I'm glad you're all liking it so far! It also thrilled me to hear that it reminded people of Dune. I had considered making it a total Dune/Inuyasha crossover, having the group act out characters from the book, but I had no idea where I would be able to fit the desert in. Besides which, I wanted to incorporate Japanese culture, so I couldn't very well have them parading around in stillsuits. Here we are, chapter two, hope you still enjoy it. A big week of family stuff is coming up, so if you don't see another chapter from me, don't worry, I'll be back when I have the time. I also expect to be updating on Mondays now, so that should make things easier.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, that's Rumiko Takahashi's. I don't own Dune, or any or its sequels. Those are Frank Herbert's. I don't own either of them. Nope. Not yet. No.

Flower Blooming...

Chapter 2-The Sword Sesshomaru

Kagome sat in the conference room with her hands folded neatly on top of one another. Training had taught her how to handle herself under these circumstances, she must play the part on an ignorant concubine to further her ideals. If she wanted her way with this, she had to look stupid. Anything above that would certainly intimidate their guests. A sharp woman was always a wild card.

Kagome would also be risking revealing her true nature as a sister of the Therum. It was still in House Hirohitoh's best interests to keep her origin in the dark, and she realized full well that one of the men seated before her was a son of her sisters. She had been required to memorize the location of all traces of Therum blood, so that she could prepare herself for secrecy when she was young. His name was Miroku, son of Sakura.

He was just another frustration of her society. The Therum almost always chose to bear daughters, having sons could spread their teachings into male territory, and that was not tolerated. Therefore, they had kept tabs on men such as Miroku over the years, and remained in tense contact with Sakura.

No doubt, his mother had taught him everything that she knew about the Therum, and he would be quick to recognize her if she dared use any of her skills to enforce the deal that was being made. So Kagome remained quiet, making innocent comments now and then, but for the most part keeping to herself.

The previous evening had been cold, and venomous. Sesshomaru had come to see her as planned, and he observed her like a snake once again; informing her of the meeting that would take place discussing the union of House Hirohitoh with House Sajimo, and political matters such as that.

Of course, as he had left, he had held her close for a moment, pulling her to him and pressing his face into her hair. One might have taken this for an affectionate gesture, yet in truth, it was simply a test; he did it every time he visited her, he was checking her scent, and the child's, he was trying to determine its gender.

Kagome fought a scowl. Had she been given the opportunity, she would have spited him without hesitation. She never forgot that any life she had ever lead was now either gone, or under his governing hand. Anything she could do to frustrate him was welcome. She knew that he hoped for a son, because males were so often more powerful, and Kagome therefore hoped for a girl. If indeed female, she would even ship her off to the Therum, and have them breed her to be a rivaling force against her father.

That was, of course, the plan. But she would not do this to please the Therum, her loyalties were no one's. Kagome only wished that both sides would destroy each other somehow.

Her attentions were suddenly called back to the situation at hand. It was a dull meeting, and yet Kagome was still asked to keep up appearances because of her future reading abilities. This was the conference that Sesshomaru had warned her of the night before, and at this very moment they were picking a path for both Sajimo, and Hirohitoh. Sajimo was a prominent house, next in power after Oni, and very useful in the fact that they were quite wealthy.

"Do you agree that marriage under these circumstances would be held under the Hirohitoh name?" It was Myouga speaking, an elderly advisor of Lord Sesshomaru.

"Yes. We ask only that you accept the people of House Sajimo under the protection of your wings." The man was named Kiba, he was the head of all subjects pertaining to beneficial unions. Kiba had spent a vast majority of his life training himself to properly analyze situations like the one he was in now. He could read pros and cons very skillfully.

"Of course, but we would then have access to your resources?" Myouga again.

Kiba nodded solemnly. Kagome suspected that he was pained to release the house he had served under for so long to Hirohitoh. Because they were discussing alliance by marriage, House Sajimo would no longer be a part of this war, except for the fact that they would be fighting now with the name, Hirohitoh.

"Also, we ask that the former Sajimo ruling party be allowed some power in this."

"Yes, certainly. We will not forget our allies as mere subjects now that we are to be unified. Besides which, as the family of the bride you should be expecting heavy control in various matters."

"You will be given partial military control, partial trade control. That was the deal."

