A Royal Pain

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha sat at the Lord’s Table with only their bath towels on since neither one of them wanted to get dressed up for the occasion. Some of the Lords just sat completely naked not giving a damn about what anyone thought since they too had come up from the baths.

Koga wasn’t at the feast since he apparently already had eaten and was now in his tent finishing up some paperwork that he had been assigned to.

Inuyasha didn’t think that Koga could read since the wolf was an idiot most of the time. He had to give Koga props for at least being able to read and write.

Sesshoumaru of course stated every Lord knew how to read and write. Instructors were sent from the Nobles of each providence to educate all of the young Lords and Ladies just in case they were sent messages that needed a response back. However, most messages were usually sent by messenger to relay the information personally since letters could get lost in the rather hostile environment that they were all living in.

If it wasn’t humans battling each other it was demons, usually lower breeds of demons, which would start trouble in a particular area. Most of the time however, it was humans who did most of the fighting trying to take over areas of land that usually belonged to a demon like Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru surveyed his lands and normally only ended up killing a bunch of bandits that had attacked one of his human villages. Some days though he would just watch the humans kill each other and not interfere. It was the place of the Lords in these villages to take care of their people and insure that their men and woman were able to fight for themselves.

The only problem with watching the carnage was eventually some stupid bandit would point him out never noticing that Sesshoumaru was a demon until it was too late and they had been sliced to ribbons by his light whip or poison claws.

Inuyasha was used to people being hostile to him so most of the time he assumed he would have to defend himself which was why he was so very defensive about things when Sesshoumaru would talk to him about some of his weaknesses.

The two men had argued a bit at the table about Inuyasha’s crude and sometimes vulgar language. He would have to change the way he spoke to people if he was ever to attend the court and deal with the many issues that would be brought up by his subjects.

“Sesshoumaru either it is black or white when you talk to these people. If you don’t just say what is on your mind in a way they can understand you than you will never get anywhere with the idiots. Besides you said I will be a Lord over our soldiers. These men, when you ain’t around, are just as crude if not worse than me. I can speak to them on their level so don’t ya think that I should just act like I always do?”

Sesshoumaru sighed.

“You can’t be on equal footing with them anymore Inuyasha. You are going to have to basically prove that you are much more knowledgeable than they are and unless you want them to take you seriously you will have to change some of your habits. I am not saying that you cannot be yourself when it comes down to you and me. I do however expect you to behave like a Lord around our people.’
“You need some basic etiquette training and the Captain of the Guard will be training you on how to use your sword in ways that will be much more effective than your slash and kill technique that usually ends up with you injured. A fight should not last more than a few minutes and I will be helping you learn how to use your sword to its fullest extent.’
“I too still train with the men since there is always something new coming out. Like these guns and cannons that are being used in battles now. Although we may be able to avoid them with our powers and abilities, not everyone knows how to do this.’
“You will also be learning the ways of an assassin since that is what the Inu nation is famous for. Ours is a quick attack and then disappear technique that has been working for centuries. You do not change what works Inuyasha, you fine tune it.”

Inuyasha pouted.

“But Sess, my fighting skills work for me. I am alive because of them.”

Sesshoumaru nodded.

“Yes I know they work for you. You are what one would call a Berserker since you use your strength and whole body to attack a foe. It works for some things, but not everything. If you cloud your mind with rage however you will lose your edge. Are you not tired of having Kagome bandaging you up after every fight?”

Inuyasha leaned back and sighed.

“Fine, have things your way.”

Sesshoumaru assumed this would be the end of this argument for a while and knew part of Inuyasha’s problem was he was very tired. Throughout the meal it took a lot for Inuyasha to remain awake.

The servant came by with another plate for Inuyasha who waved it away since he had enough to eat. He would come back later for more after Sesshoumaru gave him a break from sex.

Sesshoumaru got up from the table and Inuyasha followed him back into the tent.

“Sess, can we just sleep for a while?”

Inuyasha stated while yawning.

“You sleep Inuyasha; I am going to dress and talk to the Lords about what portions of land belong to the three of us until we find a suitable candidate to take over the South again.’
“I know I promised a lie in with you and we shall still have one. I still have duties though my little brother and I cannot shirk them forever.”

Sesshoumaru tucked his mate in giving Inuyasha a quick kiss before donning his kimono and armor.

As Sesshoumaru walked out he told the guards not to let anyone disturb Inuyasha unless they wanted a quick and painful death.

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Sango was overwhelmed by Lord Takeda’s generosity. He insisted that she and Kagome take some quite expensive kimonos since until he had a wife there was no reason to let them sit gathering dust in the wardrobes.

“Lord Takeda………”

“Sango please call me Kuranosuke….”

