Chapter 7

Miaka dreamed she was standing in the middle of a dark, empty room. Smoke curled all around her and attempted to climb her legs. A sudden harsh wind cleared the room as braziers she had not seen before lit themselves along the walls. It took her eyes a moment to adjust before she recognized the form of an old, shriveled woman floating before her.

"Taiitsukun!" Miaka exclaimed. The sudden sight of the ancient hag always scared her at first but she knew that the woman meant her no harm.

"Miaka, we must be brief. I am here on behalf of Suzaku and Seriyu. Your marriage to Nakago has caused a great uproar in the heavens. In order to correct this, you must NOT consummate your marriage to your husband. The Priestess of Suzaku must be a pure maiden. To give yourself to Nakago will mean relinquishing your claim on your title and thus failing in .

Miaka, who had been in stunned silence since Taiitsukun had started speaking, nearly nodded numbly. Her mind could not properly process what was being said to her. Taiitsukun, on the other hand, seemed pleased by this acknowledgement and smiled.

"I know you are going through a lot at the moment Miaka. Don't worry, your mind will catch up with what I've said and, now that you have the Lady Yui by your side again, you will not be alone to try to comprehend what's happened. I must return you now. Your friends are quite worried about you."

With a wave of Taiitsukun's hand, Miaka felt herself slowly fade back into consciousness.

The first thing Miaka was aware of was the sound of voices talking in a variety of tones. Some were urgent, fussing over or around her as though the only thing on their minds was the fact that she had passed out. Others, however, were angry or hostile. The sounds of an argument reached her ears.

The second thing she was aware of was feeling. She could feel someone applying a cool cloth to her forehead. Every now and then, her pulse was checked and she knew it was Mitsukake tending to her. A pair of legs cushioned her head so as to prevent her from lying flat on the hardwood floor. The hand that ran softly through her hair was a familiar one. Yui had taken on the role of loving sister again as she served as both pillow and comforter.

Miaka attempted to open her eyes and groaned when a bright beam of sunlight greeted her. At the evidence of her waking, the entire room went silent and all attention was focused on her. A moment later, heavy footsteps came towards her and Nakago knelt at her side.

"Miaka," he started in a questioning tone.

Miaka turned toward him and gave him the hardest look she could manage. They may have been married less than two days but apparently that was long enough for him to understand her expression. Not here was all it said. Nakago smiled faintly before giving an almost useable nod.

"Doctor I would like to return my wife to our chambers." Nakago said firmly as he looked up at Mitsukake. Mitsukake, being a man of few words, nodded his assent.

"Rest would be good for her," Hotohori said, his voice betraying more than a little worry.

"I will come by later to check on her. Miaka, if you start feeling unwell send for me."

Without waiting for me to answer, Nakago lifted me up as though I weighed no more than a feather. Chichiri opened the door for us as he carried me out of Hotohori's office and back to our bed chamber.

It wasn't until after lunch that Mitsukake gave her permission to leave the bed. The past couple of days had taken such an emotional toll on her that she had just been over whelmed and her body had decided to shut down. At least, that was his opinion. Miaka was inclined to agree.

Shortly after returning Miaka to their bed, Nakago had excused himself stating that he wanted to be present when Hotohori decided what to do with the three who'd put her in this state. That left her alone with Yui who had taken residence by her side the moment Mitsukake allowed visitors. The others drifted in to check on her occasionally but they seemed to figure that this was something best handled by her female friend. As always though, the twins and Nuriko were never far. Miaka told Yui about the foreboding warning that Taiitsukun had given her and the sense that there was something that the old woman hadn't said.

"You're Nakago's wife now Miaka. In this world, you can't legally refuse him. If he wanted you, he'd be well within his rights to force you into submission and there's nothing the law could do to prevent it."

"I thought you were trying to make me feel better, not worse." Miaka pointed out. Yui just shrugged.

