Chapter 8
Two days later, Yukami was preparing to leave. Kagome had already moved into her new rooms and the princess had to pack all of her belongings herself. Sango and Miroku had no choice but to return to the Southern Lands with their mistress. While palace servants loaded Yukami's bags into a cart, Kagome talked with the pair of bodyguards.
"Are you sure about this, Kagome?" Sango asked worriedly.
The young woman laughed. "Yes, Sango. I'm sure. I can't go back to the South. There's nothing for me there. My place is here."
Sango hugged her friend and Miroku patted her on the shoulder. "Good luck, Kagome. Write us with invitations to the wedding."
"No one has said anything about a wedding, Miroku."
The bodyguard wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "If you say so."
"Sango! Miroku! We are leaving now!" Yukami shouted. All three of the humans rolled their eyes and shared one last hug.
Kagome had tears in her eyes as she watched her old life disappear through the gates. She sighed and turned around, smacking into Sesshomaru who had come up behind her. She looked up into his golden eyes. "Hi." she said breathlessly.
"Hello." the prince replied with amusement. He wiped a tear from her face with a gentle finger. "Are you alright?"
Kagome nodded. "It's just surreal. They were all I had."
Sesshomaru leaned down. "I will do everything in my power to make my home feel like home to you as well." His warm breath caressed her ear as he spoke. "To begin that process, I have a surprise for you." He took her hand and led her down to the practice fields.
As they passed, the guards bowed, not only to their prince, but to Kagome as well. The couple reached the archery courts and Sesshomaru snapped his fingers. Sanyen and another guard entered from one of the equipment rooms and bowed.
The cat youkai stepped forward. "Lady Kagome, it's good to see you made the right choice."
"I'm pleased with it." Kagome replied.
Sesshomaru cleared his throat and everyone focused on him. "Kagome, I spent these last few days trying to find a place for you here. I know that you would prefer to do something other than sit around or wait on spoiled nobles. Therefore, I came up with this." He nodded to the other guard, who came forward.
He was one of the very rare dragon youkai. His long hair was a midnight blue, tied back into a high ponytail. Red-orange eyes that seemed to flicker like flame shone out of a dark brown face. The youkai bowed again. "I am Kuisotenboru," he said. "Master Archer."
"Kui is in charge of all archers in Western employ." Sesshomaru explained. "We wish for you to join their ranks."
Kagome blinked in surprise. "Me? Can...can I do that?"
"With skills like yours, you can do whatever you want." Kuisotenboru boomed. "You shoot better than most youkai that I know, so we are most glad to have you."
"Then I'm honored." the lady answered. "Thank you so much." She went on her toes to place a kiss on Sesshomaru's cheek.
Sanyen and Kui watched in amazement as their stoic prince smiled gently. "There is more." he murmured to the small woman.
That was Sanyen's cue. He crossed back to the equipment room and returned with a bundle. First he shook out an archery uniform in the Western colors. Kagome gaped at it's beauty. It consisted of a royal blue haori with ivory flowers embroidered along the shortened sleeves and collar. The hakamas were ivory with royal blue trim and red sakura blossoms adorning them. In addition to that were arm bracers in dark brown leather.
As if that wasn't enough, Kui walked over to the wall and came back with the most exquisite bow. It was only half a foot shorter than Kagome and was carved from some deep wine colored wood. A quiver of white fletched arrows went with it. Kuisotenboru presented both to the lady with a smile.
Kagome reached out with trembling fingers and grasped the bow. Her hand wrapped around the cool wood and she placed one end on the floor so she could string it. Once the weapon was ready, Kagome grabbed an arrow and nocked it. She raised the bow, pulled the string back to her ear, and let fly. The arrow whistled through the air and embedded itself into the center of the farthest target.
"Beautiful." Kuisotenboru murmured. "I couldn't have done it better myself. Yes, my lady, you are a welcome addition to our ranks."
"Thank you, Kuisotenboru." Sesshomaru said sincerely. "I appreciate this."