“Kuranosuke, I appreciate all you have done for us here. You have done so much for us and I fear we have not done enough for you for all that you are asking of us. It was not your fault Inuyasha was taken and you do not need to repay us with so much.”

Kuranosuke smiled.

“Sango I have too much wealth not to share it with you and your friends. If it was not for Lord Inuyasha and Lord Sesshoumaru I would have most likely perished when Lord Kaneko had come to take me to his castle. It is widely known that the demon dragons of the South would have claimed me and killed all of my people if your friends would not have spared their lives in protecting my home whether intentional or not. I will not stand idly by if there is something I can do for you.’
“I also still love you Sango. I know you belong to the young Monk and I am pleased you are happy with your life with him. However, if anything changes you will I hope give me a chance to take care of you and your growing family.”

Sango blushed a bit.

“Kuranosuke, I understand your feelings for me, but my heart belongs to only one man. The best I can be for you is a loyal friend. I hope that is enough.”

Kuranosuke smiled as he grasped Sango’s hands in his own.

“I will take what I can and I treasure being your friend Sango. You are always welcome here as is your friends.”

Kagome came out of one of the rooms all dressed up in a white and pink flowered kimono with her hair up with beads flowing everywhere. She looked beautiful and Kuranosuke did take notice of the young woman.

“Sango, the maids are waiting for you.”

Sango nodded and bowed politely to Kuranosuke as she took her leave.

Kuranosuke regarded the young woman before him. She was indeed a vision of loveliness.

“Kagome, would you like me to escort you to your etiquette instructor? I am headed that way now.”

Kagome bowed to the young Lord.

“It would be most helpful Lord Takeda since I do not know the way.”

Kuranosuke smiled at Kagome. Wearing these clothes made a huge difference and he found himself attracted to the seemingly shy young woman.

“So you are married to a half demon. If you don’t mind me asking, is it difficult for you to adjust since I could not imagine being with a demon in such ways. They always seem to just take what they want without regards to others feelings.”

Kagome sighed.

“Half demons are not much different than full demons in the sense that they are pretty much self involved, but Inuyasha is different. He was raised around humans and most of his life he was ridiculed by both demons and humans because he is a hanyou.’
“Inuyasha has always been protective of me until now. He and I were always by each other’s side and I worry that now that he is a Lord that we will not have that bond. I love him, but there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other.”

Kuranosuke nodded.

“It can be difficult being married to a Lord, but I am certain that you will do fine. I do not know demon customs, but as far as the court goes it should not be too different than our own.’
“These classes will show you a few things about being a Lord’s wife, but I fear that you will not have the total education that is needed since you will be leaving in a few days.”

Kagome smiled although it did not reach her eyes.

“I am kind of afraid of how things will be since we are only a few humans that will be living in a demon filled castle.’
“I also worry about Sango and Miroku since they are to go with me. I know they want to go to the slayer’s village as soon as possible since they both wish to rebuild what was once there and I am pretty certain that people will want to learn from Sango her techniques since we still have quite a few demons out there that terrorize villages.”

Kuranosuke sighed.

“Indeed there is much disharmony in the villages that are beyond my boarders. I hear about bandit attacks and other unsavory things such as demons that destroy whole villages.”

Kagome nodded.

“It is unfortunate that these things do occur, but I am certain that Lord Sesshoumaru’s home is not disturbed much since he is a very powerful demon. Not even monks could subdue him.”

Kuranosuke was surprised by this comment.

“So this demon Lord Sesshoumaru is quite formidable.”

Kagome looked at Kuranosuke.

“No one except Inuyasha has been able to defeat him and now that my husband and Sesshoumaru are mated they will be invincible. Sesshoumaru carries a sword that can save 100 lives, but he rarely uses it and Inuyasha has a sword that can kill 100 demons with one stroke.’
“Sesshoumaru is invincible because of tensaiga. It is almost impossible to kill him since the sword protects his life.’
“Inuyasha has to have his sword to keep his demon blood from overtaking him and that is why it is imperative that I get the sword back to him. If he comes close to death without the sword at his side he will become a killing machine and will not stop until someone destroys him or gets him the sword so that he can revert back to his hanyou state.”

Kuranosuke now understood why it was so important for Kagome to see her husband. It would be unfortunate to have a wild half demon killing people.

“I am certain that the escort will be here as soon as possible so that you may be reunited with your Lord husband.”

Kagome smiled.

“I hope so. I really appreciate all you have done for us Lord Takeda. You are a very kind and generous person. I hope that you will not have any more disturbances from evil demons.”

Lord Takeda smiled back and left Kagome with the trainers who would teach her all she needed to know about being a Lady of the Manor.