Pre-Note: I'm apologizing in advance—you all are not going to like this chapter at all.
Chapter Thirty-Two—There Will Be War
The snow that swirled around her face was far more familiar than the snow that fell in the West. It was an absurd observation, and yet Kotono could not bring herself to push it aside. The snow, the air, the land was familiar to her, and her very soul trembled with sorrow. She did not want to be here. Here, there was pain; here there was anger; here there was absolute terror. And she had walked right into it. The muffled sound of a footstep drew her attention, and drawing her coat closer around her shoulders, Kotono turned and regarded the approaching soldier with a cool gaze. "This way," he murmured, low, detached voice just loud enough to be heard over the wind. She inclined her head, swallowing the urge to tell him that she knew where she was going. As they walked—her brother must have ordered that she be given no comfort, as the soldier kept off of the walkways and forced her to walk through the snow—Kotono observed the compound that had once been her home, unsurprised to find that there had been no changes. The stone buildings were still pale, the roofing tiles made of light gray ceramic. There was frost in sections where the wind blew most frequently, and in some corners, the snow drifts were higher than her elbow. A nostalgic smile flitted over her lips; she and Ryuu had played in those drifts once, before she had grown up and become more than the little dragonling that he entertained through the long winters. They had done many things before she became a woman—taunted the servants, worried their mother, invoked the wrath of their father. They had raided the kitchens on more than one occasion, and despite their penchant for getting into trouble, she could recall a number of instances in which he had offered his own hide in lieu of allowing her to accept her own punishment. He had been…important to her, the kind of brother she was proud to have. 'And then…' Then she'd grown up, and grown in to her gangly limbs and skinny figure. Her body had changed, and her mind with it; she'd began to notice the differences between some of the boys she'd played with her entire life; had confessed to Ryuu that she found some of them attractive, had told him that she sometimes experienced this strange flutter in her belly when she was near them. 'And perhaps,' she mused, keeping pace with the silent soldier as he led her away from the buildings of the compound and into the mountain tunnels lead to the family den, 'perhaps that is where I went wrong.' If she had never confessed to such feelings, if she had thought to go to her mother instead of her brother, would it have changed anything? Would she still be Lady of the North now, First General of the Northern Forces and precious sister to the lord of their people? 'Would you want to be?' The internal question caught her off guard, though her step never faltered and her eyes never wavered from the soldier's back. Would she want to be? Would she enjoy a life in which Lord Sesshomaru had never been introduced? A life in which she did not have Rin's warm hugs or Aoi's cool humor; one in which she had never met Kagome in all her fiery, compassionate glory? She suspected that she would be miserable. And miserable was not something she wanted to be. Kotono pulled herself out of her thoughts as the scent of her brother began to float on the air, thick with musk and the heavy smell of sex and feminine arousal. She refrained from scrunching her nose in distaste, following the now-aroused soldier ever deeper into the mountain, the chill of the stone around them warming as they neared Ryuu's den. The corridor they traversed widened, firelight giving the stone a red-orange glow. Warmth and sweat and the sounds of coupling flooded her senses, and she firmly suppressed her body's natural response as the tunnel opened, quite suddenly, into the Grand Den. Kotono's stomach turned. In the center, splayed naked on a collection of thick furs, lay Ryuu, his red eyes lazily perusing her form as one of his many concubines busied herself with pleasuring him. A clawed hand lifted, and he motioned her closer—an action she took as gracefully as she could, stepping over supple bodies and undulating pairs. Her disgust with the creature before her multiplied tenfold—never had Lord Sesshomaru asked them to participate in carnal acts together. Even for those who enjoyed feminine company as well as male stimulation, Lord Sesshomaru left them to themselves; they were to find their own entertainment in their own free time—though none of them were allowed male company, female liaisons between them were one's own business. 'But Ryuu…' She could smell the distinctive, cloying sweetness of the yujo plant, the leaves of which were a potent aphrodisiac when consumed. The urges that the yujo impressed were incredibly strong, and whereas resistance caused debilitating pain, indulgence granted pleasures that were addictive—many of these women would never be able to achieve release without it. Kotono fought the urge to tear into Ryuu's throat when she knelt beside him, leaning forward to press a perfunctory kiss against his high cheekbone. "Brother." "It is…a pleasure to see you again, Kotono," the dragon rumbled, his voice thick with arousal. She inclined her head. "And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?" Studiously keeping her eyes fixed on his, Kotono blandly replied, "That is a matter that should be spoken of in private." "Oh?" Ryuu grinned. "And what if this if not private? Surely you realize that they are lost to reality? They do not even know you're here." The rumble of his voice hitched as he finished speaking, and she lifted her eyes away from his face for the first time since entering the room—she had no desire to watch the pleasure of his release take over his features. Only when he chuckled did she lower her gaze from the stone over his left shoulder, and she knew that some measure of the dislike she held for him shone in her eyes; his lips twisted. "I would speak with you in true privacy," she