Chapter 6

Lucivar -vs- Inuyasha

His ears twitched, rousing him from his sleep. "Annoying..." Inuyasha growled, pausing because Kagome was still asleep beside him. He hushed his grumbling and made for the balcony door, uncaring that he was stark naked and peered outside. Whatever noise had disturbed him wasn't coming from the gardens, which perplexed him, because it sounded like it was. And he knew for sure that the voices were female.

"What are you doing, Inuyasha?" Kagome sat up, stretching, enjoying the cool feel of the silk nightgown Karla had given her with the other clothes. "Inuyasha?"

"Someone's out here...I can smell them and I can hear them but I can't see them,"

"Then putting your clothes back on might be wise," Kagome offered, pulling on a bath robe. She walked up to him, holding his Fire Rat robes. "Remember what Daemon told us about the Blood? They have the power of invisibility,"

"Damnit, I forgot," Inuyasha reached out for the robes and turned away from the balcony, slipping them on casually. "Should I go sniff out breakfast?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Come on, Kagome," He grabbed her arm after she pulled on a pair of trousers and a T-Shirt and lead her from the room. She followed him with a smile as he sniffed his way through the halls towards the smell of fresh food. Inuyasha made it look so easy even Kagome sniffed the air. Surprisingly, she caught the scent of food. "Wow, I can smell it, too, we must be close,"

"Lost?"

"No," Inuyasha said dryly, ignoring the smug look on Lucivar's face as the Eyrien Warlord Prince approached the two.

"Oh good," Lucivar looked Inuyasha up and down for a moment, assessing him. "I already ran into your brother this morning and he didn't give me any arguments, though he seemed confident that you would,"

"Then I'll just have to prove him wrong, won't I?"

"Don't eat too much, you've got a rough morning ahead of you."

Inuyasha's eyes became narrow, sharp. "How do you figure?"

"You may not be part of the court, but you are living here, meaning you get to deal with me. I want you in the training field in fifteen minutes and don't make me come get you, it isn't a pleasant experience,"

"Understatement," Jaenelle muttered as she walked into the breakfast room.

"Cat, darling, don't think you're out of the loop, either. You have twenty minutes, and that's only because Daemon's going to make sure you eat to my satisfaction."

She glared at him, her hands resting on her thin hips. "Prickly male,"

"Snarly cat,"

She pouted, walking up to him. "Good morning, Lucivar," She kissed his cheek, hopping back into the room with the food.

"Now that's better," He looked at Kagome and smiled. "You're pretty strong, I can tell, so you'd better come out there with Jaenelle,"

"All right," Kagome replied, suddenly intimidated by his size.

"Are you making the rounds already, Prick?"

"Good morning, Bastard," Lucivar flashed his brother his usual lazy arrogant smile. "You had--"

"Yeah, yeah, I've got to go out there, too, I get that." Daemon waved him off, heading towards the table full of food. Kagome followed with Inuyasha at her heels and quickly filled a plate, taking a seat at the table to nibble on her selections.

Ladvarian trotted in at that moment and howled excitedly. They mated!

Kagome's face was instantly red, her body completely stiff. Inuyasha looked down at the wolf and glared, nudging him. "At least we know your nose works," Inuyasha tapped the wet mass that was Ladvarian's nose and smirked. "I'm surprised it took you this long to catch the scent. I made sure it was strong so no one--"

"SIT BOY!" Kagome screamed, fuming, her face bright red. Ladvarian side stepped as Inuyasha hit the floor, twitching and groaning.

Khary choked on his orange juice, turning away from the sight in order to stifle the laugh he felt rising. Kagome growled and started stuffing pancakes into her mouth, ignoring Inuyasha's pleas of utter innocence. "Give it up, Inuyasha, you're not getting out of this one," She felt him finally able to rise and waited for an apology.

"Feh, I don't know what you're so upset about at least--"

"Sit boy."

"AACK!"

"Why don't you think about that one for a while, Inuyasha," She started on her eggs, thoroughly enjoying the taste of them. Those in the room were getting a kick out of the show and those who were just joining them were having to step over Inuyasha to get to the food.

"I take it," Karla chuckled as she came into the room. "that Inuyasha has already pushed the wrong buttons this morning?"

