The next few weeks were a revelation to Kagome. Until now, all she had known of Sesshoumaru had come from their occasional encounters and Inuyasha's ravings. She had thought him a lone wanderer, emotionless, a cold-blooded killer.
She had learned otherwise.
He wasn't a cold-blooded killer. Or rather he was, but he didn't kill for pleasure, as she had thought. Any creature that challenged him would be disposed of immediately, with neither fanfare nor exertion, but that which did not threaten him, or those under his protection, he ignored.
He wasn't emotionless. His remoteness was a mask, worn to hide the person who had rescued Rin, and who, she was beginning to realize, had rescued her.
And he wasn't a lone wanderer either. That had been the biggest surprise.
Given the nature of their encounters, she had assumed that Sesshoumaru lived much like her group of friends did, wandering from location to location in pursuit of some goal.
He didn't.
Their first trip, after she had fled from Inuyasha, had been to the heart of the Western Lands, where she was stunned to discover that Sesshoumaru had a palace to rival the Imperial capital in Kyoto. It had a large central pavilion which was used for business, with a council room and library. To the east were a number of connected pavilions used to house retainers, courtiers, and envoys from other youkai lords when they visited Sesshoumaru's domain. To the west, separated from these by a large and beautifully maintained garden, complete with pond were more pavilions, these ones used to house the lord and his family, and honored guests.
To her surprise, Kagome had been shown to a room in the same pavilion Rin's rooms occupied, one that was attached to Sesshoumaru's through a single covered pathway. They had arrived late one night, and gone straight to bed, but she was awakened early the next morning by a middle-aged human woman who brought her a meal, and proceeded to measure her for clothing. By the time she had finished bathing, her modern garments had vanished, replaced by an elegant kimono of pale green silk patterned with maple leaves and a coral pink obi.
Angry, she had donned the clothing and gone in search of Sesshoumaru, intending to insist on having her clothing returned. Before she could find him, a youkai retainer appeared, informing her that Lord Sesshoumaru was holding court and could not be disturbed. Fortunately for Sesshoumaru, although the creature looked like he was one of Jaken's relatives, he was much more polite, and Kagome allowed him to divert her into a library overlooking the main garden, where she spent the rest of the day pouring through manuscripts about magic of various sorts. Just before evening, she found one dealing with human - miko - magic. The contents of the scroll fascinated her. There were so many things that she could conceivably do that she had never imagined. Soul arrows and the shield she had recently managed to conjure were some of the least of the spells contained on the bamboo slats.
She was trying to figure out how a spell for banishing youkais worked, completely forgetting her earlier anger, when Sesshoumaru entered the library. Lost in trying to remember the meaning of a kanji, she didn't notice his entry.
"Kagome," he greeted her, drawing her attention, and she rose quickly to her feet. The feeling of him looming over her was just too much.
"Good evening, Sesshoumaru-san." She bowed her head slightly and the sight of her kimono recalled the morning's events.
"My clothing, Sesshoumaru-san?"
"It will be returned to you when we depart. While you are at my home, you will wear proper clothing." she was informed in a cool voice that squashed all possible argument. "But that is not why I am here. I wished to inform you that we will be remaining here for several weeks, possibly two months. Something has come up which requires my attention."
Kagome thought about getting angry. After all, he had promised that they would search for the shards. But the texts she had discovered were fascinating, and she found that she wanted to try to learn some of the spells contained in them. What she could learn in two months, she didn't know, but she could at least try, she thought. "Thank you for telling me, Sesshoumaru-san," she finally said, and bowed slightly. He nodded in return and left without another word.
The days quickly fell into a pattern. Kagome would get up and play with Rin for a while before going off to practice her magic. She would have lunch, practice some more, play with Rin again, have dinner, and then spend some time in the library reading up on other spells. The retainer she met the first day - Osuka - kept her informed about the goings on of the court, and on several occasions, when youkai from neighboring clans were in the palace, he spent the day watching her, making sure that she was kept out of sight.
She managed to learn several minor spells quickly, and was out in the garden practicing a healing spell that drew on the power of the earth - in theory and if practiced right - to heal most injuries, when Osuka appeared and insisted that she return to her pavilion.
"What's going on?" she asked as they scurried towards the building. She had been at the palace for nearly a month, and this was the first time she had been banished from a public area.
"Kyouryu, lord of the Northern Dragons is arriving to speak with Lord Sesshoumaru. He has a particular hatred of humans, and it would be unfortunate if he were to see you or Rin and take offense at your presence."
"Unfortunate how?"
"Lord Sesshoumaru and Kyouryu are allies against the Shiranami. It would be a problem for Lord Sesshoumaru if he were forced to break the alliance because Kyouryu killed you or the girl."
"I thought Sesshoumaru-san was negotiating with the Shiranami. Isn't that who was here last week?"
"Yes. Kaijou, Lord of the Shiranami was here, but he wishes to seal the alliance by wedding his daughter, Kaiho, to Lord Sesshoumaru. Which my lord has deemed an unacceptable price."
Kagome was weirded out. It was one thing to read of marriage alliances like this in history books, another to realize that someone you knew might be required to enter into one.
"Why?" she asked, curious. After all, Sesshoumaru was very good at ignoring his impulses when it came to everything except Tetsusaiga, and it sounded like this alliance could be useful.
"Lord Sesshoumaru already has an alliance with the Northern Dragons, and as long as that alliance lasts, it is of more worth than one with the Water Clans would be. And forging a blood alliance with the Clans would break the one with the Dragons, as there is much hatred between the two."
"Oh." She had no more questions. The players were getting to complicated for her to follow. "I think I'll just go find Rin. I found a spell last night that animates origami figures that I wanted to show her. Let me know when it's safe to come out."
"Thank you, Kagome-sama."
The Dragon's visit passed without incident. Two weeks later, Kagome was once more in the garden practicing the same healing spell. It was a difficult spell which required the caster to bind his or her spiritual self to the earth in order to draw upon its energies. Kagome had chosen it over many of the other spells on the scroll since it seemed to be the most immediately applicable to the life she was leading in the Sengoku Jidai. For lack of any other wounds to treat, she had taken to cutting herself with a small blade she had asked for shortly after arriving in the Western Lands. She had just made a deep cut in her arm and was summoning the earth energies she would use to seal the wound when Sesshoumaru appeared.
She was concentrating so hard on the magic she didn't notice him nearing her. Seeing the wound, he stepped forward, reaching out to try to put pressure on it and stop the bleeding just as she released the stored power binding her to the earth. She tried to call out, to warn him, but it was too late. The last thing she remembered seeing before everything went black was the sight of his hand on her arm.