Chapter 2: Izen Sebun Hitoashi (Placed Before the Seventh Step)
There were voices around her. She couldn't pinpoint the direction, as her head was pounding and throbbing as though it were her heart. The spinning only doubled as Kagome shoved her eyelids up and opened her eyes. She saw two women a few feet away.
One of the women she already knew, given the kamen attached to her face. The other, however, was a stranger. Her hair wisped down from a high ponytail, and she wore a rather rugged apparel – a tattered, old dress that showed her entire shin and some of her thigh! Kagome was horrified at the indecency of it, but kept her mouth shut; the woman was a demon.
Though it was hard to not comment, Kagome knew that a demon – even a female – could probably kill her very easily, so she played stupid.
She groaned. "Where am I...?"
The women looked up, and Aneko approached the futon where the hime lay. "You are in the house of the Western Lord, my lady. You were asleep when we arrived, and were taken to a guestroom. The High Lord had no time to see our escort yesterday, and has demanded an audience today. It is a good thing you are up; we must prepare. He will see us shortly."
Kagome felt sick to her stomach when she watched Aneko and the other woman, Ayame, fuss with her kimono and hair. Soon after that, the two maids departed, and Kagome was escorted by her guards to her litter in the courtyard, and she was told to sit and remain silent in it. She did, with much difficulty. She wished so much to be home, with Kikyo and her father!
How she missed them!
The comforts of the East seemed so far off – and not just in the literal sense. It was like she could see her father and sister, and reach out for them, yet they would always be just short of her fingertips. This was the true cruelty of the demon lands; they seemed so isolated and brutal that one who hadn't grown up there felt abandoned even in the company of many.
'The company of demons,' Kagome thought, as she watched Aneko approach her litter. 'There are companions I should prefer to avoid, were I given the option.'
Aneko's calm and soothing voice shattered her nervous reverie.
"Fear not, dear hime. I have been granted permission to enter with you, as your servant girl. You shall not be alone."
Alone? Certainly not. Kagome could deal with being alone; she had spent most of her life alone! If she were to be alone, she would not be presented before a ruthless demon lord and his brooding younger brother.
Kagome's mind wandered again – a habit she had only recently been aware of due to harsh scoldings by her father. 'Young ladies should keep their minds focused on the scene before them, lest they miss what is happening,' he had said.
She remembered hearing a few things about the young Inu-oji*. He was said to be much wilder than his brother – bloodthirsty, and a hanyou. That was all, for the East made few attempts to record the facts of the West, because of the feud. They preferred, instead, to forget the youkai rulers beyond the Druid Mountains.
Kagome found this self-induced denial of the demons utterly perverse! How could anyone possibly learn to co-exist with demons if they didn't know about them?! It was completely idiotic – especially when the mountain range was, at least for her, a constant reminder!
The Druid Mountains were a great vertical divide between the two lands. It was like a row of vicious teeth that marked the beginning of the domain of the demons. Kagome had always looked to the West in the evening, and been terrified by their silhouette against the sky, blood red from twilight.
The young hime looked through her litter's curtains again, up into the sky. It was twilight now, too. Odd. She had always looked to the West from her perch at home, and now she looked to the East. It did nothing but remind her of her peril; she was a fawn in the maw of a dragon, and she was petrified to see its teeth from the inside.
The sky was crimson when her escort paraded her through the great doors, into the main hall, and she glimpsed the same brown-eyed youth at her left side, holding up the litter. Her thin hands were shaking in her lap as she looked ahead and saw the dais of seven steps, and the two men seated there; one sat upon the throne, the other sat on the top step.
Kagome forced herself to look at her hands. She could look the young oji in the eyes – he was a match with her station: second-born royalty. The Lord Sesshoumaru, though... he exceeded her rank, and therefore she was to avert her eyes lest she challenge his authority as Crowned Osama. Kikyo, had she been there, would have little to fear from him. She was a Crown royalty – first-born hime and heir to the East: Sesshoumaru's feminine peer.