"I didn't do anything! He's the one that pointed it out that we mated!"

"Sit boy,"

"KAGOME!"

"Stop telling everyone that we had sex last night and be quiet!"

"AH HA!" He jumped up pointing at her and Kagome's face flushed red again. "You said it this time, not me!"

"But--"

"Nope! You can't sit me this time!"

"But--"

"Ah!" He pointed, shaking his head.

"You--"

"Nope!"

"Inuyasha--"

"Uh-uh!"

"Oh all right!" She huffed glaring, and turned back to her breakfast. "I hope Lucivar pounds you into the ground so that I won't have to," She muttered under her breath, knowing full well by the way that Inuyasha's ears twitched that he had heard her.

"Feh,"

Jaenelle rotated the Eyrien sticks in her hand as she entered the training circle with Lucivar, determined to get back every ounce of strength physically that she'd had before...

"She's going up against him?" Kagome asked, slightly surprised.

"Just watch," Daemon said blandly, his eyes locked on the form of his brother and wife. Kagome bit her lip as she turned back towards the training circle. There were other Eyrien males around, as well as females and young teens, so Kagome was sure this was something that Lucivar did on a regular basis to make sure his people stayed safe. He was, after all, the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih. And Daemon, Kagome looked at him out of the corner of her eye, was his father's mirror and now the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan. She was still confused about a lot of things, particularly the way the courts worked, the way the jewels worked, but she was slowly starting to understand.

"Ready?" She heard Lucivar ask as he brandished his own Eyrien sticks. Jaenelle nodded, fighting the urge to whip the sticks around her waist for fear she wouldn't be able to do it again. That was something she would practice again in private until she was sure she had it down. Kagome jumped with the clash of the sticks, startled by the loudness of them. Lucivar grunted. Jaenelle growled. They danced in a sparring battle, throwing attacks, dodging others.

She's getting quicker, Daemon mused as he watched Jaenelle glide around Lucivar's attack. Kagome was deeply impressed, Inuyasha on the other hand wasn't. He was perched in a tree not too far away, watching with little to no interest at all. The real fun was going to happen when he fought Lucivar, not when the women fought him. Personally, he thought it was a bit of an unfair advantage for Lucivar.

That is, until Jaenelle landed one hell of a good attack and sent Lucivar reeling. They both paused to stare at each other and Daemon was smiling strangely, the others were stuck in a stunned silence.

"That's enough," Hallevar called from outside of the circle. "Both of you cool off for a moment. Jaenelle, bravo! You're improving."

She smiled, proud of herself and hopped over to Daemon, huffing and puffing. "Water?"

"Walk it off," Lucivar snarled, extending a decanter of water towards her. "And don't drink it too fast."

"I know," She snarled back, grinning. Lucivar bared his teeth in an arrogant smile and turned towards the tree that Inuyasha was perched on. "Your turn,"

Inuyasha's ears twitched, flattening back against his head as he leapt to the ground, landing softly on his bare feet.

"Well, this should be interesting," Surreal muttered as she came to stand between Kagome and Daemon.

"So nice of you to join us," Lucivar muttered, snapping his wings closed.

"Thanks, sugar." Surreal flashed him a dazzlingly sarcastic smile and turned towards Inuyasha. "So just how strong is he?"

"Strong," Kagome said with a smile. "You'd be amazed,"

"I don't know about that," Surreal shrugged. "But maybe I'll be surprised."

Daemon glanced at her, slightly bothered by Surreal's strange attitude, but chose to blame it on the fact that she was still in her moontime. One more day and she'd be back to normal again. Hopefully.

Inuyasha stepped into the circle, eyes locked on Lucivar's solid form. "I suppose teaching you to fight with Eyrien weapons would be pointless. How sharp are those claws of yours?"

"You want to find out?" Inuyasha asked quietly.

Lucivar bared his teeth in his usual lazy arrogant smile. "Of course," Instead of the traditional training with Eyrien sticks, Lucivar banished them, calling in his Eyrien war blade.

"This could get a little intense," Jaenelle mused.

"A little?" Kagome muttered, folding her arms over her chest. "I just hope it doesn't get too intense, otherwise I'll have to make him...well..."

"Sit?" Jaenelle asked and Kagome nodded. "Oh, hear that Lucivar? Don't get too prickly or you'll get an unfair advantage."

