Disclaimer; I do not own Inuyasha, nor the story of Esther.

Summary; There once was a peasant named Inuyasha, who was pulled into the competition for a new King unwillingly. As the competition continues, something happens that neither Inuyasha nor Her Majesty, Kagome expected. How will the two fair, as the rush and search for a new king becomes the only life they know?

The Story of a Peasant

Chapter Ten;

"All right men, take a breather. Good work today." Sango clapped, emerging from the back of our 'classroom'. It's about two weeks till the Fall Festival, and the men and I had been taught for hours on end, day after day, to be ready for the public engagement.

"Now, before you leave, let me tell you that we will not be convening here for classes. Tomorrow, we'll have a special lesson that I will lead you to after breakfast in the morning, to better you prepared for the festival. Questions?"

A lone person raised his hand.

"Yes?" Sango said, a bit petulant.

"When you say 'special'--" He started to say, but Sango cut him off in a gesture.

"I won't speak anything on it. It's a surprise." And here she winked, turned, and left the room. We were all quiet for a minute before finally shuffling around, and gathering our things.

"Hey Miroku, can you hand me that........?" I looked over at where Miroku had been standing, only to see him with a goofy smile on his face, drool practically falling down his chin. I rolled my eyes, and clapped him on the head. When his attention was finally reverted to me, I told him "You are pathetic."

He shrugged.

"Who wouldn't be? Did you see her wink at me?" Here he sighed dramatically.

"She was just winking in general, Miroku. That means it wasn't just for you."

"I believe I disagree."

"Of course you do." I said, rolling my eyes, and clipping him on the shoulder yet again. We walked to our dorms and dropped our items off in their respectable places, before we headed to lunch.

We sat, and Nida flitted by to check up on us, before she dashed away to continue working on the festival preperations.

"She gets more hectic by the day." Commented Miroku.

I shrugged. "Pretty much. You would be to if you were the coordinator for this occasion." I sipped at my tea, then got up and left.

"And on that note, I'm gone to help."

Miroku nodded, used to my schedule of going to help out in the kitchen.

"Later." He said, using his fingers to give a gesture that I assumed was meant as a substitute for goodbye.

"Oh Inuyasha! Am I so glad to see ya! The kneader's for the bread are ill and can't come in, and I can't help as I've got to go out upstairs with the ballroom designer, and oh! I just can't handle all this! I'll never do this again, as along as I live!!" Nida yelled immediately as I walked through the door.

Squarely, I placed my hands on her shoulders, and pushed her into a chair. "Just breathe." I told her, then proceeded to grab a cup and fill it will some sort of fruit concoction and hand her the cup. "Now drink."

She obediently listened, then took a deep breath, setting the cup down.

"Better?" I asked, grabbing a rag and proceeding to clean the cup.

"Hardly." Nida muttered. I could feel a smirk rising on my face. Nida being in a dark mood was always amusing.

She sighed roughly, before getting up again.

"So you can help me?" She ground out, attempting to keep up a better tone.

I rolled my eyes. "I usually do."

After shoving her through the doorway with a list in hands of what needed to be done, I got to work.

I pulled some spare workers aside from other stations to knead the dough for bread, then set to work on arranging a few fruit bowls for the night's dinner.

Being drawn into my task, I hardly noticed the passing time. Which also meant I hardly noticed when Nida returned and tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned and she raised a brow. "Your still here?" She asked, crossing her arms.

I turned back around and went back to my work. "Well, you wanted the work finished didn't you?"

"You've worked enough for me boy, get outta my kitchen and go clean yourself up." She said, taking a rag and playfully smacking my arm, before finally getting pushy.

Upon leaving, I walked into the bathhouse and scrubbed up to my elbows off the doughy past that had accumulated on my arms, and the sticky juices of many handled fruits and vegetables. Afterwards I went and searched for Miroku, getting word from a servant that they had seem him near the dojo.

'The dojo...?' I thought. That was a weird places for him to be.

I was surprised upon entering to see a somewhat crowd circled around the viewing center. Miroku stood right up front, his eyes wide and glued ahead. I poked him in the back of head.

'Nothing..' I thought. I pushed till I was next to him and looked at what had everyone so quietly awestruck.

'Oi..' was my only coherent thought.

In front of me I was witnessing a spar between Sango and a bear demon decked out in the troops uniform. While the bear was slower, he compensated for attacks laced with strength. Sango darted quickly and efficiently to dodge them, rarely choosing to block, lest she stagger from it.

I watched in awe. I couldn't remember when the last time, or if I had ever, seen Sango fight such a top notch official. It gave me a greater respect for the woman, and easily showed me why such a woman was in charge of all us kronies.

