Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once, I do not own InuYasha nor the story Scheherazade from which this is based.
One Thousand and One Stories
Story One- Zein ul Asnam and the Jinn King, Part 1
Kagome watched from under her hood, the woman that flung herself at her cage bars. Her once rich and famously dressed hair was downtrodden from the heat and her constant flailing. Along with her hair, he face was covered with white smears from where the sweat had cut tracks through her face paints and onto her torn gown. The fabric was thick and gilded with inlays of stones that shone like the sun. Her lugubrious shouts rung throughout the square but no one but she had stopped to hear the girl's wails.
Once the girl noticed her, she threw her arms out and cried for assistance. Kagome raised her hood and moved on, the sick feeling in her gut only intensifying as she moved farther and farther away from the woman's shrieks. Her dagger was pressed into belt and as she milled about the square, the laughs of the people surrounding her only further soured her mood.
Everyday she came to the square hopping that their Lord would take pity on the maidens but everyday she remained disappointed. With every yell, her anger grew and festered until she had to excuse herself from the vendors cart.
That morning the Lord's 999th bride was executed and another virgin was brought to his bed.
()()()()
Kagome dressed quietly and made her way to the kitchen. Her father sat at the table with a bowl of rice and a cup of tea. The leaves swam across the surface when pushed by the breeze from the open window. The execution had placed a burden upon his shoulders.
She sat down and her maid pressed the cup of tea into her hands. She drank quietly and watched her fathers forehead wrinkle and wondered just when he had got so old. When he caught her looking at him, he plastered on a smile and let his hand rest over hers.
"My dear daughter, what are your plans for today?" His smile faltered but only for a second before he sighed and brought her palm up to kiss it. Her lips tilted up at the affectionate gesture and he quickly dropped her hand when her sister slid effortfully down the stairs. Her black hair was up in a tasteful bun surrounded by flowers of different hues.
When her father started talking animatedly about the Lord's brother, her sisters soon to be husband, Kagome stood and excused herself from the table, throwing over her shoulder that she could be found at the library.
Her family waved her off and with a flick of her fingers, her hood hid her face from view. She made her way down the alleyways, purposely avoiding the square for fear of what she might find. Once reaching her destination, she climbed the sloping steps, pressing her fingers to her mouth before laying them on the head of the stone lion guarding the library.
The walls were ladened with books all shape and size. She had scoured the shelves for books of adventure and romance, excitement and intrigue. Her mind buzzed with the stories and when the scholars spotted her, they stood to make room for her books. They were always considerate when making room for her and her armfuls of volumes. They blushed when she thanked them.
Brushing the spines with her fingertips, she moved through the rows looking for a title that caught her eye. On the top shelf a small binding stuck out and she climbed the ladder with a practiced ease before plucking the book from its sheath.
She browsed the collections of stories and a few brought her up short because she recalled them from childhood. This book brought fond memories up through their faded pages. Quietly, she stood and nodded politely to the scholars who were watching her with rapture.
As she left, she braced herself for the screaming and crying she knew would assault her senses once she entered the square but once arriving she pinpointed the oddities. People swarmed the cage and she slid her way into the crowd. The local Gabbai leaned over to whisper into his neighbor's ear giving Kagome the whole of their conversation.
"They seem to get younger every year," He frowned and crossed his arms before shaking his head and stepping back, "My daughter is the same age and if we had not yet married her off, I would be worried for her life."
"With the number of maidens dwindling, I'm concerned no new children will be born," He replied, following he tax collector from the mass of squirming bodies, many of who were the poor looking for a source of entertainment to brighten their dull existence. When she finally broke the line surrounding the cage, her breath rushed out of her lungs as if she was hit.
The small child in the cage was crying silently to herself. Her red eyes matched the crimson of her gown. Unlike he others, her makeup was still pristine because also unlike the other girls, the child refused to cry. Kagome could feel her anger bubble over.
