A/N: shoutout to squishyrabbit and the notification squad (SpiritedRanger, mystlight, suicuneluvr, happytello98 and pamelamoores, at time of writing)! You guys are awesome! I am loving all the reviews!
Shoutout also to SessRinFan for your play-by-play reviews of each chapter as you work your way through! I love seeing what you think of each new development, knowing there's more in store.
And welcome to SorrellKaren!
The young midwife hesitated at the surprising question. "It…has been done before, I believe," She stammered out with another small bow. "But only by those who already had a blood-related child to carry on their bloodline, or who could not have progeny of their own." Sesshomaru nodded at the information, looking at the pup as he began to fuss a little, sensing his 'mother's' distress. "Perhaps it would be wisest to look among his father's clan, the Ka, first?" She suggested. "It is the child milady carries within her that should become the heir after you."
Sesshomaru gave a deep nod and dismissed the woman, turning back to Rin, who was still sniffling. "I won't let them take him," She told him firmly. "Not unless you can promise me he'll be as well cared for as I could do." He gently wrapped an arm around his young mate and pulled her close to his side, gently petting the newborn's exceptionally soft fuzz to help calm him. The pup squirmed and soon quieted, reaching a hand out again. Rin bounced him gently, starting to smile as her tears dried.
"I will see what I can do, Rin. But it may be out of my ability to keep him. Our child must be the heir." She nodded, frowning sadly, and curled back up to sleep through the night.
At dawn the next morning, even before the servants had come to bring breakfast, Gobodō-sama arrived, having heard the news just after them but not wanting to disturb their night's rest. She knocked sharply before entering, not even giving time for her son to answer the door. Her eyes immediately fell on the newborn as her daughter-in-law sat up and gently cradled him, comforting the tiny pup and rubbing her swollen belly with her free hand. "You still have the Nami pup?"
Sesshomaru frowned at her curt tone. "Yes. I am sure you were informed that his mother died last night, so he is in our custody."
"I shall help you ask after his family, then." But when she stepped forward with hands outstretched, Rin gave a soft warning growl and held the pup tighter, even baring her teeth slightly at the white-haired woman. "Give him to me, Girl. He isn't yours."
"Mother," Sesshomaru moved slightly between the two women, "Why do you glare at the child so?"
"How should I put this?" She mused, turning to him. "That pup is the offspring of a midwife and a healer. He can never become a warrior as your sons must." She turned back to glance at the little one's tiny hands. "He lacks claws, even. A Ka is a poor choice of cross-breeding if you intend any sort of fighter." Rin growled again, a little louder.
"He has no need of being a fighter. The child Rin carries will be the heir, and he shall be a warrior as I am. This little one only has need of a family to protect and raise him, and I see no reason we could not provide that."
Gobodō-sama scoffed in his face. "This is no time to get sentimental, my son. You are simply feeding off your mate's instincts. Rin is no better than a broody hen—she will raise anything she can."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, sick of not being listened to, and walked out of the room without another word, heading for the gardens. "Perhaps you will listen to me as you once did!" His mother called after him, but he ignored her. He paused at the end of the hallway when he heard Rin growl in warning again, then heard a sharp slap. He couldn't help the slight smirk as he saw his mother quickly retreat from his room, her cheek bright with the imprint of Rin's fingers.
Sesshomaru only had a few minutes of peace under the blooming sakura before his mother came out to bother him again, the mark fading from her cheek as she rubbed it lightly. "You don't need to keep the child. I'm sure once you give him away your mate will only pine after him a little." He ignored his mother, turning his head away from her and crossing his arms like a petulant child. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his scowl on the little white-haired woman. "I want an explanation as to your behaviour. Especially why you allowed Rin to hit me."
He gently shrugged her hand off but grudgingly turned to her. "How are we to know that the child will be properly cared for, if we give him up?" He asked in a flat tone. "You said it was my duty to find the child a suitable family, and I have. It is with me, and Rin."
Gobodō-sama's eyes narrowed. "That is not what I meant at all!" She corrected him. "It is your duty to find someone who can care for him, not raise him yourself!" She scoffed at the ridiculous misunderstanding and waved a dismissive hand. "Just let the Ka have him. So long as he is healthy, who cares who does it? Love isn't a necessity."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in return. Clearly his mother did not understand. "So you had no love for me when you raised me?" He asked her coldly.
She looked startled at the accusation. "That is a very different thing!" she insisted. "To not love your own pup is a terrible thing indeed!" She looked down, remembering this season centuries ago, when her own belly was impressively large. "I loved you from your first kick, my son—but this pup is not yours. You have your own coming. Above all else, you must care for them."
"Why do you think me so incapable of care? You think I would not love my own child just because I was caring for another?"
"I didn't say that."
"You did not need to put words to your opinion." He frowned at her, disliking the suggestion because he knew his mother was not alone in that thought. Many still expressed shock that he had found a mate at all. He hated it, but understood where it came from.
"Sesshomaru…" His mother looked rather shrewdly at him, "Do you wish to keep the child also? It is not only your mate trying to sway you?" When he gave a slow, serious nod, she sighed and her small shoulders drooped slightly. "Very well. There is no need to ask after the pup's family. I did so last night, and he has none. Neither father nor mother had siblings and all grandparents are already gone. Truly he is an orphan." She sighed more deeply and glanced toward the palace. "I suppose I should get a wet-nurse for him, then…Rin must stay healthy for her birth in the coming months." She turned her body to face the palace also and strode away with her usual regal step, leaving him in the garden to continue thinking about all that had happened in just a single day of the festival.
