Bloodlust Chapter 12

"Sesshomaru?"

The demon lord looked up at his mate standing in the doorway, and opened his eyes wide. Kagome smiled.

"How do I look?"

Her hair was caught in thick loops that crisscrossed the back of her neck, pinned carefully with black combs that dripped deep red stones. The black of her kimono contrasted sharply with her pale skin and the silver of her hair, and the thick red embroidery that formed sakura blossoms and their leaves was an exact match for the glistening rubies of the combs.

"You are…beautiful. Those were my mother's presentation garments….my father's mothers as well. I think you must be the most beautiful lady of this House ever to have worn them."

Kagome blushed prettily, and he held out an arm for her.

"The other lords will arrive shortly. You must meet them with me in the entrance hall. Shall we go down?"

She nodded, and felt a tight nervousness begin building in her stomach, but she pushed it away half-angrily and walked with Sesshomaru down the main stairs, to find Sango and Miroku already waiting. Sango's face was slightly green, and Kagome laughed.

"Sango, you've had two weeks to get used to this idea of meeting the other demon lords. Don't tell me you're still scared!"

The demon slayer glared at Kagome, at the same time extending a finger to point at Miroku.

"I am not afraid! Only it appears that Miroku was not quite as recovered from his…habit as he seemed! I can not guarantee that he won't be unconscious halfway through this dinner!"

Miroku protested, adopting his most humble `servant-of-Buddha' expression.

"Lady Sango, you can not punish this simple monk for being unable to control his urges when it comes to your exquisite form. Especially in those clothes, you are very beautiful."

Sango went quickly from green to red, and stepped a little closer to the grinning monk, mumbling to herself. Kagome giggled, but Sesshomaru just shook his head, used to the antics of the monk and the exterminator by this time. Kagome's laughter died in her throat when Sesshomaru opened the main doors to the castle, and she saw the approaching youkai. Sesshomaru tightened his arm around her reassuringly, and as the first pair of youkai approached he nodded formally to them.

"I present to you my mate, Kagome, Lady of the Western Lands."

Kagome nodded as well, and the youkai pair introduced themselves as the Lord and Lady of the Eastern Lands. The Lord of the North was greeted in the same manner, and several less important youkai were introduced less formally. Kagome heard Jaken announce the arrival of the Lord of the South, and she felt Sesshomaru tense slightly beside her.

*Of course…the old Lord of the South must have been the one who was defeated by his father….the one who injured InuTaisho so severely.*

"Lord Kouga, I present my mate, Kagome, Lady of the Western Lands."

Kagome looked up quickly, sure she could not possible have heard correctly, but all the color drained out of her face when she remembered that the tapestry had depicted a dog demon and a wolf demon engaged in combat, and then her eyes met the startled brown eyes of Kouga, Prince of Wolves. Her thoughts raced and she nearly swayed on her feet, remembering Kouga's constant claims that she was his woman, his hatred for InuYasha with no apparent reason behind it….what she knew of his fathers death at the hands of Lord InuTaisho…and she prayed hopelessly that Kouga would somehow miss the fact of her name and the familiarity of her scent. His eyes narrowed swiftly, and a low, possessive growl rumbled in his throat.

"What right did you have to mate my woman, Lord Sesshomaru? More than that, what right did you have to change her into an InuYoukai?"

The surrounding Lords held their collective breath, and Kagome noticed several preparing for violence. The tension between the Lords of the West and South was fierce and well known. A flush of hot anger surged through her, and she growled softly. This…wolf…was calling her mate's honor into question, was calling her honor into question by association. Tense, sneering words stung Kouga, and she tilted her head slightly to expose her mating mark.

"You made your claim more than once, Kouga, and more than once it was refused. I have always been InuYoukai, though spells kept it from being visible, even to eyes wiser than yours."

Kouga flushed hotly, and stepped forward, one hand curling tightly closed around her wrist.

"You did not reject my claim formally Kagome, and as such your mating with this dog is of no consequence. I will erase it when I mate with you myself."

A shuddering burst of miko power forced Kouga's hand from around her wrist, leaving him with a stinging burn on his palm.

"There was no claim, what you said was rejected. You will cease this foolishness now or I will purify you where you stand and deal with the consequences later."

Her eyes flashed redly, and she stepped back into Sesshomaru's embrace, allowing him to nuzzle the mark on her neck. Kouga clenched his injured fist and the rest of the minor lords and their mates filed past without incident, but Kagome could still feel the heat of anger within herself, and she took slow controlled breaths to force it deep within her youkai.

