amused expression grew contemptuous. Past experience told him that when she spoke again, her words would be cold and biting in their truthfulness. She would insult him without being insulting, and dare him to contradict a single word.

He would, of course, for what little good it could do him. Amayami's thoughts were so much quicker and her mind so much sharper, that any defense he could muster would undoubtedly be used to put him firmly in his place. He would be humiliated, and yet, an unexpected thrill ran through him.

Before she could utter a word, he caught her to him and rained tiny, desperate kisses over her cheeks and the defiant line of her jaw. His nose nuzzled the furrow between her brows, trying to smooth it away, as his hand moved up her back. She glared at him from beneath lowered lids and growled in warning.

Her lips trembled against his and he realized she was holding her breath, trying to keep herself in reserve. "Maya," he murmured against her mouth and slid his free hand into the ends of her hair.

She released her breath in a slow, warm rush and brought her hands up between them. She had meant to shove him away, but his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her against him.

Her belly was flush with his, and she could feel the hammering of his heart beneath her trapped palm. For a fleeting moment, as lethargy stole over her limbs, Amayami allowed herself to forget everything but this moment, and how wonderful it was to be held.

She tipped her head back and allowed him to take her lips again. His kiss was firm, but tender, and dizzying in its intensity. A tide of color flooded her face as the last of her irritation ebbed away.

She flicked her tongue across his lips, and then wriggled her hand free so she could clutch his shoulders. She pulled back just slightly, and dodged his lips when he tried to kiss her again. "We cannot continue to settle arguments in this manner."

Touga touched her lips, still warm and glistening from his kisses, and pressed his forehead to hers. His breaths came in short, raspy pants, and he had to swallow twice to find his voice. "Why not?"

She gave him a swift kiss and twisted from his arms when he tried to give her another. "Because it's not respectful to me or to you," she said and leapt backwards to land at the bottom of the steps, out of reach when he tried to grab for her. "Now are you going to draw my bath or I shall I make do with the koi pond?"

Touga shook his head, temporarily at a loss. The more he knew of Amayami, the less he understood. After today, he was wary of prying too deeply. "Cho will have my hide if we're late for dinner."

"I will have your head if I don't get a bath soon." She pursed her lips and bounded onto to the porch.

He stared stupidly at her as she grabbed his hand and dragged him bodily down the short flight of stairs. She turned him towards the bathhouse with shooing motions of her hands. "Go on, while I gather our things."

"My father," would have adored you, he almost said, but amended, a bit too quickly, with, "was a great and powerful youkai."

Amayami beamed at him, her eyes dancing. "Aren't they all?" Then she turned and strode away, uncaring that she only half dressed and in his clothes. Nor did she seem to mind that her hair tangled around her shoulders and her long limbs in a riot of knotted silk.

He shivered, recalling how cool and slippery it felt against his skin. At that moment, Amayami glanced at him over her shoulder, her expression disconcertingly intense. He stared at her from across the courtyard, feeling a smile curl at his lips. If only she were a concubine or the nameless women of his court. He would have gone to her, seduced her, and never thought of her again.

"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Cho chided as she stepped from between two outbuildings, balancing a basket on one hip. "Quit gawking and go after her. It's what you both want!"

"Don't be foolish." There was strange sort of satisfaction in his words, his tone as he forced his eyes from Amayami. Although her power and beauty had almost swayed him, his resistance was there, if only tenuous. "She's the princess of a conquered people. Keeping her appeased is as important as keeping her on a short leash."

"Oh, spare me!" Cho shifted her basket from one hip to the other, and gave him an insultingly wide berth as she moved around him. "The day is hot enough without your posturing!"

He sighed. As much as Cho irritated him at times, the two had been raised together, and were accustomed to speaking their minds in other's presence. "I've come to a decision about Amayami."

"Well, out with it," she said with a loud, put upon sigh, and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. "The sooner you tell me, the sooner beat sense into you."

