Chapter 20: The Other Woman
They were just outside the dining hall, and Sesshomaru was about to have the servants open the doors. A pang of apprehension shot through her, and her grasp tightened on his arm. Her other hand twitched, itching to come up and smooth her hair or finger the flower nestled in her locks. Sesshomaru's command, "Leave it," echoed in her thoughts, and she willed her hand to remain still at her side. Rebellious as ever, her fingers spread, flattening against the silk of her kimono.
The doors swung open, and Kagome's heart twisted in her chest. The last time she had stood here, only the night prior, she had been embarrassed to arrive and find no space for her at the table; even more shocked and flustered to see Inuyasha, the person she had grown closest with while at the palace, with another woman. Inuyasha, who had expressed such disdain for the whole contrived process his father designed to find him and his brother a suitable mate; Inuyasha, who was so fully himself, unstifled by propriety and decorum, sitting across from a young woman who seemed his exact opposite. Does she make him laugh? Does he make her? Why had Inuyasha not sought her out all day? Was her friendship not enough anymore? The thought that he would discard her so suddenly felt like a fatal blow to her pride. In a way, she was grateful for the chaotic events of the day, distracting her from feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.
Her inner thoughts pushed aside and Sesshomaru stepped forward, pulling her in as well. One step at a time. One foot, then the other. Repeat. The gentle hum of conversation lulled as they passed, and Kagome peeked around the room.
Thankfully, there was no embarrassment, no turning away in shame this time. Kagome was on the arm of a prince, and tonight there was space for her. In fact– her eyes flicked from one end of the table to the other– there were many open seats, mostly close to the doors, where the young ladies usually sat. Tonight, Kagome only recognized a few of the young women in attendance, as other courtiers and noblemen occupied the remaining seats. Looking towards the head of the table, she saw the Emperor, the Empress, and Inuyasha. Across from the red-clad hanyou sat the "Other Woman"– an unimaginative nickname for her until she could learn the woman's name. The three royals, as well as the all others within earshot, were listening intently to the Other Woman as she spoke. Her voice lilted above the hum of the room, her hair straight as an arrow and luxuriously shining. Kagome's hand clenched, bunching the silk of her kimono in an effort to not fidget with her own normally wild locks.
Her eyes slid away from her captive audience to meet Kagome's, the same look of cold contempt and pride twisting her genteel smile into an arrogant smirk. As soon as it came, it was gone, and the woman once again turned her attention to Inuyasha.
Kagome looked away from the Other Woman, and she felt as though her heart was sinking into her stomach. She caught the gaze of the Emperor instead, whose golden gaze pierced her where she stood. Her feet stopped as Inutaisho inspected her, pulling Sesshomaru to a halt as well.
"Higurashi."
"Hm?... Oh, hai, Sesshomaru-sama?" She broke away from the emperor's stare, meeting a matching pair of the prince at her arm.
"Why have you stopped walking?"
"Oh… Forgive me Sesshomaru-sama," Kagome flushed. Around her, she heard the titters of the few ladies present, and felt the weight of their judging stares. He started again, Kagome carefully following and keeping her gaze on the floor before her. When they reached the end of the hall, Sesshomaru stopped her, indicating a space next to his own, and directly across from the Other Woman.
Kagome dipped her head in a modest bow, then sat with as much grace as she could muster, all too aware of the eyes watching her. Sesshomaru sat next to her, seemingly indifferent to the attention cast their way. She had sat next to him before, yet she had often focused on Inuyasha. Now, Inuyasha was still before her, but so was the Other Woman. Inuyasha did not even look up as they sat, his honey-gold eyes solely focused on her; again, Kagome's heart twisted. The din of the dining hall washed over her, and she felt as though she were drowning. If last night was so awful, this is much, much worse. Emotions bubbled up within her, the corner of her lips twitched, and she willed them to remain still.
"Higurashi Kagome." Hearing her name, she turned towards the Emperor. His eyes were sharp, analyzing her as he continued to speak. "Have you met Miyamoto Kikyo?"
"No, Inutaisho-sama, I have not yet had the pleasure," she said, bowing her head. She turned back to the Other Woman– Miyamoto Kikyo– and met her gaze once more. Now that she was so close to her, sitting only across the dining table, she felt like she was looking in a mirror. The only distinguishing features aside from Miyamoto Kikyo's glossy smooth locks were her eyes, a rich brown as opposed to Kagome's pale blue.
"Yeh. Kikyo's only been here for a coupl'a days," Inuyasha added, interrupting Kagome's scrutiny.
"Oh?" Kagome asked, trying in vain to sound interested, though she purposefully kept her gaze fixed on the table in front of her.
