A/N: Hello to all of my readers! I am so sorry that it has taken me this long in updating this story. As always, I truly did not mean leave all of you as I did, especially with the only updates being on my profile. Please forgive me. There have been so many things that have been going on that demanded my attention; I was pulled in hundreds of different directions. There were finals and then family crises, and then there was the fact that I need to apply for colleges and scholarships and FAFSA and all of that:gasp: And my computer upstairs decided that it wanted to shut down and I lost all of the data that I had done in the first place. Please forgive. I do love all of you and I thank you all for your patience. And today was the last day of my AP Exams so I will be less burdened with homework at school. I will be back to writing.
I did not mean for it to happen but in the end you must understand that I have other priorities besides this story, no matter how much I love it. And believe me, I love it! And I love all of you readers. You are the greatest!
I had a crisis with Shoni. She and I have drifted apart… It hurts and placed me in a situation where I feel as though my whole world has been turned upside down. But thank all of the stars that I have Priscilla. She has been a sister to me and the greatest friend. And of course, there is Wolf Blossom and Inuyasha-Is-My-Boyfriend. Without the three of them I would have crumbled beneath the weight of my despair.
You have probably noticed that I have a new character in this chapter. I want to tell all of those that read any stories on FanFiction that no one is making you read them. No one is telling you to open something that you do not wish to read, especially when the description says that there is a lemon in it. If this offends you then don't open it! This is going out to Aljan. She dared to hurt Inuyasha-Is-My-Boyfriend by making comments about her story that neither I nor anyone else cared for. Should you decide to do it again I will come after you. When you review on a story, use only constructive criticism. We as readers do not appreciate anything else. So Aljan you have earned my ever living ire for your existence. Now you shall pay with my humiliation of you through this story. Have a nice day.
Lime Warning to all of my readers! I hope you like, but if you do not then sorry. I just wanted to warn you before hand.
Thank You: A special thanks to the following people for reviewing thus far: bang bang baby B-A-N-G, PInK cuTie KaGomE-micael m, moonlitephox, yumemiru905, Kitsune Diva, Inu'sHardcoreBitchThatLovesRamen, kaginulover33, not a user , MikoNLove, haunting hanyou, Amarioko, EmeraldoftheFlame, Inudaughter, KhayenRose, kiaya, My Love Inuyasha, fallenangel7191, Hoshi Phoenix, Celestial Enchantress, Sakura-Blossom-Goddess, Neisha, Megan Consoer, Selina, Wolf Girl, Karen, Jen, caliste07, Kiss and Kill, CrazyLikeaFox, angicakesisinuyashasluvr, Lady Yevon, Kawaii-CherryWolf, WasteMyTime, waterangel444, InuFanJinx, Princess Ashes, Eri, Katie, angel-tears-16, Jen, jeeringsmiles, Selina, Wolf Girl, butterflywinds, Megan Consoer, Ivy-Crystal, Karen, Angel-Tears-16, Moongirlz, Vyx, Anne79, Forest Sentry Koneji, Ally Inu, PiperWolfBlossom, Moon-Miko-ashes, Insane-and-Psycho, Eri, Animefanatic1632, Apathy Angel, Raven657, Queen Tatooine, Danyu, marijang69, Jynx, Starr Stealer, Hand off the hanyou, a100rinchhead, Katie, MizuShoubai, Angel of Death 88, KougaDemonAddict, Lulu, Crystal, Sesshouismine, Lizz456, KatanaFox, Hanyou665, She-Demonstriss, none, short-tempered, twigy, ArtemisMoon, Hot Bitch (a.k.a. Celeste), Inuyasha-Is-My-Boyfriend, Crutches the Magic Hippie, Latinachica, Kagomeissosexy, Orlando-Inu-Lover, Hi, Annie, Tarzan, Kenshrix, Kinomoto, Dark Hanyou Lover, Shaq, InuFan4Life, AuronZs10, EarthQueen11492, LinaoftheLight, chickichicki, tomariella222, spotzplaya888, elementalobsession, Black Betty, InnocentDarkSassyCat, Dark Daimon Fate, Innocent Hope, dreamz-of-hope, azn-modern-miko, Lady Dark Angel, GohanzGirl, Schezerade7, Ria-chan, Shokora no Sakuhen, Embury, lyn, inuschopstiks, Silver Rain Drops, kawaii-arula, inu-kaglover45, Malitia, AzaraRubie, dragdr, and Alarnia. Thank you for sticking with me so far especially with my random updates and I sincerely hope that you continue to do so. Your words mean more to me than you -or I- may ever know. If I have forgotten anyone please let me know. I am sorry if I did.
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." -Mother Theresa
Dedication: This fanfiction is dedicated to Ria-chan, my little sister and best friend. She proof read the first two chapters of this story and has given me the inspiration to begin my story anew. But most important of all, she believes in me, which is why I posted this fic and for that I am eternally grateful. She has been my constant anchor when my world seems like it is turning upside down and inside out. She has been there for me and listened to my complaints and I thank every star at night for leading me to her. Thank you, Ria-chan! Love you lots, sweetie!
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. I bet that's all you readers hear and read when you see these disclaimers. They're the same every time. Inuyasha and the characters affiliated with him do not, in any way, belong to me. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Viz, Shogakuken, etc.
"Come, fair repentance, daughter of the skies! Soft harbinger of soon returning virtue; the weeping messenger of grace from heaven."
