Chapter 11: Keiji

Kagome was roughly pulled into Sesshomaru's bed chambers, and the door closed behind them.

"I will not allow the Lady of the West to undermine my authority by allowing thieves free reign in my castle." Sesshomaru glared down at Kagome, his voice cold and commanding.

"But he was just a child..."

"A demon child, not a human child. The moment a demon is born, they are far more powerful than a human is in their entire life. What if my enemies had sent him here to kill you?"

"So, you would kill an orphaned child just because he was trying to get into your larder?" Kagome couldn't contain her temper any longer, and the tone of her voice started to rise.

"If that is what it takes to keep my people safe, yes. It is my duty as Lord of the West to protect those who are weaker than me. And if someone breaks the law, they must be punished." Sesshomaru was doing his best to keep his own temper from boiling over.

"Bakayaro! If your duty is to protect your people, then why was Shippo starving to begin with!" Kagome snarled.

"The Lady of the West should not use such foul language."

"I don't want to be the Lady of the West! I don't want to even be here! But if I am going to be here as your wife, by your command, I'm going to do what I think is right!"

His eyes glowed red with anger and Kagome suddenly remembered that he wasn't human. "Do you think I wanted to take a filthy human as my mate?"

Kagome fumed. "Filthy?"

Sesshomaru pushed her back several paces to pin her against the door. "You have caused me nothing but problems," he snarled at her, his eyes red and his fangs long.

Kagome panicked and released her power. Her reiki manifested and burned Sesshomaru where their skin touched. He yelped in pain, which was a strange sound coming from the demon. He released her and jumped back, his eyes wide. She cursed at herself silently. Why had she never been able to control her abilities?

"You're a miko?" Sesshomaru held his burned hand as he watched her cautiously. Kagome looked up at his face, and realized that the red had left his eyes, leaving his face looking pale. Kagome couldn't hide it anymore. She had to tell him the truth.

"...Yes. I'm not... I'm not Kikyo. My name is Kagome. I just look like the princess," Kagome's eyes filled with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to go through with this lie. But when Kikyo ran away with Inuyasha, the king was afraid that it would mean war if they refused the marriage, and..." Her ramblings were cut off by Sesshomaru's low growl. He looked angry again, and Kagome swallowed hard.

"They're going to suffer for this insolence," he growled, his eyes flickering red again.

"Please, no! The king was just trying to..." Kagome was cut off as he gently picked her up and placed her out of the way of the door. She noted that he avoided touching her skin.

Then he turned to the doors and slammed them open. "Guards, bring me my mother and Nakoudo. It seems we have something to discuss."

Author's Notes: *The Big Reveal* Yay! Actually, Keiji means revelation. Heh, see what I did there ^.^

Thanks for all the support! I was really happy to see how many people have been enjoying the story. I've gotten several requests to make the chapters longer, and I wanted to address that. While I try to put out long chapters, my goal is to get this entire story written, and then go through and edit it after it's completed (I know I have a bunch of grammar errors that I catch every time I read through it). I actually have plans to re-write chapter one to include a scene between Kagome and her mother talking in private, but if I let myself start editing now, I'll never get the new material finished. So, patience. I'll make it all sparkly in the end. :)