CotA: As a quick note before I begin the next chapter, I am looking for someone who is willing to help me with my writing by serving as an idea sounding-board. I do best if I can bounce ideas off someone and talk through the plot with them. If anyone is interested in helping me, either send me a message through fanfiction, or email me at childoftheancients (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Chapter 10

The next few weeks were the best of Kerima's life. She spent her days gathering herbs around the village, creating different poultices and healing drafts, and drying the different herbs that could be stored in her hut for the months to come. It didn't matter what she did or where she went, Kuronue was there with her, helping her out and making her laugh. She found it so relaxing to be around him. She learned that she did not have to watch what she said or hide her emotions from him. They spent their nights together in her hut, making love or simply holding each other. All in all, she had to admit that it was a near perfect existence.

At least until she woke up early one morning sick to her stomach. She quietly but quickly crawled out of bed and ran outside, heedless of her state of dress. Within moments she had heaved up what was left of her dinner last night. When the heaving stopping, her stomach slowly began to feel better. Wiping off her mouth with the back of her hand, she covered the evidence of her sick spell with leaves and then went back inside.

Kuronue was still asleep, which she was thankful for. While she adored him and his company, there were still some things that she did not want him to see. One of them was her on her knees sick as a dog.

Briefly she wondered what it was she could have eaten to make her so sick. Perhaps she had not cooked the food long enough, or maybe the new spice she had used didn't agree with her stomach. Either way, she decided not to worry about it.

She drank some water from a nearby pitcher and then crawled back into bed, determined to make sure she didn't use the same spice again.

The rest of the day she felt fine, and everything went as it was supposed to. She was even able to forget her ill moment with Kuronue being so charming and helpful. He brought her flowers from a nearby field while she was gathering some healing herbs, and he kept sneaking kisses every moment he could. Her family continued to leave her alone, and for that she was grateful. Kuronue and Kerima even found a moment to visit her grandmother and enjoy a cup of tea with her.

At least she was able to forget about it until the next morning, when the same thing happened.

While Kerima waited for the sick feeling to pass, she realized what was truly wrong with her. Placing a hand over her stomach, she went back into the hut, smiling down at the sleeping bat demon. She wondered what he would say when he found out he was going to be a father. She was certain that he would be thrilled; after all, children were normally very precious to most youkai.

So Kerima curled back up into bed with Kuronue, pondering the best way to tell him, or if she wanted him to realize it on his own. Within a month or two her belly would start to expand, making her condition noticeable. She wasn't sure if she could wait that long; she wanted to see the surprise and awe on his face when he found out they were expecting a child.

Unfortunately her joy was short-lived. Later that morning, while Kerima was still debating how she was to tell Kuronue, one of her cousins arrived to fetch her to meet with the council. Immediately her mood plummeted. What could they possibly want now? She had bound Kuronue, so he would never leave the village, not as long as she was there. She was also certain that she had done nothing recently to give insult or raise anyone's ire.

Kuronue looked at her, a frown on his handsome face as she sighed. "I must go and see what the council wants," she told him, going to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She leaned her head against his chest as he embraced her in a tight hug. They stood like that for a moment before she pulled away.

"Very well. Let us get this over with," the bat demon said, running a hand through his long black hair. "But I still think we should leave here and never return. It would simplify things."

Kerima merely took his hand and ignored his words. She had heard the same thing over and over throughout the last few weeks. Kuronue wanted her to leave with him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The village had been her home for her entire life; it had become a part of her.

They made their way to the meeting hall, which had been repaired since Kuronue had torn much of it apart. The doors were shiny and new, and the outside had been recently painted.

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Kerima opened the doors and entered the meeting hall. She was immediately surprised by what she saw. Not only was the entire council there, but her grandmother was there as well, and Kerima could tell by the look on her grandmother's face that she was not there willingly.

"Kerima, how good of you to join us," her father greeted her before he turned his attention to the bat demon. "Kuronue, you can wait outside while we deal with my daughter."

"No, I don't think I will. I am staying where I am," Kuronue replied, his voice carrying a hint of danger through the air. His muscles tensed, his yoki rising high enough that all in the room could feel it.

One of the council members opened his mouth, but another member elbowed him and put a finger to his lips. They feared the bat demon, and rightfully so.

"Why am I here?" Kerima asked them, her gaze sweeping the room. "I have done what you asked."

Her grandfather harrumphed. "You have done everything you needed to, and now you need to let Kuronue go. We do not bring in young, powerful youkai for the sole purpose of protection. We need them to improve our bloodlines and power levels."

She frowned as she stared at her male family members. "I must admit to some confusion. What is it that you want?"

"Simple. We need more powerful children, and Kuronue is the key to that. So, he will go around to the women of the village and help get them with child," her father answered. "For some reason, none of the women he slept with before you bound him are pregnant, and we need him to remedy that."

Kerima felt anger and shock whip through her, and she shook her head in denial. For the first time in her entire life, she was going to blatantly and thoroughly refuse the council. "No. I have no desire to share him with women simply because you think it's necessary."

Kuronue was in shock, unable to say anything. They wanted him to try and get the women of the village pregnant? What kind of insane plan was that? He really didn't know what to think, but he did know that he was not pleased by the idea, and he was not going to go along with the plan.

"You will do so, because we wish it." Her father stood up, towering over his daughter. He would make her obey; it was for the best of the village.

She balked at the very idea of sharing Kuronue. He was hers; she had bound him to her, and no one else was going to touch him. If they continued to push the issue, she would have to reconsidering doing what Kuronue wanted and leaving the village. Her home was important to her, but she was bound closer to Kuronue. He was more essential to her than anything else.

