Slave of Love

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Nor the book “Enslaved” by V.Henley.

A/N: Well, nothing new around here, except thanks to my reviewers! I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Review!!

Chapter 8: “The Engagement”

The Next morning Kagome was in the dining room eating her breakfast when Kikyo came down. She sat down and started to eat her breakfast as well.

“There are so many people in town that London must be empty.” Kikyo stated.
Kagome wasn’t listening; she was looking through the visiting cards from yesterday, when she found Koga’s. However it wasn’t the young Shinda that came to her thoughts, but his brother, the earl. Yesterday, in the shop, she was sure that he was pretty mad at her, ‘he surely look angry to me.’ she thought. Kagome had the satisfaction of knowing that her beauty eclipsed that of the elder woman that accompanied him.

“Koga was most disappointed, when he came yesterday and didn’t find you. I must tell you that I was really upset about your behavior, Kagome. Respectable ladies, don’t go for walks on their own, even if it is a pedestrian city like Bath.” Kikyo lectured her.

‘Jesus, I have to change the subject or find something to tease her about before she goes on endlessly about this...Think, Kagome, think!’

“Say, Kikyo, I’ve been thinking... Do you want for me to get you one of those wonderful things that are called ‘wheel chairs of Bath?’ I could yank you every where, and you wouldn’t have to walk.”

“The wheel chairs of Bath are for old people! I wont set a foot on those things! I am not a cripple nor am I a decrepit old person. In fact, I’m feeling much better of the hip now.”

“It must be something in air; it’s most healthy”, Kagome commented with serious face. “Well, are we going for a splash in the baths this morning or not?” She asked, in an exited tone of voice.

Kiyo hesitated for a second, then she replied with equal excitement, “Of course we are. The doctor’s orders can’t be ignored, can they?”

“Absolutely not.”, was Kagome’s answer. She knew Kikyo hated public baths. ‘Oohh, this is going to be fun to see!’

They walk to the baths after each dressed properly, as Kikyo would say, to go out of the house. Kagome knew that in the baths you took your clothes off, so she didn’t wore the red corset, although she would’ve like it, ‘Yeah, and Kikyo would die of a stroke...Hey! That’s not a bad idea....’

Kagome was exited because she wanted to go to the “Bath of the Cross” where its walls were draw with ancient Roman gods and statues of Apollo and Cronis, who watched the people while bathing. However, Kikyo decided to go to the “Queen’s Bath”, so that was where they headed. Kikyo came down the steps that led to the baths rather quickly for a woman of her “hip condition”

“Ew! What is that dreadful smell?” She exclaimed as she walked through a cloud of vapor.

“What you smell is sulfur.” Kagome explained.

“Why the devils, didn’t they purify the water.” the nagging woman complained.

“The sulfur and other minerals is what makes the water medicinal.” She patiently explained, as if to a four year old.

A guide came and showed them the way to a private room where they could undress properly. Kikyo made a disgusted face when they were given a long brown linum robe. When Kikyo complained about having to take off the wigs and hats, the assistant assured her that all the women leave their wigs and hats untouched. Kikyo couldn’t be happier, Kagome on the other hand, was fully embarrassed, she certainly hoped she didn’t bump into someone know, or she would die out of shame. ‘I hope Koga doesn’t see me like this.... Or worst yet, his brother. God! I don’t think I can take this, I mean, what normal person would dive into a bath with a wig and a hat of peacock feathers.... My life is hell!’ But, as usual, all Kagome did was sigh and get in the water.
Kikyo shuddered with disgust as Kagome helped her enter the warm water. Her face was the same of that of a gargoyle, the dislike she felt for that exercise in the baths was obvious to everyone who saw her face.

‘I bet, the treatment has better results than ever. Its going to be the fastest cure of history ’ Kagome smirked at her thoughts. ‘Just wait until you go to the Bomb Room, and try that water, my dear “wounded” cousin. You’ll be spending the rest of our staying in the social reunions after that.....Which means, more time for my self. And all I have to say is that I’m going to the baths!’

********

When they came back home from the baths, Koga Shinda was waiting for them.

“Welcome to Bath, ladies. I am sorry I wasn’t here yesterday to greet you, I missed you.” He commented with intention as he grabbed Kagome’s hand, pressed it to his lips and retained it with a possessive grip. “I come to invite you, next to your cousin, to the Wiltshire Saloons tonight.”

“Dear Koga, we would love to go.” Kikyo immediately accepted. “And Kagome is most anxious to visit Shinda Hall. Elizabethan period is one of her favorites, is it not, dear Kagome?”

