Chapter One
"God Save the King"
The bells tolled in front and behind them.
They sung at the moment of his death, and they were singing now. Long, echoing sounds like a low moan to commiserate with them in the loss of their king.
She followed her mother, step after step.
It was only this morning that she'd finally felt numb. She'd promised her mother to not ruin her makeup before they were alone in their rooms. No one can see a royal cry. No one can see that the royal family is weak. Even though it was her father that died, she would remain pristine for the entirety of his march.
She would be good for her father.
Kagome sat properly on the dais behind the podium, staring out at the crowd that had amassed.
Her mother, now the Queen Mother, would be standing next to the Head Priest, who would read her father's parting words on who should rule the country until her brother was ready to ascend, which was almost a decade away.
The council, the generals, the high-enough ranking nobles all stared back at them, most of them expecting one particular answer. None of them loved her father like she did, like her family did. But her father died before her brother was of age, so a Regent would have to be named.
It would probably be her mother.
But that's what they all cared about. It was all that they cared about.
The familiar prickling in her eyes started, and she willed them to stop. She would not cry in front of them.
It was quiet as her mother and the priest rose to speak.
"Thank you all for coming today," the Queen Mother said, her voice carrying through the large room with ease. That's what it was designed for. "I'm sure that the king would be happy to know he had such friends among all of you."
Lies, every single word.
Her mother swallowed, looking almost pained as she continued to speak.
"The Crown Prince, our son, is too young to command the throne, and my husband, your king, named a Regent to serve in his stead until he is of age to be crowned."
She could feel her mother slipping, and Kagome watched as she broke the seal on her father's will in front of the priest, who began to read with a steady voice.
"According to my right as your king and being of complete and sound mind, I hereby assign the role of Regent ad Interim, who shall rule until the rightful heir, Crown Prince Souta, is of the rightful age to ascend the throne and the crown, to—"
Here, the priest paused, swallowing, glancing up at the crowd and her mother, whose eyes widened as she read on where the priest had stopped. The priest swallowed audibly again, and she was sure that it had echoed back out to the crowd.
"To, Grand Princess, Kagome Higurashi."
The room was silent.
She—Her father—
And the room exploded in noise and movement. Fingers were pointed. Shouts and expletives were thrown across the room.
The room echoed the noise as the nobles raged at her father's choice of their future leader.
"The girl is barely of age!"
"I have served this family faithfully—!"
"She knows nothing of—!"
"How can a woman—!"
"The only suitable—!"
"—the natural order—!"
Kagome found her feet and stood, marching up to stand aside her mother, taking her now rightful place.
The only increased the uproar and comments, some not proper for a lady to hear.
"Enough!" She roared, the depth and volume of her voice echoing, and the men visibly flinched at the sound of it.
She could do this.
She could hold herself together for just a bit longer.
"As Regent and Grand Princess, today is a day of mourning for Queen Mother, the Crown Prince, and myself. Go mourn the king. Business will resume in two day's time." She looked at them, picking out individuals to level her glare at. "You are dismissed."
She watched the men stalk out of the room, eyes glaring at her, threatening harm to her and whatever she loved. But they left amiably enough, she supposed. But they left, and when the last one had gone, she quickly turned, stalking out the door behind the dais before anyone could think to stop her.
It was during her rush to get through the halls and back to her room when a far too familiar voice came up behind her.
"Grand Princess, huh? Sounds fancy," she quipped.
She really didn't feel like dealing with her or anyone else today.
"Why are you here?" She sighed out, still keeping her pace back through the halls. She could feel herself running out of everything, and the fatigue weighed her down slowly but surely. She wasn't sure that she could manage to pick herself back up if she fell to the ground.
"As Regent, you probably shouldn't be wandering around without some sort of protection."
She sighed again, and she seemed to take affront at the motion, which she always did. Probably because Kagome continuously tried to escape her guard.