Thomas Browne
Chapter 12: Weeping Heart and Lustful Sighs
"They are at it again," Merideth sighed as she gathered another one of the sheets from the floors. Her hands skillfully folded it into a neat triangle and she placed it within the basket that she carried in her stout hands. Like most of the servants she was round and heavily bosomed.
A much younger maid stood next to her, wary eyes darting to the door. "I hope Lord Sesshomaru does not throw a fit as he did the last time. It nearly cost two maids their lives." Her small voice trembled to and fro as though hit by the roughest of winds. They all could recollect the many times that he had Lady Selena disagreed upon many a subject. But one that always caught is attention was his young wife's health.
But her companion said nothing to her words. She knew better than that. The lord's ears were keen of hearing and could easily detect anything was said, even if it were miles away. That was what had almost cost the maid's their lives. They had been giggling at the keyhole like two small girls as they watched their parents sneaking a kiss. But Sesshomaru had instantly loomed over them, a malevolent shadow with glowing amber eyes that were slightly darker than Inuyasha's.
"We best be moving, lassie," Merideth warned. But her eyes were caught and held by the other maid's movements. She was slowing inching toward the door as the others had done and pressing her ear to the polished wood. She wanted to hear what was going on… she was startled to hear just how furious Sesshomaru sounded. His voice bellowed, shaking every antique that littered the shelves in their sleeping chambers.
The dog demon stalked the length of the room without obvious stop. His hands were held clenched behind his back and because of the grip, the knuckles had turned a ghastly pale color that matched the white and furry tail that trailed over his shoulder. Selena loved that tail… "I do not approve of this, Lena!"
Selena raised her hands into the air in perfect martyr's fashion. But the action caused her to wince slightly as she dropped her hands to lay them on her swollen stomach. She rubbed the soft mound beneath her dress, trying to suppress another laugh when Sesshomaru rounded and once again paced the other way across the chamber. Each step was not wasted in the least. "So I have heard, my love," she assured him. "Over and over you have told me exactly how much you disapprove."
Sesshomaru paused his tirade when the mocking tone of her voice was suddenly dawning upon him. Did she dare! Very slowly, more like the predator's walk than a normal one, Sesshomaru turned around so that he could see the sweetened smile upon Selena's lips, the glint of her eyes as she watched him. There was tenderness in her gaze that he tried to ignore because he did not wish to go easy on her this time. He wanted to place his foot down on something but with that unnerving smile he found himself falling onto a very shaky precipice.
"Do you mock me, mate?" he wondered in a dangerously low voice. He looked his most intimidating as he loomed over her. The incredible height difference that was between them was made all the more apparent. Even her fragility was so much more intense compared to her mate.
Selena did not seem in the least bit intimidated. There was the usual smile on her ruby lips, the usual flutter of her beautiful eyelashes as they swept up to see him. "You are quite perceptive. I am glad I did not marry a fool." She laughed at the darkening expression that was on his features, at the way she saw his muscle spasm in his jaw when he was irritated with something that she said. Which was often, she noted with a wry grin.
Sesshomaru's hands lifted before Selena could see them move and touched the fluttering pulse at her neck. They stroked her soft flesh as his body gracefully rounded her until he was pressed intimately at her back. Selena moaned softly at his caress, hating him vaguely for what he was doing to her body. "Such a lovely little neck you have," he whispered sensually in her ear, kissing Selena's temple. "It would be a shame if I have to break it." Sesshomaru sounded serious, but Selena knew better. She knew that he was joking lightly with her.
She leaned back against his form and smiled, laying her hands over his. His skin was so soft to the touch; and so warm. She wanted this moment to last because she never felt as though they had enough time with one another. He was away most of the day and she would need to go out to the villages soon to oversee the women there. She would need to be sure that they were healthy. "My love, break it only if I could have one more kiss from you."
Sesshomaru groaned as she turned in his arms, pressing her lips to his. But he noticed with small hints of amusement that she had to stand on the tip of her toes to accomplish such a feat. It reminded him with a pained obviousness that she was so tiny in comparison to his own tall, broad form. Sesshomaru tightened his arms around her, fully dragging her as close as her bulging stomach would allow him to. He did not wish to hurt the babe that was growing inside of her. Sesshomaru molded her mouth beneath his as a growl rumbled deep in his chest at how he was stiffening with the feel of her in his arms once again. When both of their lungs screamed for air, he was forced to draw back for the both of their sakes. More so Selena's than his.
"Hurry and have this baby, love," he whispered in heaving breaths that sent shivers rocketing down his mate's spine. "I want to take you into our bed and…" His voice dropped to a seductive whisper as he told her every little detail, every little attention that he would lavish on her waiting and open body. Bright crimson color bloomed in Selena's cheeks. She felt the burn all the way to her toes as she sucked in a quick breath.
"Damn you. Now I am impatient as well," she hissed at him. Her eyes sparked with every level of irritation. How dare he do this to her!
And to her further irritation, her dear mate was smiling rakishly. He was glad to see her in as much discomfort as he had been these passing six months. He had missed his Selena in these months; missed her mewls of pleasure… His lips trailed a small path across her silken cheek until he could nibble at the corner of her mouth. But before he could claim her once again Sesshomaru felt something lurch against his abdomen. He felt a distinct… kick. His golden eyes fell to the small space between them. "Someone wishes to separate us." His large hand spanned the entirety of her skin. Another kick pushed impatiently at his hand as though telling him to leave.
Selena laughed whole heartedly as she rubbed the mound of her rounded stomach. "Listen to me, be you son or daughter, I will have no more insubordination from you." Her tone sounded so serious that Sesshomaru found himself laughing, his voice carrying freely from wall to wall and corner to corner.
