The middle kingdom palace was beautiful. In front of her was a large building, it seemed to be the largest on the palace grounds. Shippo led them to it and men who had everything covered but their eyes leaned over, grabbed the door handles and opened it.

Kagome caught her breath as she gazed at the beauty that beheld her. It was one large room with eight thrones at one end and pillows and mats all through the other end. In the middle of the room twelve women stood. These women were all wearing the same outfits and hairstyles. Shippo walked ahead of them and called out,

"I need Lady Sango's and Kagome's hand maidens to walk forward." This confused Kagome and Sango because they had never specifically told him their names. Then the women pulled out scrolls of their sleeves and unrolled them.

On the scrolls were paintings of all the girls. Then a woman stepped forward, her hair was a beautiful green and her eyes were striking orange. She walked up to Sango and bowed deeply saying,

"Lady Sango, I am your hand maiden, if you will follow me." Then she started to leave. Sango confused but willing followed the woman but looked back to Kaede who just bowed her head. With that Sango lifted her head high and followed the woman.

Then another woman stepped forward and this time walked up to Kagome,

"I am your hand maiden Lady Kagome, if you will please follow me." Then she left out of the doors. Kagome looked at Kaede who nodded to her, and with that Kagome felt her new life start.

She heard Shippo talk to Kaede but could not catch any of the conversation as she kept up with her hand maiden. Then her hand maiden started to speak as she led her to a building away from the large one and from the four facing buildings.

"Lady Kagome, I will be with you the length of your stay here. I will teach you in the ways of our people and will help you in any way you need it. As for the first week I will be walking ahead of you so you know where to go. Then once it is memorized you will be ahead of me." Kagome did not know how to respond so she just smiled softly and nodded.

Once they reached the building, similar men as before with the covered faces opened the doors. The hand maiden stepped in and Kagome followed shortly after. Kagome hid her enthusiasm of the building she was in now. This building held warmth. In the middle of the large room there were twenty four cushions on the floor and four cushions on the stand in front of the twenty four.

"This is where you will obtain your lessons with the others. Those cushions in the front belong to the queens of the four kingdoms. They will come frequently to watch the lessons and rely what they hear back to their families." Kagome's hand maiden said. Then she gestured to the rice paper doors surrounding the cushioned room.

"These are the twelve princesses' rooms for their stay here." Then she started to walk down the wooden platform to a certain room. She got down on her knees and pulled the door open before gesturing for Kagome to enter. Kagome took off her shoes as she stepped into the room.

On the ground was red silk bedding. There was a small table sitting right next to it with ink and paper. Then to the side she smiled because she had gotten a room with a window. She looked to the other side and realized it was her closet for her different kimonos.

She touched the bedding and smiled softly. It was a room out of fairytales. Then her hand maiden cleared her throat softly, just enough for Kagome to look out of the room.

"I am sorry to disturb you princess, but we have to get to the dining room." Her hand maiden said. Kagome nodded and walked out of the room, slipping her shoes back on. Her hand maiden stood and then started to leave the building.

"If you do not mind me asking, but what is your name?" Kagome asked softly as they started walking toward the large building from before. Her hand maiden seemed started by the question.

"Oh, I apologize, I do not know if I am supposed to know that." Kagome said again with her eyes slightly downcast.

"Your majesty it is alright. I was just taken back by the question. No one usually asks us for our names because we are to be invisible servants." Her hand maiden said quietly.

"Then is it alright if I know yours? I would rather know the name of the woman who will be with me through this." Kagome said again. Her hand maiden smiled and nodded before saying

"My name is Ayame." Then Kagome started to notice the appearance of Ayame. She had flaming red hair and deep green eyes. She even had a white tail swinging behind her. Learning from experience she did not touch the tail but it tempted her all the same.

The guards at the building opened the doors from them and they walked towards the cushions. There were already at least six other women in there with their hand maidens. Ayame led Kagome to her cushion and once Kagome was seated, Ayame took the mat next to her. As time went on the girls sized each other up.

Kagome felt insecure as she looked at all the other beautiful girls there. There were girls with sharpened teeth, claws, tails, and ears. Kagome just stared at her clawless hands and started to feel the self-doubt.

Then the doors opened for the last girl. Kagome looked up and felt her mouth open a little. The girl walking in had no ears, no tail, no sharp teeth, and no claws. She had long beautiful black hair that was done up, big brown eyes, pale skin, and she carried herself like royalty. When she sat down, the room was silent.