As she stared furiously at the trapped and condemned child, a plan took form in her mind and grew and expanded as the sight of the child fueled her fury. Like a mythical creature of war, she spun around and strode from the square. The people parted for her as if she was pestilence.
Her face was set in a frown and her light mood from this morning was but vapors above her head. Her plan would require her fathers approval and her sister assistance. The more she thought about this, the stronger her determination became; so much so that when she marched into her home, her maid dropped the cup she was cleaning and her father choked on his tea.
As the lady swept the shattered ceramic and her father dabbed the drink from his beard Kagome declared her plan in simplest terms she knew would catch their attention.
"I wish to be the Lord's next bride."
()()()()
Her idea was met with cries of protest and smothered gasps. Her father had grabbed her arms and demanded she cease her foolishness before snatching her books away and telling her to retreat into her room for some much needed rest. Kagome took the order with much resistance.
When supper was sent to her room, the portion was only a moiety of what she would have normally consumed if she had been seated at their dinning table. The fish was cold from having been out on the table for so long but the tea was sweet and the maid had dropped a dollop of honey into the bottom though she was sure her father would have told her not to. Her only company were the cats who smelt her food and shimmied the gilded pillars leading up to her wide terrace. Her fingers picked at the food and divided it up amongst the three felines and herself.
Her bed held little interest for her so she remained on her mounds of pillows and blankets she had yanked from her mattress and made into a chair out her window. After filling their bellies, the cats purred around her hands before falling asleep all around her with one curled about her neck, another her lap, and the last at her feet. It was much past midnight when her sister slipped into the room.
"I tried to dulcify father. What did you ask?" She waved her hands about her head before finally looking over at her sister. Kikyo's styled hair was slightly mused and her lip color was smeared on her collar, reminding Kagome that her sister was soon to be married. "He was so exacerbated her refused to tell me."
"I told him I wished to become the next bride of our Lord," She omitted her sisters shocked gasp and growled in frustration when her sister squatted down by her and ran a worried hand down her arms.
"You don't have to, I told you I will talk to my fiancé about it!" Her shaking of her non-responsive sister was disconcerting and she pulled her chin to face hers. "Kagome, it is nether your job nor your duty to be the savior of everyone."
"Sister dearest," Kagome's snide tone was not directed to her sister but nevertheless, she cringed. "I'm not offering myself up as sacrificial lamb. I have a plan but I need you and father to, for once in your lives, just listen."
Kikyo ran a ran down the girl's hair. After their mother had passed, they had become rather close, with both sisters clinging to the other for emotional support considering their father was a quiet man. The eldest of the two, Kagome, took her death the hardest, while Kikyo was also saddened by the lost, she had bonded more with her reserved father and less with their outgoing mother.
"Is this about Mother's Day of Passing that is coming soon?" Kikyo whispered, worried to see tears in her sister's eyes. "You know he will ask you to dance again; he says you may dance even better than mother did."
"Father was blinded by love, mother couldn't dance to spare her life," Kagome laughed and the two fell into a comfortable silence. They held their hands and after what felt to be an eternity, Kagome spoke. "This is not about mother. It is about the sixteen year old girl that was killed tonight."
At mention of he 1000th bride, Kikyo quieted and leaned in close, telling her sister the young girl's name. They cried for her family and prayed for her soul to find peace in the garden of the gods. A time later, they both stood with the opposite cleaning the other off. Kagome straitened her sisters collar that had fell into disarray while Kikyo was picking at the wrinkles in her sleeves.
"You can tell me all about this plan of yours at the celebration," At the mention of the party thrown in the already deceased girl's honor, both sisters faces painted themselves into grim frowns. Kikyo fixed her sisters hair and Kagome returned the favor, wanting her sister to glow when she saw her fiancée tonight.
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs in fresh clothing and reapplied make-up, their father scowled at the defiant glint to his eldest's eyes. He knew she would be trouble but he'd had hoped that spark of disobedience was snuffed out after his late wife had passed. He only wished her to remain safe.
