Accidental Time Traveler-InutaishoxOC

30. Matrimony

Watery sunlight poured out from behind the clouds. A caravan of wagons descended from the sky like a flock of headless birds. No animals, demon or otherwise pulled them. Their wheels alighted onto the grass outside the village with the merest whisper.

An irate Lady Chiyo emerged from the first wagon, sweeping forward in a cloud of indignation and silk robes. "Two days!" She immediately scolded Toga. "Did you imagine I could arrange a wedding suitable for your station in two days?"

Toga accepted the lecture with bemused tolerance, failing to correct the outraged demoness on her timeline. Layla and Toga were going to be wed midday tomorrow. "I do not require such pomp and circumstance for I am no longer Lord of the Western Lands."

Layla seemed content with a humble ceremony in the village and he saw no reason to contradict her.

"Nonsense!" Lady Chiyo smacked her open palm with her fan. "I will see to all the details." Her sharp eyes scoured the village. "Where is your bride to be?"

"Helping the village priestess gather medicinal herbs. Layla likes to be occupied."

She was currently coping with several significant changes in her life, one including her faerie blood. Toga would not interfere when she clearly needed the distraction.

Lady Chiyo's nostrils flared. "There is not enough time for her to engage in leisure activities if the wedding is to run smoothly!" She strode past Toga. "Fear not, my lord. I will transform that foreign woman into a befitting bride if this is the last thing I do!"

"Lady Chiyo." Toga's voice held a warning as he addressed the demonness' stiff back. "You will not harangue my mate into submission. Cause her no difficulties or you will deal with me."

"As you wish." Lady Chiyo snapped her fan open. Blooming ume were painted on the ivory silk. "Sakura! Hitomi! Quit dawdling!"

The two maids who had attended Layla during her stay at the castle emerged from the same wagon as Lady Chiyo hauling several bolts of silk between them. Sakura and Hitomi bowed respectfully to Toga before following their impatient mistress into the village.

More servants poured from the other wagons and began setting up camp. Pitching tents, hauling crates of food, building firepits. Toga wove through the camp, locating Sousuke near a crate of oranges supervising the set up.

He was surprised to find the steward amid Lady Chiyo's hastily arranged party. Sousuke's dedication to his duties as castle steward were unparalleled. He rarely left the castle convinced everything would fall apart without him.

Sousuke, holding his ever-present list, smiled warmly at his former lord. "Lord Inutaisho. Felicitations upon your impending wedding day."

Toga clapped the other demon on the shoulder. "I am truly blessed indeed." A sheepish smile tugged at his lips. "Do you have a talisman in your possession to create an onsen? I wish to bathe properly."

"Certainly, my lord. Where would you like this spring placed?" The steward asked, rolling up his scroll.

"Somewhere private."

Last evening after he hunted for his dinner, Toga had cleaned the worst of the sweat and grime from his captivity in the icy waterfall basin south of the village, but he longed for a soak in hot water and a clean kimono.

Toga would come before his bride well-groomed and clean. He cast a worried glance at the darkening sky, the air damp with the promise of rain. "Be swift, my friend. A storm is on the way."

Sousuke arranged everything with his usual efficiency placing the onsen in a secluded area of the forest humans rarely visited because of the thick briars that clustered the area. He deposited a light repast on the edge of the spring and bid the demon lord farewell.