Selena loved the sound of that laugh. He did not laugh often, but when he did around her it filled her heart to brimming. She smiled at him in that loving way that she always did. It proved to draw his attention to her breath taking features and his hand to be attracted to her silken flesh. He grazed the pads of his fingers over her flesh and gently tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear. "Must you train Lady Kagome in the ways of water? Must you decide to have her under your tutelage? I worry for our child."
To emphasize his point he spread his large hand farther over her belly. He did not wish her to tire, to do anything that he found unfitting and potentially dangerous to her fragile health. Which was everything if he took the time to think about it, but he did not dare because Selena would argue with them. And she would most likely win.
Selena pressed her cheek sweetly to his chest, over his heart beat to listen to the thunderous rhythm that sounded like the distant flutter of lightening in the distance. "You always worry, my love," she whispered softly. "But you need not. I have no use of my powers when I am this far along. I will only teach her how to use her own in hopes that she may catch on. She has an amazing strength inside of her."
That did nothing to ease the tension that weighed on every muscle that was in Sesshomaru's body. In fact, they only seemed to tighten as one of them spasmed in his jaw once again. "Then if you are to this foolish act, which I highly do not approve of, mate, then be careful. It is her power that I am worried over. Miroku has told me many things of what she is capable of," he admonished in his most serious tone. This one held no ounce of playfulness in it. Selena swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, only finding the strength to nod and smile for him. She wanted to reassure him.
"I promise, Sesshomaru," she whispered before embracing him once again. That might have reassured any other man; that might have dared to brush away the pattern of fear that was in his body, but not in Sesshomaru. This demon was nowhere near the point of relaxation. But his mate was as stubborn as he was. "If I do not then how will I ever be able to go to the ball? I will be extra careful and then you can sweep me off my feet as we waltz." Their laughs mingled gently.
"Then I will leave you for now," he murmured to her. "I have unfinished work with the king today." He gave her one last peck on the cheek, simply because he had to before he reluctantly pulled away and began to walk toward the door. His face was still etched in concern when his hand enclosed the door knob and swung the door open. But as he did so, the maid that had been listening at the door thumped to the floor with wide, enlarged eyes that seemed to be saucers in her face.
Someone had been listening in on their conversation… The girl swallowed audibly and with a little squeak when those sharp fangs glimmered in the light. They lengthened from their very sheaths. "Forgive me…" she managed to choke out, scrambling to her feet so that she may bow. But Sesshomaru did not allow her the chance.
"What the hell do you think you are doing!" he bellowed, his roar encompassing all of them as it sent the maid scurrying away with her skirt dragging behind her. Selena felt another headache come on as the new maid screamed; Sesshomaru was stalking toward her lethally as though he were the predator and she the prey. Selena had a distinct feeling that she would need another maid after this…
"Did you find out who that girl was, Aljan?" came the slithering voice, almost as smooth as the hair brush that slipped through Kikyo's silken tresses. She was seated at her vanity, at the incredibly tall mirror that took up half of the wall with its entirety. Kikyo enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror. She liked to see the beauty that she had worked so hard for. Everything about her was perfection, right down to the loveliness of her toes as they sparkled in their perfectly manicured brilliance.
Kikyo spoke to a young woman that was seated behind her. She was seated on a small cushion as though she were some treasured thing when, in fact, Kikyo cared more for the raven that was perched on the stool close to her side. Aljan was little less than nothing to the woman that she called her mistress. She was below pond scum. Its bottomless eyes of ebony looked to Aljan with a doomed existence. As though it alone could dare to mock her, would dare to take her life should Kikyo allow it so. Aljan swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked to her mistress. She was expecting an answer… But Aljan did not wish to give to her because if she did then she might not survive the experience.
"Yes, I did, My Lady," she whispered, twisting her hands nervously in her lap. Please do not ask… she pleaded silently in her head. She did not wish to say anything to Kikyo to bring about her anger.
And that frown that was no creasing her smooth skin foretold of a future desire for vengeance, for revenge against the one that had wronged her. "Well? Who is she, Aljan!" Kikyo demanded as she swiveled her head in that direction and watched her. The woman's impatience was rising by the moment, with each breath that was taken into her lungs and expelled through her bright ruby lips. "Tell me."
"The girl's name is Kagome. I have heard from the servants that she has come from the human world; she was thought to be a mortal. But there is something else." Aljan's quaking voice dropped lower, thinking that someone would be able to hear her should her voice be any louder than a mouse's scurry over the tile floor. "They say that she is the true Maiden of Twilight. She has the blood of Lord Sariel running through her veins-"
The assistant to Kikyo never had the chance to finish her sentence. Kikyo's palm slammed into Aljan's cheek without mercy or remorse. The force of it flung her back to the floor and had her sprawled there was a sacrifice to those that would want her putrid flesh. Her mistress had jumped to her feet in an instant, the movement jarring the delicate toiletries on her vanity and strewed them across the floor. The sound of shattering glass was loud and obscene in what once had been a serene silence.
"She is said to be what!" Kikyo screamed shrilly, her voice taking on a desperate tone. She could not believe what she was hearing! How dare they fling her away like some whore out of a brothel!
Aljan cowered away. Kikyo's features were a mask of rage. The lines that the make up covered so expertly now deepened into deep crevices, rivers of her displeasure at her life and what had transpired. Kikyo was simply never satisfied. She wanted more and more when there was nothing left to give. What more could be given to someone that only wished to have what she could not dare to possess? Anger flickered over Kikyo's lashes and her mouth became one long slash across her face. No longer was it soft and subtle, but cruel and the only color in her pale features. "How dare you tell me this news! I never want to hear those words from your mouth again, do you understand?"
