InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Firebrand ❯ Chapter Six - Entrapment ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Firebrand

FaTaLfURy

Chapter Six — Entrapment

Someone is thumping on her head.

Kagome's senses awoke in a start, her heartbeat racing madly for a second before calming down. She kept her eyes closed as she tried to fight down the nausea threatening to overwhelm her.

And still the pounding continued. This time it came with voices too muffled for her to understand.

Cracking open one eye, she turned her head at the direction the pounding was coming from.

`The door. Someone's knocking on my door,'

Bewildered, she willed herself to rise from the bed and gave herself the shock of a lifetime.

Because underneath the sheets, she was naked as the day she was born. And she never, ever slept in the nude.

There is also the fact that she ached in several unexpected parts of her body.

`But it was a dream! A nightmare to be exact. There's no reason for me to…'

As she reassured herself, she forced herself to turn around and face the bed…

Only to find the currently sleeping Duke of Windshire in her bed… without a stitch of clothing on him.

So the Mistress Woodbine did what any other girl in her situation would do.

She screamed bloody murder.

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The pounding he could withstand. The voices he could ignore. But waking up to a banshee shrieking was another matter entirely.

Startled out of his slumber by the loud feminine voice, Lord Grey automatically reached for his sword (which surprisingly isn't near him as he thought) and rolled out of bed with the dexterity of a man used to facing danger to face their attacker.

Only to find there was no one else in the room but him and his lady.

Exasperated, and desperate to make the screaming threatening to shatter his eardrums stop, he whirled around to face the lady in question.

“Damn it, Kikyou, what in—“

Inuyasha stopped in mid-sentence.

Because there in front of him, shrieking like the banshee he thought she was, is not the Lady Kikyou Anne Winters.

It was Miss Kagome Rose Woodbine instead.

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Both of them tried to snatch the bed sheets to cover their nakedness while shouting at each other.

“What the hell are YOU doing here!?”

“Me!? What are YOU doing here? This is MY room!”

“YOUR room!? Look again, little girl! This is MY room, and stop snatching the counterpane, damn it,”

“Then you stop snatching it back then! And—“

Rrrr---iiiii----ppppp.

The pounding on the door continued. The bed sheets fell to the floor, torn apart.

And they stood there, both naked, eyes colliding with each other's.

“You planned this, did you not?”

The Duke de Monteforte said accusingly, his amber eyes flashing dangerously.

Kagome staggered back, as though stabbed. She moved her head side to side in denial.

Inuyasha advanced on her.

She kept moving back until her shoulder blades touched the cold stonewall and held him back.

“Cease, my lord! This is not my doing. Why would I deliberately do something that I know would ruin me?”

“Ruin you? My dear, this would give you all the things you and your grandfather always dreamt of,”

She stopped shaking her head and looked at him with confusion and something akin to dread in her gaze.

“I do not understand,”

Inuyasha gritted his teeth. He took her shoulders in each hand and shook her.

“You don't understand? Then let me enlighten you. You were brought here for one reason and one reason only, were you not? To snare a noble blood and marry into a title!”

“No! I—“

He stopped shaking Kagome and moved away as though he can't bear to touch her.

“Only you picked the wrong man to trifle with. Did you think I would agree to this? That I would care about the scandal this would bring to you or to me? I do not!”

“Lord Grey, please step outside the door! His Majesty wishes to speak to you,”

The Duke of Windshire turned his fury to the one pounding on his door.

“Damn it! Get the hell away from here! Tell the King I will speak to him in my own time, and not his,”

He growled. Then he turned back to Kagome.

“And as for you, Mistress Woodbine, I'm afraid your hopes and dreams end here. I suggest you go back to your America right away and inform your grandfather of your failure for I WILL NEVER MARRY YOU. I will still marry the Lady Winters for it is she whom I love,”

Then he moved to find his clothing and don them.

==================================

Kagome froze where she stood. The words coming from the duke's lips reverberated throughout her head, her eyes vacant in shock.

`I'm ruined now, a disgrace to my grandfather and my family. Oh God what do I do?'

The pity and disappointment she felt for herself filled her greatly at the moment, and the sting in her eyes threatened to make her cry.

Then all the accusations of the duke came back to her, and her russet orbs flared to life in rage with vengeance.

She collected half of the torn counterpane and wrapped it around her nakedness while her eyes located the target of her fury. And she lit upon him.

“You bastard! You low-stinking son of a bitch! How dare you accuse me of everything that has occurred here! Has it ever entered your mind that I would rather marry a leper than have you for a husband?”

Every object she could get her hands on flew towards the duke, her accuracy unfailing as she continued her tirade and advanced upon him.

“You take my innocence without remorse and leave me to face the consequences alone! And you call yourself a man!”

