Disclaimer: I Do Not Own.

The Story of a Girl

There once was a legend of a young girl who would be the one to tame the lords' lust for blood. It was foretold she would be of beauty, of love of life and that she would protect those who the lord commanded. So with this tale once every year when a female came to marriageable age she would be presented to the lords and see if she was such the person of destiny. For it was said once she came the world would know true love.

Kagome closed the book with a sigh. She should've never told her grandfather she was going to help him look for his book; she didn't even know what was so special about this book of his. She glanced up at the high window as once again. What had everyone who worried? Her grandfather seemed edgy and it worried her. She got up to leave but noticed that the door was locked. Locked? It was open when I came down…kami-sama I'm stuck! I can't be stuck! Kagome banged on the door but the excitement from outside just drowned her out. Oh Kami-sama I'm going to die in a hole in the ground…Jii-chan and his stuff! Needing more space indeed…Kagome sighed. She clearly wasn't going anywhere and because her grandfather was eccentric-unique- he in his younger days built a hole in the ground to use for storage, better to protect what was his he said. Well now it stored his precious granddaughter. I hope I don't die down here…

There was a strange silence now. Maybe now was a time to escape?Just as that thought passed through her head Kagome heard sounds of crying and a mother's cry of, "My baby!" Stillness commanded her just then and panic overtook her mind. What was going on? Why is it quite so soon after such a cry? Her mind supplied very wild ideas while her ears listened to hear what was next. There was a whining of a horse, then her grandfathers' voice.

"There is no female here." He stopped talking as if he was listening then he spoke, "she did not leave me with children." She heard whoever it was force themselves into her house. Her grandfathers' protests and loud cries of, "Demon!" and, "You are not welcomed here!" Her heart pounded loud in her ears and she knew whoever it was that entered her home knew she was there. She squeezed herself tightly into a corner hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice her. She knew it was coming for her she felt it deep inside she knew.

"What is this?" The voice sounded high and annoying but clearly male, "You dared lied to Lord Sesshomaru's faithful servant Jaken?" he busted open the door to her grandfathers underground storage room.

"That is just my storage room, full of memories and things I collected in my years of living…" Jaken, as he so claimed he was, paid no heed to her grandfather and entered. His gaze searched the room and Kagome held her breathe, sure he could hear her heart beat and the sound of the haggard breathing. He zeroed in on her just as her grandfather worriedly searched the room for her, when he could not find her his eyes widened but Jaken pointed one clawed finger at her.

"Is this not a female? Would you dare lie to your lord? He shall hear of your plan to deceive…"

"NO," Kagome intervened, "it was all my idea, my grandfather wished it not but I did not want to go and so I tricked him into lying." She bowed and so she never truly seen the creature that would have killed her grandfather for treason. He let out a displeased sound and croaked out a command for her to follow. She did so with a quick hug to her heart broken grandfather.

Outside she saw other girls from the village some older than her others the same age none over the age to marry and they were marched to a chart befitting for animals. Herded in she sat with another girl her age, "why are we here?"

The girl looked at her as if she was dense, "You know not what we are for truly?" she asked.

Kagome gazed at her in such a way she yelled if I did would I have asked but said, "Truly I do not know why we are here."

"We are here for the King and Lord of the West. We are to be taken to see if we are to mate…" Kagome stopped listening. What type of horrible jest was this? Lords married Ladies, plain and simple what was their Lord thinking taking woman from a village to wed? They traveled for two days and only had twenty minutes to eat and relieve themselves four times in the forty-eight hours they traveled. She herself wished she could have bathed but she also wished some of the older girls would shut up about how they would love to marry a Lord. It was said the Lord was pulled away for battle for three years and so they had not a proper meeting with their Lord. Today would be the first day in over three years they would see their Lord. She however wasn't as excited.

When they finally stopped and reached the house of their Lord they were sent to wash, dress and eat so that a proper meeting would be held with the Lord. Kagome loved the bath, hated the dressing maids and adored the food. The first proper meal since her last dinner with her grandfather she wondered what he was doing now. Was he crying over losing her after he worked so hard to hide her? She hoped not, she hated when her grandfather cried. He thought he hid it well but truth was she always knew when he was sad and cried even when he wasn't home.

