InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bitter Blood ❯ Chapter 16

Bitter Blood

Chapter 16

This was a nightmare. There was a war with the lords of the East, North and South. Sesshomaru was so injured from the battle that he couldn't move. He knew about all the questions she'd been asking Jakken about his past. He'd confessed to having an affair with Dokumi. And now he'd just told her their fathers had arranged for them--he and Dokumi--to be mated.

"I don't understand," she said. "Demons mate for life, you said. Yet, she is alive, and you are alive, but I am YOUR mate."

"We never mated," he said. "I rejected her."

"Why?" she asked.

"It was arranged by our fathers," he said. "They both felt we would benefit from the union. She would gain prestige, and I would gain connections to the human world. My father supported the idea whole-heartedly."

"Then why did you go against him?" she asked.

"I did not go against him," he said. "I only went against his wishes . . . He was killed before things were finalized between Dokumi and myself. My mother didn't approve of the match, so I rejected her."

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?"

"Why didn't your mother approve? Why did you reject her? Dokumi is a bog demon; your mother was a bog demon. What's to disapprove of? It's not as if she was human."

"My mother hated everyone and everything. Humans and bog demons, especially. She saw them as the weakest of the weak, the scum the rest of the world tries to scrape off its boots."

"But SHE was a bog demon," she said.

"Self-loathing is a powerful motivator," he said. "And after she mated with my father, she wasn't a bog demon any more; she was the Lady of the Western Lands."

"That's ridiculous," Rin said. "Gaining a title doesn't change what you are. I'm still human; she was still a bog demon."

"Not in her eyes," he said. "She was something much greater. No longer forced to crawl through the muck and the mire, serving humanity, curing demon ails, she now graced the greatest estates of the most respected lords and ladies of the aristocracy. She thought very highly of herself." There was something in his voice that begged her attention. Yes, there was a hint of sarcasm, but there was something else--something deeper, just below the surface.

She glanced down at him. "What did you think of her?" she asked.

He laughed dryly to himself. "I feared her," he said more to himself than out loud. "She was . . . not kind to me, I'm afraid to say. She was . . . vicious and cruel and killed indiscriminately. And she . . . took great joy in terrorizing those around her." He seemed to force a smile. Was that a crack in that stone-cold facade? "The servants were her favorite target, of course, but . . . but when they hid from her, I . . . I was her next choice."

She sank down on the bed beside him.

Was he trembling? What was that look in his eye?

"What would she do to you?" she asked quietly.

"Whatever she liked," he said. "Kick me, strike me, whip me, cut me . . . She . . . liked to hear me cry, I realized. And the longer I cried, the longer the beating lasted. But if I didn't cry, she soon lost interest in me and went off to torture another . . . She taught me to disguise my emotions quite well," he said. "You must never show weakness in the face of an enemy."

To IMAGINE what had happened to her lord was hard enough . . . but to hear from his own mouth that they were, in fact, REAL events and HAD happened--at the hands of his own mother . . . It . . . it . . .

"What are you doing?"

She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her hands about his waist. "I wish to offer comfort to my lord," she said. "My lord has suffered, and I wasn't there to stop it."

"You weren't even born," he said.

"I still would've liked to stop it," she said. "My lord was but a child. He did nothing to deserve such cruelty."

He stared down at her. "Do you weep for me even now?" he asked. "Though I've betrayed you and broken your heart?"

Rin frowned. She pushed herself away from him and stood. "I'd forgotten," she said. "Now, what of Dokumi? Why did you reject her?"

"I didn't care for her one way or the other," he said. "My father thought it was a good idea, so I went along with it. He was one of the few things that kept my mother from her--'entertainment.' But when he died, it was just myself and her. So when the subject of Dokumi arose again, she said no, and I mirrored her rejection."

"Out of fear," she said.

"She would've just as soon looked at me as killed me. As I was young and hadn't fully come into my powers, I did what was necessary to survive."

Rin nodded. "I see. And what of Dokumi's doll, during your first meeting? Did you ever think about that in contemplating your refusal of her?"

"No," he said. "It was a random act of violence brought on by a particularly rough morning with my mother . . . I was looking for something to hurt, and she just happened to be there. It was either her or the doll, and I chose the doll. Her reaction was inconsequential."

She sighed. "So that's why she really hates you. She was in love with you, and you rejected her."

"No," he said. "She was infatuated with my father, and would've done anything to be near HIM. Her father made the proposal to my father, who said it was impractical. He then suggested me in his stead."

"My god you people are fucked up." She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples. "This is giving me a headache."

"My lady?"