A candleholder flew past Inuyasha, narrowly missing his head. He dodged and blocked the projectiles thrown at him, though just barely.

“I LOATHE YOU WITH ALL MY BEING! I will hate you for as long as I draw breath. AND I WILL NEVER MARRY YOU EVEN IF YOU WERE THE LAST MAN ON EARTH!”

The final oath had Inuyasha's temper blazing once again. He finally had enough.

In one swift and fluid movement, he closed the few feet between them and trapped her hands into one of his. His other hand cupped the back of her head and dragged her head forward to meet his lips.

His kiss was hard, demanding; devoid of all tenderness he was capable of giving. He sought to overpower her, to punish her for her ill-spoken words and reduce her into submission.

Until she kissed him back.

The kiss turned into something else. It was fierce and filled with passion. The memories of the night past flashed through both their minds and flooded their senses.

“Lord Grey, open this door. I order you to leave the confines of the bedroom and face me. Now. Before I decide to break this down and enter myself,”

Reality crashed upon him at the sound of the King's cold voice masked in fury. The duke ended the kiss and looked down at the woman in his arms.

Her eyes were still closed, rapture evident in her face. Slowly they fluttered open to reveal bronzed eyes veiled in desire.

Inuyasha's lips curled into a smile free of amusement.

“Your lips say one thing, mistress. But your body, it tells another. Which is the greater lie, I wonder,”

And so he released her and headed for the door, leaving her gawking at him in surprise.

==================================

The King Sesshomaru led him to one of his private drawing rooms.

“Leave us,”

He ordered the servants as soon as they reached the room.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, for my impertinence. I—“

Before the Duke de Monteforte could utter another word of explanation, the King has jerked him from his bowed position by wrapping one of his hands around the duke's throat and slammed him back to the wall. Hard.

“You may be more to me than a mere friend and acquaintance, Inuyasha, but I am still king. I have been tolerant of your actions because I know you and your temper, but never forget that mine could be worse,”

King Sesshomaru spoke in a soft, precise and chilling voice. His handsome face never revealed what he thought or felt, but his eyes betrayed all. There you could see the cold look that could reduce a man into fear of his life.

“Sesshomaru! Unhand Inuyasha at once! What are you doing?”

The door crashed open and the queen swept into the appalling scene before her. The King did not remove his gaze from his quarry as he ordered the queen to leave them alone.

“Stay out of this, Elizabeth Rin. Now leave us and go to my ward,”

The Queen is wringing her hands in panic before her and shook her head.

“No! Please put him down first. Calm down, My Lord, before—“

The King removed his gaze from the duke long enough to pin his wife with a piercing look.

The look in her husband's eyes made the Queen pause. Rare are the times when Sesshomaru would have that look in his eyes. And though he loved her more than his life, there are times when being a wife meant obeying your husband. And king, for that matter.

And he would never truly hurt the Lord Grey. She was sure of that. No matter what happens, Sesshomaru would never do anything terrible to Inuyasha.

“As you wish, My Lord,”

The Queen murmured as she curtsied and hurriedly left the room.

The door closed with a click.

The two men faced each other, too alike than any one of them would admit. The duke did not struggle in his King's almost stranglehold and met His Majesty's eyes directly.

A moment later, Inuyasha crashed to the ground with a thud.

“What am I going to do with you, Inuyasha?”

King Sesshomaru sighed as he went to stand before the windows facing the gardens below them.

Inuyasha is busy rubbing at his abused throat before standing up and kneeling before his King once more.

“I apologize, my liege. It would not happen again, I promise you,”

The King turned and bent to help the duke rise.

“See that it does not. At least in the presence of others, Inuyasha. I will not tolerate it,”

“Yes, Your Majesty,”

“Now as you've been duly chastised, we go to the more important part of our discussion,”

Inuyasha waited expectantly.

The King sat down and gestured for him to do the same.

“I would rather stand, My Lord,”

A look of understanding passed in the King's eyes and he smiled in sympathy.

“I would rather you sit, Inuyasha. There are some things one needs to take sitting down,”

“And is this one of those things, Your Highness?”

“Yes, I do believe it is, Lord Grey. A great deal of it, I reckon,”

The duke sat down.

“It has come to my attention that the Woodbine heiress spent the night with you in your bedchambers. Is that correct?”

Inuyasha did not react, though a telltale muscle jumped in his cheek.

“Did you take her innocence for your own?”

The direct question made the duke feel accused.

“I—I didn't know! I thought it was Kikyou I was—“

The King waved his hand in dismissal.

“Spare me the details, Inuyasha. I asked you a simple question. I expect a simple answer,”

Inuyasha remained quiet.

“Well? I do not have all day, Inuyasha,”

He refused to meet Sesshomaru's eyes.

