InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Princess of Two Empires ❯ CHAPTER 3: Instructions in Song ( Chapter 4 )

Instructions in Song

Chapter 3

 

 

Sesshoumaru sat, fuming, at the bend of a nearby creek. Why had he resisted? Why couldn't he kill her? He promised himself he would do whatever it took to obtain the empire that had been so far out of his reach until now hadn't he?

 

Yet, he could not make himself forget the look in her eyes. There was sadness and sympathy, as well as fear. Sesshoumaru normally liked it when people looked upon in fear and wonder, but when the woman did her felt ashamed. She was so innocent and pure. He almost wanted to take his sibling's woman into his embrace and kiss away her pain.

 

No! This wasn't like him. He wasn't one to dwell on how people felt about him. And yet those eyes! They were so deep and beautiful. He wanted to keep them for himself. The thought of any man even looking at the woman made his blood boil.

 

“This can't be good.” Sesshoumaru murmured to himself. “I, of all people, should know the dangers of jealousy.” He watched the river peacefully flow by and listened to the birds sing to one another. The breeze felt good on his back, and carried the scent of flowers. The fragrant smell reminded him of the smell of the woman. Her hair was the color of the fresh bark, and her eyes were as dark blue as the midnight sky…

 

When Sesshoumaru felt his body getting hot he leaned over and dunked his head into the creek. Then he stood up, and pulled his long silver hair into a loose ponytail. He didn't know what it was about that woman, but he decided to keep her around just long enough to find out. She had noticed he was not all Japanese. Yes, there is definitely something different about her.

 

 

 

 

When Sesshoumaru returned from the small creek, his eyes met the sight of busy guards, collecting their spoils, cleaning up camp, and herding all the captured women into carts.

 

The woman who had peaked his interest had her back to him. She was the next in line for the cart. He noticed by her obvious cringe that this was not her preferred mode of transportation. Perhaps I should fix that for her, Sesshoumaru thought with an inward smirk. It wouldn't do to have his men noticing his odd behavior.

 

He grabbed the reigns of an onyx-colored stallion that his underling brought him as his request. He expertly mounted the horse and spurred it into a slow trot towards the women. As nonchalantly as he could possibly could, Sesshoumaru slipped his clawed hand into the woman's obi and pulled her up, backwards, on his steed. He took no small satisfaction at the sound of her loud squeak of surprise. The warrior loading the women into the cart looked confused.

 

“Sir?” He inquired. Sesshoumaru spoke over his shoulder,

 

“I'll take care of this one. Just make sure everyone's ready to move before nightfall. Carry on.”

 

Just as Sesshoumaru had instructed, the camp was packed up and everyone was ready to leave before the sun had set. Kagome sat stiffly in his arms. As he led his men away from the campsite, she cast a look at him. Sesshoumaru held his head in a regal manner as the sun caressed his high cheekbones and cast red highlights in his hair. When he caught her looking at him, she quickly diverted her eyes and angrily cursed herself for being so easily swayed by his good looks.

 

Sesshoumaru forced back a smile. The woman in his arms was blushing, which seemed to be one of her more common habits. He wasn't surprised to see her eyeing him, as many women did. She was easy on the eyes herself. Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and shifted, slightly uncomfortable, at the sight of the red welts on her neck. He saw the shape of his fingers and where he had almost choked her to death. Damn, what is this woman doing to me, Sesshoumaru wondered. He'd never felt a smidgen of guilt ever before, yet the emotion seemed to be drowning him now.

 

Kagome felt the demon behind her shift his weight. She stiffened further when she felt his grasp around her waist tighten for a moment. She was about to push him off her and tell him she'd rather ride in a cart full of horse dung than with him, but he beat her to the punch.

 

“O-namae wa nan desu ka, woman?” It took a moment for Kagome to go over what he said in her mind and decipher it. When she didn't respond, Sesshoumaru shifted again. “Hn. I suppose your Japanese is still abecedarian.” He said this in a cold vice dripping with ice. Kagome was thinking about ignoring him the entire trip, but when he suggested that she was not smart enough to pick up Japanese, she could not hold herself back.

 

“Hotto nihongo ga dekiru yo. Watashi wa Kagome to iimas.” She said all this with a flawless Japanese accent. Sesshoumaru was stunned. His suspicions had been correct. She had been ignoring him, but he had not anticipated her to speak his mother tongue so fluently. It rolled out of her mouth like honey.

 

Kagome desperately wanted to turn her head to see the shocked face she knew was plastered all over his face, but restrained. Someone had to be the bigger man; or in this case, bigger woman. With a triumphant smile Kagome subconsciously leaned a little farther into Sesshoumaru's form, to make her self more comfortable.

 

This time it was Sesshoumaru who stiffened as he felt her slightly tilt her small body back into his arms around her. What spell was this woman casting over him? Things were obviously starting to change about, as well as inside, him. She was the crux of these changes. At least he knew her name now. Kagome…it was a beautiful name. He tried it out in his head a couple times. It was sweet and un-encumbered with too many syllables and accents as were many Japanese names.

 

 

 

 

They both sat in silence for several minutes before Sesshoumaru's sensitive ears heard a soft noise. He felt vibrations in his chest when he realized Kagome was humming to herself.

 

“What is it that you are humming?” He queried. She didn't respond. Sesshoumaru heard her stop humming, so he knew she had heard him. He rapped her on the head, and she turned to give him a reproachful look.

 

“Nande?” she shot back, rubbing the crown of her skull. “Is it bothering you?” Sesshoumaru stared off in the distance, as if Kagome weren't sitting in front of him.

 

“I don't like to repeat myself onna. What is the uta you are humming?” Kagome crossed her arms and huffed, but decided it was better to respond this time.

