A/N: I meant to post this next week just in time for Thanksgiving but I think we all needed a distraction, I know I did so here is chapter 11, only a day after Chapter 10 was posted…

You're welcome.

ALSO! I wanted to thank my reader's! You guys are the nastic-bombtastic! Thanks for keeping my ish-nay in check!

Pardon my French, but yesterday was a total shit show. I don't know if everyone knows what I am talking about, but those who do know, know what I mean. A thousand apologies and I am totally ready to just focus on completing this story so we all can move on and enjoy the next thing!

So quick recap if we all forgot… Rin totally almost got killed until she was saved by someone with gold eyes. King Ryukotsu (aka Rin's dad) is feeling some type of way about Kagome so Takemaru and Hojo had to sneak her away to an undisclosed location.

I think that covers everything… On with it!

Chapter 11: Informant

Kaede was at a loss for words. When Kocho woke her in the servant's quarters telling her Rin had been attacked the old woman almost had a heart attack right there. By the time she reached Rin's chambers it seemed every member of the royal family was there and several guards. Paying no attention to any of them Kaede went straight into Rin's bedroom where she found the girl lying in bed unconscious. Blood was splattered and streaked all over the floor. Rin's nightgown was covered in dark dried blood. Her left shoulder was bandaged, as was her face, while her hand was being bandaged by an elderly demon with dark brown skin, dark green hair, and silver eyes.

"What happened," the old woman demanded going over to her charge and sitting next to her on the bed.

"She was attacked." Kaede looked up and met the honey gold eyes of Sesshomaru. He was wearing a sleeping robe and pants. His clawed feet were bare and he looked more than a little agitated.

"By who? How did they get in here? Where were her guards?" Kaede demanded.

"Her guards were murdered before the she was attacked, by the assassin."

"Where is the assassin?"

"Dead. Inuyasha disposed of him."

Kaede finally looked past the Crown prince at the hanyo leaning casually against the wall by the door. She bowed her head to him in gratitude. "Thank you, for saving her."

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Anyone would have done it."

"But you did it. When I tell the King he will reward you greatly."

"Unnecessary." Sesshomaru interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"The king and I believe that it would be within the best interest of the princess for the king to not hear about this for right now."

Baffled, Kaede's jaw dropped. Slowly her face reddened, and her dark eyes blazed. She rose to her feet as fast as a woman of her age could and planted her balled fists on her hips. "Are you telling me that you do not want to tell the kin about what has happened to his daughter? Have you lost your mind?" She hollered.

"You would be wise to watch your tone when speaking to his highness, Prince Sesshomaru, you old hag," someone squawked.

Kaede looked down and saw the little green imp standing beside Sesshomaru with a hard look in his eye. Kaede's eyes darkened. "You would do well to still your tongue you little imp before I rip it out and shove it down your throat!"

Appalled and more than a little scared, the imp backed away and looked up at Sesshomaru for reinforcement. Instead the silver haired inuyokai prince turned to exit, calling over his shoulder, "Follow me."

Reluctantly, casting a worried glance back at Rin, Kaede did not follow until she heard Inuyasha say, "I am watching her. Do not worry."

The old woman followed the prince silently out of Rin's chambers and down the hall and stopped where two guards stood around what was clearly a dead body. The hallway was well lit so Kaede could see the man's face had been mutilated by five deep claw marks. Thick patches of skin and tissue was missing and hanging off of the man's face, the entire right cheek missing, exposing the teeth within. He was unrecognizable. Kaede cringed in disgust.

"This is the man who did it. As you can see, he was human. He snuck in and murdered four of the guards and attempted to murder Rin. No normal human is capable of sneaking past yokai and killing them without being found out... except for one group."

"The Taijiya," Kaede responded.

The man wore the same armor that the Taijiya wore. The Taijiya were warriors specially trained to fight and kill yokai in battle. When the South and West first started warring the current king decided to specially train a group of soldiers to act as mercenaries, carrying out special jobs to kill yokai and other powerful warriors the average fighter could not kill.

"That makes no sense,' Kaede went on. "Why would one of the Taijiya try to kill the daughter of their own king? It makes no sense."

"We need to find out."