Touga smiled, feeling more certain than ever. Cho might not understand or approve of his plans, but she was at least willing to listen. "I plan to name Amayami my heir."

Cho whirled around, almost dropping her basket, and stared at him with her mouth agape. "What?"

"It's not uncommon," Touga said, shrugging off her shocked reaction. "She is the Inu no hime, and my co-sovereign, but her people won't be satisfied until they have my head on a pike."

"What about your people? I can't imagine they'll be too happy to learn that you're giving the land they bled for back to the enemy!"

"Amayami is not my enemy!" he growled harshly enough that Cho flinched and took a step backward.

"I never said…" She clamped her mouth shut, fighting the urge to give him a thorough tongue lashing for the assumption. "What does Amayami-sama think of all this?"

Frustration rolled from him in waves, but it was his disappointment that urged her to rethink her words. In his way, Touga had confessed to her what he would admit to no one, including himself. "I haven't told her yet, but it doesn't matter. Because of that damnable treaty, everything of mine is hers. I cannot even dismiss a single servant without her express permission!"

"It'll do you good!" she snapped in sharp matronly tone. "Having your own way for so long as has blinded you to the wants of others! Look, I'm not telling you what you're doing is wrong, but you need to discuss it with her. Don't just drop this in her lap and expect her to understand."

"You underestimate her and me," Touga said at last in a tone that brooked no argument. "Amayami would agree with me."

The last sounded so petty, so childish, that he almost winced. Still, he believed there was truth to his words. Amayami knew, as he did, that without an heir, his claim on his territory was tenuous at best.

Appointing Amayami heir would appease the east, and the child she eventually bore him would satisfy the west. It was dangerous gambit, but one where he only stood to gain.

"Enough," he snapped, jaw working as he ground his teeth. "Amayami is my heir, and I expect her to be treated as such."

Cho grabbed his elbow as he tried to brush past her. He tried to yank his arm free, but she tightened her grip so that her claws pricked his flesh. He growled in warning.

"Oh, hush up," she snapped, jerking his elbow with enough force that he stumbled slightly. "This might be your house, but you don't live here, I do. And you're not taking another step until you what's going on in that head of yours!"

"Here you go, Lady." Haru beamed as he rummaged around the kitchen cupboards and pulled out a clay jar encased in straw.

Amayami leaned forward on her elbows as Haru toddled back to the table with the jar and two mismatched cups in hand.

"This here sake is made by old monk that lives over in the flat country. Had to trade him a bushel of stone fruit, one of those pretty kimono that Cho is so good at stitchin' up, and my good hat jus' for this jar an' a barrel I hid in the shed out back, but it's worth it."

Amayami arched a brow, and a smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. She had her doubts. "Few humans are willing to traffic with youkai, at least not without an ulterior motive."

Haru shrugged and uncorked the bottle. "I suppose he figures my coin and goods are jus' as good as anybody's. As long are both are flowin' he doesn't much care none where they came from." He filled both cups, and then slid one, the taller of the two, across the table towards her. "An' before you make up your pretty mind that Old Haru has been hornswoggled, take a long drink of that."

Amayami rolled her eyes and sighed despairingly. Had she not been raised to respect her elders above all, she would have gladly told Haru where he could stow his sake. As it was, she was sorely tempted.

Smirking to herself, she lifted the cup to her lips and took a tentative sip. She rolled the wine around on her tongue. At first, it was light with a mellow earthen after, then as she swallowed, it turned to liquid fire. Flames climbed down her throat, shooting through her belly, followed by a delicious shiver that she felt to her toes.

She sputtered a cough, and inhaled a cooling breath of air. "It tastes like…" she rasped, her eyes watering, but delighted.

"Yeah, exactly. There ain't no words to describe it." Cackling, he drained his cup in a single, gulping swallow, and then smacked his lips in appreciation. "Humans may not be good for much, but they sure do brew up the best spirits."

