Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
Yuzuki could feel the fabric draped over her shoulders. It was thick and weighed down on her whole body. Another woman pulled a brush from a small bowl and the white paint that clung to the bristles made the skin on her face tighten with displeasure. They painted her face and her nails were encased in enamel.
Once her transformation was complete, she wished she could tear her way from their depth. Her clothed feet made little noise when she left the room. The maids smiled and sighed after her, like an artist admiring their work. The party was to take place in the main hall, but the ladies and their maids had prepared a women only dinner party.
Yuzuki could feel the sweat clinging to her neck as she stood before the sliding door. When she gathered her courage and slid it open, she knew she would rather be in the midst of a battle than trapped in the clutches of these ruthless women.
"Dear!" A quiet cheer went up and the woman shifted in their seats. A few wore armor and looked as uncomfortable as Yuzuki felt. She plastered the fake smile onto her lips and moved with the grace her grandmother had taught her.
"Hello!" She floated across the wooden floor and sat at the head of the table. Kagome smiled and placed a reassuring hand on hers, lending a bit of her strength. The heir smiled and started a conversation with other woman. A few were dull and drab, but many had a gleam in their eye, the sheen of in intelligence, hidden below heir decorated exterior.
"How did you last with all of those male dragons?" One asked, her hands placed around a warm cup of tea. Her robe was tied low to show her cleavage. As the others questioned her about her travels, she though about the recently departed dragons, all who left her with a hug. "Did you not worry they would take...advantage of you?"
"You do not need to skirt around the word rape. It is a horrid deed done by only the most wicked." She wished she had never came to talk with the ignorant woman of the court. "I knew, while they are domineering, they are neither horrid nor as detestable as you seemed to all think."
Her words seemed to echo around the room and Kagome became painfully aware of the startled stares aimed in the young heirs direction. The tense silence was shattered by a clear laugh.
Kimiko, her grandmother, had placed her delicate hand to her mouth and let her laughter resonate within the chambers. The others started giggling with her, their fans raised from their laps to cover their frowns.
"What a spark my son has left burning within you!" She smiled coyly and glanced at the heir who had let her hands fold into the thick fabrics at her waist. Her lips raised assuringly and she seemed to release the same air of nobility that her grandmother had. The elder raised a curved brow. "Do you think you will be the one to lead this land to prosperity?"
"I do not know, all I can assure you is that you sure didn't." Both smiles turned sharp, less soft curves and more hard lines. "You think me weak but I can assure you, I can and will lead my people to what is best for them."
"And yet you lead an army of dragons into their homes?" She asked innocently, her claws curling around the porcelain of the cup. Her golden eyes were keenly locked on her granddaughter with interest in what she would say next.
"I said I would care for my people. I cared for them." The women gasped, many forgetting their fans to cover their shocked faces. For an heir of the West admit to including dragons in her country, it was unheard of.
"And when your land needs you to mate for an alliance, you will just step down from your perch? Do not lie to me little one; could you really give up your freedom for your people?" The room fell silent and even the nobles felt as if this was not a fight between women, but demigods. The temperature seemed to drop and a chill nipped at all exposed flesh.
"I will do what my land requires me to do." Her tone was absolute and Kimiko had to applaud the girl's tenacity. She could see the spark of anger fade in Yuzuki's eyes and promptly stood.
"Interesting." Kimiko noted the tightness of her jaw and responded only by waving for the door to be opened. "Kagome, my dear, if you won't mind accompanying me to my chambers, I feel a bit drowsy."
"Sure." The miko replied, standing with a reassuring pat on the back and a smile and a wink for the heir. Yuzuki only watched with thinned lips and worried eyes.
They hadn't made it far down the hall when the elder woman veered them off course. Kagome followed suit, moving forward a bit to be close to Kimiko. She was unsurprised when the miko asked a question.
"Why would you give up everything for people you have never met?" She asked, the curiosity bubbling below the painted face and sculpted brow. "Did you mate Sesshoamru's father for love or-?"
"Oh no dear, we were matched before we were born. Lucky for us, we found each other tolerable. He was a kind man." She smiled ruefully and almost on instinct, her hand reached up to rub a spot on her neck. Kagome looked at her fingers and then at her face. "I think my room is around here, if you would like to come in, I shall explain farther."
Kagome trailed into the room. It smelled slightly like jasmine and another thick incense she could not name. The bed was placed in the middle of the room and was draped in purples and blues. She sat at a low table and waited for Kimiko to reemerge from a room hidden behind a wardrobe.
"The sole job of a woman is not to find a man, but to farther herself. Wether you be a Lady, a queen or a maid, you will need to be strong to lead. For now, let's focus on Lady's. They are required to remember names of every noble in every nation. Correspondence will be constantly sent for things as small as a new table cloth color to as large as a royal baby's birth. A lady must also be trained in the ways of chicanery. I know not the number of times I have planted the idea of spies to reach my goal." She continued.
"She must also be beautiful, for a Lord will not wed a woman without her wiles. She always knows what must be done wether it be to do battle when her mate is away, or to negotiate treaties and agreements. She will be skilled in all fighting styles that are never to be used. She must be quiet and calm as a wave but also wild and untamed as a swell. Do you understand me?"
Kagome nodded quietly and the sly smile was back on her mouth.
"Head-strong women like you think we Ladies are pets to our Lords. I have to say, you have it backwards. A Lord without his Lady is lost." She stood quietly and made her way to her vanity. Kagome understood the subliminal messages and rose to leave and was only stopped by the Lady's call. "Oh and Kagome-"
"One last thing," She sighed. "A Queen never shows weakness in the face of anyone but herself." Her face was stony and unreadable. Kagome could feel the urge to move but her feet refused, forcing her to remain. The queen raised a wet cloth to her bare shoulder and pulled it downward. The thick white paint was washed away and Kagome could feel the bile rising in her throat. "Gods save the queen."
The woman's neck was a mass of black. In the center was what once could have been a lovely crescent mark, but now was mangled and black. Thick veins spread from it like a dark heart and the lady touched it gently. Kagome covered her mouth with her hand and sprawled the other on the doorframe behind her. As the younger girl stumbled out of the room, throwing apologies over her shoulder, the proud demon squared her shoulders and looked her sickly reflection in the eye.
"Long may she reign."
Rape is serious and a major problem today, so don't joke about it. Read and review.