Thousandfurs
Chapter 9: Moonless Nights
Kagome walked down the garden path in the dying twilight. She drew the fur cloak closer around her shoulders and looked back to see the kitchen chimney spewing out thick smoke. The half of the kitchen servants that hadn't received the day off had finally returned to their duties and Naraku was working them hard to make up for lost time. And out of a sadistic sense of justice, she added mentally. Still, she thought longingly of the warmth of the fires and how nice it would be to sit beside them in peace.
"That will never happen as long as Naraku lives," said a familiar voice.
The princess caught her breath and looked up to see Miroku sitting on a cold stone bench twenty paces ahead of her. In his dark robes, she hadn't even noticed him. "How do you know what I was thinking?" she asked, moving closer.
He shrugged and Kagome noticed that for the first time since she had known him, he was not smiling. "It's not hard to guess your thoughts when you speak them aloud," he replied.
"Oh." She frowned at him, seeing the way he was hunched over, his arms carelessly resting on his knees. She could have sworn that she saw the shiny trails of tears on his cheeks too. "What are you doing out here?"
The diplomat straightened his back and looked up at the darkening sky. "Thinking, telling myself I should be grateful for what I do have and not mourning the loss of something I apparently never had," he said, not noticing Kagome's deepening frown at his cryptic comments. His shoulders slumped again. "Not that it's helping. Every breath is painful right now."
Kagome came to his side. "How long have you been sitting here?" she gasped, pulling one of his hands to her body. It was icy and pale and, when she looked up, she could see the blue of his lips. "You should be inside. You'll get sick."
He shrugged again. "I don't particularly care at the moment."
"You will once you're coughing up blood and sweating under a million blankets from a fever," she replied sharply. She pulled on his arm. "Come on, I'll get you to the castle. They're making dinner for you right now. You don't want all of the others' hard work to go to waste, do you? And you need some warm food."
"Ah, yes," he said, his tone dry. "I wouldn't care for that. Have you enjoyed your day off, Kagome?"
She blinked at the rapid change in subject, but he was getting up now, so she hardly wanted to argue. "I have. Shippo took Sango and me on a tour of the city. And then we actually relaxed a bit during dinner. It was nice to have a day without work and sweat."
He began to shuffle along beside her at a maddeningly slow pace, resisting all attempts on Kagome's part to hurry them along. The cold was seeping into her bones now too and she wondered how Miroku had survived so long, sitting in one place without any additional clothes on his back. She realized that he must have some demon blood in him as well. Any other human would have frozen to death long ago. "So Sango is alright," he said after a few moments' silence, as if he had been aching to say it the whole time.
Kagome grinned at him. "Yes, of course! I believe she may be coming to realize some very important things about her future." Her frown returned as Miroku clutched at his heart. "What's wrong? Are you sick?"
He gave her a watery smile. "I shall be fine. I am glad to hear that Sango is on the path she feels is best for her."
"Is everything alright with you two, Miroku?" she asked, wondering what could possibly have transpired between the time of dinner and her walk in the gardens.
The diplomat nodded slowly. "I believe that things are exactly as they should be between us," he said softly.
Kagome bit her lip. "Then, things aren't progressing? Or they are?" she asked.
"Things are changing, yes," he replied.
The princess sighed heavily. She didn't know what was plaguing the diplomat's thoughts, but clearly he thought that she ought to already know. Or he was just being secretive intentionally. Either way, she was becoming quickly frustrated and decided to forget it. The gossip of the castle would eventually tell her what she wished to know. With Miroku still shuffling beside her, Kagome remembered her vow from a few days before. "May I ask you about Inuyasha-sama?"
Miroku looked at her, his eyebrows raised slightly. "I would imagine anything you have to ask me could be answered by any of the kitchen staff," he said faintly.
"Well, yes, but with them I never know if I'm getting the truth. They tend to exaggerate, obscure things and such. I figure you would know the truth and won't lie to me."
"Very well," he said. "What do you wish to know?"
