literature

Bloodlust Chapter 23

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Sesshomaru awoke out of startled reflex, and immediately pressed his body over Kagome's exposed form, hiding her from the view of whoever had violated their privacy. A warning snarl twisted his lips, and Kagome whimpered softly in her sleep, pressing her body closer to him. He could still sense the youkai presence that had disturbed his sleep, and he dressed quickly in his hakama, and covered Kagome tenderly with his haori. She awoke at the loss of his warmth across her body, and he turned to her when she stirred drowsily, and knelt beside her, brushing a few stray strands away from her cheek.

"Someone intrudes on our rest, my mate. Sleep, I will take care of it."

She touched his cheek with the tip of her claw and snuggled herself deeply into the silk and scent of his haori. Sesshomaru waited a few tense moments until her breathing deepened, and then stalked silently around the edge of the small clearing, filtering out the sound of dripping water from the small stream. A movement behind him turned into his awareness, and he pinned the youkai presence to the ground before his eyes had time to register a face. His eyes flushed slightly red, and his voice was a low growl.

"Council or no, I will have your reason for disturbing myself and my mate, or you will die, Kasuka."

The Lady of the North moved sinuously, let her eyes roam obviously across the taut muscles of his bare chest, poised over her body. Sesshomaru ignored the awkwardness of his position and the flirting lust in her eyes, and tightened his claws around her throat, holding her still.

"Do not play your games with me, Kasuka. You may be the mate of my ally, but I have not changed towards you. You cannot be trusted. Did you think you could surprise me in my sleep?"

He tossed her disgusted back on the ground, and stood away from her, battle ready. His eyes flickered through the clearing to where Kagome lay, still safe and silent, wrapped in his haori. He felt fluctuations in her power, rising to him through their mating bond. The subtle addition to his own power pressed through his thoughts, and he let his youkai rise to meet it. Kasuka stood slowly and looked at him in fearful astonishment.

"What are you doing? If you spill my blood, the council will avenge me."

He smiled, and she shuddered when she saw it.

"You know well that none of the council are strong enough to defeat me. Would you tempt me to prove it?"

She glared at him.

"No I would not. But even you and your miko mate could not destroy them all."
Sesshomaru steadied a death-weighted stare in her direction, and bared his fangs.

"Do not underestimate her power. Enough of this. Tell me why you are here or die where you stand, wench. You are no Lady to me."

Her eyes flashed with angles and she spat words at him, tempting the tightening of his claws towards her flesh.

"I did not come to speak with you, I came to speak to your mate."

Sesshomaru shifted his position so that he stood between Kasuka and Kagome's sleeping form.

"You may not speak with her. Go."

"You have no say in whether or not I may exchange words with your mate, Sesshomaru. I spent an afternoon in her company, will spend tomorrow in her company, and you cannot prevent it."

A low and dangerous growl built in his throat and poured towards her.

"My dokkasou does not agree with you, Kasuka. I will warn my Kagome about you; I should have done before we arrived."

The acid green glow that fitted itself quickly around his claws grew in intensity, and the bitter poison smell widened her nostrils and the scent of her fear escaped her control, and her words shook despite her tone.

"Warn her all you like Sesshomaru, it will make no difference."

He growled out words and when he spoke she turned and fled.

"Leave, or die."

Everything but her scent had disappeared, and he returned to Kagome's side, crouching low in the stream, letting the cold water carry the scent of Kasuka's skin off her hands. The water swirled across his bare feet, wetting the hem of his hakama. He stayed still in the trickling stream, letting coolness take the heat of his anger. Long silver hair mixed with his, and he smiled without turning.

"You should sleep, my mate. You will need it tomorrow when the council reconvenes."

Kagome's hands wrapped themselves around his chest, and her voice was muffled against his back.

"You are troubled by something, Sess-chan, I could tell even sleeping. Who was it that came?"

She felt the tensing of his muscles under the feather touch of her hands, and he clenched his fists in the water.

"Kasuka."

Kagome's eyes widened at the tint of red that flowed away from his hands in the clear water.

"Lady Kasuka? Lord Kinawai's mate? What upset you so? She was kind to me, if inquisitive."

