Chapter 87

Under the siege



"They want the princess and the demon's head." Yamazaki conveyed the enemy's demands.
Mai's heart stopped for a moment. How did they… how… The girl felt, that her palms began sweating and her pulse quickened. What are they supposed to do now? They were surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies, who wanted Sesshomaru's dead and their identity was now known. To make the matters worse, they were stuck in one room with the people of Kaga, to whom she and the inu-youkai were enemies number one.

The girl looked at Sesshomaru and met his golden eyes, tension visible all over him. The dog demon's hand wandered discretely towards the hilt of his sword. He was ready to defend Mai and himself at all costs. The girl slowly took a step back, so that in case of fight the dog demon could move freely, without her getting in the way.

"What?" Harada asked, taking the letter from Yamazaki's hands. The captain narrowed his eyes, reading the parchment two times, before muttering to himself. "What the… we don't have Echizen's princess and the demon here…"

The capatain's head snapped up and slowly he turned around, as he linked the pieces of the puzzle in his mind. His gaze stopped on Sesshomaru and Mai.

"Don't tell me…" he muttered, folding the letter. "I knew, that you two are somewhat suspicious, but this just has to be some joke…"

Yamazaki looked at the captain, confused. Apparently his mind wasn't as quick as his superior's.
"Captain, what do you mean?" he asked. Harada folded his arms and looked directly in Sesshomaru's golden eyes.

"It's hard to recognize you with black hair instead of silver… demon."

Everyone's eyes turned to the inu-youkai, who assumed the battle stance, taking a step forward, so that he could shield Mai. Startled Yamazaki swiftly unsheathed the sword, while his superior made no move. Souichiro and his granddaughter gawked at Sesshomaru, their attention now distracted from nursing Matsuko.

"A d-demon?" Chiyo asked, her mouth open agape, shock all over her face. "Sesshomaru-san is a demon?"

The very source of the commotion stood perfectly still, ready to strike if anyone made a move. The soldier Yamazaki sent his captain a questioning look, as the young man was obviously confused by the sudden revelation. Harada's hand slowly wandered towards the sword.

"Indeed, he is a youkai, the very same one, who destroyed the capital a couple of months ago, and the girl is none other than daughter of Asakura Sadakage, Amayami-hime." The captain explained in a calm voice.
The others gasped, shocked. Yamazaki's eyes were wandering between the captain and the pair, as the information was soaking into his brain.

"Captain, we must kill the demon and hand the girl over to the enemy. That's the only way." The young man hissed out, taking a step forward in Sesshomaru's direction, obviously readying himself to try to cut down him. The captain was silent and met the inu-youkai's cold gaze. For a longer while the men were only looking at each other, as though there was a battle of wills going on between them.

Mai bit her lower lip, feeling utterly helpless, as there wasn't really anything she could do.

"Yamazaki." The captain finally spoke. His retainer glanced at him over his shoulder, waiting for further orders. "Step down, soldier."

Yamazaki sent his superior a surprised and angered look.

"Captain!" he protested. "We can't let our enemy go! We have to slay the youkai!"

"Hn." Sesshomaru smiled to him threateningly, showing his fangs. "You can try."
Yamazaki clenched his teeth, taking the dog demon's bait, and lifted his sword.

"Prepare to die!" he yelled and rushed forward.
 
However, in the very moment, when the young soldier took the first step, his knees bent suddenly, as captain Harada hit him under the knees with the sword's scabbard and kicked his bottom, sending startled Yamazaki to the floor.

"Captain?" the young man looked back at his superior, pulling himself slowly up. Harada glared at him harshly.

"I gave you an order." He said with the terrifying calmness in his voice. "You are to obey it without questioning it."

"Captain, the princess must be handed over to the soldiers of Echizen." Yamazaki said with confidence. Harada didn't reply for a longer while, his glance wandered from the stubborn retainer to Sesshomaru and Mai. He met the demon's warning glare and the human's eyes softened, as he saw, how the inu-youkai was covering the girl behind him.

"No one will die." The captain said eventually. Yamazaki opened his mouth already, about to retort harshly, but Harada cut in. "Killing a person, who saved our lives and didn't do anything threatening to us even once, is against the samurai way."

Yamazaki glared back at the captain and spitted on the floor, giving his superior a look full of disdain.

"I'm not going to listen of the samurai way from a coward, who ran from the enemy, betraying your general's trust!" the young man exclaimed with passion, clenching his fists and giving Harada a challenging look. The older soldier gritted his teeth, obviously ashamed and at a loss of words, as though Yamazaki reminded him something, he would rather forget. The retainer smiled triumphantly, seeing his mental victory over the superior. "What are your orders now, captain?"
Harada looked at Sesshomaru.

"They stay the same." He repeated calmly. "We are in this mess together and together we'll cope with it. I will allow no one harm those people, even if they were our enemies."

Yamazaki hissed with irritation, annoyed by the captain's stubbornness. The young soldier didn't intend to give up, though.

"You can't let them live! They…" the young soldier was still arguing, but he stopped talking in midsentence, his eyes opened widely, staring at Harada with shocked expression. Suddenly, he coughed blood.

