An Ancient Vow by dreamcatcher
Council
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and my new created figures
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A/N: Oh my god, is it really that long ago? I´m so sorry it took me so long to update, but as you all know good stories need time. Again I´m sorry for the long wait!
A/N: This chapter is once again done with my beta Firehauke, fantastic as usual! Thank you!
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The rakko yōkai sat down at his desk and took the mail from where his mate had placed it. Frowning he looked down at a heavy, yellowish envelope with his address printed on. He turned it and paled as he saw the seal of the House of the West. Looking down at it he couldn´t fight the feeling that it contained something really bad for him and his House.
He hesitatingly broke the seal and opened it, pulling two formal looking sheets out. His hand began to shake as he recognized the contents, it was a summoning. He gulped drily as he took in the reasons and especially the information on the aggrieved party. Soft footfalls alerted him of the arrival of his mate, she must have sensed his distress through their bond and rushed to his side.
The male felt her small hand on his shoulder and looked up in her questioning face. A soft sigh escaped him as he locked their gaze. The sea otter was a devoted and long-time follower of the Western House and specifically their lord. His family was one of those that had listened to him and therefore survived the Holy Wars completely unharmed.
Slowly he turned his chair, rose to his feet and gave his mate the sheets. He watched as she read and her beautiful features paled. She looked up and seemed to try to coax him to tell her it was all a huge mistake but it wasn´t. His mate held a summons for her only daughter, who had to show up at the Western Council, to answer for crimes against the Western House itself.
"If this is true..." whispered his female panicking.
"She will die!" he finished the sentence for her, took her hand in his and squeezed it in shared fear.
~~~
"Ready?" Ryo stood in the open Shoji and looked at the nervous female sitting on the futon. Like him Kagome wore the colors of the House of the West. While his haori and hakamas were simply white and bore only three honeycomb sakuras on his left chest to mark him as a member of the personal staff, her kimono was seven layers and was an exact, but feminine copy of Sesshōmaru´s.
"Yes, I think I´m ready." She nodded slowly. "I´m glad that these ladies get their punishment, though I must admit, that I would rather purify their petite, little asses slowly and painful."
"I can imagine that," chuckled the tanuki and swept her up in his arms. "Sesshōmaru-sama is already in the courtroom, speaking with the minor lords and Shippo is chasing down stupid minions. So the duty to carry you down is up to me."
"Sesshōmaru-sama?" The miko frowned at the grinning male. "He is your oldest and as far as I know your best friend. Why do you suddenly use honorifics?"
"I knew you were observant," chuckled Ryo while carried her down the halls and staircases to the courtroom. "But you are the first, after Shippo, who noticed this. You must remember he is not only my friend, but also my lord. On an occasion like this he is nothing else but our lord, you will see. So, yes, I address him in the proper way."
"Is the Lord Sesshōmaru of now very different from the one from 500 years ago?" Kagome blushed.
"No," the healer who´s face had taken on an earnest expression, shook his head in the negative. "I don´t think so. I think he has only grown into his rule."
"Is he a good leader?" She had never before heard someone really talk about Sesshōmaru, the Western Lord. Even Inuyasha had never talked about him as the Western Lord.
"No," Ryo´s grin came back full force. "He is truly great."
With these words he entered the courtroom and the miko saw, for the first time in years, the inu in his full medieval garb. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him and if there hadn´t been those small details, like his shorter hair, that differed him from so long ago, she would have thought she had been brought back.
He wore his well known white haori and hakamas with the red pattern on the collar and the sleeves. His armor looked almost the same, but was extended by smooth, dark plates at the backs of his hands and forearms, a little bit like the ones his father had worn. The pelt that had always covered his shoulder was back and as he turned in her direction she noticed his blank face was much the same as it had been.
Ryo carried her over to their lord, bowed low while she inclined her head and brought her up to the platform at the end of the room. The whole room was laid out with luxurious tatamis and behind the platform were wonderfully painted Shoji that were now partly opened to the snow-covered garden to let some fresh air in.
Sitting the small female down, the tanuki helped her to gain the correct seiza position even without the feeling and strength in her legs. She noticed that she was the only one with a zafu. Carefully Ryo began to tie her feet and legs with soft, white silk ribbons, checking if they were loose enough not cut the flow of her blood, but tight enough to keep her in position with her useless muscles.