"Shouldn't you be outside greeting people and kissing babies?" Her guard asked, as she kept pace behind her.
"Please, just leave me alone," she said with a glance over her shoulder as she continued walking, trying to take all the back ways and byways to her room, which was taking much longer and putting her on the verge of crying.
She just needed somewhere to rest and calm herself.
Kagome didn't want to see people. She didn't want to visit about her newfound responsibilities that her father magnanimously bestowed on her for whatever reason. She was sure that he had a plan and a reason for it, but it would've been nice to included on his thoughts, especially since she had virtually no experience in how to navigate the tempestuous waters of kingship and appeasement of the noble families and actually ruling the entire kingdom.
Her brother had been in the process of training to be king, but only just barely started.
She couldn't even defer the title to her mother, since Regents could no longer change or alter the line of succession and inheritance of the crown.
Seriously, what was her father actually thinking?
Voices came down the hallway, and she froze, trying to figure out her best line of escape.
Sango, however, strode in front, hand on her sword.
"Follow me," she whispered, "and stay close," and she began guiding Kagome towards the voices.
She didn't want to see people, and she honestly thought about backtracking to avoid the confrontation, but that would only make Sango angry and then there would be more talking—mostly angry talking—and that wasn't what she wanted either.
It was a group of nobles. She saw them as they rounded the corner.
All conversation stopped as they saw who was approaching them.
"Make way," Sango announced, shoulder checking one of the men who didn't get move fast enough. She glared at him.
"My queen," one of them spoke. "If I may have a moment of your time," he started.
Sango quickly moved between them, hand gripping the hilt of her sword.
"The Queen has no time for the likes of you."
The noble reached for her arm, and she froze at his audacity.
"But—!" His voice was strangled as Sango slid her sword against his throat.
"Try that again, and I will not withhold judgment."
Kagome watched, trying to keep her face still and impassive, as if this happened on a daily basis, as if anything that had happened today was completely and totally normal.
"Come, Sango," she ordered, and Sango's sword snapped back into it's sheath and she marched next to her.
"Your majesty," Sango asked softly, "are you alright?"
"Fine," she squeaked out. "I'm fine."
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was out of place and rude. I was only trying to make you laugh, but I think I only made things worse."
"Please, don't," she started, feeling her stomach lurch. Oh, she was not going to puke in the halls. "Don't call me that. Keep calling me Kagome."
"When we're in private, as always, but out here, we must keep up pretenses."
"You mean, act like we're not friends?"
Talking was good, talking kept the nausea away for the very short moment.
"We've talked about this, your majesty."
Kagome groaned, pausing in the hallway to take a couple of deep breaths to settle her nerves and her stomach.
"Are you alright?" Sango asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I think so."
Sango urged her to keep moving, divining a path back towards her bedroom, with quick and sure steps.
And so it was her sudden and unexpected stop that caught Kagome unawares and causing her to nearly crash into her back.
"What is it?" Kagome asked, leaning up on her toes slightly to look over Sango's shoulder.
"Wait here," she clipped. "What is the meaning of this? What are you doing?"
"We are moving the Queen's things to her new quarters," said a maid—not one she recognized—with a small bow.
"Why?" Sango snapped. "And where?"
"To the Queen's quarters," she repeated as if the answer was obvious. "It is just taking a little longer, and we did not expect her majesty back so soon after the announcement."
"Wait," Kagome interrupted, head still reeling, and nausea still threatening to rear its ugly head. "You are moving me into my mother's room?"
"The Queen Mother has already been moved to her new residence. It is your room now, your majesty."
Kagomes' mouth opened to speak, but Sango quickly tried to intercept the tirade before it began, but she wasn't fast enough.
"My father has been dead for less than two days!"
"I am sorry, your highness. It is merely the way of things."
"I will take you upstairs," Sango said, guiding her away from the throng of servants digging through her things.
Sango moved beside her on the stairs, a firm hand gripping her upper arm.