"I bet,"

Inuyasha glared at Lucivar, irritated. "Are we going to fight or not?"

Something has him on edge... Daemon noted with narrowed eyes. Did he smell something that bothered him? Was Naraku near? Daemon looked over his shoulder and found the source of Inuyasha's edginess. Sesshoumaru. Well, that explains that...

"You might want to give me a target other than yourself," Inuyasha murmured, his eyes covered by his bangs. "I'd hate to slice you in two,"

"A little hostile today, Inuyasha?"

When he didn't grace his brother with a smartassed retort, Lucivar took the opportunity to call Hallevar into the circle. He whispered something to the older Eyrien Warlord and waited as Hallevar left to retrieve what he'd asked. A few minutes later, Hallevar returned with one of the archery targets. "Solid oak," Lucivar pointed out. "Fourteen inches thick,"

"Feh, child's play," Inuyasha finally looked up, examining the target in disgust. "You want to know my full potential yet you give me something so easy?"

"It seems to me that you're all talk and no action, boy," Lucivar snarled, waiting. "You'll quickly learn that I have no patience this early in the morning,"

Someone outside of the circle snorted, though who it was no one really figured out, though Lucivar seemed to be glaring in the direction of Surreal. They apparently tested each other's tempers often, but Inuyasha was more focused on the damned target then Surreal. Finally, he began to walk towards the target, annoyed with Lucivar's snarls and repetitive shifting of his weight from his left leg to his right. He stopped three feet from the target and lifted his right hand, his eyes closed. "Fourteen inches of solid oak you say?"

"You're still talking,"

"Feh," Inuyasha looked towards Kagome who seemed a bit annoyed but towards himself or Lucivar he wasn't too sure. "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!"

Lucivar, startled, jumped back and watched Inuyasha slice right through the target with little to no effort at all. "I see your point," He muttered as the target fell in half onto the dirt.

"Nice," Khardeen smiled. "I dare say if that was as easy as he made it look, ripping through flesh must be even easier,"

"It all depends on the target," Sesshoumaru said impassively. "He would have less luck with myself than he would with Lucivar,"

Inuyasha snarled, preferring to glare at the ground rather than look at his brother. He'd been asked not to fight Sesshoumaru while they were here, and though it would prove difficult, Inuyasha would comply. But seeing as how he was still pissed at Sesshoumaru for blaming Kagome for something Sesshoumaru had caused, looking at his half brother probably would do more harm than good, not that it ever did any good.

Stoic little bastard...

Lucivar caught his attention by rotating his war blade in his hand. "I see," Inuyasha gripped the hilt of his Tetsuseiga, drew it, and held it at the ready. "Are you sure you want to tangle with the Tetsuseiga,"

"Please remember, children, that you're just sparring," Saetan muttered as he joined the group. "I don't want Helen on my ass this morning about the state of the grounds."

Inuyasha shifted on his feet, becoming more and more aware of the fact that Lucivar had massive wings and some kind of physical strength that might possibly, though unlikely, match his own. Lucivar made no noise to indicate he was ready, but Inuyasha heard the faint change in his breathing, in the way his heart beat, saw his muscles tighten as he gripped his war blade, and was ready when Lucivar lunged towards him. Sidestepping, he caught the war blade with the tip of the Tetsuseiga and jerked it up, almost completely yanking it from Lucivar's hands. Lucivar pivoted, vanished the war blade and called in his Eyrien sticks, shielding them heavily with an Ebon-Gray shield. His jewel blazed, catching Inuyasha's attention momentarily, and then lunged again, his sticks meeting the Tetsuseiga with surprising strength. Inuyasha stumbled back a step, growled, and pushed forward. Even with his jewels strengthening the sticks, they wouldn't last long against the Tetsuseiga.

"You're stronger than you look," Lucivar stated, grinning as he lunged at Inuyasha again, pressing his weight against the Hanyou.

"Same to yu," Inuyasha snarled, pushing back so hard it sent Lucivar staggering back a few feet.

"They're practically equally matched," Marian muttered, amazed. She glanced at Sesshoumaru who had come to stand between Saetan and Daemon and her eyes narrowed. What about Sesshoumaru? Would he be just as strong as Daemon was?