He knelt slightly behind and to one side of Kagome so he could help her if needed the two of them simply watched for a moment in companionable silence as the room filled with all kind of yōkai, a few hanyō and even some human. Some seemingly younger ones looked curiously at her, but much to her surprise most bowed silently in respect to her.
The healer whispered to her that they recognized her as the Shikon no Miko and part of the Western Lord´s pack. She returned the gesture and smiled as she saw Koga and his pack enter. They greeted her and took their places near the front.
Kagome caught a glimpse of her son, Shippo, and what she saw surprised her. He wore similar colors to hers, marking him as family to the Western Lord, and also bore armor very similar to Sesshōmaru´s, minus the spikes. The kitsune approached her, bowed in deep respect for her as his mother and took seiza beside her.
The kitsune and the tanuki both whispered soft explanations on the seating arrangements. The more important one was, the closer to the front and the platform he was seated. Kagome recognized a stork advisor from before, sitting with his beautiful female, two adult sons and a teenaged daughter in the second row, directly at the platform.
The council members were sitting to the left and right of the platform, facing each other. The middle directly opposite of it was empty, waiting for the summoned females. Shippo quietly informed her that the accused females´families were already seated within the crowd.
Softly whispered conversations filled the room and finally the Western Lord turned away from the minor lords and came over to them. The occupants of the platform bowed deeply to him and he returned the gesture slightly to his female and son. Turning to face the attendees he gracefully and fluidly moved down and into a perfect seiza.
For a moment, golden eyes closed, then opened again, alerting every being in the room to bring their attention to him. Silence fell in anticipation. In a smooth movement he gripped his swords in their sheaths at his sash, pulled them out and placed them beside him. Bowing slightly to his subjects he showed his respect for those who served his house.
The crowd mimicked his actions silently, placing their weapons beside them and bowing as deeply as possible. Again those intense eyes closed and as Sesshōmaru opened them this time he let loose his contained yōki and aura, making many of them gasp. In response the auras and powers of everybody else in the room flared, but none matched his even the slightest bit.
The only aura that came close to his, was Shippo´s, but the biggest surprise was the Shikon no Miko. As her reiki and aura flared in response, no one could help but notice that their lord had an equal in pure power. Kagome quickly drew her reiki back and `bottled´it within herself once she noticed many cringing away from the force of her reiki.
"This Taisho Sesshōmaru," his deep, low baritone filled the room. "Lord of the Western Land, Inu no Taisho, Leader of the Supreme Court of the Four Lands, son of the former Inu no Taisho, Taisho Toga and the Lady of the Western Land Taisho Inukimi and wielder of the Three Great Swords opens this Council." He paused for a moment.
"We have gathered here," the inu went on, his icy stare wandering over the rows in front of him. "To try the attempted forced mating of Taisho Shippo, member of the Western House and the abduction, abuse and sealing of power sealing of Higurashi Kagome, Shikon no Miko and member of the Western House."
"To my right," He turned slightly to said direction. "You will find the Southern Lord, Ito Fudo, the Northern Lord, Saito Shou and the Eastern Lord, Kato Hiroki who came to supervise and judge the case. To my left you find Taisho Shippo and Higurashi Kagome as well as the leading healer and member of the Western House Dr. Shoken Ryo. The proceeding will be recorded by my retainer, Ueda Osamu."
"Bring them in." Sesshōmaru gave the guards at the door a sign. The doors were opened and four young females, led by a beautiful sea otter yōkai made their way into the room, heading for the open space before the assembled. While the leader held her head high and proud the others seemed to be more unsure and frightened by the situation.
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Translations:
seiza = traditional, kneeling sitting-position
zafu = cushion that helps to keep/retain the seiza
rakku = sea otter
ribbons around Kagome´s legs = As you may have noted this method is used in case a woman performs Jigai, traditional suicide, but here it is only used to help her keeping her posture. She has no feelings in her legs and no ability to move them so they had to find a way to keep her in this position.
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A/N: Here you have another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review. Feedback is my fuel!