A bit later than promised but still here!

Lady in the Dog's Den

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi, therefore I hold no claim to him or his chest— I mean Cast!! *cheesy grin*

Chapter 12

"War is the destroyer of us all."

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She sat there long after Inuyasha had left, turbulent emotions and thoughts racing around her mind. A mix of resentment and sadness filled her, resenting him, condemning herself for allowing him to upset her, compassion for Rin, and finally trying to find some justification for the violent way she had reacted. Not knowing that he had a brother killed at the Final battle was no excuse, she knew, for the things she had said to him.

Without realizing what she was doing, she moved to the chest to pick up the comb that lay there and began drawing it through her hair, endeavouring to restore some order to the confusion of her thoughts and regain some of the composure that had been completely destroyed in the last few minutes

By the time she returned to the hall, it had grown gloomy and the torches were lit. There was no sign of Inuyasha, but Kikyo sat by the fire and she looked up with a mixture of relief and anxiety when Kagome sat down beside her.

"It was nothing serious, Kikyo," she said in answer to her unspoken query. "Inuyasha had a sword and for a moment I thought I could see him killing father with it…" the bland words conveyed nothing of the horror of the moment, but Kikyo could see that she was upset, and, anxious to divert her thoughts to pleasanter subjects, talked of persuading Lord Hiroshi to take them to London when all this was over.

Kagome was far too concerned with the present, however, to be able to do more than smile vaguely and agree that it would be an enjoyable diversion.

The evening meal was prepared and set upon the table, and the men called from their various pursuits. Inuyasha came in with Sango, and he was evidently in a much improved mood. His arm rested easily across her shoulders and he was laughing heartily— much to the girl's apparent embarrassment, for she was blushing furiously and held her eyes downcast, despite the smile that hovered round her mouth.

Kagome looked away, wondering how the girl felt about her lord's wish to wed a Miron maid— although no doubt Inuyasha's pleasures would not be overly restricted by the inconvenience of a wife!

As everyone sat down at the table, he strode across to his two captives and took an arm of each, "Come," he said, "are you not hungry?"

Kagome would have preferred to eat alone in her chamber, and seeing her obvious reluctance, he smiled and patted her arm reassuringly. "You must grow used to sitting beside me, little one. As my wide, it will be expected of you!"

She gritted her teeth. She refused to create another scene in front of the Shikoneans for Inuyasha's entertainment! He bade them sit one on either side of him and seemed in a very jovial humour— evidently he had resolved his differences with Miroku, and Sango, it seemed had succeeded in raising her spirits quite considerably!

Kagome found that her appetite had deserted her. She ate little and said nothing, aware of his gaze upon her from time to time but declining to look at him for fear of encountering that mocking amusement, and losing her temper again.

The men did not appear unduly concerned over the new element in Inuyasha's plans, and it seemed that if he wished to take a Miron wench to wife that was entirely his affair. If they did object, or dislike the idea, they did so silently. Indeed, Miroku's was the only dissenting voice she had heard, and that had been quickly stilled.

She could not help but wonder what it was about Inuyasha that bound men like these to him with such loyalty. They had followed him from Nightingale, or joined him since, to continue to fight their Miron conquerors, and they remained with him when he decided to give up and throw in his lot with Washoru. At a word from him, the others- those who had been at Nightingale this past year- abandoned everything and followed him to a future that was, at best, uncertain, no knowing whether or not they would ever see their homes again.

She was uncomfortably aware that she, too, was in his power, that her future was also in his hands, whatever the King decided. She could not shake off the disturbing conviction that it was not going to come to the swift and happy conclusion it should.

It was in this thoughtful, troubled mood that Kagome endured the meal, and when it was over and Inuyasha allowed them to retire, it stayed with her. She and Kikyo were to spend the night in separate chambers again, presumably because they were less troublesome apart than they were together, but it was an extravagance in the overcrowded conditions of the settlement. A man stood guard at the curtain, and there would doubtless be someone there all night.

Kagome was not, however, entirely sorry for her solitude. It had been a long, wearying day and she ached from the strain of it. She removed most of her clothes and left them in a pile on the floor, before sliding beneath the soft warmth of the pelts and closing her eyes with a sigh.

Surprisingly, after the events of the day, Kagome slipped easily into a deep, dreamless sleep from which she woke only once just before sunrise, when a heavy weight seemed to lift off of the bed and the source of warmth that she had been curled up against the entire night left her. Being closer to unconsciousness than wakefulness, she did nothing but turn over, snuggle deeper under the covers and promptly fall back asleep and did not wake until well after the sun had risen. For a while she lay floating, too sleepy to think and merely drowsing in the soft warmth of the pelts; but her contentment was short-lived as memories of the previous day awakened in her mind with disturbing clarity.