"Many greetings and blessings to you and your house, Sesshoumaru-osama!" Kagome heard her countryman – her delegate – say. He kneeled a few meters to her left, his head bowed: another status mark. Delegates were to stay equally distant from the ruler as the person he spoke for. Kagome turned her attention back to her lap as he continued. "Long have the Great West and East fought one another for the dishonour of their statesmen, and now my lord wishes to offer your highness a token of peace—!"
"Material goods for the honour of my Okaa-san*?!" The oji atop the step snapped, his golden eyes flaming menacingly. Kagome shuddered as his gaze hit the curtains of her litter. Her brow began to sweat, and her heart pounded against her breasts, threatening to push right through skin and bone only to land in her dead lap! She was relieved to no end that from his view, the curtains looked solid, and he could see not what was inside. In that aspect, she felt semi-safe.
"Relax, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru replied, glancing cooly at his fuming sibling. "Now is not the time for blood. Continue, Eastling."
The delegate looked shaky from the oji's frightening outburst; Kagome couldn't blame him. "So, my lord sends you a flower of our kingdom, beyond price by many of our men. A gift for your highnesses."
Kagome bit her tongue hard to keep from screaming. A GIFT?!! She had, in seconds, become an object!
'No! No! No!' she screamed at herself. 'Not NOW! You can curse and hate him later, but keep your sharp tongue behind your teeth here, or it will get you to the sword by nightfall!'
"Do you imply your master sends me a woman?" Sesshoumaru replied. "A mere harem girl for a kisaki? This bodes as an insult—!"
"Forgive me, Sesshoumaru-osama, but this is no mere harem girl!" the delegate pleaded, bowing his head to the ground. "She is a fine specimen of nobility and spirit. Within her, she holds the blood of queens and kings. My lord sends you his DAUGHTER!"
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha perked up in renewed interest. It was unheard of to send princesses away to demons – even for offerings of peace! Surely, it must be a commoner playing court dress-up.
"Your charade does not amuse me, Eastling. The East Lord knows well the danger he would place his daughter in were she to be sent here. No father would be so foolish as to send his child-woman to death."
"Sesshoumaru-osama, I swear it that this is no trick! She is truly who I have said. Will you not even look at her?"
"Enough!" Sesshoumaru replied, losing his patience, but keeping his calm face. "I will not look upon a broodmare imposter."
Kagome's eyes flared furiously. Her face felt like fire, and her heart burned to match. She stood inside her litter, and pushed passed the silk into plain view. She did not look at Sesshoumaru, but at the steps of the dais.
"My Lord Sesshoumaru, I am NO broodmare!!"
Inuyasha chuckled. The woman he saw before him was either beyond brave, or passed stupid. Her blue-gray eyes flickered and flashed like miniature tsunamis. Her face, looking at the steps, was twisted in anger and frustration. Her gleaming black hair floated to her waist loosely, her bangs gracefully falling over the pale face.
"The imposter speaks!" he laughed again.
A second of silence passed before a young maiden clad in gray rushed forward and bowed an apology. No one could see her expression below the kamen she wore, but her movements betrayed her urgency and desperation.
"Please, forgive Kagome-hime, Sesshoumaru-osama!" Aneko pleaded, her face inches from the matting as she kneeled.
"And who are you, servant?" Sesshoumaru asked, his displeasure starting to show through: a rare thing!
Aneko stood, and sighed, looking at Kagome through the kamen that she still wore. "I am no servant girl, Lord Sesshoumaru." She reached up and pulled off her kamen. Kagome gasped in shock as the wood fell to the floor; her heart felt light for the first time in five days! She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her pretty lips.
'She came..!' Kagome thought, a tear in her eye.
Aneko held up a jewel attached to a bracelet on her right wrist. "I am Kikyo, the Crown Princess of the East. And this," she pointed to Kagome, "is my sister, Kagome-hime."
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were in absolute shock! Not one princess, but TWO?! The East had sent their only heirs to demons?! Had they not seen the stone Kikyo held, they would have not believed...!
The jewel was the Yome-stone, a well-known (and well-guarded) heirloom of the Eastern house given to the eldest princess for life-long luck on the day of her birth. Never – not even for bathing – was it to be removed once clasped on.
It took a moment for Inuyasha's brain to register anything new. "Kuso*...!"
