InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten Memories ❯ Yoichi, My Lord Prince ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter Eighteen: Yoichi, My Lord Prince

The servants quietly filed in after her, their faces stoic and silent. Not a single sound could be heard, as they made their way through the deserted hall. It was as though even the mice had fled.

Kagome shuddered, trembling against the natural cold of the night.

The servants had done their part in preparing her for the "meeting" with the master. She was dressed in a lavender kimono with a white veil for a happi. Like all the other kimonos, the "master" had provided for her, this one was made slightly different from traditional kimono designs. Instead of an obi to tie the gown together, eight strings of bluish-white pearls dangled around her waist with similar dangling pearls on her white-collar buttons. One button lead the pearls to the next, starting from the top to the bottom.

Her hair, naturally, was donned in strings of pearls with two curling silky-white strands tumbling along with her raven locks.

The servants stopped and bowed her into a room. Cautiously, Kagome stepped into the large dining room. It seemed completely out of place from the rest of the castle. It looked like it was taken right out of an Englishmen's mansion, in the 21st Century.

A long dining table stood on a side. A wide, spiraling stairway led to the center of the room-the dance floor. Candles have been placed everywhere to set the mood.

Wait...Set the mood...?

Kagome walked into the room, her eyes swiveling around. Plates have already been set onto the dining table, awaiting the arrival of its diner. It was set for one.

"It's not nice to keep a lady waiting, you know!" Kagome fumed, when she saw no one but her in the room.

Chuckling sounded throughout the room. Sinister, cold laughter that sent icicles through Kagome's heart. "What gave you the impression that I am nice, dear Kagome?"

Her head turned towards the top of the staircase, where the voice had came from. No one.

"Why are you hiding from me?" Kagome asked. "Am I so very scary?"

Another chuckle from the surrounding walls. Suddenly, Kagome was knocked off her feet by a chair, which brought her to the table. Miasma surrounded her, moving the various plates and such around. "Eat. You're dinner is getting cold."

"And get poisoned again. No thanks."

"No, no poison this time. Just some very delightful dishes that you'll enjoy."

A snort. "I'm sure."

~*~*~*~

Sesshoumaru stood before his garden that night, staring at the bright silver moon that hung so low in the sky. It drowned out the stars tonight with its brilliant glow. A gust of wind blew against the Demonic Lord, causing his hair to flow in all directions.

Not responding to his messy hair, he simply closed his eyes and turned his face up to the sky. The scent of the different flowers in the garden filled his nose with their own, distinct scent...

"Kagome..." he breathed.

Golden irises slowly flashed from behind the slowly slit lids. He let loose another breath, as his hands finally loosened from his previous tense fists.

"Hey, Sesshoumaru...?"

Sesshoumaru turned and greeted Raion silently. His flashing eyes bore down onto the lion youkai's worried ones, as the Taiyoukai of the East came forward. He was slightly shorter than Sesshoumaru's form, but if anyone would be watching them then...

...it would be like Sesshoumaru was the lonely, lost younger brother or son, and Raion was the ever-guiding father of brother...

Within the blink of an eye, all emotion ceased from the surface of the Dog Demon, as he turned his attention back to the moon. "What is the matter, Raion?"

"Have you considered the possibility that the Outlaws might have taken Kagome?"

Of course, he had. It would be the perfect battle strategy. Occupy the Lords, while the Outlaws plan their attack. And for the while, use an imposter to find out their strategies and their arms.

Too bad, he fell for it.

Raion didn't seem bothered by Sesshoumaru's lack of response. Instead, he turned his own eyes on the beautiful garden before him. He really wished he could have met this Kagome person. Whoever she is, Raion wondered, how had she managed to trap the Icy demonic lord in her fingers so well?

But that could hardly be the point of Sesshoumaru's concentration right now. He was a Taiyoukai, a Great Lord of the Western Lands. Their entire territories are under compromise and he had his people who depended on him. Sesshoumaru is NOT allowed to simply think of the one person, no matter WHO it may be. He MUST concentrate on the up-coming war.

"Worry not, Raion," Sesshoumaru said, as though he had been reading the Eastern Lord's mind. "This Sesshoumaru shall not falter in the upcoming war."

And if they really HAD taken Kagome and compromised her health...

...well then, they shall pay all the more...

~*~*~*~

Yoichi couldn't sleep that night. All he could think about was how different the Kagome in reality was like to the Kagome he had imagined. When the master had told him to capture Sesshoumaru's newest interest, he had thought the girl would be a slut, like all other ningens, who wanted to rise in rank.

