A/N: it seems I may have to edit chapter 41 for clarity, as I have had 3 different reviews asking/begging for Rin's observation at the very end to be a dream or vision. I tried to make it clear that it was really happening…
Rest assured, dear readers, that this story is very far from over! It's simply a time of year that I have a lot to do aside from writing (unfortunately).
It was sometime in the early hours of the morning when Sesshomaru stirred. His instincts, fine-tuned from centuries of dealing with enemies of every kind, told him that both he and Rin were in danger. He deliberately kept his body relaxed and his breathing slow and even as though he were still asleep, listening and peeking his eyes open in the darkness. What he saw made his heart skip a beat in surprise.
Standing over his bed, above both he and his beloved, stood a thin figure clad in black and masked, holding a large knife. The figure slowly edged closer, clearly trying not to wake them and unaware that they already were. As he approached, Rin could keep still no longer and cringed back into Sesshomaru, making the figure freeze and raise the knife high, ready to plunge it into his victims—
Sesshomaru had knocked the figure to the floor the next moment, leaping over Rin and trying to subdue them, snarling loudly, intending to rouse and alert the guards. Rin jumped up just moments later, running to their collection of items and clothing they had brought from home, pulling out her dagger and quickly unsheathing it, throwing the scabbard back on the pile and gripping the blade with both hands in front of her. The two males—it was now obvious by the snarling and the lean shape of the intruder that they were a man—were rolling about on the floor, both trying to get the upper hand in the grappling. The intruder was trying to stab Sesshomaru with the knife, and he was trying to claw the attacker. Sesshomaru managed to get the man to roll to the side and kicked him off into the wall. To his dismay, the man immediately lost interest in him and bolted straight for Rin. He managed to get between them and throw the man back into the wall, earning himself a stab in the chest for his trouble. They fought for a few more moments, Sesshomaru quickly gaining the upper hand despite being clearly injured. He managed to pin the man down and yelled "now, Rin!"
Rin, though she was shaking, did what she knew he needed, and darted forward, impaling the dagger in the floor, right through the heart of their attacker. The man jerked once and died, managing to scratch Rin's wrist with the knife at the last moment. She released her blade, backing up and staring in horror, starting to shake. She didn't have time to process what had happened before several guards rushed in, two carrying torches.
"Rin, are you hurt?" Sesshomaru asked, stepping over to her in great concern, as he could scent her blood.
"no," she answered, unable to yet feel the scratch with her heart pounding its way free of her ribs. "you are, though—your chest is bleeding!" certainly she had seen him far more injured than this, but she hated it. With humans, sometimes the seemingly slight injuries turned out to be the most deadly. Why wouldn't it be the same with yōkai?
"I will be fine," he reassured her quickly as one of the guards hurried out to fetch a healer. "are you certain you aren't hurt?" he knew the scent of her blood well, and he knew he could smell it. She shook her head, but when she reached to take his hands for comfort, she winced, finally finding the scratch on her wrist. "ah!"
He quickly took her arm gently so he could see the wound. "only a scratch," he sighed in relief. He was a bit surprised it hadn't already healed. When she winced again and whined that it hurt, he looked closer, frowning. It shouldn't hurt, and it should have healed. Not only was it not disappearing, it almost seemed to be growing and turning red, growing hot, as if it were poisoned.
The healer arrived and went straight to Rin, having a look at the wound. He nodded to himself. "it is poisoned. Milord, please hold her still so that I can remove the affected flesh."
"what?! Remove?!" Rin demanded shrilly as Sesshomaru wrapped her in his arms. "it's all right, you'll heal in a few minutes, or an hour or two at most. Don't look." He let her hide her face in his shoulder and bite him to stifle a scream as the healer used a tiny, sharp knife to cut away the poisoned wound. It dissolved in mere seconds with an acrid scent like acid, and he bandaged the new, clean wound for her.
"Sesshomaru-sama, I must be certain that the poison did not affect you. You know you aren't immune to all poisons." He nodded, gently shifting Rin to one side in his arms so he could still hold her close while allowing the healer access to the wound on his chest. The healer checked, and was satisfied that he was clearly already healed and showing none of the symptoms that Rin had. "if either of you have any new symptoms, please fetch me at once," he said curtly, and was dismissed with a small nod from Sesshomaru.
