Chapter 17

Myoga had to admit that he was enjoying his assignment to spy on Yukami of the Southern Lands. He had to find a place to hide where he wouldn't be detected, but somewhere he could keep an eye on things as well. So of course the little youkai took up residence in the princess's bosom. He had settled himself comfortably in her cleavage and had an excellent position from which to watch the meeting that was about to take place.

A hanyou, who the flea assumed was Kagome's cousin Naraku, was sitting across the table from the princess, deftly ignoring the goo-goo eyes she was making at him. He kept staring at the door, as if trying to will someone to walk through it.

Just then his wish was granted. A heavily cloaked figure hurried through the door, slamming it behind him. "Make this quick, hanyou." the person snapped. "I cannot be seen here."

Naraku smirked. "My lord, we were just discussing our plan."

"Ah, then you've made one. What is to be done?"

Yukami raised an eyebrow. "This is our mysterious, highly placed, helper? A man in a cloak?"

The hanyou sighed. "Your Highness, just trust that he will give us the help we need. Now, my lord, our plan is really a simple one. After serving on the board of advisors for Prince Yuri, I know how royalty thinks."

"Are you implying that I do not know how royalty thinks, Lord Naraku?" Yukami interjected.

Naraku cracked his knuckles impulsively. "No, princess, I am not. Now, as I was saying, my lord, being royalty is all about choices. So often it comes down to making a choice between your wants and the good of the kingdom. All we have to do is force Sesshomaru to make that choice."

The mysterious cloaked man, frowned. "You do not know the prince as I do. He will not easily make such a decision. Already he has chosen to make a human his mate which is not a popular choice in the youkai community."

"Very true," Yukami drawled. "But if there is no Kagome in the picture, what choice will our young prince have? No one will support him in sacrificing the people of his kingdom for a girl who may or may not even be alive."

The stranger swallowed. He had not bargained on the Southern princess's thirst for revenge. But he was already committed to the plan. "What do you need from me?" he asked.

"We need to get the girl." Naraku replied. "And we need a place to keep her. Somewhere that Sesshomaru's inuyoukai senses won't be able to find her."

"Fine. I will send a messenger to you when I am prepared with these things." Without another word, the cloaked man left.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Kagome for the last time, it ain't like I have a choice." Inuyasha groused for the hundredth time that day. "I'm supposed to protect you so that's what I'm gonna do, damnit!"

The miko scowled at her friend. Ever since Sesshomaru and InuTaisho had found out about Yukami and Naraku plotting against her, they insisted that she be guarded at all times. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Shippo, Sanyen, and Tsubame took turns watching after the girl and it was driving her crazy. Seiuka was continuing with the wedding plans as if nothing was wrong, and everyone was on edge.

All Kagome had asked was if Inuyasha wouldn't like to be off doing something other than babysitting her. Granted, she had asked him that several times already.

"I'm just tired of feeling like I'm being babysat." she said finally.

"Yeah well Sesshomaru said you ain't supposed to be alone." Inuyasha replied firmly. "Do you want them to do something to you?"

"Of course not!" the girl exclaimed. "But I'm not some helpless princess, you know. I can fight."

"No one is doubting that, Kagome." Kikyo said as she made her way over to them. "We just want you to be safe. Especially Sesshomaru. Can you fault him for trying to protect the woman he loves?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. These damn inuyoukai and their over protectiveness. She was so busy contemplating how hard it was going to be to get time alone once she was married, that she almost missed the look that Kikyo gave Inuyasha.

Almost. Suddenly she knew how she was going to keep herself entertained. "Kikyo," she began in an offhand manner. "Have you given any thought to getting remarried?"

A delicate blush stained woman's cheeks. "A little." she responded, lowering her eyes.

Kagome smiled in delight when she realized that neither of her companions would look at each other. There was definitely something there. "Inuyasha, you aren't betrothed to anyone are you?" she wanted to know.

The hanyou turned bright red. "N-no." he stammered. "It don't matter who I marry. Sesshomaru is getting the kingdom, I just get a decent sized estate."

"So you could marry any girl that you fell in love with then." Kagome said in a thoughtful voice. "Must be nice to have that kind of freedom. As a widow, Kikyo has it too, I guess." Something at the castle gate caught her eye. "Oh look, there's Ashiteru and Tsubame. I'll see you both later." She walked over to her friends and headed back into the castle.

Inuyasha swallowed hard. "Kikyo, there's something I should say to you."

The elder Higurashi sister bit her lip. "Inuyasha, I-"

The hanyou cut her off. "Kagome's right. We're both free to be with whoever we want, which is rare. I…" he found he couldn't finish.

Kikyo cocked her head at him with a small smile. "When you get your words together, Inuyasha, I'll be here." she kissed his cheek and glided down to the archery courts.

The hanyou was left staring. From what he could gather, Kagome's older sister liked him. That had never happened before. For over a century, Inuyasha had hidden in his elder brother's shadow. But now, someone saw him, and it was a good feeling.

Without stopping to think, he ran to the sparring field where he knew Sesshomaru would be.

Sure enough, there he was, naked to the waist and whipping his sword around at an imaginary opponent.

"Oi, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha called.

The youkai spun around, leveling his sword at his brother. "Where is Kagome?"

"Tsubame and the hawk took her off somewhere. Probably more wedding crap."

Sesshomaru shuddered. "What do you want, Inuyasha? I have to finish here and then attend a meeting with father and his advisors before I can go to Kagome, so make it quick."

The hanyou opened his mouth, but the words were stuck in his throat. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes and returned to his practice. "What would I have to do if I wanted to get married?" Inuyasha blurted out.

The elder brother froze and turned to stare at him. "You intend to court a female?" he asked incredulously.

"No, Sanyen and I want to make it official." Inuyasha snapped. "Of course it's a female."