“One of them” answered the blushing Kagome. ‘Can she embarrass me any further? Damn her!’

“I know it’s not right to leave you two alone,” Kikyo started. “But I am sure I can trust you, Koga.”

She was so obvious in her efforts of “matchmaking” that Kagome blushed again. When Kikyo retired to her room, her cousin apologized to Koga, “I am sorry Koga. I have no intentions of trumping in Shinda Hall.”

He looked at her with wounded face.

“Kagome, it is my greatest desire that you visit my family house. I want you to come tomorrow early. I want to spend the day with you.”

“And your brother? Doesn’t he have a guest of his own?” her heart skipped a beat every time she thought of him, and even though she tried, she couldn’t help the emotions he awoke in her.

“No that I know,” Koga assured her.

“But I saw him yesterday with a charming read head.”

“It must have been the ‘Vixen widow.’ By god!, she doesn’t stay at the Hall. She is his.... I mean, she is...”

“I know perfectly well what she is”

“So you are not as innocent as you seem to be.” Koga replied, his voice husky. He grabbed her hand again between his larger ones, and said, “We only invite future brides to the Hall.”

Kagome couldn’t pass by the meaning of his words. And even though she felt flattered, she was conscious of the trap that was leaning towards her.

“I fear that tomorrow will not be possible.” She answered him.

“I won’t leave until you promise me you will come.” he insisted. Kagome’s eyes flew wide open as she saw him level his head with obvious intentions. She only got time for a deep breath before his lips were above her own. ‘Where are the ringing bells? Or the butterflies in my stomach?’ She was surprised by the warmness of the kiss though, if nothing else.

“When will you come?”, he whispered, when he stop the kiss.

“Soon”, she promised.

“When?”

“The day after tomorrow”

“That’s not that soon.” Koga said shaking his head, as he grabbed her by the shoulder to be closer, as he kissed her again. “Tomorrow,” he insisted.

“Kikyo has me very controlled.” Kagome answered, looking for an excuse. “She came to Bath for the medical treatment, and I must be with her” ‘Why am I making up excuses? I would rather visit the Elizabethan manor a thousand times than the horrible baths!’

“Kikyo seemed anxious to come. You think I should invite her?”

Kagome’s eyes sparkled with amusement when she realized that he had her cornered.

“You are a devil, Koga Shinda. I give up. We shall go tomorrow.”

“And spend the night there.”, he insisted. “For someone to cherish the true beauty of the Hall, they have to walk through the walls under the moonlight, ride across the forests with the mist of dawn and, of course, sleep in the chambers that where once occupied by her majesty, the Virgin Queen.”

Kagome’s cheeks reddened at his last comment. Finally, she gave in.

“You win, Koga. I will carry a hand bag to spend the night there, but with the condition that you release me from tonight’s reunion.”

Koga smiled.

“They are horrible reunions. Itl bel be a pleasure to free you of it.” His triumphal smile had by now reached his eyes. “I will come to pick you up at eleven o’clock, so we can get there by lunch.”

When he was gone, she heard Kikyo ordering someone in the kitchen. She waited for her to appear.

“You will be glad to know that Koga invited us to Shinda Hall.”

“He included me in the invitation?”

“Of course he did.”

“Oh, how sweet of him. His manners are impeccable, don’t you think? When are we going any way?”

“Tomorrow. We are invited to spend the night there also, so we can enjoy the absolute hospitality of the Hall. Koga wasn’t to interested in tonight’s reunion, so we will have enough time to get ready for tomorrow.”

“An invitation to an earl’s house is not something that happens everyday. I will need Beedy and the other maids to help me prepare my wardrobe and everything I might need for the occasion.”

The moment Kikyo walked out the room, Kagome snuck out and went to the river to watch the swans. The Avon River was wide and deep, and ran fast into the Bristol Canal as well as the Celtic sea. She imagined the Celtic and Viking’s ships, and the big roman warships, with their long rams to its sides.
She saw to ships loaded with golden Bath stone and realized that it must come from the Shinda mines. Seeing the beautiful Georgian buildings made her wonder how many of them must have being done with the stone from the mines. ‘The family must be in extreme wealthy; their wealth must date since remote times. I have to ask for a book about Bath’s earls when I go to the library, and find out how did they end up with an Elizabethan manor.’ She decided.

During the rest of the day it was Inuyasha Shinda who was on her thoughts. He was a dark complexion, dominant and dangerous man. Just the type of man she used to dream of while awake. He stood out for completely among his equals. To Kagome he was the antithesis of the Georgian fop. As a matter of fact, he looked much worthy of another century. He could be an splendid medieval warrior or an Elizabethan explorer.
That night, when she fell asleep, it wasn’t the young and gallant Koga who visited Kagome’s dreams, but his brother, the arrogant count Inuyasha.