After eating the girls were led to a huge room that looked to be a ball room by the size of it. Kagome looked for the closest exit and saw two guards protecting that. She almost wept with the injustice. But then the same man who took her from her grandfather came in and with much joy announced the entrance of their Lord. Oh…!Was the only way she could describe their Lord. Tall, over six feet something he had long silver hair and cold amber eyes. He had two maroon stripes across each of his cheeks and wrist and a dark blue crescent moon on his forehead. He was strikingly beautiful and Kagome knew he was dangerous.

"Lord Sesshomaru son of Lord InuTaisho the Lord of the West," Everyone bowed. Kagome looked at him through her lashes and wondered if he would kill her if she asked to brush his hair…

"M'lord these are the woman of the village and as tradition commands they will have to be tested by you to see if they are mate worthy." Sesshomaru nodded and looked past all the girls and nodded again. While Kagome found it strange she said nothing of it.

Jaken had all the females line up as Sesshomaru left the room and another guy came in. This guy had black hair and ruby red eyes she shivered when his gazed passed over her. He walked to the females lined up sniffed each and dismissed the first two. He continued down the line dismissing females and nodding to others. When he came upon Kagome he sniffed her twice, stopped gazed at her then pointed to her Jaken nodded and he continued on. Kagome, unsure and worried over the glares of the other females dismissed stood where she stood. When the dark haired man finished his sniff test he glanced at the approved females then back to the line he dismissed and rolled his eyes. He pointed to Kagome and then to the approved females. She stayed where she was knowing those approved would be sent to other tests and those dismissed would be sent home. Oh how she missed her home…

"You girl, Bight Eyes, join those others there." His voice was deep, dark and mysterious. Kagome sighed and moved where he put her. His gazed lingered on her for a moment then he nodded to Jaken. He then left and those unapproved went with him. Kagome watched as their Lord came back looked at them and nodded. Then he sat upon his throne while another male came in. He had his black hair in a ponytail and had long blue stripes from his bangs to his chin going through his eyes.

Kagome noticed he looked quite feminine and totally different than the sniffing man who was quite manly and dark. He walked to each woman commanded each to walk and return then gazed at them until they broke eye contact. He did not let his yes's or no's be known letting everyone wonder who was chosen and why. When he got to Kagome she didn't move right away until she remembered their Lord was present. Then she quite sharply stalked away and back glaring at the feminine man. He gazed at her amused but then continued. Kagome hoped the Lord would not have seen her display but when she glanced at him and his eyes was on her she cursed under her breath.

When he was finished having the girls walk he pointed to many girls and Kagome was not one of them, she almost danced with joy of going home until he said those he didn't pick where to continue. Kagome glared at him as he took those selected out of the castle. The man Jaken then had the females go to rooms so they could sleep. Kagome followed him until one of the females, older than her, pulled her back.

"Don't think your anything special, girl. Our Lord will be mine." Kagome went to say something but the female slapped her hard as she gasped on the floor Kagome kicked the girl in the back of her knee.

"I could less care if Lord Sesshomaru married a witch; you are not to touch me." She then continued to follow the quickly disappearing bodies of females. The girl soon followed but Kagome ignored her and her hateful look. As he dropped off the females in rooms he matched Kagome with the would be Lady of the West and noticed her bruised cheek and the girls swollen face, from her landing right on it on her fall, he narrowed his eyes and bid them good night.

When Kagome woke she found the girl had a pair of cutters and her hair in her hand. Her once waist length hair was now lower back. She swung her fist once at the witch and socked her once in the nose. As she screamed a maid came in and wide eyed helped her stop the blood flowing then leading them down to eat. If any other female noticed her lack of hair they said nothing but Jaken's all seeing eyes eyed her and the now puffy nosed girl. He thinned his lips and waited for the girls to eat. When everyone was finished he announced, "If any of you have problems with another do not fight. Any who are seen lifting a fist will answer directly to our Lord and he would not be pleased." He gazed directly at Kagome and her roommate from hell. "And for those who thought a late night trip to our Lords room would convince him to marry you, do so again and you would not be returning to your village alive." A few females winced and Kagome blinked stunned at them, who would try to enter their Lords room unannounced?

Then were then led to a room where many dresses were laid and the man who was there last night was again there. He had certain dresses given to females and then he left leaving them to get dressed. He then took them to a place where many china sets were placed on a long table.