"Just a bit more," she encouraged, catching her as she stumbled on the next step, all the events and changes weighed down each step and sat heavily on her shoulders, draining her completely. "Easy, we're almost there, and I'll help you undress."
Kagome gave a small nod as they entered the hallway, with Sango dragging her into her new residence for the next decade.
Servants milled about, chatting loudly and barking orders around them. The din was enough to make her head ache even more.
"Everyone out!" Sango bellowed.
"But—"
"I said out!" And every servant scuttled out of the room like mice when they sense a cat. She managed to sang the arm of a maidservant on her way out. "You will have the Queen' dinner brought here. You and I will both taste it. Is that understood?"
The servant visibly swallowed, and Sango let her go, watching her fly out of the room and down the hall.
"Now," Sango said, her voice low and quiet as she closed the door. "Let's get you out of those clothes."
Sango maneuvered her through the room, guiding her to the changing screen where her fingers expertly undid the ties, loosening the dress and pulling it off before working on her corset, down all the layers until she stood in nothing more than her shift. Sango moved her to the chair at the vanity, beginning to pull out the picks and pins holding her hair in place. She carefully set the jewelry down on the marble top, and Kagome watched as the jewels refracted the light.
She glanced up as Sango worked, staring at herself in the mirror.
She was a Queen Regent now, even though she still looked like herself. Like Kagome.
"Here," Sango spoke softly, holding out a damp rag, "for your face."
Trembling fingers took it, gently pressing the cloth to her face and wiping the thick makeup off her skin. The coolness of the water was refreshing, but the heaviness of the makeup persisted. One more weight dragging her down.
"Do you want me to go?" Sango asked, and Kagome shook her head, covering her face with the cloth. "Do you want me fetch someone? Your mother? Hojo?"
Kagome snorted a sobbing laugh, shaking her head.
"Everything is changing," she whispered, pulling her face away from the cloth, and carefully wiping her hands with it.
"That is what things do."
"Not this much or this quickly."
Sango hummed a little.
"It has been a lot of changes for you these past few days."
Kagome looked up at her body guard, twisting to face her directly.
"We're—we're friends, right?" She asked.
Sango eyed the door for a moment.
"I will be whatever you need me to be."
Kagome shook her head.
"Do you want to be my friend? I won't make you—I want you to want it."
"I thought we already were."
Kagome felt the tears rise and overflow.
"Good, because I could really use my only friend right now."
Sango took the rag from her hands, using it to gently wipe the rest of the makeup from her face, before setting it aside and holding both of Kagome's hands in her own.
"I'm hardly your only friend," Sango chided.
"You're the only one that I trust. I know you won't gossip my secrets around the castle like some others."
"That's probably true," she gave a gently squeeze of their fingers. "Here, come sit on the sofa, it's much more comfortable than the stool."
Kagome let herself be guided to the corner of her sofa, where she promptly curled up with a pillow against the back and the arm.
"What would you like?" Sango asked.
"Can you just sit with me for a while? We don't have to talk. I just—" Her voice drifted off, and Sango gave her a soft smile.
"Of course. Are you okay if I disarm first?"
Kagome gave her a small nod, watching as Sango removed her armor plates and weapons. She kicked off her boots before sitting down next to Kagome as well. She held her hand out to Kagome, who eagerly took it as a form of comfort.
"You're sure you don't want me to fetch your mother?" Sango asked. Kagome shook her head. "You're sure?"
"I don't want her to have to see her room like this."
"It's your room now."
"It's her room. They shouldn't have moved her. I could've waited for a few days. Now it feels like I've kicked her out of her home. She probably thinks I'm an awful daughter."
"She doesn't think that," Sango told her.
"You don't know what she's thinking."
Sango rolled her eyes at the statement.
"I know your mother. She's not going to judge you for something out of your control."
Kagome sighed. Sango was right. Her mother probably didn't hate her for this. But she was probably upset.
