Hey everyone! I'm so glad everyone liked this story! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have just been so busy! Well here we are.
This may be the last few updates to a story for a while. I'll be busy with work, school, exams etc. etc. etc. Hope ya'll understand!
Last Time:
The two guards decided instantly that they liked Kagome. Even though she couldn't speak she was great to be around. No, if she were the one their pharaoh chose to wed, they would be exceptionally happy.
Now:
Dinner, Kagome mused was an interesting affair. It was interesting to see the activities that occurred while she ate and listened to an old healer mumble and grumble about certain topics.
Most of the young girls it seemed kept there attention solely on the pharaoh, who seemed quite perturbed by the attention. The other portion had taken the coy look and would send him shy glances from time to time, hoping to catch his eye. Kagome herself did neither. She just sat there idly eating her dinner while just glancing at the pharaoh a few times before returning to the one sided conversation that was being held with her.
Kiya, the old healer she had been listening to, suddenly grumbled.
"No good little incompetent…" the old lady mumbled with a disappointed sigh. Kagome gave her a look that clearly asked her what had happened.
The old woman who's name meant 'jovial lady', was anything but. "Tell me little one," she asked Kagome, "Why is it that when one gets older the more respect they seem to lose?"
The amused look that was given to the old lady told her very clearly that from where Kagome was, elders were respected very much.
"It is just, the little ones will not listen to the ancient stories our ancestors have passed down to us from generation to generation. There minds always seem to wander when I begin these tales, and it worries me so." The old woman continued to rant, much to Kagomes slight amusement "How will our cultures beliefs and traditions, along with the very tales of our creation be remembered if the young ones will not listen, or learn for that matter?"
As Kagome continued to calmly listen to the ranting elderly woman, giving her a few assuring nods here and there, she was unaware of the twin amethyst colored eyes that settled on her form.
All night as the young pharaoh continued to the tiring task of entertain each girl that could be his new bride, he felt the strangest urge to turn around and gaze at the dark haired beauty he had found that very day.
One may call it fate or a 'connection' but what they didn't know what that Jaken and Shippou had perched themselves behind the young pharaoh and were currently pushing his head into the direction of Kagome. When his eyes had finally settled on Kagome, Jaken had bound his head with spiritual rope. Sure, the poor young man's neck would be sore come tomorrow morning, but that was a small price to pay for love!
"Jaken," Shippou hissed "How the hell is this supposed to make him fall in love with mama?"
"Impudent little kit!" Jaken huffed "The longer he stares at her the more of her features he can memorize. Then when he sleeps tonight he will not be able to forget about her!"
Unknown to the two squabbling spirit, one very confused pharaoh had heard their conversation and had begun questioning his sanity.
Atem abruptly stood up, startling his priests. "Pharaoh?" Isis questioned worriedly.
"I am feeling….unwell," Atem stated "I shall be retiring for the night. I am sure you are more then capable of informing the girls of their…challenge for tomorrow."
The last part was said with so much dread it made the user of the millennium necklace wince. "Of course, pharaoh," she replied.
With a curt 'goodnight' and a flurry of robes, the young pharaoh had departed, with two squabbling spirits running after him. Shippou chuckling madly and Jaken squawking of how his plan had failed.
Mahado cleared his throat once causing the chatter of the young girls to stop. All eye expectantly turned to him and the other priests standing at the head of the table.
"As you know," he began kindly "That you young ladies are here so that one of you may be picked as the pharaohs future wife, and next queen of Egypt. Of all the ladies of the land, you are the ones most eligible for this position. You shall all be expected to complete a series of challenges. The ones who completes them most effectively and efficiently shall continue on, the ones who do not shall be sent back home. But, if by some chance the pharaoh decides to let you remain, then you shall. Is that understood?"
The small sea of girls nodded their heads, a bit hesitantly. Kagome narrowed her eyes and smiled a bit; interested to know what tomorrow's challenge would be.
"Tomorrow's challenge," Seto began, with poorly concealed amusement, " Will be defense and hunting. As the next queen you will have many enemies; and Egypt cannot have a weak and defenseless queen. A spar will be set up to see how well each one of you can defend yourselves against potential attackers. Either completely disarm the guard you are fighting or hold him off until the sand timer finishes."
A girl hesitantly interrupted Seto. "Pardon me for my rudeness priest Seto," she began softly "But what does hunting have anything to do with defense?"
It was Isis who answered her question. "Let us pretend that you were not able to hold off you attacker until help arrived. They have captured you and are taking you back to wherever they have come for. But, as the queen you somehow escape with the help of some villagers. The villagers have only given you so much food and by the time you are halfway back home your supply runs out. But wait, there is a bird flying ahead. If you can shoot it down you can skin it and somehow eat it. Understand little one? This is why you must be able to hunt."
