DISCLAIMER: Anything you recognize from the manga InuYasha does not belong to me. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi bows down.

The Miko Princess

Chapter One

Kagome Higurashi woke up and rolled over in bed. I don't wanna get up! She thought stubbornly. The door creaked open and closed. She could hear feet padding to her bedside and readied herself.

"Kagome, are you awake? It is time to get up! Kagooooome!" The servant shook her and Kagome rolled over a gain and groaned. Otsuka's such a meaniehead, Kagome thought as she tumbled out of bed with the covers still on. But she knew she didn't mean it. The maidservant had been with her ever since she was six, and had come to be a surrogate mother to her, as her real mother had died in childbirth.

Otsuka rushed over and tugged the covers off her adopted daughter. She ushered Kagome into the bathroom and threatened her with the usual warnings as she basically threw Kagome in the bathtub.

"We have to hurry, Kagome, and I mean it this time. The king requests your presence in the dining hall in half an hour!" Otsuka called into the bathroom as she readied Kagome's outfit. Kagome cocked her head in the pool-sized bathtub as she pondered what her father could want her for now.

"What do you suppose he wants? Last time it was to make me arrange that stupid ball. I told him I want a new quiver of arrows for my birthday and what does he do? He throws me a ball and gives me a necklace that weighs two tons," she pouted and got out of the tub. She saw the outfit that Otsuka had thrown together and gasped.

"You think I'm going to wear that?" When Otsuka nodded Kagome blatantly shook her head. "He just wants to see me for like five minutes, so why do I have to wear one of those silk kimonos and that stupid necklace? I'll fall down before I leave this room!"

The outfit was indeed a little extravagant. A blue silk kimono with fine stitched dragons on it lay on her bed, accompanied by sandals encrusted with pearls and a necklace with what looked like mini green boulders on it.

"Why do I have to wear the sandals too? They make my feet hurt!" Kagome whined and flounced down on the bed.

"I was told not to reveal the details, Kagome," Otsuka said and fastened the kimono around Kagome. She reached for the mini-boulder necklace and clasped it around the girl's neck as Kagome put the sandals on.

"They always tell you to not tell me. Humph. It's not fair. If I'm going somewhere with two-ton clothing on, I might as well know why I'm going there," Kagome sighed as she walked out the doors.

"Ah! There she is now!" the lord boomed from his throne. Kagome bowed three times before approaching him, and then kneeled before his throne.

"I was told you called for me, my Lord," Kagome said, her voice adopting a royal tone.

"Yes, yes, I was just telling Lord Tego here about you," her father said. A man stood beside her father. His eyes swept up and down Kagome's figure greedily before returning his attention to the throne. He looks like a sleaze, Kagome decided. I don't like him. What is he doing near Father? She thought. I hope he's not a new advisor. Then I'd have to put up with him every day in court.

"Ah, Kagome?" her father asked.

"Yes, my Lord?" she replied.

"You are, what, sixteen years old?"

"Eighteen, actually, my Lord."

"Ah, well anyway, you are of marriageable age, are not?"

"I am indeed," Kagome answered, unsure of where this was going,

"Well, ah, you see, Kagome, the people would never allow me to place a woman on the throne," her father said. They had gone through this many times. Kagome had accepted it and always thought she would be her brother's miko and advisor.

"Yes, my Lord."

"So the only thing, really, to do with you is to marry you off to another lord."

Kagome stared in horror at her father, then at Tego who was again looking her up and down with his black eyes that were almost covered by greasy black hair.

"My Lord!" she exclaimed.

"Everyone except myself, the miko Kagome, and Lord Tego is excused from the room," Kagome's father yelled. Slowly the room emptied and Kagome, from her place near the lord's throne found herself wishing she could depart with them. As the last person exited the room, her father once again turned to meet her.

"Kagome dear, I have engaged you to Lord Tego here," the lord sighed and rubbed his temples.Tego's eyes held a look of triumph in them as they bore into hers. Kagome gasped and jumped up in shock. She stepped back from the throne, wanting to get away from her "fiancée" as fast as possible.

"Father!" she choked, struggling to get the words out. "What--how?"

"Dear child, you must understand-" the lord began.

"No!" Kagome cut him off as she found her voice again. "I don't understand! How could you! Without even telling me! Who are you and what did you do with my father!"

"SILENCE!" the lord roared from his high perch.

Kagome instantly dropped down to the floor and bowed her head.

"Forgive me, my Lord. I did not know what I was saying, and pray that my Lord has mercy on me and my ungrateful self," she said, feeling the lies slip off her tongue automatically.

