A Sister's Gift

Chapter 27 – Prince Hasun’s Meddling Mind

The dinner was winding down, and Sesshomaru was in the middle of telling the daisaiin about the origins of his sword, Tokijin, when the prince rose and bowed to Kikyo, expecting her to join him for a stroll in the garden. She had hoped he would forget, but to no avail. She rose and followed the young prince out into Senshi’s lovely garden.

Inuyasha made to follow, but the last of the four guards that were accompanying the prince, put a stop to his movements. ‘Damn! Fuck! Damn!’

Sesshomaru was keeping his normal cool, but could tell that Inuyasha was quickly losing his. The prince seemed to take some interest in Kikyo, which Sesshomaru thought strange for the circumstances. As much as he really didn’t care for his idiot half-brother, he knew that if he got himself killed, it would ultimately come back to hurt his Kagome. Kikyo and she had become close over the last week and Kagome’s heart would be broken if the stupid hanyou were executed.

The taiyoukai tried to catch his brother’s eye, but he seemed to be staring at the empty plate in front of him with absorbed interest. Kagome was chatting with the daisaiin and emperor, as if they were all old friends. His little mate never ceased to amaze him. Almost everyone she met was taken in by her warm nature.

Kikyo followed appropriately behind the prince, who seemed content to simply walk in silence. She wondered why he wanted her to take this stroll in the first place. As prince, he no doubt had scores of courtesans to please him, so why take an interest in a simple miko?

Prince Hasun walked in contented silence, listening to the dainty footsteps of the lady behind him. He was almost sure that the hanyou had some sort of feelings for the woman, especially after his reaction when he requested she take a stroll in the gardens. He almost chuckled as he thought of Inuyasha’s predicament. He was sure to be stewing right about now.

The two strolled along, until they reached the sitting area, where his aunt Senshi loved to greet guests. The candles still flickered their soft light and the prince motioned for Kikyo to have a seat with him.

“Tell me Kikyo, how long have you trained to be a miko?” the prince asked.

“Since I was five years old, my lord.” Kikyo replied.

“I assume that you have great power, since you were called by the daisaiin. Maybe I will have a chance to see you in action soon.” Hasun said eagerly.

“Perhaps, my lord, but I am still unaware of what my duty should be here.” Kikyo said with an unsure voice.

Prince Hasun considered that for a moment. It is true that his aunt had chosen to keep the reason for the miko calling from them until a designated announcement. Maybe he could leak a little information, just to spice things up for the girls. “Yes, indeed. As I understand it, the reason behind the calling is concerning an item of great destructive power. One that needs the protection of a powerful miko.”

Kikyo took this little tidbit of information from the prince and filed it away to discuss with Kagome at a later time. She wondered what could have such power to merit the calling of so many of her station. It must be an item of immense power.

“Your Youkai Protector, Inuyasha, how long has he been with you?” asked Hasun.

“Four years, my lord.” Kikyo replied.

“Four years, you say? You must have been young when he was gifted to you.” The prince said.

“Hai. I was at my fourteenth year, my lord. We have never been separated.” Kikyo replied.

The prince could hardly contain himself. The woman was obviously in love with her protector, and trying very hard not to let it show. He just loved these things. It spiced his humdrum life up a bit. The day to day rigors of being a prince were a tad boring to say the least. A little intrigue and mystery was something that never failed to catch his eye. ‘Now, how to get that cat out of the bag....’

“Come, miko Kikyo, let us return to the other’s. No doubt my father is ready to take his leave.” The prince stood and Kikyo followed behind. They made their way slowly back to the house, as the prince took the time to stop and gaze at the occasional bloom.

When they returned to the other’s he watched for the reaction of the hanyou Inuyasha. The boy looked fit to be tied. The humor at his distress only grew as he began to formulate his next move to expose the truth.

The emperor downed the last of his sake, and made to stand. Senshi and the other’s rose, as well. “Senshi, Arigato for the lovely meal. Kagome, Kikyo, it was a pleasure to dine in the company of such lovely ladies, and Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, it was a pleasure to meet the sons of the great dog general.” The Emperor stated as he moved to the door.

Prince Hasun waited for his father to move as far away as he could get, before he made his move. Once his father was at the door, he turned to Kikyo. He grabbed her hand and turned it over, palm up, as he stared into her lovely eyes. “Lovely Kikyo, it was indeed a pleasure to spend the evening in the presence of such beauty.” With that he pulled her palm to his lips and graced her with a very sensuous kiss there.