With final words of encouragement from Shada and polite goodnights everyone dispersed for the night.
xXxoOoxXxoOo The next day xXxoOoxXxoOo
Blue eyes snapped open as the door to Kagomes was thrown open, by the enthusiastic Bes and Aten.
"My-" Aten began, "-Lady!" Bes finished.
"Good morning!" they said together enthusiastically
Kagome sent the two a half hearted glare before dropping back down in bed. Snuggling into the bedding she hoped to get a few more hours of sleep bef-
With a silent cry she jumped out of bed, just as Bes dropped the empty water bucket and Aten grabbed his twin, running out. Releasing a silent sigh she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then slid out of bed. Luckily her dress remained dry.
Her head turned when Shippou and Jaken burst into her room, unnoticed by others of course.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Shippou said, running around the room. "Let's go, let's go! The matches are beginning, lets go watch!"
Now wide awake, Kagome dashed from the room; swiftly making her way towards the sandy training fields of the castle.
No one noticed her arrival so she stealthily sized up every girl. They were dressed in the female guards apparel.
Their torsos were covered in sand colored shirts that ended a few inches below the breast, held up by two thick straps. Their pants were the same colour as their shirts, but were wide and easy to move in. Tied around the chest and arms was leather armour and strapped to their hips was a curved sword.
Some girls looked anxious while others looked confident. Kagome walked next to Isis and with a silent hello, listened to Seto give instructions for the matches.
After a small reassuring speech from Isis and words of caution from Mahado, the matches began. The first girl had surprisingly been able to disarm the guard but that did not stop the guard from keeping up his attack. By the time the sand timer had run out the guard had put the girl in a position where if it had been a real battle she would have been killed.
The rest of the mock fights went in a similar pattern except for a few girls who actually did hold their attacker off, not with skill but with quick wit. Kagome soaked up the battles like a sponge, deep in thought as she remembered her training with Sesshomaru.
The last battle was finished and Seto gave an annoyed huff. "As I see it if any of these girls becomes queen we'll have to have the entire army looking after her," he muttered under his breath. Isis gave him a whack on the head.
"Don't be rude!" she hissed, pasting on a wide smile she looked out into the group of people gathered in the court yard. "Is there anyone else?"
She was met with everyone shaking their heads. "Well then lets-"
"Wait!" Bes and Aten both shouted. The startled priestess looked at the two twins. "What is it?" Mahado questioned.
"Shouldn't she be tested as well?" Aten questioned pointing to the surprised Kagome. "Yes!" Bes agreed "She is also a young maiden and she seems fit, why not?"
Isis and Mahado exchanged contemplative looks between themselves before Isis gave a smile and shrugged as if to say, 'Why not?'
Isis regarded Kagome. "Would you like to try dear?" she questioned. Kagome gave a slow nod. Smiling, Isis lead Kagome away to get ready in her room, only after instructing a servant girl to get a female guards garb for her to don.
Mahado and Atem talked quietly amongst themselves, as many others were doing, while they waited for Kagome to come back. When Aten gave a happy shout Atem turned to see Kagome, having his mouth drop open in shock in the process.
In the blinding sunlight emerged Kagome, wearing the white version of the female guards clothing. Her armour was silver, gleaming in the sunlight and strapped to her waist was her sword. Her dark hair was put up into a high ponytail and it swayed with every step she took. In truth, Atem thought she looked like some kind of guardian angel.
"She looks the part…" Seto mumbled absentmindedly "Get into your position!"
Kagome stepped up to the large burly guard, calculating eyes taking in her surroundings and the guard himself. The guard looked down at her with emotionless eyes. The atmosphere was tense, they could feel something incredible was going to happen.
"Begin!" Seto shouted and the guard instantly charged towards Kagome. She didn't draw her sword, instead, when the guard crouched down to tackle her she grabbed onto his large shoulders and propelled herself upwards, flipping over him.
Aten and Bes gave happy, yet surprised shouts at her agility and skill. "Interesting…"Seto mumbled to himself.
The surprised guard shook himself out of his stupor and drew the curved sword at his waist. Kagome raised her eyebrows before doing a series of back flips as he suddenly charged and began slashing with quick precision. With a well aimed kick to the guards hand the sword went flying out of his hand, but to her surprise another guard threw his sword into his comrades hands.
Adrenalin coursing through her body she drew her own blade from it's sheath. Everything quieted down as the sword hummed as it was being extracted from it's sheath. Then, in the blink of an eye Kagome vanished. The shocked guard brought up his hand just in time to stop the attack of the oncoming sword. The clashing of blades rang out before the mock fight intensified.
"I wonder if she would be interested in teaching some of the other guards," Shada remarked "She is very well skilled."
"Indeed," Mahado agreed "Her skill with the sword is amazing, I haven't seen such a skillful female fighter in a while."
