The Snow Angel by SunsetMiko

The Painter

Chapter 202 - The Painter

*Hold the Light* (Stella's Soundtrack Challenge)

He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He had a huge amount of images to paint still, but he couldn't resist. Surely, he deserved a little free time to do as he pleased, he told himself. She was a beautiful woman, and she clearly meant a lot to his Lord. Seiko couldn't help but hope that if he painted her portrait well enough he would never be sent back to work in the dungeons. Now that he had gotten a taste of painting, instead of carving in blood, he never wanted to go back to working with his previous medium.

After flinging his curtains open to get the best light, the once-interrogator flipped through his sketches. He had been sneaking away from his duties from time to time under the guise of needing a break to study her. He sketched her face several times, trying to capture the perfect expression. It was difficult to choose, but finally he settled on one. It was three-quarters of her face as she was mostly turned towards him, and she had a small smile on her lips. She had just finished laughing, and her eyes held a twinkle of joy that made her absolutely stunning. This was the one, he was sure of it.

He hadn't decided yet on her clothing, so he considered his options. He didn't want to dress her up in a luxurious kimono like the ones the former Lady wore regularly. She wasn't that kind of woman, and he never saw her wear the usual clothing of his era. Instead, she wore strange, foreign looking items that left him questioning her origins.

*Jade* (Stella's Soundtrack Challenge)

He had seen her in several different outfits, and as he ran them through his mind, he finally settled on one. The shirt had been a jade color and sort of ruffled, giving her a more feminine appearance than some of her other wardrobe choices, and Seiko decided that was his best option. He didn't want to make her appear male. He couldn't disappoint Lord Sesshoumaru, or himself, like that. He would give her the pants she seemed to wear constantly, that clung to her legs and accentuated her curves. Wardrobe decided, the new painter decided to get started.

Oh, how he wished he had a real canvas, but Lady Kagome hadn't purchased him any since he was only supposed to be working on the images from her books. He was forced to use one of the large sheets of paper he had left over from his blood imprinting days, which weren't so very long ago. He tacked it up to the wall in his chambers and stared at it for several long minutes. Painting the portrait of the new Lady of the West was intimidating, especially without the Lord's knowledge or permission. He couldn't screw this up. It had to be absolutely perfect.

Seiko took a deep, calming breath and then painted the first stroke. Once he got that out of the way, the rest seemed to come more easily, and soon he was humming as he worked. He could only do so for so long before he had to return to his assigned task. He could not fall behind the scribe. They were working in tandem, and if he did not produce the necessary copies, Lord Sesshoumaru might begin to question if he made the right choice in giving the job to him.

The painter glanced around the room at the luxury he was currently living in. He had been given the smallest room in the family wing, at the far end of the hall, since the guest wing belonged to Lucky, the former Lady. He never experienced such comforts, and he never wanted to give them up. This was far better than any servant's quarters he stayed in and miles above the room he had in the dungeons. He never, ever wanted to go back, and so he focused on his task once again, his determination having grown even more, and he began to paint in earnest. Already, Lady Kagome's beauty was coming through.

A thought struck him, and Seiko laughed. Perhaps he should paint a portrait of the former Lady as well, in her current state. Surely, that was something that Lord Sesshoumaru would never want to forget.