"Spoken like a man who's never had a purity arrow shot at him," Amayami said with thinly veiled sarcasm. During the war, humans had been staunch supporters of her father and the Eastern providence. In their minds, her father, Takayuki, was the lesser of two evils, and thus were willing to stand at his side to repel Touga's rampaging army. "What else does he trade?"

Haru smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his bald head. "Don't know. I never cared beyond the spirits. But I gather he's a trading man, so there's no telling what he's haulin' around. Now what did you want to ask old Haru?"

Amayami put her cup aside and fought a sudden worm of guilt. In her heart, she knew that Touga should be the one to tell her about his father. But he had made it abundantly clear that his family was not open for discussion. Just as she had made it clear that if he were unwilling to speak of such matters, she would simply ask Haru. She had warned him, and although she knew that was justifying herself, it was enough to harden her resolve.

"I'd like to know about Sesshoumaru-dono." She leaned forward, her eyes earnest and sincere. "I understand that he built this house."

Haru beamed. "Not just the house, Lady! The old master built this whole valley, planted every tree, laid down every stone." He poured himself another drink, and downed it before continuing. "Dug the brook, too, an' the pond out back."

"It's artificial?" Amayami twisted on her cushion and craned her neck to peer out the side door. The brook, still swollen from the storm, glittered blue-black as it flowed beneath the silvery edge of moonlight. Beyond her line of sight, the brook spilled into a frothing waterfall and a pool filled with fish half again the size of her hand.

Weeks ago, she would have never thought that such a place could have existed, much less thrived under Touga's dominion. It was yet another sobering reminder that she knew nothing about her husband. "I never would have guessed."

Haru chuckled and nodded his head, his bright old eyes fixed on her. "'Course not, Lady. If you could tell it weren't real, there would be no point. 'Sides a river ain't nothing but a hole in the ground with water dumped in it."

She laughed at the simple, but strangely apt description and shook her head. "No. One of the first things my father taught me was to utilize the terrain to my advantage. He'll be so disappointed…" She bit her lip, cursing herself for the slip. "I didn't see a dam or any form of aqueduct."

"That's 'cause there ain't one," Haru said with obvious pride. "See long time ago, Sesshoumaru-dono bargained with a tribe of river folk, kappa, I think, is human for 'em, to summon up an underground lake and bind it to the surface. 'Course, it wasn't as simple as all that."

Amayami imagined the croaking chants of kappa and the flails of their little arms as they coaxed the waters from the cool ground. They must have been powerful and trusting of the old lord to even consider such a task. "Why did Sesshoumaru-dono go to all the trouble? I understand that water would be essential, but what you're suggesting is that he carved the entire valley from nothing."

"That's because he did, Lady," he said, his tone calling her a half-wit. "It was just after Yumeni-dono pushed out their first little one. They named her Leiko after Sesshoumaru-dono's first love."

Amayami arched a brow, and prayed her unruly tongue would not get the better of her. Naming a child after old love was untoward at best. "What happened to her?"

"She died giving birth to their little one." He gathered in a bubble of air as he recalled Leiko-hime's pale, still form and Sesshoumaru-dono's grief twisted face. "The baby lived half a day before he took his last breath. Not even Sesshoumaru-dono's powers could save him."

Amayami swirled her drink around, trying to appear only mildly interested. But her mind was keen and focused, ready to pounce on any shred of information. "It wasn't his fault."

"No, but that didn't mean he didn't blame himself all the same. Afterward, he abandoned everything. His titles, his riches, an' me and him took to the road. Eventually, his family caught up with us both an' he ended up marrying' Yumeni-dono to hush 'em up."

"I see." Amayami felt a sudden swell of pity for Yumeni, always destined to be second best in her husband's heart. She knew too well the feeling.

"Ah, I see by the look on your face that you're misunderstanding old Haru," Haru said between loud slurps of his drink. "I ain't sure what the old master's true feelings for Yumeni-dono was, but I think this house and their seven children says a lot."

"Seven?" Amayami gasped, and then smiled, imagining a half dozen little Touga's running around. "My, they were…passionate."