Kagome would be if she was in her mother's place.
"It all could've waited a few days."
"Probably, but there's a process for all this. This room is for the current king—or queen—and your father nominated you for that position, so this is now your residence. It's how things are."
"That doesn't mean that's how they should be."
"Maybe, but monarchies don't change so easily."
Kagome sighed, drawing her hands away to hold onto the pillow.
"I still feel bad."
"Stop whining," Sango chastised, and Kagome looked over at the wall, and this time, Sango sighed. "That's because you have a big heart. It's probably why your father picked you over one of the lords."
Kagome snorted at that.
"A big heart doesn't make a difference. I don't know the first things of running a country. Why didn't he pick my mother? That was the logical choice if he didn't want one of the lords."
"There's simply no way to know now, but he made it with a purpose, and he chose you." Sango patted her knee as she picked at the stitching on her pillow. "Do you remember the first day that we met?"
"Yeah, of course I do, but what does that have to do—"
"Stop talking," Sango ordered, and Kagome huffed agitatedly into her pillow.
"Your father came to my village looking for a body guard for you. And I remember thinking that it was really kind of your father to take your opinion into consideration."
"It was, wasn't it?"
"The norm is for kings to show up and take one of our warriors back to the castle, with no consideration of their daughter's feelings."
"I was really excited to go. It was one of my first long trips outside the castle."
"I was excited because it had been a while since they'd hired one of us, and I was old enough to be in the running. There aren't many female slayers, you know. I'd completed my own hunts, and my father allowed me to participate in the demonstrations."
"We both have good fathers, don't we?"
Sango hummed.
"But you talked to us, all of us," Sango continued. "Even me."
"Of course, I talked to you! Why wouldn't I? A girl fighter! That was so cool! You're still so cool to me."
"That's the point. Everyone else would've ignored me because I was a girl! There were plenty of older slayers that had way more experience than I did. And who did you end up choosing?"
"We both know the answer to that," Kagome said with a roll of her eyes.
"Play along, Queen," Sango urged, narrowing her eyes at her.
"Fine, I chose you."
"Yes, in front of my entire village, you chose me. A scraggly little slayer who was smaller than everyone else in the running. And you chose me. Do you remember what reason you gave?"
"You were like me."
"And everyone assumed that you meant that I was a girl."
She shrugged.
"Your father, the king, told you to pick someone else, and I remember you telling him, very loudly, that he said you could pick your bodyguard, and you wanted me."
Kagome groaned.
"Definitely not my finest moment. I practically threw a temper tantrum."
"Oh, you definitely threw a temper tantrum," Sango said with a laugh, and Kagome hit her with the pillow.
"I thought you were supposed to be making me feel better!" Kagome stated, dragging the pillow back against her chest.
"I'm getting there!" This time Sango let out her own huff. "You argued with him though, and you didn't just throw a temper tantrum. You listed off facts that proved I was the better choice, and they were good choices." Sango held up her fingers. "It would not be inappropriate for me to be in your room or stay the night."
"I wanted to have a sleepovers."
"People would not expect me to be your bodyguard."
"I didn't want to attract attention."
"I could always be in the room with you, even when you were dressing."
"I hated the maidservant that did my clothes. She always laced my corsets too tight."
"Point being, those are all very logical statements and back up your choice."
"And?"
Sango deadpanned a look at her.
"Whether you want to admit it or not, you are smart, Kagome. You have the potential to be queen, and—" Sango held up a hand to silence her when Kagome started to speak. "And be a good queen until Prince Souta is old enough to take the throne. If there was anyone in this kingdom I would trust with anything at all, it would be you."
Kagome sat there in the quiet staring at her bodyguard and cupbearer, when a knock at the door drew her attention away.
Sango grabbed her sword, reattaching it to her hip.
"Stay here. I will return."
Kagome watched her march towards the door and swing it open, glowering at whomever was on the other side.
