This chapter might be kind of boring since it is the first one, but please try to survive it. I'll bring a new one in afew days.
Chapter 1 Arrivals and New Best Friends
The women of the castle gathered in the front courtyard to see the soldiers and their loved ones come back. They all had happy faces on and held their children close because of their happiness and that so they wouldn't get run over when the men and others would come through the gate. The son of the lord was the one that saw to replacing his father while he was gone and saw that he should give everyone a break for the day so they could hang with their husbands and the children with their fathers.
He sighed heavily and stuffed his hands into his sleeves as the horns blew for the arrival of the army. He was glad that the two year long war was over because governing for his father during the war was hard enough while trying to protect the palace.
The gates finally opened and he stood there waiting for his father and when he saw him, he bowed with a greeting. "Welcome back father."
"Hello Sesshomaru." His father stated and got off his horse then turned back towards the gates smiling at a carriage he saw.
Sesshomaru saw it and arched an eyebrow at it then looked at his father. 'Why is he so happy?' He thought to himself and asked his father, "May I ask whom is in there my lord?"
"It's my lady wife son," he said then turned to Sesshomaru. "She is the reason why this war ended so suddenly. Her father made the marriage so it wouldn't go on any longer."
Sesshomaru looked at the carriage and watched the door intently wanting to know what this woman looked like so that it made his father so anxious. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched Inutaisho.
Inutaisho walked up to the stopped carriage and opened the door holding his hand out to the woman as she stepped out. Inutaisho's smile turned into a grin as his kissed her hand gently and guided her towards Sesshomaru.
She was a beautiful woman, though she looked to be the age of Sesshomaru himself but that still didn't match to the curves and soft childlike features that she possessed. It was the perfect amount of child in her that made her so beautiful though but you still couldn't let go of the sadness in her face and green orbed eyes. But she didn't show it to Inutaisho because she had to keep her courtesy so that her people wouldn't have to go into war again, which drastically changed the economy of her father's empire.
Her clothes looked to be the finest silk in Japan that both Sesshomaru's father and himself ever saw. They showed how proud and wealthy her family was. Or maybe it was just for this one occasion.
Inutaisho moved her silky black hair out of her face as he admired her then looked back to his son. "This is my new wife Sesshomaru and I hope that you treat her with as much respect as you would your mother."
'He… How could he? After all that he said to mother when she was dying!' The youkai prince yelled to himself at his father but calmed down. 'But he has to keep the line though or else our family would go down. I'll forgive him for now.'
"Well?" His father asked again blinking at Sesshomaru's lack of response, which was unusual.
"Gomen, father. I was just thinking how wonderful a wife she would be." He lied. He didn't want his father to have a new wife because if she had a son and he replaced him with the boy then he wouldn't have the birthright of the lands anymore. He wasn't about to let her have those and he wouldn't have the bastard have what he deserved.
"Oh and such a lovely body she has too." He said and leaned over to his son to whisper something. "She still has her maidenhead too."
Sesshomaru blinked at why he would told him that but then dismissed it out of his thoughts as he looked at the woman who was blushing as though she heard what he had said.
"Shall we go have some tea then after we freshen up?" He asked his new wife and she nodded mutely in reply. "Then we shall." Inutaisho said and guided her into the castle. With the lord's presence gone, also with the lady of the house, everyone started to talk again. Most of everyone was talking to their husbands and family now but quite a few were talking about their lord's new wife.
Sesshomaru watched his father and the youkai woman then followed behind silently. He turned towards his room and sighed as he was thinking. 'I wonder why father didn't tell me about this before he came home? Could he have wanted it to be a surprise? Why do I care about what he does! It's not like I ever have!'
"This is a beautiful castle Inutaisho-sama." His wife complemented smiling at him and looking around the halls at the few paintings and delicate hand-carvings on the poles and walls.
"Arigato, but it was like this before I became lord. Now, do you think it was quite hilarious when everyone stopped their yapping and watched you get out. That was quite interesting what they were expecting but I think that they are pleased with you. You are one of the most beautiful woman I've laid my eyes on." He smiled at her and laughed.
She blushed a little. "Please stop my lord, I don't really mind at all what people think of me unless they say I'm a horrible person. I don't care if anyone thinks that I am an ugly person."
"Oh, but you are beautiful inside and out. I even think that my son, with his quietness and no emotions showing, lost both of those and was gawking at you." He grinned and laughed once more. "I have never seen him act like that before. That was a change in everything that I've seen of him."
"But your son must be so nice. He did give everyone a day off when you arrived. Was he always like this Inutaisho-sama?" She asked looking at him.
"He wasn't really ever this quiet till his mother died a few years back before the war. He was like all other males his age with his energy and hormones." Inutaisho started to laugh as he thought about it and she joined him but in her own womanly laugh. "Hai, but he seemed to become more mature once she died."
"I wish the war never started, though. It ruined my people and yours also, I promise."
"If it had never started then I wouldn't have met you."
"But my father could have married me off to you for an alliance or you could have met me while searching for a new wife. My family line is strong and he's the Lord of the North so you would have gone there." She said and looked down. 'I wish father never have said it because I want to be with the one I love, not the one that he forced me to marry. I wish that I was never the eldest of my sisters or else I would be with him now.' She thought sadly.