Sesshoumaru looked at the hanyou. "Inuyasha, we have ladies present."
"T-two? He sent both of 'em?!"
"No," Kikyo replied. "My otou-san sent one. I came of my own accord, to pacify the difference. Surely a second-born hime is not matched equally to a kisaki; only the first-born hime may even the deal."
Kagome shook her head. She was an idiot in the subject of politics, and she knew it.
"Then, you send extra, by your own explanation," Sesshoumaru stated. "You, were I to accept this offering, would even the dishonour of the queen. What would your sister even for?"
Kagome and Kikyo exchanged a quick glance before Kikyo continued.
"She is a gift," Kikyo shivered at the word: Kagome ABHORRED being referred to as a unit of bartering, but it was necessary for diplomacy, "from the East to honour your brother, as I honour you, Lord Sesshoumaru."
Kagome's body rippled with angered shivers as the hated word slipped from Kikyo's mouth. It couldn't be helped, she knew, but the idea of being a 'gift' was degrading and sexist. She was utterly humiliated, stripped of her independence and free will by it.
"I have no desire to have a wife!" Inuyasha replied fiercely.
"No, Inuyasha-oji. Not a wife. A gift – to do with as you see fit."
'Kikyo is always so calm...,' Kagome mused with admiration.
Inuyasha frowned. "What 'I see fit' may not be agreeable to her faint-heartedness."
Kagome's contentment snapped, and her attitude spun at lightning speed. She hissed. "I am no child, Inuyasha-oji! Do not treat me like one!"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, and then glared back at the nasty stare she was giving him.
Kikyo bowed another apology to Sesshoumaru. "My sister is free-spirited and a bit too outspoken at times."
Sesshoumaru gave the slightest hint of a smile. "So I see." He could tell the two himes would be most... interesting, to say the least.
There was a short silence while Sesshoumaru deliberated, Kikyo waited, and Inuyasha and Kagome glared daggers at one another from the top and bottom of the dais. Finally, Sesshoumaru spoke, looking at the dumbfounded delegate who had originally spoken for Kagome.
"I shall take until the full moon to determine my final decision: two weeks time. Until then, Kikyo-hime and Kagome-hime shall remain in my house. You and your company shall return to your lord and wait for my answer."
The delegate took a moment to snap out of his shock at the unplanned situation.
"Sesshoumaru-osama... what will you do to show your decision?" he gulped.
"If I find appeasement, you will see a messenger ride to your capital with a white arrow in hand."
"And... if you do not?"
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then, Eastling, you will see a fleet of demons march to your capital, wearing pieces of the himes about their necks."
Kagome swallowed hard, and Kikyo gave her a calming smile; Kikyo always knew how to make it right. Still, Kagome didn't relish the thought of being torn apart. She liked her body as it was: intact and functional!
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Translations:
Inu-oji* - Dog-prince
Okaa-san* - mother
Kuso* - shit
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiyas! ^_^ Thank you for the reviews so far! I'd just like to clear some things up:
To the anonymous reviewer who asked me to switch the couplings, I apologize, and I feel (sadly) that I'll lose you as a reader, but I do not plan on pairing Sesshi with Kagome or Inu with Kikyo. I do not ABHOR Kikyo, but I hate her interferring; as I said at the top of chapter one, I'm a die-hard Inu/Kag fan. I apologize if you are upset, but I may write a Sesshi/Kag fic in the future, if that's any consolation. Gomen nasai. -_-
Secondly, I'd like to thank 'Inu x Kag 4 Eva' for his/her (sorry, but it's kinda hard to tell - but I'm guessing her?) review. I'd like to let you know that I don't think I hate Kikyo as much as you do, but I still dislike her, that's why I've made her rather OOC and no threat to Inu/Kag (my greatest peeve with her in the series _!!).
She will probably come off as a Sesshoumaru-type character here; an advisor and cool desicion maker - not a heart-breaking priestess who tries to kill Kagome.
Finally, thank you to Pooh. I have taken into consideration your comments, and hope you find a change of heart later on about my style. If not, I wish you luck with your other reviewing ventures, as well as your own writings.