"Of course, your Highness." Kui bowed again and left the courts. Sanyen mimicked him and left the couple alone.
"Are you pleased, then?" The prince wanted to know. He studied the young woman's face intently.
"I am so happy right now, Sesshomaru." Kagome replied and hugged him. "Thank you."
"I would do anything for you, Kagome." Sesshomaru answered. "Know that. I simply want you to be happy."
"KAGOME!" The prince rolled his eyes as Inuyasha's call reverberated through the fields.
"Behave." the young woman scolded and walked out into the open air. "I'm right here, Inuyasha. You can stop bellowing."
The hanyou ran up. "So I heard from my father that you're staying here." he remarked. "And from Kui that you have joined his archers. D'you know what that means? It means that I am your captain."
Kagome giggled and swept her friend a curtsy. "My captain." she said with a smile. "I'm sure it will be a pleasure serving under you."
"Rest assured, my dear. If you are under anyone, it will be me." Sesshomaru said smoothly as he joined them. He looked down at his brother. He opened his mouth to say something else when a fanfare rang out over the castle grounds.
Inuyasha and Sesshomaru exchanged a look. "The inuyoukai council." the former murmured.
"Who are they?" Kagome asked, glancing back and forth between the two brothers.
"They are the leaders of our kind." Sesshomaru answered. "My father is the king of the Western Lands by the grace of the council. His father held the title before him because the council voted him in over another. By rights, I am to be the next king, but only if the council approves."
"Well, what's not to approve of?" the girl quipped, taking his hand.
The brothers shared another look of perfect understanding and Inuyasha raised a challenging eyebrow. The prince shook his head. "Come with me Kagome. We will worry about the council when I am summoned to see them. They will get to the point of their visit when they are ready, There is no use worrying about it now." He pulled her after him and they walked in silence.
Kagome assumed that she was going to be taken to the garden where they usually went. Instead, Sesshomaru took her back into the palace. They headed for the grand staircase just in time to see InuTaisho come rushing by looking harried.
"You heard the fanfare?" the king asked his elder son.
Sesshomaru nodded. "Yes. What would you have of me, Father?"
InuTaisho smiled tightly at Kagome. "Spend time with her until they summon you. I must go greet them." In a flash he was at the gates with a smile on his face for the visitors.
The prince knew that something did not bode well if his normally collected father was so tightly wound. But it would do no good to dwell on it. He gave Kagome a gentle smile and continued to lead her up the staircase. They arrived at his and Inuyasha's wing of the castle and instead of turning right to go to Kagome's room, they went left to Sesshomaru's.
The young woman was getting visibly excited and began tugging on the prince's hand to make him go faster. "What is this haste about?" Sesshomaru asked good naturedly.
"You're showing me your room!" Kagome replied joyously. "Finally, the sacred inner chamber of the stoic Prince of the West."
Sesshomaru shook his head. "Are you not afraid of what you will find?" He asked it with a joking lilt to his voice, but he actually was worried that opening himself up to Kagome would make her run.
Kagome was laughing though. "I'm too excited to be afraid."
The youkai led her to the only door in the corridor. He held his hand out over the door handle. "Never attempt to open this without me here." He cautioned his companion. "The handle is treated with the poison that is produced by my fangs and claws. It is so powerful that it could melt your hand off and only my hand is immune." Sesshomaru waited for the girl to be scared or disgusted with him.
She just smiled. "That would have come in handy when I was younger to keep Kikyo from reading my journals." Kagome gestured for the prince to open the door.
Sesshomaru complied and swung the door to his suite of rooms open. They entered into his sitting room which had been converted to an office like area.
There were floor to ceiling bookshelves in a deep colored wood, covering three of the four walls. On the empty one hung a tapestry delicately embroidered with what Kagome assumed was his family coat of arms. A royal blue crescent moon was in the center of a silver shield. Extremely thorny roses in the same gold as Sesshomaru's eyes twisted their stems around the edges of the shield and the phases of the moon were illustrated around the whole image.