"And I told you," Sango's voice came echoing through the chambers, "that you and everyone else can wait. Your Queen told everyone to get out and she has not rescinded that command, so you will get out and stay out until she gives you leave to enter, which will not be for two day's time."
Sango closed the door in their face, and marched back over, already removing her sword, and setting it on the couch next to them.
"Who was it?"
"Lord Souma," Sango muttered. "He wanted to speak with you directly regarding 'business of the crown,'" Sango made finger quotes to mock his words, letting out a sardonic laugh. "He's a snake in the grass, that one."
"You talked that way to a lord?" Kagome gaped at her friend.
"Apparently, power corrupts me," she said with a shrug. "Being the Queen's bodyguard is an important position, and I'm definitely going to be throwing my weight around."
Kagome gave her a small smile.
"I'll allow it," Kagome said, and Sango let out a laugh.
"The lords won't know what hit them when we're through."
"Thanks, Sango," she said, relaxing her grip on the pillow.
"Do you want anything to eat? You haven't had anything all day."
"I'm really not hungry."
"Well, I want bread and cheese and some fruit."
Sango hopped off the couch, taking her sword with her, and walking to the door again.
"If Souma is still out here, I'm going to punch him," she warned.
"Please don't."
"No promises," Sango commented, sliding the door open just enough to poke her head out and kept her foot braced against the door, preventing anyone from forcing it open. "The Queen would like a tray of bread, cheese, and some fruit."
And with that the door closed.
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I mean, I get a swanky new room too, you know."
"They're moving you too?"
"Of course," she scoffed, "I'm supposed to be your last line of defense and all. Why wouldn't I want to have a room that is secretly connected to yours?"
"Wait, they're connected?"
"Of course they're connected! What? Now I'm supposed to use a normal door like some peasant?"
At that, Kagome laughed, because she knew Sango was playing it up to make her laugh.
"So you're letting someone else touch your precious Hiraikotsu?"
Sango glowered at her.
"I already warned them years ago that if they touched anything in my room without my permission, I would murder them in their sleep."
"You did not!"
"No," Sango shook her head with a smile, "but I did tell them that there were several different types of poisons for demons that could kill them, so it was best if they left that alone." She shrugged. "It's safer that way. I really don't want them to get hurt. So I'll move it all later sometime."
That sounded a lot more like the Sango she knew.
Kagome gave a short nod, letting her head lean against the couch as she drew her knees up to her chest.
"You're sure that you're alright? I'm here if you want to—you know—talk about anything. Today was a lot."
"It was. It's just a lot to absorb." She turned her head slightly and gave her a weak smile.
"Do you want to just sit here quietly?"
"Yeah, just for a bit," Kagome mumbled, letting her gaze drift to the painting in front of her.
She caught Sango's nod out of the corner of her eye, and it was quiet in the room. These rooms were so much bigger than what she'd been in.
She'd had a bathing room, a bedroom with a dressing corner, and a receiving room. Now, she had the same things—and more actually, but there was a huge size difference between the two residences. It was a room meant for a couple, but it was only her in here, and it made the space feel all the more empty and lonely.
Her mother was probably lonely too. Perhaps she should go visit her early tomorrow morning. Or send one of the servants to ask if she would come visit. It still seemed wrong, but she wanted her to know that she'd had nothing to do with this change.
"Hey," Kagome asked, turning to look at Sango, who had quickly turned her head to face her, but she'd still kept quiet. "Could you ask my mother to come here?"
"Do you want me to bring her? Or do you want me to send word with a servant?"
"Can you go? I don't want to write it down, and I don't want her to feel like it was a summons."
"I get it. I'll be right back, alright?" Sango stood, grabbing her sword and sliding on her breast plate, and latching the straps effortlessly. She moved around the couch, her hand resting on Kagome's shoulder for a moment before the pressure disappeared. The door slid open and closed, and then the room was completely empty except for her.
Wrapping her arms tightly around her knees, she waited.
