HISTORY LESSONS

Chapter 8- His Intended

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Kagome brushed hair out of her face and gazed down at the small, artificial stream slowing beneath the mini bridge she was standing on. It was the kind she could only see in Zen gardens or tea ceremony schools in her time, without railings and gently sloping over quiet water. A tiny koi swam beneath a water lily. She huffed and looked over the large and beautiful garden. Everything was big and pretty there. The demons, fancy hair-dos of demonesses, exquisite kimonos everyone was wearing… but most of all,
”The ego of that self-centered pompous youkai! How dare he?!”

The number of demons strolling through the blossoming trees stopped to stare at her. Everyone except the reason for her sour mood, of course. Kagome took deep, steadying breaths and whispered under her breath.

“Fine, be that way. I’ll just… I’ll just keep this lovely kimono and sell it. I could probably get lots of shiny bling-blings for this piece of cloth anyway. Hm… I wonder if it’s real silk?”

She was bluffing, of course. It was the most beautiful kimono she’s ever seen in her entire life and it probably cost more than some of the kimonos other youkai were wearing. It was of rich silk and fit her perfectly. She felt like Cinderella wearing it. She couldn’t exactly say what the color or the pattern was; the delicate thread and design… “Sengoku Jidai’s finest. Armani couldn’t measure up.”

She lifted her face to the sky and continued daydreaming.

The journey there hadn’t been all too bad. She had no idea where she was going but the Hawkman had descended from the sky, plucked a feather from his wing, and they flew together to the castle. It reminded her of Kagura.

Kagome was being kept busy but an ugly ogre when he showed up. Ever since Naraku died, there was a big increase in level of youkai and scary monsters activity. Like inflation… At least it kept her friends in business.
“Or is it deflation?”
There was a whooshing sound, like hundreds of birds taking flight, and a demon appeared in front of her.
“Kagome-sama.”
She let her arms drop. “Avian, was it?”
The bird youkai nodded. He reached up and, to Kagome’s intense amusement, plucked a feather from his wing. She resisted the urge to ask if it hurt. He threw it to the ground and it turned into a large feather. Memories stirred, and he pointed.
”Oh, right!” She climbed on.
Avian spread his great, glimmering wings and soared to the sky, the feather automatically following.
”Wow! Cool, this is like a magic carpet ride! A whole new world…”
”I beg your pardon?”
“Ahaha, nothing.”

They flew too fast for her to see much, let alone where they were going. She tried to say a word or two to him but her words kept getting lost in the rushing of the wing. Couple of times he slowed down when she screamed at almost getting whisked off, but they were there in no time.

She couldn’t move for a few minutes when they finally landed. Kagome felt her jaw land in the grass between her feet. “Are we… Is this the right place?”
Avian gave her a strange look. “Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
”Quite.”
”But this is… different than what I’ve seen…”
”You’ve been here before?”
”What? Oh, no! No no no.”
He folded his wings. “This way. Keep close to me or the guards will shoot.”
Kagome followed hastily, craning her neck to take in the big, fancy, pretty castle.

The big, pretty castle was located in a valley between two mountains. There was a big, pretty lake of sparking, deep blue water and a river or two. The atmosphere was very different, and quiet. “This is like Rivendell from Lord of the Rings. Pretty…”
Avian seemed used to her strange talk by now and led her in. She couldn’t breath for the sceneries, both inside and outside the many-story-and-buildings-and-courtyards castle. She didn’t miss the fact that this medieval Japanese castle was completely not what she saw (she was pretty sure) with her own eyes in her own time, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.

Kagome was still in a daze and giddy with excitement when she stood in front of the mirror in her new kimono she found on her futon. “It’s so pretty!”

She giggled and rushed around, digging through her bag for something to make her hair look less plain. She just couldn’t bear to have her hair pulled in all different directions and wear a heavy, uncomfortable headdress, or put on the chalk they called make-up on her face. “Blegh!”
Kagome quickly dabbed on some cherry lip-gloss on her lips and some natural colored eye shadow on her lids, followed by quick dash of mascara.

Kagome finally approached the entryway to the throne room. Her heart was pounding and she was getting a little nervous. Swallowing, she forced her feet to move. She could sense a lot of powerful youkai in there. She watched few other demons go in first. She couldn’t deny that she was excited to see Sesshoumaru again. ‘An old friend…’ She was excited to see an old friend.

Before she knew it she was gliding across the room. She couldn’t feel the shiny floor beneath her feet or find time to appreciate the decors. Kagome left all her worry and anxieties outside, and smiled when she spotted the familiar silver head at the center. She made her way, her smile stretching from ear to ear. Kagome could feel all eyes on her.

When had she moved? Suddenly she was there and he was there. He was looking at something else, sitting in his shiny throne. In Kagome’s opinion it suited him but it also didn’t suit him. May be she was just unused to seeing him surrounded by all those luxury, or may be she’d forgotten because roaming the lands with her wasn’t such a lordy thing to do. She felt a bubble of happiness expand inside her until she felt like floating. The Kagome thing to do would have been to give him a hug and tell him that she thought he looked great and that she was glad to see him again, and how had he been? But he wasn’t the type to hug or exchange news. Kagome smiled again and a soft giggle escaped her lips as she bowed. His gaze flickered over her form.

“Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands, son and heir of late Inu no Taisho, Prince of the Castle of the Moon, King of Moonlit country…” she heard a male voice announce. As if she didn’t know already.

“Lord Drinian, son of King Trinian, ruler of Southern Seas…”

Kagome’s curiosity piqued, but she remained bowing.

“…And Lady Sara, Princess from the Northern domain, daughter of Lord Morimoto, and female in courting with Lord Sesshoumaru.”