The gardens were truly magical. Chihiro thought their beauty may even be enhanced by the squalor of the lower city.

"To rest my eyes in shades of green," muttered Scott under his breath. Chihiro had no idea what he was quoting but it seemed to fit. They were walking through a stand of mature bamboo. The spearhead shaped leaves filtered the light making the green ridged stems of plants appear to almost glow in the dappled shade. There was springy moss underfoot and small pools from recent rainfall that glistened with a mirror-like shine when spied between the tightly packed boughs.

It was so peaceful that Chihiro could perfectly understand why, if you lived in such a place, that the cares of the outside world would find difficulty in penetrating the shroud of peace and beauty the gardens were wrapped in. Just as the sunlight was filtered by the leaves, becoming weak and diffuse; so would the problems of the outside world become diluted. These gardens were a haven of ignorance, designed to divert attention away from the citadel and its condition. Ignorance was indeed bliss.

Scott seemed to have the same uneasy feelings. His sharp blue eyes moved around the garden rapidly, occasionally narrowing. The two spirits ahead of the humans however seemed completely at ease. Linca swung her arms and hummed to herself as she walked and Rin strolled forward with a slight spring to her step and a small smile on her face. The humans watched the spirits warily.

"Is there a spell on this place?" whispered Scott to himself more than to the small human at his side.

"No idea," murmured Chihiro in reply. "If there is, then it does not affect us." Scott nodded, his face grim.

"This place gives me the creeps," he muttered. It was Chihiro's turn to nod in agreement.

Something flashed before them through the green boughs, a glimpse of yellow and red.

"Ooo what is that?" asked Linca excitedly to no one in particular.

"It's the castle," replied the lion spirit that was guiding them. "Lord Hikaru has the finest castle of any of the local domains."

"It's one of the reasons he keeps getting attacked," said Rin dreamily. "The other domains are jealous of his wealth." A small frown fluttered over her face. "Some of them were angry with him too; he refused to sell them his rice reserves when there was a famine."

"Why should he?" asked the lion spirit, his golden eyes fixing on the spirit woman. "The rice is his, his people grew it. Why should he be generous to those who have miss managed their lands? Let them clutch their bellies in hunger and wait until they have their own food again." He glanced quickly at the humans following him and smirked. "It may be painful but it would not kill them. The other domains should spend more time farming and less time preparing for battle. My Lord is not an easy foe to best."

Rin shook her head as if to try and clear it. Soon the contented smile was back on her face.

"You are quite right," she said with a chuckle. The lion spirit smirked knowingly but bowed to Rin respectfully. "As painful as it is to starve it's not as if any die; the hunger could indeed teach them a lesson."

"My lady is kind to accept the opinion of one such as myself," the lion spirit purred. "My lord will be glad to see you again I am certain."

Rin nodded, smiling happily. The lion spirit gestured for them to continue following him. The Bamboo woods ended abruptly. Chihiro blinked in the now strong sunlight. They were standing at the edge of a wide moat. In the middle of the ring of still glassy water rose a huge red-painted wooden pagoda. The lower levels had small windows and spikes of sharpened bamboo protruding from the walls.

However, the sixth and seventh floors had large windows of coloured glass. The protruding gables of the upper levels were covered in gold leaf and had statues of different animals on every level perched on the gables. Rat, monkey, goat, dragon... all covered in gold and exquisitely detailed.

"Now that is a castle," murmured Scott with approval. "I wish mine was like this."

"You really have a castle?" asked Chihiro. She had always thought Linca was exaggerating when she talked about Mulvey-sama and his castle.

"It is a pile of stones compared to this," he sighed.

Rin was staring, oddly making no comment on whether she remembered the building. The lion spirit again gestured for them to follow. They approached the moat in stunned silence. The lion spirit made a complicated gesture at the castle and muttered a word that Chihiro could not quite hear. There was a clang and a rumble.

Suddenly a platform burst from beneath the still moat, sending a mini deluge of water droplets raining down on the travellers. None touched them, the water bounced off a glowing transparent wall the lion spirit had formed above them. Chihiro was impressed, most of the spirits she knew used magic, but few of them wielded it as casually as this lion spirit did. In her acquaintance, only the likes of the witch sisters and Haku used magic so adroitly they hardly needed to think about its use. Haku himself claimed not to think about using small amounts of magic at all. Chihiro believed him, for most of his castings he did not utter a word or even make a gesture.

