Chapter 17

Silence filled the room once Inuyasha had finished his story and after he had finished explaining why it had been that Kagome and the rest of the pack had chosen to keep the truth from him. While a part of him wanted to tear into his brother for keeping his secrets, another part of him, his demon, was glad and proud to know that his true mate was a very powerful dragoness that would be found in a short amount of time. Of course he was sure that Jaken would wish to speak with him once he was done with his brother, which he was eager to as well so that he could hear from his loyal servants own words what it was that the dragoness had said to him and if she showed any signs of remembering him. Sesshomaru would pulled from his own thoughts when he heard his worried sisters voice whisper say, "I know that you must be upset but you have to understand and see…it was something we thought was for the best."

"Brother…do you truly believe that I would have been unable to handle such news?" Sesshomaru asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

"I do, you would have lost it all together and we would have already been in war." Inuyasha answered immediately after his brother had asked his question.

"Which brings us to why we are here, Jaken said that you were in the middle of creating a treaty with the East and I will not allow it to go through, not until I find out why they took my daughter's body and not until they have returned her to the gave you dug her." Kagome growled out in an annoyed filled voice.

"I will trust you and my brother with this, the matter of the East is and from this moment on, will be in your hands. I will also be traveling to visit my mother to get her advice on some matters and will leave you in charge of the Lands Inuyasha. I trust that you have plans of staying here for a while." Sesshomaru answered as he turned to leave. 'I must find Jaken before I leave; I must hear what he has to say.'

"Feh, we'll be here a while but we will also be training with the pups and will need to have guard assigned to the village until we can return." Inuyasha growled out as he narrowed his eyes at his brother in confusion. 'There's something that he isn't telling us…what is he hiding from us?'

"I assume you have already given the task of gathering the guard for your village and the escort for your pack to the Lord General." Sesshomaru replied in his usual cold and emotionless voice.

"He has…Aniki…what are you not telling us?" Kagome asked in a confused filled voice.

"There is nothing that this Sesshomaru is hiding from his sister and brother. I must apologize if this Sesshomaru has made it seem so however I had another matter that I was tending to before so the news that you have revealed to me have only further confused this Sesshomaru."

"If there is anything that we can do you need only ask Aniki, you know this right?" Kagome replied in a worried filled voice.

"He knows, Kagome why don't you go and start making sure that the packs rooms have been prepared during our meeting, and if you see Jaken send him in." Inuyasha suggested as he kept his eyes locked with those of his brothers.

"Uh…alright, but if there is anything that I can do just ask and I will see it done." Kagome growled out in an annoyed filled voice as she stood up to take her leave.

"If you could but make sure that that child no longer has access to the castle grounds, even should she be with the Lord General." Sesshomaru requested as he watched his sister leave.

"Oh I will, don't you worry about that." Kagome promised with a grin on her face as she saw herself out.

Once they had been left alone and after Inuyasha had been certain that his brother was not going to be taking a seat with him, he let out a long sigh and growled out, "I have no idea what you are keeping from us and I have no care so long as it has nothing to do with our pack or with our family. With that being said, I am only going to ask you once and should you lie you will regret it."

"You have not asked a question." Sesshomaru pointed out with a slight grin on his face.

"Feh, baka anki, I know this, but I just thought I should warn you."

"Well ask your question Inuyasha, I'm sure you would rather spend your time with your mate before all of your time is taken up by our people and our pack."

With narrowed eyes and his aura released to be completely felt, Inuyasha asked, "Do you know something that we do not know about what the East has done to our pack, to our family…to my daughter and your ward?"

"This Sesshomaru does not, if you truly must know my mother has been on me and requested that I start to look for a mate of my own. She also suggests that I leave my sister as the alpha female of the West until she has taught everything and it is certain that the mate of my choosing can be trusted and has the knowledge that is needed to rule these lands."

"Feh I'd tell the bi…I'd suggest to her that you need some time before you start looking but it is your mother and it is your choice Aniki…just let us know if you need anything…alright?"

"Of course, if all goes well and once I have explained to Jaken that he is to report to you and your mate in regards to the treaty with the East this Sesshomaru will be leaving to tend to his mother and to see what it is that I can do to avoid looking for a mate for another few centuries."

'Or at least until I can find Rin and bring her back to my side, where she belongs.' He thought as he kept his eyes locked with those of his younger brother.

"Just make sure to see us before you leave…come in Jaken we are done." Inuyasha called out as he began to make his way out of the small privet room that was just for their use.

Once his brother had left the room and after making sure that the seals and spells that had been placed by his sister were still active, Sesshomaru turned his cold, emotionless eyes to his most loyal servant and growled out, "I want you to tell me everything that you can about the events that occurred when you were delivering my letter and everything you noticed of the young dragoness that claimed to be my ward."