Kiba nodded again, and his eyes fell over the bit of parchment that was still spread before him. He had read it over several times during the meeting, and it had been discussed thoroughly since. It was obvious that Sajimo was doing this purely because they had smartly realized that in the end, as it had begun, things would boil down to a bloody battle between the Houses Oni and Hirohitoh. This was a very clever action, they had picked who they had felt would be the winning team, and offered to join up with them to be under their protection and good graces when it was over. Otherwise they would have never agreed. They knew by now that, despite the fact that they didn't know who the mother was specifically, Sesshomaru had a child on the way, and he wouldn't therefore gift any woman from their house with children, dashing all hopes of maybe overthrowing Hirohitoh somehow.

What a silly curse it was. It had stomped so many desires.

"Is it agreed then?" Miroku had asked. He hadn't spoken much, he was probably there for the same reasons that she was; to test the future, even though his abilities might be weaker than her own.

"Yes." Sesshomaru, he had been silent for the most part too.

"Very good." A gruff old man was speaking from the end of the of the row of seats that was House Sajimo's. His frazzled gray beard shook a bit as he spoke, holding another copy of the deal before him. "Lord Sesshomaru of House Hirohitoh will be wed to Lady Kagura of House Sajimo in the effort of creating a firm alliance between both houses. She will be wed to the Hirohitoh name, and in that respect, House Sajimo will cease to exist on the military plane." Kagome absently realized for a moment that this was the woman she had been thinking of when she had considered Sesshomaru's future wife. She would be the Lady of House Hirohitoh, though she would be given strict limits on her range of control. The man continued. "It shall be gifted, however, with partial control in the fields of trade, and military ordeals, though as previously stated, the outcome of the war shall not deal with the Sajimo name." He laced his fingers together and nodded at Sesshomaru, who nodded in return.

"The wedding shall take place on the Fifth day, of the eleventh month." And with that, the meeting was concluded, and both houses rose from their seats uncomfortably, hardly able to consider each other allies just yet.

For a second, Kagome remained, realizing that the wedding ceremony was only a month away. She didn't think that the Houses would be in such a hurry to finalize things, but then, it was House Sajimo's decision, perhaps they felt that the war would truly be ending soon.

Her attendants began flooding in, hurrying about her in a tedious fashion, patiently expecting her to rise. She paused, and stole a glare at Miroku, who returned it menacingly. Kagome still couldn't tell if her had discovered her yet, but dismissed it haughtily. She was in no mood to be dribbling in the affairs of her sisterhood. the knife in her back.

It was a particularly interesting quirk of House Sajimo: they adopted humans into their midst with such nonchalance. Miroku was human, at least half of the members of the house that were present this very day were human. How sweet. The Ruling Party, however, carried only the faintest traces of mortal blood in their veins. As she had predicted, this, Kagura would be a full-demon. No doubt she wouldn't hold her in the highest approval. It was to be expected.

Her light feet pattered daintily on the gleaming floor. Her ladies trailed behind her like insects, some holding the trail of her kimono behind her. The sun was setting, Kagome didn't want to miss that. Sesshomaru slipped out of the conference room behind her back. She turned and called to him before he got to far out of sight wandering down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Lord Sesshomaru." Her voice was like a bell, betraying the lost innocence she still craved deep in her heart.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Will there be anything else that requests my presence this evening?" They held glares for a moment, he knew what she was planning to do, though he protested, fearing for her health and the child's on the frosty nights. Kagome thought in a split second that he might withhold her from the balcony by making up a false excuse for her on the spot, but to her surprise, he shook his head.

"No, though you should be expecting me when nightfalls." With that, he resumed his journey into the depths of the palace.

Kagome bowed briefly out of habit, mumbling a brief, "Lord Sesshomaru," accompanied by the bird like twitters of the echoing attendants surrounding her. She wouldn't have bothered with this impulse, had she not been aware of Miroku lurking inside the conference room still; listening to them, watching them. Kagome guessed him to be a spy, but he didn't have the motivated cunning. Sesshomaru had, of course, known too, but he had dismissed it just as easily.

Not another thought spared, Kagome continued with her ladies down to her chambers.

Sesshomaru sat before her again, eyes flowing over her as all the other nights. She met his stare as a true Therum sister, with piercing iciness that dared him to speak. Sesshomaru was never one to betray his emotions, especially to potential enemies. He was well aware of how dangerous she could be when she wanted to. A skilled assassin, swift and striking, like a snake in the grass.

The silence was intimidating in itself, though neither of them flinched. It occurred to her then, that it would be so simple to just pour it all out then, betray her sisters as they had betrayed her, warn Sesshomaru of the plan they had devised for their future child. It was so obvious, no doubt he had anticipated it, though he may not have considered the Therum as such a threat at this moment.

"Why do you look at me in such a way Kagome?" His voice was low, and even inspired a tinge of fear in her.

