Chapter 22
Sesshomaru's eyes opened slowly and he blinked in the new day sun. His arms were wrapped around a dark haired bundle who was clutched tightly to his chest. He buried his nose in Kagome's hair and sighed gratefully. It felt so right to have his beloved back in his arms.
The girl stirred to life and grinned up at her prince. "Good morning."
"Indeed it is, my love. Do you know what today is?"
Kagome cocked her head. "No…"
"It marks the two week point until our wedding." Sesshomaru informed her.
"You actually sound excited about that." the miko teased.
"I could care less about the preparations for the event, but let it be known that I cannot wait to be wedded to you." The heat that crept into his voice made Kagome shiver agreeably.
"Come on, you big puppy. Let's get out of this bed."
Kagome had never before felt so welcome anywhere in her life. Everyone he saw all morning paid their respects to her and expressed their pleasure at her return. Sesshomaru had disappeared somewhere, so the miko expressed her confusion to Inuyasha and Sanyen.
"What don't you get, my lady?" Sanyen asked. "The people of the West haven't had a proper lady in well over a century. You are kind and beautiful and everything we have ever wanted in a queen. Wouldn't you agree, Captain?"
Inuyasha shrugged. "Kagome'll do fine." he muttered. "At least she managed to mellow the ice prince out."
"Speaking of, where is out illustrious leader?" the cat demon wanted to know.
Inuyasha sized Kagome up, then stood and offered her his hand. "C'mon. There's something you should see." The hanyou led the miko down to the dungeon where Sesshomaru was standing near a chained up Yukami.
"Sess?" Kagome gasped. "What's going on?"
The inuyoukai turned, eyes flashing. "Why have you brought her here?" he demanded of his brother.
"If Kagome's gonna be queen, she's got a right to know who's being kept down here." Inuyasha replied.
Kagome looked back and forth between the brother's and their prisoner. "Why is she here?"
"Kagome, you must understand. When you were taken, we had no inkling of how to find you. I knew that Yukami was involved, therefore we put her in custody."
"And now that I'm back? What will you do with her?"
Sesshomaru sighed. "I do not know. She allied herself with two criminals to harm another noble. Both youkai and human culture demand her death for such a crime." Yukami whimpered at that. "On the other hand," Sesshomaru continued, "Naraku is not nearly as dead as I want him. She could help us find him."
"I know nothing about him!" Yukami shouted. "He was my brother's advisor. Yuri should be here and not I. He has the information that you want!"
"Shut up, Yukami." Kagome snapped. "You are still a traitor to your kingdom. By law, as the offended party, and a former member of your household, I could purify you where you stand."
"You wouldn't dare."
Kagome chuckled. "I don't have to. Once you're deemed no longer useful, my betrothed will take your head."
"Oh shut up you ugly wench. I don't care who you marry, you'll still be a filthy human and nothing more." Yukami snorted.
"Sesshomaru?" the miko began.
"Hn?"
"I am related to Naraku. I know where to find information about him and his family. I doubt Yukami will be of much use to us."
"How unfortunate for her." Sesshomaru intoned.
Kagome turned her head as her inuyoukai stalked towards the disgraced princess. She knew her former mistress was as good as dead, and honestly, she couldn't muster the energy to feel bad about it.
Sesshomaru elongated his claws and shoved them forcefully into her chest. Bright green poison welled up and entered the demoness' punctured heart, effectively ensuring her death.
"Kagome." the inu prince called. "Come here." The miko obeyed slowly. "Look." the prince commanded. "This is what will happen to our enemies. To those who would harm what we are trying to build here. There will be no mercy."
Kagome raised her eyes to her former mistress's slowly melting corpse. She swallowed audibly, then nodded. "If this is what it takes to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, then so be it."
Sesshomaru removed his hand from the dead flesh and washed it in a conveniently placed bucket of water. He offered Kagome his arm and they headed towards the stairs. "Have that disposed of, Inuyasha." the inu tossed over his shoulder.
The couple made their way to the palace courtyard and were greeted by Bankotsu and Jakotsu. Kagome squealed and went to hug them.
"Did my father find places for you?" Sesshomaru wanted to know.
Bank nodded. "We're both to join the guard and take up places as Lady Kagome's personal bodyguards."
The prince nodded. "That is acceptable. Is my father in his office?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Jak replied with a wink.
