InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bitter Blood ❯ Chapter 7

Bitter Blood

Chapter 7

Jakken greeted the three of them at the door. "Lady Rin."

"I'll take Daichi and put him down for his nap." Dokumi took the child and disappeared upstairs.

Rin entered the great hall and sat on her old cushion before the fireplace.

"Lady Rin," Jakken followed her into the hall, "why don't you sit in your usual place?" He gestured to a throne-like seat beside Lord Sesshomaru's high-back chair. It was a smaller version of his chair with the same upholstery and dark wood. It had been a wedding gift from him to her.

Rin shook her head. "I don't feel like playing great and noble ruler today."

He scuttled over to her side, his eyes narrowed, his voice concerned. "What troubles you, my lady? You're normally so happy after returning from a stroll in the garden."

She laughed dryly to herself. "Daichi was quite tiring today, and he gave me much to consider."

"Oh?" he said.

She drew in a deep breath, then pushed it out. "Jakken, you would never lie to me, would you?"

He seemed somewhat flustered--a cross between nervousness and annoyance. "I am as honest as my post allows, my lady. There are some things, simply, not meant for your ears. Matters of security and such."

She nodded solemnly. "Jakken, have you ever met our lord's mother?"

He visibly recoiled. "I tried my best to stay clear of that one," he said. "Though it's improper to speak bad of the dead."

She nodded again. "Was she a cruel woman?" she asked.

Jakken lowered her eyes. "That she was," he said. "You could've given that woman all of Japan, and she still wouldn't have been satisfied. The more our lord's father indulged her, the more demanding she became . . . Cold, cruel, calculating--and extremely manipulative," he added. "She always knew how to get what she wanted."

"And what did she want?" Rin asked.

"To rule the world, the way I heard it. Always thought more of herself than anyone I knew. Her room had the only mirror in the castle, and she'd stand in front of it for hours at a time, practicing her scowls and her calm demeanor. Ordering imaginary people about." He grumbled to himself. "In her mind, the whole world was her castle, and everyone was there just to serve her."

She gave the information time to slowly sink in. "But it was my understanding that our lord's father was the best of the best. A noble beyond compare."

"He was," Jakken smiled proudly. "There was never anyone better than Lord Inutaisho."

"Then why would he mate himself to such a woman?" she asked. "She doesn't sound very nice, and I don't see how someone like him could be drawn in by someone like her."

Jakken nodded thoughtfully. "She WAS very beautiful," he said. "And manipulative," he added. "She hid her true self behind a false smile and well-polished manners, my lady. She was of low-birth, but she behaved as regal as any of us. It was a cunning ruse, and Lord Inutaisho fell for it . . . He was always a very trusting soul. He tried to see the best in everybody. But it's hard to see straight when you're blinded by love."

Rin nodded again. "They grew to hate each other, I suppose."

"Aye. Lady Akki lost favor in the sight of our lord's father, and he cast her aside. And, the way I heard it, she took her frustrations out on our Lord Sesshomaru."

A stab of pain pierced her chest; her eyes watered. "She beat him?"

Jakken mumbled to himself then looked away from her. "Well, I wasn't there, so I couldn't say. I didn't meet our lord till several centuries after this all had passed. I knew his mother more as an ominous presence than as his father's mate. They were staying in separate chambers, seldom speaking to one another . . . Lord Sesshomaru and I traveled a lot in those days."

She felt fresh tears spring to her eyes. "He must have been very unhappy," she said.

"Our lord keeps his own counsel on such things."

She laughed to herself. So Dokumi was right . . . A child raised in a loving and happy home becomes loving and happy. A child raised with hostility and strife--grew up to be one such as her lord. "I feel quite sorry for my husband," she said. "If only he would tell me these things. I mean, does he think I would think less of him because of it?"

Jakken scoffed. "Save your pity for someone who needs it. Our lord has made out fine for himself."

She shook her head. "But to beat a child . . . something so small and defenseless . . ."

"Our lord is not defenseless," he said.

"But to be torn between two extremes," she said. "The kindness of your father, and the cruelty of your mother . . . How does that balance out? How does that affect the way you see the world?"

He cursed under his breath. "The things you think up, Lady Rin . . ."

Rin stood and stretched. "Do you know where he is, Jakken? Our Lord Sesshomaru?"

"I believe he's up on the balcony," he said.

"Thank you." She turned to leave.

"Lady Rin?"

She turned back towards him. "Yes, Jakken."

He crept closer to her, his voice low. "What caused you to ask such questions today?"

"Curiosity," she said. "I think it's important our young lord know all parts of his heritage, don't you?"

Jakken nodded, somewhat warily. "I suppose," he said. "But you've never asked about things like this before."

Rin shrugged. "It never occurred to me to ask." She continued on her way.

"You didn't hear any of that from me," Jakken called after her. "Lord Sesshomaru had the best parents, and he was the happiest child in the world."

But Rin had already gone.