He was able to spend a few minutes alone before he was again interrupted, though this time he didn't mind. The Captain of the Guard bowed when he saw him and left, leaving Rin to walk over to her mate with a smile. "I think your mother has come around," She informed him.
"Oh?"
"She just came with a nurse to take care of 'her future grandson'," She told him cheerfully. "And good thing, too—our pup's been trying to break my ribs! I think they can tell their milk is being stolen." She rubbed her belly and let out a huff of pain as a tiny foot left another imprint on her stomach. "You stop that!" She scolded her bump. "They're so strong already…" She sighed, offering a soft smile.
Sesshomaru hummed in amusement and laid his hand on the spot she had been rubbing, shocked at the force—though of course it was really quite small—that the pup's tiny foot managed to produce. "Now now, little one, you're not even ready for your milk yet. Settle down." A pair of feet seemed to drum against his palm for a moment, then the feeling went away.
"Are you going to join me for breakfast? We're here another four days." They went back inside, but along with breakfast was a midwife holding two squares of white cloth, making sure they didn't touch her skin.
"I need your scents," She explained, passing one cloth to each of them. "The nami pup imprinted on you as his parents and refuses to rest now." Rin glanced to Sesshomaru, watching him rub the cloth against his cheek much like a cat did to items and people it liked. She quickly copied him, feeling a bit silly about it. Just as they handed the two cloths back to the midwife, Rin heard crying from down the hall, coming closer. "He won't eat either," complained the wet-nurse, bouncing the furious infant.
"Here, just let me take him—" Rin said, holding up her hands, but the midwife stopped her with a knowing smile.
"No need. Watch, milady." She took the cloth that Rin had given her by one corner and dangled it above the fussing baby's nose. Within seconds he had quieted and was reaching eagerly toward the scent, nose wiggling like a rabbit's, almost. "Pups this young rely almost entirely on scent, as they can neither see nor hear," She explained, draping the small square on the wet-nurse's shoulder and smiling wider as the pup immediately started rooting for milk, following the scent of his adopted mother.
"Can't he stay in here with us, when he isn't being fed?" Rin asked, holding out her hands again for the newborn.
"It's best that he doesn't. We don't want your body to prioritize producing milk over your pregnancy. You must stay healthy for your birth, as much as possible. Firstborns are always the hardest, because you just don't know what's going to happen." She sighed and nodded as the two women left, taking the infant with them, and started to pick at her food, no longer feeling hungry.
"What is wrong, Rin?" Sesshomaru asked, concerned by his darling's sudden shift in mood. She let out a deep sigh.
"Nothing…maybe I am just a broody hen, like your mother said…" She started to sniffle. "I just wanna make sure he's okay…" She started to wipe her face as tears began to fall thick and fast, unable to stop herself from crying. She quickly grew frustrated as the tears refused to stop, streaking down her face try as she might to dry them. He gently wrapped an arm around Rin and rubbed her back, reassuring her that it was normal to lose control of her mood, crying especially. When she finally got them stopped, she decided she wanted a nap, and he let her rest, going for a walk around the palace.
The first person he ran into was the shift captain, a Mori man, who was speaking with one of the guards brought in for the whelping festival to keep the males away from the restricted areas. They were discussing how odd it was that some of the clans had not come that year. "I heard the northernmost passes were closed, though—" "That's not true, the Mori came and we have to use the same passes! They were definitely clear."
"What's this about some clans not coming to the festival?" Sesshomaru asked, frowning in suspicion. The captain excused himself and the Ka guard walked with Sesshomaru, explaining that the Dō and Shiro-yama clans had refused to come, saying that the passes were too dangerous for their women. "Personally, I can believe it—have you heard about the wolves raiding the north?" He asked, glancing to his lord. "We lost many men, including Kaito, one of our finest captains." Sesshomaru nodded, noting that the name he gave sounded vaguely familiar. "I'm glad the attacks are over now. The Mori were hit the hardest. Their entire ruling family was almost wiped out. And I'm glad someone's going to adopt Kaito's firstborn, since the mother's gone now too, I guess. Poor thing probably died of a broken heart or something." Sesshomaru nodded again and raised an eyebrow as the guard gave a fond little chuckle. "I met his woman once. How he managed to snag a nami when she was bigger than him, I'll never know."
That made Sesshomaru stop in his tracks in momentary surprise as he realized why the name was familiar. "You said he was a warrior?" He asked in confirmation.
"That's right, a captain of ten men, one of our best. Why?"
Sesshomaru shook his head and kept walking. "Someone told me that the orphan pup could not be a warrior, because he was a healer's child." He stopped again as the guard laughed loudly at that.
"Don't people know we're one of the best fighting forces of the InuYōkai?" He asked, clawless hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his hip. "Only the women are proper healers among us. You know the old saying—'the Ka have a nose for herbs and a nasty bite'." He grinned, baring his impressively long upper fangs deliberately. "We might not have claws, but we're far from harmless. You go correct that baka for me, eh, milord?" He headed off with a smile, heading for the kitchens.
Sesshomaru chose to wander in a different direction, soon catching a familiar scent and going to see what they were up to. Azumi was sitting in a small room nearby the kitchens, sorting and counting herbs. She looked somewhere between focused and angry and didn't seem to notice his approach until he was standing right in front of her. "Azumi?" The girl jumped and accidentally sliced her finger with the small knife she was holding, sticking the bleeding finger in her mouth for a moment until it healed.
"I'm glad you found me," She said briskly. "I've been too busy to come to you." At his arched brow, she sat up straighter. "I'll get right to the point. That woman, Chieko, yesterday, she was murdered."