Chapter 12

Into Severance

Shinokiri discarded the trinket from her hair that had served as her naginata's scabbard. She had kept it for so long that to some extent it felt like severing a limb. It had occurred to her that perhaps she should find a new weapon…but what was the use? She, at this time, had no master to kill for—no plans for personal conquest.

She was so lost in this moment. There were no discernable paths for her to take in this new world. It was as if she was a pup again, isolated from a semblance of home or family.

"This one. We have to get rid of this one."

The young Shinokiri was barely awake, but she heard it. She had only been alive for a hand full of summers, but she knew something was wrong. She felt her mother's had sweep over her eyes to urge her back into sleep.

She would wake in the forest alone, with a battered engraved wooden ornament dangling in her hair. The little demon pulled at it and as it drew outward it became far too heavy for her to continue, knocking her back to the earth.

She had reached the castle in the sky; keeping her head down she approached the Gobodo-sama.

"Ah Shinokiri, your—"

"It broke. I had no reason to keep it."

The two both referenced the lost hair ornament. The older demoness proceed, moving on from the persistence at her confusion at its absence.

"So, you've managed to crawl out of whatever hole you were hiding in. Tell me, how is my son and his human ward?"

"That is why I have come Gobodo-sama. To pay homage to you and alert you to the fact that I am relinquishing my duties towards your son indefinitely."

The dowager wrinkled her nose at the younger female. "You do this without providing an heir?"

"I have performed most loyally to the Western realm. Beyond even the provision of an heir, the fault lies in your son."

As far as Sesshomaru's mother knew, this was completely the case. There was no need to admit her new role in this failure.

"It was never this complicated between Inu no Taisho and I. What will happen should Sesshomaru die…am I to give over this palace to the hanyou and his priestess?"

"There's worse that could happen." Shinokiri thought better than to look up, she knew she had crossed a line.

The older demoness silently fumed before swallowing her agitation. "I'm glad you see such humor in the situation Shinokiri." She waved her hand in a grand gesticulatory manner at nothing in particular.

"Why bother bring this to my attention? I have no real potency in these matters. Why should I…only being your mother in law…having raised you from a shabby foundling to all that you are now?" The drama of this let Shinokiri know she could now relax, there would be no further objection.

"Thank you Gobodo-sama."

"Why does she not just stay here, she would benefit more from being companion to our son than being your minion." Inu no Taisho's met peered behind his back at the young female pup clinging to his legs.

"She seems to not want to leave my side."

"Irresistible as ever I see."

The sardonic comment had a tang of seriousness to it coming from the lady demoness. A tiny Sesshomaru rounded the corner and snatched the smaller demon from his father's side.

"It smells, father."

He handled her roughly, marking the back of her neck with his claws. His mother ran to separate him from the orphan. With a knowing look she nodded up at her mate.

"So be it. Keep the child in darkness and filth at your side."

He had not though. He had provided Shinokiri with all of the tools she needed to become a great lady over the centuries she spent as his charge, and that she had become. He himself had noticed as the now mature Shinokiri knelt beside him to read a treatise. Interrupting her, he took some strands of her ponytail into his hands as he carefully eyed her up and down.

"You have grown into a fine form, Shinokiri."

This odd action perplexed her greatly, "My lord?"

"Many a demon will…have vied for your attention. Is there someone you have intentions for young one?"

Shinokiri leaned back cautiously; her hair slipping out of her master's hair.

"No, my lord."

"Then I will make arrangements for you."

Shinokiri bowed in acceptance and quickly left the room, slipping out and leaving the shoji ajar. She rushed out, forgetting her prior reason for being there entirely. Her heart raced and she became awash with vertigo. In Inu no Taisho's path of conquest, what position would she as a pawn play now?

"Shinokiri, what will you do with yourself now?"

"At current I am aimless, my lady."

Her mother-in-law gave an amused scoff.

"What an unfamiliar position for you to be in…all you've ever really been is a tool for the powers of this land"

"Exactly," Shinokiri took that moment to exit.

This was a truly surreal moment for Shinokiri. At present, she found herself facing the collective of her former clan. The ones that had abandoned her so effortlessly. It looked odd, even, for her to be sitting with the composed silver-haired inus adversarially facing the scruffier grey-haired ones.

She kept her sights on her father: Gekidou, the leader of this clan. His followers, as well as himself, were shabby looking in comparison to their hosts. Obviously, there was a disparity. He was visibly disgruntled. The civility of the atmosphere, a banquet, was an obvious façade. It thinly veiled a consuming tension about the room.

"Inu no Taisho, do you think that showing me your finery will beguile me into handing over my lands."

"Gekidou-sama, it is impossible for you to resist my will. If you accept my leadership then your lands and pack will be under my and will receive all of the advantages of such an enviable position.