“Yes,”

He muttered. The King shook his head.

“Then this makes things more complicated,”

Inuyasha's head shot up, a feeling of trepidation cold in his veins.

“What do you mean, Your Highness?”

King Sesshomaru leaned on the table to look at him more closely.

“I want you to marry Kagome,”

Inuyasha stood up so suddenly that the chair fell down.

“No! I cannot, I will not! Have you forgotten that I am engaged?”

“No, I have not forgotten. But you have taken her virginity, did you not? Will you not do the honorable thing and spare the girl the scandal?”

Inuyasha whirled to face his king, his face a mask of severe anger.

“ A scandal? You're concerned about a scandal? When we both know that it will still BE a scandal whether I marry her or not! And what about me? You know that I did not know it was her. And you also know that it is Kikyou whom I love. Would you have me cast that aside just to pacify an old man and give the girl the title she longs for? What about Kikyou?”

“Watch your tongue, Inuyasha. And we both know Kikyou lost her innocence a long time before she met you. Or have you forgotten that she was married once?”

“But that is beside the point! I am engaged—“

“An engagement that has not been announced formally and is not to the knowledge of everyone in the ton. It can be broken easily,”

The king interjected. Inuyasha stared at him disbelievingly.

“I cannot believe you are forcing me to do this! I have served you for a long time, my liege, and served you good. I fought beside you and saved your life a number of times. I even became a good friend to you, and more. I follow your every command without question. And I never asked for anything from you. But now I fear that I have to. Please don't ask me to do this,”

Sesshomaru closed his eyes at the anguish he saw at his friend's face.

`And so it has come to this,'

The King stood and faced the window once more, not wanting to see the duke's face as he gave him the news that would shatter him.

“I'm afraid I cannot grant your request, Lord Grey. For I was not asking. I am ordering you to marry my ward right away. You will be married this day without delay, so I suggest you go and be ready for the ceremony,”

“Damn you, Sesshomaru! What about Kikyou and I? What about us? Do you even care?”

Inuyasha is now shaking in his rage. He did not even care that he has overstepped his boundary. But the King took it all in stride.

“I do care, Inuyasha. For you are both more than a subject to me. You are my friends. But I'm afraid that it is not possible for you to marry the Lady Winters anyway, for she is already wed,”

The knowledge hit the Duke de Monteforte like a blow to his guts. He staggered back while continuously shaking his head in denial.

“No!”

King Sesshomaru hurried to his friend's side. He held him on his shoulder and shook him.

“Yes! Listen to me, Inuyasha. Look at me. Kikyou is already married. It was done with her own free will,”

“I do not believe you! Lies, all lies! Kikyou would not do that to me. She loves me!”

“Be as it may, she did willingly marry her husband,”

Inuyasha pushed away from the king. His amber eyes were narrowed and flashing, something sinister in their depths.

“Who is he?”

“Forget that, Inuyasha. You—“

“I said who is he, damn it! Don't you think I have the right to know? That's my fiancé he married, the only woman I care for and love! Do you know how it feels? Give me his name, Sesshomaru,”

The duke's voice turned soft and menacing. The king could not refuse.

“Lord Lucas Onigumo Bradon, Marquis of Montmouth, now the Duke of Norfolk. His father passed away early this morning,”

`Montmouth!'

“I should have known! It was him, wasn't he? The one who plotted all this?”

The duke is already racing to the door to find the newly weds, but the king is faster. He shoved the duke against the wall once more.

“You have no proof, Inuyasha. And until you do, I forbid you to go after him and the Lady Kikyou. If he must be punished it will be according to my own law. And you will stay the hell away from them. Do we understand each other?”

Silence was his only answer.

“Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, Your Highness,”

Satisfied, the King released him and started to walk away.

“But I still won't marry that spitfire,”

King Sessomaru whirled and pinned the duke with eyes that so resemble his very own. It spoke volumes.

“You will, Inuyasha. Even if I have to tie you down and drag you to your own wedding and make you say your vows in sword point. Mark my word in this. I will not allow you to dishonor Kagome completely,”

“When have you been scared of old dignitaries anyway?”

The King is close to losing his patience.

“It is not fear that drives me to force you to do this! This Sesshomaru will never be afraid of anything. Not in this lifetime,”

“But I do care for the girl, and for you. And although I seek to pacify her grandfather as well, it is to your own benefit that I bid you marry her. She is young, beautiful and intelligent. More than a match for you, Inuyasha. Someday you'll thank me for doing this,”

The Lord Grey scowled.

“Somehow I don't see that as a possibility. More like I'll thank you when hell freezes over—” as an afterthought, Inuyasha remembered his manners.

“—Your Majesty,”

And he bowed low before his king and went to get his bride…