EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 122: The three barbarians

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Sesshoumaru's mother was furious.

A week after the announcement, they'd received word that a large, flying creature had entered the western airspace. Sesshoumaru had flown out to meet her, leaving Octavia in charge of keeping his betrothed entertained.

It was by no means a difficult task. She and Mikan enjoyed many of the same pastimes, and the demoness had a great sense of humour. Despite being unable to read, Mikan adored stories, so Octavia had taken to reading them aloud. Each time she did, the demoness would lay her head in Octavia's lap and fiddle with her rings whilst she listened. She was also a phenomenal singer and an expert harpist.

When Sesshoumaru finally returned with his mother in tow, Octavia could feel the animosity between them as tangibly as she felt the cold. Megumi glowered at her son openly, and Sesshoumaru's jaw was set with suppressed anger.

Crossing her arms, Octavia waited for them to explain themselves.

Megumi was the first to break. "I have spent centuries urging him to marry," she snapped. "I've lost count of how many times I implored him to forge a union that would result in increased wealth, lands and resources. But the second I stop, he goes and does this!"

Octavia arched an eyebrow. "And that's a problem because?"

"The proposal should have been on our terms, not theirs," Megumi huffed. "We ought to be the ones gaining the most from this union, but instead, we have folded to their demands and welcomed a pack of vipers into our midst. All we get out of this is an army, whilst they get a claim to the Western Lands."

"It's a small price to pay in exchange for winning this war."

"I beg to differ."

"Enough, Mother," Sesshoumaru rebuked. "Octavia is right. This way, we will have a better chance at protecting the innocents."

His mother scoffed. "Since when do you care about the likes of them?"

"Since always," Octavia cut in.

Megumi rolled her eyes. "Your devotion is disgusting. Don't you get tired of sucking up to him all the time? I know I would."

Octavia fought to keep her temper in check. "Let's not resort to taking cheap shots at each other. You two have done plenty of that already. Sesshoumaru is marrying this woman whether you like it or not."

"It's not her I take issue with."

Octavia looked to Sesshoumaru for answers. "I introduced her to Mikan and Shizuka on the way here," he explained. "It didn't go well."

"Why? What happened?"

Megumi growled. "That bitch of a High Priestess had the gall to call me 'daughter-in-law'. She lost that right when she chose to sever all ties with her kin. And not only that! She dared to insult my choice of attire to my face! She said the pearls make me look old and the colour of my robe makes me look cheap. What an insolent snob!"

Octavia tried to pass her laugh off as a cough. It didn't work.

"What are you laughing at, rodent!"

"Sorry. It's just . . . Have you ever heard that saying? You know, 'the pot calling the kettle black'?"

Sesshoumaru's lips curled into a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean!"

Octavia's smile grew. "Never mind. We have bigger fish to fry, anyway. For instance, how are things in the North?"

The demoness glided towards a cushioned stool and draped herself over it dramatically. "It was actually rather boring. The wardens have been most vigilant during their watches, but there were no sightings of your brother, or any of his people for that matter. And Arashi is in such a foul mood these days. So is his lady wife, but she tends to be more on the melancholy side, whilst he is snappy and rude."

"You can't exactly blame them," said Octavia. "They lost their daughter."

A deep crease appeared on Megumi's forehead. "Through their own volition, mind you. In my eyes, they have no one to blame but themselves."

"Do not repeat that in front of Nagisa," Sesshoumaru warned.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she laughed. "I don't need you to teach me the rules of politics. I've been playing this game for far longer than you have." She flashed him a tight smile. "Speaking of politics, when is the wedding set to take place?"

"After the Church and its followers have been eliminated."

"That could take years. Why not get it out of the way and put a baby in her already? There must be a cunt somewhere underneath that ridiculous veil." She seemed amused by his involuntary flinch. "What's the matter, Sesshoumaru? Are you having cold feet already? Or did you expect to have your cake and eat it, too?"

"Don't listen to her," Octavia urged him. "She's trying to scare you into backing out of the engagement."

"Nonsense," his mother chided. "I'm merely helping him understand the gravity of the situation. A marriage isn't a contract that you can opt out of when it no longer benefits you. If you go through with this, you'll be shackled to that woman for the rest of your life. Your children will be nothing but links in a chain."

"There will be no children," he hissed.