Gekidou made up his face in disgust. "Do you mean to insinuate that I cannot provide for my clan? That I am impotent as a ruler?"

"I mean to say that your subordination to me will be of great benefit to you."

The two lords were locked in a match of death glares. It was clear Gekidou would not back down, to the obvious destruction of those under his rule. Pride would be his downfall.

"May we at least celebrate the union of our children?"

Inu no Taisho tried to offer up a less heated subject as he looked towards Shinokiri and Sesshomaru kneeling next to one another at his side.

Gekidou shot up in anger. "You mean to mock me, Inu no Taisho! You threaten my lands and make my seed into your son's whore!"

He moved to release the power of his blade but was quickly run through by the extension of his daughter's claws. She dared not use her naginata, most likely left in her hair by her mother. It would be sacrilege, especially in so already perverse a moment.

Inu no Taisho's other disciples made short work of the rest of her clan. In some way she was pleased, her loyalty could in no way be called into question now. Still, she was overcome with such a feeling of numbness as to upset her spirit.

She withdrew her claws from her father's middle. As his body became lifeless he gurgled and spit up excesses of brightly colored blood onto the tatami. She had hit his lungs.

Shinokiri turned to see Inu no Taisho and his mate giving her a bow of gratitude. Her own mate, Sesshomaru, looked on silently before disappearing in all of the excitement.

Later, freshly washed of her own father's blood, Shinokiri entered the moon soaked gardens of the palace. She had neglected to put on tabi or geta, preferring to feel the coolness of the vegetation beneath her feet. She wore only yukata, and the coolness of the air caressed every pore of her skin, exposed or unexposed. Her hair was loose and still damp.

She looked out at the water from a small bridge, searching her feelings…searching for any feelings. It was strange to her, this overpowering numbness radiating from within.

"How desperate are you for my father's approval to have exterminated your own blood?"

Sesshomaru ambled toward her position on the bridge.

"It was your father who raised me, not them."

"Ah yes, they abandoned you…was this revenge?"

He had come up behind her, sweeping her hair to one side as to expose neck on the other. Invitingly, she tilted her head as to give ease of access.

"No."

The answer was smooth and genuine. She continued, "I made a choice between a lord who deserved my loyalty and one who didn't."

To her, it was simple, but still a sort of conflict lay within her. It was all for the quickness of a moment. She could not comprehend it. There before her was a father she had barely known and he met his demise by her hand in an instant. It was preoccupying, and left Sesshomaru's actions of sucking and kissing at her neck and behind her ear with no fanfare or even notice.

She snapped out of her fog when Sesshomaru's hand crept into the front of her yukata, cupping one of her breasts. She went to turn around to face him, but he used the weight of his body to block her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I am too tired for all of that."

Still, he persisted. He loosened her obi and slid her yukata off, brushing it aside on the ground with his foot. He traced her shoulders and back with his lips. He moved downward to the small of her back. One hand squeezed her thigh while the other under hooked her leg upward and anchored into her waist. Sesshomaru pressed his face to her from behind to pleasure her.

Shinokiri could not ignore this and grasped the railing of the bridge for purchase. He had never done this before. Moaning, she gave way to ecstasy.

Sesshomaru blinked away his memories from his head. He stood before Rin in a meadow not long from Kaede's hut. Beside her were Jaken and A-Un who leapt to attention at the sight of their master. Rin's attention and gaze stayed downward to the koto she was plucking away at.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I am glad you have returned!"

The sycophantic Jaken beamed at his master waving the staff of two heads about in excitement. Sesshomaru made no effort to acknowledge him. He only waited for Rin to look up at him. Her face was contorted in concentration, and her tongue poked out of her tightly woven mouth, dissatisfied with her progress.

"I am glad she's not back yet. I want to get better so that she'll be surprised."

"I hope that dreadful female never comes back. Imagine! Putting Lord Sesshomaru through all of her tribulations! Ungrateful!"

Sesshomaru stomped on the imp, eliciting a strangled apology. Rin stopped her practice and looked up at Sesshomaru with innocence and hope.

"She's coming back, right Lord Sesshomaru. She's your wife, she wouldn't just leave…"

"Here."

Sesshomaru dropped a slender ornate wooden box in front of Rin. The little girl fumbled at the lid with glee revealing a jadeite stone set in a golden hair ornament.

"Oooohh, it's even prettier than Shinokiri's."

Sesshomaru snorted at the comparison, thinking to the battered wooden piece of scrap.

"If I put my hair in a ponytail, do you think I can look like her?"

The taiyoukai made no notice of her question. Instead, he looked to the horizon, speculating where his mate could be wandering off to. Though he had let her go; he was still angry. She had made a complete mockery of not just his authority but of him as a whole. He did not know what he might be compelled to do when next he saw her, but now felt limited by how quickly his ward had become attached to her.