Chapter 4: Of Changes and Frustration
War was all of the news that came out of the Western Kingdom after that day. The great king Taisho was killed in battle not long after his wife and sons made it back home. The human that had captured his heart was driven out of the castle and was reported to have died of exposer. Whispered rumors, however, said that the woman died from a severed mate bond. Rumors that the Dowager Queen tried to crush with unnecessary force.
Kagome always kept her ears open for news of Inuyasha, but there was little to be had. His brother had assumed the throne at the death of their father and Inuyasha was training in the royal guard. King Sessoumaru fought to protect his land from the invading spider youkai and when his half brother came of age he warred alongside him.
When Kagome turned twelve she also took up training to master her power. It was a slow and painful process to harness her innate strength. Her sensei, Captain Yuki, trained the princess and discovered something that troubled him deeply.
...(O)...
The King was sitting with his sickly Queen as she lay weak and pale in her bed when Yuki came to tell him the troubling news. King Ichiro did not look up when his old friend entered the room but the Queen smiled over at him. Yuki was momentarily appalled at the state the once bright Light Youkai was in and stood in stunned silence. She was emaciated and delicate like fragile glass. He feared that she would shatter at the tinniest provocation.
"What is it Yuki," the King prompted warily.
Yuki twitched, opened his mouth and hesitated. He wasn't sure if the Queen was strong enough to hear such news. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room
"Either speak or sit down, Yuki," Ichiro sighed. Yuki hastily sat on the edge of one of the deep comfortable armchairs. He fiddled idly with the hem of his uniform while he pondered what exactly he should say.
"For goodness sake, boy," the Queen's voice was a whispered shadow of amusement, "Out with it already. You are acting like a child caught with his hand in the sweets jar."
Yuki took a cleansing breath and stood to deliver his report.
"It's the princess," Yuki began and was promptly interrupted.
"What is wrong with my daughter," Ichiro demanded, sitting up and pinning Yuki with a piercing look, "Is the spell holding?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Yuki assured him, "The princess's concealing spell is holding strong. Her sent is purely hanyou however, it does seem to be muffling her innate youkai."
The King nodded and tiredly rubbed his face with his hands, "Yes, we expected that. We took that risk when we set the casting. If the spell is sound then what is it?"
"It's her power. It feels...incomplete," he struggled to explain, "I have never encountered anything like it."
Ichiro scowled, "What are you talking about, Yuki?"
"Well, the best way to describe it is like she is missing half her soul," he watched in horror as the Queen paled to almost translucently.
"What does that mean," the Queen's voice was light and thready. She weakly clutched at her mate's hand. The King held her ice cold hand in his, terrified that for the first time he was physically stronger than her.
"I am not sure, but it does not seem to be harming her in any way," he said, "She will never reach her full potential though."
The King nodded his thanks, "We appreciate your close watch over our little girl, Yuki. Just try and help her harness the power that she does posses."
The Captain of the Guard bowed to his king and quietly left the room. Ichiro turned to his soul mate and his heart broke. He kissed her thin hand and wondered if he would have the strength of will to live without her. Ichiro smiled sadly. Of course he would live. He had a daughter who need him and a kingdom that needed her.
...(O)...
The years passed and Kagome grew becoming the woman who would rule her kingdom with kindness and joy, the childhood tie to Inuyahsa faded into the background of her life.
When Princess Kagome turned sixteen the Queen, who had served her people for hundreds of years, sickened beyond the ability of any doctor and passed away leaving behind a devastated Kingdom. Now, for the first time, a human assumed the Eastern throne. The outcry was silenced by the condition that the mortal king would abdicate in favor of his hanyou daughter when she came of age at twenty.
Fearing for his daughter's safety and her position as next in line if the truth of her heritage were ever discovered, the king sent messengers to the Northern, Western, and Southern kingdoms inviting offers for the young princess's hand in marriage. Hearing of the princess's marvelous beauty and unusual power the offers came pouring in from all of the younger sons in the Four Kingdoms. Each one hoping to win the approval of the mortal king, but because he loved his daughter the king allowed her to choose her mate. The princess, distraught by the death of her mother, sent all of the sons away and ignored every proposal.
It was not until the princess's eighteenth birthday that the king insisted she make a decision. The princess could not refuse.
...(O)...
Princess Kagome stared open mouthed at her father, her fork forgotten halfway to her lips. It was her eighteenth birthday and he had chosen her very public birthday dinner to make an astonishingly unacceptable announcement.
"My daughter is now eighteen and shall inherit her rightful place as Queen in two sort years," the king proclaimed from his position of honor on the dais, "As her father I would see her wed before assuming such a weighty responsibility. So, I beg her indulgence of this old man and request she choose a king to rule beside her."
Kagome speechlessly endured the thundering applause and spent the rest of the night staring at her plate. Soon after the king had left the great hall Kagome went in search of him. She tracked down her father in the second library casually reading farm reports by candle light.
"What was that all about," she asked, crossing the length of the room to settle into a chair beside him. He looked up from the papers and turned to his beloved baby girl. She had grown up so fast and the thought of her getting married terrified him, but he wanted her to be secure and happy while she ruled the Eastern Kingdom.
"I love you, you know that right," he tugged affectionately at her nose. She scowled and swatted at his hand.
"I know that dad. I love you too," she sighed, "but I don't think I'm ready to get married yet."
"I just want you to be happy," he gestured briefly towards the shuttered window, "As soon as you become queen they will all be after you. Testing you, pressuring you to be something they want. I don't want you to face that alone."
"You don't think that I am strong enough to rule alone," she asked, not meeting his eyes. The king hesitated, wondering if the time to tell her the truth was now.
