InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Ten: Rock Pile ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter Ten (Rock-Pile)

Jaken was waiting impatiently for the Taiyoukai to return to the castle. The imp had a long list of grievances to tell his Master regarding that filthy human girl the Lord had saddled him with. His brown robes were still damp from her latest antic. Dashing about in the koi pond was bad enough, but pulling him in after her! That was the limit!

Years past counting he had spent serving his Lord, and this was the reward he got! Moldy clothes and a stinking ningen brat worrying his every waking moment! It was enough to turn him into a ferryman, like his mother had always wanted. Instead, he had to rebel and swear he would find the greatest Lord of the Land and serve as that Lord's chief advisor, basking in the shadow of reflected glory. That had been his fondest ambition. And he had thought he had found it in the ruthless young Taiyoukai. Years he had dedicated to his Lord, and what was his reward?

A rambunctious, cheeky ningen girl who ran circles around him, to the amusement of the other youkai in the Lord's service. Where was the respect, the gratitude, the preeminence due his position?

Yes, he would have a word with the Lord, as soon as he came...

The sudden appearance of the Taiyoukai had Jaken bowing deeply. "Welcome home, me lord. All have been dismayed at your absence, Master, and may I add, are eager to welcome you home safe. We, and I---your unfailingly ever faithful servant---especially, have sorely missed you." Platitudes never hurt, and it might help his cause. Glancing up to see if his Lord was pleased by his welcome, the yellow-eyed imp froze. His mouth fell open in shock as his eyes bugged out.

Lord SesshouMaru stood there, in all the glorious disdain and arrogance that Jaken had always greatly admired. But held tightly to him was a ningen girl, her black hair spilling over the Lord's white robes.

"M-Master!" Jaken squawked. "Another human? You have brought back ANOTHER human? The youkai already talk about your peculiar attachment to that stinking turnip Rin, and now you have gone and brought another one into the castle? What are you thinking, me lord! Are we turning the castle into a sanctuary for lost ningen brats?"

The Taiyoukai stared at the outraged imp long enough for Jaken to get nervous. REALLY nervous.

"You are impertinent, Jaken." SesshouMaru said coldly. "I will deal with you shortly."

Yellow eyes bulging, the imp quickly plastered himself to the stone floor of the terrace. "M-Me lord! Forgive me! I am but your humble servant! I only care for your reputation! Please, me lord! F-Forgive me!"

"Get up, Jaken." The Taiyoukai was curt. When the slobbering imp had obeyed, the Lord swept by him, carrying the unconscious girl into the dark recesses of the castle. The trembling imp, clutching the Staff of Skulls to him protectively, hurried after.

The Lord did not turn, but his orders fell on the anxious imp. "You will see that a room is made up for our guest. One suitably appointed for her security."

"Security, me lord?" Jaken almost tripped in surprise.

The Taiyoukai stopped walking, impatient with his servant. "Do you not recognize this girl, Jaken?"

Jaken scrambled around the side of his master, curiousity gripping him. What human could the mighty Lord SesshouMaru wish to keep guarded? And why? He peered up at the limp form. With a shrug of his shoulders, he said testily, "She looks like every other pathetically ugly ningen wench I've ever seen."

"Really, Jaken." The Taiyoukai growled. "Your stupidity continually astounds me. I often wonder why I keep you in my service."

"B-But Master!" Jaken protested in hurt shock.

"Enough of this." Lord SesshouMaru turned away and swept past his groveling minion. Jaken continued to stare after the proud Taiyoukai, blinking as the swirl of a yellow skirt fluttered past the faintly blood-stained white robes of his master.

Blood-stained?

Lord SesshouMaru was hurt? Jaken was startled into immediate action. The Lord would need a bath, at the least. And probably one of the youkai servants to poultice his wound---if it was his. It could be someone else's. That thought cheered the imp immensely. Still, the Lord would need clean clothes, immediately. And a bath. He would need to soak the stink of that ningen off of him. Oh, and the ningen needed a room. A suitably `secured' room...

