The head noble sat with his back straight and a thoughtful expression on his heavily lined face.

The lower nobles sat with varying expressions. Some were cowering. Some prideful. Others hesitant.

The lord sat in the high chair with a look of pure rage on her face, her body slightly trembling from keeping her anger in check.

Silence resonated in the hall. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. All waited for the outburst that was soon to come. As they expected, their lord didn't take their decree very well. But there was nothing she could do, she would just have to except it.

"And I have no say in this?" came her hiss of a reply.

"It is a unanimous vote. It will not be revoked." Sir Hachiro said simply, staring at her with a slightly amused look upon his face.

The afternoon light streamed in through the canopies creating a halo around her. The noblemen marveled at her ethereal appearance, jealousy radiating from them that they would not be able to take her as theirs.

"Might I ask what brought this about?" she seethed, trying to contain her emotions. She could not believe they dared do this to her. She would have done it by herself when she was good and ready. She had a mind do have them all executed for this but she knew they wouldn't let her get away with it. "One would think I'm perfectly capable of getting a husband by myself!" she shouted at them.

"And I'm pretty sure you would be able to," he said, agreeing with her. "However, we feel that you are preoccupied with other things and by the time you are ready to find a husband you will be too old to procreate. This decree is just a means to speed the process along. None of us can predict the future. Unfortunately accidents do occur and your chance of death is significantly increased what with you being the ruler. You are in your prime and there is no time like the present. An heir must be brought forth as soon as possible."

"I still don't-"

"Look at it this way. It is not as though we are arranging it; you are to choose who you marry. We just want it to happen within the time allotted."

"And if it does not?" the lord growled.

"Then we will have no choice but to pick for you. Rest assured if it does come down to that we will pick the best candidate for you. However, we will have to approve of the one you choose. Not just anyone can be the husband of the lord."

Her eye twitched as she looked him in the eye. Unable to be in his presence any longer she got up and stalked out. She needed to calm down, that was her first priority. She would think about the current events later. Walking down the densely forested hall she fisted and un-fisted her hands.

She stopped in front of a slab of granite and waited. A red lantern materialized shortly.

"Dongo" she said sharply. It illuminated and sparked slightly.

"Good afternoon my lord. Your lady mother is currently having tea. Shall I call for more?" said a soprano voice.

"Yes, make it quick I plan to leave shortly." She said softly.

"Right away" came the voice as the rock shifted to the right and revealed an opening previously unseen. Walking inside of the moss covered tunnel she could hear her mothers soft crying. Sighing, she steeled herself. The Lady Nao had become very weepy since the departure of her father. It was quite understandable of course; losing the love of your life would be tough on anyone. However, she experienced her lowest point when Kagome was around. She would have brief bouts of insanity where upon seeing her daughter she would fall to the ground and beg for forgiveness, for reasons unknown. The lord had been hopeful that her mother had put that all behind her. With the recent start of the war her mother had a relapse, much to her dismay. Reaching the antechamber that was decorated with low tables and tatami mats she nodded to the guards that stood on either side of the entrance to her mother's private chambers.

She found her sitting on a chair, staring into the oval glass container filled with water that was used as a mirror. Eyes extremely red and swollen, she could tell she'd been crying all night long and all morning. Walking silently up behind her she lightly rested a hand on her shoulder. The lady jumped and gave a slight shriek as she almost fell from her seat. Kagome caught her before she could, but as soon as her mother saw her face she went into hysterics and promptly slid to the floor, her arms wrapped around her daughters legs as she chanted the same mantra she always did.

"Forgive me, forgive me, kamis forgive me"

Tiring quickly of her antics she slapped her soundly across the face.

"You will reign yourself in immediately!" she sharply commanded her, looking down at her mother in slight disgust. She acted like a small child. Her mother quieted, her tears slowing to trickles, her wailing dying down to hiccups. She helped her up and over to the chair she previously occupied and Kagome made her way to adjacent one. The maid walked from out of the corner and served them their beverages pretending that she had just not seen her lady cause such a scene.

"Thank you." Kagome said softly as she observed her mother. She was only a shell of what she once was. A shame really, she had been told that her mother was a coveted woman for her endless beauty and vivacious personality. She was now skinny and pale, her eyes constantly red and downcast and the sound of laughter had not passed from her mouth since the death of her father. She had already decided that once her mother was well again she would find her a new husband to care for her and hopefully bring happiness back into her life.