The rest of the furniture was done in the same wood as the bookshelves and only consisted of a desk and a few chairs with straight backs and no cushions. "Not going for the comfort theme, I see." Kagome remarked.
"This is where I get work done." Sesshomaru replied. "I rarely get visitors. Come."
Kagome followed him through a door that she assumed was treated with the same poisons, to a room that was mostly windows. In the same style as the office, the windows reached from floor to ceiling on three walls. In the middle of the room was an easel and a bench overflowing with cushions. On the far wall were a few chests and a large portrait of a inu woman who resembled Sesshomaru.
"Is that your mother?" the girl wanted to know.
"Hn."
Taking that to mean yes, Kagome stepped closer to the picture. The woman was beautiful. She was seated in a chair looking out the window at the full moon. Her long silver hair was left loose and tumbled to her feet. Unnaturally blue eyes peered out of her alabaster face and the hint of a smile graced her lovely red lips.
"This is where I practice my art." Sesshomaru's velvety voice murmured above her head.
"Did you paint this?" Kagome gasped.
Sesshomaru nodded. "Yes. I finished this a season before she was killed. She is the only one who knew that I have this talent, so it seemed fitting that even in death, she should preside over this room."
Kagome stared at the painting for another moment and then wrapped her arms around her prince's waist. "It's beautiful." she whispered.
"As are you." the youkai responded, his voice rumbling in his chest. All of a sudden, Kagome found herself being scooped up into Sesshomaru's arms. "Would you like to see my bedroom?"
A deep blush crept over the girl's face, but she nodded. Sesshomaru carried her through another door, this one strangely not protected. He swept aside the curtains of the canopy and dumped Kagome in the center of his giant bed. He sat down at the foot of the bed and allowed her a moment to take everything in.
Kagome looked around. This room did not seem like it would belong to the Sesshomaru the public saw. But she thought that it would work perfectly for the Sesshomaru she was uncovering. The curtains around his bed were a deep blue color with silver threads woven in. On the right side of it a window took up half the wall. A smaller replica of the tapestry from the first room took up the other half. There were also smaller bookshelves in this room.
On the small table next to the bed was a fat candle and a book that looked well worn. Kagome looked down at the bed. It took up most of the wall it was on. The light blue comforter was folded back to reveal cool silk sheets in pristine white. There was a pile of cushions on the floor in the corner next to the window, as if Sesshomaru liked to sit there and gaze out.
Finally the young woman turned back to her host with a huge smile on her face. Sesshomaru released a breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. Kagome scooted closer to him on the bed and laid her head on his shoulder. "This is wonderful." she said after a while.
"You are the first woman, and beyond that, the first human who has seen this room. My mother decorated it when I was younger, but I take care of it now. Not even the maids step foot in here."
Kagome hesitated for a second, then took a deep breath and moved so that she was straddling Sesshomaru's lap. She reached a hand up and ran it through his silky silver locks.
The prince rested his forehead against Kagome's and quirked a smile at her. "I have...long been searching for the woman who I could share this with." he said quietly. "Someone who would be comfortable enough to get close to me in truth."
"I'm just about as close as it gets." Kagome whispered and placed her lips on his. The kiss started gentle but built in passion as Sesshomaru realized that he had found what he had been looking for. Soon their tongues were battling for dominance.
Sesshomaru growled, feeling his inner demon rising. Kagome shivered against him and that brought the youkai prince back. He kissed her once more gently, and then drew back, surprised to find his breathing ragged.
"Wow." the girl breathed.
"Indeed." Sesshomaru ran his claws through his hair and leaned back. "But we go too far. The whole castle will be talking if...too much...happens here."
"Right. I should go." Kagome slid off of her prince's lap and got unsteadily to her feet. "Do I need you to let me out or..."
"You would, if I were going to allow you to leave. I wish you to stay longer. We will just have to be on our very best behavior. We shall...talk." Sesshomaru practically purred.
The young woman climbed back up on the bed. "I think I can handle that. So, tell me about your favorite book."