"I hope you have disregarded that silly notion you were spewing earlier," He grabbed the handles of the woven basket containing offerings to their Lord and patron. His daughters followed behind him and out the door.
"Quite the opposite father, it seems I have gained an ally," The sisters shared a conspirators smirk and linked arms before brushing past their father who heaved a sig before rolling his eyes.
()()()()
The grand celebrate was held within the wide halls of the palace. Columns lined the path winding up the hill to the arched doors, each pillar wrapped in rich fabric and flowers. The steady hum of people filled the air and the thrum of music flowed from the open windows and into the pavilion. Twin fountains gurgled as guests made their way in, their gowns and suits bright hues and made from expensive fabric. Side conversations made the ballroom a den of muffled words so loud most of the music was almost lost within it.
Kagome let her dress trail behind her as she made her way through the throngs of people. They parted for her but all their conversations ceased, as if they suspected her of being a spy for The Lord. He would easily behead anyone who talked badly about him.
The polished tiles floor gleamed under the candlelight and she wondered absentmindedly if anyone would mind her retreating into the library until her sister was available. At the mention of her sibling, Kagome looked over to the door where she and her fiancée were greeting newcomers. They would shake hands then, when no one was looking, he would lean in and steal a kiss or to whisper something into her ear. They giggled like children and Kagome frowned.
If her plan worked like it should, than she would never get the kind of lover her sister and her companion had. She would be forever bound to a man who felt no guilt over killing children. Her freedom, rights, hopes, and dreams would be striped from her and replaced by steel manacles called matrimony. With a deep sigh, she removed a cup of wine from a passing servant and sipped at the liquor. The burn of false courage flared through her.
The Lord still had refused to enter, choosing instead to inform the waiting crowd that he wished to remain locked in his study to finish matters of the surrounding lands. With a final look at her sister and then to her father, who was talking animatedly to his friends, she slipped into a roped off hallway and into the vast labyrinth that was sprawled out before her.
()()()()
It was late into the night before she made a reappearance. Her search had been fruitless, and she was rather disappointed she could not locate a library nor a garden on the premise. Her days would be rather dull if not properly entertained. She pushed off thoughts of being killed before sunrise tomorrow.
With a sigh, she mulled through throngs of people all dressed for the occasion. She settled down in the back, her now empty glass placed on the table before her. A few men wandered past, their eyes lingering on her bare ring finger then come to rest on her serene face. Even the ignorant could tell the look of those heading to war.
"If you could please stand for our Lord," A short man announced, and the group broke into hesitant applause, some going as far as raising their glasses.
A man walked from a hallway. His hair was pulled up to the top of his head in tail that showcased his neck and throat. His eyes scanned the crowd and noted their astounded gasps at just how closely he resembled his father.
The current Lord's predecessor was, if possible, worse that his son. They both took many woman to bed, but it was widely known, the current Lord would never take a woman by force. Kagome mused over this while running a finger over the lip of her glass. He was also more lenient when it came to taxes. She snorted, if he would cease killing girls their country would be flourishing.
"We are asking for which of you woman would become the Lord's One Thousandth and First bride," The little toad exclaimed and a few girls straitened their backs and prepared to stand. Now was not the time to loose her backbone. She straitened her dress and stood, taking a lat sip of her drink and ignoring the shocked looks for the bowing people around her. "And who might you be?"
"My name is Kagome," She responded plainly, catching the pity in the faces of the crowd as she looked around the room. When the toad squeaked at her to gaze straight at him, she only let her smile curve into a smirk. "Is my request denied?"
The Lord looked at her. She was rather plain with a hairstyle that had become loose during the party, allowing a few strands to flutter in to her face. Her dress was not as high quality as the other women but there was a spark that was light behind her brown eyes. It was fearlessness mixed with a sly, cunning nature. He could feel a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.
He almost felt bad he would be the death of something so fair.
