The Assassin's Moon

CHAPTER 10

Kagome felt tipsy and high. She hiccupped and laughed by turns, listening to the shouting and banging sounds coming from the opposite side of the wall. Were there fairies trapped behind the wall? Perhaps she ought to free them and invite them to tea. Fairies would make the loveliest tea party guests. Half-giggling, half-snorting at the thought, she tipped back her head and prepared to take another deep swig of brandy.

No amber fire came splashing from the decanter. Kagome eyed the bottle and turned it upside-down, hoping to tempt the shy liquid out into the open. Nothing came.

Scowling, Kagome hurled the decanter at the wall from where the fairies came. Her throw proved weaker than she first thought as the decanter fell to the carpet halfway to its mark. Frustrated, Kagome stumbled over and dealt it the strongest kick she could muster.

Bad idea. As pain shot up her leg, Kagome howled like a banshee and hopped about on one foot till exhaustion tipped her onto her back. She barely registered the cool stone against her back. She was tired. Perhaps she ought to take a nap...

"Kagome!"

What was that noise? And who was 'Kagome'?

"Open this door now!"

Kagome forced herself upright and tried to locate the source of all that noise. She hauled herself to her feet and swaggered about until a collision with her desk stopped her progress. Grabbing the dagger atop the desk, she resolved to silence this mysterious, incessant voice. Never mind tea parties; those noisy fairies needed to die.

She trudged over to the wall and fumbled with the catch mounted on it. No fairies sprung forth, but she did manage to snap a fingernail with her clumsy scrabbling. Cursing, she turned the knob with her knuckles and took some satisfaction in the way the door slid slowly open.

"Kagome?"

Stupid fairies. Without any further thought, she lunged with the dagger.

When Kagome came around, she felt as though someone had run her down in a wagon and then backtracked just to watch their horse trample her again. Kagome lifted a hand to her aching head and groaned. Her mouth wasn't better off, dry and vile enough to house a dead rodent. She'd kill for a glass of water. The pounding between her temples increased and Kagome supposed she'd just made an intimate acquaintance with the mother of all hangovers.

Kagome managed to roll herself off the settee, and, painfully, onto the floor. Her now-bruised arm throbbed in tandem with her skull. What were the chances someone might have the merciful thought to kill her?

"Are you sober now?"

This was a dry, familiar voice. Kagome cracked open and eyelid and groaned in reply.

"Let me die in peace, Kouga."

"I don't think you're anywhere close to the Lady's black gates. The Lady herself would turn you away, what with the stink of brandy about you."

Kagome hugged her injured arm to her chest and threw its opposite over her eyes.

"If you're not gonna kill me, just go away."

Kagome felt the cool rim of a glass touch her own parched lips. The stench of alcohol made her stomach rebel. She pushed the glass away.

"No more brandy..."

"That's not what your inebriated self told me last night, between cursing me to hell and telling me to go and perform unspeakable acts which aren't even anatomically possible."

"If only you'd listened." Kagome didn't protest as he slipped an arm under her and helped her into a sitting position.

Kouga handed her the cup of brandy. Kagome took a reluctant sip and gagged.

"What the hell is this? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Well, you did ask… but no, you're doing that well enough yourself." Then, less flippantly, "How much did you drink, woman?"

"Ah... just a decanter of brandy."

"Just a decan-!" Kouga's eyes widened. "Do you know how much alcohol's in that!"

Kagome winced and shrank back. "Please, don't shout. You'd have been more merciful to kill me earlier."

"And deprive myself of the chance to watch you pay for your binge?" Kouga smirked. "I don't think so. I still have to repay you for coming at me with a dagger. Now, drink up. I made your father's famous recipe."

"You're obviously fine."

"Of course," he said with an arrogant wave. "You can't touch me on a good day."

Kagome wrinkled her nose, downed the cup's remainder. She clamped both hands over her mouth.

"Let it go." Calmly, Kouga produced a bucket and set it before her. As Kagome emptied her stomach into it, he held back her hair and ran a hand up and down her back. He offered her a glass of water once the heaving had stopped and watched her rinse her mouth with its contents.

"Thank you," she said, as Kouga took away her mess to dump it down the garderobe.

"I still can't get over how you've got a garderobe and a standing bath in here."

"And an icebox and a makeshift kitchen," she added.

"And that. You could live in this room alone."

"That's the point."

"I guess you're feeling better if you're talking normally again."

"Much better."

Kagome leaned back against the settee and grabbed a cushion. She hugged it to her chest as Kouga seated himself behind her desk, leaned his elbows atop it and steepled his fingers.

"Kagome—"

"You can save me the lecture, you know."