"You are forgiven, dear," the lord sighed.

"I-I ask that I may go to my rooms to ponder what has been told to my unworthy self this morning," she whispered.

"Permission granted," the king said.

Kagome slowly got up and walking backwards exited the room. Once she got out and had closed the doors, she ran.

Kagome burst into her room, her hair flailing wildly about her in a miko rage.

"OTSUUUKA!" she boomed at great volume.

"Aye, will you quiet down! You sound like your father, for heaven's sake!" Otsuka said, clutching her ears as she stood by the bed.

"You knew, didn't you!" Kagome yelled, slightly quieter.

Deciding it was not wise to play games, the old woman sighed.

"Aye, I did," she whispered just loudly enough so Kagome could hear her.

"Why didn't you tell me!" Kagome raged.

"What good could it have done! All you would have done was panic a refuse to leave your chambers!" Otsuka pointed out.

Realizing Otsuka was right, Kagome burst into sobs and collapsed into her adopted mother's arms.

"I—don't—want—to—marry—him! He's ugly and I'm only eighteen!" she choked into Otsuka's kimono.

"Oh, there, there. Shhh, shhhh," Otsuka whispered.

But Kagome had never been much of a crier, and she was soon up and fuming again.

"Otsuka, you are excused," she barked, a bit more sharply than she had intended. She sent the maidservant an apologizing look and went back to pacing the oak floors. When the maidservant had closed the doors behind her, Kagome sat down, closed her eyes, and planned her escape.

At midnight, Kagome awoke. She took a deep, supposedly calming breath and threw her makeshift rope (thank heavens her silk sheets were tough as well as soft) over her balcony rail. She climbed down, jumped to the ground, took one last look at her surroundings, and ran off into the forest that surrounded the caste she called home.

A sentry outside the miko princess's chambers awake from his light slumber. He listened for a minutes, then pushed open the doors to the princess's bedchamber. The sheets were askew, a few missing, and the princess was nowhere in sight. Seeing an odd shape on the balcony rail, he stepped outside and found a rope of silk sheets tied to the balcony railing. His eyes widened as he put two and two together, and he rushed out of the room, crying "She's gone! Guards! My Lord! The miko princess has escaped!"

The said "miko princess", as she was called by servants and common folk, had been traveling for a few hours when she heard the shouts of her father's guard's behind her. She quickly dove behind a bush, and let out a sigh of relief when they passed her by. It was almost dawn, and the sun was turning the clouds rosy in preparation for his coming.

Phew! For a minute there I thought I was done for! Wait a second…those were Father's guards! If they find me, I am done for! She mentally yelled. Panicking, she ran as fast as she could through the bushes and trees. Apparently, the guards heard the twigs cracking as Kagome trampled them in her wild stampede through the forest. They investigated it, and when they realized they were following the miko princess's wake of destruction, they followed, remembering the lord's promise of five day's extra pay if they caught her.

Kagome burst through the edge of the forest, the sound of her father's sentries closing in almost making her crazy with panic. She started running again, only to be stopped by the edge of a cliff a few meters away. The sun was up, and it was a great sight to behold, but she didn't have time for such luxuries now. She looked behind her. The sentries were now emerging from the forest, catching sight of her a quickly speeding up their pace. She trotted the steps to the cliff's edge, only to have her hand grabbed from behind. She slipped because of the sudden force pulling her back, and tumbled off the cliff's edge. She expected air to be rushing past her, but then she remembered. The sentry was still holding her hand.

She turned to face him. He was a young man of about fifteen, with brown hair poking out of his helmet. She felt sorry for him, forced into a life of servitude at such a young age. Then, putting on her best regal face, she spoke.

"Is his lordship here?"

"No, milady. Just about fifty of us, milady," the young man answered.

"Ah," she said. Lazy slug, she thought. Sending young boys out to do your work.

"Please, milady, come back with us," the young man pleaded as he tried to pull her up.

Kagome looked down. It was staggering, the height that separated her from the ground. But suddenly she didn't care. I'd rather die than be the wife of that…that creature, she thought, remembering Tego. With that thought, she swiftly turned to look the young sentry. She spoke once more.

"Tell Father Kagome says good-bye."

"Milady!"

But she didn't hear him. Instead, she looked down, took and deep breath, let go of the sentry' hand, and with the newly risen sun watching--

She fell.

Hi! My name is Nessime (Nuh-see-may), and I hope you liked the first chapter of The Miko Princess. Anyway, I don't know when I will update, because I'm taking a vacation in three days, but I hope there are computers where I'm going! Thanks again for reading this, and PLEASE REVIEW!