Slightly surprised by his willingness to talk about his best friend's private affairs, Kagome decided to explain herself. "When I was serving Inuyasha-sama the soup the kitchen had prepared—."
"You mean that you had prepared," he interjected dully.
"Um, yes, that I had prepared," she amended. "Anyway, the Princess Kikyo arrived and words were exchanged between the two of them. I feel that this is old gossip, but I was simply curious." She was lying through her teeth. She was more than curious about the prince's relationship with the rude princess, but she hoped that Miroku wouldn't notice in his state. "May I ask what happened between them?"
The diplomat shrugged. "Why not? Everyone else knows. It is old gossip." He sighed and scratched at the nape of his neck. "He loved her," he said simply.
Kagome frowned, but nodded, having expected those words. "And she did not love him in return?" she asked sadly. As much as it pained her to hear that Inuyasha had been in love with the woman everyone said was her mirror image, she could not bear to hear that it had been unrequited. He didn't deserve that.
"She said that she did," Miroku replied. "They had met during a peace mission to her kingdom and then the prince or the princess was constantly visiting the other after that. They were engaged within a year of meeting."
"The king and queen must have been very pleased," murmured Kagome.
He shook his head. "Not really. Although they have good relations with the Kobayashi kingdom, I never got the feeling that the king and queen warmed up to the princess. I once caught the queen privately telling the king that Kikyo-sama was a 'cold fish', if I remember her words correctly."
The princess's heartened lightened considerably with this news. As little as she knew about the royal couple, the king and queen seemed to be good judges of character, if you overlooked their one mishap of hiring Naraku, of course. "So what happened then?" she asked the diplomat, who had fallen silent once again. Really, she thought bitterly, it was like pulling teeth from a sick horse to get the man to talk.
"Rumors, of course," he said, shrugging. "I have no idea if they were true, but I do know they damaged the relationship. The princess supposedly betrayed Inuyasha's confidence on several occasions with several males, both human and demon. So you can see why the prince trusts no one anymore."
Kagome's eyes suddenly prickled with unshed tears. Her light heart plummeted right back down into her stomach. "So they called off the engagement?" she asked quietly.
Miroku's steps seemed to slow down even more. "No, that would have been the kind thing to do, but Inuyasha loved her and refused to give up. He was willing to do anything for her. When she demanded that they have a human wedding, instead of a demon mating ceremony, he agreed. It ruffled a few feathers, but no harm done. When she asked to wear the royal jewels at their engagement feast, he gave them to her, despite that no female has ever worn them that has not already been mated to the heir. The people started to whisper in earnest about traditions being broken. But the final straw was when, against my express advice, Inuyasha gave a declaration that Kikyo would be his equal upon the throne, sharing all of his considerations and decisions."
The princess frowned again. Although her own kingdom had been largely patriarchal – no woman had ever held the throne alone – the Taisho kingdom had seemed considerably more liberal in their rules about such things. "But Queen Izayoi shares the king's decisions, doesn't she?"
"After much time spent learning youkai ways and laws," he replied. "The queen worked to gain the trust of a people very different from herself. Kikyo was seen as a potential usurper, not committed to the ways of the demon kingdoms and strong-arming the one heir this kingdom had left."
The shadow of the castle loomed over them and Kagome stopped, looking up to the balcony she knew belonged to the prince. "Is that why they hate him?"
"One of the major reasons, yes," said Miroku. "But the thing that really defeated him was the fact that on the morning of the wedding, held in the shrine beyond the castle gates, Kikyo was nowhere to be found. She had left Inuyasha. There was only a note saying that she regretted her late decision but that it could not be helped. She could not marry a half-demon that everyone hated."
"Never mind that she made them hate him," murmured Kagome, still on the verge of tears. The sun was almost gone now, but she looked up again and could see the outline of a figure in Inuyasha's window. "And she is still so horrible to him. It must be painful to watch the one person you love be content apart for you."
Miroku shrugged and stepped away from her. "I have duties to attend to," he said softly.