A low, harsh laugh fell from his lips, and Kagome shuddered to hear it.

"The `Lady' Kasuka is not deserving of any such title. Be careful around her, even with your words - she gathers information, uses it for wicked purpose. She cannot be trusted with anything."

He sat on the low bank of the stream and she let him gather her close against the side of his body. She stared quietly down into the water, waiting for him to speak, but he maintained his silence and she stroked the back of his hand gently with her claws.

"Why is she so untrustworthy, Sess-chan? Kinawai seems pleased enough to be mated to her, though I have not seen them together for very long."

"Kinawai must look so, unless he has reason to kill her. That is the only manner in which they may separate, according to youkai law. He knew little of her nature but that she was an apt seductress, and knowing that of her did not inure him to her…charm. Once he had mated her, he left her to her own devices, and thusly there are few lords left who she has not attempted to seduce."

Kagome's eyes flashed slightly, and she squeezed them shut, pushing aside a sudden jealous rage.

"She has given you reason to hate her?"

Sesshomaru shook his head slowly, and an anguished, despairing rage filled his eyes.

"I have only suspicions, and nothing to prove them with. I will say no more than this - she is wicked and deceitful; be wary of her, if only for my peace of mind."

"You know that you don't need to ask twice. But there is something she said to me today, about a clan of miko youkai that lived on her lands. She said…that they used the spells of blood and fire to hide their youkai, in order to make humans accept them as miko."

Sesshomaru stared hard into the sand on the stream bottom.

"Hope, but not too much. There is some trick in that information, something for her to gain or she would not have said it. Trust me, koi. Even if there were such a clan of youkai, they would be distantly related to you, at best. You were born five hundred years from now."

The hint of pleading in his gaze convinced her of his seriousness, and she a thoughtful palm against his cheek in reassurance.

"I will be careful of her. Come lay with me, Sess-chan. There are a few hours left until sunrise, at least. The summons comes at dawn?"

He nodded.

"It does."

He followed her back to the soft patch of grass, and she shed his haori, blushing under the intensity of his gaze.

"Please don't stare so, Sess-chan."

He growled low and pulled her naked body against his bare chest, a sudden wave of possessive desire washing through him.

"I will look at what is mine."

His fangs grazed her ear along with his hot words.

"Especially when what is mine is also beautiful."

She flushed a deeper red and lay quickly on her kimono, spread across the soft turf beneath them. He wrapped his body around her from behind, and covered her naked body lightly with his haori, aware for the first time in that place of the possibility of unwelcome eyes. A single pair glinted, watching jealously from above, and winked out of existence when a possessive growl slipped from a half-dreaming Sesshomaru.

The dawn-light crept into the clearing slowly, and Kagome blinked the shock of sunlight out of her eyes, turning into Sesshomaru's warmth. The interruption of the night played itself in her thoughts, and she nuzzled Sesshomaru's cheek gently, pushing him out of sleep. He pulled her more tightly against his body, refusing to open his eyes, and Kagome giggled and pressed her lips gently against his. Sesshomaru brushed his tongue across her fangs, and she purred a content good morning deep in her chest. His hands slid beneath the soft silk cover of his haori, tempted by the half exposed curve of her breasts and the weight of her hips across his body. She nipped lightly at his lip and rolled gracefully off him and onto the grass, smiling brilliantly."

"Dawn-light, Sess-chan. Council summons will come soon, and you are acting like a sleepy puppy."

He stood slowly and walked through the stream into the trees beyond it, motioning for Kagome to follow him.

"Where are we going, Sess-chan?"

"Past a barrier that is here. Use your miko, you'll find it. It hides a small house; it is easier to keep such things as clothing near council, and use them when necessary, rather than bringing servants and their trappings."

Kagome reached out tentatively with her miko, and felt it repulsed by a throb of youkai energy that gradually expanded around her probing consciousness and pulled her in. She stumbled forward a few steps and found herself standing in front of what looked to her like the seaside cottages of her era. Sesshomaru stepped through behind her, and moved towards the small house.

"Perhaps we should have slept here last night, it would have saved us the interruption. But I find sleeping by that stream oddly refreshing."

