Chapter Eleven: Prison of Despair

"Look, Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin pointed upward towards the bright expanse of the afternoon sky, towards an object, far off in the distance that seemed to slowly be making it's way towards their little group.
Sesshomaru looked up to where his human ward pointed, and squinted, making out the features of one of the messengers from his manor. "Hm, has the girl perished?" He wondered aloud. Rin watched him, her head titled to the side, curious as to what he meant. But as always, the child never pried more than she felt she could, and she quickly turned away and started running for the field of flowers not to far away. It had been a week since her lord had returned to continue their journey, and she was quite happy to once again be spending time with the inu daiyokai*. She was picking flowers when the messenger landed in front of Sesshomaru, stopping her momentarily to watch them interact. She had never met anyone from Sesshomaru's house before, apart from Jaken, so it was strange seeing the formality in which Sesshomaru addressed the messenger, even going so far as to thank the demon before he parted.
"What seems to be amiss, my lord?" Jaken said, trying to get a peak on what was going through the inu's head.
"Nothing that concern's you," Sesshomaru spoke dryly and walked towards the field, and found a place to sit, allowing his ward to do as she wished for a time before they parted again.
They sat for hours, at least to him that's what it felt like, as he contemplated on what to do next. The news was of course about the kit and her finally waking up. He wasn't sure what to do with her now, though. He owed Tomosue, for helping him handle the advisors when he didn't know what to do at the time. In a sense, Tomosue advised him in a way his father never did, or could have. He made it easier for Sesshomaru to leave whenever he chose, and kept the other demon councilmen off his ass when it came to his duties and obligations as a landowner. Surely, saving his daughter wasn't a full payment of his debt, but it was at least a partial amount. He wanted to return home quickly to deal with the situation, send her away to be with her father, but frowned at that thought. Surely he was missing something…? Perhaps he should wait for the council meeting before making any decisions, which would leave the girl enough time to recuperate before she saw her father. There was at least another five days until then, he could wait until then, and perhaps, gain some clarity on what do with the kit-girl.

"Please, m'lady, I beg you." The demon woman, Usui, begged of the girl.
"Usui, please…" Kasumi huffed, holding her hand up to pause the movements of the over attendant court lady. "I can't eat anymore, or I'll throw up." She pleaded with the concerned woman with her eyes alone, and eventually Usui sighed, defeated.
"Oh, m'lady. Please… if you don't get strong soon, who know's what m'lord will do to me." She said quietly.
Kasumi huffed. Usui was good at guilt tripping her into eating something by mentioning some terrible thing her lord might do. "As often as you talk ill of him, I'm surprised to not have met him yet."
"He still isn't here yet, m'lady." Usui explained.
"Eactly, he isn't here, so who exactly will yell at you if I don't eat all of my food? The cook? If that's the case, then please, have the rest." She pushed the tray of food towards the girl and Usui panicked.
"Oh no, m'lady, I couldn't possibly! And he will be back, soon. There is a council meeting approaching, one the lord must attend to every year. He will be back, and he will be very angry if he sees you haven't gotten well. You can still barely stand." Usui explained, and Kasumi sighed lowly, looking at the tray of food. They were all easy things to consume, rice porridge, matcha* green tea, and a little bit of miso for her to consume. She could barely stomach the rice porridge, more than half of it left in her bowl, and the miso soup had been almost just as terrible. The only thing she could bare at the moment was the tea, which was smooth and warm running down her throat, and seemed to heat her cold fingers.
"I'm sorry, Usui, I couldn't possibly eat anymore." She smiled at the girl feeling slightly guilty of what may happen to her, but Usui just gave a small nod and took her tray away, leaving the tea upon request.
Once Kasumi was alone, she took a moment to admire her surroundings. She had her own Shōin* room, which she could see through the open doors Usui forgot to close. It was empty, but she knew what it was just from first glance. Behind it was a sitting room, which she currently was sitting in now, sitting in her proper seiza* position in the center of the room. The room itself was bare, likely because of a lack of use, and as she sniffed a couple times, it was clear there were only three scents lingering in the room. Hers, Usui's, and one she didn't recognize that likely belonged to this Lord Sesshomaru. The room she normally had her futon laid out in actually held some remnants of her presence there, her fox savior's robes had been laid out for her, for her to admire as she chose, she had been given her own wardrobe, and was given a series of expensive looking garments for her to adorn, yet Kasumi couldn't bring herself to wear. She barely left her rooms as it was, not once stepping into her shōin room, she hardly saw a reason to dress herself appropriately. She spent most of her time in her hiyoku*, and anytime Usui insisted on dressing her up in more layers, Kasumi refused.
"What man will spend that much money on a woman he doesn't even know? I see no point in wearing the robes given to me, especially if I've never met him." Kasumi muttered to herself, looking away towards the half opened window, towards the afternoon sky. She could barely make out the edges of mounts and wondered if she'd ever see the outside world again, or what would become of her, staying in this man's care. What choice did she have though? As far as she was concerned, she was safe here, she didn't have to worry about bandits or horny, ambitious young lords. Just… demons. Demons, she hasn't dealt with before, but as far as she was concerned, the demon she had grown to know was more friendly to her than any human she's met in recent years.
She smiled at the thought of Usui. She was a kind girl, didn't look much older than Kasumi, but insisted that she was older. She wasn't one to question her though, demons often looked younger than their actual years, yes? At least that's what she could remember from some of her lesson's with Kyah.
She drank some of her tea as her heart began to sink into the pit of her stomach at the thought of her caretaker. How long has it been now? She tried counting down the months, but the last few were so surreal, she wasn't sure what amount of time really passed now. It had to have at least been a year since she died now, and her father? She swallowed hard, the pit in her stomach growing so much it swallowed her whole heart and she knelt forward, sobbing into the tatami. How much of this was a dream to her now? What did she imagine, what was reality to her now? She could hardly recollect the last few weeks, let alone whatever sight she picked up when she returned home. It wasn't real. It just couldn't be. Still, she somehow knew that her mind was trying to trick her, knew that whatever she tried to tell herself it was all a lie, and she was really alone now. It did nothing to make her feel better, and when Usui came into the room, she panicked and ran to the kit in an attempt to soothe her.
"M'lady, are you in pain?" She questioned Kasumi, but the fox princess couldn't let out any words, and instead cried until Usui carried off into her rooms.

AN: Thanks for the support guys! Your faves and follows motivate my lazy bones to type more for you guys! Stay tuned, more is in store for you!

P.S. Ill try and post like once a weekish, depending on my amount of laziness (or if im just busier than usual) it may be one chapter a week or my continued three a week, but ill try and keep them regular.

*
Daiyokai: Means great demon, or powerful demon

Matcha: Medicinal powder with loads of health benefits, enough so I don't feel like typing them all out.

Shōin Room: Reception/assembly/meeting hall/room. Used for formal occasions for the most part

Seiza: Traditional sitting position in which your bum touches your heels and you rest on your shins

Hiyoku: Silk robes worn under kimono