Haru started to laugh, but was cut short by Touga's outraged bellow.

"…expect you to agree, but you damn well better respect my decisions!"

"Damnable pit-hounds," Haru muttered under his breath as Amayami's features flushed with humiliation. "Ah, don't you fret none," he said as he reached forward to pat her hand. "It's when those two aren't fighting that you got to worry."

She forced herself to relax and take a thoughtful sip from her cup. "It's shameful that family should fight so much amongst themselves," she demurred, half to herself. "Why do you allow it?"

A chuckle escaped Haru. "Ah, girlie, that's like asking me to step up between two hissing an' clawing hellcats." His eyes twinkled at her. "If those two didn't love each other I would. You see, Cho's mama lit out of here one night on the count of her new husband wasn't too fond of half-bloods—"

"Half-bloods?" She frowned in confusion, rolling the unfamiliar term on her tongue. "You mean hanyou?"

"Naw, Amayami-dono, I mean half-blood. Though, I don't imagine he'd be too found of hanyou, either. Can't say I blame them," he said, draining the rest of the jar into their cups. "Cho's father was a cat youkai"

Amayami frowned and looked at Haru as if he were baffling in riddles. "So?"

"Cho's stepfather is one of the dog lords. It would shame his house if it were known that his wife had been got with an impure child."

"How?" Amayami fumed, thoughtless and incensed. "The very idea is ludicrous."

"It's good of you to think that way, Lady." He winked at her over the rim of her cup. "'Course, my daughter an' her new husband would say that spirit folk blood in your veins makes your words a might suspicious."

Amayami flushed, suddenly feeling contrite. Naturally, Cho's parents had parents of their own. It just never occurred to her that Haru could have been one of them. Now, with reality sitting across the table from her, she wondered how she could have been so foolish. "I meant…"

"Puh, you ain't said nothing I hadn't thought on already." Haru shrugged off the attempted apology and shoved himself from the floor. "Now how 'bout I whip us up some supper? Might even brew some of that tea you had a hankering for."

"Don't go to any trouble," she murmured on the tail end of a yawn. It had been weeks since she had slept well, but tonight sake swam in her blood, threatening to pull her down into drowning sleep. She smiled affectionately at the old man. "I think I'll retire for the evening."

Haru sniffed, offended, and Amayami managed a wan smile.

"Unless there is something you need, Haru-san."

"For starters, you can quit calling me Haru-san. I done nothing to deserve such reverence." He narrowed one gold eye at her, as if daring her to object. "Folks 'round here call me Haru, or Grandfather if they're so inclined."

Amayami regarded him archly. Something about Haru's gruff manner and complete disregard for anything that could be considered decorum made him dear to her. Strange that she should find friends amongst her enemy's family. "It's not up to you to decide who is revered and who is not, Grandfather."

A tentative smile broke across Haru's weathered features as his narrow chest puffed with pride. She smiled. Her instincts had been correct about him. As she rose graceful from the floor her expression grew thoughtful. "How did you know about my ancestry?"

Haru tapped his nose, a twinkle in his eyes.

Amayami frowned. If Haru could sense her heritage, then surely so could Touga, and yet, he treated her so strangely at times. "Touga hasn't said anything."

"Well, the boy ain't interested in your scent, if you get my drift."

She did, and it was enough to make her flush with anger. It was disgraceful that Touga's lusts were so apparent. "No, he's not."

"Aw, don't be so hard on the boy, Lady. It ain't everyday that a girl like you comes along. It's no wonder he's acting so sparse brained."

Amayami looked at him sourly. "He's hardly a boy."

"He might not seem young to you, but I've known him since he was peeing his nappy." He gave her a cagey wink. "Before then, if you count the time he was growing in his mama."

She worried her lower lip over her teeth, trying to imagine a time when Touga was young and innocent. "I bet he was cute."