The words were reinforced by a harsh, resounding smack upon Aljan's other cheek. Her head snapped to the other side so that she staring into the other large mirror that covered the opposite side of the room. In comparison to Kikyo she was so tiny… She was weak, helpless, everything Kikyo wanted of her and so much more. And she fit that mold because she was made for it.
When Aljan spoke, her voice shook rapidly in fear. "I only told you what you wanted to know, Lady Kikyo. I did not mean-" Her voice was cut off by another one of Kikyo's screams.
"Do not offer excuses!" The woman whirled around quickly to stomp away to the bed that had once been hers and Inuyasha's. The Maiden! That skinny, little brat with her high airs of regalty. Did she dare to think that she was so easily replaced? She would be sure to make her pay for everything that she had put her through. She would know her wrath because no one left her unscathed. Not even Inuyasha. Because he believed her, because she had heard the rumors, Kagome would know that she would pay a dear, dear price.
No one dared to touch what was hers- be it her property or her title. All of it was hers. She had worked far too hard and too long for what she had. And she would not lose it to someone that dared to claim that she was the Maiden of Twilight.
"Aljan, tell me where Inuyasha is right now," Kikyo asked as her anger began to subside as quickly as it had come. She had always been like that. When the schemes were dancing in her head all of the fury that was a storm deep in her body became nothing more than a simmering volcano. It slept, but ever ready to explode whenever the need called for it.
Aljan took that opportunity to rise unsteadily to her feet. If Kikyo so much as looked at her once again she would collapse on the spot. "He is in his quarters. I saw him there just this morning and it is rumored that he has not left."
Kikyo's eyes narrowed into deep slits, two pools of brown lava. So molten to the touch that one brush from her gaze would ignite someone aflame. "You dared to go into his room?" Kikyo stalked to her and every movement that she made was deliberate. No step was wasted. Once again, with almost the same force as before Kikyo's palm left a brightened mark upon Aljan's cheek. But the pain had dulled for the moment. There was barely any skin left to be told of on her cheek; she had been slapped too many times. The nerves were shot, the connections all but severed. "I told you that I would be the only one to look upon his body, you little whore."
Aljan nodded, earning yet another beating to the side of her head, this time with the force of Kikyo's hair brush. Why did she take the punishment? Why did she have to endure such a thing as though she were the only one in the world that had ever committed a sin? It was that same small voice, that same slithering whisper that invaded her mind from time to time and made it so much harder to breathe and think as she should be. As Kikyo had taught her. The pain was never what she thought about. It was the irony of it all.
She saw Kikyo as her savior, as someone that would always want her. She wanted always what she could not have. As Kikyo did. So in a way they were meant for one another. That had its own writ of irony resounding in those silent depths. Both of them were meant to be with one another. A sort of mother and daughter with little effort as to what was needed to keep going in this life. But at the same time, Aljan kept a quiet hatred about her. She hated Kikyo with the fiber of one that hated the wilting of a rose. It was beautiful as it died, but the resentment showed clear just the same for not lasting as long as one might have liked. And this reasoning kept Aljan from lashing out every time she was hit. She wanted to show this woman the same treatment that she was being given.
Kikyo curled her fingers together in knitted thought. She would need Inuyasha back for all of this to come together. She would punish him. But more importantly, punish her. That matter above all. "Well, a visit to my little dog demon would be quite a surprise of the both of us," she whispered to herself, slipping out of the dress she wore with Aljan's help. The only thing that she swept around herself was a silken robe, small bouts of fur at the corners of the sleeves and around the collar. The nipples of her breasts stood out in invitation for Inuyasha's hot mouth to mold her.
"Stay here and clean what you must. I want everything spotless for my little puppet when I bring him to my bed," Kikyo purred, running her hands over her ample form.
"Kagome?" Selena called out as she walked into the room. The servants had told her the Maiden would be here. They had all seemed in awe of her and would not approach the woman. Not many of the people in this place would. But she had found out that Rin and Shippo were playing with her. That, above all, brought a smile to her features. Rin made friends with everyone.
Maybe she would be able to bring Kagome out of her shell. The poor thing was far too cautious as though all of them would harm her. They had already felt the first stirrings of affection for her. Anyone that could possibly love Inuyasha was to be admired. But she could not blame her. Being with Shardul must have been the most traumatizing… She could not imagine what Kagome had gone through. Selena hoped that she would be able to help her.
As always the kids' nursery was messy and disorganized. The maids could not possibly keep up with Rin and with Shippo at times. They were far too active at times and Selena found herself constantly going through interviews with new girls that were naïve enough to want to be maids and nannies for her child. But Shippo was far more reserved than her Rin. He did like to be thought of as a child but at times- when he thought no one was looking –he could be seen playing by himself. And looking ever so lonely.
Selena sighed. Everyone that lived here seemed to be lonely, seemed to be sad and in need of affection. There were very few that did not need that. But those that did filled this world and the next.
The rustle of her silken skirts filled the air as she continued to walk down the small hallway. If she were not in the nursery, then where would she be? Selena began to grow a little anxious. How would she be able to find her now? Not even the sound of the children could be heard. The nervousness was eating away at her slowly. Maybe it was the baby? Her nerves were constantly being worked. And her mood was swinging back and forth at the most inopportune times.
