Thy Thralldom Come

by The Monday Child

Two sisters of royal blood are captured by the enemy. Their kingdom is no more. A cruel prince has taken them both for his own, tempting them into depths unexplored by good girls. Their choice is clear: lose themselves or lose their lives.

14. Beneath Your Moon

Fourteen: Beneath Your Moon

It took Rin a second to remember why she was so happy when she woke up, but when she rolled over and saw the tumble of black hair, she knew that this was the beginning of a new era for herself.

"Good morning!" she whispered, hoping she didn't have morning breath. Rin had never woken up to someone else before and she curbed the impulse to snuggle her new friend like she was one of her dolls from childhood.

Kagome lay staring at the ceiling, still and silent with open, unblinking eyes, looking like the most expensive porcelain doll in her collection. The skin around her eyes was pink and irritated. To the girl who had spent her life locked away in a floating palace, Kagome was nothing less than a beautiful heroine like out of one of her stories. The heroines always had their moments of doubt, of struggle, and this must be hers. Gods only knew what the young prince had done to her during their time together.

"Morning," she finally whispered back, blue eyes flitting over to Rin. "You snore a little bit. So does my sister." A smile tugged on the edges of her lips and Rin suddenly felt relieved.

"Did you rest well?"

Kagome nodded, the lie evident on her weary face.

"Good. We'll need our strength for later. You… You do still plan on escaping with me, don't you?"

"Of course!" That spark was back in her eyes. "There's no way I can stay here and not lose myself. That's one thing I won't give him—the Higurashi I have left."

Rin's smile was hopeful as she patted her friend's hand. She didn't know much about the current political climate, but according to what the servants said, Higurashi was a terrible wasteland of inbred barbarians who killed foreigners on sight. If they were demons, they tortured them first. The Inu empire was duty bound by virtue of their elevated wisdom to liberate the Higurashi people from their backwards ways. The only thing stopping them from peacefully taking Higurashi were two things: their secret weapon and their priestesses. There were some women among them who had special powers, practitioners of dark arts and worshippers of a goddess who had never revealed her name to creation. Their ill-gotten power allowed them to kill demons with a look or a touch, and those women also tended to be very beautiful, unlike the rest of the Higurashi population. Kagome was very beautiful, but she didn't seem like she could hurt anyone. And if she could kill demons with a look, wouldn't she have never been captured in the first place?

"Freshen up. I'm going to grab up some breakfast and supplies for the road. Be right back!"

"Be careful," Kagome said, voice low like the young prince could hear her from all the way on the other side of the palace.

"I don't have to be. Everyone pretends I don't exist." She said it in her usual cheery tone but the words still came out a bit harsh.

Rather than think too hard about the little girl who had become a woman under the too attentive guidance of the demon who would next be emperor, the people of the palace preferred to avert their eyes whenever she was out and about. At first, it had hurt. Rin had come from a small village where everyone knew everyone else and there was always time for a chat. But in the palace, the very sight of her made people sneer and turn away.

For the sake of a child, their fearless crown prince had reduced himself to playing nursemaid. For the sake of a peasant, their glorious crown prince lived the life of a shut-in, rarely seen unless it was in one of his diplomatic meetings. For the sake of a human, their radiant crown prince had forsaken his marriage bed and refused their kingdom a worthy heir.

She knew what they whispered and speculated. That her lord, her precious and gentle and kind lord, had a preference for her too young flesh. That he had trained her to please him in ways even demon peasants were above. That she was stupid, like a beast, and that added to the lord's excitement. That they were glad she was only human and her life was so blessedly short and her youth even shorter that their crown prince would take out all his dark desires on her and grow bored.

It wasn't true, none of it. But every time she dared to so much as speak the reality of their relationship, she was shooed away like a buzzing fly or ignored. Whatever terrible things they thought of her lord were all blamed on her.

The kitchens were her favorite place. Though the gossip was loudest and raunchiest there, it was also warm and smelled good and no one cared if a pastry went missing here and there. There were also a lot of places to hide and Rin knew them all intimately.

Clattering pots and pans and shouts obscured any sound of her already muted entrance, and the slight girl had no problem darting into the pantry. An empty bag of flour that had not yet been taken to the waste pile was what she chose to hold her supplies. A few jars of jam, a few more of honey. Rice cakes! And plum cakes and red bean buns and…

"Didja see the young prince stompin' about all over last night?"

Rin's ears sharpened. Information on one of their enemies was more important than searching for the chocolate bread she had smelled when walking in.

"Oh, aye," said the cook, foul mood obvious. "He wake ye up, too?"

The other voice made a sound indicating the affirmative. "Imagine it! The favorite son of the most powerful emperor in history barging into the servants' quarters and shakin' us awake, asking all manner of crazy things."

"'Where's me woman,'" the cook mocked. "'She got eyes like sapphires and skin like ivory.' As though we servants have ever seen them things! Even if we knew her and one of the young lads were lunatic enough ta take 'er, how're we meant to find her with such a description?"

Laughter. "Y'know what he's doing now? It's a worse scandal than him blowing out a hole in the palace. Not eaten, not slept, just roamin' 'bout the halls for his slave. He and that shadow of 'is is even shakin' down the nobles."

The cook gasped in horrified delight at the juicy bit of gossip. "Disturbin' the fine folk ta hunt down a bed wench? Ye gods!"

"An' they say it's a slave from Higurashi, of all the places!"

Another gasp.

"That ain't all," the other voice continued, obviously enjoying the attention. "All the guards that were supposed ta watch the hall near his rooms he's put to death with 'is own sword. Turns out that whenever the prince leaves his chambers, they play a game of craps in a storeroom."

"Ye gods," repeated the cook. "Never let it be said that I of all people think poorly of our glorious emperor, long may he reign, but ye know what the family is like. That brother of our emperor was much the same…"

"Always thought it would be the older one take after that one, I did. But we shouldn't talk about that…"

"Aye, not with how things ended."

Rin hurriedly gathered some fruit, giving up on the chocolate, and ran out. there was no doubt in her mind that the demons of the kitchen knew she was there the entire time. They just didn't care. She chewed on her lip worriedly. They would have to leave a little earlier than planned. The young prince wasn't acting in the way she had expected him to do. While it wasn't like she and Inuyasha were close at all, she had grown up hearing all about him and watching him. Rin would have put money on him half-heartedly having his guards search and then buying a replacement slave or something.

Oh well. The plan would just have to change.

The stables were close enough to her rooms and she often went there to feed the animals, so it wasn't suspicious in the least for her to be seen in that location. Rin was used to smiling at everyone she met even when they pretended not to notice her and continued to do so. There was no reason to drop her character just yet. Just in case someone was watching, she had to keep wearing the mask that hid her pain.

For the first time in her memory, the stables were crowded. Frowning, she went straight for Ah-Un. Her lord's former mount, once the glory of the empire, was now getting on in years and preferred to be petted and fed apples over flying into battle. Giving the dragon a kiss right between the eyes on each of his heads, Rin turned her attentions to the conversations around her.

"What do you mean I can't leave? It's my dragon and my carriage and I have a terrestrial appointment!"

"I'm sorry, m'lord, but on the orders of Prince Inuyasha, none may leave, whether courtier or servant."

Another demon was arguing with yet another stable boy. "I don't care if you'll lose your position, you shit-covered twerp! My lady wife is laboring with our fourth child at our estate and has promised me a son this time!"

Guards came marching out from the palace, faces stoic and weapons at the ready. The nobles stopped all at once, eyeing the men who had trained since early adolescence to kill at the whim of the royal family.

"All this over a mere human bed slave?" one of the noblewomen sneered, hiding behind what appeared to be her own human bed slave. "She must be damned good."

"I don't care how good she is," the man who was missing the birth of what might be his heir said. "Nothing is worth this massive insult to the nobility. If I find her, you bet your ass I'll give her a try myself before handing her over to the prince, and I won't be as gentle as he."

There was low laughter and murmurs of agreement. Even the guards' faces looked dark, as though they resented their years of rigorous training were being put to use for something so beneath them. Rin didn't like what she was seeing and felt the first real pangs of anxiety and dread clutch at her gut.

They couldn't run, and it was starting to appear as though they could not hide if the young prince was going room by room in his search.

Her gait was much quicker than usual and her eyes were downcast as she hurried back to her room, mind working lightning fast as she tried to come up with a solution. When she arrived at her door and still didn't have a new plan, she nearly started to cry. It was only when she saw Kagome that she was able to feel a little more at ease.

