InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Bond ❯ Chapter 8

Kagome sat and waited for Sess to finish putting her hair up for her. He’d explained that this was one of the skills he’d gained to be able to serve her better, and she knew that it was important she make a good impression the first time she got involved with the modern Miko/hanyou/youkai subculture. A good impression in this case being a show of how powerful she was, how well she could use that power, and how ready to use it if she felt it necessary. She’d also learned something else about her powerbase in this time – that Sess was not the only youkai she owned, just the only one she’d formally claimed. Kouga, his pack and their descendents had all agreed to let her put a spell on them that would make them hers, if they accepted it, and it gave them safety from being claimed from anyone else. Apparently it had become something of a legend over the past five hundred years – the wolf pack sworn to the Phoenix Lady, and yet unsworn, for she never came to demand their service, nor to mark them.   And now the Phoenix Lady had been born into her true time, and come into her power. The pack had made arrangements for a great celebration, all had been cautioned not to speak to the Lady of her past exploits, and she would mark those of the pack who were ready to accept it. Kagome wasn’t particularly happy about doing this, about enslaving Kouga and his descendents, but she had no choice. She was the Phoenix Lady, her insignia was known by all the Mikos, hanyous and youkai who lived, and as soon as she appeared to take her place in this strange (and to her sickening) society if she did not mark and formally claim what was hers they would be at risk. While she was but a legend out of time they had been safe, for no efforts could be made to break Kagome’s claim on them, even though they did not wear her claim marking, but once she took her place in the society of her time if she did not mark the wolves other Mikos, and the hanyous had every right to attempt to overpower her claim on the wolves of Kouga’s pack. And they would, because a pack of youkai who retained the sense of self-worth that had been beaten out of almost all other youkai was considered a threat. Even Sess, who’d been one of the most arrogant youkai she’d ever met, seemed to build his life and self-image around pleasing her, and that scared Kagome pretty badly.   When Sess had finished doing her hair he helped Kagome into a full western style skirt made of black silk, a black silk tunic and a black leather bodice to go over it that supported and made the absolute most of her breasts. Next he knelt and fastened a pair of black leather boots that went halfway up her thighs around her legs and offered her support as she stood testing her balance in the unfamiliar heels – just two inches, but enough to unbalance her, and make her glad she’d used a spell to cushion her feet. She wouldn’t need money, but she did need her weapons, and the last task Sess had in making her ready for this was to fasten her belt around her waist, with the short sword and dagger attached and hang her bow and quiver across her body.   Only then did Sess turn to his own toilette, dropping his glamour totally and wrapping an amber linen wrap around his waist, fastening it with a red jade brooch at the left hip, and tying a red silk cord around his waist, letting the ends hang down his right hip. Kagome had commissioned a collar for Sess after she gave him her virginity, and the arrival of the rose gold piece of jewellery had been the deciding factor in the timing of her first appearance here. She’d mastered her powers enough to hold rank enough that she could avoid much of the politics by the time Sesshomaru gave birth back in the Sengoku Jidai, and she had an additional excuse, in that she was sworn to travel back to that time as much as she had to until Naraku was destroyed. Kagome bit her lower lip, only just realising something she should have seen when Sess first came to her.   “What about Inuyasha? Is he marked as mine, or has he died sometime in the last five hundred years?”   “Neither, you freed him from your claim after Naraku, but you left a gaes on him and he could not come to you as I could until you chose to reintroduce yourself to our society. He is one of the guests at the party held in your honour, in part because he has been a friend to Kouga’s pack since youkai lost their dominance. He is also the head of the family that adopted my daughter fifty years ago, after I was raped by American servicemen.”   “He took a mate then?”   “Yes, and he is happy with her. I am sorry if that offends you.” Sess was being very careful, eyes cast down to the ground and no hint of aggression in his body language.   “Of course not.” Kagome reached out to scratch behind Sess’ ears in reassurance. “But did he find another hanyou, or did he marry a human?”   “Neither, he mated a low ranking inu youkai, one who loved him, and whose status could only be improved by involvement with him, even if his mother was a Miko. Their children are still considered hanyou though. So long as one part in eight of a hanyou’s blood is human, or one part in eight youkai, they are considered hanyou, less human blood than that makes them full youkai, less youkai blood makes them full human.”   “I see, so Inuyasha’s children could marry or mate who they chose, but if they all chose full youkai his grandchildren would have had to marry humans for their children to be considered hanyou?”   “Yes, they would have. If hanyous had been held in as much contempt by that time they would probably have married youkai, and eventually merged back into the youkai clans, but hanyous had gained some status, and come out of hiding a bit by the time his children were adult, and they mostly found themselves hanyou mates. A few of the grandchildren found human mates, but names would mean nothing to you, would they?”   “No, not now, but I might learn them later. Shall we go to join our hosts?” They’d arrived at the compound earlier, because they could hardly travel through Tokyo dressed the way they were.   “If that is your wish.” Sess obediently followed Kagome when she told him that it was.   ~~~***0***~~~   Sess knelt beside Kagome as she stood waiting for people to arrive so they could be introduced to her. Kouga had been ecstatic to see her again, he’d gone into barely restrained raptures, despite that his mate was there and watching him. Ayame had been surprisingly accepting about that, but then Sess had seen how much Kagome had done to protect their pack even before she’d cast that spell – and it had been Kagome who officiated at Kouga and Ayame’s mating.   For political reasons they’d had to invite Sayaru, the highest ranking Miko in Tokyo at the moment – although that would almost certainly change once his master came into her full power – and she was the first to arrive.   “Sayaru-sama, this is the Phoenix Lady, Kagome-sama.” Kouga was carefully submissive and self-effacing, a skill all youkai had learned, often painfully, in the last five hundred years.   “Kagome-san. So you are the legendary Phoenix Lady. My congratulations on the size of your retinue. No other has a pack so large and so loyal. And yet I have seen no evidence of your great power.”   “I would think the mere fact that a spell I cast five hundred years ago has remained intact and required no maintenance whatsoever was evidence enough of my potential power, even if I do not yet have, or rather control, it all.” Sess smiled in pleasure as his master fielded the subtle challenge deftly. “I do thank you for the compliment though. I intend to mark all of them tonight, if they consent. If they do not of course they will no longer be able to claim my protection.”   “Of course. But you do realise you may need to be…harsh to keep them under control now.”   “I think I’ll be able to control them, but if I do have problems I won’t hesitate to come to you.” Kagome glanced over Sayaru’s shoulder and Sess bit his lip to control his pleasure as he realised that his master had found a diplomatic way of getting rid of the sadistic Miko. “But there are others waiting to meet me, and it is my duty to greet them.”   “Of course. We will talk later, I must assess your skill and power to determine your current rank among us.”   “As you wish. You don’t need to introduce Inuyasha Kouga. Hello, Inuyasha – will you introduce me to your mate?”   “It is very good to see you again Kagome. This is Meiran, I met her shortly after Naraku’s death. You’d managed to convince me that there was no shame in my being hanyou by then, so I left the Shikon no Tama in your charge.”   “It’s as well that you decided to stay hanyou that was one of my main motivations in convincing you of that. I learned about this society just before you found about that you were informally adopted by your brother.” Kagome petted Sess’ hair and the youkai purred, rubbing his head on her thigh. The Mikos found it amusing when youkai acted like animals, as long as it wasn’t in a dangerous, or disgusting way – purring and rubbing his head against his master was perfectly safe for Sess, and it would prove to any Miko watching that his master knew how to control him.   “But you never said anything about it. I won’t question your reasons, but sometimes I wish I’d known. If I or mine can aid you in any way you have only to call us, you do know that?”   “Yes, I have known that for a long time. My compliments on the beauty of your mate.”   “Thank you Kagome-sama.” The red haired youkai spoke quietly with downcast eyes. “If I might presume it would be my honour to assist you in adapting to modern society among those who still honour a Miko’s powers. I realise I am not of high enough caste to be anything but a servant to you, but if I can serve you in anyway I would be grateful for the chance to do so. It was your actions that allowed me to improve my status by becoming my lord Inuyasha’s mate.”   “I appreciate that, and I might need to accept your offer. Thank you.” Sess more or less tuned out the rest of the greetings she made focusing instead on leaning up against his master and enjoying the feel of her petting him.   ~~~***0***~~~   Sesshomaru watched Karritarous warily from his bed, holding his son against him, where the male couldn’t touch or hurt him. He wasn’t sure why, but he really didn’t want his cousin anywhere he had a chance to hurt Ranmaru. Involuntarily he growled as his consort approached a bit too close for his taste, and the other froze.   “Sesshomaru-sama, you know that I need to feed our son my blood if we want him to grow up healthy and strong.” Karritarous was trying to sound reasonable, but Sesshomaru was in no mood to listen to reason. The father of his child had been off hunting while he’d been giving birth, his master *Kagome* had done his duties for him, including offering *her* blood for his son’s second feeding as Karritarous had *still* been out hunting when Ranmaru needed to feed again. This despite Karritarous forcing him to stay in bed when he thought Sesshomaru was in his last month of pregnancy, and managing to inveigle his guards and courtiers into keeping him there for two full weeks after he’d given birth, even though Kagome’s spells rendered that unnecessary.   “You have shown no evidence whatsoever of caring about our child prior to this, why should I believe this sudden concern of yours?” Sesshomaru had found himself perversely grateful in a way that he had been confined to his bed in the past two weeks, it allowed him to feed his son from his own blood, and that of various of his guards as needed, but he was even more grateful that, with the exception of his brother, his master’s companions had remained at his castle, and even his brother had returned a week ago after delivering his master to the Bone-Eaters Well. “I might almost prefer feeding my son on the blood of my hanyou brother, rather than yours. He is young enough that the hanyou blood would not enslave him, given often enough it would be closer to adoption, and it would give him much more magic and other strength than you could dream of offering.”   “You cannot be seriously considering having your *brother* take my place and adopt your son. If for no other reason than that he would not be an acceptable regent. Besides it smacks a bit too much of incest.”   “I adopted him in the exact same way. One reason we used to fight so much was that he’d associated my actions with our father, and our father’s actions with me.” Sesshomaru couldn’t see what was so bad about having Inuyasha adopt his son to some extent, after all the hanyou was incredibly powerful, both physically, and potentially magically if he ever bothered to learn how to use his innate abilities.   “That makes it seem even worse. Please Sesshomaru, I do care about our son, I just hadn’t realised he would be born so soon, and I’d heard that for the first few weeks it was best to let the mother bond with infant youkai. I don’t know much about babies, and I wanted to have a chance to learn a bit more about how to take care of Ranmaru before I approached him.” Karritarous inched nearer, holding out his hands to show that they were empty and carefully not trying to touch his son. Sesshomaru found himself reluctantly considering his cousin’s arguments, considering Karritarous’ preferences it was no surprise he knew nothing of children. He wasn’t exactly certain why his instincts were screaming at him to keep the male away, his cousin had done nothing to warrant such distrust – but his father *had*. Inutaisho had once commented to his Miko wife that things would be easier if he’d just broken his elder son’s neck as he’d wanted to do when he saw how feminine Sesshomaru was – and the child in question had been listening from a shadowed corner.   And Ranmaru looked as feminine as his mother, although he was thankfully full male.   “You may touch him and give him your blood. But he is to remain in my arms; I do not know that you are capable of holding him correctly if nothing else.” Sesshomaru backed down, and even came up with an excuse not to hand his son over to his cousin. Karritarous just laid a gentle hand on Ranmaru’s cheek and slit a finger open with a claw before sliding it deftly into the infant’s mouth.   “I also got a bit of practise in on that maid’s child; I didn’t want to risk hurting my own son.” Sesshomaru realised he must have shown his surprise, and when Ranmaru slept he laid the child aside to respond to his cousin’s advances.   ~~~***0***~~~   Kagome finally took her seat, no her throne, for the claiming ceremony. She was going to have to claim every last youkai in Kouga’s pack today, all five hundred of them, and mark them too, or they would be at risk from the other Mikos and the hanyous who resented their special status, a status that was being stripped from them today. Sess knelt at her feet, her hand tangled in his hair controlling him and making it obvious that he shared her bed, as did the marking on his chest, over his heart. She’d discussed the question of how and where to mark her wolves with him and with Kouga prior to this, as different placements implied different levels of trust and status for the claimed youkai when they were claimed. And the other consideration was how much energy she could afford to expend on each youkai.   