"The council has decreed that I must marry by the end of the year or they shall choose for me." I announced to her calmly. She let out a whine and fresh tears made themselves known. "Please do not cry again." Kagome said sighing.

"My poor child. It's all my fault." She said chokingly.

"How could it be your fault? You have no control over what they do." she said bitterly. She sipped the green tea and sighed again. "I just cannot see myself as a wife. To be subservient to a male? It is not a position to which I will be fond of. I was hoping that since I am the lord I would not be required to wed, only produce an heir. I guess I'll just have to deal with it." She said as she stared off into space.

"How can they do this to you?" Lady Nao said.

"Because I am a young girl in a man's world and they feel the urge to control and overpower me." She said wryly. "Nevertheless I shall endeavor to overcome this obstacle that they insist I tackle."

As soon as the words left her mouth she heard the door open and looked up to see her younger brother Souta coming in. he seemed slightly surprised to see her but still greeted her with a smile.

"Mother" he said as he kissed her cheek. "Kags" he said in her direction. He truly was a handsome young man and would grow up to be a heartbreaker. Black wavy hair that stopped just below his ears, mahogany brown eyes, full pink lips, and a strong jaw led to broad shoulders and a thinly muscled chest and stomach. He was already a head taller then her.

"How goes your lessons?" she asked him. He grinned at her toothily.

"I'm learning about the aswangs, and kapre's, and elves." he said happily. She nodded as he went on to tell her everything he learned so far and how his hunting skills were coming along. She informed him that he was soon to have a brother-in-law and he frowned at this.

"It doesn't sound like you're too happy about that Kag."

"I'm not," she said with a sad smile upon her face, "but it matters not. I'll just have to deal with it."

She got up and set her cup on the table. She ruffled up his hair. "I must take my leave. Take care of mother will you?"

"Of course." he said with a nod.

Walking out she made her way to her chambers and changed out of her kimono and into a pair of black hakama and a snug fitting black shirt. She pulled her hair up into a bun and washed her face of all make-up. She put her jewelry up and slipped out of her silk slippers into a pair of geta.

Miyu came in with her hands full of kimono and bowed once she saw her master.

"I'm going out. You know what to do." She said dismissively.

"Hai milord"

Going into her armoire she pushed aside the dresser and revealed the small hole. Climbing in, she crawled for about mile until she reached the waterfall. Carefully stepping out so that she didn't get wet she made her way into the village. She heard them before she saw them. It was a bolstering community that never slept.

The village was most attractive at night she thought.

Walking into the village entrance she walked in between the stone dogs that protected its inhabitants.

She walked along the raised side of the green hill that protected them and stopped and looked at the beauty of it all. To the right the living corridors were carved into the hill side and their bark structures jutted out.

To the left was the port filled with boats coming to and fro. All of the buildings were situated on the water, close to the shores. Steel poles supported them so that everything was three feet over the water.

Stairs were cut that led to the walkway that was fifty feet above the water and connected to the temple that overlooked everything.

An orange glow illuminated everything and anything that wasn't made of steel or bark was red. She walked along the throng of people until she reached her destination. Walking through the double doors she was assaulted with heat and steam. She went into the side room and changed into a light yukata and put her clothes in a small cubby. Walking out towards the communal spring she saw that it wasn't too crowded tonight. The bath was closed in on three sides and on those sides there was a small rectangular opening at the bottom center were the water came out.

The lord shed her yukata and stepped into the almost scalding water, letting the steam relax her stressed mind. She closed her eyes and just drifted. A time later she felt someone slide in beside her. She felt along their auras to see whether there was a threat. Finding none, she went back to just listening to the talking around her to see if anything was being said that was of use to her. The conversations around her mainly consisted of village gossip. Who was having sex with who, food prices going up, how calm the weather was, recent aswang sightings, and the biggest scandal so far: A monk having sexual relations with one of the soldiers.

She was about to get up and leave when a snippet caught her attention.

"The strangest thing I tell you. My brother, Matsutushi, the one you had a crush on? He just came back from the mainland."

"Really? Why would he be over in the enemies territory?"

"Well, he is a trader after all. He was actually suppose to stay over there until the years end but of course father wrote him after war was declared."

"Oh."

Yes, well, as I was saying, he came back yesterday morning and said that no one was aware of a war happening."

"Really?"

"Yes, yes, quite odd don't you think? He said as he was boarding his ship he was talking to a merchant he became friendly with and mentioned the war and the man looked at him as though he were crazy and said this was peacetime, and it had been that way for over fifty years."

"How has it been peacetime and yet the Black War happened ten years ago?"