"You're back!" Kagome said with a smile.

She was looking a lot better than before, if still a little pale. Still in the nightgown, she was brushing her long, damp hair. Rin felt her lower lip tremble. Eyes like sapphires and skin like ivory. To the prince, this slave was more prized than both those luxuries would have been to a struggling village-dweller.

"Kagome, I heard some things when I went out for supplies," she said gently.

The girl immediately stopped. Clearing her throat, she put the brush back down on the vanity and faced Rin fully.

"What sort of things?"

Rin crossed the room and sat on the bed, worried eyes on her friend. "…The prince is looking for you. Much, much harder than I thought he would. He's searched the servants' quarters already and it seems like he's even begun to disturb the private rooms of the nobility. A-and… Kagome, he's locked down transportation. Not even nobles are allowed to depart."

She expected tears. Screams. Questions. But there was none of that.

Kagome let out a breathy laugh and sat down hard on the bed, looking lightheaded.

"He's coming. Inuyasha's really coming for me." Her voice was dreamy and Rin couldn't tell how her escape partner felt about the young prince's measures to get her back.

Rin put a steadying hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Just because we can't leave the way we originally planned doesn't mean all is lost. Don't worry, Kagome. We'll have to wait, but I am happy to hide you for longer. It will be tricky and we will need to be more careful, but it can work. I am under the crown prince's protection, so I do not believe the young prince will search either of our dwellings." Then again, just last night she didn't think the prince would do something as drastic as lock down the palace.

"Thank you," Kagome said, grabbing Rin's hand. "You are a true friend, Rin. I promise we'll find a way out of here no matter what."

O\o/O

"If you're not going to make yourself useful, you might as well lose your head and end up in the refuse pile with the rest of the guards who didn't do their job!" Inuyasha roared.

"It's not Miroku's fault!" Sango protested, standing slightly in front of the cowering eunuch. "I was the one who told him to go."

The prince glared at her and for a second Miroku thought he was going to say something crass and hurtful, but then he turned his cruel gaze back on the failed guard.

"Go. Bring back information. Find out if anyone's seen her."

"It's been five days, Inuyasha," Sango said in a soft voice Miroku had never heard her use before. Slowly, like she was approaching a wounded animal, she went to the prince, laying a comforting hand on his clenching and unclenching sword arm. "She's gone. You need to rest, get some food in you—"

The prince shoved her hand away. "I need to find her," he bit out. "This fuckin' eunuch needs to find her. He's the one that shoulda been watching her in the first place. Get out of my fuckin' sight and gather intel, eunuch."

His mouth was moving before he was able to stop it. "How am I supposed to do even that? I don't know anyone. I don't even know the layout!"

Sango was widening her eyes at him and making slashing motions at her neck. Oh shit. He really was going to end up like the other guards, wasn't he? Ah, well. At the very least he had loved with all his heart and soul the most wonderful woman to have ever—

"He's a fuckin' eunuch, ain't he? Just go to the harem and ask your fuckin' eunuch friends."

"Just because we're eunuchs doesn't mean we all know each other automatically," Miroku shot back, unreasonably offended on behalf of a population he didn't even truthfully belong to.

The prince muttered something that was no doubt awful under his breath. "Fine then. Sango, patrol the halls. And take this ball-less fuck with you. I need to be alone."

With a bow, Sango grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him from the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, they both released the breath they'd been holding in unison. Without a word, they glanced at each other, smiling in their shared torment.

It had been nearly a week of torture. The prince had not slept or eaten since he had returned to his room only to find his slave missing. Sango was by his side every second of every day, and for some reason Miroku was, too. He knew it was likely because he blamed him for the slave's disappearance, but did he have to work him so hard? Death was almost seeming like a better option. He had gotten no more than six hours of sleep in all this time. Sango even less.

"Come on, one of the guest rooms on the fifth floor isn't in use and we might be able to sneak in a nap."

Miroku followed her, not yet exhausted enough to refrain from staring at her ass the entire time.

"Forgive me, my dear lady, but you do not seem too concerned about locating the prince's missing woman."

It was something that had been bothering him the entire time. Whenever Inuyasha wasn't looking, Sango was goofing off. While the prince was anxiously inquiring as to his woman's whereabouts, Sango stood behind him, arms crossed as she rolled her eyes or yawned or dozed or snacked. It completely offset the sense of urgency the prince wanted to scare into noble and servant alike.

Sango snorted. "If that slave is even a grain of rice smarter than she looks, she's long gone by now. The prince just needs time to see it, too."

There was something about the way she said it, a kind of certainty and confidence that wouldn't be possible if she didn't have firsthand knowledge.

Miroku tried to keep his tone light. "You talk as though you know for sure she ran off by herself."

The look she gave him was more of an assessment. Whatever process of judgement was going on behind those gorgeous eyes seemed to find in his favor.

"That's because I do."

"…You know where the slave is?" he whispered even though there was no one else in the halls. Everyone else had shut themselves up in their rooms after the prince had first gone on a rampage and there was now little to no foot traffic.

"I don't know where she is, but I saw her leave by herself. Believe me, if someone had taken her, they would have given her back by now."

"And you did nothing? And the prince suspects nothing?"

"What should I have done? Brought a woman who obviously doesn't want to be with him back kicking and screaming to his room? Please. Any moment now, the prince will forget about her and everyone will be better off."

"Sango, it's been five days. She's a peasant from Higurashi with no friends or any connections available to her. The prince likely fears her to be dead. Or worse."

She grimaced. "It's better this way."

Miroku sighed. She knew the prince better than he did, to be sure. If she said this was better, then he would believe her.

"Have you heard from Kohaku?" he asked to change the subject.

A tiny smile fluttered across her mouth and then it was gone. "Not recently. In Father's last letter, he said Kohaku was sent to an academy in the capital."

"And you believe that?" His skepticism was evident in his voice.

For the first time this week, Sango's face showed signs of strain. Miroku even thought she might cry.

"…It's what he always wanted," she said in a voice both hoarse and quiet.

"Has he written you himself?" Somehow, he already knew the answer.

"I'm going to visit him. As soon as this is over, I'm going to the academy to visit him."

"Which academy?" He knew all the masters at every one.

"Father didn't say."

Miroku stared at her a little longer just to drive the point home.

Sango scowled. "What is that look supposed to mean?"

"Your father was quite upset with Kohaku when I left. I know you love the boy, and he was like a little brother to me as well. I'm worried and I think you should be worried as well."

The not-eunuch was more than ready to be hit for what he was insinuating, and Sango's expression indicated she was more than ready to hit him. Then the tense moment passed and she just looked beyond weary.

"First, we better take our sleep while we can get it. Then, we go back to pretending to help the prince look for the slave. Then we visit my village."

Three "we"s. His heart fluttered. "Your wish is my command, my leather-clad queen."

O\o/O

Inuyasha stared at the door to the harem. Fuck, he had hoped to avoid this. If she were here, that would mean that she hadn't been taken, but had run. For some reason, that created a kind of agony in his gut that was worse than a sword cutting through it.

The guards weren't looking at him directly, but he could feel their attention on him. Stupid fucking eunuchs. With a single nod from him, the guards moved to open the door, and then he was strolling across the threshold like he had a thousand times before. The very threshold he had hoped to carry Kagome over once she gave herself to him. Then he'd set up her room for her and make sure it was just how she liked it and spend every one of his evenings there…

There was no whiff of her scent in the whole damn place.

It was hard to say whether he was more relieved by that or further upset. He knew that if she had somehow found a way to work around her collar's magic and run, she would have come here. There was no way Kagome would leave without her sister. Not after how she had cried out for her night after night. First in the dungeon, then in her sleep when she was sick.

Inuyasha needed to find her fast. All he had been able to think about for so long now was making her cry out for him instead. He wouldn't be satisfied until he had replaced everyone else in her heart.

The room he went straight for wasn't the biggest or the smallest. It wasn't the nicest or the worst. It was average and was located in the center hall, right in the middle of the row of rooms on the left. It stood out from the others by being so very plain. There was no handmade sign indicating which woman was inside. No decoration. No placard hanging from the door latch to indicate someone did not want to be disturbed or was not present. Nothing.

Too worked up to bother to knock even if he had been the type of person considerate enough to knock, Inuyasha just barged in.

Kikyo did not turn at the disturbance, just continued to sit at her table and stare blankly at the Go pieces that appeared to have been moved since their last game what felt like so long ago. Had she been playing by herself?