Inuyasha lost it! “Hey! I don’t give a damn who you are! Get your hands off of Kikyo!”

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes upward. Oh for Kami’s sake the baka had done it now. He made to step forward but Kagome stopped him in his tracks when she uttered the two word command, “Stand Down.” He could do nothing but watch the fiasco unfold for Inuyasha.

Immediately Inuyasha was tackled by four Imperial guards. The first two found themselves hurled across the room, but when Kikyo shouted Inuyasha, “Sit!”, he hit the floor, with only a string of curses to be heard.

The daisaiin, and emperor were taken aback by the display, and finally the emperor stepped up. “What is the meaning of this?”

Finally the prince quelled his laughter, after he seen how upset his father was, and noticed that not only was Kikyo crying, but the little dove Kagome was as well. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. “I must... HA... apologize... HA HA... this is all my fault, father.” Hasun cleared his throat and tried to regain his dignified stance, while watching the groaning hanyou on the floor.

The Emperor was appalled at such behavior, and language, in his sister’s house, no less. “Guards, arrest this hanyou!”

“Nain, father, please. As I was saying. This is entirely my fault. I suspected the hanyou to be in love with the lady Kikyo, and therefore I simply goaded him to see if I was correct. I believe I can safely say that I was right in my assumption.” Hasun explained.

The emperor was used to his son’s meddling and goading. This wasn’t the first time he had pulled such a stunt. Sometimes the boy forgot his station. His temper flared, but he wasn’t sure who to take it out on.

Then suddenly the lady Kikyo fell to his feet, throwing her hands out in front of her. “Please! I beg your eminence! Please forgive Inuyasha for his rash behavior! The prince is correct. He does love me and... I... love him.” Her tears poured down her face and her voice was raw with her fright.

The emperor could have pinched his son’s head off at that very moment. The meddling youth needed to grow up and stay out of other people’s affairs... literally! “Rise, young miko. All is forgiven.”

The emperor turned a harsh look upon his son. “Hasun, we will speak of this upon our return to he palace.” He turned his attention to the guards who now had Inuyasha dogpiled underneath them. “Release the hanyou.” He waited for them to pile off of Inuyasha, before he continued, “Inuyasha, in the future you will respect those of my house in a much improved manner than you have shown today! I will, however issue my apologies for my son, who has a tendency to stir trouble for others.”

The emperor sighed deeply. It had been such a nice peaceful evening. It was rare that he was able to sneak away from the palace and enjoy a quiet meal with his sister. ‘Damn Hasun and his meddling.’ “Sister Senshi, please except my apology for the disturbance Hasun has wrought. I will be sure to make him regret it later.”

Senshi laughed and waved it off. “Oh, no harm done. It’s been ages since anything exciting has happened under this roof. It was a welcome diversion.”

Sesshomaru grunted his disagreement with that, causing the emperor to chuckle in his direction. “I have to agree with you, Sesshomaru, this kind of excitement, I could do without. Sayonara all.”

Prince Hasun was feeling a little bad about his joke, by now. The young maiden’s were terribly upset over the situation, and he supposed that maybe he took it too far. “I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. Inuyasha? No hard feelings, eh?” Inuyasha only grunted at him. Hasun chuckled a little. “Maybe this will teach you that secrets only bring about trouble in the end.” Another grunt from Inuyasha, and Hasun turned to follow after his father.

After the Imperial family took their leave, Kagome collapsed to the floor. “Oh Kami! I thought you were a goner Inuyasha!”

Sesshomaru kneeled behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “Inuyasha, your ignorance knows no bounds.”

Inuyasha was ruffled. “Hey! I’d like to see some upstart prince kiss on Kagome, and see how you deal with it!”

Kikyo was still sobbing, and finally Inuyasha kneeled down and held her in a tight embrace, while rocking her gently. His actions finally began to sooth the young women’s raw nerves, and Senshi felt like this would be a good time to issue a little motherly advice. “There is a great lesson to be learned in all of this. Honesty is always the best policy. While Prince Hasun’s methods, are somewhat unorthodox, his point was certainly made clear. If you had told me of your special relationship, this could have all been avoided.”

Senshi patted Kikyo on the shoulder. Her guests rose and prepared to leave. They all thanked her for her hospitality, and while the ending was anything but enjoyable everyone agreed that for the most part they had a nice time. Ani once again appeared to escort them back to their cottage, but Kagome declined the offer, as they were very capable of making their way on their own.