"Return at sunset tomorrow. Tonight is for celebration," And with that, he swept out of the room, holding the woman's gaze for as long as he could before the hallway hid his form. His assistant wattled behind him and he pushed down the need to kick the toad. "Who was she?"
"Daughter to your Advisor," He muttered, his voice bouncing off the stark walls. The woman's smirk made a cool hand clench in his gut. In the beginning, a few of the women he bedded would be cocky or coy, trying to make themselves be memorable in hopes of The Lord coming to love them. Oh, how they were sorely mistaken. "He is also the resident executioner."
"It is a wonder her father allowed this, his job protects his family," The Lord mussed to no one, ignoring the toad who was so often terrible company. Why would a protected woman willingly sacrifice herself? She seemed smart enough if that flash of intelligence he saw burning in her was any indication, so why put herself in a situation that has but one macabre ending?
"She is strange," He bundled up his thoughts on he woman in one sentence and forced them to the back of his mind. He had work to do and he needs no distractions, most assuredly not a beautiful enigma who had the gall to openly challenge him.
He moved down the hall with an inhuman grace, not thinking about the woman who was completely on his mind.
()()()()
"I had to!" Kagome defended, shoving another outfit into her case. She would be needing as many as she could carry.
"I said we would talk about it during the party!" Her father hissed, his anger palpable in the air around her. When she neither responded nor turned to look at him, he roughly grabbed her shoulders. She shoved him away, his hands coming to rest by his sides.
"Don't touch me!" She could feel the tears welling behind her eyes and cursed the gods. She promised herself she would cry only when completely alone. "I need to do this! Those girls who lay crying and whimpering in those cages need someone, a victor to stop this madness our leader sees fit to put us through!"
"Do not question the gods judgment!" Her father yelled and she huffed in annoyance before going back to shoving things into her bag. He made to grab her wrist but she smacked his hand away. "Do you not see how hopeless is situation is?"
"Father..." She noted the pain that laced his voice. He had lost his wife and now he felt as if he was loosing both his daughters, tho one more so than the other. He placed a callused palm on her cheek, his skin cracked from the ax he used to behead the poor woman who could never stand up to the Lord's first wife. "I know I can stop this if you could just let me."
"Have faith?" He muttered, tracing her eyes that were the same shape as his late wife's. His Kagome so resembled her mother that sometimes he caught himself doing a double take when she breezed into a room, sure his wife had just risen from the grave. But he never told her this.
"Have trust," She placed her scared hand on his, the warmth doing nothing for the chill that seemed to seep into his bones at the thought of her before the Lord.
"Than that is what I will do," He muttered, his voice cracking when a few stray tears slipped from her eyes and rolled across his hand. He cried too, joined by Kikyo when she peeked in from the bathroom.
The family cried for loss and pain of loosing a mother, a wife. They cried for their missing options but most of all, the cried for having hope.
()()()()
The room she was lead to was sparsely decorated but the large bed placed in the center of the room was what caught her eyes. It was layered with gold sheets that shimmered red with the setting sun and made it almost look like liquid fire. The four large posts held up thick curtains that fell down to the ground.
The balcony door was open and the curtains billowed in the gentle breeze that wafted in. A table and two chairs were shoved into a corner to make room for a rather large dest. It was scattered with papers and she found herself rather intrigued. The numbers were a jumble of facts that she could decipher given time. She was rather slow when it came to numbers.
The whole wall across from the balcony was covered with books. The shelves were ladened with the tomes, some bright colored scrolls wrapped in golden thread, others printed copies of books with thick leather skin and crisp pages. She caught the spine of a particular book, its cover folded many times and the pages were marked. It looked to be constantly read. The cover told it to be one of her favorites as well.
"You came to take a book you cannot even read?" The Lord muttered from behind her. She resisted the urge to spin around. She would not let him win. With her coy smile, she turned around and read aloud the foreword, not catching the raised eyebrows of the man leaning on the door.