"I need you to come with me," he said.

Kikyo seemed to drag her gaze over to him with great effort. When she didn't respond, Inuyasha almost dragged her out of her seat. Fuck, it reeked in here. When was the last time she had bathed? And she looked thin. Was she eating? How was it so hard to take care of yourself when you had everything catered to you?

But he had more important things to think about.

"Kagome isn't here, is she? You haven't seen her?"

Finally, something other than a cold resentment in those eyes that were so alike yet unlike the ones he longed to see.

"You lost my sister?"

Everything about that sentence set him off. No, he hadn't fucking lost her. Someone had taken her, damn it! And hearing Kikyo refer to Kagome as "hers" in any way, even something as innocent and indisputable as claiming kinship, made all the stress and anger and lack of rest weigh on him that much more.

"She's gone. I banned everyone from leaving and coming and I can still feel her through the collar. Kagome's somewhere in the palace, but I just… I can't find her."

"If you, with all you have at your disposal as prince of the realm, cannot locate her, then what help could I possibly be?"

Inuyasha crossed the room and grabbed her by the front of her linen nightgown, yanking her out of her chair.

"Because," he hissed, making sure to be as condescending as possible to get things through that thick head of hers, "if I have you walking around and calling for her, she just might find herself able to claw out of whatever's keeping her from me. C'mon, I've gotta rescue her from the bastard that dared to take her."

For just a split second, he saw the soldier Kikyo must have been before he'd made a whore of her. It was gone as quickly as it had come. Her hand on his was gentle but firm as she removed his grip from her clothing.

"Kagome doesn't need saving. Not by you. From you, yes, but it appears to me as though she has saved herself."

"She didn't do shit herself! The collar's spell was activated. No one could have broken it unless they had some nasty magic."

"Kagome's will is greater than a demon's magic. She will always be able to overpower impossible obstacles."

"Bullshit. She's just a human!"

"If no one else has the courage to tell you this, then I suppose the burden falls on me," Kikyo said, fixing him with a meaningful look. "The mere fact that you have fallen in love with Kagome does not mean she returns your love or is obligated to love you back. My sister has no affection for demons and never will. She is a true daughter of Higurashi."

Inuyasha pushed her down into the chair with a snarl. "Bitch. Being locked up in this room by yourself has you spinning stupid stories out of the dregs of your sanity, doesn't it? I just want my property back, nothing more."

"Not even your besotted bodyguard would believe that lie. You seem to be the only one stupid enough to try."

He wanted to slap her. Wanted to see her hurt. Fuck, he wished Sango were here to punish her. As he was right now, he didn't trust himself to limit his strength. How dare she mouth off to him? All he wanted to do was find Kagome and make sure she was safe and whole and unharmed and would never be afraid again.

"She could be somewhere dark. Yeah, I know she's scared of the dark. You ever think of that? Someone could be keeping her and she might not even know where she is. Kagome could be praying to whatever barbarian gods you believe in that we come for her."

"…It is long past the time she got over such childish fears. Perhaps whomever you have convinced yourself has taken her is a better keeper than you if they will not enable her in the same manner."

"I'm going to get her back. And when I do, I'll let her know all about what you've said here today. From now on, I'll be the only one she wants to comfort her. The only one she can rely on. And you will never see her again."

It was the first time he saw her genuinely smile.

"Men can be replaced. Sisters cannot. You will always come after me."

Even if Inuyasha had wanted to take a break and rest, he would not be able to after that.

O\o/O

Sesshomaru studied Rin openly from across the table. These past two weeks, she had drifted from him. The physical distance was close enough. Would that it were the only distance between the two of them. He could live with that as he had lived with the rest of the agony wanting and not having her had been. A decade of deprivation.

She was using that damned scent-obscuring potion every day now. Here and there was fine. He understood why a woman would have certain times she would want to remain mysterious, especially from the senses of men. But it had been far too long for that.

He might be the second-most powerful man in the world—at least on paper—but he had yet to determine a way he could order Rin to do as he preferred. Most of the time, everything she did was what he liked best, and if it wasn't, then he was the one who changed. It wasn't something he ever intended or tried to make happen, it just was. But this was different.

Events of late had him on edge. First Higurashi, then the unprecedented attack by the Human Alliance, Inuyasha destroying a chunk of the palace, Inuyasha's abhorrent behavior over one of his many whores, and now this. Non-stop tension for nigh on a year now. And one of his only indulgences, the only thing that calmed him somewhat, was taken from him.

Why in the hell was Rin so intent on him not being able to smell her?

Not being able to scent her feelings and moods instantly had him studying her more. Her face was pale, like she was no longer spending the entirety of her days in the garden he had given her. And she looked thinner. Even now she had barely touched her food. What in the hell was happening?

"Rin." She looked up, startled. "You have not even asked about my day. Are you ill?"

"Oh. Uh, yes. I, um, I've been dizzy and stuff. Maybe it's the flu."

He narrowed his eyes. There were few humans in the palace and, as far as he knew, none of them would come into contact with Rin. Demons couldn't carry the virus. And no one had been in or out of the palace in two weeks thanks to the idiot son of Izayoi.

"I will send for a doctor immediately. I believe the queen has one that knows how to treat humans."

"Oh no, my lord! Please, don't go to the trouble. I'm merely tired."

Sesshomaru stared her down. Rin looked away far too quickly.

"Do you have anything you wish to tell me, Rin?"

She made a show of shoving a much too large forkful of food into her mouth and shook her head in the negative. When she had finally swallowed it all, she smiled at him.

"I'm going to finish my food in my room. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow."

He watched her leave. It had taken him long enough to see it, but things were undeniable now. Somehow, not being able to smell her had opened his eyes.

Rin was lying to him.

Completely oblivious, Rin returned to her room.

Kagome was standing in front of the mirror with her skirts hiked up. Rin almost pinwheeled out of there to give her friend some privacy, but then she realized what was going on.

"Stupid—prison," Kagome grumbled as she tugged on the metal and leather chastity belt she had been forced into.

"Still working on that?" Rin asked, handing the other girl what remained of her dinner.

"Thanks," she said, dropping the dress back down and taking a few bites. Their supplies had run out a couple days ago and the kitchen had begun to pay attention to their stock since no new deliveries were coming in until the young prince called off his ridiculous orders. "Ugh, it's itchy! I hate it."

"If the young prince doesn't rescind his order of hermitage, then perhaps you'll grow so thin that it will just fall off."

Kagome's laugh was more anxious than amused. "Thank you again for sharing your food with me, Rin. Are you suffering very much? Here, have the rest."

Rin waved it away even as her stomach growled. "No. Equal amounts, remember? We're going to need our wits about us if we're going to figure out another plan."

So far, neither of them had come up with anything.

Tears filled Kagome's brilliant eyes and splashed over onto her cheeks. "Rin, I'm so, so sorry," she croaked. "This is all my fault. If I just go back—"

"No!" Rin raised her voice without meaning to and paused as soon as she realized what she had done. Could her lord hear her all the way from the dining room? "Kagome, no. Don't ever apologize. And don't ever go back. Your soul is worth so much more than our temporary discomfort."

She dried her eyes but the tears continued to fall. "But if it helps everyone else, shouldn't I be willing to compromise my own happiness?" It was the same theme in every princess story of Higurashi. Her destiny. "Inuyasha is stubborn, Rin. You have no idea."

"Do you truly believe he would let an entire palace of people starve just to get you back?" she asked, her tone filled with borderline humorous disbelief. "He's stubborn to be sure, but also easily distracted."

"It's not like that. It's not about him wanting me. Inuyasha hates to lose. It doesn't matter what. He won't allow it." It was said with such simple conviction that Rin felt herself lose a little of her confidence.

"You don't have to go back to him," Rin said with a new determination. "And you don't need to cry anymore. I know what to do."

"Rin, what are you—"

"Just stay here. Prepare to leave. When I come back, we're going to go."

Deafening her ears to her friend's whispered protests, Rin marched out of her room. This had gone on for far too long. The young prince was treating the situation like a siege on a foreign enemy, trying to break everyone down until he got what he wanted. It was messing with Kagome's head and that hurt her to watch.

It was time to go a route she had hoped she would never have to go.

The finest halls of the palace were still bustling with activity, seemingly unaware of what everyone else was suffering. Here, all but the lowest servants were nobles themselves. Had Rin been anyone other than herself, she would have spent nearly an hour forced to greet everyone she came across lest she violate the Inu rules of courtesy. Thankfully, she was viewed like a pet animal and given no more than a cursory glance here and there.

