Incomplete
- Chapter Thirty-Five -
Sesshomaru watched the door with a calculating eye and bided his time. When he heard the soft sounds of footfall on the stairs a brief smile crossed his lips. It lingered even as the cell door opened and the woman he'd come to loathe beyond all rational thought entered. She looked down her sharp nose at him and sneered.
"What will it be, human lover? Your lands, or the girl?"
Scent confirmed she was alone. If she had any sort of understanding of negotiations and the psychology behind them, she would have brought Rin with her as bait. It was little wonder the East hadn't collapsed sooner under such subpar leadership.
Averting his eyes, he answered her using exactly the words she wanted to hear, "The Western Lands are yours."
Reikana laughed out loud and playfully fingered one of the curls that hung over her shoulder.
"What a fool you are Sesshomaru! Anyone who would give up their lands for the life of a mere mortal isn't fit to rule. Some day you will regret this, but by then it will be too late I'm afraid."
A burly, pig-faced guard appeared in the doorway and bowed obediently to his mistress. He stunk of rotting meat and ale and appeared to be sweating profusely even in the dank, cool atmosphere of the prison.
Reikana motioned to the chains binding him to the wall and demanded that he be released. With a nod and a grunt, the guard did as he was told and unhooked the shackles. Sesshomaru glared pointedly at the manacles still binding his ankles and wrist.
"Release me," he demanded coolly. His eyes narrowed at the manicured finger she waved disapprovingly in his face.
"Really Sesshomaru, you didn't think it would be that easy did you? Come. I will release you once all the formal details have been settled."
With that, she turned her back on him and glided out the door in a swish of magenta silk. He clenched his fist to keep from dragging his claws down her back. For the moment he would have to satisfy himself with the thought that he would take great joy in killing her when the time came.
She will be the last to go.
It wasn't long before he found himself standing before a large stone altar, surrounded by guards. He was outnumbered twenty to one but that didn't keep him from calculating every move that he would make. Each strike would have to take out as many of them as possible. Surprise was on his side, which would help at first, but after that it could be troublesome.
Unaware, Reikana stood next to him wearing a gloating smile.
After the officials read over the land transfer proposal, Reikana signed her name to it and handed the brush to Sesshomaru. He quietly set the writing instrument down atop the altar.
"Where is Rin?"
"Nearby," Reikana sniffed.
"Bring her," he instructed and the stubborn set of his mouth indicated this caveat was not up for discussion.
Reikana scoffed impatiently, "Fine." With a wave of her hand she gestured for one of her guards to bring Rin to them.
Sesshomaru jangled the chains that bound him and quietly directed his next comment at Reikana, "I should think you would want to avoid the reputation of having to chain your mates to the altar."
Her hand was fast and she didn't hold back when it met his cheek with an audible slap. It was a move typical of her clan - brash and fueled purely by emotion. He didn't flinch, though the slap echoed loudly off the walls. When he returned his gaze to her, the expression in his eyes was cold and unwavering. It would take far more than a slap to intimidate him and Reikana knew it. His words had struck a chord. He could see it clearly in her eyes - the creeping doubt, the bruised pride.
With a snap of her fingers Reikana motioned for a nearby guard to come forward and unlock the chains that bound him.
"I warn you," she threatened in a low voice, "if you so much as try to touch me with those claws of yours I'll tear that girl's throat out. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly," he replied.
Free of his bonds, Sesshomaru flexed his wrist and cracked his knuckles experimentally. Within seconds the poisonous acid was flowing once more to the tips of his claws. At least the draining effect the chains had on his demonic energy didn't linger.
Just then one of the guards abruptly stumbled into the hall looking frantic.
"My lady! The girl is gone!"
"Explain yourself," Sesshomaru demanded, his tone hard.
He picked up the land transfer agreement and allowed acid from his claws to drip along the edges of the parchment. The hiss of the poison burning its way through the document brought Reikana to her senses.
"You're telling me you can't locate one lowly human brat?" she snapped at the guard. "Go search again!"
Turning to Sesshomaru she eyed him down with suspicion. Reikana may have been vain and prideful, but she was sharp. It wouldn't take long for her to piece together his deception.
"For all I know that miserable brat of yours escaped," she snarled. "If that's the case, you can rest assured I will personally hunt her down to tear her limb from grubby limb!"