"Kagome?" Selena called out once again, cracking the door open to the children's bedrooms. As she stepped in, an inattentive Rin ran right into her legs. The small hands curled into the costly fabric. Silk?
Rin tilted her head all the way back to look into her mother's smiling face. It left her fragile neck thoroughly exposed as though someone would be able to break it so easily… "Mommy!" the little girl cried as she opened her arms wide. She wished to be embraced. She was always in constant need of affection. She loved to be kissed and cuddled. And Selena was more than happy to oblige. She knelt upon one knee very carefully and drew the little girl into her arms.
Rin was careful not to brush across her mother's stomach. She wanted the baby to be safe so that she could have a new baby brother or sister! She could not wait! "Hello, Mommy!"
"Hello, my love. What have you been doing this whole time? I have not heard a word out of my little girl." There was a small note of suspicion in her voice, but it was playful and loving. Rin smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Both of her palms were held up in the air. She had nothing…
Rin snuggled close to her mother, tucking her face beneath her chin with a small sigh. She loved to be by her mother. She loved to have her hugs and her kisses and attention. But that might all change with the new baby. Rin somehow knew that. All children did when they were faced with the same prospects. She did not need to be told that there would be more attention placed on the new arrival. "I was playing with Kagome and Shippo. We were having so much fun!" Rin announced excitedly, clapping her hands together. "But I cannot find Kagome. She left after she started crying. I didn't want to make her cry, Mommy. Honest!"
Selena sighed. "I know. Kagome is not crying because of you." Her lips pressed against Rin's forehead tenderly. "Go and play with Shippo. I will find her and bring her back so that you can play some more."
Rin's eyes widened, becoming two large brilliant gems in her face. "Yes, that would be great! Then you and me and Kagome can play together with my dolls."
Rin's slippered feet took her from her mother's arms for just one moment before a thought suddenly struck at her. Immediately she returned to embrace her mother as deeply as she was able. "Thank you, Mommy!"
Selena laughed as she watched her daughter run off, calling Shippo's name. He would not come of course. Like Kagome he was silent and brooding at times. And shy. It must have been hard to lose his parents at so young an age. But Kagome would do wonders for him. As she would with Inuyasha. Selena pushed herself onto her feet, her arms going out to balance herself when gravity took its toll. She did not wish to fall.
Kagome… She knew where she would be. And why she would be hiding. But all the same did it hurt her to know that Kagome was weeping somewhere by herself. She was so lost, so forlorn. And she needed someone. Selena knew that she needed Inuyasha, but he was far too stubborn to know what he had. So she would have to show him.
Kagome heard the footsteps and did not lift her head. She had not the strength to try even. Her ebony head was cradled in her arms, pillowed by her knees in an effort to muffle the heart breaking sounds that came from her lips. The tears dripped in thick rivers down her rounded cheeks. They cut through her skin with their agony and the defeat she felt in her bones.
She wanted to go home. That was all. She wanted to go home and be with Souta and with her mother. She wanted so badly to cry in her mother's arms! Only hers… Only. Kagome started when a pair of arms wrapped about her shoulders and- blindly –she turned into them. She sought comfort in the warmth of Selena, knowing that it was her. She knew and craved the comfort of her presence. She was the only one that could possibly understand all that had happened to her. She alone would know what she was going through. And somewhere in the back of her mind Kagome sensed that. She somehow knew that Selena would come; she had waited for her all this time. Selena knew to find her in the old nurseries that had once belonged to other children.
"There, there," Selena cooed as though talking to a child. "Everything will be alright." Kagome's shoulders shook with enough force to rattle both of their frames. Selena tightened her arms over the weeping girl protectively. "You can tell me."
It was a simple plea. One that would allow Kagome to back away when she wished to. She did not have to tell. But she wanted to. Like she had done with Inuyasha, Kagome pressed her cheek to Selena's chest and spoke. "I'm scared. There is so much happening to me. There are so many things happening to my body and all of it is happening so quickly!" Kagome cried out. Her eyes were pinched shut to block out everything else except this moment. She wished to just disappear. "My body is not my own anymore; I do not know when all of it will stop."
There was too much going on in her. Kagome could feel herself stretching to accommodate all of these unknown powers. Muscles changed, shaped and shifted. The rustle of wings was always in her ears as though she could hear it in her own body as clearly as her heartbeat. They pounded in her mind like the force of so many small hammers. Her head was ready to split into two pieces. And Kagome had no control. Above all that frightened her. Above all she wanted to be in control of all that was going on inside of her. For the first time since arriving here in Madrien, Kagome had no control over anything. She longed for Inuyasha, she longed to have her body stop whatever transformation it was undergoing and become normal once again.
Selena listened silently. She offered only the warmth of her presence to sooth Kagome. Mere words could not hope to heal what all of this had wrought upon her. That would come at a later Her slender hand stroked Kagome's back, reassuring her with contact. Contact would calm her tears.
"I saw them playing together, Rin and Shippo. I saw how happy they were and I absorbed it as well." Kagome's tears were beginning to lessen. The distant touch of rain was coming from Selena. So this was the healing powers that Inuyasha had talked of… Kagome wished that she would know it. She wanted to be able to do that at will.
A glimmer of understanding bloomed in Selena's breast. Her caresses never stopped, never lessened in fear that Kagome would panic. She used only the smallest amount of powers for Kagome was susceptible to energy; she would absorb it as her body saw fit. Plus, she did not wish to tire herself out. "You feel guilt for the happiness," Selena supplied gently.