Kagome raised an eyebrow at his quick exit, but bowed to him and said goodbye. It was getting late and she was sure that Naraku would be especially irritable in the morning. Before she went off to the servants' quarters, she turned to look one last time at the prince's window, glowing softly with the light of the oil lamps.
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The prince watched the fur-covered girl walk back towards the kitchens and frowned. What had she and that lecher been talking about so intently? He had a feeling he knew what the subject was, although he didn't want to believe that the diplomat would have disclosed such information. His stomach turned to think of the lowest scullery maid pitying him. He was the prince of a powerful demon kingdom, for Kami's sake! Who needed the pity of the girl who scrubbed his dirty plates?
There was a knock at his door and he turned away from the window to sniff the air. "Come in, Mother… and Father," he muttered, defeated.
The two monarchs stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. "Good evening, Inuyasha," said the queen with a smile.
"Mother," he replied with a frown. "I take that this isn't a visit to tuck me into bed?"
"Inuyasha, your mother and I have been discussing the events of the last feast," said the king. "We believe that it is time for you to take a mate. If you wish to take that girl you were dancing with as your mate, we will support you in your decision."
The prince scowled. "I barely know her."
"But you're taken with her," observed the queen.
Inuyasha looked at his parents, suddenly angry at their interference. "What do you think, Father?" he said. "You're being unusually serious and quiet. Think it will be Kikyo all over again?" He held up his hand, stopping his father from opening his mouth. "Don't tell me it was a valuable lesson that I learned. Don't tell me I'm better off without her. And don't tell me that things will get better next time. I've heard it all a million times, you know?"
The king frowned and crossed his arms. Inuyasha thought for a moment that his father was more imposing, standing in the middle of his room in the most casual yukata that he possessed, than he was sitting on his throne with his crown, dispensing justice. "Let me be clear, Inuyasha," he began, "my concern in all of this is not just for you. You are my son and I do love you, although I may rarely say it. I regret many things in my life regarding my treatment of you. I have not been the best of fathers. But unlike other fathers, I do not just have you to care for. I have this entire kingdom to care for. And in order to preserve it, I must have a grandchild. From you. You are the heir and you have responsibilities."
Inuyasha took a breath. "Don't you think I know all this?" he snapped back. "It's not like I haven't tried, Father. Remember? It wasn't my fault that I got left, twenty minutes before I was supposed to get married in some goddamn human ceremony!"
"Inuyasha!" cried the queen. She laid a hand on her mate's arm. "You are not helping either, dear!"
The prince rubbed a hand across his face. "Mother… Mom, look, I just don't want to talk about this right now."
Izayoi frowned, looking remarkably like her mate. "Inuyasha, if your father isn't dealing with this correctly… with you correctly, it is because he was cleaning up the mess Kikyo left when she ran off." She stepped closer to her son and drew him into a one-sided embrace. "I know it hurt, darling. I can't imagine how much, but you see, Kikyo didn't just leave you, she left our entire kingdom. As much as I disliked her, as much pain you went through even before she left, she was, at the time, our only hope for the continuation of the Taisho line."
"Now we have another chance," rumbled the king, falling silent when the queen shot him a warning look.
Inuyasha pulled away from his mother. "I'm aware of my responsibility. I'm not trying to avoid it." He threaded his claws through his hair. "This new girl… I don't even know her name. I don't know where she's from and I don't even know if she has a title."
"You know that you like her enough to think about her beyond one dance," said the queen with a smile. "And I could tell that she likes you. Isn't that enough to start on?"
The prince shook his head. "As someone once told me, it's only a matter of time before a woman wants to run from me. This new girl will be no different."
Izayoi's frowned. "And who would tell you that?" She got a look from her son. "Oh."
Her son smiled sardonically. "Feh. Even Koga hates her, you know? Says she smells of death and dirt and that her personality is even worse. Never thought I'd agree with him on anything. Of course, he was also sniffing around this new one."