"No, I don't know!" He fixed her with a sharp look. "I've watched you come home after countless days-long disappearances. Whenever you finally decide to resurface, you look like you've been to hell and back."

Kagome's temper flared at his accusations. "That's exactly what happened. I HAVE been to hell and back."

"Why, Kagome? Why?" Kouga's voice rose. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"It's none of your business what I do!"

"It's my business when you start stumbling around so drunk you can't tell friend from foe!"

Kagome growled. "You weren't supposed to find me! Never follow me again. You could have died in the passageway. There's a fungus growing there designed to kill-" Kagome fixed him with harsh eyes, "intruders."

Kouga threw up his hands. "I'm an intruder now, am I?"

"Yes! I came here to be alone!"

"No! You came here to get piss-ass drunk!" Kouga's fists clenched till his knuckles turned white. "Can't you see? You're killing yourself!"

"Back off, Kouga. Only our friendship's stopping me from murdering you right now."

Kouga rattled a sigh and came round the desk to stand before her. "You know I love you. You don't have to keep doing this. Someone else can relieve you of this position."

Kagome's head shot up.

"This is exactly what I've been trying to avoid! I don't want to become somebody's trophy wife. I want to be in charge of my own life!"

"Well, great job you're doing with it! Coming back to get drunk every time you kill someone."

"You don't understand, do you?" Kagome hurled the cushion at him, ignoring the headache that returned twofold. "This isn't just about me. It's about regaining my family honour!"

"And you think they'd approve of your actions? They're dead, Kagome. You're wasting your life on revenge. Who did you kill this time? The Queen of the Western Lands?"

Kagome looked away in silence. Shock crossed Kouga's features, accompanied by a stream of curses.

"I thought you'd be smarter than that!"

She turned back to him with blazing eyes.

"She killed my family! Don't you dare condemn ME."

"I am your King," Kouga roared, "and I order you to give up on this blasted revenge business!"

Silence rose and hung between them, heavy as bonfire smoke.

"I'm telling you, Kouga." Kagome's tone adopted a warning note. "Don't do this."

"You force me to play this hand, Kagome. I've waited eight long years for you! My advisors have been pushing me harder and harder to marry Ayame, but I don't want anyone but you."

Kouga reached out for her; Kagome jerked away from his grasp.

"I never asked you to wait for me." Her eyes narrowed into something vicious. "I told you eight years ago that it would never happen. Do you remember that?"

Kouga stood in place, eyes shadowed. She knew he remembered their argument. They'd practically torn the castle apart with their confrontation.

"Would it be that bad to marry me?" Kouga's voice was soft, quiet. "What will happen once you've exacted your revenge? What will you have to show for it but a headcount?"

"You don't understand," she said stiffly. "Your father did."

"I'm not my father. No, I don't understand, and I suspect I never will. But… there has to be more reason to your life than avenging your family." Kouga sighed. "I won't order you to stop, but as a close friend, I don't want to see you destroy yourself. This path doesn't lead to justice, glory, or peace of mind." He shook his head. "It'll only lead you to Hell."

"I'll deal with the consequences myself."

"Just be sure of what you're doing. I don't want a war on my hands."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty." The title trickled from her lips like ice water. "I don't claim any association to you."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Kouga ran a hand back through his hair. "But I've waited eight years and I can wait longer."

"You're wasting your time. Go, marry Ayame."

"It's my time to waste."

"You need an heir to the throne."

"Then marry me," Kouga said simply.

Kagome's lips pressed into a thin line.

"You're better off with Ayame. Even if I accepted your proposal, the people wouldn't accept an assassin as their queen."

"I'll deal with it."

"It's not your decision."

Kouga brushed past her on his way back to the desk. He paused behind it, fingertips curling against the varnished wood.

"I will go because you've asked me, and not because I agree with you. Do me a favour Kagome, and ask yourself: what will you have when this is finally over?"

Kouga crouched beneath the desk and Kagome heard the trapdoor squeak as he showed himself out. She sank back into the settee and closed her eyes. Kagome already knew the answer to his question.

What would she have when this was all over?

Absolutely nothing.

An authoritative knocking sounded against his study door.

"Come in."

The door swung inwards.

"Your highness."

Kishiro, the captain of the guards, gave a low bow. Sesshoumaru sprinkled sand over the letter he'd just finished.

"Report."

"We've made good progress. All the slaves are in our custody, as well as every lady-in-waiting but two."

"Bring in a slave for questioning."

"There's no point, Your Highness."

Sesshoumaru shot Kishiro a hard look.

"And why is that?"

"Your mother preferred her slaves to be mutes."