Chihiro did her best to ignore the pain in her heart when she remembered the genuine smile of pleasure that would cross her mates face when he made her presents with magic, usually flowers. He loved to surprise her and often joked that she was too easy to please.

"You are the mate of a water god now; you could at least be a little more demanding. I like a challenge."

Chihiro would laugh at his words, but all the time in the back of her mind she was sure he was sincere. If there was something she wanted, he would get it for her. As endearing as his devotion to her was, she was also aware that she could be spoiled rotten by him. Besides, she wanted nothing but him anyway and unbelievingly she had him.

"I don't at the moment," she reminded herself bitterly. "But I will again, even if I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. I am not having our child without him being with me!"

Chihiro was so absorbed in her inner monologue that she hardly noticed that she had crossed the metal bridge that led to the castle. She did not see Rin's shoulders tense or her face pale as they entered the lower levels of the castle. She only really woke from her daydreaming when they entered an elevator.

"What am I doing!" she thought at herself severely. "This is no time to let the separation symptoms get to me! Rin is depending on us all!"

Refocused, she concentrated on what was happening in the elevator around her. Rin looked very nervous. She was plucking at her nails and her shoulders were hunched. Chihiro could also see Scott was concerned about her sister. He stood beside her, arms folded mostly glaring at the closed elevator door but his eyes slid sideways frequently to check on the spirit woman at his side. Chihiro hoped he did nothing foolish when they met the spirit Rin had been a concubine to. Chihiro reminded herself yet again that Scott was not like Haku, he was far less volatile and emotionally driven.

She smiled to herself; if he was he would never have agreed to help a woman who had rejected him. She was not so sure Haku could have swallowed his pride as Scott had to help an old acquaintance in need. Love him she might, but Haku's pride and ego were really something she hoped to trim down over time, it could be more than a little irritating. Still, she was far from perfect either...

Chihiro's eyes turned to Linca. The sprite was leaning easily against the wall of the elevator displaying not a hint of ill-ease. It took a moment for Chihiro to realise that the sprite running her eyes over their lion spirit guide appreciatively. The lion spirit himself was either totally oblivious to the sprites heated glances or professional enough to gracefully ignore the sprite. Chihiro sighed internally and decided Linca needed a little refocusing too. She stepped in front of the petite spirit, blocking her view of the rippling thigh and buttock muscles that were hinted at through the black robes of the lion spirit. Linca blinked, then glared at her sister.

"What?" she demanded.

"Haven't you had enough 'fun' today?" asked Chihiro icily.

"You can never have enough 'fun'," declared the sprite with a slight leer in her voice, no doubt intended for her new prey to hear. Chihiro raised an eyebrow in a fair imitation of her mate, she decided to keep the banter going in the hope it might ease the tension a little for Rin.

"Those who can't get enough 'fun' are clearly not getting it right. You really need to work on your technique so you can be satisfied with the limited amount of 'fun' you can get," said Chihiro with a completely straight face.

Linca's white eyelashes fluttered in disbelief. She opened her mouth twice but no sound came out. Scott and Rin had indeed been diverted. They were also staring at Chihiro as if they did not quite believe what they had heard. Chihiro blushed a little, maybe she had gone too far.

"Linca is not the only one who can use innuendo," she muttered defensively. "I'm not nice and polite all the time..." She stopped talking when she noticed that Rin was grinning at her, her worry temporarily forgotten.

"Linca is a bad influence on you," Rin said in a half-whisper, still smiling.

The lift ground to a halt.

"We are here," said the Lion spirit with no small amount of amusement in his voice. He had no doubt been enjoying the conversation.

The doors slid open.

The room beyond was entirely made of red lacquered wood. The room would have been morbidly dark had it not been for the large windows on two walls that opened out onto a large terrace. A warm breeze moved through the room, carrying the perfume of the garden far below with it. There was not a hint of the stench of the lower city. The room was sparsely furnished. To Chihiro's surprise, the first thing she saw was an elaborate shrine. On top of the shrine was a large statue of a dragon cast in bronze with red eyes, she suspected the red stones were rubies. It struck her that these spirits may be dragon worshipers. If they were then she may have an advantage. Her eyes moved from the shrine by the elevator.

They were immediately drawn to the far end of the room. There was a large alcove in the wall, covered by closely woven black netting. She could not see what was beyond it. The curtain of netting billowed and undulated in the breeze, but never revealed what it was hiding. Before the alcove were two ranks of guards. Most of them appeared to be boar spirits, but there was the odd rhino spirit. Linca informed her that the bulky men scattered among the other spirits were bear spirits though their humanoid form was much more refined than the others. Chihiro would have not known them from an ordinary human had she met them in her world. All the spirits were armed but they regarded the party with curiosity, not hostility.