It was a little while before there was a knock at the door. Kagome rose, expecting Sango and her mother. Maybe Sango was going to give them a little space to talk things out.
Kagome wanted to apologize for how she'd acted that afternoon, essentially abandoning her mother that afternoon to deal with the mess of having her room moved to another portion of the grounds, having her daughter usurp the throne from her, and then having to deal with the lords and what not, because if they were bothering her, there was no doubt that they'd gone to her mother as well.
"I was worr—" Kagome started, opening the door slightly. But the face staring back at her wasn't her mother's.
It wasn't female at all.
Kagome gasped and slammed the door closed, except that Lord Souma managed to get his fingers around the door itself and brace it open.
"Ah, there's our little bird," Lord Souma said, pushing the door open a little farther than it had been. "I was wondering when my dear queen would answer my summons."
"I'm not answering any summons," Kagome retorted, hiding herself behind the door so Souma wouldn't be able to see anything indecent. She was just wearing a shift and nothing else. "Not for two more days, so you can wait just like everyone else."
"Ah, but you see," he edged his foot into the door, keeping it open no matter how hard she pushed against it. "I'm not just anyone else."
"You need to leave Lord Souma. Now," she commanded, but he just let out a low belly laugh.
"Oh, that is grand," he chuckled. "You think that just because you've been handed the title of Queen that you can order us around."
"I am your queen, and you will do as I say! Now leave!" She raised her voice, hoping that someone would hear and come to her rescue.
"Oh, little bird, you have no power here," he said, pushing the door open a few more inches. She squeaked trying to keep herself hidden. "And it would be wise to not insult such a powerful noble who sits on the council." He grinned down at her. "And it would be a shame if your propriety were to come into question before you've even rightfully ascended."
He wedged the door open even more, now able to step forward into her room, which he did, and then promptly hit the ground.
Kagome screamed before she realized the familiar face pinning him to the ground.
Sango had his head pulled back with a dagger pressed so firmly to his throat that it was bleeding.
"What were my words to you, Lord Souma?" She spat out.
His nose was bleeding from where he'd slammed it into the floor.
"I told you to leave," she growled out. "And you elected to ignore our queen's orders and you chose to threaten her. I should have you executed for what you've done today." She looked up at Kagome, who gave her a minute shake of the head. "But—" Sango sighed, clearly disappointed in Kagome's choice of mercy, "our queen is merciful. More so than me. So you'll get to live for at least one more day." She craned his head farther back, and Kagome could see the thin trickle of blood running down his throat from where her knife sat. "But if I see your face anywhere inside the palace grounds for the next two days, I will have you executed on sight. Do you understand?"
"I live on the palace grounds!"
Sango dug the knife edge in a little deeper making him wince.
"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that."
"Yes," he hissed out. Sango threw his head forward, knocking it back against the stone floor.
"Excellent." She climbed off Souma's back, quickly moving to stand in front of Kagome. "Guards!" She ordered, and two men entered the room. "Lord Souma is to be escorted off the premises and not to return for two days. If he is seen anywhere on the grounds, public or private residences, he should be shot on sight. That is an order."
"Yes sir!" Both men started to haul Lord Souma to his feet, and he shoved them off.
"You've ended your career," he warned, before marching back out into the hall.
"Good news is I don't serve you. Rei, see him out. Michio, here," Sango commanded, and one of soldiers followed Lord Souma out, while the other stayed behind. "Go notify the captain. Tell him whomever was on duty or supposed to be on duty here, he will find them and bring them to the station where I will deal with them later. And find two new replacements for this hall."
"Sir!" He said, disappearing and closing the door behind him.
Sango exhaled before abruptly turning to face her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. Where's my mother?"
Surely, she hadn't seen all of that take place.
"One of the maidservants rushed to find me when she saw Lord Souma pushing his way inside. We put her in a safe place until we were sure that it was clear for her to enter."
"Thank you," Kagome answered, already feeling her eyes water.