Arigatou for reading, look out for an update (hopefully within a week tops, *crosses fingers*)
Ja ne! ^___^
There were voices around her. She couldn't pinpoint the direction, as her head was pounding and throbbing as though it were her heart. The spinning only doubled as Kagome shoved her eyelids up and opened her eyes. She saw two women a few feet away.
One of the women she already knew, given the kamen attached to her face. The other, however, was a stranger. Her hair wisped down from a high ponytail, and she wore a rather rugged apparel – a tattered, old dress that showed her entire shin and some of her thigh! Kagome was horrified at the indecency of it, but kept her mouth shut; the woman was a demon.
Though it was hard to not comment, Kagome knew that a demon – even a female – could probably kill her very easily, so she played stupid.
She groaned. "Where am I...?"
The women looked up, and Aneko approached the futon where the hime lay. "You are in the house of the Western Lord, my lady. You were asleep when we arrived, and were taken to a guestroom. The High Lord had no time to see our escort yesterday, and has demanded an audience today. It is a good thing you are up; we must prepare. He will see us shortly."
Kagome felt sick to her stomach when she watched Aneko and the other woman, Ayame, fuss with her kimono and hair. Soon after that, the two maids departed, and Kagome was escorted by her guards to her litter in the courtyard, and she was told to sit and remain silent in it. She did, with much difficulty. She wished so much to be home, with Kikyo and her father!
How she missed them!
The comforts of the East seemed so far off – and not just in the literal sense. It was like she could see her father and sister, and reach out for them, yet they would always be just short of her fingertips. This was the true cruelty of the demon lands; they seemed so isolated and brutal that one who hadn't grown up there felt abandoned even in the company of many.
'The company of demons,' Kagome thought, as she watched Aneko approach her litter. 'There are companions I should prefer to avoid, were I given the option.'
Aneko's calm and soothing voice shattered her nervous reverie.
"Fear not, dear hime. I have been granted permission to enter with you, as your servant girl. You shall not be alone."
Alone? Certainly not. Kagome could deal with being alone; she had spent most of her life alone! If she were to be alone, she would not be presented before a ruthless demon lord and his brooding younger brother.
Kagome's mind wandered again – a habit she had only recently been aware of due to harsh scoldings by her father. 'Young ladies should keep their minds focused on the scene before them, lest they miss what is happening,' he had said.
She remembered hearing a few things about the young Inu-oji*. He was said to be much wilder than his brother – bloodthirsty, and a hanyou. That was all, for the East made few attempts to record the facts of the West, because of the feud. They preferred, instead, to forget the youkai rulers beyond the Druid Mountains.
Kagome found this self-induced denial of the demons utterly perverse! How could anyone possibly learn to co-exist with demons if they didn't know about them?! It was completely idiotic – especially when the mountain range was, at least for her, a constant reminder!
The Druid Mountains were a great vertical divide between the two lands. It was like a row of vicious teeth that marked the beginning of the domain of the demons. Kagome had always looked to the West in the evening, and been terrified by their silhouette against the sky, blood red from twilight.
The young hime looked through her litter's curtains again, up into the sky. It was twilight now, too. Odd. She had always looked to the West from her perch at home, and now she looked to the East. It did nothing but remind her of her peril; she was a fawn in the maw of a dragon, and she was petrified to see its teeth from the inside.
The sky was crimson when her escort paraded her through the great doors, into the main hall, and she glimpsed the same brown-eyed youth at her left side, holding up the litter. Her thin hands were shaking in her lap as she looked ahead and saw the dais of seven steps, and the two men seated there; one sat upon the throne, the other sat on the top step.
Kagome forced herself to look at her hands. She could look the young oji in the eyes – he was a match with her station: second-born royalty. The Lord Sesshoumaru, though... he exceeded her rank, and therefore she was to avert her eyes lest she challenge his authority as Crowned Osama. Kikyo, had she been there, would have little to fear from him. She was a Crown royalty – first-born hime and heir to the East: Sesshoumaru's feminine peer.
"Many greetings and blessings to you and your house, Sesshoumaru-osama!" Kagome heard her countryman – her delegate – say. He kneeled a few meters to her left, his head bowed: another status mark. Delegates were to stay equally distant from the ruler as the person he spoke for. Kagome turned her attention back to her lap as he continued. "Long have the Great West and East fought one another for the dishonour of their statesmen, and now my lord wishes to offer your highness a token of peace—!"
