InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Egypt Bound ❯ Days Go By ( Chapter 4 )

Days Go By

Before Kagome knew it, her time aboard the ocean liner was coming to a close. She often thought back to that first night on the ship, reveling in her naiveté, but now her focus was on impartiality to her two "suitors". After her first night in the ballroom, she accepted Lord Sesshomaru's invitation to take tea with him and Rin. Kagome came to adore Rin, being a young lady herself, and found her to be a delightful companion---during the daytime. At night, she was never an arm's length away from Naraku, who had no qualms about showing her off to the elite traveling set. Oddly enough, neither of the men were affectionate, both treated her as more of a prize than as a potential wife-or even a paramour. Sesshomaru seemed to have no romantic interest in her at all, and it seemed to Kagome (and Sango) that his aim was to keep her as a companion to Rin, and away from Naraku's clutched for as long as possible. And so Kagome shuffled between the two, earning the frequent scowls and barbs from Kikyo at dinner.

At dawn the iron-clad leviathan pulled into the harbour at Alexandria, and Kagome was the first to see the ancient metropolis. The ocean breeze caressed her as she stood on the deck, and she inhaled its saltiness. As the sky blazed with pinks, oranges, and a faint blue, she noticed the tall, thin towers on the shore and heard a chorus of voices punctuating the air. Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! As-shadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah! She heard the soft shuffle of footsteps behind her, yet she remained entranced by the mysterious voices.

"Lovely, isn't it?" a baritone voice said from behind her.

"Yes, it is, Lord Naraku. What are they singing about?"

"That, my dear Miss Higurashi, is the Muslim call to prayer, much like our church bells at home. They "sing" as you call it, five times a day in the towers there, and the faithful come and give thanks to God, or Allah, as he is called here."

"How do you know so much about these people my lord?" She turned `round to face her informer.

"I have lived and worked among them while in the service of the Empire, my dear, for a good while. You will find it much different here than the hustle and bustle of London. There are more places to get lost in a Mohamedan city than anywhere in the world, so I suggest that you stay close to your group lest you become a member of a harim," he smiled devilishly. Then a sailor with a megaphone came onto the deck and promptly shouted:

"Will all passengers please report to their cabins, as we are ready to depart the vessel. Please make ready your luggage, as there will be porters to assist you. That is all." Naraku took Kagome's hand in his. " I trust we will see each other on the train to Cairo, my dear Kagome, until then, " he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, "au revoir."

"Guh-Goodbye my lord. It was a pleasure to have such a fine companion on this long voyage, " she smiled meekly. It was the least she could do to let him kiss her hand; after all, she was playing both sides of the fence.

She returned to her cabin to find Sango sitting on the bed in tears.

"Sango? What's wrong dear?" Kagome voiced with concern.

"They-they won't let me go with you!"

"Who won't let you go?"

"The main staffer on the ship. They don't believe *sniff* that I'm your personal maid!" Sango sniffed. Kagome sat down beside her and rubbed her back.

"I know this sounds wrong and indecent, but I suppose I will have to buy you from the ship staffer," Kagome sighed.

"We-we did have an agreement, " Sango said, teary-eyed.

"Yes, and we still do. I don't know how I could get on without you Sango! I'll just have to talk to the person in charge and negotiate." Sango seemed to brighten up. "Now, fetch your things from your bunk and we will go to the staffer immediately!"

"Yes m'am!" Sango affirmed. Suddenly, she felt that maybe this time, life was going to go right for once.

****A/N:

Terms:

Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! As-shadu al-la Ilaha ill Allah! = God is great! God is great! I bear witness that there is no God but God!

Aka. the first lines of the Muslim call to prayer. Although I am not a Muslim, when I was in Egypt this past summer, I heard it 5 times a day and it was beautiful. If you want to hear it, go to Google or some other search engine and look for the Muslim Call to Prayer.

Mohamedan = Muslim, essentially. It's an old term that Orientalists (Western folks who were intrigued by the study of the Middle Eastern culture and Islam) used at around this time period, in the late 1800s -early 1900s.

harim = harem. This is how the word is literally translated from Arabic. Just sound it out like Ha'reem. Naraku is just teasing Kagome when he says this, even though he knows better. Kagome would naturally believe this since the only literature available to the West at this time was `Alf layla wa layla , or A Thousand and One [Arabian] Nights.

**I'm trying to make this story a bit more plausible and NOT use the usual smatterings of Japanese, because, well, historical inaccuracy is one of my pet peeves. Which is why I can't bear to watch movies like "The Mummy" and "The 10 Commandments", because I know I will critique them and screw it up for everyone. The reason the characters are English is because the Japanese had not ventured as far as Egypt, hell, they didn't really leave Japan at that point, remember Rurouni Kenshin? They had enough crap to deal with at home-including the Westerners who were chomping at the bit to make them a colony. Ok, enough history for today. Review! Review! Review!