Kaede looked at the slayer and kneeled down, trying to get a good look at him, or what she could make out of him. The front of his armor had been ripped open exposing his chest. There were more claw marks there, but there was something else. The kings insignia, burned into his flesh. This was a special member of the king's forces. They would only obey the orders of the king and no one else. More than confused Kaede stood up straight.

"Perhaps it is for the best that the King does not know. Make sure she is under constant surveillance. I would not be surprised if another attempt is made. Maybe next time we can keep them alive, and figure out who exactly put them up to it."

"Agreed."

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Takemaru was no fool. He knew he was being watched, and he knew it was a matter of time before the king would come for him. The moment his father started acting strangely was the day they returned from the West. He had taken ill. The doctors said it was just a cold. Three days later he was healthy as a horse and seemed to be back normal, only something in him had changed it seemed.

He became darker. He started being crueler towards the servants, forcing them to do humiliating tasks. The one that triggered Takemaru's caution was when during a small council meeting he sent off of the servants out of the room except for one, a young girl who must have only begun working in the palace, and in front of that room full of men, he forced her to strip naked and stand on the table. Then he instructed everyone to point out all of her body's flaws. When that was finished she was in tears and he raped her, on the table, in front of everyone, then he allowed the other men to partake.

Takemaru was stunned and fled from the scene. That was not the only time, late at night he would hear the horrified cries of the different women. He knew what his father was doing, everyone did, but who would stop the king? Things were getting out of hand, but once Ryukotsu started going on about Kagome he immediately knew what would be the result. Even as he cursed her and called her a witch, Takemaru could see the lust in his eyes. That's when he alerted Hojo. He also sent away Yuka with Eri and Ayumi, for safety. He already knew what was to unfold and he did not want to have to worry about their safety. Thankfully Rin was thousands of miles away.

Now he stood in an alleyway on a more poor side of town, dressed in very common clothing, with a dark cloak. Beside him was his best friend and advisor, Miroku, dressed much the same, and there they both waited. When Takemaru saw the husband of his cousin enter the alleyway he whistled to get his attention. Hojo looked tired and guarded.

"Kagome?" Takemaru asked.

"With the Taijiya you sent. A male and a female. Very young."

Takemaru nodded. "They are in my guard. I trust them the most. I am glad Miroku could find you. He told me when he went to your house it was empty. Luckily he found you at his doorstep."

"Yes. I felt it might not be safe to stay home."

Takemaru nodded and took a quick look around. "You were right. I fear for the worst. Somehow he has lost his entire mind. He grows more unreasonable and violent every day."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hojo asked.

Takemaru nodded but Miroku spoke. "Yes. In the Book of First Laws, there is a section where it states that in the event, the king is found unable to rule he can be forced off the throne by a true successor, but only if the council agrees to it."

"There is our issue," Hojo grumbled. The King's council was a tight knit group who had been friends with Ryukotsu since he was crown prince. To break their loyalty from the King would be impossible. "Is there another way?"

Takemaru and Miroku's eyes met with grim expressions. "There is a way," Miroku finally stated. Hojo waited for him to elaborate.

"Come," Takemaru said ushering the gentlemen to walk down the near abandoned street. "Let us walk and talk."

The three men walked side by side down the long dark street. Miroku finally spoke. "The Book of First Laws also states that should a king and his council become corrupted in their power, a blood relative to the king may usurp the throne if the acting king can be defeated in what's called a Battle Royale. In the Battle Royale, the king and his challenger must face off in a fight to the death, whoever wins will be king, and the loser, aside from death will be publically shamed and his supporters executed."

Hojo looked to Takemaru in the center who looked grim. "Basically, I will have to kill my father."

Hojo frowned. "Is that what you are really going to do?"

"Of course not! I obviously will have to find another way. He has already assigned certain powers to me. Maybe I can convince him to pass on his other duties. Maybe that way we can at least control him a bit better…"

All three men fell silent thinking of the impending doom that was no doubt close ahead.

"Have you been notified of Rin's care?" Hojo asked suddenly.

The Prince stopped briefly before assuming his pace. "Not yet, but… she should be safe there."

"You really trust those demons?"