"'There was once in the city of Bassora a mighty Sultan,'" She threw a look over to him and was still watching her with keen eyes. "'And he was exceedingly rich, but he had no children who should be his successor after him."' She skipped a few lines, picking up a few sentences in. "One night of the nights he lay with the queen and she went from him with child."
Kagome tossed the book onto the desk, moving around the room reciting the tale from memory with her own twist on the words. She caught the amused smirk he sent her way when the tome fell onto the wood.
"He rejoiced, his prayers answered by the gods," She placed her hands on the wooden bedpost and looked him in the eye when she talked. "Once the time of birth was upon them, the Sultan called to the geomancers who smote the sand and the astrologers who looked to the heavens to answer the Sultan's many questions about the babe, unborn."
He moved forward, leaning a hand out to press into the wood of the post and locking the woman into the cage of his arms. Surprisingly, she seemed at ease and her smirk caused his mouth to open and words to pour forth.
"They told of the child's bravery and riches he was to acquire. The child born male was said to be beautiful and the Sultan named him Zein ul Asnam. Sands flew from the great hourglass and when the child reached maturity, his father called him to his bedside.
"The Sultan was plagued by a sickness that no gods could prevent. He told his son to be kind, to rule with the strength of his forefathers before passing into the next realm. Do you want to know the real story, the one the book does not tell?" She whispered, her hands crossed behind her back and her smile causing her face to twist in amusement. He raised an eyebrow which she interpreted as acceptance. "He squandered his fathers money on pleasures of the skin and drink, leaving matters of the state to those under him. After a time, the people revolted and showed him the error of his ways. It was only due to the wit of his Queen mother he retained his head."
She smirked and slipped out of his hold, her eloquent words trailing behind her like a vail. He followed her, not caring if this felt like a surrender. This woman was strange. Most whimpered when he came close, she merely smiled. When he looked up, she was perched on the railing, looking out to the sun that dipped under the horizon. She would be getting tired soon and even if he did not sleep, he knew she would need to.
"So, to pay penance to the gods for his folly, he traveled to Cairo where a vision of an elder man told him of his valence and the riches he he would obtain if he ventured home. So he returned," He had never heard this part and he watched as her rich chestnut hair fluttered between them, a slight red tint from the setting sun. "The stories diverge from here. Some say he comes by the gold in his hall in the early hours of morn, others claim it was delivered by golden steads ten feet tall. I prefer the last claim, that he stumbles upon it in his fathers fault. With the riches his and his mind and will strong against the temptation of the money and jewels, his mother and he ventured in, discovering a vault deep below their feet. Once finding a missing image among eight others. He vowed to find it in Cairo."
Ash the sun set, the room was plunged into darkness. She fluttered about the room, her plain dress swishing around her feet as her mouth told the story of Zein al Asnam. Her nimble fingers lit a match and guided the flame to the wick. The candle jumped to life in the holder, sending the room into shadows. Once she lit the others scattered around the room, the golden bed was sent into dark tones and the Lord with it. The shadows complemented the smooth planes of his face almost as much the sunlight did.
The woman on the other hand, looked too much like a ghost with her dark hair and large eyes. The shadows collected in the curve of her pert nose and the hollows of her eyes making her face look eerily similar to a skull. Her lightly tanned skin was different from the pale complexion of the women at court. A predatory light flashed into his eyes as she blew the match out, her pink lips compressed.
She continued spinning her tale, each word more addicting than the last and left him hungering for more. A few times, he stood to join her as she traversed the room, but she simply smiled and pressed him back down onto the bed, her small fingers remarkably strong. She explained the grandeur of the city, of the old slave that helped him find the hiding place for the treasures taken by the Jinn. She spoke of the towering pillars and sloping mosaics that were displayed proudly above their heads.
"The palace was decorated with the ribs of fish, the pale white flashing from great distances. An army of Jinn* stood guard, their sharpened spears glinting in the high sun. The watched the approaching travelers with weary eyes and twitching fingers," She was about to continue when she glanced out the window.