"Time!" Hallevar shouted finally, after ten minutes of rough sparring.

And, to no one's great surprise, the two completely ignored the shout.

"Damnit, I said time!"

Again, ignored.

"Kagome, darling, care to do the honors?"

"Sure," She grinned at Daemon and stared at Inuyasha who's ears were twitching. "Inuyasha!"

"Oh no,"

"SIT BOY!"

"Damn I wish I had one of those for Lucivar," Marian muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean she's gone!"

Jaenelle paused with Kagome as they rounded the corner of the Hall, hearing Daemon's shouts towards the Priestess in front of him. Jaenelle was momentarily stunned, but recovered quick enough when she realized that the priestess he was hollering obscenities towards was the priestess that was supposed to be watching over Tersa.

"Lady Tersa went out into the garden as she usually does...and when I went to check on her she was gone,"

"Damnit," Daemon snarled, pacing the width of the hall in his sudden worry. "What was she thinking?"

After a week and a half with the SaDiablo family, Kagome had grown accustomed to the woman the Kindred had called the Strange One. Tersa was rather strange, but Jaenelle had explained all about the Twisted Kingdom, the insanity that a Blood would experience while there. She shuddered at the thought of such a place. She dare not ask Daemon about his experiences with it. After nearly two weeks, she'd learned quite a bit about Daemon SaDiablo, including his fierce love and loyalty for his Queen, Jaenelle Angelline SaDiablo. She'd also learned that Jaenelle had been the strongest Witch to ever walk the Realms and had once been the Queen of the Dark Court before the backlash of her power nearly destroyed her. But the power had been used to cleanse the taint of the Blood and now the land was healing, as well as Kaeleer's Heart.

It was a complicated story that Kagome took in slowly so that she could fully understand everything that had happened. She'd also learned that Tersa, Daemon's mother, was wayward, strange, and almost always right about everything she predicted. And to hear that the woman had run off sent shivers down Kagome's spine. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

"What's going on?" Inuyasha grumbled as he and Lucivar strode into the Hall. Daemon turned towards his half brother and Inuyasha and snarled.

"Tersa gave us the slip...again..."

"I'll find her," Jaenelle volunteered, heading towards her workroom.

"No need," Inuyasha sniffed the air, turning towards the end of the hall as Rin and Tersa came into view.

"Thank the Darkness," The group watched Daemon visibly relax, rubbing his temples as he felt the headache throbbing behind his eyes. "Tersa, darling,"

She stopped, knowing that tone. "I didn't do anything wrong,"

"Darling, you have to stop running off,"

She studied her son, her eyes unfocused. "I didn't do anything wrong,"

"No, you didn't," Jaenelle said gently, smiling. "You know Daemon's balls get in a twist when someone shouts that you've disappeared,"

Daemon gave his wife a wicked smile, a smile, Kagome had slowly learned, that meant he was going to get her back for that little statement.

"I didn't disappear," Tersa protested, motioning to Rin. "I was with the girl,"

"See?" Jaenelle looked towards Daemon, smiling sweetly. "She was with Rin,"

"Can you at least tell Ladvarian when you decide to leave the sight of your priestess?" Daemon sighed, his headache commanding most of his attention. Jaenelle made a mental note to give her husband a relaxing session of her own as soon as they were alone.

Tersa sighed. "If it will please the boy, then yes,"

"Thank you, sweetheart," He kissed his mother's forehead and let her leave with Rin to have a little discussion about males and their stubbornness.

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Of course not, but as long as she keeps coming back I'll be fine," Daemon sighed heavily. "But I wish she would tell us when she felt the urge to wander off on her own,"

"I think this would be a good time to slip away," Inuyasha nudged Kagome, smiling wickedly.

"Not today, Inuyasha..." Kagome moved away from him, walking in the general direction of the gardens. Puzzled, he followed her, wondering about her sudden change in moods. At breakfast she had seemed perfectly fine and now...

"Hey, what's wrong, Kagome?"

Kagome sighed, sitting down on the edge of the fountain in a huff, resting her head in her hands.

"Kagome?"

"Doesn't it strike you as weird that we've been here almost two weeks and Naraku hasn't made a move yet?"