The tension in the room still had not dissipated completely, and Sango approached her slowly, and met Kagome's eyes with concern.

"Do you think he will do as you've asked?"

Kagome sighed.

"No, I don't. He will quiet himself at this dinner; he is smart enough to know that to attack Sesshomaru here would lead to war between all four of the greater lords. The alliances between them assure it, and he knows that the consequences of such a war would be drastic. He is not stupid enough to begin a war over a woman…but not intelligent enough to refrain from a challenge of combat, though I'm not sure exactly what is entailed in one. We will see what happens at the ceremony. With any luck, he will hold his tongue."

Sango was impressed by Kagome's dramatic knowledge of youkai politics, and said so. Kagome smiled briefly.

"Sess-chan wanted me to know something of the lords who would be present, and that included knowing who would be friendliest and what their motives for being so would be. It is…an interesting subject, to say the least. But he did not tell me Kouga was the Lord of the South! I suppose he didn't think he had any reason to do so, just as I had no reason to mention the name to him in the first place. I cannot believe that wolf thinks that saying I am his woman constitutes a formal claim."

Sango laughed slightly, and Kagome blinked thoughtfully, turning her mind to other matters in a belated attempt to calm herself.

"I arranged for you to sit on one side of me, and Miroku on the other side of you. A little bit of comfort for all of us. I think I will go and tell Sess-chan to announce dinner as soon as possible…it will be the easiest way to avoid further trouble."

Sango nodded, and moved carefully through the press of youkai to where she could see Miroku standing, deep in conversation with an unfamiliar youkai lord. She was glad to see that Kouga was nowhere near. Miroku turned towards her, and gestured with a regal grace new to him.

"Sango, may I introduce Lord Kinawai, ruler of the Eastern Lands. Lord Kinawai, the Taijiya Lady Sango."

She bowed deeply, almost wishing that Miroku had left the `Taijiya' from her name, but threw away the thought as unworthy of her family as quickly as it came. Lord Kinawai nodded to her.

"A female demon slayer? You must be something of an oddity among your human kin."

"My village was one of demon exterminators. By the age of twelve, all children of the village were able to handle themselves and their weapons with enough skill to destroy many demons. Others of greater strength were handled by the entire village."

Lord Kinawai nodded slowly. Sango was surprised to see a certain amount of respect in his eyes, and re-evaluated once again her measure of youkai.

"My fellow Lords and their inferiors often underestimate the strength of humans, refusing to acknowledge those strengths while overestimating human weakness. The number of humans grows slowly, despite youkai attack, while the number of youkai slowly decreases. You both were part of the group that was responsible for the defeat of Naraku and the collection of the complete shikon jewel?"

"Yes…that was our group. We defeated him in order to prevent him from collecting all of the shards of the shikon, as well to avenge acts he had committed against each of us. But it was Kagome who destroyed Naraku himself, purified him into the otherworld with her miko power."

Lord Kinawai looked impressed.

"She will be a good mate for Lord Sesshomaru…something that not many could claim. He is most likely the strongest of all of us. I have known him for a long time…he is often cold, and sometimes cruel, but never without a deeper wisdom behind his actions. She has beauty and strength, and great loyalty. It is a good match."

He seemed about to ask something, but at that moment the call to dinner went out, and Lord Kinawai excused himself to find his mate. Miroku followed Sango into the dining hall, and they sat with the assembled youkai lords.

As Sesshomaru had expected, talk turned quickly from the subject of his mating at long last to his mate's search for the shikon jewel, which hung glowing as always around her neck. Once it was known to the other lords - mostly by the subtle manipulations of Lord Kinawai - that the two humans present had been part of the group that had defeated Naraku, the currents of feeling toward them shifted positively. No one missed the occasional glances Kouga sent towards Kagome, or the angry glares he directed towards Sesshomaru, but they went ignored by those involved, and the other lords made no comment.

Kagome waited tensely through the meal, hoping against hope that Kouga would have the good sense to keep his mouth shut. Eventually, Sesshomaru stood, and she followed behind him into a room that had been specially prepared for her acceptance ceremony. It was completely black once all the lords had entered and the door was shut, the sun having long since set. She led Sango and Miroku to their places on the cushions forming a circle away from the wall, knowing they could not see in the darkness, and knelt in the center of the circle. Sesshomaru came to stand behind her. Grateful for his presence, she breathed his scent deeply, feeling the calming influence of it wash gently through her body. The quiet was thick, and when Sesshomaru spoke she almost jumped at the suddenness of his voice breaking the silence.