"Forgive my surprise, but you have never seemed that interested in the fairer sex, brother." Sesshomaru replied.

"It's them who've never been interested in me. Who'd want a hanyou lord when they can go after his princely full youkai brother?"

Sesshomaru shrugged elegantly, as if saying that it wasn't his fault that those women had good taste in men. "But now you have found someone?" he inquired.

Inuyasha nodded. "It's…Kagome's sister. Kikyo."

"And you are confident that she feels the same?"

Again he nodded. It amazed him just how confident he was. "I…gotta ask her officially, but she hinted that she would say yes."

That struck something within Sesshomaru. He had only just started thinking of his younger half brother as someone worthy of his time. Now that he looked back on it, the hanyou had changed ever since Kikyo had arrived. The entire atmosphere of the castle had been altered with the arrival of the Higurashi sisters.

We're happy. The youkai realized. It was a good feeling. One that made him that much more determined to see whatever plan Naraku and Yukami concocted, fail. "You will need to speak to Father." Sesshomaru told his brother. "He will be overjoyed to hear it and can make the preparations for adding another noble lady to our household."

Inuyasha nodded again, a little amazed that his brother was being so civil about the whole thing. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the stoic prince was happy for him.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The meeting was quick and depressing. InuTaisho informed his advisors of the threat facing Kagome under the impression that they would have some ideas for solutions. Quite the contrary, they informed the king that no one would support depleting the kingdom's resources to protect a simple human girl, even if she was a miko.

Sesshomaru ended up threatening his father's main advisor and that was the end of the session. InuTaisho dismissed his advisors and turned to his son. The prince stared back with his expressionless mask on.

"Don't turn into a statue on me, son." the king pleaded. "They just don't know Kagome like we do."

"I do not care, Father." Sesshomaru replied. "We will not abandon her."

"No we won't." InuTaisho agreed. "Do not forget that I am king here and my word is law." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Go to her." he said gently. "Myoga's messenger will be here soon and I must attend to him. I will see you wed to Kagome if it is that last thing I do."

A little warmth crept back into Sesshomaru's eyes. "Thank you, Father." The prince turned to leave. "You will want to speak with Inuyasha soon." he said. Without explaining, he left the meeting room and headed up to his chambers.

After a quick bath and a change of clothes, he knocked on the door to Kagome's rooms. Her maid, Keiko opened the door with a bow and ushered him into the sitting room.

"The lady is finishing her bath." she said. "She will be right with you."

Ten minutes later, Kagome came through the door. She smiled when she saw her visitor. "Okay Sess, you can come in. I'm decent."

Sesshomaru looked at her. She was wearing a thin cotton gown in a lovely spring green and her damp hair curled over her shoulders. "No." he said. "You are still quite indecent, and deliciously so." the heat in his voice caused Kagome to flush and Keiko to giggle.

Kagome shot her made a look. "Thanks for all your help, Keiko. You can go now."

The young woman dipped a curtsey and left the rooms.

As soon as the door swung shut behind her, Sesshomaru was across the room and had Kagome in his arms. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply, letting her unique scent soothed his frazzled nerves. He placed a light kiss on her mouth and allowed her to pull him to the bedroom.

They settled on the bed, him laying on it, and her resting her head on his chest. "How was your day?" Sesshomaru asked.

Kagome snorted. "Oh it was wonderful, I got ever so much done with people stalking me at every turn."

"Kagome." the prince sighed. "You know why you can't be alone. If something were to happen to you…"

"I know, I know." she said. "Something good did come about today. I finally got Inuyasha and Kikyo to almost admit that they like each other."

Sesshomaru moved his hand to tangle in Kagome's raven locks. "Yes, I know. Inuyasha came to me earlier to ask what he had to do to court a woman. I never thought I would see the day."

The girl giggled. "I bet InuPapa will be pleased. He probably thought his sons would never get married."

"He would not be the only one to think that." the prince responded. "Tell me something, my little miko."

"Hmm?"

"When we are wed you will become the official Lady Higurashi. But you will also be the future Queen of the West. How shall you manage both?"

Kagome thought about it. "Well I had originally planned to have Kikyo and Sota look after Higurashi Estate for me. But if she marries Inuyasha, I don't know if she'll still want to do it. Sota isn't old enough, so…" she trailed off. "I don't know what to do."

"May I suggest something?" Sesshomaru said.

"Please."

"Ask my brother before you rule it out. He is always happiest when he is away from this place. Perhaps he will jump at the chance to be caretaker of Higurashi Estate."

"But who will be lead the guard if Inuyasha is gone?"

Sesshomaru smiled a little. "I am thinking of promoting Kui and Sanyen. They have as much skill with the sword as they do with their weapons of choice. Kuisotenboru will be captain and Sanyen will be his second."

"Then who will be master archer?" Kagome questioned. It seemed there were not enough people to fill all the positions.

"I was hoping that you would take up that role."

"Me!?" the girl squeaked. "But…but I-"

"You are one of the best archers I have ever seen. In youkai custom, rulers do not hide behind their forces, they lead them. You will gain much respect from the people if you do this."

Kagome thought it over. She would be so busy! Between her queenly duties, her miko training, and being head of the archers, there would be no time to be homesick or bored. It was what she had always wanted. A slow smile spread across her face. "I'll do it." she said.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Whew! Another chapter down. This one is dedicated to moonlightshadow123 who requested more Inu/Kik fluff even though she isn't a fan of the pairing. Heehee now there could be two weddings in the making. Anyway, the action will begin in the next chapter now that the plan has been set. I'm not sure how much longer this will be. Probably another 10 chapters or so. I want to do a sequel but I don't know what to put in it. If there's something you want to see, let me know. As always, thanks to all my reviewers!