"Spoiled rotten, if the truth be told," Haru cackled as he rattled around the small kitchen. "But that's what happens when there is jus' one boy in a slew of girls. Well, least 'til Takeshi was born. I've never seen two brothers who looked so much a like an' yet had such completely different insides. Like oil and water, those two."

"They make pretty colors when they're mixed," Amayami mused, and then smiled at Haru's baffled expression. "When you mix oil and water together in makes pretty colors in the sunlight…"

Haru's upper lip lifted just enough to reveal the hint of his yellowed fangs, and slowly bobbed his head, clearly not following. Amayami groaned internally. "You were saying?"

"Ah, yes, 'bout Touga and Takeshi." He grunted and stood on tiptoe to grab a jar from the upper most shelves. "Don't know why that girl insists on putting this stuff up so high."

Amayami stepped across and lifted a slender arm. Her fingertips brushed against the dusty jars, feeling intricate patterns carved on their earthenware surfaces.

"That one right there, Lady," Haru said, and smiled fondly as she retrieved it for him. "Anyway, as I was sayin', when Touga and Takeshi get together it isn't ever pretty. 'Course a lot of folks will say that's the master's fault, too." He turned his head to level one squinted eye at her. "Jus' like they say that husband of yours is rotten to the core, an' maybe he is, but that don't mean he can't change if he puts his mind to it."

Amayami smiled, strangely humbled despite her obvious doubts. If Haru thought that Touga had the potential to be a good and honorable person, then who was she to dispel his illusions? You have more faith than most."

"Ah, well." Haru shrugged. "I've lived a long time. Long enough to know there are few things in this here world that are impossible."

"If only that were truth," Amayami murmured to herself, thinking of all she had lost and what others had claimed she had gained. She had gained an empire, but lost herself. She was the Inu no hime, co-sovereign of the Western lands. Never again could simply be Amayami.

'Ah, I'm just funnin' you, girlie." He shrugged, flashing her a grin. "Spirit folk are so rare these days that none too many around remembers them. It's no wonder why the master doesn't sense it in you. As for the master?" He shrugged. "You're already married to him, so it does no good for me to try an' sell him to you. You're stuck with him."

Amayami stifled a laugh. "Sometimes I wish he and I could have met before our wedding. Bokensou even offered to act as a chaperon." She smiled fondly, recalling the stuffy old tree. "But I was too stubborn."

"There ain't nothing wrong with being stubborn," Haru muttered distractedly, swaying side to side as he peered out the window. "It's what you choose to be stubborn about that matters."

"I suppose." Amayami frowned and stood on tiptoe, trying to see over the old man's bald head. "Are they still arguing?"

"There ain't no supposing about it." Haru shook his head, muttering something beneath his breath, and then raised his voice to near yell. "Go fetch us some water, girlie. You need some time away from this old man's yammering an' I can't cook with you hovering at my elbow."

Amayami hesitated, her features briefly registering the sting of his dismissal. Then a formal mask settled over her features as he waved her off with one hand. She watched the old man bustle around the kitchen, an apology weighing on her tongue. Shaking her head, she chastised herself.

Haru was just an old man, and the distant cousin of person whom often times she could barely stand. His dismissal should have infuriated her, and yet, the only thing she could think of was how to make amends.

Lips pressed into a firm line, she took several steps back, glaring as she turned and stalked out to the door. She hurried from the kitchen, onto the porch, and skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. The courtyard was dark and empty, and in the distance the heavy front gate groaned as it creaked closed.

Amayami gathered in a deep breath of the humid air and held it for a moment before exhaling. She gasped as lightning flashed over the mountain peaks, brightening the undersides of rain heavy clouds.

"One," she whispered, recalling an old game her father used to play with her. The higher she could count before the thunderclap then the further away the storm. "Two, three…" She grinned as thunder rent the sky, seeming to shake the grounds around her.

Anticipation sang through her limbs, prickling beneath her skin. In three hours the storm would be upon them, and she could drench herself in the rain. When lightning flashed again and thunder rolled around the courtyard in answer, it was all Amayami could do to resist taking to the sky.