As she had suspected, Kagome nodded her head. "Souta, my little brother, is back in my world. He is worrying over me and here I am laughing and taking all of this positive energy into myself. I should not. Not when he is worrying so much." Kagome's voice had softened. Selena had to crane her hearing to listen the words. Kagome looked off into nothing for long moments.
"I just want to go home, Selena. I want to see them him again. I want to hold him," she murmured in lament. "I want to see my mother again. But she would not be anxious over me." Not Hitomi. She was probably in one of her drunken stupors again.
Selena frowned. Her mother would not worry over her own daughter's absence? What kind of woman was she? Instead of touching on the subject, Selena merely pressed a small kiss to Kagome's forehead. Her tears had faded into occasional sniffles and indrawn breaths for air. Air for her starving lungs and empty heart. "There is not need to feel guilt," Selena explained, tilting Kagome's chin up with one finger. "You have done nothing wrong, my dear. All you want is what every other living creature wants- and that is joy. Remember, happiness is fleeting. There is not wrong in wanting a mere brush of happiness when you have been through so much."
Kagome listened to her words, absorbed them, took her comfort from the fact that there were no reprimands and no words had been forthcoming while she had wept. Kagome had needed someone to listen to her and Selena had come. More tears threatened to spill over. Selena's kindness was a healing balm. "Thank you," she whispered, snuggling close to Selena once more. The young woman was everything that Kagome had ever wanted as a mother. She had hoped her own would be exactly like this woman. It was not meant to be.
"There is no need for gratitude. I knew you would be here. I use to come here often to cry out my frustrations when I became Sesshomaru's mate. It was not a willing merger, mind you."
Kagome opened her eyes when she knew she would not continue to cry. "It was an arranged marriage?" she inquired, the curiosity getting the better of her.
Selena laughed. "If you would like to be kind about it, I guess you could say that. Actually it was more of Sesshomaru wanting me and then dragging me here without my consent," she mused with another light laugh. The image she conjured up was so hilarious that Kagome joined in her mirth. All tears were forgotten.
"You make it sound as though he threw you over his shoulder like some Neanderthal, then carried you here to his cave. This is hardly a cave, Selena," Kagome pointed out reasonably. All of the women she had read about in her studies would have loved places like these. It was far more than what some settled for.
Selena shifted her body to make herself more comfortable on the plush carpet. And her baby was kicking again. He- or she –needed room to do their little exercises. Kagome's presence seemed to provide Selena with energy and she was grateful for it. She needed all that she would be able to get before this day was out.
"In a way he did. And I came from a humble little village up north. It was very far from here. This entire castle was so new to me and overwhelming. And Sesshomaru was far more intense than anyone that I have ever known. He bowed down to no one; he took what he wanted without remorse." The crimson eyes that Selena possessed became distant as she traveled back to a time that seemed only yesterday to her. "But he has changed now. People say that I have done that to him. I think it was in him all along: the kindness and the compassion. He has a harder time than most expressing it."
Like his brother Inuyasha. Kagome heard that as loudly as though Selena had spoken it out loud. She swallowed the lump in her throat, remembering his kisses and his words. He would not allow her to go peacefully from what they had… And from all that she had gathered about him and his family it as not a vow that he would take lightly. Kagome did not touch on that. She did not want to mention Inuyasha or what he meant to her. She was supposed to drive him from her mind.
Selena sensed Kagome's apprehension as she held her close. Sooner or later she would see that they were meant for one another. Perhaps Kagome already knew. But it was Inuyasha that needed to know; he was the one that thought he would be able to leave her as easily as he had dropped all of the other lovers that he took. She had seen them come and go each time.
"Do not think that you have to come here to cry. We have come to see you as one of us, Kagome, and wish you to come to us. We will care for you and wipe the tears away. There are times to be alone, to have your solitude. Now is not the time." Selena's voice was firm with her as she forced Kagome to face her squarely in the eyes. She demanded nothing less. "What is happening to you is your destiny. You must accept it; it will make you stronger. It will help you to live. And the sooner than you do is the sooner that you will be able to go home to your family. Do you understand?"
Her words rang true as nothing else. They were exactly what Kagome needed to hear at this time. They were the words a mother would say to her had she cared enough to bother, to care. "I know," she finally acknowledged that Selena had spoken and Kagome had heard. It was a small child addressing her mother when she had said the wrong thing. "I know." The words came as a softened sigh, a whisper of sound that was barely there. And the tension was exhaled from her lips once again as Selena's hands ran through her hair in a delicate pattern. They could not reach the tips for they were far too long. The tresses were now stretched among the floor- ebony vines of reaching fingers.
"I have just the thing that will cheer you up," Selena said suddenly. The silence had set in far too much at the time. It choked off the air, suffocated them fully. "Come with me."
Kagome's smile bloomed fully upon her lips as her wrist wiped the last of the crystal drops of tears away from her cheeks. She wanted to humor Selena and do what she wanted so that she would be able to repay her for what she had done. But Kagome now looked down to Selena with some amusement as she tried to rise to her feet. But being six months pregnant had its difficulties.
"Do you need some help?" Kagome inquired in a mocking tone. It earned a frown of disapproval from Selena and a look that clearly said that she would do something harmful should Kagome decide to make fun of her once again. Kagome giggled at her expression for long minutes, which only caused Selena's irritation to grow. But it was always playful. At least the Maiden was not crying any longer.