 

“It's called `The Beauty Song,' or `Jiaren Qu.' It's a Chinese song I learned at the imperial palace.”

 

“Sing it for me.” It was more of a demand than a request. Kagome irked by Sesshoumaru's utter lack of manners towards her, but that seemed to suit him best, so she cleared her throat and began to sing:

 

 

Xifang you jiaren 


Jueshi er duli 


Yi gu qing ren cheng 


Zai gu qing ren guo 



Ning bu 


Qing cheng yu qing guo 



Jiaren nan zai de

 

 

Sesshoumaru found himself lulled by the smooth sound of her voice, the steady gait of his stallion, and the pleasant weather. He was so at ease, Sesshoumaru felt his mind wandering back to when he was a child. This song reminded him of his mother. She always seemed to be singing. She would be out in the garden on days like these, he thought.

 

Suddenly the scent of blood filled the air. Sesshoumaru's eyes shot open looked around, desperately to find the source of that awful smell. But could find none. Horrible visions filled his head; images of blood, gore, lust, betrayal, anger, and jealously. His mother's blood, seeping through his clothes onto his skin, as she protected his form with hers. The sickly-sweet smell in his sensitive demon nose made him feel sick. It filled his nostrils and seemed to seep into his very skin. His mother's cry for mercy, the sword that bloomed from her neck…all that blood!

 

“Stop!” Sesshoumaru cried, clutching his head. The images faded, but the smell did not. Kagome stopped singing when she heard Sesshoumaru yell behind her. His eyes were wide open and darted around, like a half crazed animal. His hands shook violently and his breathing was labored.

 

An official resembling a large toad, perched precariously on his horse, looked worriedly at his liege.

 

“Is something the matter, my lord?” he asked. Sesshoumaru seemed to partially snap out of his daze.

 

“Hai, Jaken.” He said shakily. “Just take her away. Get her away from me.” As he said this, Sesshoumaru picked up Kagome by the waist and thrust her into the surprised arms of the underling beside him. She nearly knocked the lowly ranked demon off his horse. Without looking back, he kicked the flanks of his stallion and rode away.

 

 

 

 

Kagome was so bewildered by Sesshoumaru's reaction, she didn't even protest when she was thrown, unceremoniously, from the official's arms into the wagon with the rest of the women.

 

What was he thinking about? Kagome thought. For an instant, his cool demeanor had shattered and she had read the intense fear in his eyes like she'd never seen before. What could have possibly happened to him in his past to make him react to her in such a way?

 

Kagome felt these questions curling in her mind like creeping vines. Slowly consuming her mind, and better judgments. Even when the huge palace loomed before her, she thought not of anger or resentment, but rather sadness and even a little sympathy.

 

She had hoped to see Sesshoumaru again, but was instead greeted by more guards bearing the seal of the west. So he really is a royalty, she mused. The women were separated into three large groups and led down a corridor. The lower they were led, the colder and wetter it became. The stone walls were almost completely covered in moss and water dripped, sporadically, from ceiling and dripped freezing water down Kagome's neck. An awful smell of something rotting hit them all like a slap in the face.

 

She shivered and rubbed her arms furiously, trying to coax some of her blood there. Kagome winced and bit back a cry. She looked down to see fingernail-shaped cuts on her arms weeping blood afresh. She must have rubbed the scabs off.

Great! Kagome thought sourly. Now I'm cold, wet, and bleeding! These conditions aren't helping either. She knew she was bound to catch some kind of infection and would probably end up having her arms cut off.

 

Her sympathy for Sesshoumaru was rapidly ebbing away, with each step down the dungeon she took. What a bakayarou! When she saw him again, she was definitely going to tell him what was on her mind. How dare he treat women this way? Kagome ran the mental image of her screaming at him over and over, satisfactorily, in her mind.

 

 

 

 

Kagome started when a guard grabbed her shoulders with his ice-cold hands.

 

“Nani?” She hissed at him. “I'm following the other women!” He shrugged his shoulders indifferently, his maroon hair falling over his shoulders.

 

“Orders from the top. You are to have a cell of your own.” Kagome seriously thought about struggling, but decided she was too tired to do so, so she allowed her weary form to be led down a different pitch black hallway. She honestly had no idea how the guard could see anything. Probably a demon too, she though sourly.

 

“In here.” The guard said simply. He opened the door to a tiny, dismal looking, cell that was only slightly less wet then outside and even less bright.

 

“Lovely,” Kagome said sarcastically. Still, she lightly wiped off dust and mold from the bed and sat down. Even though Kagome had never even seen such filth in her life, it strangely didn't seem to bother her. She just wanted to sleep now. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her body felt like it was on the verge of collapsing. She slowly lowered her body on the bed, and closed her eyes.

 

It was only a matter of minutes before the guard could hear her light, even, breathing.

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, I am here with my mindless rambling. Although, this chapter I actually have some interesting facts! (Yay me!) The lyrics to the song Kagome sings are NOT Japanese. It is actually Mandarin Chinese, if I believe correctly. Don't ask me why she is singing in Chinese. Because I feel like it! If you have seen the movie "House of Flying Daggers" you might recognize it. :) I wanted to put all the cool accents on the letters, but they didn't show up correctly, so take that into account! 
If you haven't heard it, I strongly suggest you do (you can find the motion pic. album on itunes). It is a beautiful song, with great lyrics. I changed the said lyrics a tad, making the first line "a rare beauty in the west," rather than the original, "a rare beauty in the north." Since Kagome and Sesshoumaru go to the West, I figure it only fits. 
Okay, I'll shut up now so you can read.

 

 

Lyrics: 


A rare beauty in the west, 


She's the finest lady on earth. 


A glance from her the city falls, 


A second glance leaves the whole city in ruins. 


There is no city or nation that has been 


More cherished than a beauty like this.