Oh my god! School is starting! I cry a thousand tears…
The Princess and the Pauperess
Chapter 14
Your death
"Kikyou Dearest," Naraku called as he opened the door to her room. She smiled at him.
"Hey," she greeted. He frowned in concern.
"Is something troubling you?" he asked, sitting next to her on the bed. She nodded.
"Yes. The…the real Princess Kikyou has been thrown in prison. I don't know what to do. I can't just do nothing, I don't have enough time to think. They're going to be executed tomorrow." She allowed him to stroke her hair, and rested her head on his shoulder. He had the creepiest way of consoling her, but it worked.
"Tomorrow?" he asked. She nodded sadly. He sighed.
"I'm guessing you don't know how to issue a pardon…"
"No…"
"The King is too ill, and you're his only heir. Only you can."
"Not me. Kikyou. Only she can." She took in a shaky breath. "Or…maybe the King isn't too ill." She rose to her feet and smiled once more at Naraku before dashing off to the King's bedroom, where he was on strict bedrest. Miraculously, she got there, and calmed herself before quietly entering the room.
"Father?" she asked unsurely, making soft way to his bedside. "Your Majesty?" He was so peacefully asleep, she almost didn't want to wake him, but she had to. He was their only hope. "Your Highness," she cooed as she gently shook him. He was cold.
Oh. Shit.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness, wake up," she ordered a bit louder, her voice hitching in fear. He couldn't be…But she knew he was. "Oh god, he's dead!" she shrieked. What was she going to do? What the hell was she going to do now?! A servant rushed into the room.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"He--he's…dead," Kagome uttered.
"Dead?!" The servant hurried over to check the King's pulse. "Yes…" She then scampered out of the room, hollering that the King was dead.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, that you didn't get to see your daughter before you died," Kagome told him earnestly as she brushed a stray hair from his cold, discolored face.
"What the fuck is going on?!" a harsh, currently unwelcome voice demanded. She turned to Inuyasha, repeating that the King was dead. "Oh shit," he agreed. "You know what this mea--"
"Princess Kikyou," a tall, stately man said authoritatively from the doorway behind Inuyasha. Kagome stared at him.
"Yes?" she finally replied. Inuyasha grudgingly moved out of the man's way as he swooped into the room, bowing before her. "Um…" she started, but his flourishing about distracted her.
"You must come to the throne room. As the King's most trusted advisor, I was given the duty of bestowing the crown upon you if you were unwed at the time of his death."
"Wha--Oh, um…I…ah…" she stuttered, looking to Inuyasha pleadingly for some help. He offered none, simply looking at her in a strange way. She suddenly felt like she needed to be away from the dead King, away from the advisor, and most of all, away from Inuyasha. "I can't take the crown!" she shouted before running from the room. She heard thudding, booted footsteps behind her and knew that Inuyasha was giving chase. Try as he might, she knew that he could never catch a pickpocket. She tapped into her "running-from-the-cops-oh-shit-they-have-dogs" reserves, and soon he was shouting at her to stop in frustration, sounding very distant. She still didn't stop. She would leave. Just leave and pretend that none of this ever happened. She couldn't be crowned, she couldn't marry to get out of being crowned. Suddenly, a strong, male body tackled her from the side, controlling the fall so that he took most of it. It still hurt. She glared at the guy who'd tackled her. Naraku.
"You can't run away. Other people are depending on you," he told her, seemingly unfazed by the fall. He tucked some hair behind her ear and ran his thumb along her jaw. "I know that the King's dead. Take the crown, then make your advisors issue a pardon in your name." What he said was so logical, but she didn't want to be Queen. She didn't want to see the castle ever again. She stood, helping him to his feet before throwing her arms around him in one of the biggest hugs she'd ever given anybody.
"You're so weird," she told him, "but I love you anyway."
"You love me?" he asked.
"Sure. You're like a big brother. Or…a creepy uncle."
He laughed.
"Good." He pushed her away. "Now go make this right." She nodded and turned back the way she'd come. She would do the right thing.
Naraku watched his nameless princess walk away, a certain boyish strength in her gate that no lady could show. He had learned her name long ago, due to Inuyasha's blatancy, but chose not to remember. She was enigmatic, as he liked. He loved everything about her--her sincerity, her naïveté, her youth, and her secrets. He knew that Inuyasha was inexplicably taken with her and smirked when said man stopped confusedly to watch the princess heading in the opposite direction. Toward the throne room. His love was inexplicable as well. He'd never felt in any particular way toward anybody, and his strong feelings toward this girl were perplexing, but not troubling. Indeed, they were quite pleasant. Suddenly, Inuyasha was approaching him.
"You told her to take the crown, didn't you?" the younger man demanded. Naraku sighed, but his smirk quickly replaced itself.
"Yes," he replied calmly.
"You do know that she's a peasant, right? You know she's not Kikyou!" Inuyasha seemed terribly distraught. He couldn't see why.
"I know the truth. She's a princess, in the truest sense of the word." He couldn't keep the affection from his voice, and Inuyasha caught it.
"You love her," he growled.
"Very much."
"Dammit, they'll find out eventually! Do you want her to be beheaded? Do you love her that much, that you're willing to let her die?"
"If it's the right thing, she has to do it."
Inuyasha spun on his heel, frustrated that he could do nothing about the choice the princess had to make.
Naraku knew what she was going to do, and he loved that most of all.
Kikyou had come to terms with her death, but Kouga hadn't. He had been pestering the guards since her incarceration, and she knew he wouldn't stop pleading for her life until he'd been hanged. She loved him for his persistence, but she really wished he'd stop so they could share some quality time together before they were both killed.
"Kouga," she said during one of his silent streaks. He looked to her. "I know you want me to live, and it's sweet, really, but shut up." He blinked.
"Make me," he retorted flippantly. She sighed as he continued bad-mouthing the guards. If, by some obscure miracle, they lived through this, she would beat the shit out of him.
Woo…lots of love in this chapter! I couldn't resist doing a little snippet of Naraku's PoV, because I've had so much fun writing his character, and after that I couldn't resist a small, not quite as serious Kikyou scene. Don't worry, a relief from all the death and destruction is soon at hand! And I'm not sorry that this chapter sucked, because I forced it out so that my wonderful readers wouldn't have to go too long without an update.
Dedications:
Squishy:
sugarsprite: Wah! Chivalry be damned! But thanks for the review, all the same. I'm glad that you approve of my story. Honestly, I think it's a little…Well, anyway. Thanks for checking my spelling! I am notorious for writing/typing words backwards and skipping key words (like the subject) in sentences.
mercedes: A single word review! Sweet! Thank you for saying the story is great. It makes me happy.
M 'n' Ms: Hahahaha! Reviewing out of order…tsk, tsk. Sesshoumaru and Kagura are a lot of fun. Especially to make fun of…I laugh evilly.
seikkyokuka: Haha, yes he is. So mean, indeed.
Angel: Wow! So many pleases!! Thank you for being so desperate for me to update (what a terrible thing for me to say…) You're awesome!
You all are SO FREAKIN SWEET! Everyone who reads this story, if I could afford it, would get a sucker. But alas…I'm predicting that the story will be one to two more chapters, unless I screw up and need to tie some loose ends with an epilogue or something. Whatever. My goal is one…Woohoo!