"Material goods for the honour of my Okaa-san*?!" The oji atop the step snapped, his golden eyes flaming menacingly. Kagome shuddered as his gaze hit the curtains of her litter. Her brow began to sweat, and her heart pounded against her breasts, threatening to push right through skin and bone only to land in her dead lap! She was relieved to no end that from his view, the curtains looked solid, and he could see not what was inside. In that aspect, she felt semi-safe.
"Relax, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru replied, glancing cooly at his fuming sibling. "Now is not the time for blood. Continue, Eastling."
The delegate looked shaky from the oji's frightening outburst; Kagome couldn't blame him. "So, my lord sends you a flower of our kingdom, beyond price by many of our men. A gift for your highnesses."
Kagome bit her tongue hard to keep from screaming. A GIFT?!! She had, in seconds, become an object!
'No! No! No!' she screamed at herself. 'Not NOW! You can curse and hate him later, but keep your sharp tongue behind your teeth here, or it will get you to the sword by nightfall!'
"Do you imply your master sends me a woman?" Sesshoumaru replied. "A mere harem girl for a kisaki? This bodes as an insult—!"
"Forgive me, Sesshoumaru-osama, but this is no mere harem girl!" the delegate pleaded, bowing his head to the ground. "She is a fine specimen of nobility and spirit. Within her, she holds the blood of queens and kings. My lord sends you his DAUGHTER!"
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha perked up in renewed interest. It was unheard of to send princesses away to demons – even for offerings of peace! Surely, it must be a commoner playing court dress-up.
"Your charade does not amuse me, Eastling. The East Lord knows well the danger he would place his daughter in were she to be sent here. No father would be so foolish as to send his child-woman to death."
"Sesshoumaru-osama, I swear it that this is no trick! She is truly who I have said. Will you not even look at her?"
"Enough!" Sesshoumaru replied, losing his patience, but keeping his calm face. "I will not look upon a broodmare imposter."
Kagome's eyes flared furiously. Her face felt like fire, and her heart burned to match. She stood inside her litter, and pushed passed the silk into plain view. She did not look at Sesshoumaru, but at the steps of the dais.
"My Lord Sesshoumaru, I am NO broodmare!!"
Inuyasha chuckled. The woman he saw before him was either beyond brave, or passed stupid. Her blue-gray eyes flickered and flashed like miniature tsunamis. Her face, looking at the steps, was twisted in anger and frustration. Her gleaming black hair floated to her waist loosely, her bangs gracefully falling over the pale face.
"The imposter speaks!" he laughed again.
A second of silence passed before a young maiden clad in gray rushed forward and bowed an apology. No one could see her expression below the kamen she wore, but her movements betrayed her urgency and desperation.
"Please, forgive Kagome-hime, Sesshoumaru-osama!" Aneko pleaded, her face inches from the matting as she kneeled.
"And who are you, servant?" Sesshoumaru asked, his displeasure starting to show through: a rare thing!
Aneko stood, and sighed, looking at Kagome through the kamen that she still wore. "I am no servant girl, Lord Sesshoumaru." She reached up and pulled off her kamen. Kagome gasped in shock as the wood fell to the floor; her heart felt light for the first time in five days! She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her pretty lips.
'She came..!' Kagome thought, a tear in her eye.
Aneko held up a jewel attached to a bracelet on her right wrist. "I am Kikyo, the Crown Princess of the East. And this," she pointed to Kagome, "is my sister, Kagome-hime."
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were in absolute shock! Not one princess, but TWO?! The East had sent their only heirs to demons?! Had they not seen the stone Kikyo held, they would have not believed...!
The jewel was the Yome-stone, a well-known (and well-guarded) heirloom of the Eastern house given to the eldest princess for life-long luck on the day of her birth. Never – not even for bathing – was it to be removed once clasped on.
It took a moment for Inuyasha's brain to register anything new. "Kuso*...!"
Sesshoumaru looked at the hanyou. "Inuyasha, we have ladies present."