When Rin finally looked up from being curled into her beloved's chest, her eyes immediately fell on the intruder, still impaled through the heart with Rin's dagger, stuck to the floor. She started to shake, and Sesshomaru took her to a new room, letting her go for a moment so he could light some lamps and dispel the darkness. Rin sat heavily on a cushion, still trembling. "I…I killed someone…" she whispered in nearly mute horror. "not a bunny; not prey; but a person!" she began to cry, covering her face in horror. She had vowed to herself long ago that she would not kill anyone, even when people were trying to kill her. She had reaffirmed that when she became a hanyō, and nothing had changed when she became a full InuYōkai. But now, Rin had blood on her hands. Perhaps not literally, but she felt awful and unclean.
Sesshomaru was by her side before she could even finish her sentence, pulling her back into his embrace in the now well-lit room. "hush, hush. It's going to be all right." He rocked slightly from side to side and petted her hair, knowing she liked that. "a first kill is never easy, whether in self-defense or for any other reason. But it is over now, and you are safe. That is all you need to care about, right now."
Rin was barely starting to calm down, her tears slowing, when she heard frantic footsteps in the hall and let out a squeal, flinching into Sesshomaru's chest, as the door slammed open, probably damaging it. Gobodō-sama stood in the doorway, only her wide eyes really revealing how alarmed she was at the news of an attacker. "what happened?" she demanded sharply. "are you safe?"
Rin took deep, shaky breaths to calm her racing heart as Sesshomaru related the last few minutes' events to his mother. "who was this attacker? Where were they from? Do you know?" she demanded, wanting every detail he could recall.
"I do not. But I know their target was Rin. The moment I thrust the attacker away, he lost all interest in attacking me and tried to jump straight for Rin instead. And the knife was poisoned—a foolish thing if intended for me, but wise if intended for my mate." Rin shivered and he petted her hair again, trying to comfort her.
"where are they now? Did you apprehend them?" Rin covered her ears as the questions made her remember the dagger's handle, protruding from the center of the man's chest. "he's dead…" she managed to choke out to her mother-in-law.
Rin was surprised to feel delicate fingers under her chin, turning her face and tilting it up towards the dainty white-haired woman who was bent over her. "I am proud of you, my daughter," she said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "never regret defending yourself, your children," she looked to her son, "or your mate." Rin glanced to him, seeing him nod in firm agreement. "you acted only in self-defense, as you should have. It is nothing to worry over."
Rin felt a few more tears leak down her cheeks as a fresh wave of horror washed through her. "someone's still dead because of me," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes. Gobodō-sama scoffed and let her go, straightening abruptly.
"better him than you!" she turned for the door, letting out a small tsk sound at the broken frame she had caused. "well, I had better go and see who that was, before they're buried. I will leave guards here for you. Try to rest. At dawn, we will hold a private council."
While Rin did manage to sleep fitfully due to her exhaustion, Sesshomaru remained awake until dawn, sitting up, alert and vigilant, with his arms wrapped securely around his young mate. When the sun first lightened the winter horizon, a trusted servant came to fetch them, taking them aside for a few moments so they could splash some water on their faces and change their clothes. The sun was only a dome of deep red when Sesshomaru and Rin entered the council room, where Gobodō-sama and Taro, the captain of the palace guard, were already waiting. Rin spotted the food between them and served herself, starting to eat eagerly as she listened to the others begin.
Sesshomaru spoke up first, addressing the captain. "what do we know about this attack?"
Taro bowed slightly to his superior. "the attacker appeared to be a member of the Dō clan, probably of the lowest class. Certainly no one of rank. And the knife you reported to be poisoned was coated in nise no tsuki." At Rin's questioning look, albeit with a mouthful of noodles, he added, "a specialized poison created to mimic the powerful natural poison of the Tsuki clan."
Sesshomaru frowned deeply at the information. "I do not understand. After proving Rin to be an InuYōkai of pure blood, why would they seek to hurt her?"