"No, I will not." Kerima crossed her arms over her chest, her anger warming her blood. Kuronue was the father of her child, and she had no desire for him to go sleep with other women. He was hers.

"Don't be a hindrance like your mother was near the end," her father grumbled. "She was perfectly obedient, until her and the demon decided to go against our wishes. She only sired you, and the demon only sired Seila. Complete waste of two perfectly good bloodlines. We had to kill her in the end since they wouldn't follow orders."

Her jaw dropped, her mind whirling with the new information. In a few short moments she felt some of her history being rewritten. She had always believed that the demon her mother had bound had not cared about her mother, that he had willingly gone to other women and ignored her. She had also believed that her mother had died to a random demon attack that the bound demon had not protected her from. Never had she expected her father to have killed her mother.

Kerima moved closer to Kuronue, needing the support and comfort he provided. His body warmth felt good against her cool skin, helping fight back the shock.

"You would threaten us with the same?" Kuronue asked, his yoki beginning to float about the room as his fury rose. The promise of violence was in his voice, his temper but a breath away from breaking free. "And what if I do not wish to go along with this plan of yours? I've had enough of the rest of the women of your village. They don't compare to Kerima."

"We learned our lesson the last time. Killing Kerima's mother was a mistake," the grandfather admitted. "But you will obey us, otherwise..." He drifted off, turning to look at Kerima's grandmother.

The old woman sat there, completely still, as another of the council members held a long knife to her throat. "You will do what we say, or she dies," the man with the knife said, eyes deadly serious.

Kuronue mentally cursed. They had picked the one person in the village that neither him nor Kerima wanted to see harmed. She loved her grandmother, while everyone else she saw as her duty. The danger to the grandmother would make things difficult, to say the least.

"Ignore them, Kerima," grandmother said, tone curt. "I watched them do this to your mother, and it killed her. I will not watch the same happen to you. Run, my dear, run with Kuronue and never look back. They will never allow you to be happy here."

"Shut up!" The man brought the knife closer to her throat, so that the edge kissed the skin. Tiny drops of blood began to drip down her neck.

Kerima's cheeks were wet with tears. "Grandmother..." She turned to her male relatives. "Please, please just let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

"I will do whatever I damn well please," her father replied, eyes cold and unyielding. "She is nothing to me, just as you are. We needed you to snag a powerful demon, and you succeeded there beautifully. The only reason you still live is that your death would cause his."

Tears continued to run down her cheeks as anger mixed with fear and sorrow inside of her, churning her belly until she felt like throwing up. She knew at that moment that she needed to get out of the town and never return. Her grandmother was right; they would never allow her to be happy.

Kuronue felt his heart nearly break when Kerima looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks, her eyes shiny with yet more tears. He wanted to kill them all, but he kept himself contained. He did not want to hurt her family and cause her yet more pain. For that one look from her, full of pain and sorrow, he would kill the entire village if she but gave the word.

Kerima's eyes hardened as she knew what had to be done. "Take my grandmother from them, and we'll leave and never return." She released his hand and stepped back closer to the door. She would not get in his way or cause any problems, and if her family died to stop him from taking her grandmother, then that was their fate. She would not cry for them.

Kuronue grinned, his yoki lashing out at her family. Anger fueled his power as he went for the man holding the knife to the grandmother's throat. He would cut off the man's hands, and then they would leave. And if any of them tried to stop him, well... they would simply die.

With a quick movement Kuronue ran for the man with the knife, and chaos erupted. Council members threw themselves at him, brandishing claws and knifes as they all tried to attack him at once. He snarled at them, beheading one with his claws while he struck out at another with pure yoki, sending the man flying across the room.

There were many more council members than Kuronue, but the bat demon didn't care. They were know match for him. So as they continued to try to attack him, Kuronue fought them off, injuring and even possibly killing some without any regrets. They would pay for hurting his little healer, they would pay in blood.

Kuronue lost himself in the fight and the bloodshed, but when most of the council members lay at his feet, broken and bleeding, if not dead, Kerima screamed. Instantly he turned to look at her, but there was no one near near her. For a moment he could not figure out what was wrong, and then he saw the horror on her face, and that she was not looking at him. Her eyes were glued to something that lay past him.

He turned around, grabbing the last standing council member by the throat as the idiot attempted to attack him with a bloody knife. It was then that he realized that grandmother's body was slumped over, and her head was gone.

Kuronue turned his attention back to the man in his grasp, his eyes narrowed in anger and hatred. The idiot had killed grandmother, and now he would pay for the look he had put on Kerima's face. The stupid council member would pay quite dearly for harming someone precious to the little healer.

The bat demon squeezed until he heard a crack of the man's neck breaking. Then, with rage still coursing through him, he threw the man across the room, the body crashing through the wall to land outside in the dirt.

A thump followed by sobs cut through his rage as cleanly as a knife. Within a moment he was at Kerima's side, scooping her up into his arms as she cried for her lost grandmother. There were a few small wounds on Kerima's body that matched his, and he winced. He had not meant to hurt his by his fighting, but it was too late. He would simply have to make it up to her.

Kuronue carried her out of the meeting hall, and the villagers stared at him as he passed. No one spoke, and no one moved to stop him. He walked right out of the village and kept walking. He was not going to spend another moment in that horrible village, and neither was Kerima. He was going to take her some place safe where she could finally be left alone to live in peace.