Selena took the offered hand. Kagome and her struggled to keep Selena graceful as she seemed to waddle back and forth. "I swear I would have never condoned this for women!" Selena exclaimed with the same petulant expression as her daughter often did. "Men should be given this problem and we would have to do nothing about it but the eating part. Which reminds me…" She was hungry…
Kagome raised an eyebrow but only laughed when Selena's hands pressed to the small of her back. She was leading her to the door. "After we get my snack we shall go to see Madame Le Salle. She will help us with your gowns."
Kagome gasped as she turned her head toward her. "Gowns!"
"You will go to the ball that they are having," Naraku murmured, his voice slithering over Teinen with what seemed the worst of intentions. But he loved it. He loved to hear the way he talked, the way he breathed and seemed to purr his distaste. It was all that he could do not to take him… But those thoughts were best kept to himself.
"You will find my Maiden and bring her to me. And this time you will not fail. I will be sending Naku with you and with his powers you will be far more useful to me." The small sting hurt more than Teinen could even begin to say as he nodded. He bowed his head when Naraku passed.
The scent of his robes was light and sinister, as much as he was and Teinen inhaled lovingly. Lust filled his every pore, filled him to brimming. It dawned high upon him and all that he could do was allow it wash over him like a drug. A precious drug of nothing but those intense highs. He needed them more than ever now. He needed to be lost in them while he tried to control his jealousy. It was rearing its head more than ever now. That Maiden was stealing his lover from him. And he would be sure to make her pay with every bit of energy that he had. Especially after what she had done to him.
Teinen's hand crept up to his throat where a small gash remained from his encounter with her. It had taken days to heal. But he could still feel her power run through his veins. It seared his blood and the worst of it was that it was threatening to purify him. Her light drove the darkness from the corners so that it could burn up in the sheer force of her energy. How he hated her. His heart beat fueled it. Each blink of his eyes emphasized it.
"I will do as you ask, my lord," Teinen murmured. But it did not look like Naraku had heard him. He was too busy staring out at the windows. He was watching the way that the sun set behind the vast expanse of the mountains. A blazing heart sinking beneath the weight of the midnight demons that would come lurking… How fortunate that he would be able to witness such a thing… "My lord?"
"Come here to me, Teinen." For a moment, the servant thought that he had not heard his master correctly. Come… to him? "Teinen!" Naraku snapped when he noticed that he was being quite inattentive. Instantly he snapped to attention and moved to scramble to Naraku's side. The pale hands that were clothed in thick leather gloves pulled Teinen forward and stretched him across his chest. The intimate touch left Teinen breathless. And wanting more.
Naraku's lips dipped to brush the gentlest of kisses over Teinen's exposed neck. But that did not seem to be possible for him. And though the sensations were gradually creeping underneath his skin he did not like this. At all. This was not the Naraku he wanted. Teinen glared up at Naraku with a less than pleased look, shoving him back into the wall. Naraku was surprised for just one moment as he looked to the once meek man. He would have never tried anything like this had he even dared to say so. But the adrenaline was getting the better of him. Naraku's body was hard and masculine against his but the cradle of his hips was only softness.
Teinen's lips smashed over his silken ones, parting them and invading the sleek cavern of his mouth. He tasted as he had always thought he would: molten and dark. Teinen moaned into his mouth, flicking his tongue over Naraku's. But the man was doing nothing in response. If anything he stood rigid and defined. It proved to only escalate Teinen's passion, his need. He wanted more and more of this. Naraku's cold passion was more than he was able to handle. He had waited for this moment so long and now that he was living the fantasy there was nothing but a stiff, unyielding body. As instinct replaced the lust, Teinen moaned somewhere deep in his throat. A low sound of primal need suppressed by years of want and a deadly game of cat and mouse. Neither knew who was which- was he predator or prey?
Teinen insistently ground his hips into Naraku's. It was there that held what he had wanted. It was there that held everything that he wished to do for his master. A slow friction began and burned low into Teinen's belly, spreading to his already-growing member.
Naraku allowed himself to be pushed further into the wall, allowed Teinen's hands to wander as they pleased. In a way he enjoyed this. But not in the sense that one might think. The warm hands that were spreading erotic circles into his flesh were not pleasurable, but he took his own satisfaction from their air of hopelessness, from how desperate Teinen was. He was a child looking for affection. He was a little lost puppy starving for one little hand out. And just as the world turned them both down Naraku did the same.
His pale, slender hands shoved Teinen to the floor. His crimson eyes watched the way he sprawled among the cobblestone. Darkness overpowered by the deeper darkness of the heart. How ironic. A sinister smirk spread over his features as he raked Teinen's body with a mere gaze, a mere brush of his eyes that sent a shiver through his slave's flushed form. He had been fooled. Again. And though it was Teinen that was embarrassed, ashamed, Naraku took pleasure in his violent arousal.
"Oh, my little pet," he cooed in a voice too gentle to be truly real, "you have showered such attention on me." Naraku knelt upon the ground and reached his hand out. The white fingers splayed over the other man's chest, finding one erect nipple and cruelly, but slowly, caressing it. Teinen opened his mouth to say something but all that he could manage was a large moan. It was guttural, utterly weak. But what could he expect? To have Naraku touching him… Teinen threw back his head as Naraku moved closer, pushing him onto the floor just as roughly as he had been thrown.
Such sweet caresses…Such tempting possibilities that were swirling in his mind. It filled to brimming with every fantasy that he had ever been able to conjure up from the darkest recesses of his mind. They swirled, danced and plunged into every nerve as he longed for Naraku to do. Take me... He almost said those words out loud. Please, take me.