"Yes, it is true. I did not have the good fortune of arriving with many of the other ladies," Kikyo said, her lips carefully forming around her words. "Inuyasha-sama has been kind enough to spend some time with me these past few days while I acclimate to palace life. He has been a most gracious host," she said, directing her last statement to the Emperor and Empress.
"How wonderful! Anata, look at our boy, finally growing up and acting the gentleman," Izayoi exclaimed, a delighted smile crossing her features, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with mirth.
"Yes, it is nearly a miracle," Inutaisho smirked, watching his younger son with a twinkle of amusement dancing in his eye.
"Keh. I ain't no gentleman," Inuyasha huffed, sulking in his seat, shoulder hunching and ears pointed back. Kikyo chuckled, a light and breathy sound, laying one of her hands on Inuyasha's arm. Instantly the hanyou relaxed, shifting to sit as close to her as propriety allowed. "And drop the '-sama'; I ain't nearly so prissy."
"So obstinate, my dear prince," Kikyo teased, a soft smile curving across her lips. "It becomes you."
Watching them made Kagome sick. She cast her eyes down to the heaping plates of pickled vegetables, steaming rice, and cooked meats before her. Drawing on as much nonexistent enthusiasm as possible to project a pleasant indifference, she picked at the food before her, spending far more energy moving it around with her chopsticks instead of consuming it. Throughout the meal, her hand occasionally came up to linger over the flower in her hair. She couldn't quite see it, but her fingers told her the bloom had yet to wilt and wither. She felt like a wilted flower herself, finally fading after being plucked, her petals drooping and lined with dark veins, being cast aside for a newer, lovelier blossom.
Unbeknownst to her, two sets of sharp eyes observed throughout the meal, watching as she sunk further into her seat, taking in her listless inattention, her gaze turning duller and flatter as each time she looked up to see Inuyasha enraptured by Kikyo. The meal ended, Kagome slipping out of the room as quickly as she was able. As she left, she turned back to look at Inuyasha one last time, and she felt the gnawing ache of jealousy rush through her as the young prince stubbornly kept his golden eyes locked on Miyamoto Kikyo. Her eyes darkened, and she turned away.
Not long after dinner, Inutaisho summoned his sons to his council room. They came separately, Sesshomaru silently slipping into the room with quiet confidence and Inuyasha barreling through the doors with reckless abandon.
"Hey old man, what's the deal?"
"Inuyasha," Inutaisho growled, and Inuyasha's ears flattened, his expression cowed.
"M'sorry," he mumbled, casting his eyes around the room in discomfortable silence.
Inutaisho cleared his throat, settling into a seat at the head of the table. "Kitayama returned this morning. Our enemy struck the village."
"That mangy mutt is back? Ah, hell," Inuyasha scoffed, a scowl crossing his face; the hanyou stopped complaining and backed down after a firm look from Inutaisho.
"Yet you do not sound victorious," Sesshomaru observed flatly.
"No… Our enemy is clever. We were lured into a trap."
"Casualties?" Sesshomaru inquired.
"Minimal."
"Hn."
"How'd it happen?" Inuyasha asked, his voice low.
"Poison, dispersed through a miasma. But enough about this. We can do nothing now. What news have both of you?"
"Bout what? Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked, scratching behind his ears. He pulled hand through his hair, his claws smoothing through small knots and tangles. "There's not much to tell." The hanyou's eyes glazed over, a lazy grin stealing his lips. "She's perfect."
Sesshomaru sighed, then spoke. "The birth records for the areas do not indicate any evidence of a woman bearing twins. Nor do I see any indication of tampering with the province records in our archives."
"Whadda twins have to do with Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked, his eyes suddenly sharp and ears at attention. "She's an only child. Told me so herself." He paused, his brow furrowing. "And Kagome's only got a younger brother at home."
"Surely you see the resemblance between them," Sesshomaru scoffed.
"Well, yeah, but they ain't twins. They ain't even sisters. Besides, what's it matter if they were?"
Inutaisho looked between his two sons, uncertain worry etching deep lines across his face. Catching Sesshomaru's perturbed stare directed at Inuyasha, with a sigh, he dismissed his younger son. Inuyasha left as loudly as he had entered, roughly sliding the shoji doors closed behind him, and Sesshomaru stood alone to face his father.
"Does he even know?" Sesshomaru bit out as soon as Inuyasha's footsteps faded from the corridor, his voice scathing and incredulous.
"Of the prophecy?" Inutaisho paused, regarding his eldest with a calculating gaze. "No, he is not yet aware of it."
"Why?"
