When one has lived so long, when one's power is so coveted, of course one will have had several masters. Shikigami had a tendancy to be viewed as pets, she'd found - highly valuable and dangerous pets, but pets nonetheless. They were boasted over for their power, praised when they did well, punished when they did not.

     "Hey, Nee-san... it's okay."

     He smiled, and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye despite herself. Suzaku had never before had a master who addressed her as a friend, who held her in his arms instead of on an unseen leash.