Kagome nodded her agreement and followed him inside, to an ornate wardrobe. When she pulled it open, she found the same exotic assortment of kimono that graced her wardrobe at the castle.

"If you expect me to choose between all these, you've gone mad, Sess-chan. Pick a color, and I'll wear it."

He reached past the hanging rows of kimono, and pulled a long, heavy box from the space behind them and handed it to her.

"This was my mothers - wear this."

She nodded, and disappeared into the next room. She reappeared a quarter of an hour later, and Sesshomaru lived for long moments in the vision of her that danced in front of his eyes.

"Ka…gome…"

She smiled shyly up at him, and laughed lightly when he continued to stare.

"I should not have given you those clothes."

"What? Why not?"

"You are too beautiful. No one but me should ever see you this way, as beautiful as you are now."

Three layers of fine silk draped elegantly over her body, each layer more transparent than the one beneath it. She appeared dressed in crimson and silver mist, ethereal and fey. She held out to him in one hand what seemed to be an oddly shaped silver necklace, and he looked at it in surprise.

"You won't wear it?"

She shook her head.

"I can't. The shikon…."

He too it from her hands and motion for her to turn around.

"It is not a necklace, my Kagome, it is a circlet."

The silver blended with her hair, and a double thickness of smooth metal followed the outline of the crescent moon on her forehead, tracing the blue marking as though it were a living jewel embedded in the jewelry, rather than a mark on her skin. The heavy weight of metal felt strange pressing against her forehead, but she accepted the unfamiliarity and smiled at him.

"If you say I am so beautiful, you will have to stay beside me and protect me from the eyes of the others."

She giggled slightly, but the though of staring male eyes following her beauty growled in his throat.

"They will keep their eyes to themselves as well as their voices and their hands."

"But last night, Sess-chan…you spoke to Kasuka. Is that not a violation of council protocol."

"Her following me to this place is more of a violation than my words, and she knows better than to speak of it. Forget her, my Kagome - she is not worth the trouble she is causing your thoughts."

A clear, high sound, untranslatable as note or noise rent the morning calm, and Sesshomaru turned, baring his fangs.

"The council summons. Now I will deal death in payment for those hours of grief that they wove for you."

Kagome met his eyes with the same glimmer that sparkled lethally in his, tempered by concern.

"I hope you are right, Sess-chan, but the wind feels ill-omened."

She followed a half-step behind him on the way back to the council meadow, trying to clear her thoughts, but the menace of evil that seemed so real did not disappear, and seemed instead to linger and loom over the horizon, as rain clouds over a sunny day. She pulled herself out of her daze when Sesshomaru took her hand and pulled her with him to stand in front of Kinawai.

More quickly than she had expected, the assortment of lords and their mates filed into the clearing, and formed a solemn and silent line behind where they stood. An ominous shadow blocked out the sun, and the presence of the dragon clan lords suddenly made itself abundantly clear. Kagome's claws glowed with a clear pink energy, and the line of youkai took a collective step backwards, away from her miko. Kinawai stood forward and called up to the dragon lords.

"You who claim responsibility for the rule and leadership of the clans of dragon youkai, stand forth now to accept the judgment of the council!"

The beat of wings as the dragon youkai landed sent a gust of wind across the meadow, and Sesshomaru ignored the stinging tendrils of hair that whipped across his face. The largest of the dragon lords stepped forward and called out in a deep, rumbling voice.

"For what must we accept judgment?"

"The council of lords was summoned by the Lord of the West, to make judgment on the actions of the dragon clans, who attacked without honor, using forbidden poison."

The same voice rumbled again in laughter.

"The Lord of the West was attacked - and the Lord of the West is dead. Perhaps you speak of the pretty little mate he called a mate."

A violent roar tore itself from Sesshomaru's throat, and those that had never seen him express any emotion were struck with terror at the fullness of his rage. His ripped council protocol to shreds, and stepped forward to face the youkai who had spoken with blood flecked eyes and tensed claws.

"The Lord of the West is not dead, and my mate is no mutt! Watch your words, dragon."