An image of her laughing with the common children dawned inside Yoichi's mind. "And yet..." he breathed. "She's nothing like that..."

He'd wandered towards the garden that Kagome had requested for the first night she had appeared on the castle. He cannot figure this out at all. Lord Sesshoumaru, one of the Taiyoukai of the Lands, had fallen for a girl like Kagome. The idea was simply incomprehensible.

He was a member of the Demonic Lords, the sworn enemy of the Outlaws. They had thrown his people out of the Lands and left them there for death. Had it not been their ancestors, he, and a number of others, would not be here today.

Yoichi, like much of others in the Lands of the Outlaws, had been taught since their childhood that the demons of the Lands were evil, corrupt. They were their sworn enemy and would, one day, pay for what they had condemned their people to.

But, if everyone is like that in the Lands, Yoichi thought, how could a creature like Kagome come out of a corrupt land like that?

"You seem troubled, my Lord."

Yoichi sighed. The voice Zana, his childhood caretaker, sounded through the garden. Zana was a swan youkai. Her hair was white as snow, as is her skin. She wore nothing that is not snowy white. In fact, no color adorn her person but for the black markings on her eyelids, and her lips.

"Do I?" Yoichi replied.

Zana stepped toward the lake by her Lord. "What ails you, my Lord Prince?"

Yoichi's mouth quirked. `Lord Prince' had been the pet name that Zana had given him when he was young. It used to be that Zana would never call Yoichi by name. Even when she threatened to spank him, she would still say "my Lord Prince" in that tight, frigid manner.

Now, so many years later, she still calls him that title. Out of respect, yes. But also out of affection.

"Is it the new Lady Kagome?"

"Perhaps." Yoichi sighed. "I cannot help, but feel different. We've been taught since young that the Lands are our enemies. That we must vanquish them and take on the revenge for our forefathers."

"Yes, my Lord."

"And I so hated them when I was young," Yoichi admitted. "I hated that they would condemn us to live in this place, outcast of society. I hated that they refused to speak to us, as though we are an abomination. And yet, was there no cause for us to be outlawed in the first place? How can they be considered `corrupt' and `evil' when it was we who had wronged, in the first place?"

"My Lord," Zana placed a slender, white hand onto his shoulder. "Such talk would be death, even to the first son of the master."

"I cannot help, but wonder if Father is wrong." Yoichi continued stubbornly. "If the Lands are filled with people like Kagome, should we really..."

"My Lord, even if there are people like Lady Kagome in the Territories, in the Lands, there are equally pure people in the Outlands. Is it fair that we endure such punishment for something our forefathers have done?"

Yoichi frowned. Zana was correct, of course. His people should not be subject to such punishment. Who is to say that the Lords of the Lands would ever forgive them?

"I do not even remember what it is that our ancestors have wronged in the first place," Yoichi admitted. "Or, it could be that I have never known."

Zana released Yoichi's shoulders and turned toward a nearby rose. Plucking the rose out of the ground, she sniffed the delicate flower. "My Lord, there is no sense in pondering over this oncoming war. The master has decided on it and there is nothing any of us will be able to do. Why worry over it?"

Yoichi breathed. Again, Zana is right. What is the point? Why should he worry? As far as their people are concerned, this war is just. They do not deserve to live in the Outlands, treated as lesser than trash. They do not belong here.

"You're right, of course." Yoichi smiled at his once caretaker. "There is no sense in worrying over things that one has no control over."

~*~*~*~

Kagome walked towards the nearest guards the moment her dinner with the master finished. She never caught his face the entire time. Something about the master unnerved her-and it is not even due to the fact that her powers have been taken from her.

"Can you show me to where the females that were taken along with me are staying?" Kagome asked. She had been about to say "kidnapped", but she had worried that the guard might have been insulted.

"No one is allowed to visit them, my Lady," the guard replied.

"Please, I must insist." Kagome stepped forward, and stared into his ruby red eyes. Damn, if she had her powers...

"I will bring you, Lady Kagome."

If she was surprised with this sudden change, she didn't show it. "This way, Lady Kagome." They started walking towards the eastern wing with Kagome constantly a pace behind him. "Am I correct in assuming you wish to see that girl, who touched you?"

"Yes." Kagome swallowed. Sango. God, what had happened to her friend in the few days that she'd been here? When she had arrived inside the castle, Kagome had automatically forgotten about Sango. Had it been some sort of magic?

Or was it because...

