InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Protector of Her Heart ❯ A Promise to Protect ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: A Promise to Protect

 

“This is an outrage!” Lord Renkotsu shouted, slamming his hands on the long table in the council chamber, causing it to shake. His eyes were already popping in rage. “How dare you demon enter this tournament!” he roared in Inuyasha's face.

 

The hanyou stood cool and calm to Lord Renkotsu's ravings, while Lord Bankotsu, the dowager queen, and Princess Kagome looked on. “This tournament was specifically for anyone of human blood, and not one, but two demons have the gall to—”

 

“It never said it was specifically for humans!” Inuyasha yelled back in his defense, Lord Renkotsu rising to make a retort before Bankotsu stepped between them.

 

“Renkotsu, calm yourself,” Bankotsu told the rather red faced financial advisor before turning back to the hanyou in front of him. “Though this is something we hadn't expected; not only did a demon enter the tournament, but to win…”

 

“You cannot possibly declare him the victor!” Renkotsu spat, giving Inuyasha a sharp glare. “After all, this is the Human Lands, we can't have a demon protecting our princess like this!”

 

Now, Inuyasha spoke up, folding his arms in annoyance. “I don't see what your problem is; I'm hanyou, you moron. If it was for anyone with human blood, then I already pass your damn conditions!”

 

There was a small silence in the council chamber after Inuyasha's announcement. While he glared at everyone, Kagome could only stare at this knight in front of her. A hanyou…?

 

Renkotsu seemed taken aback for a moment at that. “But…but this tournament is only for knights of the crown! How would a hanyou become a knight of the crown in this country?”

 

“Renkotsu, you forget the demon knights in the west,” Lord Bankotsu reminded him. “And I heard a while back that a hanyou had come into service as well…” His eyes flicked up to Inuyasha's ears above the hanyou's scowling face. “He seems to fit the description I was told…”

 

“So what are we going to do then?” the queen cut in, striding towards the irate knight. “After all, hanyou or no, he did win the tournament, didn't he?”

 

“Of course, we cannot accept him as the princess's knight protector!” objected Lord Renkotsu. “He's a demon, and being one, it would degrade the integrity of our country as we know it! We shall have to hold a new tournament, this time check all the knights that enter, so no mistakes can be made a second time—”

 

Lord Bankotsu sighed, collapsing into his orate chair. “We don't have time for that, Renkotsu, it took us two weeks at top speed to hastily organize this one. How long do you think it'll take to reorganize a second and convince knights to come a second time after the first one was botched?”

 

“So what do you suggest we do?” Renkotsu spat angrily.

 

Kagome could no longer take it when others were arguing about what should be done when it pertained to her life. She felt a bit nervous as she stepped towards the hanyou, the knight who had risked his very life for the chance to serve her. But her words never faltered. “Must we do anything, Lord Renkotsu?” she asked, calmly, noticing that the hanyou's piercing amber eyes were turned on her. “After all, this knight already went to the trouble of winning, so there should be no reason to deny him of his prize.”

 

Inuyasha's eyebrows rose as he heard the princess speak. She—the princess of the Human Lands—the one whom he expected to be stuck up and not care at all for demons, was defending him? It seemed there was a lot more than meets the eye with Princess Kagome…

 

Lord Renkotsu said stubbornly, “He is a demon.”

 

“But Kagome is right,” the dowager queen spoke, her voice as calm as her daughter's. “He already won, and even if he is a demon, who better than to protect the princess than one with the strength of ten men?”

 

“He is already a knight of the crown,” Kagome explained, glancing slightly at the symbol of the human lands on his tunic before looking away very quickly. “There should be no reason to doubt him.”

 

There was a pause in the council chamber before Bankotsu sighed, “We do not have any other choice, it seems. Sir Inuyasha will have to be her knight protector.”

 

“But…My Lord—!”

 

“It is decreed, Renkotsu,” Bankotsu spoke firmly. “And I would hope you would trust the judgment of your superiors in matters such as these.” With a glare back at Inuyasha, the defeated Renkotsu turned away, his high chin clearly expressing his solid opinion in the matter.

 

With Lord Bankotsu's firm decision, Inuyasha could breathe easier. The first stage was complete…all that was left was to find out where the wench was hiding that stupid jewel at to make off with it, but that could wait.

 

“Very well,” Banktosu said, before turning to Inuyasha. “You have won the tournament, and we accept you as Perincess Kagome's knight protector.”

 

“But remember, boy, you will be closely watched,” Renktosu muttered, before Inuyasha followed protocol and knelt before Kagome.