She groaned and turned on to her side, feeling for a moment totally incapable of dealing with the situation with any degree of strength and pride. The two days between now and her uncle's return from the King would be long and stressful, and she was afraid of what Inuyasha might do when his ambitions were thwarted.

However, she forced herself to rise, and with the water which had been brought in at some time while she slept, she washed and refreshed herself, and dressed slowly. There seemed no need to hasten. It was a very cold morning so she wrapped her mantle around her and as she did so, noticed a strange indent in the bed next to where she had been sleeping. A half remembered feeling of warmth and solidness came to mind and figuring it must have been one of the dogs that ranged around the hall left the room and, completely ignoring the suspicious looks of the man on guard outside, opened the door of Kikyo's chamber and peeped inside. Kikyo was still asleep, so she closed the door again quietly and went on into the hall.

A girl, Yura, who had served her at Nightingale, came forward and bade her be seated while she fetched some food, but Kagome, who had no more appetite this morning than she had had last night, shock her head.

"But you ate little yesterday, my lady," the girl protested. "You should eat something."

"I want nothing, Yura, thank you."

"But—"

Kagome silenced her with a look and turned away towards the fire, where one of the young children was loudly demanding attention. As Kikyo did not emerge from her chamber, Kagome was quite content to amuse herself playing with young Kyo for a while, for there was little else she could do.

It was snowing heavily outside, and when several of the children clamoured to be allowed out to play in it, she was pleased to help dress them warmly, and then stood in the doorway clutching Kyo's hand and watching them with a faint smile playing round her mouth. Snow had always fascinated her, and to see the land lying in hushed tranquility and covered in a glistening whiteness filled her with a strange mixture of joy and humility.

Kyo tugged on her arm, and with a soft laugh she allowed him to pull her outside forgetting Inuyasha's command that they were not to go beyond the confines of the building. With a gurgle of delight, Kyo pulled gleefully away from her and hurled himself into the melee of young limbs and flying snow.

The women, keeping watchful eyes on their offspring, were turned away from her, and across by one of the outbuildings Inuyasha and several other men were preoccupied with the examination of a horse which appeared to have hurt its leg and was dancing skittishly about, extremely nervous in the swirling whiteness. None, it seemed, had noticed her.

As Kagome realised this, she hesitated for only a moment before turning and walking quickly towards the trees, a confusion of thoughts chasing themselves through her mind. It was simple. Simple to run through the woods away from this place; one person on foot was much more difficult to follow than two on horseback and she could hide herself easily; with a little luck she would encounter a Miron patrol before she had gone more than a few miles. A brief glance back told her that no one had noticed her walking away and she started to run, ducking beneath low branches and weaving between the black trunks that showed so starkly against the whiteness.

However, her feet slowed as the snow that had fallen on her from the trees melted and soaked her mantle and gown to numb her skin with coldness and restore a little reason. She came to a halt and stood shivering. Her wits were surely addled. It was impossible, of course. She had no food, no knife to protect herself against wild animals, no more than a mantle against the weather, and in such conditions it was unlikely the Miron patrols would venture this far into the hills. She would freeze to death before she came anywhere near an inhabited place, let alone as far as Nightingale.

Whatever Inuyasha was, he was scarcely so terrifying that she would die rather than stay two days as his 'guest'. And what of Kikyo? Had she grown so callous that she would attempt to escape herself and leave Kikyo— her aunt and her friend— to whatever fate was in store? To face Inuyasha's wrath?

She knew she was not so selfish. Slowly, she turned and began to walk back, and when she reached the edge of the trees, she walked along a little further so that she emerged into the open at the side of the building, out of view of the people in front of it.

As she turned the corner and walked towards the door, there was a terrified whinny from the horse with the injured leg and he reared up, hooves flailing, and plunged down, breaking free of his captors. In the same instant little Kyo, who had been playing by himself some distance from the others, saw Kagome and began running towards her. In his excitement, he did not even hear her horrified cry of warning.

Vaguely she was aware of Inuyasha and the other men running, of women snatching children out of danger. But Kyo was oblivious, and the smile on his little face seemed to lend wings to her feet. Kagome flew across the ground, panic driving all conscious thought from her mind, and her ears filled with sound of pounding hooves.

She reached him seconds before the horse, but just as she stretched out to scoop him up, she tripped and fell. On her knees, she half pushed, half threw him back towards Inuyasha with a force lent by desperation. But then as she tried to twist herself away, one of the horse's hooves caught the side of her head and the glancing blow sent her sprawling, with a shaft of pain splitting her head, into a crumpled heap. With a half-gasp, she sank into black oblivion…

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Cliffy much? =P