Chihiro wanted to leave immediately. There were far too many large spirits with pointy bits of metal for her liking. She nearly screamed when a clawed hand fell on her shoulder.

"Have no fear dragon mate," purred the lion spirit behind her. "To these people, you are royalty. No matter what transpires you will be treated with respect."

"I'm not concerned for myself," hissed Chihiro. The lion spirit glanced briefly at the others to check they were still distracted. He then lent forward and hurriedly whispered into Chihiro's ear.

"Out of respect for your mate and quest I will tell you this, for the others in your group there are no guarantees, the Night Wind was here ten days ago and negotiated only your safe passage; the rest are at my lord's mercy."

He stepped back abruptly as Scott turned to glare at the lion spirit suspiciously. Chihiro nodded to her friend to indicate all was well. She would have thanked the lion spirit too but that would be too obvious. The spirit was giving her time to prepare herself for the worst. But what could she do? She was human and a human in this situation could do nothing against beings that used magic as casually as the lion spirit did. She did not even have time to get her now silent sword from her pack, not that she had the skill to use it even if she could. The lion spirit carefully put his clawed hand on the small of her back and pushed her gently forward.

"Show my lord no fear," he warned her. He motioned to the others and they all stepped forward.

Chihiro walked slowly between the ranks of guards, she kept glancing at Rin to check on the spirit woman's behaviour. Rin now appeared to be incredibly anxious, her arms were folded over her chest as if she feared she would fall apart and was holding herself together. Her dark eyes constantly darted between the ranks of guards. They were guided towards the curtained alcove. The guards that passed bowed. Chihiro was not sure who they were bowing to, was it herself or Rin? It hardly mattered anyway; soon they were stood before the curtain.

Chihiro followed Rin's lead and bowed to the curtain. She saw Linca and Scott do the same. Chihiro rose, only to find that Rin remained bent double. She could see that the spirit woman's hands shook slightly where they rested on her knees.

"We welcome you to our home dragon mate," said a low voice from behind the curtain. The voice sounded normal enough, neither too low nor too high. It was certainly not a voice that should inspire the fear that transformed Rin's countenance. The spirit woman's head snapped up, her eyes widened, she paled then retreated a step.

"She remembers," thought Chihiro grimly.

Scott stepped to the frightened spirit woman's side and mumbled something in her ear. Rin stiffened and her back straightened.

"I also thank you, dragon mate, for bringing my wondering concubine back to me," continued the voice. "We had a misunderstanding. One the witch Yubaba would not permit me to rectify."

Rin burst out laughing; the bitter sound rang through the hall.

"A misunderstanding?" she echoed sarcastically. "Is that what you call it?" She glared at the curtain, her eyes now snapping with fury.

"I am not forgiven?" enquired the voice. "Even after all these years?"

"I have not thought of you once in that time so how could I possibly forgive you?" Rin replied heatedly. "I had that witch erase everything about you from my life!"

Chihiro blinked, trying to keep up with the argument.

"If you were happy away from me then why are you here now?" asked the voice slyly. "Part of you must still yearn for what we once had."

"Pah!" spat Rin. "We had nothing. I was young and a fool. One that was dazzled by the pretty baubles you constantly bestowed on me. I got what I deserved. Beauty but no heart. Only a being with no heart could have done what you have!" she half screamed at the curtain. "I am a child no longer Hikaru! I will not fall for florid words and sparkling stones again."

I came here because I could not remember. Now I do, I know why I was prompted to come here. This is just another delay for Chihiro." She glared at the curtain and gave a derisory snort. "You are not worth the time we have wasted on you already." She bowed again, sharply this time and shallowly. "We take out leave." She announced. "Forgive the intrusion."

The curtain was swept aside and the spirit that had been speaking stepped out from behind it. Chihiro was shocked. When Rin had said that she'd been enchanted by pretty things, she hadn't anticipated that one of them would be the spirit to whom she was concubine to. He was average height, maybe even on the short side, but that was the only average thing about him.

He had green hair, not the green-black of Haku; this was a dark bottle green. It was fine and wispy, cut quite short but longer stands framed his face and jaw bone. It was so fine and shiny that Chihiro had to resist the urge to step forward and touch it. His skin was pale, but it had a healthy glow to it. His eyes were almond-shaped and accompanied by thin elegant eyebrows that arched over them. Eyebrows and eyelashes were also green, but the eyes themselves were a stunning cyan blue. The eyes also had a slight iridescence to them, making them actually shine.

