Sessho-maru sat in the garden beneath the flowering Magnolia tree as Tensei sat in his lap sobbing pitifully into his robes. He smoothed a hand down her back, letting the pup cry. "…it's not fair…" she wept,

"He was…the only papa I had…!"

"Hn"

"Why'd he hafta die?"

Sessho-maru stroked her hair, "Do you know how he died?"

"Mommy…mommy said he…died protecting you…" she whimpered.

He breathed in her scent, pressing his lips to the top of her head, "No, little one. I killed him"

Tensei pulled back, looking up at him with teary disbelieving eyes. "No…"

"Yes" he all but hissed. Perhaps it was better this way, if she could grow to hate him, maybe he wouldn't yearn to be her father anymore.

Tensei sat back, wiping her eyes, "Why?"

The question startled Sessho-maru, but he didn't falter, "Because he touched what was mine"

She finally broke their gaze but she didn't pull out of his lap, "…that's a stupid reason"

"I do not regret what I have done…"

"Are you my father?"

This time he did waver, staring at her in surprised, Tensei looked back up at him, eyes determined. "Is that why you killed him? Because he got to be with me and mommy and you couldn't"

Sessho-maru wanted to laugh out loud. This pup, barely out of diapers, had a view of the world so much clearer then even him.

"…I suppose so…" he said.

Tensei scrunched up her face in thought, "If that's the reason, I guess I can forgive you…"

She clasped his face in her small hands, "But you can't kill anyone else just because you're jealous…!"

Sessho-maru sighed, leaning his forehead against hers, "Very well, pup. If that is your wish, I shall obey" S

he smiled, kissing the crescent on his forehead, "I have to go home now"

"Hn" he nodded as she slipped from his arms.

"I…don't think I can visit you again, though…" she said over her shoulder. Sessho-maru's heart gave a painful clench but he nodded.

Sachiko paced the halls looking for her husband, the study was still being cleaned of blood and he had taken to wandering the castle aimlessly. Remembering that dreadful day, she shuddered visibly. Sessho-maru had returned to their rooms covered in blood, but one whiff of him let her know it wasn't his.

Then he'd stripped out of the bloody clothes and taken her again. Instead of the gentle lovemaking she was used to, he'd been severely rough, thrusting into her with abandon, growling and snarling like a beast. After he'd finished with her, he told her Itnasha was dead and then stumbled off to the baths, leaving her spent and moist with someone else's blood. Since then she'd been extremely worried about him. Sachiko had known Sessho-maru and Itnasha since they were small, they fought a great deal but she never in a thousand lifetimes believed he'd be capable of killing his cousin.

She tried to talk to him about it but all he'd say on the matter was that Itnasha overstepped his boundaries. The two had been so close, she didn't even know they had boundaries. Even though Sessho-maru had dispatched his cousin, there was no doubt in her mind he was hurting over it. She merely wanted to comfort him, to hold him in her arms and then maybe he'd finally let down the walls he had built around his emotions, maybe then depend on her more and show her the same affection she held for him.

Sachiko heard her mate's voice from the garden, "…because he touched what was mine"

She peeked around the corner, Sessho-maru sat beneath a Magnolia tree and small child in his lap. She was very pretty, Sachiko supposed, with long pale red hair and teary golden green eyes. Perhaps she was one of the servant's children?

This was odd seeing as the only child Sessho-maru showed the least amount of interest in was their own.

The girl sniffled noisily, glaring into her own lap, "…that's a stupid reason"

Sachiko wondered briefly what they were talking about, then she wondered if she should perhaps give them privacy…

"Are you my father?"

The question came from nowhere, even Sessho-maru seemed surprised. Sachiko wanted to scoff at the child for her audacity, of course her lordship wasn't her father. The very idea was ludicrous in and of itself.

"Is that why you killed him? Because he got to be with me and mommy and you couldn't?" she asked with conviction.

Sessho-maru hesitated, a sad smile coming to his lips, "…I suppose so…"

Sachiko felt the world tilt beneath her feet. No…there was no way this was possible. Sessho-maru would never have an affair, he would never father a child with another woman. He was her mate, the father of her son and, even if he didn't show it, he loved her.

'Does he though?' A small traitorous voice asked in the back of her mind.

Looking at this child now, Sachiko had no trouble seeing the resemblance to her noble husband and she had no trouble figuring out who the girl's mother was.

Sachiko turned away from them, striding on shaky legs back to her rooms. Everything was so dreadfully clear to her now, she wanted to kick herself for being so blind.

The reason why Sessho-maru had made Fawks one of his private guard, the reason why he would work such late nights.

The reason he refused to let their children play together, the reason Sachiko never the girl in the castle.

And finally the reason he had slaughtered Itnasha.

Sachiko wanted to be sick, how many times had he slept with Fawks right under her nose?

The child was four years old and Sachiko had been his mate for five years. All the lies started to unravel around her. She felt like such a fool, she had approved of Sessho-maru making Fawks his bodyguard even when she knew they'd been lovers all because he had told her Fawks had moved on to Itnasha.

She had believed him and when Fawks fell pregnant with what everyone assumed was Itnasha child, that only cemented that belief. Well no more. She was done believing his lies, done trusting that whore.

And the child?

She was Sessho-maru's first born. If she ever decided to contest her son's right to the throne of the westerns lands, she could and she'd probably win.

No, she was an obstacle, one that had to be gotten rid of. The very thought put a smile on Sachiko's face. Now it was Fawks' turn to lose everything she held dear, to have her life come crashing down around her.