*********

While horshorses pushed Koga’s carriage out of the city towards the hills from the north, following the Avon River, Kikyo asked:

“Will the earl be in the residence?”

“Uh.... No. My brother is absent for the time being. His Somerset’s judge, so he has been called to Bristol.”

“What a shame,” the woman regretted. “I was hoping for this visit to give Kagome a chance to apologize to the lord. She was very rude to him with that library misunderstanding.”

Kagome had to use all of her will of power to hold back a sharp reply. ‘If she only knew that a lot more than just that incident happened between us, she would just have a brake down.’ Every time they met sparks would fly, and in spite herself, Kagome felt a fatal attraction for the wrong brother. So she felt relived when she heard Koga say that he wouldn’t be at the Hall. ‘I don’t know if we would manage to spend a night under the same roof’.

When they took the road that would lead to the entrance, the Hall could be seen in all of its majestic splendor, and Kagome fell in love with it, right that second. Koga saw the look on her face and knew that the first half of his battle was won. The carriage stopped and the butler and two servants hurry to receive them.

Kagome was looking at the butler. Somehow he seemed familiar. He was a tall man, in his late twenties, with black hair and amazing beautiful of violet pair of eyes. But before Kagome could wonder any further, Koga’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“I have a wonderful idea.”, he said and then turned to Kikyo. “I will leave you in the expert hands of Miroku, while I show Kagome around.”

“Don’t worry for me, Koga. I shall makeelf elf comfortable right away. Go along.”

Kagome couldn’t believe what she heard. As Koga took her to the principal garden, she commented:

“You have that unbearable woman eating out of your palm.”

Koga stopped and answered her, in a low voice, “I know how to treat a lady.”

The girl blushed and a shiver went down her spine. Despite Koga’s gift of saying the most improper things, it didn’t turn her on; quite the contrary actually, it put her on guard. She promised her self not to trust him too much, but her thought again drifted when the beauty of the Elizabethan garden captured her attention.

They visit all the gardens in the Hall, but one most of all caught Kagome’s attention. It was a labyrinth, a copy of the one that was in Hampton Court, where the queen had grown up, and Kagome couldn’t resist it. Koga sat on a bench and told her:

“Go explore it. If you don’t find the exit in five minutes, I will come to your rescue.”

The first few minutes, she got lost, which, of course, had her fascinated. The walls of bushes were too tall and thick as to see through or above them. After many turns, she found the middle, where Koga was sitting waiting for her.

“You cheated, ” Kagome said between laughter. “You promised to wait outside.”

“And let the chance of being with you in a private place, with out any eye witness of my romantic advances, drift away?”

Kagome knew better than run. She knew it would be a provocative invitation for him to chase her around. Koga approached her with obvious intentions and held her in his arms.

“I demand a token before letting you go. It’s the proper thing to do.”

“What kind of token?” she asked, frozen in the circle of his arms.

“You must take off some of your garments.” He asked with boldness.

Kagome took her glove with out a blink. The young man was not able to hide his disappointed look.

“You don’t play fair.” He complained.

“I am not playing at all.” She informed him cold as an iceberg.

‘God! She is like the queen of fucking ice! By this time any other woman would have surrendered at my feet.’ he thought, as his head worked for a plan. When he finally got it, he cast a small sadistic smile. ‘I’m going to set up a scene. She will have no escape. It will be like getting a lamb ready for the sacrifice.’

“I will accept the glove as long as it comes with a kiss.” he whispered.

When she offered her lips to him with her eyes closed, he had to use every ounce of will he had to control himself. ‘Some how I will have this woman in my bed, and I only have one night to do it.’ And he wasn’t going to let her trust fade away so early at this point of the game, so he just graze her forehead with his lips. As a reward for his good behavior, Kagome rose to the tips of her feet and kissed him on the lips. As they walked out the labyrinth Koga thought, ‘All right, one step closer to victory.”

Dinner promised to be very formal, at the Tudor style decorated dining room. After taking a bath Kagome put the red corset on and the new velvet jade dress. She had never felt so seductive and feminine as she felt that night. She couldn’t forget the way Inuyasha had looked at her, and she wished he could see her again tonight.

Dinner consisted in six courses; Kagome was impatient to do the walk through Shinda Hall at moonlight, as Koga had promise her. After dinner, the crystal cups were filled to their top. Koga raised his and said:

“Nodaysdays, habits indicate that ladies must abandon the table while men enjoy their port, but tonight, we are going to go with the Elizabethan habit. As for, warm and spicy hippocras, like it was drank in those days. I propose a toast to lady Kagome Higurashi. Shinda Hall is screaming for a Castilian as beautiful as you to grace it.”