She wanted to fling herself headlong into the thunderhead, and chase down bolts of lightning as they arched across the evening sky. She wanted to ride the wind.

Footsteps crunched the ground nearby and she whirled to see Touga trying to sneak past her. Without a word, she crossed her arms over her chest, looking every inch the beleaguering wife, frowned at him from beneath her lifted brows.

He paused a few feet from her and crossed his arms over his chest, looking suspiciously contrite. "You changed your clothes."

Suddenly self-conscious, Amayami curled her hands into small fists and tucked them into her billowing sleeves. His hand touched her cheek, drawing her eyes from the tips of her black boots.

"You look down for no one." He cradled her chin in the palm of his hand, his long fingers cupping the side of her face. "Not even for me."

He nuzzled her cheek and smiled when she tilted her head to give him better access.

"I hung your kosode in the breezeway," she murmured as he pressed tiny kisses along the curve of her cheek. "It should air out enough tonight that you can wear it tomorrow."

Touga made a humming sound in his throat as he smoothed his hands down her spine to play with the ends of her hair. "It looks nicer on you."

Amayami snorted and shoved him with the heels of her hands, but not before he caught a glimmer in her pale eyes. "You're a fool," she muttered, and ignored his angry look to watch the lightning flash across the sky. "You should go in before it rains."

"What about you?"

She smiled, counting beneath her breath to the next thunderclap. "Never mind me."

"Fine!" Touga threw up his hands, and then let them drop limply to his sides. "You want to be alone. I'll leave you alone. Just don't whine later that all I ever want to do is fuck you!"

Amayami clucked her tongue, but remained infuriatingly unruffled. "Truth is truth."

Her ambiguity surprised him, although he could not imagine why. Every word that sprang from Amayami's lips always had another meaning. "No riddles, Amayami," he replied coolly. "I'm in no mood."

"Then it is quite unfortunate that you're leaving." She paused and tipped her head sideways, smiling as a peal of thunder boomed around them. "I am in a most perplexing mood."

He huffed and looked away, but only to hide the upward twitch of his lips. "Do you even care what Cho and I argued about?"

Amayami sighed, clearly put upon, and combed back her hair with one hand. "Are either of you bleeding?"

"No," he answered slowly, baffled by the question. "Cho is securing the gate."

"Then, no, I don't care." She quirked a little smile at him, revealing just the hint of her fangs, and then gave him her back. "Haru-san is preparing dinner."

"He asked that you quit calling…" With a silent curse, Touga clamped his mouth shut and grimaced as Amayami turned slowly around.

Her expression was cold, but it was her eyes, calm and sinking, that made hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Past experience told him that unless he chose his next words with the utmost care, he would wind up flat on his back. "Maya-chan, I …"

"You were eavesdropping," she said flatly, muscles flexing in her jaw line. "That's why Haru-san chased me out of there so quickly."

Touga stepped forward and took both her hands in his, helpless she as angled her chin away from him.

"Only for a moment." He balked at how desperate and contrite he sounded, almost as if he were pleading for her forgiveness. "After Cho stormed off in huff, I didn't want to come to you angry so I went to look for Haru."

She jerked her hands free. "You were going to take your anger out on an old man?"

"No! No, I…" He uttered a frustrated growl, and fought the urge to gnash his teeth and pull his hair out by the roots.

"You?" she offered unhelpfully, her brows lifting as she mouthed the word. "Were sulking behind the kitchen because you were angry at Cho?"

"I wasn't sulking, I was waiting for you to leave." His hands flexed at his side, every line of his body tense with agitation. He was less accustomed to explaining himself than being called a liar. "I wanted to talk to Haru about Cho and some other matters."

Amayami took a calming breath. She knew exactly what those 'other matters' were and very soon the two of them would have a discussion about airing their personal affairs in public. But that was for later. Now she was far too entertained watching Touga squirm.

"So you went to the kitchen."