"Yamazaki." The captain said the soldier's name, as a blade emerged from Yamazaki's chest. The young man looked down, seeming surprised to see a sword sticking out of his chest. Then, the blade hid back in his flesh and he fell forward, dead.

Mai was standing like paralyzed. It happened in a split second and, even if she wanted, she couldn't prevent it – Sesshomaru dashed forward and stabbed Yamazaki, extinguishing his life. When the young man's body met the floor, making a hollow thud, everyone was staring at the demon and Harada, waiting in silence for what would happen next. The tension was nearly hearable. Slowly, the captain lifted his eyes from the corpse and met golden impassionate ones.

"You killed my subordinate." He said slowly, his every muscle tense, as he was ready to draw his sword anytime and strike. Harada's eyes were warily observing the movements of Sesshomaru's hand.

Then, it moved. The captain instinctively reached for the blade, but his hand stilled, when he saw, that the dog demon merely shook the blood off the blade and sheathed it, still holding the hilt, though.

"This one was too loud." Sesshomaru spoke finally. "He would not obey your orders. Consider it a favor."

Harada clenched his fists, as his face was becoming red with anger. He was glaring at Sesshomaru, who was standing casually, as though nothing happened a moment ago.

"A favor?" the captain hissed out. "Don't kid me, demon. You killed one of my men!"

Mai wanted to rush to prevent fight, but knew, that she would cause only more trouble and could endanger the dog demon's life. Sesshomaru was still glaring coldly at the soldier, making no move to cut him down – he was waiting for Harada to attack him first. The girl furrowed her brows. She was nearly sure, that the inu-youkai didn't want to kill the captain. However, the man could provoke him… The soldier had his teeth clenched, his fingers grabbing the hilt of his sword so forcefully, that they went white. His face expressed anger, but he hesitated to attack too for his own reasons.

Then, a weak voice spoke, interrupting the dead silence.

"Please, don't fight."

Everyone's eyes turned to the source of the voice.

"Mother!" Chiyo exclaimed, trying to hold Matsuko down, as the older woman attempted to pull herself up. She looked at Sesshomaru and then at Harada.

"Captain, don't fight." she repeated quietly, speaking every word with great effort. "Demon or human, everyone will do anything to protect the ones they love."

"Matsuko!" Souichiro said her name, as the woman began to cough blood, her face pale like one of a wraith's.

Having been reprimanded by this wounded woman, Harada slowly flexed his fingers and took his hand off the sword's hilt. Sesshomaru saw his gesture and did the same. The captain glanced at Yamazaki's body laying at his feet.

"He shouldn't have provoked you." He said to the dog demon, his words sounding like an apology. The inu-youkai didn't nod nor gave any other sign, that he acknowledged his words. Harada furrowed his brows and cleared his throat. "I won't listen to the Echizen's demands. We're together in this, so I suggest, that we cooperate."

Sesshomaru gave him a long look, before answering.

"There is no other choice." He agreed. Harada nodded, pleased to have reached to some kind of truce with the dog demon. He looked around and addressed the remaining members of the group. "We all know, in what a shitty situation we are. Unfortunately, we can't wave a white flag, for the enemy would kill us. We can't count on the reinforcements either, so we have to find a way out of this. My idea is, that we split up and search the place for anything useful – weapons, gunpowder, oil, anything, we can use for the defense, will do."

No one answered him. The only people, who looked like they were accepting the idea with enthusiasm were Mai and the scholar Sekiguchi. Sesshomaru gave Harada a cold glare, obviously not happy with someone telling him what to do, while Souichiro's family looked like they were paralyzed with fear. Seeing the situation, Mai cleared her throat.

"That's a good idea, captain." She said, earning Harada's grateful smile and a glare from the inu-youkai. "Everyone, let's do it! Master Sekiguchi and Souichiro could check around the building, I and Chiyo may look in the cellars."

To Harada's surprise, Mai's words were met with more enthusiasm than his. Chiyo and Souichiro, after exchanging a few words with Matsuko, almost immediately went to do, what the girl asked them to. The captain looked at her with a hint of awe in his eyes.

"Well done, princess." He praised her. Mai narrowed her eyes at him.

"Just Mai. Someone must have brains here." She said and was about to climb down the ladder, when Harada's laughter caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder and saw the soldier grinning to her.

"What?" she snapped at him. Harada showed all his teeth in a wide smile.

"I wondered, what kind of woman was the one, who was the reason our capital was destroyed. I'm rather disappointed, since I imagined you to be more… beautiful and princess-like." The captain said, ignoring the death-glare, Mai just gave him. The man glanced at Sesshomaru's reaction and continued. "But now I know, why you captured his heart."

Mai felt a wave of heat striking her right in the face, as the fierce blush made its way up her cheeks.
"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "It's not like that!"

Harada furrowed his brows.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of, you two are betrothed, after all." He said, obviously amused by the girl's strong reaction. The whole time Sesshomaru maintained his stoic face expression, making no sign of anger, embarrassment nor any other emotion.

