InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bitter Blood ❯ Chapter 4

Bitter Blood

Chapter 4

A few minutes after Dokumi left, Jakken entered with her morning meal. "Well, well, well... You look a sight better than you did last night, Lady Rin."

She looked up from feeding Daichi. "Last night? Were you here last night?"

"Of course," he removed the tea tray from the night stand and replaced it with her breakfast tray. "It wouldn't do for me to be late in paying my respects to our new lord master." He tickled the child beneath its chin. "The spitting image of Lord Sesshomaru," he beamed. "Why, I haven't seen our lord more pleased in . . . in . . ."

"In what?" she prompted him.

"Ever," he finally said. "I can't ever remember seeing him this pleased."

She smiled to herself. "Then I've done a good job."

Jakken nodded. "And how is our young lord this morning?"

"Hungry," she said. "Very hungry."

"Of course!" he said. "He's a growing boy."

"But he's not even a day old," she said.

"Demons require more food than you mere mortals," he said. "Especially a child born of one such as our lord. He'll be a great and powerful demon one day."

"But he's only HALF-demon," she said. "Perhaps he'll take more after me."

He waved her away. "Don't think such things. You want him to grow up strong, don't you?"

"I'm strong," she argued.

He muttered something under his breath, then turned from her.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Nothing you need concern yourself with."

She sighed thoughtfully. "Though, I wouldn't mind terribly if he turned out more like our lord. Noble, strong, commanding . . . Just not so-withdrawn," she finally said. "I want a son who speaks his mind, makes his feelings known. I shouldn't like to play guessing games with two men in my life."

Jakken shook his head. "The things you say, Lady Rin."

"I know it's too late to change our lord," she said. "Not that I would change him in any way . . . But I would like to know how THIS one is feeling from time-to-time. I am his mother, after all. He should tell me things like that."

He scoffed. "Why should he have to tell you?" he asked. "You're around a person long enough, you can communicate without talking. I understand our lord perfectly," he said, a bit self-importantly.

"I feel I understand him at times," she said, "but I usually ask just to make sure . . . Misunderstandings can lead to catastrophe, you know. And I know it makes me sound stupid, sometimes, to ask for answers that you find 'glaringly' obvious . . . But if you don't ask, how will you ever learn?"

He laughed to himself. "I forget how young you still are sometimes."

"I'm seventeen," she rebuffed. "And, I am Lady of the Western Lands and mother to the lord heir . . . Just give me more time. I assure you; I will grow into the title."

"I have no doubt," he bowed his head.

"Jakken?" she glanced over at him.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever seen that 'Dokumi' woman before?"

He shook his head. "No, my lady. I've never seen her before, but I'm told she's a great friend of the family. Her father and our lord's father were like brothers. You wouldn't find a deeper bond anywhere without blood."

"And this came from our lord?" she asked.

"And other sources," he said.

"What other sources?" she asked.

"The other council members, of course. The lords from the North, South and East. They're all well-acquainted with each other's family histories."

Rin nodded. "But she has no direct past with him, does she?"

"What ever do you mean?" he asked.

She looked down at Daichi and shrugged. "Nothing in particular. Oh!"

"What is it!" his eyes grew wide with panic. "Are you in pain? Are you dying?"

She laughed at him. "'Am I dying?'" she repeated. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

He lowered his eyes and shook his head. "No reason," he said. "Nothing at all. Just the foolish ramblings of an old imp."

Her laughter died down. "I just remembered another question I wanted to ask you."

He cursed under her breath. "Is that all?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "I wanted to ask you about a war. About a century ago, I believe?"

He scratched the side of his green face. "A war, you say? A hundred years ago?"

"I believe that's what Dokumi said . . ."

He folded his arms. "And what were you two talking about wars for?"

"She brought it up," she said. "She said her father and our lord's father were old war buddies. When I asked what war, she said it was over a century ago and none of it mattered, now."

"Ah," Jakken sighed. "That war."

"You know of it?" she asked.

"Know of it? I lived through it. It was when some demons from China started to think too highly of themselves and tried to invade our lands."