"You will each serve your Lord tea." Sesshomaru then entered and sat in the chair the farthest from Kagome and directly into the chair of her witchy roommate. If Sesshomaru noticed the bruised face or slightly crooked nose he gave no indication. He accepted her tea and the going down the line accepted tea from them all. When it was Kagome's turn she didn't immediately pour him tea.

"Do you want some tea Lord Sesshomaru?" He gazed at her and she knew he hated this almost as much as she.

"Yes."

"How many sugars? Cream?" He requested seven sugars and two creams which none of the other females gave him. All thinking he drank black un-sweetened tea. He then got up and the feminine man dismissed ten more females, sadly it was neither Kagome nor her hellish roommate; then there were six. They were then led to a room filled with children. Some woman cooed others snarled Kagome wondered if this test was what she thought it was.

"As you know part of this marriage is to ensure our Lord has an heir. We must know if you are well with children," Jaken explained. He then matched children with women. Kagome got four: two males' two females. The oldest looked to be the older male; he had silver hair and purple eyes. The second oldest was the albino girl child with white hair and eyes. The next was the red head green eyed male then the youngest a girl with black hair and brown eyes. Kagome bent down and asked each their name.

"Rin's name is Rin and this is Shippo, this is Kanna and he is Haku!" Haku sighed.

"My name is Hakudoshi and I am the oldest. Kanna-chan is the second eldest then Shippo-kun then Rin-chan." Kagome nodded and then bowed to each child having them laugh at her.

"And I am Kagome I am very pleased to have met you." They giggled at her some more and then Rin grabbed her hand while Shippo grabbed the other they began pulling her when she stopped them and waited for Kanna and Hakudoshi. Both smiled and ran to catch up. The picked flowers to Rin's great pleasure then played tag to Shippo's joy. She read to them with supplied books that Kanna adored and they even cloud gazed that made Hakudoshi very happy. Before they could play Kagome's favorite game 'escape' they were stopped in the middle of their "game" and three more girls were let go. Her witch of a roommate not one of them and Kagome almost whimpered at the injustice of it all. They were to eat then sleep. Kagome loathed sleeping in the same room with the witch again. She wondered what she would pull this night. As they walked Kagome noticed the children stayed with them and she smiled brightly. At least she had these adorable children to busy herself with.
The other girl tried to push away the children with her. She clearly wasn't the motherly type.

"Don't touch me!" She cried as one of the children tried to hug her. She raised her hand as if to back hand it and Kagome snatched the kid away daring the woman to hit her. The child whimpered in fear, before she let out a loud piercing cry that Kagome was sure to alert everyone in the castle she turned her back to the violent woman to hug the child as the other children was comforted by Hakudoshi, Kanna, Shippo and Rin.

"Kagome-sama is very nice she wouldn't hurt you, you're ok, Rin promises." They made Kagome so proud even though they weren't her children. A guard that was walking them sent for Jaken and Jaken dismissed her. He checked to see if the child was harmed and he looked so worried Kagome felt her heart go out for him. He turned his sharp eyes on her and Kagome swallowed slightly worried.

"I thank you; Kari is Lord Sesshomaru's first lieutenants' daughter and would've been very displeased to have heard she had gotten hit." Kagome nodded and looked into Kari's pretty gray eyes and smiled.

"Thank you Kagome-sama." She hugged Kagome and Kagome hugged her back.

"This is my sister and brothers, Jeanne, Tobi and Dachi. Dachi is the oldest then I then Tobi then Jeanne. We like to play do you?" Kagome nodded and introduced her children. Rin and Jeanne made fast friends while Kari and Kanna talked about books. Tobi and Shippo matched each other's very playful nature while in silence both Dachi and Hakudoshi seemed to have befriended another. Kagome smiled and they all proceeded to the dinner table. Surprisingly at the table sat Sesshomaru.

The wicked witch of the west sat at his left while Kagome placed the children in seats and made sure they were alright. Secretly she was hoping that if she procrastinated long enough he would magically disappear. When she had no other delaying children demanded her attention she sat at the lower end of the table with the children. At Sesshomaru's amused looks she just made some big taboo.

"How fitting, you among the children…child…."the witch told her. Kagome ignored her and placed her napkin on her lap while helping Rin and Jeanne with theirs. As not to look bad the wicked witch did the same with her child. The child however looked longingly at Kagome's end of the table. Rin made 'come-on' movements and the kid happily jumped up and moved ignoring the witches sputtering. Kagome helped the child into a chair and the child smiled a tooth gapping smile. Sesshomaru then moved down the table where most of his dinner party rested. He sat right next to a displeased Kagome whose scowl amused the children. The witch growled at Kagome and Sesshomaru looked at her in displeasure.