Kagome shook her head as though to shake the incomplete thought from her mind. No way is that true. It's just not possible!

"Through those doors, are where the newest set of females are brought." The guard watched the door with an expression that Kagome couldn't understand. If she didn't know better, she'd say he was troubled. But by what? That they had to waste a room on females? That Kagome wished to see these girls?

Or was he troubled by the kidnap of these girls?

"Thank you," Kagome whispered to the guard, who had opened the door for her. The stench inside the room wafted through the doors the moment it opened. Kagome coughed, gagging a little from the smell. Behind her, she could feel the guard clearing his throat uncomfortable. Looking back, she saw the discomforting wince in the youkai's face. With his youkai senses, Kagome was pretty sure that this smell must be absolute agony.

"I'm alright," he smiled. "No need to worry."

Without replying, the girl slowly entered, willing her nose to get used to the stench. Kagome watched the room filled with what must have been ten dozens of girls. They all lay next to one another in a huddled ball as they stared at Kagome with starved eyes. "Sango?" Kagome called out. "Are you there?"

Slowly, a figure rose from the left side of the room. "Kagome...?"

Her head turned in that direction immediately. The weakened voice did not sound like her friend at all. They could not have been here for more than a week. How could Sango sound like that in a week? What have they done to her friend?

"Sango," Kagome ran towards that figure. She clamped down onto the dirtied kimono and tried to look at her friend. But a bundle of unkempt hair kept blocking her view. "Sango, what happened?"

"Lady Kagome, I must insist that we leave soon," the guard stated, as he came forward as well.

Kagome turned and stared at him with her blue-gray eyes. "I want Sango to come with me. I am not allowing her to stay in this room."

His eyes turned flat. "She is to stay in the room meant for her station. She is nothing, but a prisoner now, no matter to her previous rank in the Lands."

"Prisoner? What is the point of keeping a room full of female prisoners in a castle?" Kagome demanded. "And just look at them!! Do they stay here all DAY and NIGHT?? How can they live under such conditions? Where is your humanity, `Lord' Yoichi?"

Again, the Lord's eyes narrowed. "I was never a human, Lady Kagome. I must insist that we leave now."

"I want my friend to come with me." Kagome stated again, still hugging Sango. "She can be my personal handmaid, if you're so concerned with stations and rank, but I want her out of here. Are you even feeding them?"

"I am not in charge with the care of these maidens, Lady," he replied. "Now, please."

"Let her leave," a soft voice from outside the room stated.

Kagome stared as what seemed to be a goddess in white emerged from inside the darkened room. She was the only thing that seemed pure in this room, the only creature that was not smeared with dirt. She waved a hand at the guard in front of Kagome. "The master has ordered that we accommodate Lady Kagome's comforts. If she wishes for another handmaiden, then she is to get one. The master will not fault us for carrying out his orders."

"Well..." After a moment of hesitation, the guard bowed. "Yes, of course, Lady Zana."

Zana raised a hand and two maids appeared under her elbows. "Bring this new maid to the servants' quarters where she can bathe."

"No!" Kagome cried out, holding out her hands. "I shall bathe with her in my personal spring. Have our sleep gear set for our return."

"As my lady wishes." Zana waved the two maids off. She waved a hand, and a strong, white light appeared to help Sango balance better.

"It's OK, Sango," Kagome said, as she walked with her friend to the spring. "Everything's going to be OK."

For the first time, Sango turned her face towards Kagome. Two identical tracks of tears slid down her dirtied cheeks as the dark brown orbs shone with the unshed diamonds. "Thank you, Kag."

I knew you'd overcome this...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!

Hello everyone. I've recently created a new angelfire homepage, where anyone who wishes could get updated in my current news/announcements (in "blog"), get the spoilers to all my stories (under "spoilers") view my posting schedule (in "schedule"), learn of my most current updates in various sites (under "update") and also get the background information that everyone should know before reading my fanfictions in the first place. (That part of the site is rather wasted, however, since I'm pretty sure everyone should know of the original storyline already. ^.~)

Anyhow, if anyone have any questions or comments, you can also post them in my different pages. At the end of each entry should be a link where you can post your comments. You do NOT have to be an angelfire member to post. ANYONE can post questions/comments in ANY of my different pages. (With the exception on my homepage.)

http:// www. angelfire. com/ anime6/ rhexi (remove the spaces when copying and pasting)

SNEAK PEAK: The sneak peak to the next chapter has been posted onto my above site!!

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Yukisora and Hachigatsu