The person she had come to see was surrounded by beautiful ladies in brightly shining gowns that matched in style yet were every color of the rainbow. The women chatted and giggled, all their attention focused on the one they orbited.

In the center was the one person Rin would have rather eaten dirt than asked for help. But it wasn't just about her, not anymore.

"Empress." Rin bowed low on her knees until her forehead touched the ground.

The room fell silent.

Sooner than she would have anticipated, Inukimi said, "Excuse us, ladies. It seems as though one of my son's servants begs a boon. What will it be, I wonder? A new bowl for her kibble?"

Scattered giggles faded out and Rin heard the door close.

"Get up." Inukimi's voice had gone from that faintly amused lilting tone to something cold and commanding. "Bowing is for subjects and you do not have even that standing here."

Rin obeyed, biting her inner cheek to keep from saying anything or indicating on her face how she felt about all this.

"Well? Hurry up and tell me why you thought to force me to be reminded of your existence. Unlike you, I have friends to catch up with and appointments to keep."

"Your first impression was correct, empress. I do beg a boon. One that I believe will please us both."

One side of Inukimi's mouth curled into what was almost a smile. "Do tell."

"Your grace has made it clear that you are not fond of me and would rather me be elsewhere. I happen to share the sentiment."

"Are you asking me to smuggle you out of the palace?" Her amber eyes lit up. "How delightful. When?"

"As soon as possible. Myself and my friend will need to leave with the utmost secrecy."

"And is this for good or do you merely wish for a daytrip?"

"So long as I live, I hope to never set foot in the Inu palace again," she swore.

Inukimi studied her for a moment. "Your sincerity is plain to see. Very well. As you said, this would benefit us both. One of my servant imps will meet you in an hour. Now get out of my sight."

Rin didn't bother thanking her or saying goodbye. An hour. For only an hour more would she have to bear being beneath everyone. Even if this sacrifice had cost her emotionally and she hadn't been sure it would pan out, she was glad she had done it now. But one hour? Her heart clenched. Her lord would expect to see her tomorrow. Perhaps she had time to take a walk through the garden with him tonight. But then she might lose herself in his company and forget why she needed to leave in the first place. And then what? More of the same, and that was the one thing she could not bear.

Resolute, Rin made her way to the kitchens. Whatever they had, she was going to take.

O\o/O

Sesshomaru wasn't used to cloaking his presence and sneaking about. Generally, he did the exact opposite. And since the one he was following was a human, he didn't really have to. But if Rin was lying to him, something he had always thought to be impossible, then maybe he did have to. Maybe she was more perceptive than she let on.

It was out of worry, mostly. Or jealousy he relabeled as worry. She had blossomed with happiness and then suddenly faded. He knew not the cause of either and that was unacceptable. So he followed her, fully expecting to find her meeting a lover. Some low-ranking noble, perhaps, or even a servant. The crown prince bared his fangs in disgust.

But she did not take the stairs that led to the nobles' rooms nor the one that led to the servants' quarters. Was she going to the infirmary after all? Even though he could no longer rely on his nose, he found himself scenting the air anyway, trying to pick up on what was bothering his beloved servant.

Sesshomaru nearly revealed himself and dragged her back to where she'd come from when he saw her enter his mother's dwelling.

Why was she doing this? It was no secret that Inukimi despised her. Out of all the humans she should have hated, she hated none but Rin and it had driven a further wedge between them. It would have been a simple matter for him to knock down the door and demand the secrets cease then and there, but Sesshomaru found himself reluctant.

He didn't want to know why Rin would talk to his mother and not himself. It could only be something that would change things, and he detested change.

His wait was brief enough. Rin left the room, at first looking so small and sad he moved to take her in his arm and comfort her, make her tell him what was going on. But then something in her expression shifted and she was marching off. Sesshomaru started to go after her.

"Come in and visit, my son."

The future emperor cringed internally. The last thing he wanted to do right now was be roped into a tea party with his mother, who would undoubtedly invite his wife, and then he'd be stuck there dissociating while the two made small talk.

"Now, Sesshomaru." Her tone indicated she would not accept any alternative.

He could catch up to Rin. Maybe now the mystery would finally be revealed to him.

The empress reclined on a chaise lounge and one of her imps fanned her even though the room was not even close to being too warm. Inukimi smiled at him. He hated the look of it.

Sesshomaru inclined his head, silently refusing the chair brought to him by yet another imp.

Used to her son's reticence, Inukimi plowed ahead. "I just met with your little…what is she? With your rescue. But you doubtless know that already, as you followed her here."

He grunted. Get to the damned point, already.

"Tell me, Sesshomaru. What are your plans for her?"

He narrowed his eyes. They didn't discuss Rin. Ever. "I plan for things to go on as they have."

"And when she is old? What then? She will die one day, you know. Perhaps sooner than later."

Sesshomaru didn't like to think about that. While he knew it intellectually, he could not conceive of a world without her in it. At least not one that still contained him.

"Did you summon her? Why was Rin here?"

Inukimi sighed. "Your little girl has grown up, Sesshomaru. All children do eventually. And she wants to leave. Not just you, but the palace as well. She wants to be among her own sort, and I believe that is the kindest thing you can do for her."

He regretted not taking the chair when it was offered. "Impossible. Rin has never expressed dissatisfaction with her life."

"Because you are the one who gave it back to her. How ungrateful would that seem?" Inukimi sat up. "I agreed to smuggle her and another out, but I was going to inform you first, my son. That way, I could be rid of both her and your attachment to her."

"Another?" He heard nothing after that.

Rin wanted to leave and take another with her. So she had a lover after all. Sesshomaru had never thought himself capable of being angry at Rin, but he had surpassed that emotion and had reached a level of pure rage usually only reserved for his half-brother. How dare she. After all he had given her, all he had done for her, she wanted to leave him for another and not even bother saying goodbye? Was that all he was to her, just a means of sustaining herself while she waited on her happily ever after? Cruel. Rin was capable of such cruelty.

"Stop." Inukimi's voice was commanding, every bit the empress. "Do not transform. Not outside of war or training. You know better than to let emotion control you." Tears glistened in her eyes and he was surprised. His mother never acted like she cared about anything. "…You are too much like him."

He barked out a laugh. "I doubt Father was ever this much a fool over even Izayoi."

"Not your father. Like him. The man who was born to be emperor. The one I was supposed to wed. Like the first Sesshomaru." She covered her mouth to hold in a sob. "It took hundreds of years for my heart to be whole again, but there is still a wound there. I won't see another future emperor ruin themselves over a human girl. I won't allow it, Sesshomaru."

"Nor will I. I will end this. You will not interfere."

She looked worried. "…Do you plan to punish her? She is just a human girl, Sesshomaru. I can find her a family of human nobles that will take her in and foster her, teach her their ways."

He shook his head. "You will not interfere," he repeated.

There had to be something. Something to explain why Rin had chosen another over him, over the one who had given her everything, even the very life that animated her. He had been too permissive, too hands off, too generous with her freedom. It was time to remind her that she was his. He had been the one to pluck her from the underworld, from the earth, from her peasant village that toiled and struggled and died in the dirt. Did she think that it was out of pure kindness? No. Even then, some part of him had intended to make her into his perfect companion.

The time to collect on the debt was now.

While there were few in the halls, all he passed recognized the rage in him and stopped still in their tracks or ran, the fight or flight of lesser beings activated by his mere aura. Sesshomaru had not felt this rush since his last battle and he could almost feel his sword clenched in the hand of the arm he had lost.

Rin's room was his target.

The door blew open with the force of his will alone. He intended to look for clues, determine if she had been meeting her lover here in the room he had prepared for his most precious person, track down the bastard and slaughter him before her eyes. But there was no scent of a man, no scent of sex, and the puzzle solved itself the moment he locked eyes with the room's occupant.

A woman.

The two of them stared at each other for a split second of confusion and then she screamed. With a growl of frustration, Sesshomaru grabbed the bitch by the hair and pulled her out the door. For something like this, Rin had been planning on leaving him. The woman was saying something, cursing him and pleading in turns, but he had ceased to understand words. Already he could feel himself transforming, his jaw and fangs elongating with the desire to tear into her flesh.

It was easy enough to figure out where to put her. After all, she was wrapped in the armor that by rights should have been his but had instead been given to the half-breed because he "needed it more". Just like his sword.