said, "and nothing less." As though she were causing him a great grievance, Ryuu sighed. "Very well." He stood, and she quickly followed suit, ignoring the roaming gaze he leveled on her person. A silent command and a flutter of silk later, he was clothed in a short robe, and she followed him to the tunnel that would lead directly into the main building, the tingle of a Blood Ward washing over her skin as she crossed from the Den into the wide corridor. She kept herself slightly off to the side in an effort to avoid taking in Ryuu's scent, forcing her face into an impassive mask and her emotions into a tight, controlled ball in her chest. The silence between them held until they reached the end of the corridor; there, Ryuu held a thick tapestry aside, allowing her entrance into the receiving room of what she identified as his quarters, and she hummed a wordless 'thank you', to which Ryuu inclined his head as he let himself into the room, the tapestry dropping back into place behind him. He gestured for her to sit at the low table in the center of the room, and she purposefully took the cushion that smelled the least like him; he noticed, and smirked at her as he settled across from her, folding his large hands on the smooth surface of the table. "Well?" he prompted. "I assume you are here on behalf of your precious Lord Sesshomaru?" Ignoring the scorn in his tone, she nodded. "My lord requests that you reopen the trade routes." Ryuu regarded her calmly. "And if I do not?" "You violate the Treaty and bring war to the North." "And war must be avoided at all costs, yes?" He smiled a slow, sickening smile at her nod. "Then the mongrel must have something that he will give me in return for my cooperation." She did not speak, and Ryuu continued regardless, the deep rumble of his voice making her stomach roil uncomfortably. "Perhaps coin, perhaps…something else?" And his eyes raked over her so lewdly that she fought back the urge to retch, a gag catching in her throat and her hands clenching in her lap. She swallowed. "Lord Sesshomaru is prepared to provide the North with monetary compensation," she responded, keeping her voice neutral despite the urge to snarl. Ryuu hummed. "I see." His blood-red gaze sharpened, and the nausea rolling in her stomach forced itself into her throat. "And what will you offer me, dear sister?" It was a softly spoken question, but the heat behind it sickened her in a way that she had never before experienced. "I offer you nothing," she hissed, and it came out far more harshly than she had intended—in an instant, Ryuu had launched himself across the table and pinned her beneath him, his eyes darkened in fury. "How dare you," he whispered, and the calm tone of his voice was far more frightening than it should have been. "You return here, begging on behalf of that mutt, and you offer me nothing?" The hand around her throat tightened as the other shredded her clothes. "How dare you!" And when her shock wore off, when she realized what was happening, when she forced her head to the side and violently emptied her stomach of its contents, she fell limp, and lost herself in memories of Kagome's comfort. Hanging from the ceiling, a spider watched, and on the other side of a mirror, a hanyou wrote two letters; one for a dog, and one for a human.
:..:..:..:..:
She had only been gone for a day, and in that day, Kagome did exactly what the dragoness had told her not to do—she worried. She paced and wrung her hands; fought back tears and chewed at her bottom lip until it was raw. Yun-Qi did his best to comfort her, and Jiao-Long did his best to distract her, but after having sworn that she wouldn't tell another soul about Kotono's confession, there was no amount of comforting or distracting that would ease the knot of discomfort that sat in the center of her chest. 'It's just so wrong, and I can't do anything about it!' Frustration and worry were never a good combination, and as she sat, ignoring the cold of the waning day, she sighed, watching her breath fog in front of her face. She was uncomfortable—the unyielding wood step and the biting cold made sure of that—but she wouldn't move, knowing on some level that if Kotono could endure the discomfort she was no doubt weathering, then she could sit in the cold without complaining. Her fingers and toes had begun to numb by the time she realized that someone was approaching her, and after a brief debate between them, Yun-Qi descended to meet the youkai and Jiao-Long shifted closer to her, his warmth filtering through her right side. Yun-Qi and the youkai—who looked to be a courier for the South, if the large, wind-swept spider webs of his kimono were of any indication—held a quiet conversation, and after nodding, Yun-Qi took a rolled scroll, making his way up to her after the courier bowed and left. "From Lord Naraku," the gentle inuyoukai murmured, settling close to her other side. Kagome frowned. 'Why would Naraku-sama be writing to me?' Some part of her thrilled at the knowledge that he had contacted her, but the worry that had been eating away at her swirled a little more viciously in her chest. She swallowed, broke the spider-shaped wax seal, and then unrolled the thick parchment. Higurashi-sama, It was my wish that corresponding with you would be a welcome development, but I am most certain that you will not be happy with the contents of this letter. I have known of Kotono-ue's brother for many years—it is I who have spied for my lady mother since I was old enough to do so, and it is I who must tell you; what Kotono-ue most feared has come to pass. There will be war. —Lord Naraku The letter fell, and it was then that Kagome noticed how badly her fingers trembled, how forcefully her heart battered against her ribs. And as a roar filled with a type of fury she had never heard before shattered the peaceful atmosphere of the shiro, Kagome wept.
Author's Note: Please don't kill me! And yes, I know that I didn't actually warn about the rape, but it's there for impact—I promise it won't happen again.
One more chapter, which wasn't posted at FF.Net, and I'll be caught up.
~Aubrey