"I trust nothing," he breathed. "But I have no choice but to hope that the demon prince is at least keeping an eye on her."

"There's no way they would let anything happen to her. She's an investment; the King cannot afford to lose. She is fine." Miroku offered.

"I must return to the palace before I am missed. Will you be staying with Miroku, General?"

Hojo looked to Miroku who nodded. He looked back at Takemaru, "I suppose I am."

"Be careful, both of you. I fear it will become quite dangerous for all of us in these days to come." With that the three young men parted ways. Two going in one direction, the last going in another.

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It was soft whispers that first caught Rin's attention. Followed by the rustling of fabric coming towards her. Coming out of the black fog of unconsciousness proved to be a much more challenging thing than she thought. She tried her best to rouse herself awake but to no avail. Her eyelids fluttered madly as she tried to pry her lids open, yet she could not.

After submitting to the darkness of sleep again for the third time she was greeted with the vivid recount of two large hands around her throat squeezing hard. Panic rose in her as her heart sped up tenfold. How? She thought she got away?

Letting out a scream of pure fright she sat up prepare to fight off the attacker. Flailing her arms madly. Two hands came from the darkness and grabbed her wrists. She began to panic even more when another set of hands gripped her shoulders.

"Rin! Stop it! Open your eyes! Open your eyes!"

She opened her eyes. Dim lights came into view and before her she saw Kaede's old face, looking more tired than usual. Behind her Asuka stood holding her wrists, and Kocho holding a tray not too far off.

"I'll go alert everyone that she is awake," the last said before leaving the room.

Rin's breath started to slow once she realized where she was. She sat back and looked around. She was in her private cambers with Kaede and Asuka. Immediately an unbearable dull aching thundered in her lower jaw, leading to a sharp pain in her temple that made her eyes roll to the back of her head briefly and she collapsed back, shutting her eyes. That's when the other pains surfaced, the sharp stinging in her left palm and shoulder, the tense piercing in her upper back. In that moment she thought she would die.

She let out a pitiful groan and rolled onto her side in the fetal position. Opening her mouth to speak, she found her throat was as dry as sand paper. Swallowing some spit to ease the action she croaked out, "Water."

Firm arms slowly helped her sit back up. Kaede. Rin shamelessly rested all of her weight on the old woman. Asuka came forward with a steaming cup.

"It's a special herbal tea to help you heal," she said in her child like voice.

Rin opened her mouth and Asuka poured the warm liquid into her mouth. The flavor was not unpleasant but it did have a filmy after taste. But if felt so nice sliding down Rin's abused throat. She took several more swallows until she was finally done.

"Give me more," she ordered gently.

Asuka bowed her head and went to carry on with her order. Rin turned to Kaede who was smiling sadly at her. "I am so happy you are all right. I thought I was going to lose you." The old woman whispered, kissing her cheek gently.

"What happened?"

Kaede's face darkened. "Someone tried to have you killed. Luckily, Inuyasha was close by. He saved you."

Rin frowned, thinking about Kaede's words. "Inuyasha?"

"He was passing by when he heard you scream. He came in and dispatched the rat."

"Who was it?"

Rin watched as Kaede's face turned stony. "They are not sure. He was a hired mercenary, and Inuyasha killed him so we were not able to find any information from him." She was lying about something. Rin could tell. She wanted to know why. Why was Kaede lying?

Kocho returned. Behind her entered Sesshomaru, the Inu no Taisho, Inukimi, and Inuyasha. Inukimi was the first to come forward, sitting on the other side of the futon, opposite of Kaede. Tentatively she reached out and stroked Rin's cheek. Rin flinched expecting some sort of pain but was surprised when she only found relief when the Queen's cold hands seemed to meet her overheated flesh in a feather light caress.

"You poor dear. I am so happy you are okay."

Rin looked at Inukimi before turning to look at the other three men who entered with her. The Inu no Taisho had a serious look on his face, followed by Sesshomaru who looked apathetic, and then there was Inuyasha who looked surprisingly, uncomfortable. Rin's eyes stayed on the hanyo prince and his eyes met hers.

"May I speak with Inuyasha alone?" Rin asked in her dry raspy voice.