In the end they’d decided on the inside of the left wrist, indicating that they were her servants, but had little to no direct contact with her for most of the youkai, at the base of the throat, indicating a steward, someone Kagome trusted to manage some aspect of her affairs for Kouga and Ayame, and where the neck met the left shoulder for ten youkai who had been through the interviews Kagome held to select her personal household. Just the fact that Kagome was going to mark all of the wolves as servants, and none on the right side of their bodies to act as guards was a declaration of her own personal power, her belief that she did not *need* anyone to guard her, or that she felt her servants were so trustworthy that she did not need to invest the additional power to bind them more tightly to her before allowing them to use weapons. Both were the case as a matter of fact, although she was not used to thinking of herself as important enough to need guards in this time and that had been one of the other major considerations. And for all she was minimising the power she put into marking the wolves the fact that Kagome was capable of marking all of the pack at one time was another declaration of her immense power reserves (although they all had to be marked by the time the ceremony ended she could have gotten away with marking some beforehand and concealing it). Overall she couldn’t help feeling that this ceremony was a potent piece of politicking, and Sess agreed totally.   Kouga came to kneel in front of Kagome, head bowed and wrists crossed behind his back. All the wolves had worn loose fitting shirts that could be easily pushed back or out of the way so Kagome could mark them, although the material and colour varied. Ayame was kneeling right beside her mate, and slightly behind him, both waiting for their master to acknowledge them.   “You have a petition to make. Speak it.” Kagome knew that ceremony was only actually necessary when the youkai in question were willingly allowing themselves to be claimed and marked. As to whether or not she’d use it for Sess when she marked him in the past, that was an entirely separate matter, and something she’d decide on *then*.   “You gave us your protection five hundred years ago, when we had been reduced to but a handful of males, and you aided us in finding mates. Now the reckoning has come due, and we beg of you to accept our pack into your service and mark us as yours, and yours alone.” The rest of Kouga’s pack had gathered in the hall, under the eyes of the guests, sitting at tables to one side, although a few were acting as servants still, and would be claimed later, after others had replaced them.   “Gladly, provided you are willing. If so approach.” Kagome stood, extending her arm to Kouga, waiting for him to stand and take her hand. She used that leverage to pull him up against her, holding him close and whispering into the base of his throat.   “With these words I make you mine.” Other methods were available, it was actually more normal to kiss or lick the place where the youkai was to be marked, but Kagome liked the idea of using words. Releasing the wolf youkai she spun Kouga around, forcing him to his knees, and gripping his hair to expose his throat to their audience. “I name Kouga as steward to me, in charge of all the estates and assets brought to my ownership by his pack. Ayame, if you agree to be mine come forward.”   Ayame obeyed, eyes cast down modestly, and stood before Kagome awaiting her acknowledgement. Again Kagome pulled her into an embrace, whispering into the base of her throat and marking her as she had Kouga. Again a spin brought the youkai’s throat into plain view. “And I name Ayame also as my steward, or chatelaine, to aid Kouga in controlling and tending to those assets I have gained this day.” The two wolves got up and stood together watching their new master, admiration and respect in their eyes.   “I have chosen ten of your pack to bring into my personal household, bring them forth, one at a time.” The first youkai Ayame led to Kagome was female, and looked about twenty, although in actuality she was near fifty. Pushing her brown hair from the left side of her neck Kagome whispered into the skin where it met her shoulder. “With these words I make you mine.” She’d chosen five males, and five females, so while Kouga led the males to her Ayame brought forward the females. Marking those was not too tiring, but what would come next would be, Kagome knew.   “Step forward, in turn you others. Though I have not taken you into my personal household I will still protect you should you choose to serve me, but know that refusal will cause you to be exiled from this pack, for the old oath sworn after Naraku’s death was that the pack entire would serve me.”   None of the pack refused to serve her, instead they all stepped forward one by one to be marked. The guests were becoming restive, but they all recognised the necessity for Kagome to mark all who would be hers now, and tried to hide their growing impatience, despite that she sensed it. But that was not the most discomforting thing; rather the most discomforting aspect was that she began to tire when she had marked only three hundred of the pack. It was not overly severe, but Kagome began to draw from Sess nonetheless, so that she would not tire so quickly, as she could mark using less power if she was at her full power.   Finally it was done and she could join the feast. Or rather have it brought to her, Kagome beckoned one of her new servants and he set up a table in front of her throne, complete with the meal she’d specified earlier.   ~~~***0***~~~