Soon after the doors opened once more, but this time a guard yelled out,

"All rise for the royal families!" The hand maidens stood first and lent their hands to help the girls rise gracefully. Once all the girls were up the royal families started to walk in.

First a woman walked in who had inky long black hair and maroon eyes. She did not smile at the girls but continue in to sit on the throne. Then in walked a man, his inky black hair matches his wives, but his eyes were a more vibrant tone of red. He looked at the girls and smiled before going to join his wife. Then in walked a prince.

It was the future husband of one of the girls. He had hair matching his parents and his eyes were a deep red that sent fear straight into Kagome. He winked at the girls before joining his parents at their set of thrones.

Then in walked a woman with brown hair and vibrant purple eyes. She smiled at the girls and did a small wave before going to sit on her throne. Her husband walked in next, he had black hair and dark purple eyes. He winked at the girls before claiming his seat on the throne.

Then it was a prince. He walked in with his black hair in a ponytail with pretty purple eyes. He also winked at the girls before sitting at his throne.

Kagome could hear some whispers being passed through the girls about the second prince. Before long however a woman walked in her hair was the color of chocolate, and her eyes were a bright blue. The bright blue sent shivers through Kagome, where had she seen that color before?

Then next was the king, he had brown eyes and long black hair, he made no move to acknowledge the girls as he sat down. Then it was the prince, by this time, Kagome's heart was racing, trying to find a connection to those eyes.

As soon as the prince stepped into the room, Kagome felt her heart drop to her stomach. The prince had darkened tan skin, with long flowing black hair. The only thing Kagome truly noticed were the bright blue eyes staring right into hers.

She knew those eyes, from where she could not pinpoint it, but she knew them. Before long the prince turned and walked towards his seat.

Kagome did not pay much attention to the next royal family that walked into the doors; she just noticed the bright golden eyes and long white hair.

A guard then announced for the food to be brought in. Kagome tried to eat her meal. With some encouragement from Ayame she was able to eat at least half of it. Food was the last thing on Kagome's mind however as she continued to think about those bright blue eyes.

Unbeknownst to the girls, the royal families were having their own small conversation.

"Oh aren't these girls just lovely?" The Queen with the purple eyes said. The other queens agreed quietly.

"I wonder about that girl though." The king with white hair pointed to Kagome who was too dazed to even notice. His queen nodded in agreement but then the queen with the bright blue eyes said softly,

"She is beautiful though, she would make lovely pups." The royal families agreed and soon enough the food was eaten and the royal families left. Once all the royal family members were gone an announcement was made for the girls.

"Tomorrow will be your first challenge. Now go to sleep girls." The conversations got louder as the girls started their journey back to their living quarters. Kagome however stayed silent on the journey back. Once Kagome got to her room, Ayame handed her a small handkerchief. Kagome was going to give it back in confusion, but Ayame stopped her saying,

"No your majesty, you will need it tonight." With that Ayame closed the door and Kagome walked over to her window. The minute she got to the window however, tears started to rush down her face.

She smiled at the piece of cloth that was given to her and she used it to dab at her eyes. Kagome stared at the garden and up at the sky. She was watching the stars and she did not realize the eyes that were set upon her. She just continued to smile at the stars and let all her cares slip away.

Then as she was about to close the window she stopped and made eye contact with the person who had been staring at her. Kagome felt her heart gain speed as her brown eyes locked with his blue ones.

She bowed as deeply as she could to him without falling over and closed the window. Once the window was closed she slid to the floor and covered her mouth. She felt like she was going through a horrible case of dejavu.

Kagome felt herself get tired so she slipped off her kimono, undid her hair and crawled into the silk bedding. Just as her head hit the pillow she was out cold, lost in her lovely dream land.

Out in the garden however the prince with blue eyes sat on a bench staring into the koi pond. His hands ran through his hair frustrated at what had happened all night. First he sees the girl he had, had dreams of. Now he sees her again by just going for a walk. He wanted this all to be a dream, alike the dreams he has had for months.

Ever since this stupid choosing had been made a decree he had, had dreams of this girl. He looked up to the window she had just been looking out of and he grimaced. He did not know what he was supposed to do anymore. He had told himself those were just dreams, but now she was alive and she was standing in front of him. All he had to do was make sure she was the one chosen to be his wife.

He smirked before running inside his makeshift home.