"Yes, and it wasn't just the merchant, he said everyone he talked to seemed to be under that same impression."

"Truly bafflling"

"I agree"

'Interesting' thought the lord. The spies had not said anything about that. Actually, now that she thought about it, they didn't report back anything useful. She pondered about this new information she had just recieved. Was her spymaster betraying her? Were they made to think they were winning the war when really they were falling for the perfect plan? But that theory made no sense. How could the mainland not know that they weren't at war? If they really were experiencing peacetime, who in gods name were her soldiers fighting everyday?

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here, are you new to the village?" came someone's voice that startled her out of her thoughts. It was a girl, she must have been just a little older than Kagome. She had dark brown hair that was piled on the top of her head with muddy brown eyes that twinkled. A slight smirk graced her face. Kagome looked down to see she was well toned and slightly muscular. 'Must be in a fighting class' Kagome thought. She was a very pretty girl. The lord initially thought not to talk to her, but then decided she must just want to have a friendly conversation.

"I live on the outskirts on the farmland. My father has come to sell his produce to the vendors. I decided to come with him and enjoy the village luxuries." she replied softly, looking straight ahead.

"Oh, it must suck not being able to enjoy a bathouse every night. My name is Yuki." she said in a cheerful voice.

Liar, she thought. For some reason, she could always tell when someone was lying. "I'm Mai" but she wasn't going to call her out on it if she was lying herself.

She smiled. "Nice to meet you Mai. I'm a demonslayer by the way," she laughed when she saw my expression. "I saw the question in your eyes so I thought I'd beat you to the punch."

"How many female demonslayers are there?" Kagome asked curiously. "I'm the only one that I know of. But hey, why can't girls be demonslayers? Girls can be Rajins and Rover's and Quieter's and Zepher's. Why not Slayers?" she said confidently. It appeared as though she gave this speech many times.

"I wouldn't know as I don't fight." she said softly.

"You should," said the girl who claimed to be Yuki, "its great fun once your good at it."

"I bet it is, but I wouldn't be able to hurt a fly." the girl looked the lord up and down.

"True, you don't look like you could." she said thoughtfully. "But fighting isn't for everyone. You could always become a geisha if you don't want to stay on a farm the rest of your life. Your pretty enough, and you have the figure for it." she said encouragingly.

Kagome smiled ruefully. "I think I'll stick with my life as a simple farm girl."

"Suit yourself" she said with a shrug.

Kagome decided to bring up the conversation she had heard about between the two women earlier.

"Have you heard that the people on the mainland don't know were fighting them?" she said causally. Yuki snorted. "Oh please. I've been heard about that. I've known since the start." 'Interesting'

"I wonder if the lord and her nobles know that." she said, watching the girls reaction closely.

"I highly doubt it." she said as she got comfortable.

"Surely her spies would have told her by now."

"Those pansies. They don't know a spoon from a fork, how can they supply the lord with correct information. I don't even know how they can be called spies, let alone royal spies. She'd have done better getting her employees from the market, at least then it'd be half factual."

"Hm," came her response. She wondered how the girl knew all of that. She intended to find out later. She dropped the subject as of now and they spent the rest of the time talking about mundane things until Kagome excused herself. As she put on her clothes her mind was on overload. How could all of this be happening around her and she didn't even know it? She was supposed to be the ruler, she was supposed to protect her people and she didn't even know who she was truly fighting with. Well, things were going to be changing and soon. First thing was to find out who betrayed her. Until then, she would keep this bit of information to herself. She walked along the path that led to the waterfall deep within her thoughts. She was startled to hear a muffled scream come from somewhere to her left. She stopped and listened. She heard it again and this time it was a bit louder. She drew the dagger that she had strapped to her thigh and moved towards the commotion. It must be bandits. Upon reaching the scene she was horrified to see that it was not bandits. It was in fact a naphe, and a rather large one at that. And to top it all off it was attacking a little girl. It's shadow was already extended out to the girl and she could tell it was already drinking. This was a bad situation, since as a naphe was here, a aswang couln't be too far off.

Acting fast, she quickly but quietly snuck up behind it. Thankfully, it was to focused on the girl to notice her. She held her breath, as its noxious breath was poison to humans. Quickly she seized it by its long ears and pulled it back drawing her knife along its neck. The connection broke as it shouted in thrashed out of her grasped and turned and attacked Kagome with its razor sharp teeth. Still holding the beast by its neck she was able to get her feet under it and kicked it as hard as she could in the stomach. It rolled off of her and she scrambled up, attempting to stab it in its heart, so that she could kill it. Just as she neared it, it jumped up and pinned her to the ground, clamping down hard on her right shoulder. She screamed terribly, and for all she was worth tried to buck it off of her.

