Characters = Rumiko Takahashi
Story = Mine (Desert-Bandit)
Last time:
"Shippou is doing very well; I wish you could see him now. He's getting so big."
Kagome couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
Kneeling to the ground, she leaned her back against the old well, drew her knees to herself and into her arms.
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Chapter 3
The low murmur of insults, refusals, arguments, and threats grew louder by each passing minute.
They've been at it for hours and still they could not come up with a compromise on how to rule their lands. One wishes to lower taxes, one wishes to raise taxes, either way, it will affect the rise and fall of immigrants to and from neighboring territories; something that no one wants at the moment.
Sesshoumaru leaned forward and began to rub his temples in hopes to ease his growing headache.
'Will it ever cease?' He wondered to himself.
Just then, an armored-clad fist descended upon the large mahogany table forcefully, causing the wine set in front of them to slosh from their goblets.
"Are you daft?"
The Southern Lord bellowed.
Dammit, his headache just got worse.
"You can't possibly believe that you deserve more revenue than the rest of us.
It's impossible!"
"Rikku, calm yourself this minute,"
"But Lord Daichi –"
Daichi held up his hand to silence the brash, Southern Lord.
He knew Rikku selfishly wanted more gold for his expansive lands but he also knew that the neighboring territories couldn't raise their taxes to accommodate his lust for more gold either.
"We are well aware of how a civil war left your territory partly destroyed, but you know as well as all of us that we cannot pass a new tax law without all of our consent."
The old lord leaned back into his chair and drew his hands to stroke his long beard while contemplating.
"We will take what you said into consideration Lord Rikku, but until then gentleman, let us retire for now."
The lords began to slowly take their leave of the large room.
Sesshoumaru was only too grateful to the old lord for dismissing them earlier than planned.
He supposed he should present his gratitude; after all, he was his father's closest ally.
"Lord Daichi,"
"Ah Sesshoumaru, how are you my boy?"
"I've come to give my thanks, this meeting was going nowhere and I was beginning to think that it would never end."
"Ah yes, I did notice you being more reserved this meeting than usual."
Sesshoumaru noticed the small twinkle in the Northern Lords' eye but he himself found no humor in it.
"Sesshoumaru, I've known you since you were but a pup, I know when something is troubling you."
Daichi looked down upon Sesshoumaru and patted him on the shoulder, a silent gesture that gave the young Western Lord slight comfort.
"It's nothing but trivial things, need not to worry Daichi-sama."
And with that, Sesshoumaru gave a curt bow and made his way towards the hallway to his quarters.
Lord Daichi watched Sesshoumaru's retreating form before returning to his seat at the expansive table and began to look over the documents once again.
'That boy is so stubborn.'
The old lord mused to himself,
'He won't know what he's missing until it hits him square in the jaw.'
The image that formed in the lords' head made him chuckle
"And that is a moment I do not plan on missing"
He promised himself.
'This meeting was absolutely meaningless'
Sesshoumaru thought sourly.
If only he would have known that before, but one could never know the outcome of these diplomatic meetings. He supposed that he would rather be here than back at his lavish palace at the moment. Things have been either non-stop chaos or down right bleak and he couldn't control it and that was the one thing that pissed him off more than anything; lack of control.
Sesshoumaru let a small sigh of relief when he turned the last corner of the south wing to his bed chamber, knowing his bed, and his headache relief, was only a few more steps away.
"Hey, Lord Sesshoumaru, ya got a minute?"
Dammit.
He was almost home-free.
Giving off a silent sigh, he mentally urged his weariness to the back of his mind and straightened up, turning to the owner of the loud and, in his opinion, positively obnoxious voice.
"Yes, Lord Kouga, what is it?"
He was in no mood to converse, be it in the presence of a fellow lord or a lovely demoness.
"Just wanted to give you a heads up on a festival my father is holding in the East.
It is to celebrate my consummation with Lady Ayami, it will be held in two moons prior to the winter solstice."
Sesshoumaru thought for a moment.
It would give him another reason to leave the West for a time. Surly constant breaks from home would ease his growing frustration that seems to be looming around him when he is there as of late.
"My father would find great pleasure if you would attend; as would I.
The other Lords will also be in attendance, as well as some allies that helped us with the war against Naraku."
Sesshoumaru squared his shoulders and have a curt nod.
"Very well, I will also be in attendance; now if you'll excuse me, I have a previous engagement."
And with that, he quickly made his way back to his chambers, hoping that anyone that would see him would have a smart mind to leave him alone for the time being.
Once in his chamber, he was finally able to let his mask of indifference relax just enough to show his weariness and agitation that has been growing over the past few years.
Life as the Western Lord has been a bit turbulent for him to say the least.
His court has constantly been on his tail asking him to please settle down and find a suitable mate for suitable heirs.
It has gotten to the point to where Sesshoumaru had agreed to allow them to search for a worthy mate just so they would leave him alone.
They've even become desperate enough to have even considered ningen hime's.
Demented, he thought.
He had always told himself that he would never stoop so low as to ever take a human as a mate. Though the only human woman he had ever hardly considered was the miko that traveled with his half-brother.
'She was different than the others'. He mused to himself.
Though she was a bit strange and, in his mind, dressed indecently, she did not lower herself when it came to the opposite sex, nor did she show disrespect to those of a different status as hers. She was knowledgeable in ways that he was not, and carried herself with pride; though not cocky, and she gave off a sort of motherly essence but deep down he could tell that she was a fighter.
Almost everything he wanted.
But that consideration was quickly eliminated, and not only that, she was involved with his half-brother.
Although he had given his court the rights to find him a suitable mate, he still wished that he could find her himself, one that would love him for him and not his status, reputation, or political gain.
Then there is Rin.
He had formally adopted Rin as his daughter on her sixth birthday, after the war with Naraku
and now she was fast approaching woman hood at the age of thirteen.
He sometimes finds himself wishing her to be six again; clinging to his legs when ever he comes home, or wanting him to tell her that he'll never leave her, instead of yelling at him for sighing too much or accusing him of wanting to be in her business when he asks how her lessons are going.
Not only that, He would find himself listening to her begging for hours to allow her to accompany a castle guard that she has taken a liking to and when he finally relented and personally confronted the said guard to give him his permission, Rin blew up on him, telling him to stay out of her personal life and running up to her chamber all the while crying at how embarrassed she was all the while leaving him and the guard standing in an awkward silence.
He couldn't understand the female race for the life of him.
He solemnly remembered his father telling him when he was a young boy,
"My son, a woman is a complicated being, you can never do anything right, but when you happen to do something right, it could mean one of two things, either you're a God and you've done the impossible, or she has a hidden agenda and you're in trouble."
Maybe his father was on to something.
Either way, he was still a Lord and a Lord never showed confusion or weakness of any kind.
With that in mind, he sat on the edge of his bed after relieving himself of his armor and upper haori and glanced out towards his balcony relishing in the cool breeze wafting through the open doors and quietly told himself,
'The winter solstice will be here in two months.'
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Hello fellow readers!
Please forgive me for taking FOREVER to update. This chapter has been sitting on my lap top getting revised almost every two days.
I'll try to be more consistent with my updates. (I have so many ideas that they are emerging too quickly and some have escaped me and must be found again - to the butterfly net!)
- Desert-Bandit.
(Also, some reviews would be nice to see how I'm doing, please and thankyou!)