The wine was aromatic and its warmness spread through Kagome’s veins like wild fire. They took their glasses of hippocras and left the table to go exploring the Hall, leaving Kikyo sitting at the table by herself.
Koga showed the girl the small lady’s chapel. The place was where the rose and herbal scented Shinda perfumes were distillated.
In the ballroom, Koga had ordered the servants to lit hundreds of candles, and from the galleries above them a heavenly music could be heard floating downstairs. Koga offered his arms to her and Kagome accepted them. While dancing, she closed her eyes and imagined she was in the Elizabethan period for real. Sas was wearing a jade colored velvet dress exactly like the one she bought but with a few changes around the neck. She felt as if she had already done this, but with a different partner. One whose powerful muscles flex every time he raised her in the happy dance. She laughed happily while staring at the pair of amazing dark purple eyes of her partner, and then, the face returned to be that of Koga.
When he put her down on the bright floor, he turned her to face towards him and whispered to her ear:

“Let’s go for a walk to the Hall’s walls.”

Kagome gripped Koga’s hand and then both went running towards the wall. Standing against the castellated rocks of the wall, with the moonlight bathing it, Kagome let the magic of the night intoxicate her. That little place was so warm and cozy it gave the impression that it had been waiting for her during two centuries, and now, finally, she was coming home. Even the atmosphere was full of romanticism. Kagome knew she was in love, the thing was, that she didn’t think herself capable of loving the man as much as the house.

“You haven’t showed me the queen’s chambers yet,” she said dreamily.

‘I’ve got you now!’ Koga thought, as he smiled in the darkness. She had said the words he was waiting for her to pronounce.

“I left the best for the last. There’s a secret passageway.” He whispered to her.

“Really? Don’t say! ” Kagome exclaimed fascinated. One he che chimneys opened to reveal a stair that led downward. “Wont we needing light?”

“Hold on to me, honey. We will go step by step.”

She surrendered one hand to Koga’s and rested the other on his wide back. Kagome felt the muscles through the clothes and blushed in the darkness. ‘He is so strong...What would happen if he’d releases all that force?’ She shivered just with the thought. Suddenly, she felt a little bit out of breath. She was about to scream when a door opened and light flooded as they stepped into a room. Koga waited until she stepped out the passageway, and closed the door behind her.

It was the most impressive bedroom that Kagome had ever seen. It was huge with a fireplace of monstrous proportions. Above it, there were two paintings, one of the Virgin Queen and the other of the first earl of Bath, who showed a pair of dark purple eyes that shone with pride from the tanned handsome face. Kagome couldn’t help but to think how much resemblance was between the first earl and the actual one.
At the other corner of the room, several ceiling high bookcases could be seen. All the books were frame in leather and its name in golden letters. There was a desk wide enough for Kagome to lay down there and still would remain space, with an inkstand and several silver pens, that were covering letters, documents and maps, as if someone had being just interrupted while working.
A four-post canopy bed, with heavy velvet curtains, dominated the whole room. Everything was decorated in the white and green of the Tudor’s. The room was saturate with a smell of sandalwood.

“It’s perfect.” Kagome said in a whisper.

Again she closed her eyes and her imagination for a magical moment, transformed her in Elizabeth with her jade velvet dress. She wished that this room was hers. As she opened her eyes, she saw Koga had served a glass of blood red wine for her. Kagome had already drunk enough to feel a little bit tipsy, but in a certain way, at that moment it felt adequate to behave with a little of imprudence. She emptied the cup and felt the wine spreading re ire in her chest. Koga took the glass from her hand and drew her towards him with urgency. His demanding mouth searched for hers, forcing her to separate her lips. He gave her a deep, passionate kiss, while his hands looked for the laces on the back of her dress.
Neither of them had heard the door opening and the person stepping in.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Kagome gasped and got away from Koga, her hands flying to her back to hold the open back of the dress closed, but her eyes glued to the pair of dark purple ones that stared right back at her. She wasn’t able to take her eyes of him.

“Inuyasha! What the hell are you doing home tonight?”

“My affairs in Bristol concluded earlier.” Inuyasha answered his brother, not taking his eyes away from Kagome. “I repeat, what the hell are you doing?”

“I was proposing. Lady Kagome and I are engage to be married. Congratulate us.”


A/N: OK, the more you review the fastest i will update, so if you want to know if Kagome will get out of this or not....REVIEW PEOPLE!!! Ja!