Their attention was brought back to the fight as Aten and Bes cheered loudly when Kagome pinned the guard against the wall, both swords in her hands, making an x around his throat with them.
Seto shook himself out of his shocked stupor and cleared his throat. "And the winner is…er…the girl.."
Isis glared at him as he trailed of lamely. "It's not my fault we don't know her name!" Seto hissed hotly. The user of the millennium necklace frowned at this obvious truth. She would have to figure out a way to learn the unknowns girl name, maybe she could spell it out?
Next came the archery competition, only one girl had been able to hit a bird, the rest had failed miserably. It was Kagomes turn and she knocked her own custom bow, taking aim. She waited a moment taking in the flying pattern of the various birds. She smiled as she saw the split second where they all aligned into one straight line. Letting the arrow fly, it tore through all five birds with the power of her holy powers.
She turned to the gaping crowd. Even the priests regarded her with shocked awe. Feeling awkward with the intention she brought a hand to her head, rubbing the backside. After another moment Aten and Bes descended on her with great excitement.
"That was amazing my lady!" Aten said as he grabbed one of Kagomes arms, his brother grabbing the other. "Truly amazing!" Bes agreed. As they dragged off the reluctant young priestess they passed by the Pharaoh.
The young adults caught each others eyes and time seemed to stop for both of them as they stared into the others eyes. But time once again sped up as Aten and Bes continued to drag her along chattering away happily.
"How interesting…" Shada remarked quietly. Isis stared after the girl with a contemplative expression on her face. Then, with a shake of her head she walked away. The rest of the crowd dispersed and began going their separate ways, intent on finishing whatever work they had before lunch time.
They days after that passed by aimlessly, girls being eliminated and the poor pharaoh never being able to get that mysterious girl off his mind. Isis, after much and work and determination found out that the mute girls name was Kagome. She and her spent many hours writing out the certain letters that would spell out her name and after that she was known as Kagome, simply Kagome.
It seemed that Kagome could get along with anyone. The servants loved her, the guards respected her and the other people in the palace praised her. All, but one reluctant pharaoh.
"It seems that pharaoh was stupider than I thought!" Jaken squawked as he paced Kagomes room. Kagome frowned at him from her place in the bed where she was brushing her hair.
"We only have so much more time left," Shippou commented aloud to himself. With a sad sigh Kagome stood up and walked out onto the balcony of her room, staring at the night sky. Gazing down she was surprised to see Atem playing with his jackals.
The young pharaoh felt someone watching him and as he looked up his gaze caught with Kagomes own. They stared at each other and he smiled before raising his arm and waving. She tentatively brought her arm up and waved back.
The young pharaoh felt playful that night as his jackals nipped and ran around him so he brought his arm back and made a 'come down' motion to Kagome. Kagome blinked a couple times before nodding and disappearing from sight. Only to reappear next to him in a few short minutes.
At first their time together was awkward, but Atem soon found himself talking to the girl, even if she could only listen. He talked about the stress of being a pharaoh, of the fears he had. And Kagome, she just listened silently, giving him an encouraging smile each time he would let out a defeated sigh.
It was late in the night, the pharaoh and the young priestess sat next to each other in calm silence. Kagome made swirls in the sand and Atem had his eyes closed in contemplation. The jackals lay around them, one resting its head on Kagomes lap.
As Isis and Mahado strode across the large balcony over looking the gardens they stopped, and stared. Isis smiled at the cute picture they made and Mahado inwardly cheered for joy at the progress that was happening.
"Do you think he'll be able to accept her?" he asked Isis quietly.
"Why not?" she replied "Everyone in the palace adores her. She really is a sweet girl, beautiful too. The guards are extremely loyal to her and the servants cherish her, like she was already queen. If she were to become queen I'm sure everyone would be happy."
Mahado nodded his head. "I'm quite sure if we wait a little longer the pharaoh will choose her. It is a true pity she has no voice though…"
Down in her deep dark lair 'Tsubaki' snarled. The woman passed by a mirror and her face scrunched up in disgust.
"This look is disgusting," she hissed before ripping off her disguise "To think that my precious sister, Midrikos little Shikon no Miko fell for it."
Netsuna flicked her dark hair over her shoulders as she gave a sinister chuckle.
"Stupid little Kagomes," she hissed "It's this mistake that's going to cost you and my stupid 'perfect' sister everything."
She glided across the room, petting her serpents head as she mused allowed.
"After I gain control of the Shikon and use Kagome to awaken its powers I will become supreme once again, I will overthrow Midriko and rule the spirit and mortal worlds." she said aloud "Like I would have if Midriko hadn't stopped me! But no, this time I will bring my dearest sister to her knees. I will use her own favoured person against her…"
Netsuna let out a shrill laugh, spinning around her room, black dress fluttering around her.
"Soon, I will be supreme ruler!"
Sorry for the superbly long and horrific update. Please forgive me!