The spirit Lord was richly dressed in a beige silk tunic that had a high stiff collar. He wore plenty of gold too. There were several hoops of gold in each ear, some in the lobe but others higher up the rim of his ear in the cartilage. He had a heavy gold torc around his neck and flat gold bands around each wrist. There was also a flash of gold on the back of his hand. A long golden scar; just like the one on the back of Chihiro's hand. He was bonded? To who? Certainly not Rin.

Then again Rin was only a concubine; it would follow that he would be bonded to a spirit from a wealthy household. Still, what a terrible thing for his mate to endure. She would be aware of every act of passion that was not shared with her. Of course, it could be that she cared little about her mate's harem. Chihiro shuddered at the thought, however; she certainly wouldn't have been able to endure it. Could the tension between mates have been one of the reasons Rin left? Were there too many people in this relationship for her to bear any longer?

Rin swallowed nervously when she saw her former lover, but her jaw was still set.

"Rinako," the striking male spirit breathed on seeing her. "You are even more beautiful than I remember." He stepped out of the alcove and approached her slowly, iridescent eyes fixed on her. "Is there not even a small part of you that is pleased to see me?" He asked in a low voice.

"No," growled Rin between clenched teeth.

"Then why did you come?" He asked in a tender tone as he stepped closer again. "The gentle prompting you were given by the Night Wind is hardly any good reason to sneak into my city and demand to see me."

Chihiro's heart sank. So it was Kenshin behind Rin 'accidentally' coming upon her old home in the forest. Chihiro grudgingly had to admit that is was a clever ploy, the spirit had obeyed the rules and had not struck at her directly but he had managed to delay them and take them two days of travel off their intended route. She could guess who had given him the information on Rin too; she was the only one of the group that had worked at the bathhouse for a long period of time. Yubaba had made it easy for the most vulnerable of them to be exploited. Chihiro again whispered a silent apology to her absent mate about the wait and hoped he was not suffering wherever he was being held.

Rin's outraged attitude wavered under Hikaru's glowing gaze. She stepped back from the slowly advancing spirit and ended up bumping into Scott standing behind her. Scott had been watching Hikaru carefully, Chihiro had no idea what he thought of the performance that had played out before him, his face was completely closed. Linca was staring at Hikaru in open awe; it was easy to tell what the sprite was thinking. Rin finally found her voice.

"I...I was confused," she stammered "I had forgotten you... I came to remember..."

"And now you do remember," the green-haired spirited whispered, stepping even closer. "Rinako," he breathed his voice caressing the name. "You must allow me to prove myself worthy of you again. You shamed me, and I have forgiven you." He stopped half a step from her. "I was angry at you, but over the last three centuries I have realised that I asked too much of you." He raised a hand and made to touch her face. The noise that came out of Rin was almost feral. She growled and knocked his hand away with an audible slap. Hikaru stared at her, his iridescent eyes wide with shock.

"Three hundred years in a bathhouse has changed me, my love," she growled scornfully. "How dare you try to touch me with a hand that is so stained in innocent blood?" She hissed and backed a little further into Scott.

"It was all for you!" replied Hikaru defensively. "All of it!"

"I never asked you to kill anyone!" Rin retorted. She moved around the side of Scott, almost as if she was using the tall human as a shield. "I am leaving now!" she announced defiantly.

"Rinako, I can't let you leave like this!" Hikaru protested. "Please let me explain!" Rin shook her head and backed away. Hikaru frowned, his smooth skin wrinkling up in frustration. He made a grab for Rin's arm only to find a large human had stepped before him. The iridescent eyes focused on the human for the first time and instantly dismissed him.

"Move fool!" Hikaru hissed. "This is no affair of yours." Scott didn't move, but looked down on the spirit, his face and eyes calm but Chihiro could see his jaw muscles were twitching.

"I believe the lady said she was leaving. I suggest you let her go and attempt this reunion again at a later date and on neutral territory." Scott's words were civil, even helpful but his tone was ice cold. Hikaru blinked at him and then gave a sharp laugh.

"Don't meddle human," he chuckled and again tried to step past him to get to where Rin was. Rin was not even looking at her former lover, she was staring at Scott clearly surprised he had spoken for her when he hardly knew her. Chihiro heard one strangled word come from her.

"Don't," she said faintly, though who she was pleading too Chihiro was unsure.