"Is it not the way that any given person would face someone they hate?" It was nearly a hiss.

He remained statuesque, 'Why did he choose to speak of these things now?'

"And why do you hate me, my mate?"

Kagome was battling with her intense confusion. What was he doing? Was he deliberately trying to annoy her? To catch her off guard for some reason? Or was this merely a slow and deceptive way of breaking the little rebellious bit of her soul that still stayed with her? He knew the reasons for her hatred. There had to be a plot behind this. She answered truthfully none the less.

"I hate you," her words were slow and careful, "because you stole away the life I had, you took my innocence against my will." Only then did she realize how pathetic those words suddenly sounded. Had she abandoned her training to such a point that she could no longer keep up with her own thoughts?

His eyes flashed, "I am not to blame for those things, my mate."

She bit her lip. The fact that he persistently called her "my mate" was very unnerving. He spoke with the same irritating, habitual tone that she held when she had to refer to him as "my Lord Sesshomaru." He was getting at something, but she would refuse to go along with it under the circumstances. Kagome would say what she was requested to and leave it at that. She had had enough sick games for her lifetime.

"You presume that my sisters are to blame?" She muttered. He had gained the upper hand in this conversation much to quickly. Perhaps he was trying to test her temper.

"I presume nothing. What I offer you now is only the truth." He was leaving her to think it over, he wanted her to ponder over this for a specific reason.

She held back a sudden gasp. 'He wants to turn me against the Therum! He does suspect their strategy!' An old saying of her days in the manor with her sisters drifted back to her: tread lightly on a dangerous path, hell is waiting to drag you beneath... 'This is hell...' Kagome thought as she considered her options. It was very intelligent of Sesshomaru to set this up for her. By realizing her fate at the hand of her sisters, she could not hold it against him by saying that he had forcefully caused her betrayal, for she had thought of this herself. But Kagome wasn't so easily fooled. Her loyalty was to no one.

"You stole my innocence." She persisted. Kagome was going to box this little talk into a decent conversation no matter what it took. If she continued to throw this in his face, he might abandon his hopes of trying to woo her to him.

"Yes."

He wasn't going down very easily.

"I find it highly revolting that such a thing was thrown onto the market so many centuries before my own birth."

"That was out of your control."

At last! A breech! She advanced slowly.

"But it was not out of yours. You could have withheld yourself and released me. It would have made all the difference."

"Really?" He snarled. "I would consider what I did doing you a justice. Had I not taken you, your 'sisters' would have turned around the moment they felt opportunity was fresh and sold you to House Oni." His eyes now glinted with the very slightest hints of rage.

Kagome had instantly taken note of the emphasis he placed on the word 'sisters.' He did not hold them in high regard. Sesshomaru had just severed all hopes of luring her to his side. Simply by deliberately saying the word with such ill taste, he had clearly presented his views on the subject, scooting Kagome away like a fawn wary of a hunter's trap.

"Oh, and what justice was that? What is so different about you two dueling houses?" She had touched a nerve with that comment, but she was too bold now for her own good. If she drove his temper, then so be it. All the more fun for her. She was tempted to laugh.

He made no move, standing icy and impenetrable. He had obviously not bargained for such a sour concubine.

They had returned to their glaring spat like children, but the tension in the room was as heated as that of a true battle.

Sesshomaru paused for a moment, and swiftly, an arm shot out to wrap securely around her shoulders, dragging her to him and holding her close. She relaxed against him, leaning into his warm body so that he could wrap both arms across her frame. She felt his nose burrowing into her hair, checking for a scent.

"Any luck?" Kagome muttered offhandedly. She was reminded that this was what it was, and this was what it would always be. She was stuck like this. There wasn't a question; might as well back down for the moment. Fighting would get her nowhere, and it was not even in the royal concubine's best interest to remain on such hot terms with the Lord of the House, though her hatred still burned.

There was no response. He stayed there, for a second longer, closing his eyes briefly and resting his head on her, before drawing away. He rose then, leaving her to the ground with her calm, no longer fuming, brown eyes staring up at him half-heartedly.

He swirled around and began to pace towards the door. But before he pushed it away, he tossed a dry comment to her. "Watch where you walk woman."

I know, I know, very short.... Well, I have stuff to do during the Fourth of July, family and such, as previously stated, so I expect that I won't have too much time to write. I just wanted to get another chapter out before then. Nobody asked how Inuyasha and Sesshomaru could be brothers because of their family's curse. That was surprising. Also, Sesshomaru will have BOTH arms, thank you very much. That's that. Longer chapter next time, I promise.