"He does not need to know." Inutaisho met Sesshomaru's eyes, twin pools of burning gold on a face so like his own; but just enough of his mother crept into his features to soften them. "Think– what would his knowing change? Would he be able to observe without blatantly revealing his knowledge? Should Miyamoto be the eldest, and he asks her outright about her plans to topple our empire, what cause would the girl have to tell the truth? Or should he inquire it of Higurashi– she is quite close with him, and with many other members of my court, which worries me. Regardless, would you trust Inuyasha to keep composure, to not bear his heart for all to see?"
Sesshomaru conceded his father's arguments with a slight nod of his head, his hair slipping over his shoulder in a smooth waterfall of silver. "No."
"Precisely."
"Speaking of Higurashi… Did you not find her actions strange tonight?"
"Were they?"
"As you said, there is no mistaking the resemblance… And tonight Higurashi showed the seeds of anger, the inclinations of potential darkness in her soul."
"Because she did not converse?" Sesshomaru challenged. "If that be your evidence of anger abundant enough to topple our empire, I myself would have razed it to the ground centuries ago in my dislike of idle conversation."
"You remember the prophecy?"
"Of course."
"Then recall the difference between the two– one gentle, one not. One content, one not. A deceiver, an enchantress, set on confusing us." Inutaisho let his words hang in the air for a moment.
"You would assert your claim based on one evening?"
"Tonight was a single moment- a glimpse of what could come, what she could become, with every glance at Inuyasha. And can you not see that Higurashi's actions since arriving at my palace have been abnormal?" Sesshomaru's gaze fell. "She hangs off of Inuyasha's arm from the day she arrives– to be expected of a young woman attempting to woo a prince. Yet, she integrates herself with the captain of my guard, with the Himura siblings, and she is overly familiar with my advisors. If one were poised to strike at the heart of our nation, it would be her. Yet, there is no telling, and perhaps she is the gentle one, said to bring joy and to lift the empire to further heights. So, I ask you, am I mistaken in treating both as threats?"
"What good is a prophecy that brings only confusion?" Sesshomaru leaned against the wall, his brows furrowed in thought. "Why allow them to remain? Send them away." No. "Send them both away, and the threat will be neutralized."
"My son…" Inutaisho faltered, a sad echo of a smile on his lips. He stood, pacing the length of the room in measured strides. "If only solutions were so simple. Suppose the scorn of being dismissed ignites the anger that fuels the destruction. Suppose the distance from the palace provides the opportunity to manipulate and engineer destruction. Is it not better to keep the threats here, where we are able to monitor them more closely?" He stopped pacing, turning to face Sesshomaru. "Come. Walk with me."
The pair stood in unsettled silence, eyes cast heavenward. They had walked the length of the upper verandas of the palace, and long debated the various lines of the prophecy, attempting to make sense of possible meanings and consequences, and now they paced in silence. When the verandas became wearisome, they took to the roof, crouching on the eaves. Stars twinkled in the midnight sky above them, and the noises of the palace gently faded as the inhabitants below took to their beds.
"You took Higurashi to the dragonlands," Inutaisho commented, his voice heavy. The events of the past few months weighed on his heart, and he brought a hand up to rub his temples.
"We were taken to the dragonlands," Sesshomaru corrected.
"Oh?"
Sesshomaru turned inward, thinking once more about the morning's happenings. "Haruto-sama," Sesshomaru began, "and his mother."
"Hikaru-sama? I haven't seen her in years… how strange…" Inutaisho's eyes darkened, his brows deeply furrowed. "You should not have allowed it," he said, an edge of anger in his voice.
"How could I have prevented it?" Sesshomaru snapped back. He sat back on his heels, a moment of stubbornness overcoming him as silence overwhelmed them.
"Look."
High above them, a star fell towards earth, a burning tail in its wake. Sesshomaru remembered the night before, Kagome's child-like glee in seeing the falling star and her innocent instruction to 'make a wish'. He wished now that there were no threats to his father, to the empire. He wished to end the charade of choosing a mate from the proffered women. Watching the star blaze its trail across the sky, he imagined a different life, free of the titles and responsibilities. A life where he could roam, could lay waste to his foes in open battle, and could avoid the excruciating politics of court. The star burned out, and the sky was still once more.
"Three?" It was not so much a question as a request for confirmation.
"Three."
I know it's been a while, but in story-time, it's only been about one/two days since Kikyo arrived and Inuyasha stopped hanging out with Kagome, so her emotions (even as a friend) are a little raw. So, bear with her while she works through losing a friendship so suddenly.
Fun Fact: Anata- it's a term of endearment when a wife speaks to her husband.
In other news, how is Kikyo? It's kind of hard to balance what her character is in this story, but how does she read? Also, how does Inutaisho read?
Teaser: Kagome goes to town! Want me to post it sooner? I'd love some reviews! I jest. Yet, I thrive on your feedback, and I write faster because of it. Thanks for the support everyone!