Taking note of the odd look in his lords eyes and realizing that there was more to this then what Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kagome had told him of, Jaken quickly nodded his head and began to tell his tale of his travel and what had led him to see the two co rulers of the West. Once he was done explaining his travels and even the words that he had exchanged with the first heir of the East before he had taken his leave to follow after Master Totosai. After hearing all that he had to say and after signaling his servant to take a seat while he finished the letter that he was quickly writing out to the Master sword smith. Just as he was about to fold and seal the letter closed, Sesshomaru place a strand of his hair and two of his fangs within the letter and growled out, "You are to personally deliver this letter to Master Totosai by the end of the evening, I will take you myself to the boarder of his lands before I go to meet my mother. I will inform my brother and my sister that you will be unavailable to aid them until you have returned with information that will update them on my situation with my mother."

Unsure of what situation he was speaking of but understanding the orders that he was being given Jaken quickly stood up as he said, "I will go and prepare at once my Lord."

"Meet me in the court yard, we'll leave shortly." Sesshomaru growled out as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

As he listened to his loyal servant leave the room, Sesshomaru, for the first time since the death of his ward, allowed his emotions to rage within him. To remind him of a time when he had allowed them to rule his actions and of the first time that Rin had been there for him when he had been weak. 'I now know that you remember this Sesshomaru and that you remember your pack…if Totosai tells me that you are being held against your will I will retrieve you myself with the whole of our pack at my side. Should you be there of your own free will I will wait for you…of course this Sesshomaru will make sure that you feel the rush that you once did to reach me when you first started on your travels…if you do not arrive soon I will start looking for a mate, a mate that would never be an equal to me.'

As soon as she had left the room, Rin had quickly made her way over to her room with her sister at her side. While she was sure that she had done what she had set out to do and had proven to her mo…the Queen of the East that she was more than ready to be seen as the second heir of the East; a lady in her own right, Rin felt like she was missing something, like there was something that she had forgot about and that it was going to come back and bit her in the ass. But before her thoughts could completely consume her, Rin was brought out of her thought when her sister had opened her bedroom door to find her brother sitting by the balcony and her new guard standing in the center of the room looking unsure of what she should be doing. Before Maya could say a word, Rin turned to her sister and said, "It's alright you don't need to worry, we won't be staying here. Miku was it?"

"Yes Princess, I am Miku and I am here to serve."

"Well this is surprising; someone that isn't out to kill you or drive you out of your own home…I wonder if this could be some short of catch." Maya stated in a calm, emotionless voice as she narrowed her eyes at the dragoness that was now her sister's shadow.

"There isn't any catch Maya, you worry too much. I am more than capable of seeing through anything considering the people that I was trained by. You and your mate should go and plan your trip, you'll be leaving the day after the ball correct?" Aya stated in a stern voice as she approached the dragoness before her with a narrowed look in her eyes.

"Uh you are unbelievable, but right. Come love let's leave them to it. You and I have much to do yet and we cannot spend it with my foolish sister any moment longer." Maya growled out in slight anger as she stormed out of the room.

"Of course love, Rin I'm sure that you will call on Hiei should Miku and yourself decided to move about the village once more." Haku stated as he quickly followed after his mate.

"Of course, just keep her calm, she really has nothing to worry about." Rin answered with a grin on her face.

"That my dear sister has yet to be seen." Maya's last growl was heard from the hall way as Haku finished seeing himself out.

Once they were alone and after Rin had let out a long sigh, she turned to her new training partner/guardian and asked, "Well now, how old are you, what kind of skills do you have and how have you mastered your power by this point to be able to join the guard?"

"As I said before my Princess, I am a dragon of speed and strength my Princess, I can stand my ground against any male in the village and have yet to be caught. I can fire ten arrows within a single blink of an eye and will learn all that I can from you."

"Umm…well than I guess all I really need to know is…where do you your loyalties lie? With me or with the Queen and Kind of the East?"

"My loyalties will be and shall forever be with you Princess Rin, child of Inuyasha and the miko Kagome. I will do as you ask, kill whom you wish me to and I will lie if I must in order to keep your trust and faith in me." the dragoness of speed quickly answered as she dropped down to her knees.

"Why? Why would you declare such thing when you know nothing of me just as I know nothing of you?" Rin asked in a confused and shocked filled voice at realizing that she had been address as she had wished to be address rather than by the name that her parents had given her.

"You were willing to give me a chance, you see what others do not and you do not think that it is best to stay the same while the world around us continues to change. I believe in change and I will work my hardest to prove that that females can do just as much is not more than what the males think we are capable of. We are just the vessels of their young, we are more than that and it is time that they see this truth as well."

With a grin on her face, Rin nodded her head and said, "Well I'm glad that I can trust you. I am Princess Aya when we are out in the open and will continue to appreciate it if you addressed me as Rin when we are alone and out of sight. And now that we have introductions out of the way, come, we have much to do and I could use your input in some of my plans."

"What kind of plans?" Miku asked in a confused filled voice.

"While I do plan on leaving soon, I realized that my only chance to really leave as I had intended to do so since arriving in the East is the night of my ball. I have some ideas and would like to run them by another person to see if there is something that I may be over looking." Rin explained as she locked eyes with the dragoness at her side. "Of course you should know that if you betray me and reveal any of my plans to those that would call me theirs I will make your life a living hell." Rin growled out in a cold and promising filled voice.

"I know, and as if stated before Pri…Lady Rin, I give you my word, you have nothing but a friend in me."