"I'm just trying to tell you like it is here Miaka. Women in this world are no better than slaves. Here, our husbands own us. We have no say unless they allow it. It's rare for a woman to exist who is both strong and holds any kind of power. We are lucky to be Priestess's. That gives us some type of protection. If what Taiitsukun told you is true and Nakago insisted on his rights as your husband, you'd lose the only form of protection you have. Not even Hotohori would be able to protect you."

I shuddered involuntarily. The thought of being totally helpless and at the mercy of my husband, a man no more than a stranger to me, terrified me. The fact that not even Hotohori, a great Emperor and powerful warrior in his own right, would be unable to help me, made the matter even worse.

I was wallowing in this knowledge when a timid knock sounded at the door. Yui got up and answered only to find that our three self appointed guards were waiting on the other side. Without a word, she stepped aside and let them in. Nuriko flopped down along the foot of the bed as one of the twins grabbed the chair from the vanity table and the other leaned against the wall.

"Don't worry Miaka," Nuriko said as he propped his head in his hand, "not all is lost." He smiled wide and Miaka felt a small glimmer of hope.

"What do you mean?" Miaka asked leaning forward in anticipation.

"You should know better than to eaves drop you three. It's rude," scolded Yui.

"He means," Suboshi answered, blushing slightly in guilt "that last night, while we were walking, we over heard Nakago and the Emperor talking about some of the "finer points" they'd mentioned earlier. One of these was that our Emperor had agreed that if you were still a maiden and could successfully summon Suzaku after six months of marriage to Nakago, then he would consent to annulling it. He would do so while still maintaining the treaty. You would be free and the empires would no longer be at war."

Miaka's chest swelled with joy and relief. Then she caught sight of Amiboshi's face and she knew there was more.

"What else?"

"Well, you see," Amiboshi started but he couldn't get out the words. He tried again. "No one is allowed to actively keep you away from him. You have to spend the six months in the same bed or else our Emperor will be able to claim a conspiracy and possibly even treason on Nakago. They are trying to keep last night covered up, given the circumstances, but if you continually sleep in another's bed, even Lady Yui's, the agreement will be void and he will reject the annulment."

"Also, you have to be willing," Nuriko added. Miaka looked at him in bewilderment.

"Why wouldn't I be willing to the annulment?"

"Not that," Nuriko replied. "If you and Nakago consummate your marriage, you have to be willing. Emperor Hotohori added a clause stating that if you claim rape against Nakago during the next six months, you will be instantly freed of your marriage vows and he will be thrown in the dungeons as a criminal. Their Emperor has agreed to this, all be it reluctantly, and has even made the suggestion that Yui be married to one of our warriors. It seems the old bastard likes the idea of her marrying Emperor Hotohori. He thinks it would be great to have his priestess as the wife of the most powerful man in our empire as a way to influence him."

Yui gave a very un-lady like snort.

"As if I would risk your wrath," she teased Nuriko. Nuriko smiled up at her and winked.

"Exactly! You're too smart for all that," Nuriko agreed.

The twins soon joined in on the banter, trying to lighten the mood for Miaka's sake. Miaka, on the other hand, was lost in thought. Six months, she thought that's how long I have to resist him. Six months and I'll be free to go back to Tamahome. Her heart gave a painful lurch. She remembered the night before. In her mind's eye, she saw him atop Soi in this very bed. He'd claimed he'd tricked her for them. He'd tried to tear her and Nakago apart the day after their wedding for them. If he was capable of such callousness, did she want to go back to him?

So sorry it took so long to update. I know it's not much, and Nakago is barely here, but I hope it answered some of your questions. I love you guys for waiting for me and being so supportive. I promise I'll try to keep this and Nakago's Intentions updated more frequently. Please forgive my long absence, it took me forever to unblock on this story. I had no idea what to do after she fainted. As always, reviews feed the Muse! Give me suggestions, ideas, ANYTHING! Just help me so I don't get stuck like this again. Please and thank you.