Mumbling to himself, the distracted imp hurried after his Master.

*~*~*~*~*

For lack of a better place to put the girl, SesshouMaru had settled her on a pile of cushions in his own sitting room. The girl was still unconscious, and had hardly twitched since he had deposited her there on the black and gold cushions. Turning away from the girl, the Lord stalked into his own rooms. He unbelted the shattered remains of his armor...he was definitely getting tired of replacing it. He would have to look into getting something stronger and more durable. But that could wait for later.

Although Jaken was at times a bumbling fool, he still knew how to arrange matters to the Lord's wishes here in his own castle. Only a scatter of minutes had passed since SesshouMaru had arrived with the girl, but the Taiyoukai, with his sensitive ears, could hear the screeching voice of his advisor ordering the servants about. The Lord had merely loosened his sash before his body servants were there with silent swiftness to take his blood-stained robes from him.

Most of his servants---servants whom his father, the great Western Lord, had captured or dominated and found suitable for menial work in the castle---were minor youkai. A few had enough strength on their own to affect the humanoid forms of ningen, but most could only keep to their natural demon forms. SesshouMaru preferred this, as their youkai forms were more agile and appropriate to the tasks assigned them.

His head servant, Suyo, bowed silently, motioning the other servants to disrobe the Lord. Dispassionately, SesshouMaru let the ash-colored demons swarm around him. Taking the filthy robes from him, the Taiyoukai waited for the bath to be ready. Steam rose from the large, stoned basin that took up nearly all the space in the bathing room. The Taiyoukai settled gingerly into the hot water, and then relaxed as willing female youkai came to scrub the smell of exertion from him, massage the tense muscles and carefully clean his long, silver-white hair and tail. The Lord was fastidious in his person, and did not tolerate incompetence.

Suyo waited patiently on the side of the bathing room. The spider demon had enough power of his own to affect the body of a human, but he retained the pale dove-grey color of his own youkai skin and the four arms he felt were more appropriate than two. A short, black top-knot and lightly pink eyes above a noseless face and fanged slit of a mouth gave the spider youkai a face almost as expressionless as his master's.

It was Suyo who lightly bandaged the Taiyoukai's shallow wounds when he emerged from his bath. The claw marks had already started to heal on the powerful Lord, but there was no sense allowing the wound to re-open. A soft, loose robe, warmed by the hearth, was ready for the Lord to slip into, and the conscientious body servant had left some of the latest scrolls the Lord had been perusing on a side table before the fire.

As soon as he was comfortably seated in front of the roaring fire, the Taiyoukai dismissed his silently hovering servants. Suyo stayed and bowed respectfully.

"My lord. I would let you know that the human girl has been settled in the southern wing." The voice was soft and mellow, much more suited to the inu youkai's sensitive ears than the jabbering of his other close servant, Jaken.

SesshouMaru nodded thoughtfully. His eyes narrowed on the fire in front of him, but his mind was not on the flickering flames. Suyo waited with infinite patience for his master's next order.

"A ward should be placed on her rooms." The Taiyoukai said into the silence. The fire crackled on the hearth, sending sparks up the chimney. "She is a miko of unknown potential. She is unskilled in her art, but that could be more problematic than if she were trained. She could prove to be an unknown threat."

Suyo bowed, slightly taken aback at the Lord's next idly spoken thought.

"That might prove intriguing."

*~*~*~*~*

"HUL-LOH! Is anyone out there?!"

Kagome banged a small fist on the barred door to her rooms. Of course, no one answered her impatient shout---again. Frustrated, she angrily kicked at the thick wood of the door.

"OW!"

She grabbed her toes in reflex, hopping on one foot awkwardly. Tears flashed in her brown eyes, but she angrily dashed them away. Limping, she went back into the other room, which had a small window (more a slight fissure in the wall than a real window) at least, that she could look out of.