"You're sure that you're alright? He didn't hurt you?"
Kagome shook her head.
"You had me scared there for a moment."
Sango drew her in for a hug, and Kagome relented.
"Let me send a guard down for your mother. I'm sure she'd like to be released," Sango said, holding her back at arm's length. A knock came at the door, and Sango glanced over her shoulder at it. "Stay here," Sango ordered, moving to answer the knock.
The door opened, and Sango spoke quietly to whomever was on the other side before shutting the door.
"Your mother is on her way now," Sango explained, before gently guiding Kagome to her couch. She sat without protest, holding her hands in her lap. Sango stood in front of her, arms crossed and glaring at the far wall.
"Are you upset with me?" Kagome asked.
"What?" Sango looked at her with a shocked expression on her face. "No! Of course not! Why would I be mad at you? You've done nothing wrong."
"I thought it was you," she explained, not that Sango had asked, but she felt compelled to explain what she'd been thinking to absolve herself of guilt.
"You don't have to explain—" There was a knock at the door, cutting her off. Sango rose quickly, marching towards it.
Her mother stepped in a moment later.
"Kagome," she cooed, as Kagome rose to meet her, and her mother quickly gathered her up in a hug.
"I'll be in my room. I'll check on you both in a little bit," Sango said, shutting the door behind her.
Sango was a great friend. Kagome really couldn't have chosen a better cupbearer or friend.
"Would you like to tell me about what happened a little bit ago?"
Kagome buried her face into her mother's chest.
"I'm sure the servants are already passing it around," she mumbled.
"Yes, but I would like to hear the truth." Her mother leaned back, looking at her. "You may be the Queen Regent, but I am still your mother."
Kagome let out a small laugh as her mother guided her back to the couch.
Another knock, and Kagome glanced at her mother, before the door edged open revealing her mother's personal guard.
"Food, for the queen," Katasue said. Her mother rose from the couch to take it from him.
"Thank you," she said with a nod.
"Should I be expecting anyone else?" He asked, and her mother only looked to Kagome, who shook her head.
Katasue nodded, stepping back out into the hall and shutting the door behind him.
Her mother set the tray down in front of her on the table.
"Sango ordered it," Kagome said.
"Well, knowing you, I'm sure that you've skipped every meal possible," her mother commented, taking a small plate and putting a few pieces on it before sitting next to her, and handing her said plate.
Kagome took it but could only play with the food slightly.
"I'd ask how you're handling things, but from the look of you, not well."
At this, the tears of frustration and guilt that she'd been holding back burst forth. The plate was removed from her hands, and her mother drew her close in a hug.
"My poor daughter. You've had so much put on you today."
"I thought," she gasped between sobs, "you'd be mad."
"Oh, Kagome," she chided. "What is there for me to mad about?"
"I took your room!"
Her mother shushed her.
"You did no such thing."
"Father hasn't been dead but a couple days!"
"No, but this is the way of things. I knew it would happen, and if anything, I'm glad it's you."
"It should be you!"
"Maybe it should and maybe it shouldn't, but either way, I'm not mad at you or anyone else about it. It's upsetting, yes, but it makes me happy to know that at least one of my own children will be here and appreciate who used to live here."
Kagome let out a few more sobs.
"Alright, I may be the Queen Mother now, but I'm also your mother, and as your mother, I say that you need something in your stomach before we go any further."
"We should get Sango," Kagome protested.
"I'm sure Sango ordered it with the intention to make you eat something as well. Now, take the plate," she said, pushing the plate towards her, and Kagome stared at it.
"I don't like the white cheese," she mumbled, and her mother sighed, smiling before removing the offending dairy and replacing it with another.
"Better?"
Kagome took the plate, balancing it on her knees, taking a small bite of a strawberry. It was good, but then the palace food was always good.
"So, do you want to tell me what the issue earlier was?"
Kagome sighed.