"I think that he would find it a hard battle to fight, considering the girl has already chosen which male she prefers," replied the queen.
Inuyasha snorted. "Knowing that jerk, his idea of courtship would be kidnapping her and demanding to become her mate. I think I got that beat, unless she's the most naïve girl in the world." He shrugged. "Which would just be my luck, actually."
"We have resources, son," said the king softly, not entirely sure he wouldn't get another withering stare from his mate. When he didn't, he looked at his younger child. "We could probably find out who the girl is and begin negotiations with her family."
The queen rolled her eyes. "How romantic," she muttered.
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull. "I'll find her myself, Father. I think she would prefer that."
"Maybe she will show up at the festival for the New Year," suggested Izayoi.
"If she doesn't, I will begin to look for her," said the king.
Izayoi gave a little frustrated sigh and pulled on her mate's arm. "Goodnight, Inuyasha. We are so pleased that you're considering taking a mate. And remember, we love you." She glared at the king as they left the room, who was giving her a confused shrug and a soft 'what?'
Just as Inuyasha was about to relax, his mother popped her head back in the room. "Sorry, darling. Your father is just a bit on edge lately, you understand?"
The prince nodded. "I suppose," he replied. As famous as he was for being difficult, his mother was one of the few people that brought out his agreeable side. He hated it sometimes. Which was his true personality? His mother's son or a kingdom's scorn? He wasn't certain anymore.
"And remember, tomorrow night…" She trailed off and gave him a warm smile. "We'll miss you at dinner."
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Miroku placed the small black stone on the board. "Your turn."
"I don't want to play anymore."
The diplomat sighed and looked down at the wild pattern of black and white stones. "This is the worst game we've ever played. I guess it is wise to give up for now." He swept the pieces into the cloth bag and put aside the board. "Still distracted by the mysterious beauty?"
The prince scowled. "More like what my father wants me to do with the 'mysterious beauty'."
"Ah." Miroku crossed his arms and leaned back on his cushion.
Inuyasha gave his friend a bemused glance. "What? No jokes about how I need to make more pups? Or how much I'll enjoy it?" He shook his black locks. "It's enough that I get stuck in this lonely tower once a month, with only a lecher like you for company, but I have to deal with you being in a bad mood too?"
"You aren't the only one to be plagued by a beauty, Inuyasha," he replied sullenly. "Although mine is considerably less of a mystery."
"Sango." The prince set his mouth into a thin line. "I thought that she liked you. I could smell it on her."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Now who is being the lecher?" he asked tonelessly as he poured them both a generous cup of sake. He set the carafe down heavily. "She loves someone else."
"That sounds familiar," muttered Inuyasha. "At least the 'someone else' part does."
The diplomat rested his head in his hands for a moment before taking a long draught of the sake. "Some guy from her old village. He took care of her and her brother when their parents died."
The prince took his own cup. "Why doesn't she go back to him?"
Miroku shrugged. "Does it matter? She'll get the courage to leave here soon enough and if she doesn't… well, you should have heard how kind he had been to her. Who can compete with that?" he asked.
"You're a diplomat in a powerful demon kingdom. I'm a prince." He sighed and drained his cup. "Who would have thought we couldn't get the girls we actually wanted?"
"At least yours likes you." He stared at the bottom of his cup. "Sango loves a man she hasn't seen in years. She could be pining over a married man who has three fat kids by now."
Inuyasha let out a hollow laugh. "If you and Sango were demons, I would suggest sending one of my father's assassins to take care of the guy. I don't think you frail humans would take so kindly to something like that though."
Miroku shook his head. "Unfortunately not. I'm starting to consider it though."
The prince stood up and looked out the only window to the moonless night. The tower in which he spent his human nights was far from the castle gates. It was a remnant from the war against the humans, although even back then it had been lonely, far from any of the other watchtowers. The trees had grown up around it over the years so that the only place you could look was up. "We're pathetic," he growled. "Sitting here, mourning the loss of girls we never really had. Hell, I didn't even know my woman's name."