"Hmm." Sesshoumaru mentally smacked himself in the head. He'd totally forgotten that, due to her liaisons, she only employed natural mutes or those whose tongues had been cut out.

"Then bring in a lady-in-waiting."

"Yes, my lord."

Kishiro retreated to the doorway and barked at one of his subordinates waiting outside. Soon, a lady-in-waiting was escorted into the room. She wore a simple dress with her hair put up in a messy bun.

Sesshoumaru raised a brow. She'd changed out of the flowing robes and headdress required of all his mother's ladies-in-waiting. When his mother went into banishment, all her ladies-in-waiting went with her. They were required to be covered completely, save for their eyes,as a symbol of their queen's disgrace.

"Your Highness."

The woman curtseyed. Her almond-shaped eyes of warm honey informed Sesshoumaru of her feline origins. His keen eyes caught the trembling of her clasped hands.

"Why did you run? You knew my guards would find you."

The woman dropped to her knees and touched her forehead to the ground.

"Mercy, Your Highness! I couldn't help myself. I was terrified! The Queen was dead and I knew they'd be looking for someone to blame." She began to weep, and crawled forwards to grab his leg. "I r-ran home, hoping my family would shield me till I could tell my side of the story." She sobbed. "I'm innocent!"

"Silence!"

The woman let go and pressed her forehead to the floor once more. Her tearful whimpers echoed in the silence of the study.

"Family can't shield a convict from the law," he said coldly. "You'd only bring them down with you in disgrace. Tell me everything you know."

Wiping away her tears, the woman sat back on her heels and began.

"Most of the ladies-in-waiting, myself included, were napping that afternoon. We felt faint from the heat and Evelyn told us to relax—"

"Who is Evelyn?"

"She's another one of us ladies-in-waiting."

"... Continue."

"She told us to rest and that she'd take care of the queen. We all went to nap and I was the first to wake. When I got to the main room, the Queen was already lying there, dead." Her voice began to tremble. "There was so much blood! I woke up the rest of the ladies and panic just spread. There was just... so much blood..."

The cat demoness covered her face and wound inwards, as though wishing herself into nonexistence. Sesshoumaru knew her shock wasn't feigned. The horror reflected in her face was too genuine for even for the most experienced thespian.

"Tell me about Evelyn."

"She was the Queen's favorite. Evelyn always knew what to do. She had the Queen's ear, and the Queen dismissed everyone except for the slaves to talk with her." The woman wrung her hands. "The rest of us suspected that Evelyn spied for the Queen."

"What does she look like?"

"We don't know. It's so hot in those veils, and we usually take them off when we're in private, but Evelyn... she never did. She bathed alone and slept with her face covered in some strange, green paste. Evelyn told us all that it was a secret beauty treatment from her country."

Sesshoumaru's gaze sharpened. "Her country?"

"Yes." The cat demoness paused. "She never said exactly where she was from, but everyone knew she wasn't Western. She was too exotic."

"Do you know who recommended her as a lady-in-waiting?"

"No. Evelyn just showed up one day. Neither she nor the Queen ever named her sponsor."

Sesshoumaru didn't have any further questions. He waved her off.

"Go home to your family, and stay there. Any attempts to leave the region will find you executed."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness." She gave a final bow and left.

The following interrogations yielded no further information. No one knew Evelyn's face or anything close to personal information. Evelyn, if that was her name at all, was an enigma. She'd somehow attached herself to his mother and held her fellow ladies-in-waiting at arm's length. If the servants agreed on anything, however, it was that Evelyn conducted herself like a noblewoman. Yet Sesshoumaru knew that mannerisms could be cultivated — no highborn lady would infiltrate his castle to assassinate his mother.

His investigation had hit a dead end. Save for the black handkerchief he'd found in his mother's bodice, Sesshoumaru had no clues as to her identity. Sesshoumaru had his retainer, Jaken, look through the catalogues of crests compiled of every known kingdom's nobility. Even that proved fruitless.

It confirmed Sesshoumaru's suspicion that she was a commoner only playing the part of a renegade noblewoman. He pulled the black handkerchief from his pocket for the thousandth time and just looked at it.

The immortal ivy and sprig of nightshade struck a chord within him. He felt that the answer was just out of his grasp. The crimson threads that looked so much like spilt blood mocked him. She mocked him.

Sesshoumaru realized that she was quickly becoming an obsession. He wound back his arm to throw the handkerchief into the fireplace. Then he remembered that it was in the middle of summer and that there was nothing in there but ashes. His mother would be rolling in her grave to know that her son had been bested by a human woman. A common human woman. Sesshoumaru tightened his fist around the handkerchief and sought the answer in flickering flame of the candle.

…..