"Don't be delusional. Producing heirs is an essential part of every union, especially in times of war. If anything were to happen to you—"

"Silence," his voice boomed. "I will hear no more of this ludicrousness." He tromped out of the room before his mother could resume speaking, slamming the door behind him.

Octavia wanted to scream. She whirled around to face Megumi and shouted, "What the hell was that!"

"The truth," replied Megumi. "It's not my fault he couldn't handle it."

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince him to say yes? Do you even care?"

"Of course I do. I simply want what's best for him."

"Don't you dare act like you did that for him. The only reason you said any of that was because of your fragile ego. If his grandmother had fallen to her knees and kissed your feet, we wouldn't have heard a peep out of you. Why are you so selfish—"

"My son isn't the only one who will come to regret this decision. You will, too. Mark my words, human. When you see them together as husband and wife, when her belly begins to swell with his child . . . Then you will understand."

Octavia's throat burned with tears. "Go fuck yourself."

Frowning, Megumi floated closer and tilted her chin up. Octavia held her gaze for what felt like an eternity.

Sesshoumaru's mother sighed. "It doesn't get any easier, you know."

The sympathetic look on her face made Octavia's blood boil. She would rather be loathed than pitied. "No offence, but a pep talk is the last thing I need right now. Least of all from you." The demoness's expression didn't falter, until she added coldly, "We are not the same, Megumi. Mikan may be the mother of his children someday, but she will never be his equal – the way you were never Touga's."

The whites of Megumi's eyes turned crimson. Before she could retaliate, the door was shoved open and Jaken came scurrying inside, panting.

"Where are your manners, toad?" she barked. "Who do you think you are, barging into a room unannounced?"

The imp released a tiny squeak of dismay before apologising profusely. "Forgive me, Gobodo-sama! I wasn't trying to be rude. It's just that—"

"Hiroto-sama is back," Rin finished, appearing in the doorway behind him. "He's at the southern gate. We think there's going to be a fight."

"Between who?" asked Octavia.

"Him and Nagisa-sama. They were arguing pretty badly. Something to do with their parents, I think. We missed the start of the conversation. We couldn't find Sesshoumaru-sama, so we came here instead." Rin shot Megumi a desperate look. "Please talk to them, Gobodo-sama. You're the only one they'll listen to."

"I wouldn't count on that, child."

"Oh, to hell with it," Octavia grumbled, lifting Jaken out of the way and setting him down in the hallway. Ignoring his shouts of protest, she stormed off in the direction of the southern gate. The others followed.

By the time they arrived at the checkpoint, a small crowd had amassed around the two snarling Daiyoukai. The air around them seemed to crackle as they exchanged insults, and their eyes were as red as rubies. The crowd flinched when Nagisa bared her teeth at Hiroto, prompting him to do the same.

Octavia spotted Kohaku standing on the sidelines and sprinted over. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story," he whispered. "In short, Nagisa-sama offers her condolences and likens his situation to her own. But Hiroto-sama fires back that her parents are still alive, so how could she possibly understand his pain? She argues that hers might as well be, seeing as they banished her from her own home, which pisses him off even more. He says that if she hadn't sullied herself by laying with a human, they wouldn't have disinherited her, which pisses her off. They've been like this ever since."

Octavia thought about intervening, but a phantom pain in her neck made her reconsider. She lifted a hand to her throat and touched the scarred flesh. Nagisa's claws were probably just as sharp, but she wasn't one to go around picking fights with everyone. Hiroto, on the other hand, was incredibly temperamental and prone to random acts of violence. The scars on her throat were a testament to that.

She lowered her hand when she spied Mikan's veil fluttering in the wind a few paces away from where she was standing. She'd linked arms with Shizuka and was listening to the altercation in front of her. Octavia found herself feeling embarrassed on Sesshoumaru's behalf. The High Priestess had already called the other courts barbarians, so Nagisa and Hiroto weren't doing themselves any favours on that front.

"Hiro-chan?"

The pair stopped snarling and turned towards where the voice had emanated from. Hiroto's eyes bulged wide as the newcomer split off from the rest of the crowd. The electricity in the air fizzled out, as if someone had gone down to the cellar and hit the off switch on the meter box. Hiroto's dazed expression lent further credence to that theory.

"Yuudai?" he called out cautiously. "You're alive?"

"I was the last time I checked."