 

“Do you accept your duty as knight protector, Sir Inuyasha?” the princess asked, in a regal voice.

 

Because his head was bent, no one saw the casual roll of the hanyou's eyes at the formality. “I do, Your Highness.” Come on wench, just get this over with…

 

“And do you promise to protect Her Highness with your very body, and life, if may be?” Lord Banktosu cut in.

 

Though Inuyasha knew he sounded like an idiot, he did what was expected of him, “I swear fealty to the crown, and promise to protect Her Highness—” He paused and his amber eyes opened wider in shock as he felt his useless sword pulse once more at his side. What the…? There it is again!

 

But his pause was noticed when Banktosu coughed to get his attention, and Renkotsu's accusing gaze fell on him once more. Deciding to think about this problem of his sword later, Inuyasha quickly finished, “Until I am released from service or death take me.” With that, he kissed her hand, and she allowed him to rise.

 

For a moment, they looked at each other, highborn princess and lowborn knight. Kagome looked at Inuyasha with curiosity, and he did only for a moment, before turning away with an arrogant snort. She's more naive than I thought, if she thinks I'm doing this willingly.

 

“Well, now that it has been taken care of, I believe that there is a feast I don't want to miss,” the queen said, turning back to the lords at the far end of the room.

 

Sighing, Lord Bankotsu spoke, “We should probably announce to the court of our final decision, before we get an uproar like this afternoon.”

 

“And I shall go dress for dinner,” Kagome announced, Inuyasha taking his cue and following her out and into the large hall of the palace. Glad to be out of the scrutiny of Lords Bankotsu and Renkotsu, Inuyasha folded his arms and glanced around the halls of the palace, never having been here to examine it before. Unlike the dusty, dimly lit old stone of the castle to the west, the grand palace of the east was indeed filled with greater splendor. Not only tapestries, but portraits, statues, and other embellishments lined the halls. Even the stone on the walls was carved to show the rich elegance of the country.

 

Deciding to start up conversation between herself and the handsome knight, Kagome turned back to him and said, “You'll have to forgive Lord Renkotsu…he's not very trustful of demons.”

 

The hanyou glared at her for a moment, and responded, “Keh. He's human, isn't he? What can you expect?”

 

His statement and standoffish demeanor, quite different from what Kagome expected, set her on edge. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

 

Inuyasha didn't look back at her as he continued, “You humans are all the same. Demons are monsters, who don't even equal up to the glory and majesty of the mighty human.” He was not in the mood to be treated kindness from some stuck up princess who looked strikingly similar to Kikyou.

 

Stiffening at his sharp insult, the smile that had been on her face slipped off and was replaced with a glare. “I beg your pardon!” she exclaimed. Her knight in shining armor seemed to be lacking in quite a bit of the code of chivalry. “But humans don't all think of demons in that way!”

 

Well well, the wench has a temper on her, Inuyasha turned back to her, with his amber eyes flaring at pent up frustration. Annoyance at having to be stuck in this stupid position with this girl he didn't care one whit about, anger about having his “inferiority” thrown in his face minutes ago, irritation at being reminded of Kikyou just by looking at the princess, and quite frankly, unable to stand anything at that moment. “Oh, I forgot, demons do have some respect in this land if they can be enslaved and put to good use for the crown, right, Your Highness?”

 

Any other noble that Inuyasha had met would have probably reminded him to whom he spoke and would have threatened various punishments before he shut up out of common sense. But the princess, whom he believed would be the most haughty and proud of the lot, glared and began yelling at him like any common girl would do. “Listen, you knight! I don't care if you won a thousand tournaments to serve me, but I will not allow you to judge me so!”

 

After her unexpected attack, Inuyasha was bent down to her level, both of them eye to eye and only inches away from each other, both fuming in rage. “What are you going to do about it, Princess? Report me? I'm sure Lord Renkotsu would like that. Perfect excuse to get rid of a demon knight directly serving a princess, wouldn't you agree?”

 

It looked like Kagome would yell at him instantly, but with a breath, she said calmly, “Since you obviously don't want to serve me, that would be too easy. But you will not judge me before you even know me!”

 

“Keh, you may have all the world, Princess, but you can't change someone's minds once their made up,” the hanyou glared at her, before folding his arms and marching away, leaving her nearly ready to burst with anger behind.

 

Why did he ever agree to do this? That wench was infuriating! He'd never make it past a week, much less long enough to find and steal the Shikon no Tama!