"Lord Souma." Kagome stared at her plate, fingering the piece of bread and thin slice of cheese she'd stacked on top.
"And what did he do this time?" Her mother frowned as she started making her own plate. "He's always starting trouble."
"He just—said—things."
Her mother merely raised an eyebrow.
"And what might those things have been?"
Kagome stared down at her plate.
"Kagome," her mother said in a tone that made her flinch at the authority behind it. "What did Lord Souma say?"
She sighed. There would be no avoiding it. Not now at least.
"He said that I don't have any power as queen. And he's right! I don't have any! No one is going to respect me because I don't know anything about ruling anyone!"
"Kagome, all the training in the world does not prepare you to be a ruler."
"But I know literally nothing!"
"Well, like father, like daughter then."
"And—what?"
"Don't you remember the stories?" Her mother said. "I know I told them to you at least once."
Kagome blinked at her.
"Your father was not the planned heir."
She felt pretty sure that she had not, in fact, heard this story at all or ever.
"Your grandfather and your eldest uncle went out hunting with a few of the nobles at the time, and they died on the trip. Your father received word that his father and brother had died and was crowned king on the same day."
"So kinda what happened to me," Kagome replied taking a bite of her bread.
"Exactly. It would seem inheritance in our family is a very quick and unplanned affair."
"What happened to them though?" Kagome asked.
"To who?"
"Grandfather and uncle. You said that they died. How did they die?"
Her mother sat in silence for a moment, chewing her bite of food.
"Do you know why we use silver utensils?"
Kagome shrugged.
"Because we're royalty?" Her mother shook her head. "Tradition?"
"Well, sort of. Silver reacts to most poisons and toxins that are hidden easily in food."
Kagome stared at her mother, knowing that there was some connection that she was missing.
"Wait," she started, the thoughts all becoming almost linear.
"Someone poisoned them while they were out hunting?"
"Yes, they assassinated the king, the heir, and another noble lord."
"Why? Who did it?"
"Why did they murder the king?" Her mother shrugged. "Not entirely sure. Your grandfather was a very stern, but fair, king. He did what he thought was right and there was no convincing him otherwise."
"Was he a good king?"
"I think so, but he had just as many enemies as he did friends."
"So what did he do to make someone want to kill him?"
"There was a family of nobles who were very high ranking in the courts, and they had proposed an ordinance that would've greatly benefited them financially, but put a heavy burden on those who lived on their lands. It wouldn't have affected anyone else, but the measure still had to be approved by the court and the king. It passed the court, but your grandfather vetoed the entire thing the moment the lord opened his mouth."
"Grandfather told him to stop being greedy so the guy murdered him?"
"The lord," her mother corrected, "but yes."
"But—just—he—" Kagome fumbled with the words, trying to formulate the question she needed an answer to. "Why did it matter that much? The lords live here and most of them have other homes to visit too. So just, why?"
"Money makes people do strange things, and the promise of it makes them do even stranger things."
"What happened to him? The lord that killed grandfather?"
"Your father executed him and then stripped his family of all their titles and their lands. He exiled them from the country and put forth an edict that anyone found housing them now and in the future would be stripped of their titles and jailed."
Kagome stared at her mother.
"Wow, that's—that's a lot."
"The Kagewaki family was large, and there were several lords and ladies that lost their titles because of it. Your father was very angry, and some of the nobles were afraid that he would get rid of the nobility entirely."
"But he didn't."
"No, and he never intended to. But he was a new king, and there's a lot of truth in the old saying, 'the devil you know.'"
"You never told me any of this."
"It's not a story that anyone enjoys telling. Your father was very young, and we had only just started courting. To suddenly become a consort to the king was—a lot for our relationship."
"But you stayed together."
"I loved your father, and I hate that you lost him so early in your life. You should've been able to court and be seen as a young lady, not as a queen." Her mother ran her hand across her head. "You are capable of so many great things."
"Thanks Mama."