"She is not my woman." He spoke finally. Mai let out a breath, relieved, that the damn demon finally decided to clear the misunderstanding. Both master Sekiguchi and Harada looked at him, baffled by his words. The inu-youkai, feeling their annoying stares, decided to explain further. "She is merely my servant."

The scholar and soldier exchanged doubtful glances.

"A servant?" Harada arched his brow and folded arms. "It's the first time I've seen someone risk their lives for a servant. Anyway, everyone knows, that princesses are not fit to be servants."
Master Sekiguchi nodded with a serious face.

"Denial is common among young people." He shared his wisdom.

Mai, still horribly blushing, noticed, that Sesshomaru was glaring at the two men like a wolf at rabbits. In his eyes she saw pure desire to murder them – obviously she wasn't the only one, who got embarrassed by the duo. She had to do something before the idiots get killed by the dog demon.
"Hey!" she yelled at the three men, who were standing unproductively and chatting. She narrowed her eyes at them. "Move your lazy asses and get to work! And try not to kill each other!"

The last one was directed at Sesshomaru. Having said this, Mai climbed down the ladder to search the cellar.

Master Sekiguchi slowly crawled towards the exit, while Harada covered Yamazaki's body with a cloth and said a short prayer to help the soul of his retainer move on. Once he did it, the captain looked at the inu-youkai.

"I'm going to look, what those devils outside the gate are doing. Care to join?" he asked. Sesshomaru said nothing, but accompanied him to the stronghold's walls. The two men walked in silence to the observation point and watched the efforts of the attackers.

It was still the dead of the night, many hours remained till sunrise. However, it didn't matter, as there was no hope, that the morning would bring salvation – the reinforcements, Harada counted on, would arrive no sooner than at noon. The enemy looked like they were almost ready to attack the gate – only thing that stood in the way between them. The battering ram was nearly completed: the soldiers were installing the huge trunk on the wooden construction, working at the great speed. Harada leaned against the wall, sighing lightly.

"It doesn't look good." He commented, his voice hollow, as though hope began leaving him.

"It does not." Sesshomaru agreed with the soldier, also warily observing the enemy's action.

Everything indicated, that the attackers would be inside the stronghold within an hour, two at most. The dog demon was no fool – he knew exactly, what would happen once the soldiers stormed through the gates: they would rape the women and slaughter the men. Even with the assistance of the human named Harada he would not be able to defeat them, not without his youkai powers. Eventually everyone would be killed. Only one thought was comforting for Sesshomaru – even if he died, Mai would be safe. The enemy thought, that she was their princess, so no harm would befall her from their hands. He smiled. The death in battle is a good one.

"Did someone tell you, that you look creepy while smiling?" Harada's voice interrupted Sesshomaru's thoughts. The demon glanced at the human, who tried to maintain high spirits despite the grave situation.

"She did." The dog demon answered automatically, but after a split second cursed himself mentally for sharing his thoughts with this irritating human. With a corner of his eye he saw Harada's wide smile.

"You would do anything to protect her." The captain said to no one in particular. Sesshomaru didn't reply. Harada's eyes were set on the bonfires below. "So you're not betrothed."

The dog demon frowned, not eager to discuss his private affairs with anyone, especially with a human. Unfortunately, the captain seemed to be a particularly persistent creature and Sesshomaru knew, that silence would not be a mean to avoid the conversation.

"As I said before, we are not." The inu-youkai said in a tone, that hinted, the discussion was over. Harada looked at him and studied his face.

"Why?" he asked, ignoring the angered glare, the demon gave him. The soldier stretched his neck and continued nagging Sesshomaru. "Anyone can tell, that there is something between you two."

The dog demon clenched his fist, cursing in his mind, that he let himself be dragged into this pointless conversation. His instincts told him to get rid of the nuisance, but the captain could be still useful. He was a weak human, but Sesshomaru could recognize his skill and talent. He set his gaze on the camp below and had no other choice, than go along with the foolish discussion.

"She is a human." The inu-youkai hissed out, hoping that the explanation would be enough for Harada. The soldier arched his eyebrow.

"So?" he didn't give up on sticking his nose into someone's business. "What's wrong with that?"
Sesshomaru cast a long, cold look at the man. Why was it not obvious for the human?

"It is impossible for me to take a human woman as a spouse." He said almost inaudibly. The dog demon saw a smirk appearing on Harada's lips. Sesshomaru clenched his teeth, angry at the moment of weakness, as the smirk on the soldier's face grew to a full-fledged grin.

"I sense sadness in somebody's voice." The captain said in a mocking tone. The man straightened his back and turned around from the dog demon, about to go back inside the building. He took a single step and stopped. Before going in, he spoke to Sesshomaru quietly. "I'll give you my advice. If you do nothing, you'll regret for the rest of your life."

Having said this, Harada stalked through the door into the building, leaving the dog demon alone. Sesshomaru looked at the clouded night sky.

"Regret?" he repeated the captain's words. Would he regret? "Tch! It is pointless."

The demon clenched his fist. It was foolish to let the human interfere in his affairs. What could he possibly know about the youkai? The woman was his problem, nothing more. She could never become anything more, so it was pointless to consider those matters. He should focus on more pressing matters. Sesshomaru marched after Harada inside the building.