 

But he did want to stay around a bit longer, if only to find out why being around her affected the useless dull sword at his waist…

 

 

* * * * * * * *

 

 

Kagome clenched her fists watching her “chivalrous” knight leave, nearly spitting curses at him. How dare he address her so? He obviously didn't care, like others did, who she was; he quite plainly spoke his mind about her. It was an interesting thing to see, when all of the court said only what they thought she wanted to hear, but it had worked out in the worst possibly way this time. Having him as her protector, to follow her around and such would be an absolute Hell if this is how he would act.

 

She marched off to her room, alone, thinking, How could he have won the tournament? He's rude, crude, arrogant, selfish…She hadn't known him for five minutes and the list went on and on.

 

But most importantly…And how could I have thought him handsome just yesterday? Even without those stupid ears on his head, he is most definitely not handsome at all!

 

But as she slammed the door of her rooms shut, she didn't see the figure outside of the hallway window float away, heading towards the Demon Lands.

 

 

* * * * * * * *

 

 

It was an early morning in the Demon Lands, and King Sesshoumaru was already up and awake. In fact, he was seated at the large chair in his study, leaning back in it and listening to reports from his spymaster, a flea no bigger than an inkblot on a page.

 

“So you see, My Lord,” the flea began, “Because they feared for the Princess Kagome's safety, they held a tournament in which the knight who won was commissioned to be her protector until her marriage.”

 

Sesshoumaru sniffed, “Humans. They always think they need the protection of others, even when there is no danger to be seen.”

 

The flea, who's name was Myouga, said, “Since no one can say who killed their Lord Onigumo in such a strange way, it is quite possible that the princess would be in danger, but from whom, I do not know. None of the demon tribes here has any quarrel with such a minor lord, or with the Human Lands itself.”

 

“Could it be revenge for the enslavement of demons into service?” Sesshoumaru wondered. “I do know that the wolf tribe has lost their prince already.”

 

“I believe the prince told his tribe not to attack, out of concern for their safety,” Myouga answered. “If anything, it's probably renegade demons from the Midlands, upset at the continual raiding by the humans.”

 

As the king and the spymaster continued to talk, a figure, unseen by them, hid in the shadows. This figure had on the uniform of a chambermaid of the palace of the Demon Lands, stolen by a wary maid who had been surprised at this hour, and held the mobcap low over her pointed ears and deep red eyes.

 

Kagura leaned to catch a glimpse of the powerful king through the open door. So that's King Sesshoumaru, she thought, taking notice of his deep golden eyes, and his shiny silver hair that reflected the dull morning light very well. Even without all the stories told about him and his father, she could tell he was very powerful just by looking at him.

 

She focused back on the conversation she was supposed to be listening in on when Myouga asked, “So, My Lord, would you like to know who it was that won the tournament? The answer is…quite surprising.”

 

Sesshoumaru sighed, “It is not important. I would not lower myself to petty espionage, unlike some people.” Almost too quickly, he sent a golden whip conjured from the end of his claws straight at Kagura without even looking, and she just barely jumped out of the way. Her chambermaid costume did not come with her, however.

 

When the king and Myouga came closer, Sesshoumaru wearing his calm mask he always had, while his spymaster looked shocked, Kagura was in her regular clothes; a dress in the old style of white with magenta accents, and was floating near the ceiling, on top of a giant feather. Seeing Sesshoumaru in full light, she grinned, “So what they say about you is true, King Sesshoumaru. You are indeed more handsome than your brother.”

 

“Who are you?” he asked, not responding to her former comment.

 

“I am Kagura, the wind,” she replied, with some pride in her voice. “And you can spare yourself from asking who I work for. I work only for myself—most of the time.”

 

Myouga, who was now hiding on Sesshoumaru's shoulder, decided to be brave and yell, “You witch! What are you doing here? How did you get in? How long have you been listening?”

 

Kagura merely turned her attention back to the king far below. “So, Your Majesty, do you want to know who it was that won the right to protect the beautiful Princess Kagome?”

 

Sesshoumaru didn't answer, but only glared at her, a trespasser in his castle. Using a great gust of wind, Kagura broke a window near the ceiling and floated next to it. “It was none other than Inuyasha, the hanyou,” she said with a grin, before turning and flying out.

 

“She speaks true, My Lord,” Myouga explained, “I saw it with my own eyes before I returned here. I…My Lord?”

 

But Sesshoumaru wasn't listening. He only stared off into space, with a puzzled, shocked, even, look on his face at what Kagura had told him. “Inuyasha…” he muttered, gently clutching the stump of his left arm.