"T-two? He sent both of 'em?!"
"No," Kikyo replied. "My otou-san sent one. I came of my own accord, to pacify the difference. Surely a second-born hime is not matched equally to a kisaki; only the first-born hime may even the deal."
Kagome shook her head. She was an idiot in the subject of politics, and she knew it.
"Then, you send extra, by your own explanation," Sesshoumaru stated. "You, were I to accept this offering, would even the dishonour of the queen. What would your sister even for?"
Kagome and Kikyo exchanged a quick glance before Kikyo continued.
"She is a gift," Kikyo shivered at the word: Kagome ABHORRED being referred to as a unit of bartering, but it was necessary for diplomacy, "from the East to honour your brother, as I honour you, Lord Sesshoumaru."
Kagome's body rippled with angered shivers as the hated word slipped from Kikyo's mouth. It couldn't be helped, she knew, but the idea of being a 'gift' was degrading and sexist. She was utterly humiliated, stripped of her independence and free will by it.
"I have no desire to have a wife!" Inuyasha replied fiercely.
"No, Inuyasha-oji. Not a wife. A gift – to do with as you see fit."
'Kikyo is always so calm...,' Kagome mused with admiration.
Inuyasha frowned. "What 'I see fit' may not be agreeable to her faint-heartedness."
Kagome's contentment snapped, and her attitude spun at lightning speed. She hissed. "I am no child, Inuyasha-oji! Do not treat me like one!"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, and then glared back at the nasty stare she was giving him.
Kikyo bowed another apology to Sesshoumaru. "My sister is free-spirited and a bit too outspoken at times."
Sesshoumaru gave the slightest hint of a smile. "So I see." He could tell the two himes would be most... interesting, to say the least.
There was a short silence while Sesshoumaru deliberated, Kikyo waited, and Inuyasha and Kagome glared daggers at one another from the top and bottom of the dais. Finally, Sesshoumaru spoke, looking at the dumbfounded delegate who had originally spoken for Kagome.
"I shall take until the full moon to determine my final decision: two weeks time. Until then, Kikyo-hime and Kagome-hime shall remain in my house. You and your company shall return to your lord and wait for my answer."
The delegate took a moment to snap out of his shock at the unplanned situation.
"Sesshoumaru-osama... what will you do to show your decision?" he gulped.
"If I find appeasement, you will see a messenger ride to your capital with a white arrow in hand."
"And... if you do not?"
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then, Eastling, you will see a fleet of demons march to your capital, wearing pieces of the himes about their necks."
Kagome swallowed hard, and Kikyo gave her a calming smile; Kikyo always knew how to make it right. Still, Kagome didn't relish the thought of being torn apart. She liked her body as it was: intact and functional!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Translations:
Inu-oji* - Dog-prince
Okaa-san* - mother
Kuso* - shit
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiyas! ^_^ Thank you for the reviews so far! I'd just like to clear some things up:
To the anonymous reviewer who asked me to switch the couplings, I apologize, and I feel (sadly) that I'll lose you as a reader, but I do not plan on pairing Sesshi with Kagome or Inu with Kikyo. I do not ABHOR Kikyo, but I hate her interferring; as I said at the top of chapter one, I'm a die-hard Inu/Kag fan. I apologize if you are upset, but I may write a Sesshi/Kag fic in the future, if that's any consolation. Gomen nasai. -_-
Secondly, I'd like to thank 'Inu x Kag 4 Eva' for his/her (sorry, but it's kinda hard to tell - but I'm guessing her?) review. I'd like to let you know that I don't think I hate Kikyo as much as you do, but I still dislike her, that's why I've made her rather OOC and no threat to Inu/Kag (my greatest peeve with her in the series _!!).
She will probably come off as a Sesshoumaru-type character here; an advisor and cool desicion maker - not a heart-breaking priestess who tries to kill Kagome.
Finally, thank you to Pooh. I have taken into consideration your comments, and hope you find a change of heart later on about my style. If not, I wish you luck with your other reviewing ventures, as well as your own writings.
Arigatou for reading, look out for an update (hopefully within a week tops, *crosses fingers*)
Ja ne! ^___^