Everyone gazed at her, then each other for a moment. Obviously Sesshomaru and his father planned on remaining there. It was Inukimi who rose to her feet who said, "Absolutely dear. We will just be in the other room."

"No," Rin said as firmly as she could. "I want you all out of ear shot. All of you." On this last part she turned to Kaede who looked shocked and hurt at the same time, but Rin ignored this. There were more important things at the time.

"Sure," Inukimi said, moving away from her bed, going towards the door, beckoning everyone one to follow. Only two people lingered behind. The first was Kaede of course, using her eyes to ask if Rin was sure. The other was Sesshomaru who continued to give her this blank stare. When was finally alone she scooted back as gently as she could, so that she would not jostle herself and reawaken the pain of her injuries.

"Please come forward." She politely demanded.

Inuyasha obeyed moving forward to kneel on the floor by her futon. She looked at him for a long time, taking in his appearance. She had only seen him a few other times but never really spoke to him. Then again, she never really spoke to anyone.

"Thank you." It was the first thing she said to him. The only thing she really wished to say to him. "I would be dead right now if it weren't for you. I do not know how I can ever repay you."

"That is not necessary; you are the wife of my brother. As your brother, it is my duty to protect you. My sister."

A small smile cracked Rin's face, making her wince slightly at a small jab in the jaw. It had been so long since someone had called her sister. Quickly reigning in her feeling of homesickness she focused on her the moment.

"Even still, I appreciate it." There was a long quiet pause that seemed to drag on and on and on…

"Do you know who it was?"

Inuyasha's face was an unreadable mask, but in his eyes, Rin saw something flicker. Surprise maybe? Awareness perhaps. While he was clearly thinking of a response she spoke again. "Inuyasha, you saved me, and because of that there is a trust in you I cannot even have with Kaede who raised me. What you tell me I will believe you whole heartedly, so now I must ask you to please tell me the truth, all of it, in its entirety, based off of what you know. Will you please do that?"

His steady gaze matched her own. This was a staring contest most wished they could hold. Finally Inuyasha spoke. "I could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"Not with me." There was another pause, this one severely shorter. "It was my life that was almost taken. I deserve to know, how else will I be able to defend myself?"

Inuyasha considered her words for a moment. "It was a ningen… human, male. He had special skills in dealing with yokai which is why he was able to sneak in without being caught. The old woman identified him as one of your father's Taijiya."

Rin's frown made her head hurt slightly. "Taijiya… But that is untrue. My father… he loves me. Why would he send his own mercenaries to kill me?"

"I am not sure. The old woman thinks it is a set up. She believes that whoever was trying to kill you only made it look that way so it would be hard to place blame. They hope that the next time we will catch them so we may ask questions."

"Next time?"

Inuyasha nodded. "It is most likely that whoever wants you dead will attempt it again. It is just a matter of time."

Rin sat quietly, internalizing all of the new information she had just learned. "Is that all?"

"Thus far."

Rin nodded. "A thousand thanks, Prince Inuyasha. I am eternally grateful to you."

"You should get some rest," he said standing. He walked to the door and beckoned Kaede back in the room as he was leaving.

As Inuyasha rounded the corner at the end of the hall he was met with the identical gold eyes of his father and brother, and the silver of the Queen. He stilled himself for whatever interrogation they had waiting for him.

"What did she want," the Inu no Taisho demanded.

"Simply to thank me."

"She needed us to leave the room for that?"

"She believed it to be a private moment between the two of us. Nothing more." With that Inuyasha walked away to return to his rooms on the opposite side of the palace.

"You still have not told us what you were doing over here last night, son."

Inuyasha paused briefly just to say, "Does it matter?" He quickly trekked on.

In all honesty he was on his way to leaving the palace. He had stayed way longer than he intended, with the birth of his new nephew delaying his departure, also the time he was spending with his mother. Last night had seemed like the perfect time to leave for another three month country side roaming. He was running through the grounds in the garden bellow Rin's room when he heard her scream.

Now, he would have to stay at least until she was fully healed, simply because his conscious would not let him leave sooner. But the moment the ningen princess was back to normal he was leaving with no forewarning.