But wouldn't it be fitting if he took away something precious of the bastard's, like he had taken his sword, his armor, his arm… Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks and looked down at the crying whore. She smelled of fear and tears, but also of the half-demon. And the idiot had locked down the entire palace because of her, so she was obviously important to him.

"Whore. Your punishment for corrupting Rin will be death. As I have a full day ahead of me, you will be thrown off the supporting clouds and into the refuse pile."

Her lips parted in a soundless gasp. The blessed silence was brief, because she was soon being even louder than the moron who owned her.

"You bastard!" she shrieked. "I didn't do anything! You disgusting demons should all throw yourselves off your stupid cloud. I'll kill you, I swear, when I get back to—"

"Kagome?" The name was spoken in a hushed voice but with enough feeling that the both of them looked over at the speaker all the same.

Of course.

"Inuyasha," the whore whimpered, suddenly teary-eyed and sniffling like a helpless damsel instead of the hellcat she had just been yowling like.

The young prince looked haggard, but there was a kind of savageness Sesshomaru had never seen him wear before.

"You," he growled, cracking his knuckles as he readied his claws. "All this time, you were the one who had her. I'll fucking kill you, I don't care what Dad says."

He scoffed. "Try it, half-breed. Give me more of a reason to kill you. This whore is already as good as dead. One claw with a drop of poison imbedded in her scalp would finish this before you even moved."

"Give her back!" he roared.

"No. The whore needs to be sentenced for its crimes."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, pain plain as day on his face, glancing between the woman and Sesshomaru. The crown prince was surprised. He would have figured the idiot would come at him, he'd kill the girl, then he'd throw her body at the half-breed to get rid of himself. Easy and less work for him. But Inuyasha wasn't just charging in and swinging. He actually looked like he was trying to think his way out of a situation for once. An anomaly.

"Whaddya want?" he croaked.

Sesshomaru raised a brow. "…Are you attempting to negotiate for the life of this whore?"

He nodded. "Name your price."

The crown prince thought about it, keeping his eyes trained on Inuyasha in case this was a distraction, though he doubted the fool had the brain capacity to come up with such a scheme. Should he ask for his arm? For Tessaiga? That one appealed. But no, he'd rather take it by force than handle it in such a pathetic manner. And with the instability in the world right now, it might be better to wait and see.

"You will do what I ask of you. One day. Whenever, whatever—"

Inuyasha answered before the sentence was even close to completed. "Deal."

More or less pleased with the bargain, Sesshomaru pushed the whore forward. Before she could hit the ground, Inuyasha caught her, holding her tight as he scanned her for injuries, nose twitching as it worked to scent its way through her emotions and physical state.

"Revolting," Sesshomaru muttered.

"Why did you take her?" he asked, looking like he was going to forsake their deal and try to slice his other arm off. "Kagome is mine. Stick to your wife and your pretend daughter, you sick fuck."

"I did not take her. Interrogate your whore, I have business to attend to." Done with their exhausting nonsense, he took his leave.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome sobbed, clinging to him.

It felt so good to have her there, warm and alive in his arms, that he thought it was a dream. But whenever he had those revelations that a dream was a dream, he woke up. And he didn't recall sleeping since the last time she was beside him, so it might be a hallucination brought on by lack of rest and refreshment.

For a moment, he allowed himself to just hold her, stroking her hair and soothing her as she cried out her pain into his chest. Bit by bit, he began to realize things. Kagome was clean. She was well-fed. She was wearing his cloak and something else that he hadn't given her, something small for her frame and child-like in its design. It smelled faintly of his brother but overwhelmingly of Rin.

If Sesshomaru hadn't taken her—and he had every reason to believe that claim since the bastard didn't like anyone or anything that wasn't Rin—and she had been in the palace this whole time, as untouched as she had been last he saw her, then that could only mean one thing.

"Kagome," he murmured once she had quieted down some. "Did you leave by yourself?"

She hiccupped and nodded. "I-I was so mad and hurt, Inuyasha! The collar's power gave out and the door was open and it seemed like fate. Then when I passed by where you were having your meeting, I was so scared and I didn't know what to do, and I swear, I swear, Inuyasha, I was going to go to you, but then Sango told me about the stables and—"

"Sango?" he questioned. "You talked to Sango?"

"Yeah! She told me about the stables and I tried to go but then there was this gross demon who wanted me to be with him like, you know, like that, and then Rin saved me and we were going to leave together but you wouldn't let anyone leave so I've been hiding with her but then that dog bastard found me and he was going to kill me and—"

"I think I get it." His arms tightened around her. "So. It's true. You ran away."

"Can you blame me? The things you did to me, what you made me do, it was so awful and I was so angry and scared and I had to go."

Kagome tried to move away but he kept her pressed tightly to him, the muscled prison growing tighter and tighter, caging her in. She gasped and started to struggle, realizing at last what was happening.

"You ran away," he repeated. "You left. I spent two weeks shaking fuckers down, not eating, not sleeping, thinking someone had taken you from me and was hurting you and you were crying out for help, for me, and I couldn't hear you. I killed the guards who were stationed near my room. I begged for you, lowered myself for you, and now I owe a fuckin' favor to the worst person in the world to owe a favor to."

"What are you—"

He shook her hard and she gasped. Then he started to walk, turning her around and keeping a hand around her neck to keep her in place since he couldn't trust the collar now. He set a punishing pace and Kagome tripped over her feet several times, the only thing preventing her from falling being the hand that was lightly choking her. Wetness hit the back of his hand and he smelled her tears.

Good. She should cry. She should regret it.

He was going to make sure this was just the start.

Inuyasha's door had been fixed and enhanced. Now only he and Sango could enter and leave, and he was thinking about revoking his shadow's power to do so after what Kagome had just told him. Everything in him wanted to believe she was lying, but there was no reason for that and no scent of deceit, either.

"My prince!" Sango rose to her feet immediately when he entered, Miroku not far behind.

The look on her face when she saw the returned slave was the final confirmation he needed.

"Eunuch, get the fuck out."

Miroku knew better than to try and argue, merely giving Sango and Kagome apologetic looks before scurrying away.

"I found her," he announced unnecessarily. "No thanks to you."

"My prince, I—"

"Shut up."

It wasn't until he heard the gagging noises that he realized he had been squeezing Kagome too hard, really choking her. Letting go of her, he took a full step back while she gasped for breath. He was too worked up, too agitated, too strained. He needed something. Something to calm him down.

"C'mere," he ordered.

Kagome was looking at him with wide, scared eyes, shaking like a leaf.

"I ain't him!" he barked out. "I wouldn't kill ya when I still haven't gotten my fuckin' money's worth. Now get your ass over here!"

She continued to cower until Sango stepped in and pushed her with enough force to practically throw her back into Inuyasha's arms. He hadn't wanted that, hadn't wanted her to do shit, and glared at her. His shadow looked back confused. Like the bitch didn't know what she'd done.

But he'd get to her punishment later. Kagome came first.

"Inuyasha, please, I didn't—"

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he jerked her head back and slammed his mouth down on hers. Fuck, but it was like he hadn't even fuckin' breathed properly until that moment. Nearly all the tension left his aching muscles and he felt for the first time in weeks that he would be able to sleep. It took a moment, but then Kagome was kissing him back with a surprising hunger. It had been a while, hadn't it? His own blood was pumping and eager for her. Even in her virginal state, she must have missed the stimulation he gave her.

She was the one to take off the firerat cape, the first step in undressing her. What was left of his rational mind told him she was merely hot, but his rational mind wasn't in control right now. With a growl, he ripped through the nightgown, hating the little girl aesthetic. She was a woman, she was his woman, and it was damn fucking time she realized that. Then the chastity belt came off, the lock picked with a distracted claw and tossed to the side.

Kagome gasped and he kissed her once more, nipping at her lower lip just to hear the sound of delighted pain she made when he did that. It had been too long since he'd last heard it. His mouth kissed down her throat and across her chest, covering every inch of her skin. Had she been this soft before? Had she tasted this good before? Or had it took not having her to realize how perfect she was?

He wasn't too much of a man not to whimper like a hungry pup when he took a nipple into his mouth. Ah fuck, but his knees were weak and hers were, too. They nearly fell to the ground together. But he was on a mission. Kagome mewled and arched into him. He sucked as much as he could and managed to get nearly half her tit in his mouth, fangs pricking her just enough to break the skin. It excited the both of them and he brought one of her legs up, wrapping it around his waist.