The two leaders growled menacingly at one another, their faces mere inches apart. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, yet no one moved. No one wanted to be responsible for instigating a war between their nations.
When the guards returned a second time to confirm that the human girl was missing Sesshomaru wasted no time. He dissolved the agreement in his claws and deposited the steaming mass of parchment onto the altar.
"You'll never make it out alive," Reikana promised him.
He dismissed her with a cold look and focused his attention on the guards. With a swing of his acid whip he lobbed off the heads and limbs of those standing closest to him. Archers filled the room, lining its perimeter. They promptly took aim and fired at him. While he was able to stop most of them, several managed to get through his defences and plunged deep into his shoulder. The breath was momentarily forced from his lungs, but the blows were not fatal. Without the power of a priestess behind them, the arrows were nothing more than a nuisance.
He slashed his claws through the guard closest to him and ripped the sword from his hands. It wasn't Tokijin or Tenseiga, but for the time being it would do. In the time it'd taken for him to kill a dozen guards and disarmed a dozen more, Reikana had retrieve the chains that'd previously bound him and flung them around his neck.
He managed to get the sword's blade between the chains and his throat just in time, but it was not enough. The enchanted metal made contact with his skin, burning and hissing as it drained his demonic energy. Taking no chances Reikana swung the chains around him in another wide arc and pulled tight, trapping his sword arm against his chest.
"I told you you'd never succeed," she gloated, stepping down off the altar. She sauntered towards him looking smug and dismissed the rest of the guards with a wave of her hand.
"You know, I think I'm going to enjoy making you suffer for that little display of insolence."
He sniffed derisively and fixed his gaze on the far wall. He had no interest in indulging her and at present was preoccupied with planning his escape. He would be free of this place, even if he had to cut off his remaining arm to do it.
Reikana chuckled as she circled him slowly, like a shark closing in on its prey.
"I'll start with the girl first," she taunted him. "As we speak, my best trackers are out looking for her. They'll drag her back here so you can watch while I tear her to pieces. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
He levelled a cold glare at her and said nothing. He wouldn't rise to the bait, not matter how much she tempted him.
Undaunted, Reikana unwisely tried again. "Next will be that disgusting bitch you call a mate. Really now, Sesshomaru. A human?"
She 'tsk'ed delicately, shaking her head in disapproval.
He listened to her gloat and watched her circle him while he bid his time and waited for an opening. Unable to resist, she drew close enough to whisper into his ear.
"Will you weep for her Sesshomaru? Will you get on your knees and beg me to spare the life of your little human whore?"
He could smell her perfume, strong and sharp in his nose, and the castoff blood of her guards on her clothes. Had he been so inclined, he could have turned his head ever so slightly and kissed her throat like a lover might, but he had other plans.
Turning his head sharply, he sunk his teeth into her neck. He chomped and tore until the satisfying warmth of her blood bloomed and filled his mouth.
The guards stared at him open mouthed, mimicking the shocked expression of their leader. He released his hold on her and she stumbled backward. Her hand went to her throat, vainly trying to stop the blood gushing from the hole he'd left in it. when her grip on the chains slackened he shrugged out of them, thankful to be free of their heavy weight.
Reikana collapsed to her knees on the stone floor, her eyes already appearing dull and unfocused. It wouldn't be long now. Sesshomaru crouched down and seized her by the throat, forcing her to meet his gaze until the very end.
"Will you beg me to save your life?" he asked as a grim smile spread across his lips.
The expression in her eyes hardened and his brow arched in amusement. Stubborn until the very end. He wouldn't have expected any less. With a sharp twist of his hand, he snapped her neck and dropped her lifeless body to the floor.
Rising to his full height he glared at the guards still uncertainly brandishing their swords at him. Their eyes darted between him and their body of their master on the floor. Eventually they turned heel and ran. It seemed they had no interest in avenging their newly deceased leader.
Alone and covered in blood, Sesshomaru surveyed the scene before him. Red covered the walls and the floor. It dripped off the stones and collected in great, thick puddles at his feet. Limbs hung here and there, along with severed heads, mouths still gaping open in their owner's final death scream.
The piece de resistance, of course, was Reikana's mangled corpse with its eyes and mouth still hanging open in an expression of disbelief.
Smiling at his work, he flicked the blood from his claws, tore the last remaining arrows out of his shoulder, and prepared himself for the long journey home.