Chapter 20
Sango saw the man whom had opened the gates for them the first time that they had come to the city. As she approached him he turned and a quick smile lit his face.
"Mistress Sango," he said as his smile dropped, "welcome back. We've been expecting you." He glanced toward InuYasha and Souta.
Sango started talking right away. "We rode as fast as we could. I fear we may have nearly killed a few horses. But please, inform Miroku we're here. No wait, please take us to Lady Kagome first."
The man looked back to Sango. "I'm terribly sorry, but Lady Kagome is no longer with us."
"What?" InuYasha cried as he nearly dropped Souta, and Sango gave a loud gasp. The man looked at the curiously, and then realization hit him as to what his words must have sounded like. He started to wave his hands in the air in front of him.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. Lady Kagome and Lord Miroku simply left early this morning. Lady Kagome recovered from her injuries and is very much alive." InuYasha felt like murdering the man on the spot. Sango quickly took a step forward before InuYasha could start a massacre.
"They left? Where to?" she asked. The man let out his breath, happy that the hanyou would not kill him.
"Master Miroku and Lady Kagome left you a letter. Please, follow me," he replied. Sango nodded her head, and after motioning InuYasha to follow her, she followed the man.
The two rode out before the sun had risen. Miroku left instructions with one of the men regarding Sango for when she returned, and they left the town behind. They rode hard for a few hours, slowing the pace finally when the horses were starting to sweat. The ride was through the jungle at this point, so there was shade to protect the two travelers from the sun. Kagome looked over at Miroku, who was staring at the road ahead. "I forgot to thank you for coming with me," she said, still worried that he would be angry with her.
"It's not a problem," he said, as he glanced at her, but then averted his eyes back to the road
She felt kind of bad since they had not really talked since that night in the garden. "You know, I'm really sorry for not telling you everything earlier," she said gently
"It would of made it alot easear if you did," he said a little coolly.
"Well, I am sorry. And please, don't be mad at Sango, she was ordered not to tell anything to anyone," Kagome pleaded. Miroku nodded his head, but kept his stare fixed on the road. She sighed, trying to think of a way to break the tension between them.
Finally, it was Miroku himself who did this. "I'm not really mad with you, Lady Kagome. After all, you did the same thing that I did," he paused. "I suppose you could say that I got a dose of my own medicine. We're even now."
Kagome smiled a little and nodded her head. "Alright. We're even," she said, a little relieved that he was still on speaking terms with her. She looked over and noticed a small smile on Miroku's lips.
"So tell me," he said, changing the topic, "Why are you, Queen of a pouch, traveling alone with Sango to come here?"
Kagome sighed. "I could only take one person with me to deliver the ring I showed you, and I needed everyone else to stay behind. I'm worried about my cousin beginning a revolt for the power of the pouch. I don't have 'official' control of our city yet, since I'm not quite 18."
"I don't understand, I thought that you were the official ruler of the Torquillian pouch," Miroku said, the wheels in his head turning. "Besides, you do have control as soon as your father and mother die. Those are the laws. So you do have control."
Kagome looked ahead to the road. "True, I am technically, since the death of my father. However, until I am eighteen, I cannot make any decisions without the advice and permission of a councillor. I have Chancellor Myouga, and he supports me. However, until I have full control, my cousin can still challenge my right to the throne, since I am an underage woman."
Miroku nodded his head. "I see. Your people support you as the rightful ruler though, don't they?"
"Yes, they do, for the most part. My cousin has gathered a group, though, that don't. I'm just worried that he might take my absence as an opportunity to start bringing the whole city under his control. Everything that I told you before, how if he gains enough support and challenges the ruler to a battle, he could win the throne that way. Granted since I'm not there, I can't choose someone to fight in my behalf, and I cannot fight him myself until I get back. But my absence is something that he can use to his advantage. I don't know what to expect upon my return home. I don't even know the outcome of this journey."
"This mission won't be an easy one, that's for sure," Miroku said, looking at her. "I'm sure when you get back, things will be fine. You said that you left good men behind, so they should keep things under control for you, no?"
Kagome nodded. "I suppose. Sesshoumaru and InuYasha, when together, are quite a formidable force. Both have strength, and Sesshoumaru has wonderful skills in politics and strategies. Councillor Myouga is there too to help out, as well as some of my other companions. There's also Rin, who won't let anyone support my cousin without a piece of her mind, and Kohaku is there to keep my brother company while keeping him safe."
Miroku looked at her. "Kohaku?" he asked, an edge of amusement in his voice.
Kagome smiled. "Yes, Kohaku. I didn't make the name up, nor did I make up that is Sango's brother. He is younger than she."
Miroku chuckled. "I'm going to have to get used to calling someone else Kohaku who is Lady Sango's brother, and not you."Kagome laughed too. Miroku then went on to ask more questions. "So, why could you only take one person with you, and why not a guard?"
Kagome smiled. "The Merchant whom I am delivering the ring to said I could only take one person, since he doesn't want a lot of people knowing where and who he really is. I took Sango because I knew she would enjoy the journey and I needed my best men to stay behind. Besides, I was the 'guard'...even you thought I was a man."
"I guess I cant argue with you there," he said, smiling. "I did think you were a man."
Kagome laughed a little, but then turned serious. "I really don't know what to expect when we get to the Merchant though. I'm already late, and I only hope that he will not be too angry. The attack really set me back."