"Everything is so complicated . . . This person knows that person. And because you did this for him, he has to do that for you. And I don't like her, and she doesn't like me, but I'll use her because it's convenient . . . The way your demon minds work . . ."

"What will you do?" he asked.

"Do?" she asked.

"I cannot move," he said. "I commanded Jakken to continue patrolling our borders. If you don't look after me, given enough time, I will die."

She sighed, then smiled. "What can I do, then? I'll look after you."

He showed no emotion. "As you wish," he said.

A thought occurred to her. And since he was being honest with her . . . "Is this a test?" she asked.

"A test?" he repeated.

"You tested me before," she said. "Before we were mated."

He smiled as if amused. "That wasn't a test," he said.

"You weren't testing my character, my commitment, my desire to be with you?"

"Why should I test those things?" he asked. "I know who you are."

She was momentarily stunned. "But you tossed me out into the cold," she said. "Left me to wander the Western Lands. I fought, I struggled, I suffered . . ."

"Wasn't that what you wanted? A normal life?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. "I think you play with my mind."

"I do not play," he said. "It is beneath me to toy with people in such a manner. I face my opponents directly."

She shook her head. "I must leave you."

His eyes narrowed. "Leave me?"

She headed for the door. "I'll be back," she said. "But I need to be away from you for awhile. I need to collect my thoughts."

"You'll stay with me, then?"

She kept her back to him. "I don't know," she said. "I don't want to leave you . . . but maybe I should . . . All things considered, perhaps that's the best course of action."

"And Daichi?" he asked. "Will you take him from me?"

She drew in a deep breath and pushed it out. She knew she didn't imagine it. That was a tremor she heard--a tremor in her lord's voice.

"Will you not answer?" he asked.

She shut the door behind her.

"My lady," Dokumi stood before her.

"What're you doing back inside? I thought you were tending to the injured."

"I did," she said. "I've finished. Healing is second nature to me."

"So is poison," she said.

"Yes," she nodded. "How is Lord Sesshomaru?"

She glanced at the door behind her. "He is no longer your concern."

"My lady?"

"He told me everything," she said. "You've been acting as his mistress."

"So, he did tell you."

"He did."

"Did he also tell you of our engagement?"

"Yes," she said stiffly. "He did."

"And did he tell you how he rejected me? How no other male would touch me because I stunk of failure? It is the disgrace of the demon world to be rejected by a potential mate."

"That's not my concern," Rin said.

She scoffed. "All you aristocrats stick together, don't you?"

She thought back to what her lord had said--the other lords wanting his territory. "No, we don't," she said. "I'm not even an aristocrat."

"You married one," she said.

"And he's suffered greatly because of it."

"He should suffer."

Rin slapped her. "Do not forget your place, Dokumi. I am the lady of the castle, and you are just the nursemaid. You will show me AND my lord the proper respect." She pulled one of the wardings from her sleeve and pasted it to the door frame.

"What is that?" Dokumi asked.

"It's a warding," she said. "No demon may enter or leave this chamber. As Lord Sesshomaru is not well enough to move about, and Jakken is not here, I am the only one who needs access to his quarters."

She laughed to herself. "Think you to keep me from him? From seeing to my duty?"

She folded her arms. "I don't have to keep you from him; that's what the warding's for. Get too close, and it'll fry you."

She backed away from the door.

"You are poison, Dokumi. You tried to poison my mind against my lord. Taint my heart with malice and doubt."

"And you made it so easy," she smiled. "The young are so naive."

Rin laughed, slowly approaching her. "Do not take my gentleness for weakness, Dokumi." She reached into her sleeve.

"What're you doing?" she backed away from her away.

"I intend to teach who the true Lady of the Western Lands is. And what it means to cross her."

She laughed uneasily. "My lady . . ."

"Yes, I am your lady, and you should bow to show your respect."

She dipped her head. "I beg your pardon, my lady."

"On your knees."

She knelt down. "I beg your pardon, my lady."

"Lick the floor."

She put her forehead to the floorboards. "I beg your pardon, my lady!"

Rin laughed, now satisfied. "Get up," she said. "Tend to your OTHER duty and see to my son."

She bowed again. "Yes, my lady."

"And if I catch you anywhere near this door, or if there's one hair out of place on Daichi's head . . ."

"I will not cross you again, my lady."

Rin scowled. "You had better not. For while my lord does not wish to disgrace you any further, I would just as soon kill you as look at you." She waved her away. "Now, go about your business."

She bowed and scampered down the hall.

Rin grinned. Perhaps her lord's mother had the right idea about certain things, after all. She would have to watch Dokumi very carefully from now on. And even more so after her lord was back on his feet . . .