Chapter 12
InuTaisho beamed. It was a good time to be a father. His youngest son was finally receiving the notice and recognition he deserved and his eldest was standing before him with his future mate. The king never thought he'd see the day.
Kagome's cheeks had been stained red since the couple had entered the study. Sesshomaru had, for once, done all the talking. He explained that Kagome had agreed to mate and marry him. InuTaisho gave his blessing, along with a warning about the council.
"Thank you, King InuTaisho." Kagome murmured and dipped a curtsey.
"Oh none of that now." The king ordered good-naturedly. He pulled the girl into a hug. "You are family now and I have always wondered what it would be like to have a daughter."
Tears sprang into Kagome's eyes. "I...haven't had a father for years."
"Well when you marry my son, you'll get one officially. Until then, feel free to come to me for anything, dear Kagome."
"Thank you, Inu…Papa."
"Marvelous." The king nodded. He and Sesshomaru turned their heads suddenly. "Visitors?"
"So it would seem." Sesshomaru took Kagome's hand. "Come; let us see who has decided to grace us with their presence."
The girl hesitated and InuTaisho smiled at her. "Go ahead. I'll follow shortly."
Sesshomaru and Kagome made their way down to the front gate. There were two carriages outside. Kagome gasped as she recognized the colors of the South. Suddenly there was a cry of "Kagome!" from the smaller of the two.
A young boy jumped out of the carriage and sprinted to Kagome. He looked a lot like her with the same chocolate eyes and black hair.
"Sota?" Kagome cried, embracing her little brother. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"He hitched a ride with us, Lady Kagome." A short redheaded youkai called from the front of the carriage. He grinned and waved at her.
"Shippo?" The second in command of the Southern Guard was a very close friend of hers.
"Don't forget us." Driving the larger carriage was an attractive wolf youkai flanked by two others.
"Koga? Ginta and Hakkaku? What is going on?" Kagome asked in a daze.
"I thought that you might appreciate a piece of your home coming to you, little sister. Since you have chosen to abandon it." A regal voice answered.
Kagome froze. There was no mistaking that voice. "Kikyo."
The elder of the two sisters emerged from her cart gracefully. She was beautiful. Ebony tresses flowed down her back, straight, where Kagome's was wavy. Her skin was pale perfection but her brown eyes were much duller than her sister's.
"No hug for me, Kagome?" Kikyo asked loftily. She tried to mask the hurt that she felt. The sisters had always gotten along fine, at least until their mother died. Ever since then, Kagome had been suspicious of her elder sister.
The younger sister bit her lip. "What are you doing here, Kikyo?" she demanded.
Sesshomaru, forgotten for a time, leaned down. "Manners, my love. You represent the West now." He made sure that his lips brushed her ear as he whispered in it.
Kagome sighed, but smiled up at him. "Prince Sesshomaru may I present my sister, Lady Kikyo and my brother the young Lord Sota? Accompanying them are select members of our-their guard: Captain Koga of the Wolf Tribe and his men Ginta and Hakkaku, along with Lieutenant Shippo. Everyone, this is my fiancé, Prince Sesshomaru, heir to the Western Throne."
The guards from the South gaped at her words. They had no idea that Kagome was engaged. They just figured that she had leapt at the chance to get away from Yukami.
"You are all welcome in our home." Sesshomaru was saying to their guests. "As the family and friends of my beloved, you will be given the best accommodations."
"My congratulations to you, sister. Yukami told me that you had gone missing before she left, but the truth is much better. You have surpassed anyone's expectations of you and done better than a simple minor lord." Kikyo bowed her head.
"Thank you." Kagome replied stiffly. "How is your lord husband?
"He died. About six months ago. Kagome, is there any way that we can talk? There is much I wish to say to you."
Kagome was reluctant to agree, but something she heard in her sister's voice made her nod. "Come find me after you all are settled and fed." A moment passed and the young woman realized that she was now in charge of making accommodations for guests. With a smile she motioned a nearby servant over. "Hi Hachi, could you please make sure that our Southern guests are placed in the best guest chambers?"
The man bowed. "Yes, my Lady. Would the visiting guards be more comfortable in the guard house, Lady?"
Koga nodded emphatically and Kagome giggled. "Apparently they would. So please show my siblings to the guest chambers and ask someone to show Koga and his men to the guard house."