The bear lumbered forward, raising his special sparring ax above his head and brought it down to where Sango stood in front. Quickly, she ducked and instead of moving towards either side of the ax, rolled between the giant brute's legs, and while still lying on her back, brought a foot against his back and kicked him forward. He fell on his stomach, and Sango quickly moved to have her katana over his neck, her foot keeping him on the ground. The ax laid away from them, having flown off in the surprise attack.

"My point." She smirked, then lowered her weapon and offered a hand to the fallen comrade. The bear grinned, a mouth full of sharp teeth. The men around me cheered loudly, a couple daring to whistle at their instructor's talent.

Instead of acknowledging her audience, she continued talking to the bear about what he had done right, and what to improve on. A few times she moved into special fighting positions that I recognized from my meager training as a kid.

I looked over at Miroku who was still watching with the fascinated gaze of a five year old.

"Watch out Miroku, I think your drooling."

Miroku swiped at his mouth immediately, causing me to laugh.

"Your still pathetic." I said.

"She keeps surprising me." He murmured.

"C'mon, you knew she was a beat." I told him, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him a few feet away so we were pressed in the crowd.

"But such strength... and to look that feminine! It's strikes me as odd."

I rolled my eyes.

"You know what I think?"

He looked up at my eyes, and I lowered my voice a smidge.

"I think you actually like her."

He seemed a smidge surprised, then pulled his hand up to his chin, contemplating.

"Possibly." He admitted quietly. "but this is not a competition for her." Here he sighed.

"No. That it isn't." I said, and crossed my arms leaning against the wall. Miroku hung his head, deflated.

As he moped, I spotted Sango leaving the sparring arena, trying to slip through the crowd of men that still filled the dojo. I took my arm and pushed Miroku forward. He turn towards me, a brow raised.

"It's not a competition for her." I gestured to her as she slipped out the back doors. "But you won't get to know her any better if you don't try to stay in the competition for at least a little longer."

He looked back towards where she left, and back towards me.

"You think?"

I huffed, lowering my head, letting my bangs cover my eyes.

"Won't know till you try."

Miroku left without a word. I chuckled to myself.

'Miroku... chasing fantasies...' My smile twisted back into my neutral expression. 'At least he has something to chase... What am I doing here?'

"That was nice of you to help him out like that." I whirled around, heart suddenly racing. Queen Kagome stood before me, a wide smile gracing her cheeks, obviously enjoying my shock.

I fumbled into a bow, a bit embarassed. "I-uh-... I-... How-w much of that did you hear?"

She laughed and placed her arms behind her back and walked towards me.

"Oh, enough to know where Miroku's feelings lie."

I mentally thumped myself on the head.

"Don't fret yourself over it. His secrets safe with me." She said, still smiling. She was an awfully smiley woman.

"Eh-...Er, well your majesty, I simply hope you do not feel insulted by his liking of your adivsor.." I very nearly whispered.

Her laughter was so loud, that I had to take a step back.

"Really now? Insulted? My fair gentlemen, I bear him no ill will for taking a fancy in my dear friend. If you worry about his position in the competition, rest assured, I will not choose to have him thrown out for such things." Her voice lowered. "In fact, I might just keep him in longer. Let us see how this plays out, hm?" Her smiled turned playful, and I could feel a toothy grin beginning to form.

"In that case." I cleared out my throat, and straightened my back. "That would be wonderful, your majesty. I look forward to this... occasion."

We stood in silence for a bit, before she turned back towards me.

"She is a wonderful fighter, no?"

I nodded in response.

"Far better than any woman I have ever had the pleasure of seeing."

I blushed. "Ergh, at sparring that is."

Her smile grew a bit wider.

"True. She is far better than I could ever hope to be."

"You spar, m'lady?"

"Oh, not for a long time. I've only been trained in basic hand to hand, and at that very little and in secret. My father would not allow me to learn when I was a child."

I tilted my head to the side.

"Then how did you learn anything?"

Her head turned towards where Sango and Miroku had appeared, standing and talking in a deep discussion.

"Sango?" I said in a hushed tone.

She nodded.

I replied with "I dare say, that must have been an eventful experience." thinking about my own lessons under her as teacher.

Laughing, she responded "It was frightful I must say. Even young, she was tough and strict. Even more so, knowing she was breaking rules by teaching me."

"How did you ever get her to begin teaching you?" I murmured, quieting.

She tilted her head towards Sango, who had begun walking towards us.

"A story for another time." She whispered before greeting Sango.

'another time..'

I was counting on it.

I'm sorryx10 about the wait for this. I received my laptop back a few months ago, but AP US History will be the death of me, and leaves me with little time for anything else. (I mean, c'mon, who has time for anything else when doing 5 hours of homework every night?)

Again, I apologize.

Be faithful, be loyal, and I promise this story will be completed.

R&R, PLEASE.

-Souzousei