"You'll never know it if you call her your woman to her face," muttered the diplomat dryly.
Inuyasha turned and picked up the quarter-staff that Miroku had brought along. "Come on, let's spar outside."
The diplomat sighed. "You didn't bring a weapon, Inuyasha."
"So? We'll test my human strength."
Miroku got to his feet and adjusted his robes. "You may possess your battle knowledge in this form, Inuyasha, but you do not possess the demon strength to execute most of your common attacks. I, on the other hand, am becoming stronger by the day. The king says that my complete transformation into a demonic force is growing closer. You would be defeated."
"Forget the staff then," said the prince. He saw the diplomat's eyebrows rise. "What? I need to let off some steam about this whole girl thing. Be grateful that I'm not a demon tonight."
"Inuyasha, I am not only here to be your company during these nights. I am here to be your guard, to make sure that the secret of your transformation remains a secret." Miroku shifted uncomfortably under the prince's heavy stare. "Your father is a good man with a very bad temper."
The hanyou rolled his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his sleeves. "Believe me, I know," he said. "But playing board games isn't going to help, and neither is moaning about our problems."
"Ah, so the natural solution is to beat each other up?" asked Miroku.
"Well, the pain will distract us for a bit," admitted the prince. He grabbed the quarter-staff and tossed it to his friend. "Bring it for your peace of mind. Then you can claim you've been the proper bodyguard for a prince. Now let's go kick the crap out of each other."
Miroku propped the weapon over his shoulder and sighed again. "I suppose it's high time to test if I have acquired any demon healing abilities yet."
"That's the masochistic spirit," replied Inuyasha, pulling on the door handle. He sighed and held out his hand. "Key."
"Right," said the diplomat, pushing past his friend and drawing the dirty key from his robes. It was tied to his innermost layer. It would be one thing to allow the prince to get hurt, it would be another to have a battalion of the king's men come and get them out of a locked tower.
They descended the spiral staircase and unlocked another door to escape back into the crisp air. The small stable nearby was quiet except for the snorting of their two horses. Miroku hoped that they wouldn't get an earful from Shippo for leaving the animals in the stable instead of inviting them to share the tower's two cots. Although, he mused as he shivered, the warmth would be welcome. He lit the two torches on either side of the tower door, casting a strong glow over the white covered ground.
Inuyasha was shivering beside him. "Dammit, I'd forgotten how weak this human skin is. Come on, let's move a bit."
Miroku let the quarter-staff lean against the tower wall and faced the prince. "Any rules?" he asked, holding up his palms. His martial arts were a bit rusty, but Inuyasha had never really adhered to a single discipline, so he felt it best to improvise. He just hoped he wouldn't end up with a broken neck.
"Nah," muttered the prince. "Well, no hits below the belt. If my woman problems don't turn out to be such problems, I don't want to have other problems, you know?"
"I'm not sure," sighed the diplomat. "But I agree to the terms."
The prince ran forward, spreading his arms towards the diplomat. Miroku moved to the side and swiftly kicked the hanyou in the kidneys as he passed by, sending up a flurry of snow as the hanyou hit the ground. "Dammit!" he groaned, getting to his feet.
"I told you that I would easily defeat you," Miroku murmured. "Take comfort in the fact that once morning comes, you could send me to meet Kami-sama with a single move."
"That's comforting, considering you're my bodyguard tonight and all," muttered the prince.
Miroku smiled and shrugged. "We can all only do our best, Inuyasha."
The hanyou snorted. "Right. Get ready."
They fought for an hour or more, tiring themselves out to the point of exhaustion. Each sported large red marks all over their bodies, which would soon turn into ugly bruises. However, they were both pleased to find that Inuyasha's human strength didn't lack so much that he couldn't take on the diplomat. Even as a human, the prince could defend himself against any other human or weak demon.
"The problem being, of course, that if anyone wanted to kill you during your one night of weakness, they probably wouldn't send a weak youkai," panted Miroku as he leaned against a tall cedar. He was clutching his side, where he suspected he had severely bruised his ribs.