"Yes, Lady Kagome."
Sesshomaru took the girl's hand again. "That was nicely done." he told her. "Since my father has no mate, this is one of your responsibilities as the lady here."
"I can handle that. It felt nice, being in charge of something for a change." Kagome replied.
The prince chuckled and led her back up to the palace.
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The day passed quickly and mid-afternoon found Kagome in the archery courts, practicing under Inuyasha's watchful eye. She fired arrow after arrow into the target a little harder than was necessary.
Inuyasha walked over to the target to remove the arrows and was nearly shot in the arm. "Hey! Watch it wench! What the hell has got you so wound up?"
"My family is visiting." Kagome replied through clenched teeth. "More annoyingly, my older sister is here."
"That I can understand. You love my icicle ass of a brother, but he irks to no end." the hanyou responded.
"Then perhaps you will find Kagome's sister less irritating than she does." Kikyo said as she entered the court.
Kagome sighed. "Kikyo, this is Lord Inuyasha, Captain of the Guard. Inuyasha, Lady Kikyo, my elder sister. Could you give us a minute alone, please?"
"Uh...sure." The hanyou tore his gaze away from Kikyo and walked out.
Kagome looked at her sister. "What do you want?"
"Do you truly hate me so much, Kagome? I never meant for you to be hurt."
"Sure." the younger sister snorted.
"I had to marry him. Lord Naraku was threatening to take all we had. Marrying Hojo was the only choice to save our estate. Mother never wanted an arranged marriage for you. As the eldest, the responsibility was mine." Kikyo explained.
"Lord Naraku?" Kagome remembered him. He had always been around when she was growing up, trying to get her mother to marry him. He was a hanyou lord who served on Prince Yuri's council of advisors. Naraku's father Onigumo was the great uncle of someone on Kagome and Kikyo's father's side.
"Yes. He told me that he had found the connection between our families and was could petition to inherit our estate when Mother died. Marrying Hojo solidified our fraying hold on what is ours."
Kagome sighed in defeat. "I didn't know that."
"I didn't want you to get worried."
"Are we in trouble now?" Kagome wanted to know. "I mean Hojo's dead and you had no children. Sota is still too young to take over."
Kikyo gave a small smile. "It falls to you, little sister. You are still a daughter of the Higurashi estate, for all you're the Western prince's betrothed. As the only sister who will be wedded, you have the strongest claim to our lands until Sota is of age."
Kagome put down her bow and hugged her sister tightly. "Then don't worry. I won't let anything happen to our home."
Their hug was interrupted by the sounds of shouting from outside. "Who the hell d'you think you are?" Inuyasha was demanding of someone.
The women walked out to see what was going on. The inuhanyou was waving his sword around at a smirking Koga.
"What're you gonna do, mutt?" the wolf youkai taunted. "Hit me with your big scary sword?"
"I'll slit you from head to toe, ya mangy wolf!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed. "What is going on."
"This bastard shows up here barking at me to bring him to his woman. So I told him that I ain't a servant and his woman wasn't here." Inuyasha explained.
"Which she clearly is. Isn't that right, Kagome?" Koga winked at her.
The girl sighed for what had to be the third time that day. "Koga, we've discussed this. You know how Ayame hates it when you call me that." Ayame was the only female in the Southern Guard and was mated to Koga. She was wickedly jealous and it made sense with the way Koga flirted, with Kagome especially.
Kikyo shook her head. "Besides, Kagome is to be married to the heir here. I'm sure he could kill you easily and think nothing of it."
That silenced the wolf. He had sensed the youki of Kagome's fiance, he didn't want to get on his bad side. But being the youkai that he was, Koga wasn't silent for long."Well what the prince doesn't know won't hurt him." he replied.
Kagome rolled her eyes and then caught sight of a pair of golden eyes watching her from the practice grounds. "Oh he knows everything." she said with a grin.
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A/N: Wow two updates in one week! I am on a roll. So we've seen some familiar faces, yes? All of them will be around for a while. Or at least until I get tired of them. As you can probably tell, Kikyo is not going to be a bitch in this story. I used to hate her, but since I've discovered a love for Sess/Kag, she's okay by me. One more thing. This story has over 150 reviews. Thanks so much you guys! That's more than I ever hoped for.