Touga searched her face for any sign that he might be able to charm her into forgiving him. She looked annoyed and tired, but utterly focused on his every word.

"I was hoping to catch Haru while he was still sober," he began, encouraged by the amusement he saw flicker in her eyes. "When I heard the two of you talking, I hid behind the bush near the stoop…"

"So you were eavesdropping," Amayami said as she brushed past him in a swish of silk and furs. "At least be honest about it."

"All right, fine." He caught her arm before she was out of reach. "I was eavesdropping, but Haru saw me before I heard anything important."

She frowned, flicking her arm free with one easy movement. "And just how do you know that we spoke of anything important?"

"Because everything you say is important! You prefer to hedge around and talk in riddles. It's how you make certain that no one knows what's going on in that thick head of yours!"

Lightning flashed twice in rapid succession, distracting Touga for a moment. He looked over the mountains to where the storm stirred, and then back at Amayami. He ran a fingertip over her pale brow, just grazing her crescent moon. "I don't understand you."

She smiled and shook her head, and for a moment, he thought saw something apologetic in her eyes. "Nor I you. I…"

Just then, a high, hissing whinny came from the direction of the stables. It was a bestial sound, full of rage and pain, one that she had heard countless times on the battlefield. She glanced quickly at Touga and saw the comprehension in his eyes. "Ichi."

"No!" Touga whispered urgently and lunged forward to catch her around the waist. He could feel the hammer of her heart as she arched against him. "We go together."

In truth, he would have rather Amayami gone inside to the relative safety of the manor, but knew she would never have obeyed. The dragon, although trained to be a vicious combatant, had become a pet in her eyes. "Stay behind me."

Amayami wrenched herself free and bolted towards the stables as a horrific sound of pure terror split the air. Touga scrambled after her, furious that she would ignore him. Absurdly, his only concern was for her safety. "Maya!"

Something in his tone, Amayami was uncertain what, made her skid to a stop and spin around. "Hurry up!" she hissed, gripping his forearm to drag him bodily as he ground his heels into the ground. "Or I'll leave you behind!"

"Of course, you will," he snarled and jerked his arm free with enough force to make her stumble. "That's how you solve everything. You think that if you can outmaneuver me, I'll eventually give up and leave you alone."

Amayami shook her head in exasperation, unable acknowledge what in her mind amounted to inane pettiness. She turned and rushed to the stables, longing for her sword tucked safely in her chambers.

The sword had belonged to her mother and perhaps for that reason alone had always brought her comfort. Amayami could barely remember her mother, yet, when she held her mother's sword, she felt her presence like a tangible thing.

Amayami never thought of her mother, no more than she ever thought of her right hand, but that did not make either any less dear. Futilely, she reached to her left side, and then smoothed her hand across her belly, feeling for the dagger hidden within the folds of her obi.

It was more a calming gesture, than a desperate one. She knew that her abilities made her more than a match for most. Still, knowing that she had another weapon at her side was reassuring.

Suddenly, her head snapped back, jerking her to a halt as Touga grabbed a fistful of her hair.

"You little fool," he snarled, yanking her hair hard enough that a less prideful person would have cried out, and whipped her around. "You shouldn't run blindly into a fight!"

Even with head twisted back, Amayami still had the audacity to glare at him with hate filled eyes. He growled, watching a flush of anticipation raced across the hollow of her throat.

"Let me go." Her voice was breathy, belying the fury in her eyes.

Giving her hair a sharp twist, Touga flung her forward, mildly annoyed that she caught herself before stumbling.

"When this is over we can fucking kill each other," she hissed, batting at her hair. "But right now, we don't have the time."

Touga nodded in agreement, his mouth too dry to speak. Her defiance goaded him until he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in a battle of mastery. Only when she was in his arms, under him, did he feel they were on near equal footing.

However, that was not now. For now he had to be a warrior, a tactician. He had to be ruthless being that was the Inu no taishou. But later, once the danger had past, he and she would settle their differences. And if it played as he intended, there would be no better place than on his futon.