Suddenly, their was a blinding light, and all Kagome could her was the screaming of the naphe. She opened her eyes once she was sure the light was gone only to find that the beast was gone, and she was covered in ashes, presumingly the naphe.

She looked to her right and saw the little girl standing there with her arms extended, her head turned to the side and her eyes closed tightly. Confusion filled her for but a second as she realized what had happened. She sat up and hissed when her shoulder protested her movements. The little girl opened her eyes and rushed over to were she sat. Kagome looked at her. She couldn't have been any older then five. She stared wide eyed at the older girl and looked on the brink of tears.

"Why on earth are you out in the forest at this time of night?" she asked sharply. The little girl cringed and backed away. Kagome sighed. No way she was going to let a baby wonder around by herself, not after this. "No, no, come here girl, don't you realize the danger your in?" The little girl really did start crying this time. She sighed.

"Do you know what you just did?" she asked. The little girl shook her head no. "Figures. Your a Rooter, girl, and from the looks of it a Psyche. Are your parents Rooters as well?" The little girl started crying even more. Realization dawned. "Your an orphan?" she asked. The little girl nodded. She sighed. This made things just a bit more complicated. "Lovely," she said under her breath. "What's your name?" The girl just stared at her. "So you don't talk either."

"Well, your just going to have to stick with me then, because I will not be letting a little kid be by herself in a forest at night infested with naphes."

She struggled to stand but after awhile she managed. She looked behind her. "Come on you, I meant what I said." She only started walking once the little girl attached her hand to her haori. Kagome stumbled her way to the waterfall, weary of the forests inhabitants, and praying that she had had all the excitement she needed for tonight. There was no way in hell she'd be able to defend anyone, let alone herself, with her injury.

Climbing back down the tunnel proved to be a bit difficult with only one good arm but she managed and staggared into her armorie, just as Miyu entered.

"Milord!" she gasped as she saw her torn shoulder. She rushed towards her, not seeing the little girl that clung to her from behind. "Good kamis, what happened?" she raved. She cut the shirt open with her claws and examined my wound. She gave a sigh of relief. "It is just a flesh wound, albeit a deep one. I shall have to salt it down and sew it up though." she said with a grim smile. "Please, make your way to your hot spring and I shall gather everything I-" she stopped mid-sentence as she finally noticed the other occupant in the room.

"Milord?" she asked hesitantly, as she looked up at me.

"She is my new ward. Prepare the chambers next to mine and have her enrolled at the Academy, she is a Rooter." I said offhandedly. Miyu still loooked dobtful but did as her lord bid her. The lord took the girl by the arm and steered her to the spring. Undressing the rest of the way she waited to be attended to. She clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw that the girl was just standing there. "You will undress and enter the spring. You are filthy and will bathe if you want to eat and get into your bed." she said to her. The girl looked up in surprise that she would actually be able to enter the spring, let alone eat and have a bed. The lord shook her head at the girls ignorance.

Just then, Miyu came in and kneeled next to her. "This will hurt my lord but it will numb it for when I have to needle you." Kagome just sighed and gave her the command to begin. She held in a grunt as the burning began. It lasted for a good few minutes before it turned into a dull throbbing. She nodded to show that she could begin the second phase. "Please, try not to move." Streching out her arm she winced slightly at the first contact with the needle. It didn't hurt but it wasn't exactly plesant either. Once Miyu was done she gingerly applied a salve to it and wrapped it in bandages. The lord sighed that finally she could relax. She looked over to her ward and saw her just sitting there without a clue.

"Go help the child Miyu." she commanded.

"The nobles were looking for you earlier evening." she said as she began to scrub the little girls head.

"And they wanted?"

"They said becase they know you have not had much contact with the opposite sex they will make it easy on you."

"How so?" she said, knowing she wouldn't like what she heard.

"They have gathered all eligible bachelors from the entire country, and the islands to the east and south and will bring them here."

The lord let out a groan. "And when should I expect them?" she said into her hands.

"They should start arriving next week." she said sadly, knowing her lord was not going to enjoy any second of this. She hard a muffled moan and smiled. She truly felt for her. "The dressmaker will be arriving tomorrow afternoon to make your new kimonos.

"Lovely, just lovely." came her lords response.