"Very well. Report to Sanyen and Lord Inuyasha to get uniforms and register your weapons."
The brothers bowed and hurried to do as they were bid. The prince and his lady headed to the king's office. Before Sesshomaru had the chance to knock, InuTaisho opened the door and swept Kagome into a hug.
"I am so pleased to see you, my dear." he murmured into her hair.
"Father…" Sesshomaru warned.
The king released the girl and cleared his throat. "Right. Please come in." He beamed at the two of them. "I am so very proud of you both. This could have easily gotten out of hand and turned into a fiasco. Thanks to your quick thinking, my son, no lives were lost that should not have been. Speaking of, you will need to speak with Prince Yuri about what you did to his sister."
"It will be taken care of." Sesshomaru replied. "What of Naraku's whereabouts?"
"I have put Myoga on the case." InuTaisho answered. "If any one can determine where the hanyou went, it's the flea." The king gave his son a sharp look. "I do need to speak with you for a moment in private."
Kagome stood up. "I can see when I'm not wanted." she joked. "I'll go find my sister and Lady Seiuka. We have a wedding to plan after all." She gave her fiancé a thorough kiss and made her way to the wing of the castle that had been set aside for wedding preparations.
"Kagome!" Kikyo ran to her sister and crushed her in a hug. The sisters stared into each other's eyes and no words were needed. "The wedding plans are going very well. We just need a gown design and no one can come up with anything."
"I have an idea." Kagome said.
In half an hour, she had run down to the training yard and gotten Jakotsu to come back up with her.
The man was eager to help. He eyes the future bride and the women she wanted to be her attendants for a moment, then started scribbling on a piece of paper.
"What good will he be?" Tsubame wanted to know.
"My lady, I have been designing gowns since I could hold a pen." Jakotsu replied. "The fair lady Kagome deserves only the best and I can give her that. Now, what are the colors?"
"White, royal blue, and gold." Kagome answered.
"Hmm…maybe on the side…" the man murmured to himself. "In silk, yes?"
"Yes." Kikyo confirmed.
"Seed pearls perhaps…."
It was mid afternoon when Jakotsu finally looked up. He triumphantly brandished three sheets of paper. "Lady Tsubame, this is yours." The gown was drawn specifically for the inuyoukai body. It was low cut in the bodice and full in the skirt, made to be trimmed in blue and hemmed in gold."
"Wow." Tsubame breathed.
Jak grinned. "Mhmm. Lady Kikyo, for you." Hers was higher cut with a beaded neck. It was to be trimmed in the dark purple of her house and hemmed in silver. Both gowns were going to be made of cream colored silk while Kagome was in the only pure white one.
"I think this is nicer than the dress I was married in." Kikyo declared. "You are incredible."
"I hear you're being courted by that adorable hanyou . When he make his move, I'll do your gowns as well." He took a deep breath. "Lady Kagome, I do hope you'll be pleased with this."
"Oh, Jak." Kagome gasped. "It's incredible." Her wedding gown was truly to be exquisite. The bodice was cut so that it showed the girl's shoulders and an expanse of bosom. It had a full skirt that fell to the ground and flared out into a train in the back. It was trimmed and hemmed in gold silk and embroidered with silver seed pearls.
"Sesshomaru is going to love this." Tsubame declared. "You're sticking around, right, Jakotsu?"
The flamboyant man nodded. "I am to be Lady Kagome's bodyguard."
"And unofficial lady, if you want, Jak." Kagome added.
Jakotsu smiled and bowed. "Thank you, I would like that very much. I promise you'll be the best dressed queen this world has ever laid eyes on."
"Well at least I'll have one thing going for me." Kagome sighed.
"That and many others, I'm sure." Seiuka said as she came into the room. "Remember that I was friends with the last queen. You will be different than Inyanatzuru, but still very good."
"I'll have some time to prepare for being a ruler anyway."
Seiuka smiled and said nothing. She didn't know what the future of her brother's kingdom would be, but she was sure it would be bright.
A/N: Sorry for the wait you guys! School got crazy busy and I had auditions and callbacks and a bunch of other stuff. The good news is that there is only one more chapter of this story. And it's already mostly written! In a couple weeks the sequel will go up as well. For those of you reading Love is a Lesson (and you all should be) expect an update of that next week. As always, thanks for the reviews and let me know what you think of this!