"So, the dog is alive. How disappointing. But it will be more fun to play with you myself."
His eyes moved to Kagome and lingered there, raking her body lewdly through the layers of silk.

"A pretty little mutt indeed."

The muttered words did not escape Sesshomaru's hearing, and the implications of the dragon's words forced an eerie glow into the youkai of his eyes. Kinawai stepped between them, and reinforced the council formality, returning the thoughts of the surrounding youkai to the punishment they had decided upon.

"The judgment of the council is death upon the lords of the dragon clans, responsible for the actions of their clan members and the orders they gave. Submit and you may die still with honor."

Sesshomaru drew Toukijin, and the blade glinted out of its sheath as he stepped towards the first of the dragon youkai, his eyes cold and glittering with vengeful malice. The emotions that rolled of him rebounded against the mating bond, and Kagome felt the heat burst in her eyes, responding to the bloodlust raging in Sesshomaru's veins. She bared her fangs, wickedly gleeful, and moved to follow him, but Kinawai held out an arm to hold her back.

"You may not interfere."

Her eyes grew wider and bright with miko power, but Kinawai shook his head and stood firm.

"You may purify me where you stand, but you may not interfere with this thing. Rights of vengeance belong to your mate."

Sesshomaru waited the few moments it took for Kinawai to restrain Kagome, and raised his blade. A thick wave of power washed out from the demon blade, but when it reached where the dragon lords had stood, it met empty air and sped through the meadow and into the grass. The beat of wings revealed the presence of a single dragon youkai over their heads, and the flight of the others, fleeing north.

"The clans of the dragon challenge the authority of the council, and refuse judgment."

Kinawai stared up, and Sesshomaru returned to Kagome's side. His words fell like a death knoll on the ears of the assembled lords, and more than one shuddered in remembered fear.

"Refusal of judgment is a declaration of war. Submit or be hunted."

The dragon laughed and stared down at Sesshomaru and Kagome, standing closely together.

"This has already become a war, dog, and your life is mine. Do not forget it."

Kagome howled in unadulterated fury, and a wave of pure, uncontrolled miko power washed out of her body and out across the sea of grass towards the dragon youkai. He barely avoided it, smoke and hot black blood fell from the edge of his wing, and hissed on the grass where it fell, burning the ground.

"Kami-sama…."

Kinawai's whispered words dropped into the sudden silence, and when they had recovered enough to remember his presence, the dragon lord had gone. Kagome stood alone in front of them all, panting heavily, clutching Sesshomaru's arm for support. Ignoring his own reputation and the stares from the silently watching youkai, Sesshomaru picked her up and she slumped exhausted in his arms. He exchanged a single worried glance with Kinawai, and the other lord nodded, and Sesshomaru moved with blurred speed towards the edge of the woods. He lay her gently by the bank of the stream when he reached it, and bent over her worriedly.

"Kagome?"

She smiled waveringly up at him through her eyelashes, and he looked down ito her eyes. Kagome saw emotions flicker through his piercing gaze, almost too fast for her to identify them, the vestiges of the confrontation with the dragon lords written most clearly in his expression.

"I am sorry, Sess-chan. You do not need more to worry about. I will be fine - I am not especially tired, but I lost everything for a moment."

She stood gingerly and swayed on her feet, and Sesshomaru's arm shot out to steady her.

"Be careful, Kagome. I have never seen such power from you before. Even the blast that tetsusaiga amplified did not contain so much raw power."

She steadied herself against his chest, and he held her tightly, looking over her head into the clear blue of the sky.

"Tonight will end the council, and there will be a slow time while armies are collected and the dragon lords are found and chased out of hiding. Tomorrow I will take you to the old miko's village, where the monk and the huntress have gone. You will stay with them until this war is over."

She nodded slowly and leaned against his chest.

"I will stay with Kaede, Sess-chan. But if they hurt you, I will come for them. That is my right as your mate, and I will not have it denied, pup or no."

He held her so tightly it was nearly pain, but she let him do so, feeling in the taut muscles of his arms the terrible fury that awaited the dragons.
hmmm **raises eyebrows** now I wonder why this lady is so naughty?
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