Inuyasha was sitting in the snow ten feet away. "Well, it's almost dawn, so I don't think we have to worry about it tonight anyway," he said. His hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and despite the cold, he had shed the outer layer of his kimono.
"Come on, you're going to get cold real fast like that," said the diplomat, groaning as he pushed himself away from the tree and towards the tower.
"Yes, Mother," he replied, standing and brushing the snow from his clothes.
Miroku rolled his eyes and turned to the door, his hand freezing inches from the latch. "Inuyasha… where is my quarter-staff?"
The prince strolled up and looked at where the weapon had been resting. "It fell?" he suggested.
"And then walked away?" said the diplomat warily. He gave his friend a penetrating stare. "You're sure you didn't take it?"
Inuyasha opened his hands. "And put it where? It's my brother who has the pole up his ass, not me."
The diplomat rolled his eyes as he turned his back to the tower and looked out to the darkened woods. The two torches sent their light out to a distance of about ten yards, but beyond that, the moonless night allowed little visibility other than the imposing shadows of bare trees. "I can't see a damn thing," muttered Miroku. "How did we miss someone being so close?"
"Maybe whoever is out there didn't grab the staff personally. You know a lot of demons have powers to move objects without touching them." He exchanged a dark glance with his friend. They had both heard stories of demons in the woods, exiled long ago by the more civilized youkai and who preyed upon the weak that were foolish enough to wander into their territory. Many of them were said to have supernatural powers, beyond even the normal youkai capabilities. They were little more than animals and were said to even have lost the capability of speech. The tales were widely regarded as myth, but some said that the darker-hearted demons would wander into the forests to commune with the wild youkai.
Miroku shook his head. "Whatever is out here, it's sentient," he said softly. "It knows enough to keep out of our sight and take our only weapon."
Inuyasha frowned and set his jaw. "Why do we have only one weapon in the first place?"
"Because we're not supposed to need any," said the diplomat, sighing. "And we're supposed to stay in the tower, which has reinforced doors. We're supposed to be safe and warm right now."
The hanyou reached up and grabbed one of the torches out of its sconce. "Well, if you're truly becoming a youkai, you should be able to see better without this bright light," he said, plowing the fiery end into the snow.
Miroku grabbed the prince's wrist as he reached for the other light source. "Or, we will be giving the advantage to a youkai who truly can see in the dark."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, wrested his arm from the diplomat's grasp and took hold of the second torch. "If the guy out there can take your quarter-staff without us seeing them and see in the dark and the light, we're dead already," he said, extinguishing the flame like the first. "Learn to live dangerously, pervert."
"I have enough danger in my life with you around, Inuyasha," said the diplomat as they were plunged into darkness.
"Shut up and start looking around," he snapped.
Miroku sighed and let his eyes rove around the quiet forest. Black at first, his vision quickly adjusted to just the starlight. The trees sharpened and stood out against the white background of the snowdrifts. He remembered the cloudiness of his human vision and realized that it was as if he had been given a magnifying glass to examine his surroundings.
"See anything?" whispered the prince.
The diplomat shook his head. "Not yet, but… you know, I think I can hear better too," he said in amazement. He listened for a few moments to the creaking of the tree boughs in the wind, of icicles falling and shattering in the distance, and of the snow crystals scattering across the top frozen crust of the ground. "Is this how you live everyday?"
"When there aren't perverted diplomats around that talk incessantly," groused Inuyasha. He walked around the edge of the tower and looked around. A soft growl erupted from his throat. "Looks like the sun is rising."
Miroku turned and began to examine the woods behind him. The trees were tall enough to hide the horizon. "How do you know?"
Inuyasha looked over at his friend and tapped his nose. "I can smell it."
The diplomat nodded, thankful that the prince would be returning to top form soon enough. He had to discuss this whole 'bodyguard' thing with the king sometime. As he was thinking this, a movement caught his attention to the left. "There," he whispered, sure that the hanyou would hear him. Inuyasha appeared at his side a moment later and Miroku blinked. Once again there were just the trees. "Damn, it's gone. But there was someone."