The sun was gathering on the horizon, signaling the approach of dawn. He was about to demand she continue when she sighed and went for her bag, plucking sleeping garments from the piles of fabrics.
"What are you doing?" He questioned, the tone confused. She just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He was pleasantly surprised to note she showed none of the weariness he knew she felt. He did not inform her of this tho, he was cold and detached. A Lord.
"I do not tell stories after dawn or before sunset," She responded, reading herself for a nice long nap after staying awake all night. At the angry growl that torn its way from his stomach, he pressed a clawed hand to her throat, a silent threat. He watched as the sensual creature in his grasp became still, her once bright eyes hardening to orbs of fire. "You think to threaten me? Please, you want to know the ending to the story as much as I want to end all of this senseless killing."
He realized that was why she was here. She wanted to stop the flow of woman into his bed. He laughed, letting his clawed slipping down to rest on her exposed shoulder. He didn't catch the hitch her breathing took when his breathy chuckle blew across her lips. She wondered if he tasted like wine.
With a start, she stopped that train of thought. How many countless others had come before her, thinking the same thoughts? Which of them thought they could change this beast of a man before her? She was different, she saw the anger that swam in his eyes but also the power that twirled about his form.
"Why do you laugh?" She huffed out, her shoulder becoming warm under his palm. The skin was callused, most assuredly from his sword. She caught his eye and gasped when the iris was rimmed with red. She stopped her feet from back stepping and instead, leaned forward.
"I laugh because you are strange," He was again, taken back, by her forwardness. He had shown his anger to a very select few and most on that list were dead or wish they were so. Only a handful had lived to tell the tale and only she leaned forward to get a better look. "What is is you want from me?"
"To live," She stated bluntly. She bit her lip between her teeth and waited for his anger. She had mentally prepared herself for a beating or at least some sort of abuse. What she got was a laugh that bounced off the chamber walls.
"You clever minx," He hissed and she felt her mouth drop open when she realized he had said it as a complement. His mouth was turned up into a mock smirk, the normal humor striped from it making it appear more threatening than she thought a grin could be. "You have crafted a deal with the devil."
()()()()
The palace awoke slowly, assured they would have to drag a whimpering girl from the Lord's chambers. They expected the door to be propped open as always with the girl crying in the hall but were met with locked chambers and no girl. The executioner had been called and he now stood to he right of the toad, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
They refused to feel hope when the door was closed and no open sobbing could be heard. The toad knocked on the door and it was abruptly opened on the first knock. The Lord stood with his chest bare, a white training uniform clutched in his hand. The two guards to the toads back made to come it but were abruptly stopped by hands to their chest.
No one said a word, absorbing the meaning behind the gesture. It could mean he killed the girl or...he approved of her. The toad thought the former.
The Lord opened he door slightly, giving the girl's father a clear view of his daughter, sprawled across the bed in her sleeping attire, her hair spread across the pillow. The four men watched with woe as he slipped the shirt over his head and shut the door behind him. The guards dispersed and the toad shuffled to get before his Lord before chatting amicably about the day ahead. The Lord could feel the stare of his closest advisor on the back of his skull.
"Was...was she...did she...?" The man tried to push words from his mouth but they sounded vile on his tongue. He had always respected his Lord for the power and ability to lead, but the thought of him with his daughter, he felt the need to kill something. "I just mean is she...ok?"
"Besides being rather tired from fabricating stories she knew should make me loose track of time, she is fine," At the horrified gasp behind him, he glanced over his shoulder to see the man looking at him with fear. He responded with a smile that appeared to be more a pained grimace. "You raised a hellcat, Advisor, one I intend to tame."
Lord Sesshomaru strutted forward, ignoring the father's laughter that followed him down the hall.
Jinn- Intelligent spirt under angels in Arabian and Muslim mythology
*This is un-beta'ed so quite a few mistakes are mixed in.
This is a new story I'm writing based on the wonderful myth of Scheherazade(whom you should check out) and my own imagination. Enjoy.