Catriona & Isamu relaxed on the bedding Koga was letting them use during their stay at his den. They had been at the den for almost a week now & Catriona had done some serious thinking about Sesshomaru's question & what else would follow her answer, whatever it might be. A commotion at the mouth of the cave made her sit up in time to see Hakkaku & Ginta holding onto a squirming, squawking Jaken.
"Hey Koga, this little guy said he's here to see Lady Catriona!" Ginta announced, looking at his alpha male.
Koga walked over to the two ookami youkai after he rose to his feet from his bedding where he had been laying with Kagome. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the imp who had stopped squawking & was now staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. "Why are you here imp?" Koga asked.
"I bring a letter for Lady Catriona!" Jaken replied, thrusting out his hand that held the rolled up letter. "It is an urgent message!"
Koga snatched the rolled up letter from the imp & nodded to Ginta & Hakkaku with a wave of his hand, signaling to remove him from the caves. Koga walked to Catriona who was staring at him while Isamu got up & ran to Ginta & Hakkaku. "This is for you," he said, handing it to her.
"You can not throw me from the caves!" Jaken squawked in the background. "Lord Sesshomaru wishes for me to stay & speak with her about the matter on the scroll!"
Catriona looked at Koga, who looked back at Ginta, Hakkaku, Jaken, & Isamu, to see Ginta & Hakkaku cowering at Isamu who was walking to them to get the imp they held. "Ginta! Hakkaku! Let the pup have the servant."
"Yes Koga!" The two pack members said as they let Jaken drop to the ground.
Isamu glared at them before he helped Jaken to his feet & much to the surprise of the imp, helped him brush the dirt off of his clothing. "While here, stay with us," he whispered to Jaken, who nodded & followed him to the bedding where his mother was sitting.
"Please, ready the message Lady Catriona," Jaken spoke, sitting down & folding his arms over his chest, holding the Staff of Heads against his chest.
Catriona nodded & opened the scroll, not too surprised to find herself confronted with Japanese writing. She sighed. "Give me a moment, I haven't read this stuff in a while."
"Would you prefer me to read it to you?"
Catriona nodded & held the scroll out to Jaken. "Would you mind doing it for me Jaken?" She asked, nodding a thank you as the imp servant took the scroll from her with one hand, his other hand on the staff.
"My Dearest Catriona," Jaken rolled his eyes at the line, only to receive a harsh look from Isamu that made him gulp before reading on. "I regret to inform you that only two days after you departed from my castle, I received warning from a noble in the Eastern Inu Youkai's territory that an attack would be taking please in almost a week." Jaken paused to look up at Catriona, who nodded for him to go on with reading the letter from her mate.
"I do not wish for you to return because it would be too dangerous for you to travel home to me. By the time Jaken returns to me, maybe even by the time you are reading this, the battle may have already begun. The one I am doing battle against, heard of my mating to you & has the foolish idea that he can overtake me now. When all is done, I will send Jaken to bring you back to me. Until then, I wish for you to stay at Koga's den. I love you Catriona. Your mate, Lord Sesshomaru, ruler of the Western Lands."
Catriona felt the fear building up inside of her as Jaken finished the letter, rolled it back up, & looked at her. "So he might be in a battle by the time you get back to him?" She asked, receiving a nod from Jaken. "Tell me Jaken, has Sesshomaru ever fought against this youkai that is trying to overtake him?"
Jaken nodded. "In deed he has, Lady Catriona," he answered, looking at her. "He has fought against this inu youkai before & has every time defeated him, sending him back to his lands with his tail between his legs before he could finish him off. I don't know why he would think that Lord Sesshomaru has weakened if he has mated you, Lady Catriona."
"Could the youkai Lord think that Sesshomaru has become �weak' like his father was for mating a ningen? Wasn't it believed that Lord Isamu became weak for mating a ningen?"
"That is quite true, my Lady," Jaken answered. "I must be leaving to return back to Lord Sesshomaru, is there any message you wish for me to return to him?"
"Please Jaken, let Sesshomaru know that I love him & I know he can defeat his enemy once more." The imp nodded as he rose to his feet & made his way to exit the cave, not looking back at Catriona or anyone else in the cave as he got on the back of Ah & Un. Catriona sighed & ran her fingers through her hair as Kagome left the bedding she shared with Koga & walked over to her.
"Cat, do you wanna talk?" She asked.
Catriona nodded & rose to her feet, looking at Isamu. "Hon, stay with Koga, Ginta, or Hakkaku, whichever one lets you stay with him until I get back, okay sweety?" When Isamu nodded & walked off to the ookami guards while Catriona & Kagome walked out of the den & made their way from the ear shot of Ginta & Hakkaku so they could talk in private.
Kagome felt a wave of nervousness wash over her until she looked back at the caves to see Koga standing on the mound of rock that made up the caves, watching them. When they got a safe distance away from the caves, Kagome & Catriona sat on the ground across from each other.
"So, what was that letter saying exactly?" Kagome asked, speaking in English incase anyone were around to hear.
"A youkai heard of Sess mating to me so he thinks that Sess is weak... A couple days after I left to come here, someone warned Sess that he was planning an attack to overthrow him," Catriona answered.
"But what's the point?"
"He's from the Eastern Lands... He must think that if Sess if weak enough to overthrow then he can mix his lands with the Western Lands & have a larger area to rule over."
"That sort of does make sense I suppose."
"Yeah... But Sess wants me to stay here at Koga's den until the fight is over. He said I would be sent for at that time..."