"Who did it look like?" the prince asked, using a normal voice once again.
Miroku frowned and stepped forward into the dark shadow of the trees. When he reemerged, he held the quarter-staff in his hands. "I must say, they looked as if they were wearing a fur cloak."
Inuyasha shook his head as if he was trying to get water out of his ears. "What? You mean, Thousandfurs?"
"Perhaps, but I don't think so," replied the diplomat. "Maybe whoever it was wanted it to look like it was Kagome, or it was just a coincidence. It is winter after all. It looked… well, almost like a baboon cloak."
The prince frowned. "Strange. Why would anyone be out here?"
"I can only think of one explanation, Your Highness," said Miroku with a sigh. "Since whoever it was obviously had no desire to kill you – at the moment at least – we must conclude that they were here to determine that you actually turn human one night of each month. Now this demon knows your weakness, and worse, he knows where you hide during these nights." He sighed again and gave his temporary charge a serious look.
Inuyasha held up his hands. "Hey, you're not thinking of telling my father all of this, are you? It's not a big deal!"
"I disagree," said the diplomat. "You are the only heir to the Taisho throne. The king should know that his son could be in danger."
"He doesn't need more to worry about," murmured the hanyou, his brows knitting together. "Just tell him we should take more weapons next time."
Miroku unlocked the door and they walked up to the cots on the second floor. "I can't do that, Inuyasha. I am your friend, of course, but my loyalty lies with the preservation of the Taisho throne. That is my first responsibility."
"Is that why you told Thousandfurs all about my sordid past?" he snapped, sitting down heavily on his bed.
The diplomat's eyes widened. "I told her what she could find out from any other inhabitant of this kingdom. She came to me because she said she wanted the unblemished truth. I saw no problem with disclosing it. I thought you would have preferred that instead of more lies being spread about the whole incident."
Inuyasha lay down and covered his eyes with his forearms. "I would have preferred if the little serving wench hadn't known anything at all."
Miroku set his elbows on his knees and frowned at his friend. "You know, you're strangely obsessed with this girl. I've never heard you talk about the entire body of servants as much as you've talked about Kagome."
Violet eyes peeked out to look at the diplomat. "You're insane. She's vile."
"She's an outcast."
"Yeah, so?"
The man sighed and laced his fingers together. "Well, Inuyasha… I would have to say that you are an outcast as well."
"You think I empathize with her or something?" the hanyou said, lifting his head.
Miroku shrugged and looked down at the stone floor. The look of irritation in Inuyasha's eye told him to quickly drop the subject. "I still have to tell the king about this," he said. "I'm telling you this because I don't want to lie about it."
"Human sentimentality," scoffed the prince.
Sunlight, weak and colorless, peeked in through the small window that faced the east. Wind swept through the circular room, brushing away the black of Inuyasha's hair so that it became silver again. Dog ears appeared and his nails lengthened into sharp claws. Miroku watched carefully, but as usual, he seemed to miss the exact instance of the transformation. One form just seemed to melt into the other. Within moments, the powerful demon prince was in front of him once again.
Inuyasha sat up again and rolled his shoulders. His golden eyes flashed with determination. "Fine, let's get the horses ready and go tell my father what happened. He won't be happy."
Miroku stood with his friend and drew his key from his robes once again, letting the prince walk in front of him. "I'm sure he won't be," sighed the diplomat.
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A/N: The game that Miroku and Inuyasha were playing was Go, a popular strategy game in Asia. Go is a modern name for it though, so I decided not to muddy the waters by guessing which of the other possible names was the 'correct' one. Anyway, I hope you liked it – I cut a lot because I felt it was too early to reveal certain details. I hope I preserved the integrity of the chapter without making it boring! Maybe I failed, maybe I didn't. For all of you waiting for Inuyasha/Kagome interaction – it's coming next chapter! Please review!