Not that there was much to see. Just the sky and passing clouds. She had already spent hours staring out that window. She had even pushed and pulled one of the heavy tables over so she could scramble up on it and peer out. Not that she could see anything more than rocks and more clouds below. The fortress had to be up high for clouds to pass BENEATH it.

Growing despondent, she thought about shouting out the window again, but she had already tried that. And got the same echoing silence as when she pounded on the door. But she was so fed up with being trapped in here!

Sinking on the pillow-piled sleeping mat, she rubbed her sore toes absently as she contemplated her situation. Locked in the rooms for who knows how long, she had slowly recovered from her exhaustion. She had not seen or heard or spoken to anyone in all that time. Food had been left for her whenever she woke up, and taken away when she fell into exhausted sleep. The first time she had awoken, she had found a plain white robe with a simple sash. The next time, her own clothes, freshly cleaned and neatly repaired, had appeared. Gratefully, she had pulled them on. Since then, there had been nothing.

Worry was with her every woken moment. With no word from anyone and no news on how her friends were doing or whether InuYasha was hurt or...

"Stop right there, Kagome!" She told herself sternly. She wouldn't think about why InuYasha hadn't come for her yet. He could be busy. He could be trying to find her right now. He could be climbing up the mountain this stupid pile of rocks sat on right this very minute, intent on rescuing her!

That thought cheered her up a bit. Well, she had no choice but to wait for him.

*I just absolutely hate waiting.*

She had already prowled all over the three connecting rooms. Her prison might be made of stone and locked with stout wooden doors, but it was spacious and well appointed. Besides the obvious bedroom where she sat, there was a small bathroom and a sitting room. The furniture was a bit heavy and bulky and didn't look like any feudal style she could recognize. Pillows were piled here and there around low tables, and there was even a writing desk with a funky open-ended, backless chair in front of it. Too bad there wasn't anything to write with. She might have spent some time composing indignant letters to the arrogant youkai of this rock pile and air-mail them out the window in folded paper airplanes...

Still, the bathroom was surprisingly luxurious, for a medieval one. A sunken pool, large enough for her to lay down in, had warm water running through it continually. A small opening on either side, carved ornately with curlicued waves and leaping fish, allowed fresh water to flow in and dirty water out in a continual small stream. She could take a bath at any time, a luxury denied her even back home, where she had to share a bathroom with her pesky little brother Sota.

*Sota. Oh, I would give anything to see him again.* Kagome thought with a pang. But InuYasha had said that the well was burned to the ground and the gateway home was forever sealed. She would never see her family again.

She felt tears brightening her eyes, and she sniffed them back. She was so lonely and tired. All she wanted to do was see her friends and family again, and she was stuck here! With no word or acknowledgment or anything from her jailer!

She let out a most unladylike snort, thinking about His High and Mightiness, InuYasha's youkai brother. The overly proud Taiyoukai of the Western Lands who looked down his long nose at his half-human brother and the rest of them. SesshouMaru certainly didn't have anything to be proud about. He was a stuck up snob with a chip on his shoulder who was continually trying to kill InuYasha. A TRUE brother would have protected the hanyou after his human mother died, instead of leaving him to seek his own way in a world that hated and feared him.

SesshouMaru was a jerk.

A smile curved the girl's mouth at that satisfying thought. But the smile froze as she felt a tingle that sent goose-bumps down her spine. Brown eyes widening in fearful realization, she slowly turned her head.

There, in the archway between her bedroom and the sitting room, stood the tall, arrogant Lord of the Western Lands. Dressed in his favored white robes with the red-outlined flowers on cuff and lining, he stared back at her with coldly golden eyes. His face showed no expression, which sent a second shiver of fear down Kagome's spine. Suddenly, she was very, very afraid. Fearfully, she whispered softly,

"SesshouMaru."