"I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, Son of the Lord InuTaisho, have claimed and taken to mate Higurashi Kagome, Miko, InuYoukai, now Lady of the Western Lands. You who would accept her as such, do so with honor. You who would challenge, give out your claim with honorable purpose or hold in silence."

In some predefined order, born out of instinct, Kagome felt the assorted Lords and their mates stand and move behind Sesshomaru, each of them leaving a thin scratch horizontally across her upraised palms as they did so, signifying their acceptance of her as one of their number. She saw Kouga standing dimly in front of her, but no claw touched her skin, and she shook slightly.

"I challenge."

She felt the growl building in Sesshomaru's chest, the sudden gathering of his youkai in response to the scent of her blood and her fear, and the insult to his honor.

"By what right?"

"The right of prior claim."

"The claim was refused."

"There was no formal refusal."

"She was under magic to make her human and knew nothing of her youkai heritage. She has chosen her mate, in refusal of all claims made prior to my own."

Kagome stood and backed against Sesshomaru, assuming the same posture that she had held in the entrance hall earlier, but Kouga ignored her warning growl, and caught her hands, drawing a vertical scratch through the lines of acceptance that had been made by the other lords. There was a sharp intake of breath from at least one of the assembled youkai lords, and Sesshomaru moved her aside gently, glinting eyes meeting glinting eyes as he stared at the Wolf Lord.

"You have issued a formal challenge. It can not be withdrawn. The morning will see battle, and your blood will stain the ground. Under what terms do you issue the challenge?"

"Under the terms that ruled the challenge of our fathers."

Sesshomaru nodded coldly, and Kagome watched the assembled lords file out, but none of them left the castle, and Jaken rushed around frantically finding chambers for them. Kagome turned swiftly to Sesshomaru, who stood completely motionless, still staring at Kouga.

"Sess-chan, tell me what this challenge means."

"He has issued a formal challenge to your place as my mate. Tomorrow we fight to answer it. He will die as his father did."

Kagome gave a small, stifled gasp, and flung her arms tightly around his waist. Sesshomaru held her close, breathing the scent of her and ignoring Kouga's growl in the background.

"We will go to bed, and in the morning this will be resolved. There is a long lifetime for us together, koi. This will not disturb it."

Kouga snarled.

"The traditions forbid it. This night she may share neither of our beds."

Sesshomaru returned Kouga's snarl, holding Kagome possessively close. She placed her hands over his where they were clasped around her waist, and stood on her toes to kiss him in defiance. Kouga's snarl deepened its tone, and her eyes flashed as she whirled to glare at him.

"If by some absurd bit of luck you do manage to defeat my mate, you will die by my hands. If you think that I would not harm one who I once counted as friend, think on this. InuYasha should have been here, is not because he is dead, is dead because I took his life on my claws."

Kouga stared after her as she ran out, and turned his gaze back to Sesshomaru.

"Is she serious, Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru smiled, cold and twisted.

"That you think she would lie tells the truth of how much you truly care for her. But yes, she is quite serious."

The Taiyoukai was gone before Kouga had a chance to say another word, and he went in search of Jaken and a place to sleep. He looked forward to the chance both to avenge his father and to claim his woman. She would come to her senses once he had disposed of the arrogant Western Lord.

Kagome knocked hesitantly on Sango's door, and the huntress pulled her into her rooms quickly.

"Kagome! Are you alright? This has to be the most idiotic thing that fool of a wolf has ever done! Does he really think he has a chance against Sesshomaru?"

"He does have some chance, I suppose. He is fighting for his honor and his woman…at least in his mind. And even without the shikon shards he is still fast, and strong. The battle they've agreed to fight is as transformed youkai, as their fathers fought. At least now I know why he was always after InuYasha. But Sesshomaru will take care of Kouga…he is the stronger."

Sango nodded.

"You want to stay here with me tonight?"

Kagome sighed deeply.

"If you don't mind. Some horrible tradition or other requires that I spend the night before the battle with neither of the participants."

"It makes sense with what I know of youkai…it is a battle over mating rights after all….and that would be more difficult if the woman in question slept with one or the other the night previous to battle. It sounds almost like a ceremonial cleansing. Speaking of which, come on. Let's go get a hot a bath, and try to sleep."

Kagome nodded slowly, and followed Sango to the hot spring, staring longingly at the chambers at the end of the hall, her thoughts with her mate.

*Sesshomaru….*