Gobodō-sama shook her white-haired head, dainty brows furrowed just like her son. "there are many answers to that, and unfortunately we cannot ask the attacker," she stated. "it is possible that, as a low level member of the clan, he did not know. Only the lords and ladies who attended saw the truth. Or," she paused, meeting his eyes, "it could have been an assassination attempt, plain and simple."
The Captain sat up a little straighter to interject. "what troubles me most, My Lord and ladies, is the choice of poison. Nise no Tsuki is powerful to say the least, and once it is in a wound it is impossible to distinguish from your own natural poison. It makes me concerned…perhaps they were trying to frame one of you."
This thought had not occurred to either Sesshomaru or Gobodō-sama. They looked from the captain to one another again. "why…would they want to frame one of us?" Sesshomaru asked in a soft, dangerous tone, his eyes revealing a fraction of the anger he felt at the thought.
Rin had finished eating by this time and set down her empty bowl in the moment of silence after her mate's words. "maybe they knew that your mother didn't like me?" she suggested. "if they made you think she had killed me, what would happen?"
"you would be honor-bound to kill me," the woman said slowly, realization in her eyes. "and with no heir and no one on the throne, it would be all too easy to take control."
"I don't like this," Sesshomaru growled, unconsciously shifting closer to Rin in order to protect her.
"No. Nor do I. Someone has spent centuries planning this. It is not the product of one or even many idle minds."
"Who?" he immediately asked, leaning forward. "I didn't think we had such enemies." At least, I thought I had killed them all long ago…
"Then you are a fool, my son. Every leader has such enemies, waiting for the chance to strike in some fashion." She frowned deeply, looking down at the table between them for a moment. "yet, I myself did not know of such deep treachery."
"it could only have come from within—from the packs themselves," the Captain added. "I believe the Dō have been the most suspicious of late."
"we don't want to start throwing accusations just yet, Captain Taro," Gobodō-sama said sharply, cutting off any further words from him. "though I might tend to agree with you, what we need now are facts—and protection for the current and future heirs."
"I just want to go home…" Rin sighed, leaning against her mate's fluff, still exhausted from the long night.
"it may not be safe for you to go home," the Captain objected quickly. "is there anywhere else you can stay safely while I send some of my men to check the manor's servants?"
"the only other safe place is here…" Sesshomaru said, the frown never having left his face. He did not like the thought of sacrificing Rin's safety for the sake of her comfort. He wanted her to be comfortable as well as safe, naturally, but this had suddenly become an either/or situation.
"perhaps not," Gobodō-sama noted, sitting up a little and speaking to her son. "I know you don't get along, Sesshomaru, but no one would expect you to go to your brother for help."
"there is a good reason for that," he replied coolly, a little surprised she would even think to suggest such a thing. Even having been allies in the past, enough that he had entrusted Rin to them so she could learn to be human and have better than his poor care as she grew, he still greatly disliked his brother and the company he kept. The last possible person on the list of people he trusted. Still, he was on the list, if only barely, and Rin had been safe, happy, and well-cared-for while in his village. "he would not understand the situation, nor appreciate the dangers."
"then don't tell him," she scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "it isn't as if he needs to know, is it?"
"I cannot simply appear and request shelter," he stated. "the feelings between us are mutual, I assure you."
"well…I could," Rin said, sitting back upright and looking at him. "he wouldn't say no to me, even if he wanted to, or Kagome-sama would flatten him." She let out a tiny giggle at the memories of him crashing face-first to the dirt for some mistake or other that angered the priestess.
As Sesshomaru opened his mouth to protest again, Gobodō-sama spoke over him. "it's settled, then. You need to leave as soon as possible. It is a full day's journey if you run in true form—I will make sure no one sees you leave. You should arrive by nightfall, with any luck." They stood to prepare and she noted, "it's safest not to travel on the dark of the moon."
A/N: well, this took forever! A four-person dialogue is challenging, but really this mostly took so long because I've been on vacation from full-time work and finals week, and today is my last day here in the sunny south of the USA. I spent way too much money in epcot. *shrug* with any luck, everything from here to new years' will be clear, and I might even be able to get out something for Christmas! :)