The moment that Naraku's fingers slipped over his erect shaft Teinen nearly burst. His hips lifted from the ground and straight into the cold palm that was enfolding him in liquid fire. Small gasps escaped his throat as though his lungs were crying out for the air that he was surrounded by. How could so little of it come when there was so much? Yes, that was it. Just a little more. Something kept Teinen from rising. Naraku's powers bound his wrists and ankles, shackled him to the unyielding floor as he wished to be shackled to his master's body. But the pleasure soon bordered on pain when Naraku tightened his grip suddenly.
"You want my attention?" Naraku hissed, all the airs of sensuality gone from his body. He now towered over his chattel with little regard to anything that he had said or done. His fingers worked bruisingly into Teinen's erection, squeezing without regard to the sensitive flesh. "Here it is, Teinen. Here is all the attention you will ever get from me!" Cruelly did he stroke Teinen and tortured him with release. He wanted him to feel that ache. He wanted him to feel what it was like to burn over something.
"Please, master," Teinen whimpered. "Allow me… allow me…" He could not even choke the words out. Pleasure/pain was all that he could feel. It pounded the rhythm of his heart, beaded the sweat over his body until he glistened in the candlelight. Blood roared in his ears. He could hear nothing, except his wheezing lungs; he could feel nothing, except the silken glide of Naraku's devilish play upon his already bruised flesh. They, too, throbbed in tune to his pulse.
Naraku leaned in close so that when he spoke his lips were brushing into Teinen's open mouth. "Allow you what, little pet? Could it be the release that you long for?" Naraku dipped to claim the man's mouth, plundering the heady taste of his mouth with plunging strokes of his tongue. It only inflamed Teinen more. He knew that erotic dance and the fact that Naraku had ceased his strokes caused him to cry out. He tried to twist his hips in a desperate attempt for shallow passion, but Naraku withdrew.
As he turned there was a loud, frustrated cry of loss, of an unfulfilled need. Teinen could not rise. He was left straining against his invisible bonds. He needed release! His mind, his body, everything screamed that inside of him over and over until he could not stand it any longer. Tears- to his horror –began to collect in his eyes, flowing like so many rivers down his cheeks. "Naraku…" he pleaded softly, knowing that his master's powers were also intensifying his need.
"Attend the ball. Do not fail me, Teinen," Naraku said offhandedly. "I do not tolerate failure."
"It was my greatest endeavor yet," Madame Ariana stated dramatically, fanning herself as she came to Selena's side. "But I can assuredly have all of these gowns done by tomorrow night. It will be my greatest masterpiece!"
Selena laughed, her voice carrying from room to room as she watched the woman approach her. Standing at a mere four feet and eleven inches, Ariana was nothing short of regal. She carried the airs of a polished aristocrat. Her every feature craved attention, from her pert nose to the wayward smirk upon her lips. Flowing red hair complimented a creamy complexion and a definite air of command. "I have always thought you to be the epitome of good taste, Ariana," she stroked her ego with a natural flare.
"I know." The words came out as a sigh. Ariana had always known this from the day that she was born. She was made for designing gowns for the nobility of her country. And she did it with flare. "But though your words are well chosen neither my embraces nor my services come for free."
Selena shared the mysterious twinkle in the woman's eyes, the softened curve of their lips. Nothing came for free when it was Ariana. Her prices ran to the extreme and then some. "Of course. Your payment awaits you with my assistant," Selena reassured her. She patted the small woman's hand tenderly.
Ariana looked smug, enough for that expression to be forever frozen in her features. She always managed to seem the superior in any case, especially over her workers. She designed. Her workers sowed. It had all added up to her success and she so reveled in it.
"You said you would be training me, Selena. How can this be part of it?" Kagome inquired as she wrapped her arms about herself. They had pinned and prodded her until she was soar. Truthfully the sound of training was deafening to her ears but she had to say something to bring herself back to the present time. They were ignoring her as they chatted.
Selena shrugged and waved at her from the other side of the room. "If I train you I will be much too weak to accompany you to the ball." Her voice implied that she was speaking to someone that did not understand reasoning. But her tone was kind and patient. "I want to see you in all of the wonderful gowns Ariana will be making for you."
"But these are much too expensive!" Kagome cried out as she looked down to the silks they had chosen. The yards of fabric lay stretched as though a magnificent rainbow of emeralds and sapphires and rubies. All of them were made to compliment her eyes, bring about the luscious parting of her lips as her tongue darted out to moisten them innocently. Selena was laughing at her…
The woman waved her hand at Kagome as though what she had said meant nothing to her or to anyone else. "Kagome, you do not have to worry about that. You are my guest in this house and soon to be my younger sister. I will not have you tramping about with my old clothing," she said firmly, though her lips were curved. "Anyway, you cannot possibly be introduced to the king when you have old dresses gracing your form."
For that one breathless moment as Ariana and Selena talked, Kagome stood motionless. Her breath had strangled in her throat almost painfully. Meet… the king? They were going to introduce her to the highest order in their land? Her eyes were cast down to stare at the gifts that Selena was so generously giving to her. The king… She had a feeling that the only reason that she would be able to meet him was because of the fact that she was the Maiden of Twilight. Of course he would want to meet her. She was the Maiden, her father had been one of the original keepers of the Scepter.
But… would everyone else be so insistent on seeing the daughter of a man that had abandoned their kingdom?
A/N: Well, here is Chapter 12. Mostly it has become a filler chapter and the next one will have the ball. I have such evil things planned for Inuyasha and Kagome in the future. Thank you all for sticking by me with my erratic updates! I love you all! Please press the tempting purple button and submit a review!