Just to be sure… He believed her story, but just to be sure, he stuck a finger inside her pussy. Warm. Wet. And there it was. The maidenhood he had purchased for himself. Inuyasha added another finger. Easing past it, stretching but not breaking since his cock so badly wanted to do the honors, he pumped his fingers slowly. His thumb, the most calloused of his digits, swiped at her clit. Kagome's hips stuttered and she nearly lost her balance, leaving him as the only one holding them up. Crooking his fingers, he found the other spot he had been searching for nearly immediately and massaged it. Kagome gasped, working her pelvis to try and get him to do it again. He switched breasts instead, denying her pleasure just as she had denied him.

"Oh, Inuyasha," she moaned breathily, barely able to get the words out. It was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. "Goddess Herself, I missed you."

Maybe she had meant it. Maybe she wanted to appease and manipulate him. Whatever the case, it had been a mistake to remind Inuyasha that they had ever been separated in the first place.

He pushed away from her and she immediately fell to the ground without his assistance.

"Bring the horse," he said to Sango, voice hoarse from stress and want.

"Yes, my prince." Her expression was cold, like it was carved from ice. Good, so she wasn't even going to try and hide that she had wished Kagome had never returned. That would make that interrogation easier.

The slave's eyes were dazed and he tried not to look at her too much. If he wasn't careful, he would make a mistake and jeopardize everything. Already he felt his claws lengthening, a red haze around the edge of his vision. The bitch was unbalancing his blood.

"A horse?" she asked. "Are we going somewhere?"

Rather than point out they were on a fucking cloud a mile high in the sky, Inuyasha glared at the space just above her head and fought the inclination to suck the juices she had left on his fingers. Sango was back soon enough, carting the wooden horse and chains behind her.

"What's that?" Kagome asked. "Inuyasha, what's happening?"

"Cuff 'er, Sango."

His shadow silently obeyed. Kagome was too confused to put up a fight, and he privately thought she expected to like the punishment. But this wasn't going to be like the other times. This time, he was really fucking mad. A leather cuff around each ankle and chains that attached to hidden latches on the floor. The same around each wrist, a single, longer chain linking her hands and then brought up to loop around a discreet hook on the ceiling.

The wooden horse had been specially crafted at his behest. With a head resembling a real horse so expertly carved from the finest wood, it could have been a work of art were it not for its intended purpose. The body was different, with a raised curve of wood jutting sharply out from the center of its back like a grotesque spine. The raised portion was shining with aphrodisiac jelly that first burned and then smoldered. Sango slid the wooden contraption between Kagome's thighs and the slave stood on her tiptoes so it wouldn't touch her.

"Your legs will wear out soon. After three minutes or less, I bet," Sango said. "Since you're so weak and all. You'll come down hard. And it'll hurt."

Kagome began to look worried, "Inuyasha, what are—"

"Gag her," he commanded. "And whip her. Don't stop until I say."

The red ribbon Sango had produced was the very same one he had once bound Kagome's hair in while teaching her to shoot arrows. Back when he had thought things were on the upswing and would stay that way. The memory was bittersweet now. He glared at his shadow. The bitch had done that on purpose.

Kagome continued to try to talk, her sweet eyes pleading with him, shining with tears. Inuyasha almost went to her himself to ungag her.

Sango stomped on one of the chains linked to Kagome's ankle and the slave lost her balance, falling onto the horse. That first shriek made him flinch. It was too much. Then Sango started with the whipping, bringing the crop down hard on Kagome's left breast that still shone with his saliva and fang marks. She shrieked again, but this one was different. There was heat there. The strikes continued and Kagome scrambled to get back on her tiptoes, the slender muscles in her arms working and pulling her up.

Inuyasha was so fucking hard. A few more strikes and then he was going to fuck Sango in front of her. Or better yet, tell Sango to fuck off and make himself cum, shoot his load all over Kagome's pinkened skin…

Even through the new pain of the horse torture and the blows of the crop, Kagome never took her eyes off Inuyasha. When he had found her in the hall, it was like the Goddess had answered her prayers yet again. First to get her away from him and then to bring her back to him. It was horrible, something she had tried to tell Rin but could never bring herself to do it, but Inuyasha had done something to her. Infected her.

It would happen off and on throughout the day, but mostly at night when she lay in bed beside a slumbering Rin. Her body would heat up all by itself and remember how he had touched her. After making sure her friend was truly sleeping, she would bring a hand to her breasts. It always made her stop her breath. How hard her nipples were, how badly they wanted to be teased and licked and kissed and sucked by a mouth with fangs that could tear her apart but preferred to please her.

Kagome felt really, really good when she touched her breasts and imagined another's hands. But after a few minutes of that, it wasn't enough. She needed more. Her hips would begin to move all by themselves and the damned chastity belt would be far too hot and drive her crazy. If Inuyasha had been there, she would have promised him anything if only he would remove the torture device and relieve her of her agony.

And now that he had, she was going to take her pleasure where she could get it.

The first time she fell onto the horse, it had hurt. Bruising was a distinct possibility and she tried to kick out at the guard who had absolutely done that on purpose. Then the burning started and she screamed, but the swat to her breast took the edge off and moved her concentration to that tingling, slightly pleasurable pain.

When she fell again, she knew just how to do it. Her muscles gave out just as Sango had said, but embarrassingly in less time than she had anticipated. As gently as she could, she sat down on the horse, twisting her hips in the best way. It was still uncomfortable, but if she moved a little and rocked, she was able to make it feel kind of good. Sango continued to smack her, the crop raining down on her ass, and Kagome moaned, leaning forward on the horse. The pain became a bit too sharp and she raised herself back up on tiptoes, bottom still in position for the crop.

"Fuck," Inuyasha said in a ragged voice. His eyes were on her body, not her face. Better that than his attention on his guard. "Play with her tits, Sango."

The crop smacked the underside of her right breast very lightly, just to make it jiggle. Sango rubbed the flat of the crop across her nipple, making it stand even further at attention. It was obvious the woman had no real desire to touch her. Every tickle and rub was followed by a smack or two. After one particularly difficult one, Kagome fell on the horse again with a squeal. Now the wood was glistening not only with the gel but with her own juices. Her thighs were slick with the concoction and she yearned to be touched everywhere, from her clit to her asshole.

Driven beyond a point of dignity, Kagome rode the horse the way she had dreamed about riding Inuyasha, working her hips lasciviously. Any pressure was better than none and she continued to smash her pussy against the raised curve of the spine. When it became too much again, she got back to her toes and let the blows rain down on her.

The cycle continued for a long while, she wasn't quite sure how long. Minutes? Hours? Time no longer had meaning. All she knew was how to work herself up before the pain was too sharp and she had to spring back. Sweat covered her body, dripping down her legs and mixing with her pussy juice. Her body glistened in the candlelight and she knew Inuyasha was having a hard time holding back his seed. When was he going to release her? She was starting to really feel the pain.

"You bitch," he said at last, voice low. "You think you can fucking run from me and everything will go back to normal? Not fuckin' likely. I'm gonna leave you like that all night. Then tomorrow, it'll be water torture. Then we're using wax. Then I'm gonna have you choked. Then…"

Inuyasha rattled off a list of things she absolutely didn't want to do. The haze of her sexual arousal began to wear off and she was suddenly back to being frightened. What had he expected his prisoner to do? Not run when given the chance? It wasn't fair!

She tried to tell him so, but the gag was a pretty effective silencer.

Sango's blows didn't slow down or lessen in power. In fact, they sped up and got harder. The pain went from being manageable to being almost unbearable. Kagome began to cry out into her gag, soaked with her spit where she had drooled at the good feelings and the bad alike. She shouldn't be the one being punished. If things were just in this world, it would be her whipping Inuyasha. Laying the crop on his golden skin and watching the rosy welts pop up, kissing them and making him hiss at the new sensitivity of his skin.

The crop caught the side of her face and that was when she lost it.

Crying, screaming, and thrashing, Kagome cursed her captors. She didn't have enough leeway with the chains to elbow or knee Sango, but that didn't stop her from trying so hard she nearly ripped her limbs out of their sockets. All her movement was good for one thing, though.

The gag loosened.

"You bastard!" she shrieked, fixing Inuyasha with the worst glare she had.

For the first time, he met her eyes. Fuck, but she looked good. The scent of her intense arousal had wrapped around him and he could taste it on the air. Sweat and sex and Kagome. Her skin was pink in most places and her nipples and clit matched an angry red. Her hair was damp and wild and she glowed like she had been dipped in the light of dawn.