"He was injured, maybe he's dead,"

"You know better than that, Inuyasha, I can tell. You and Sesshoumaru and even Daemon and Lucivar have been on edge for the passed few days. We all know the longer it takes, the worse the move could be," Kagome looked away from him, unable to look at him.

"There's something else bothering you, isn't there? Something about me,"

She sighed heavily, forcing herself to look up at him. "It's not...it's not what you think,"

"You haven't slept in the passed two nights, Kagome, and you don't fake sleep very well. Not that you could ever fool me,"

"How can I sleep, Inuyasha?" She asked, turning away from him again. He knelt in front of her, his fingers resting on her cheek, turning her head to face him. "Why can't you, Kagome?"

"Nightmares..."

"Oh..." He paused, perplexed. "Bad?"

"You've died in every one of them so far."

He stared at her, stunned by her bluntness. "That's why you can't sleep, Kagome? Because you dream of me dying every time? Why on earth would you dream that?"

"I don't know," Her voice sounded small, faint, it made her feel helpless and to Inuyasha it made her sound so vulnerable. "They started over the weekend after Jaenelle told me about the Weaver of Dreams."

Inuyasha growled, "And did you talk to Jaenelle about these dreams?"

"What?" She stared at him as he stood up, walking a few feet away from her. "Inuyasha, what did I do?"

"If these dreams involve me dying, then why can't you talk to me about them but you can easily talk to someone we hardly even know about them? We're mates now, Kagome, we're supposed to be able to talk to each other."

"And when's the last time we could ever talk to each other about anything and not get into an argument about it? Damnit, Inuyasha, it's hard, ok! Why don't you try waking up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat and scared to death because you just dreamed of killing your own mate!"

"What? You killed me in those nightmares?"

"See? You see what I'm talking about? This is why I can't talk to you about this!" Kagome sighed, getting up and walking away from him a few feet. If they started lashing out at each other she wanted to be far enough away from him that she wouldn't run the risk of grabbing his ears in the heat of the argument and twisting them until he screamed. "Every time I talk about something serious you blow up and act like I'm losing my mind!"

Inuyasha refused to take the bait. She was trying to start a fight to avoid having to tell him about the dream. It scared her, he could smell as much.

"Kagome..."

She stopped, looking at him, annoyed that he wasn't arguing with her. Was he just going to stand there and pretend to understand?

"Why would you want to kill me, Kagome?"

"I didn't say anything about wanting to kill you, Inuyasha. Lord knows I don't want you dead nor do I want to be the person to kill you. I don't even want to be a reason why you die!" Her hands were shaking so badly now that she couldn't hide it.

"Kagome," Inuyasha moved towards her, knowing she was braced for rejection. Slowly, cautiously, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. Kagome fought the tears she felt welling up in her eyes and gave in, leaning into his embrace. He didn't want to argue with her, he didn't want to push her away or call her crazy. She was finally beginning to understand what she meant to him and what he truly meant to her. She was his mate and he'd known she hadn't been sleeping and he was concerned for her. Hearing that she'd been having nightmares that kept her from getting any kind of rest at all is what had put him on edge. She paused in her thoughts, wondering why Sesshoumaru had been so edgy as well. Had Inuyasha tried to pick a fight with him or was something else going on?

That's when she noticed the gentle way he was comforting her, the careful way he touched her, mindful of his claws. She'd also noticed how he and the other males had been watching how she ate and what she did and didn't eat.

"Inuyasha?" She pushed back on his chest, perplexed and slightly confused. "Is there something going on?"

His gentle smile, the sparkling white of his fangs, and the glitter in his golden eyes, the obvious pride, startled her. "Inuyasha, is something wrong?"

"No, Kagome," The smile was still there.

"You know something, don't you? Inuyasha, what is it?"

"Ask me again tomorrow," He kissed her gently, softly, still smiling. "I'll be sure of it in the morning."

End of chapter! Awww, poor Inuyasha! Getting his hopes up so soon! To Flamegirl37c: YAY! Another reviewer! Thank you so much! To Snowecat: Thanks for the review! I guess I'm a bit rusty on Ladvarian, I was always caught up in Daemon and Jaenelle anyway. XDD

The next few chapters are already complete. I'm working on chapter 14 right now and probably 15 by the end of the night. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far!