When dinner was finished Kagome expected them all to retire but Sesshomaru had other plans, since the third girl left early they had moved up the next test; Personal interaction test. The wicked witch of the west was first Kagome was left with the children. They played a while before falling asleep on the pillows in the children's playroom. Jaken came in and shook his head. His new Lady was a child at heart and he was okay with it.

If you had told him this thirty or even twenty years ago he would've struck you down and let the maggots feast on your rotting flesh. But, he was a changed man now. He now let things go its course and hoped she would be the one to release his Lord from his curse. Oh that terrible curse…

Destined to share a mate with a brother only he and their true mate could see. It was said that when the brother was released from his curse by the sacrifice of his brother they both would become the most powerful in the land and have peace and prosperity. However it was also said that the brothers would hate one another so only a being pure and loving would unite the two. It has been so long that the brothers took solace in one another and though they still fought it wasn't anything like before. Their hate soon turned into sibling rivalry into extended love. Hopefully she would be the one. He didn't think his Lord could survive another loveless year.

He sighed, placed blankets on them and returned to see how the other…lady…was fairing. Hopefully the one resting would be the new Lady of the West before the next week. He skipped down the hall with such merry thoughts not bothering to keep up his sour disposition façade he kept tin place to demand his authority. He frightened fix maids, six chamber lads and three guards.

The woman, whose name he forgot, was very irritating. She was torn between trying to sleep with him and telling him of her "horrible" roommate. She simply talked too much. He looked at Inuyasha and Inuyasha left the room. Clearly she failed the true point of the test. If she really was his true mate she would be able to see Inuyasha, Inuyasha even pulled a face she couldn't see, but seeing as she couldn't he had nothing to worry about. She wasn't meant for him. He waited till it was time for bed just so she wouldn't tell her roommate and he waited for what tomorrow would bring.

Kagome and children awoke to a dog-eared man staring softly at the children.

"Adorable aren't they?" She asked. The dog-eared man fell over in shock as the children gave curious looks to her. She ignored the looks and tried to help the dog-eared man up but Rin tried to see who Kagome saw and tripped over a pillow. After Kagome helped her to stand the dog-eared man was gone. Sighing Kagome led the children to the wash room made each wash their hands and face and sent them to the kitchens to eat. She went to look for the dog-eared man but was cut off by the sniffing man the first night.

"Hello, I am Naraku. How may I help you…?"

"Have you seen a silver headed dog-eared man? Wow I sound crazy, never mind thanks for helping….maybe he went this way…or that way…" she looked between the stairs and more hallways. Naraku wait still for her name until what she said registered. By the time it did she was gone.

"I have to tell Sesshomaru…"

Going down the stairs Kagome didn't see the dog-eared man but she did find out where they kept the animals. She kept looking and found the feminine man and he was talking to someone.

"Excuse me; you wouldn't have seen a dog-eared man have you? Oh! Wait I think I see him! Thank you!" She raced after the dog-eared man and almost crashed into Sesshomaru.

"Oh, my-lord!" she bowed and waited to be told to get up. She waited a while before daring to glance up. He was lost in thought and hardly seemed to notice her. He simply moved past her and continued on as if he wasn't stopped. He must be thinking very hard… Kagome looked for her dog-eared prey and found him rounding the corner. She chased after him and they found themselves in the court yard.

"Hey!" she stopped for breath and tripped over a random rock. Throwing her hand out in front of her to protect her from her fall she waited for the telltale pain and felt none. She opened her eyes to see a clawed hand, tanned arm and red sleeve holding her. She gazed up at him, smiled and thanked him.

Lost in his eyes that reminded her of a certain lord she didn't notice Jaken's arrival until he was upon her.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry Jaken-sama I just wanted to thank…."she looked at her dog-eared rescuer and Jaken; "He hasn't yet told me his name…" she looked back to him just noticing his arms still around her.

"Inuyasha…."

"Inuyasha...interesting name… I was trying to thank Inuyasha for…."

"Oh Lord Sesshomaru…"Jaken's eyes rounded and bugged impossibly large Kagome worried that she might've said something wrong when Jaken smiled and danced.