"You're not a real man," she taunted. "You're too afraid to punish me yourself so you have a woman doing your dirty work. You keep offering your cock like it's a big deal, but I had a better time with my own hand and I didn't even finish!"

"Watch your fucking mouth, bitch," he warned.

"Ha! Make me, half-breed."

All control slipped just long enough for the red to take over. Inuyasha sprang at her and Kagome screamed, afraid of the red eyes that looked at her with something akin to violence in them. But when his claws cut, it was to slash through the chains that bound her. His tackle took her off the horse and brought them both to the floor, knocking the wind out of her. She was going to chew him out further for daring to hurt her like that as soon as she got her breath back, but she never got the chance.

Inuyasha pushed her thighs apart and plunged his hard, angry cock deep inside her.

"Oh! Inuyasha, you—Ah!"

Kagome had no idea what was happening. One moment she was feeling all tight and wound up and angry but she also wanted to sit on top of him and kiss him and now he was inside her and her pussy was clutching his cock, pulsating all around it, and all the words she had saved to throw at him were knocked right out of her head.

The red had cleared from his eyes. "Kagome, I—" He looked confused, but figured the situation out soon enough, eyes going wide as he saw how they were joined. "Kagome, you're cumming."

The two of them went as quiet as they were still.

She was the first one to move, shifting her hips to try and get away. But it only made her shudder as tingles ran up and down her spine. Inuyasha sucked in a breath and muttered an amazed curse she couldn't quite make out.

"Get off of me!" she said suddenly. Kagome heaved her body up trying to push him off but just shoved him deeper inside her. The two of them whimpered and she wrapped her legs around him. "I mean it. You need to stop!"

"I'm not even doing anything!"

Kagome pressed her heels into his back and he thrust forward automatically. With a moan, she pulled on one of his moonlight forelocks. Her other hand was tugging the buttons out of the buttonholes on his shirt and exploring his skin.

"I didn't give you permission. You said you wouldn't do this if I didn't say yes…" Kagome arched her back and brought his head down to her breast.

Inuyasha was confused. He was tired, he was hungry, he was angry, but most of all, he was really fucking confused. Also really fucking horny.

His tongue licked the sweat that glistened on her breast and he swirled the muscle around her nipple before giving the tasty bud a teasing bite. Kagome made another noise of protest and rubbed his ear. That was when he decided to just say fuck it and threw away the game completely.

"Shut the fuck up!" he snarled, kissing her hard to prevent any other confusing argument.

Both his hands went to her hips and he raised himself onto his knees, fucking Kagome the way he had never fucked a virgin before. Her shoulders and head were still on the floor and her back was a beautiful crescent, breasts bouncing wildly as he drove deeper and deeper inside her with every stab of his cock. Her hands were lost in her own hair, pulling at it as she babbled something about damned dogs and how this was the end of Higurashi… Blah blah blah.

All his brain could do was pick out words it was familiar with during this activity, like harder and faster and deeper. Tears poured down her face but she was smiling, and he found that he was doing the same. It wasn't just about what his body was feeling, something inside him was lighter and he barked out a laugh of pure, triumphant joy, twisting his hips and making Kagome cum again. She cried out his name and pinched her nipples, prolonging her second orgasm.

"Rub your clit," he ordered, voice deeper and scratchier than normal thanks to his recent transformation. "Make yourself cum again, Kagome. That's what I need to finish. I need to watch you do it."

Her eyelashes fluttered, tiny, shimmering teardrops clinging to the ends like little diamonds. All the shyness had been fucked out of her and she reached down, fingers brushing against his dick as she scooped up their combined fluids. Taking her pointer finger, she made sure to maintain eye contact with him as she stuck out her tongue and licked it slow.

"Fuck," he managed to choke out. "Please, Kagome, please cum for me. Let me watch you one more time."

Kagome bit her lip as she rubbed at her clit. The tremors were beginning in her body again. Maybe they had never truly subsided.

"You touch me, too," she pleaded. "You feel so good, Inuyasha."

"Fuck," he repeated.

The rhythm he had worked up to was all gone and he was now just grinding against her, managing to pull away a little and push forward here and there. His hands were shaking and there was no technique he could call to mind, nothing other than what he simply wanted to do regardless of whether or not it was going to feel good for them both. One searching hand left her hip and smoothed up her waist and ribs where it came to rest on her breast. How was it that just her nipple poking into his palm sent a thrill down his spine?

His knuckles circled her nipple and caught it between them, squeezing hard and releasing several times in quick succession. Coincidentally, it matched up with the circles over her clit and Kagome cried out, brought to climax for a third time on Inuyasha's cock.

True to his word, Inuyasha's own release was milked from him the moment she tightened around him again. He slid them down to lie on the floor, still buried inside her warm, grasping depths. Of his own volition, he laid his head on her chest, not even bothered when she began to smooth his hair and trace the shell of his ear.

"Go guard the door," he barely had the breath left in him to order his shadow.

Sango did as she was bade, but not without slamming it behind her.

Only when she was on the other side did she allow herself to cry.

"Sango? My love, what's happened? Did he… Did he kill her?"

Sango sobbed. "No! My— The prince took her. His transformation was brought out and he wasn't even in danger. They're… They're in there and they're together. It's different this time. He has lost himself to her."

"Sango, one does not lose themselves in love. That is where we find our truest selves. And if the prince's heart has chosen this lady, there is nothing we can do to change it."

That was the last thing she wanted to hear. "…I thought it would be me," she admitted. "We are both warriors. We understand battle, and we were at our best when in the midst of it. Or so I thought. But his smiles when triumphing over the enemy were nothing like what I saw just now. Our bond… It is not severed, but there is something stronger than what we've built."

Taking a chance, Miroku put an arm around her shoulders. Sango stiffened at first but realized she liked the comfort. Though she was perhaps a whole inch taller than he, the eunuch's arms were strong and he himself was warm.

"…You think you could sneak me in to watch the show?"

The slap she gave him could be heard clear across the palace. The slip of a smile on her face, however, was only for him.

O\o/O

Rin practically ran back to her chambers. It had not yet been an hour, but she was cutting it close. The kitchens were struggling with only odd assortments of ingredients and so she had wound up taking onions, flatbread, goat's milk, and some crumbly cheese. It wasn't much, but it would last them until they could find a safe place to trade her valuables.

Humming, Rin opened the door. "Kagome, are you—"

She stopped and dropped her sack of food to the floor.

"Were you expecting another, Rin?"

"My lord," she said, voice so faint only a demon's ears could pick up on it. "What… Where…"

"The whore has been returned."

"No!" The word was pure anguish and the tears flowed faster than he had ever seen them. Even as a child, Rin did not cry like this. "Where is she? Bring her back! I need Kagome back!"

In a movement her eyes could not track, he crossed the room to stand in front of her. He had always seemed like an angel to her, but now he seemed as tall, cold, and menacing as the servants and courtiers alike thought he was.

"What were you planning on using one of Inuyasha's whores for? I doubt the two of you had the same motives for seeking out her company," he sneered. "Enlighten me, Rin."

Words failed her as she continued to cry. "S-she was my friend! My only friend."

"You have no need for friends. I am all you need." It was simple. She just needed to see it as he did. Sesshomaru reached out his hand, intending to give her the human comfort she so desired and hold her close.

Rin backed away.

"I need so much more than you are able to give me," she said, voice low. "Kagome was what I needed. She was nice and would listen and understand." Her voice broke. "She knew what it was like to be trapped by a demon. We were going to be free!"

"There is no freedom in this world, Rin," he said, perhaps a bit more harshly than he should have. But he had never seen her like this, emotional and volatile. She had only ever been his gentle fairy of a darling. "Inu has us all. You have no skills, no family, and no connections. The two of you foolish children would have wound up dead before a week's time. You need me. No one and nothing else."

"I had hope," she said. "For the first time since you brought me here, I had hope. I had a purpose outside of making you happy and then being put back on a shelf until you were ready for me again. For the first time since you gave me back my life, I really felt like it was a gift and not a curse."

He was at a loss for words. Sesshomaru had hoped that Rin had not remembered her resurrection, had thought it had faded like other memories of childhood. Had she been holding on to it all this time? What else had hurt her that she had been holding back from him? He wanted to reach out to her and tell her that his shoulders were made to bear her burdens, to share the weary load.

But all he said was, "I thought the routine I provided to be adequate."

"I was not made for 'adequate', Sesshomaru."

And then she ran.