Hiroto's eyes scanned him from head to toe. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"

Yuudai ran a hand through his short brown locks and grinned. "At least it's clean and well-combed. Yours looks like a bird was nesting in it."

Octavia could have sworn that she saw the corners of Hiroto's mouth curl upwards ever so slightly. "Did anyone else make it out?" he asked.

Yuudai shook his head. "It's just me and my sisters now. We're the only ones left."

Hiroto gave a sympathetic nod. "I'm sorry for your losses, old friend."

"As am I."

Octavia gasped as Hiroto lunged forwards and wrestled Yuudai into a bear hug. The latter seemed just as surprised as she was, but his shell-shocked expression slowly morphed into a grin that encompassed most of his face.

Hiroto clapped Yuudai on the back a few times before releasing him, albeit not completely. His hands were still rooted to Yuudai's shoulders, and his pink eyes brimmed with pure, unfiltered joy. Octavia swallowed the lump in her throat and looked away. Perhaps she and Hiroto were more alike than she'd thought.

"Onii-san!"

Hiroto's gaze shifted to the crowd, where a young boy was shoving his way through the sea of onlookers. He smiled full when the child tumbled out and ran towards him, ignoring Nagisa and Yuudai as he launched himself into his older brother's arms.

"I missed you so much!" cried Rafu.

"I missed you, too," Hiroto replied. "Mother, Father and Toshiyuki are at peace now. I couldn't give them a traditional burial, but I honoured them as best as I could." He balanced the little boy on his hip. "Have they been taking care of you while I was away?"

The prince nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh. Rin-san and I had lots of fun, and Nagisa-sama made me loads of yummy food to eat. Oh, and Kannika-san tried teaching me how to sew, but I wasn't very good at it."

Hiroto locked eyes with Nagisa again. "Since when do you know how to cook?"

"There were no servants on Namida," she muttered. "Your lazy ass would have hated it there—"

Yuudai placed a hand on Nagisa's shoulder and stopped her. "Put aside your differences, my friends. We are united not only by a common enemy, but also by our grief. The mage and his heretics laid siege to our homes and slaughtered our families—"

"The Northern Lands remain untouched," Hiroto interrupted harshly. "Unlike ours, her parents are alive and well."

"I wasn't talking about the North," Yuudai clarified. "I was talking about her other family. Not the one she was born into, but the one she found. Our strongholds and their inhabitants weren't the only ones targeted by that monster. Gisa-chan's husband and his fellow islanders were victims, too. And whether they're youkai or not, victims deserve to be avenged."

Nagisa's eyes turned glassy. Octavia wondered if her reaction was due to the fact that Yuudai had actually acknowledged her marriage to Taro instead of dismissing it as an act of folly the way everyone else did.

"He's right, onii-chan," Rafu said, peering up at Hiroto through his overgrown bangs. "We shouldn't waste time arguing with each other. If we want to beat the bad man and his army, we've got to work together."

Hiroto sighed in defeat. "If you say so."

He extended a hand to Nagisa and waited for her to take it. When she hesitated, Yuudai placed his free hand on Hiroto's forearm, establishing a connection between the three of them. Following Yuudai's example, Nagisa took Hiroto's hand and shook it. Yuudai gave them both a warm smile before letting go.

Octavia realised something vitally important as she watched them walk off together—the crowd dispersing behind them. They were more than the offspring of powerful warlords. Their fathers might have legends written about them, but they were the future.

"Your fears are misplaced."

She jumped at the sound of Sesshoumaru's voice beside her. He was staring off into the distance, refusing to meet her gaze. How long had he been standing there? And what did he mean by fears? She decided to ask him about it outright.

He lowered his voice and answered, "I have no intention of breaking off the engagement."

Her eyes widened. "But you said—"

"It would be dishonourable to do so now," he cut her off, narrowing his eyes as he spoke. "My mother can complain all she likes, but she won't succeed in getting under my skin again. The wedding will proceed as planned, and not a day later."

Octavia's eyes strayed over to Mikan, who was being led back inside by Shizuka. Her strides were as confident as ever, and her veil billowed behind her like a cape soaked in the blood of her enemies.

Our enemies, Octavia reminded herself. Losing Sesshoumaru to another woman would hurt like hell, but it seemed a reasonable price to pay in exchange for her brother's head.

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