Miroku nodded, then a huge grin lit his face. "Well, in the worst case scenario, we can always 'convince' him not to give us any trouble, with a little help form our friends," he said, patting the staff strapped to the horse. Kagome nodded, but hoped that they would not have to take such measures, since there were only two of them, and the Merchant would have many guards surrounding him for sure.
Sango stared at the letter, with InuYasha reading over her shoulder. She gave a deep sigh as she finished. "Well, at least she is alright," she said, and turned to face InuYasha. InuYasha was no longer holding Souta, who had remained asleep throughout the entire arrival. They had put him in one of the bedrooms so that InuYasha and Sango could talk without having to worry about waking the sleeping boy.
"Keh. The stupid wench should have stayed here and waited for us to come," InuYasha said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Sango frowned. "I'm not so sure about that. Since they left only this morning, Kagome is over two weeks late getting to the merchant. He's not going to be happy as it is, and she could not have known that we would get here so fast."
InuYasha snorted, but said nothing. He started to walk to the door. Sango stared at him curiously. He stopped at the door. "Well, are you coming or not?" he snapped.
Sango jogged over to him "Where are you going?" she asked.
"To follow Kagome, where else?" he asked, looking down at Sango.
Sango frowned again. "What about Souta?" she asked.
"You said this was Aqui'Linia. He can stay here. He can't come with us, and this is as safe as any place for him," he said, and Sango nodded.
"Fine, but we should go and wake him up and tell him where we are going, otherwise he'll get scared," she said, opening the door.
"Keh, whatever," InuYasha said as he shrugged his shoulders and followed Sango out the door. The man who had escorted them was waiting for them at the end of the hallway. Sango went to talk to him while InuYasha went to Souta's room. He nudged the boy gently. Souta mumbled something and began to sit up, rubbing his eyes.
"Are we there yet?" he asked as a yawn escaped from his lips. InuYasha sat down on the bed next to him.
"Yeah, we're there. Listen, Sango and I have to leave again. We won't be gone long."
Souta looked up at him. "Where's Kagome?" he asked.
InuYasha looked down at him. "She's not here. That's why Sango and I are leaving, we're going to go and get her. You'll be safe here though."
"But I want to go with you to get Kagome," Souta pleaded. InuYasha stood up.
"You can't come. It might not be safe where we're going, and you need to stay unharmed." Otherwise Kagome would skin me alive, he thought to himself.
"Alright, fine," Souta said meekly. "Just find her and bring her back, ok?"
InuYasha nodded, a half smile on his face. "No problem kid. We'll be back with her in no time." With those words, he left the room, and he and Sango were soon on their way. Kagome's scent was still strong enough for InuYasha to pick up, so they knew where to go to follow her.
Stupid wench, going off like this in the condition she's in. She should be smarter than that. She should have let me come along with her in the first place so I could have protected her, InuYasha thought to himself as the galloped through the jungle. He glanced over at Sango. She was leaning forward, allowing the horse to run, with Kilala in her lap.
By afternoon, the horses were exhausted. They stopped at a clearing, and allowed the horses to go and graze in the meadow, and prepared to continue on. Kilala transformed so that Sango could ride on her, and InuYasha took off in a sprint in the direction of Kagome's smell. Sango followd closely behind. They didn't want to waste any time, which was why they had brought the horses in the first place, so that they would not tire out and have to stop. This way they could go without a break.
Damn, stupid wench. The Merchant is going to be furious that she's so late. She should have waited, was all that was running through InuYasha's head as he ran.
The fortress was large and dark, the very walls dripping with evil and malice. Kagome shivered a little as they rode up to the gates. Four guards stood there, as though they had been expecting them. As they got closer, Kagome felt uneasy about the whole situation. Still, she had not come this far only to turn back. She looked at Miroku, who gave her a reassuring smile.'
"We're here to see the Merchant," Kagome said to the guards as soon as they reached them. Without a word, two of them swung the gates open, and two walked through, signaling for Kagome and Miroku to follow them.
Kagome and Miroku rode their horses after them until they reached a small courtyard. There they dismounted, and handed the reigns to two other guards. The two from the gate then entered the fortress, and Kagome and Miroku followed again. As they entered, Kagome glanced up at the sky. The sun was already setting, and it would be completely dark soon. Kagome shivered a little. She was pretty sure that they would not have a very warm welcome from the Merchant, and that he would not be offering them a place to stay for the night. They would have to set up camp before continuing on in the morning after they left.
As the doors closed behind them with a booming thud, Kagome felt like she was in a tomb. Everything was dark and cold, and the high ceilings loomed over them with only small windows near them to allow any sunlight in.
As soon as the doors were shut, the two guards led the horses to the stables. Kagome and Miroku never heard their pitiful whiney's as they met their end by the blade of the sword, their blood spilling on the stones. Kagome had been wrong. The Merchant did not want them leaving that night. Nor the next night. Nor ever. He took away any means of escape they could hope to have.
They didn't know this. InuYasha did though. His nose picked up the scent of blood, being only about a mile from the fortress, and his heart sped up to a frantic pace. Kagome... he thought, as he picked up his pace. KAGOME!
A/N: There you go, another chapter done. I'm not sure how many more there are, but I don't think it's going to be more than seven or so. I really don't know. Anyway, hope you like this so far. Anja.