"Come milady Solia. Let us have some tea then sleep the night away in our own beds. Aren't I right that you are tired of sleeping in that small carriage?"
Solia nodded and smiled. 'Hai, I'm just glad that I don't have to sleep with you. Even though you are nice and handsome as ever but I just can't unless I love someone.'
The morning was quiet and when Solia woke she found herself laying on the futon alone which made her happy since she wanted to be alone. She sat up and smiled as she covered her eyes from the light that was barely coming through the paper walls.
"Are you awake milady?" A woman's voice asked at the door.
"Hai, what is it?" She asked softly as she walked to the door and kneeled down, but she adjusted her clothing before opening it and covered her mouth from a yawn.
"Konnichiwa milady. Would you like anything to eat?" The girl asked bowing at her and smiled.
"Please, that would be nice. I'll be coming with you also; I want to look around the castle." She said and closed the door again and stood back up to get dressed then remembered that she didn't really know how her clothes went because she had always had someone do them for her. She turned back to the door and opened it asking the servant to help her with her clothing. "I would really appreciate it," she said smiling at her and took her hand gently walking her inside.
The girl blinked then laughed a little. "You are nice my lady. May I ask you what your name is?"
"It's Lady Solia, but you call me Solia. I don't like having Lady or Princess in my title. It makes me feel awkward. Wouldn't you think so if you were called with those?" She asked stopping and looked in the drawer getting out the things she wanted to wear and tossed them onto the floor.
"I think I wouldn't mind it that much at first but then maybe if I was called that all the time then I would get tired of it." The girl said and picked her clothes up. "Can you take off your night clothes please milady?"
"Oh yes, gomen." Solia took them off and followed all the girl's orders so it would get done with. But when she was done dressing her, it was already time to go. Solia thanked her and asked her to show her to the dining room.
As the girl walked her down the hall out of her wing, she noticed that her wing of the palace was the only area that was the most detailed. The rest of it was just detailed carvings without any gold or wonderful gems imbedded in it.
As they were walking towards there, she saw Inutaisho's son, Sesshomaru. She stopped and bowed to him. "Good morning Lord Sesshomaru. I hope you had a good sleep?"
When he heard her, he stopped in his tracks looking towards them. He arched an eyebrow at being called by such a proper title by his father's wife. "Why do you call me that? You are my father's wife." He asked keeping his usual cold mask on but watched her.
"Hai, I understand but I am not his wife yet my lord. I was only brought here, but he plans to have the ceremony for our marriage soon. Then I will be his wife, but until then I do not have the authority to call you by any other name. Don't you think so?"
Sesshomaru wanted to smirk at her smart thinking but forced himself not to. He couldn't let his emotions slip anytime. Especially since he never had done it around his father since his mother died and he would damn himself if he did it now in front of her. He was still killing himself on the inside at what happened yesterday when he first saw the woman.
"My lord?" Solia asked looking at him blinking at his lack of words.
Sesshomaru looked at her after coming out of his thoughts and nodded his answer to what she said before. "That is most smart, you know what to do. But I have to go now, I have things to do." He bowed his head and walked past them towards where his father's study was.
Solia and the girl looked at each other while Solia was blinking confused. Once he got out of the range of hearing she asked the girl, "what is wrong with him? Has he always been so cold?"
The girl nodded slowly and sighed. "Hai, milady. He was always so nice and polite whenever his mother was alive. He was always quite close to her but it seemed that he lost all his feelings since she died. Its sad. Hai it is."
Solia looked towards the direction where Sesshomaru went with caring eyes then looked back to the girl with a big grin on her face. "It may seen as I have another person to help."
"What do you mean milady?"
"Oh, I used to help people with their feelings whenever I lived with my father. A lot of the women in the palace lost loved ones during the war and I dedicated myself to helping them. It has worked every time and they are happy with their new husbands now. Even though I know that they still miss their mates and that is something that will never leave them."
"Oh really? That's sounds wonderful!" She gasped a little when she heard a low rumble from her lady's stomache.
Solia blushed then laughed. "It may seem that I have to hurry or else I will faint." She said laughing still and took the girl's wrist as she ran down the hall as the girl told her where to go. They laughed and talked about everything on the way and it seemed that the girl was the only one that she was going to be best friends with since she found out that the girl was her servant.
She stopped as she ran out of breath and looked at the panting girl. "That was the hardest I've ever run for a long time. Oh, I haven't asked your name yet! What is it my friend?" She asked clutching her chest then straightened out her robes.
The girl smiled. "Its Yuniko milady. May I say something?"
She nodded in reply since her throat couldn't quite talk at the moment.
"You are the most wonderful women I've met. I mean of the royalty. I'm very happy that you came!" Yuniko smiled more and hugged her lay around the neck in happiness.
Solia blinked staring at the head Yuniko then her eyes softened as she hugged her back. "It is very nice to meet you Yuniko. I wish that we can be this close till the day that I die, even though it is the first day that I've met you. Wait, it hasn't even been a day!" She laughed and pulled her off laughing and smiling. "Let's get a bite to eat! You and I both bet are starving!"
Yuniko nodded and turned to the door as she took her shoes off stepping out of the way for her lady. She opened the door and bowed a little smiling as Solia walked inside.