"Your Majesty," a soft, apologetic voice interrupted them. It was Hideki, the king's personal assistant. "It is time; the Lady Midori awaits you in the Drawing Room."
"I'll be there in a minute, thank you Hideki."
Hideki bowed and left the library. The king gently gripped Kagome's chin and forced her to look at him.
"With or without a husband you will make a great Queen," he kissed her on the cheek, "I just want you to have what your mother and I had. Running a kingdom is a very lonely job."
He left her alone in the chair with tears shimmering in her eyes.
...(O)...
Mindful of her father's words Kagome allowed her suitors to visit the castle. Soon it became apparent that the castle would never hold the mass of men and youkai hopping to win the princess's hand. Kagome was at a complete loss of how to handle the situation. To help the Eastern monarchy weed out the throng the Southern Queen sent her soothsayer to examine the applicants. The heard began to thin almost immediately when the soothsayer was proven to be both accurate and trustworthy. Every man who came to the castle had to pass muster with soothsayer Chiaki Nishinomiya.
The remaining suitors milled around the castle flirting with the staff and jockeying for the princess's attention. Kagome endured them for the sake of her father and when she could take it no longer her refuge became the abandoned Light Tower. Her lady mother had performed great works of youkai light magic in that tower and since her death it lay unused. Kagome had always mourned the fact that her own youkai light magic was limited to barriers and sensing auras, she always suspected that short fall came with being hanyou. She would stay in that tower for hours at a time and remember her mother and find relief from her daily life..
The King watched his daughter entertain her suitors and was proud at the way she handled it. She was diplomatic and kind, never making any promises or accepting any gifts. It drove the men crazy when they were unable to determine her favorite and Kagome mostly ignored them. She wove in and out her prospective mates for months and not a one stood out to her.
...(O)...
The Northern King watched the raven haired princess walk the grounds of the Western Castle with a crowd of young men trailing after her in his daughter's mirror and smiled. He had been watching the young princess sense he realized that one had eluded him all those years ago. She had not, however, escaped unscathed and soon she would return to him like her mother before her. The princess would be unable to resist the ties that bound her to him and she would crawl before him. His teeth clenched in anticipation.
He turned to the man kneeling in the corner of the room, "Fill and unmarked carriage with gold and jewels and send it to the Eastern Princess. She isn't to know who sent it, understand."
"As my king commands," the man bowed.
"Oh, and Onigumo," Naraku patted the girl with the blank eyes, "Don't forget to feed the prisoner again. We may need him in the near future."
"Yes, my king," Onigumo left to carry out Naraku's orders.
King Naraku turned his attention back to the woman in the mirror. She had grown more beautiful than he could have dreamed and more dangerous. If she ever found her mate before he could lay his hands on her she would become far too powerful to control. The thought filled him with fury, she was HIS. The very last of her kind. A natural marvel born of an ancient and potent race. None of those drooling imbeciles could even hope to be worthy of her. He watched the princess as she turned into the castle and the picture fizzed and faded.
"Simply beautiful," he hissed, running his fingers through the ebony hair of the girl at his side, "Neh, Kikyo darling."
...(O)...
Unaware of her malevolent watcher Princess Kagome marched down the gravel path seething in irritation. A carriage had arrived earlier that day stuffed with gold and jewels. A nameless Lord thought that she could be bought like some Southern Desert heathen. She had sent the carriage away, untouched, to the relief of her suitors. She was becoming short on patience with those men and only the deep love she had for her father kept her from strangling them all.
A servant caught sight if her and, upon seeing the young princess's foul mood, scampered off in the other direction. That annoyed Kagome even more and she took herself off to the archery range to work off her bad temper.
To her utter exasperation the training yard was occupied by a familiar purple robed figure. The clink of the staff he expertly maneuvered set called a name to mind. His intricate, deadly dance halted when he caught sight of her.
"Ah, the lovely Princess Kagome," Miroku bowed good naturedly to her, "How do fair this most excellent day."
Miroku was one of her more smooth talking suitors and she had even begun to like him until she caught him groping a castle servant. He had tried to explain himself but Kagome refused to accept his excuses. He had ceased pursuing her and she had been grateful. In fact when he gave up trying to impress her they had actually become friends.
"Hi, Miroku," she sighed, "Are you going to be long?"
"Not at all lovely maiden. I was just finishing up when you arrived," he assured her. "Is something the matter, princess?"
"No, I just need some alone time," she said, touched by his concern, "This whole mess is driving me crazy."
"Matters of the heart are usually never a tidy affair," he said wisely, his eyes tracking a lovely attendant crossing the yard. "If you will excuse me Your Marvelousness but I believe I have matters of the heart to discuss with a certain beautiful young flower."
Kagome grinned as she watched him hasten after the attendant. His flattery ceased to affect her when she decided that he was not the man for her but she still enjoyed the attention he paid her, and every other woman within a five mile radius. She chuckled, already in a better mood. Kagome collected her bow and arrows and set up her targets.
As she took aim Kagome's mind drifted back to the problem of her unwelcome visitors. She was not remotely interested in any of them to the point where she seriously wondered if she wasn't even attracted to men. The only one whose name she could remember was a wolf youkai, Prince Kouga from the Outer Kingdoms. He was sweet, attentive, and obviously madly in love with he. Everything she could have hoped for in a mate but there was affection in her heart for him.
She sighed and released the arrow. Her aim was off and she grimaced at the poor shot. She was glad Yuki wasn't here to see it. This whole situation was making her crazy. She was more than tempted to just marry Kouga and move on with her life. She refused to accept that option. There were so many men here from so many places that there had to be someone she could love, even a little. She put another arrow to the string and gave up when the shot went wide. Something had to change, and soon, before she completely lost her mind.