Daichi began to whimper. She removed him from her breast and laid him over her shoulder to burp him. "The Western Lands?" she asked.

"All the lands," he said. "They wanted to take over all of Japan." He laughed gruffly to himself. "But, of course, our lord and his father soon put a stop to that. No one invades OUR territory without paying the price."

She jostled the child, gently up and down, patting his back. "Was it a long war, then?"

"Seven years," he said. "And fifty years after that, they tried it again."

"Again?" she said. "Why pick a fight when you know you can't win?"

Jakken scoffed. "Some just can't accept their own limitations. They don't know when to quit."

"And what kind of demons were they? These Chinese demons."

"Cats," he said. "The Hyenkouzuku."

"The Hyen-what?"

He waved her away. "It doesn't matter anymore. We came to an understanding, and they won't be bothering us anymore."

"What kind of understanding?" she asked.

"These are our territories, and we won't be moved from them," he nodded smugly.

"Doesn't sound like much of an understanding," she said. "It sounds like you just beat them up again, and they gave up this time."

"Oh, they came back a third time," he said. "Lord Sesshomaru and I had to face them down alone."

She felt the color wash out of her face. "The two of you? Alone? Against an army of cat demons?" She shook the thought from her head. "It's a good thing I wasn't around then. I never would've allowed such a thing. The two of you could've been killed."

He laughed again. "You were around," he said. "We left you with Ah- Un."

"What! You left me alone to fight those horrible creatures by yourselves? What were you thinking?"

He seemed completely full of himself now. "Why, of your safety, Lady Rin. They brought the fight to us, and we took it back to them," he straightened the collar of his shirt. "You came to no harm. Our Lord Sesshomaru defeated the leader of the cats, with a little help from his no- good brother, AND we came to amicable terms with the remaining Hyenkouzoku. Our lord is quite the diplomat."

She shook her head. "I don't believe the two of you keep such things from me."

"What would you have done?" he scoffed. "Gotten in the way? Fretted over us day and night? You're useless in such situations."

"I have a right to worry," she said. "You two are the only family I have." She laughed to herself, suddenly remembering the burden on her shoulder. "And little Daichi, of course." She rubbed her nose against the side of his face. "Such a blessing . . . But, oh, I've forgotten myself again. What did Dokumi's father have to do with any of this?"

"He was there to heal our troops, of course. When we knocked a cat down, it stayed down. When they knocked one of us down, Kokushu was there to pick him back up. He was a marvel at field medicine. If it wasn't for him, we might never have won . . . Nasty opponents, those cats..."

"But they're our friends, now, right?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to call them 'friends,'" he said. "They don't bother us; we don't bother them, and that's good enough."

Rin nodded. Daichi burped. "What a good boy!" she smiled, then returned him to a cradling position. "And what about Dokumi? Where was she during all this?"

"I wouldn't know," he said. "As I said, I never met her before today."

She nodded again. "But she's Kokushu's daughter?"

"His youngest," he nodded. "Why so many questions about your new nursemaid."

"I ask, specifically, for that reason. She is my new nursemaid, and I know practically nothing about her."

"She's from good people," he assured. "Poor, but honest," he added.

She smiled to herself. "Then we should get along fine, I suppose."

"Trust in our Lord Sesshomaru," he said. "He'd never make a mistake where you're concerned."

Her smile broadened. "I suppose you're right. I do worry too much."

"Everything's in Lord Sesshomaru's hands, Lady Rin. Just let him look after you the way he always has, and everything will be fine."

She couldn't help but smile at his words. She had no real reason to doubt Dokumi, and her lord would never hurt her, intentionally . . . Though he never said it, she was sure he loved her quite a bit. "Lean over here, Jakken."

He did as he was asked. "What is it, Lady Rin?"

She leaned down, removed his hat and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you for being such a good friend."

He grabbed his hat from her and slapped it back on his head. "Stupid kid," he muttered as he headed for the door. "You should stop worrying about others and start worrying about yourself." The door slammed shut.

"And, what's that supposed to mean?"