Everything inside felt hollow. This had once been where he had made his home, how he had made his way through life before Rin came and filled his every waking thought. To have it back again was unreal. Like a bad dream.

Rin's thoughts were similar.

How? She had tried so hard, been so careful. Ultimately, she had made the decision to leave her lord for her lord's sake. But that hadn't been her sole motivation. A real life, a place in the world, relationships with others. Those were what she had been looking forward to. And now it was all gone.

And Kagome. Gods, her dearest and only friend had been taken back to the man who had stolen and tortured her. Was there a way to get word to her? Was she even still alive? Maybe the dungeons…

Rin hurried, vision blurred with tears as she made her way to the dungeon. Her mind was in chaos, thoughts starting and trailing off half-formed. Her breath began to come in pants even though she had not been straining herself.

"Rin? Rin! Gods, girl, get a grip."

She heard the slap to her face more than felt it.

"M-mistress," she muttered, blinking the tears out of her eyes to see her properly, though she knew who it was even vision-impaired.

Kagura sighed. She recognized this particular distress. "My husband did something, didn't he?"

Rin nodded, trying to dry her eyes even as the tears kept coming.

"I'm going to ask you a question, Rin, and I want you to think about it very carefully." Kagura tapped her on the side of the head with her fan just hard enough to let the pain linger. "Would you like to come with me to my rooms?"

Rin stilled. The wind witch's tone suggested something else. But Rin was too hurt and tired to try and figure out what exact pain awaited her with her mistress. She had been toying with her for far too long and so everything was familiar. Sometimes, when Kagura was nice, it was even welcome.

Rin nodded.

"No. Think, Rin." Her voice raised slightly. "Do you not feel safe with me?"

"…I have no one else."

The look on Kagura's face was pained. She offered her hand and Rin took it.

"Come, then. I will do what I can for you."

The familiar rooms of her mistress were darker than usual. There was no water in the tub at least. Knowing what that meant, Rin stood next to the bed, posture stiff. Kagura lit some smoky incense and the girl relaxed after the first inhale.

"You might not think I care for you, Rin," Kagura murmured, lips dragging across the skin of her neck and making her shiver. "But I do."

Her hands were cool and slipped under her dress, massaging her small breasts until her nipples peaked.

"Mistress…" she breathed, rolling her head to one side so Kagura could suck at the skin of her neck.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? Then we'll be quick."

A sharp wind cut the clothes from her body and another pushed her to the bed. Kagura was naked as well, her figure contrasting completely with the prone girl's. Rin was slight, slender, and small, but shaped as though she were sculpted by a master artist. Kagura's figure was curvy, almost verging on bawdy, and she did everything she could to accentuate it.

Crawling over her, Kagura placed a chaste kiss to Rin's lips before replacing her mouth with her breast. Rin tongued it eagerly, knowing she would be rewarded. Turning around, Kagura sat on the girl's face, scarcely giving her time to breathe. When she started to kiss Rin's pussy, it didn't even matter. She was used to it. Nothing mattered. At least this way she could be close to someone, feel their warmth, and sometimes even convince herself she was loved.

Afterward, Kagura lit up her pipe while Rin cleaned them both off.

"You shouldn't have come," she said.

"I know, Mistress."

"I gave you a choice this time."

"I know, Mistress."

"Look, I mean it. I do care about you. I was born into this world and forced into it, but you don't have to be." Kagura took Rin's face into her hands and looked at her pleadingly. "All you need to do is tell Sesshomaru."

"That would be unwise."

The two of them gasped at the man's voice. Rin hurried to cover herself with a sheet and Kagura moved in front of her.

"Father," she greeted.

Naraku looked at the two of them in thinly veiled disgust. "You act as though this visit is a surprise. But was I not the one to tell you to bring her here?"

Rin did not feel betrayed. She didn't blame her mistress. After all, she had never expected anything good from her in the first place. It was her lord who had hurt her. He had taken everything from her. He should have left her dead. At least then she could be with the people who really loved her. In the dark. So, so dark…

"Stop it!" Kagura said, looking back and forth between Rin and her father. "Don't twist her. Use me instead, Father."

Naraku sneered. "I tried that, remember? And you were useless. Worse than useless, you're an embarrassment." A smirk tipped up the edges of his mouth. "But don't worry. Your little Rin is still in there. She's just not in control."

"Rin!" Kagura shook the girl by the shoulders. When there was no response, she slapped her again.

"Hands off my investment, Kagura," Naraku said, a wave of his hand throwing her to the other side of the room to hit the wall. "Now for some fine tuning before we send sweet little Rin off to do what needs to be done."

O\o/O

Inuyasha scowled down at Kagome, leaning on his elbow and hovering over her. She still had a goofy smile on her face, so it was hard to maintain his stern expression, but somehow he managed.

They were on the bed now. Inuyasha had carried them there as soon as they were alone. Kagome moved to kiss him and he poked the tip of her nose, stopping her in her tracks.

"Quit it," he said. "We gotta talk."

"But I want to do this."

Those hands of hers had snuck between his legs and he sucked in a gasp as she played with his cock.

"No!" he growled, taking her hand off of him. "For real, Kagome. You can't run away like that. Most of the people here know someone who fought and died in Higurashi. They could take out their anger on you and hurt you and I don't want that."

"Okay, fine." She started to kiss his cheek, his jaw, his neck.

"An' another thing," he said, losing track of his thoughts. "You can't get me mad like that. I coulda taken your head off with one wrong move."

"Again," Kagome murmured. "I want to do it again."

Inuyasha groaned in a combination of exhaustion and want. "Any other day, I would already be on you. But I haven't fuckin' slept or eaten since you left and I'm still not sure this is real. I don't think I can get it up again, not even for you."

"I know how I can convince you," she said teasingly. Kagome threw one leg over him and Inuyasha allowed her to push him onto his back.

He felt his cock twitch. "…Can we nap first?"

Kagome shook her head and started to kiss him again, her nipples brushing against his chest. Inuyasha let out a pleased growl that was more like a purr. Usually he was the one in charge, but this was nice, too. Really, really fucking nice…

"You should have told me it was like this," Kagome whispered into one twitching ear, running her tongue along the edge. "I had no idea. I like it even better than chocolate."

Inuyasha groaned and found his hands going to her ass.

Kagome continued, "I like every part of it. Especially when you cum inside. It feels so good, not at all how it tastes. But I'd drink your seed from the source if it meant I'd get your cock inside my pussy all the sooner."

"Oh fuck!" he hissed when her teeth bit into his pectoral muscle before she licked the place she'd attacked.

And just like that, he was rock fucking hard again.

Kagome let out a sound of pure joy and plunged herself down on him. She rode him wildly, as sexy as she had been on the horse. Her pussy was wet with their cum and her virgin blood, the evidence of their first time. It was all he could do to keep up, contributing a weak thrust here and there as her pussy sucked the very life out of him like she was a fucking succubus.

Her mouth dropped open in a wail and she brought both his hands up to her breasts. Together, they played with them. Inuyasha weighed the full orbs in his hands and Kagome brushed his thumbs over her nipples before making his fingers pull at them, twist them, and pinch them. Predictably, given his current state, he came first, his body somehow finding yet more semen to shoot inside her. Kagome continued to ride him for a moment longer before letting out a strangled cry.

Too tired to do much of anything, Inuyasha used the sheet to clean the both of them off, curling an arm around Kagome as she cuddled at his side. Their last bout of fucking had him diagonally across the bed, one leg completely off. How the fuck had that happened? He chuckled faintly. Fuck it. He didn't care. There could be another Human Alliance attack in the palace and he would sleep through that. After fucking the way they just had, he was going to sleep so damn good and dream about her pussy the entire time.

Kagome groaned in what sounded suspiciously like dread. Just conscious enough to be mildly concerned, he kissed her with all the slow sweetness she inspired in him before rubbing her nose with his in silent encouragement to share her feelings.

"I shouldn't have done this," Kagome whispered, lips twisted in a pout and eyes suspiciously bright. "This was a huge mistake."

He was in too good a mood to have even something like that bring him down. "It was your first time, so it's normal to feel a little confused. But it wasn't a mistake. It was fuckin' perfect."

"I liked it. I loved it," she confided, a blush on her face. "But Goddess, Inuyasha, now we're married."

Inuyasha fell off the bed.

Note: THEY FINALLY DID IT! Yinz mfers better tell a bitch what you think. Come thru, fam. And happy 2021 too, I guess, if you're into that sort of thing.