Hikaru hissed at the human in irritation, all pretence at humour gone. It happened so quickly that the spirit blurred in Chihiro's vision. One moment Hikaru was glaring at Scott, the next his jaws were clamped on the human's forearm. Scott gave a cry of pain then collapsed. Rin screamed. Hikaru wiped his mouth with his cuff then ran his tongue over one of the long thin fangs that were protruding from his mouth before they retracted as quickly as they had appeared.

Lord Hikaru was a snake spirit.

Scott had just been poisoned.

Chihiro's mind finally caught up and she dropped to the big human's side. He was fitting; his whole body shook and twisted. Linca took over. She grabbed the bitten arm and stripped back the sleeve.

"Hold him still," she barked at Chihiro. Chihiro ignored the uneasy guards and the sad face of the lion spirit. She threw herself on her convulsing friend, using her weight to pin him to the floor. She even half ignored Rin's anguished shouts.

"What do you think you are doing? He is our friend," she screeched.

"I did not inject enough to kill," said Hikaru with no hint of remorse. "A human should know its place. I thought I would teach him a lesson before some other spirit did. You should be thanking me; another may have made it a lethal lesson."

Linca brought the puncture wound to her mouth and sucked. She spat out a mouth full of blood onto the floor and sucked again, her blue lips now red with Scott's blood.

"This is the reason I left!" shouted Rin. "I realised what a heartless bastard you were!"

"You will not be leaving me again anytime soon," declared Hikaru. "You will stay and give me a fair hearing."

"After this?" yelled Rin. "No!" she bellowed in his face. She turned and moved towards Scott and her sisters.

"Don't you want to know where your daughter is?" asked Hikaru in a mocking tone.

Rin froze.

"She's dead," she said coldly.

"She lives," replied Hikaru just as coldly.

Rin turned again to face the green-haired spirit.

"More lies," she whispered, but her voice wavered.

"No Rinako," he replied softly. "I removed her and kept it from you; I would never harm our daughter Rinako. You should know me better than that." He said, sounding hurt. "If you'd stayed and asked me where she was, I would have told you." He gestured to the now quiet Scott. "Your companion is injured and cannot travel, will you honestly abandon him?" Rin bit her lip and regarded Scott with pain in her eyes and then shook her head. Hikaru sighed with relief.

"Then you will stay here until he is well again. In the meantime, you will have a full apology from me and we can then go and visit our daughter together."

Rin nodded, defeated. Guards moved forward to escort Linca and Rin away. One bear spirit lifted Scott up from the floor and carried him away in the same direction. The Lion spirit took Chihiro's arm.

"Come," he murmured. "Best you leave now." Hikaru was watching her before she could leave he called out to her.

"Forgive my rude hospitality mistress," he said politely. "Rinako and I have many issues to smooth over. Please bear with us. You will be on your way by tomorrow if all goes well." He bowed to her. "Please indulge me until then. I've been waiting to speak with Rinako for many years and I cannot pass up this opportunity, even if it does divert you from your holy quest. I would rather earn the anger of the old ones then leave things unresolved. Please accept my humblest apologies, under normal circumstances I would never treat the mate of a great dragon god so. Our local mountain god will be angry when he learns I have detained you, but needs must."

Chihiro looked at the bowed spirit and wondered if he had been a worm spirit in his former life. His apology was probably sincere but a simple 'I am sorry' would have given her more respect for him. She could see what Rin meant by 'florid words' the spirit thought he could simply talk his way out of her displeasure. Well, it would be her pleasure to disappoint him. So he worshipped the local dragon, fine, then she would use her power as a dragon's mate. Without putting much more thought into her plan she stepped forward. She sneered at the bowed spirit and spat at his feet; as much as it made her skin crawl she had seen other spirits do this and was sure it would work for her. There was a collective intake of breath from the guards. They all knew what she was about to do.

"I curse you," said Chihiro in a soft voice. "You harmed my friend and have caused my sister great pain. Worst of all you have conspired with my enemy against me and are now delaying a quest in the old ones name. In their name and in my mates I curse you." Hikaru flinched at her words but looked up at her and met her glare.

"I just want her back mistress," he almost whined. "All the joy in my life left when she did. I have no interest in anything; even running my domain makes me feel empty. My city suffers from my lack of attention to it. I need her back so I can function again."

"That is not my concern," said Chihiro coldly. "If you raise a hand to any of us again then be aware that you will be shown no mercy by the old ones." Hikaru bowed again.

"I understand mistress," he whispered. The lion spirit pulled gently at Chihiro's arm and she followed him from the room.