InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Red petals ❯ The emperor's daughter ( Chapter 1 )

Red petals

 

 

Chapter 1: The emperor's daughter

 

 

Kagome was standing still, while her maid tied firmly the crimson ribbon that held her Kimono. She always wore black kimonos, adorned with flowers in the sleeves and the bottom, usually crimson. Everybody always scolded her for wearing those colors, but she never listened. She liked black, and that was what she would wear. She also wore it as a tribute to her mother, who had died when she was only a child. Her mother had always liked black as well. But they always said she had to be like her sister, Kikyo, but that made her even more eager of doing what they didn't want her to do. Anything but to be like her sister.

 

Kikyo was her older sister. She was tall and proud, and cold as ice. Her black hair was always tied up in a loose pony tail, and her dark brown eyes showed no reflection. She always wore white and red Kimonos. But, since she was the heir to the land, nobody told her anything. She was the princess there, and Kagome was only the spoiled one in the family that didn't obey orders.

`'Lady Kagome, sit down so I may brush your hair'' her maid told her, Kieko.

Kagome sat down, and Kieko brushed gently her long black hair. It reached to her waist, straight at first and it got curly in the end. Her skin was marble white, and her blue stormy eyes made her even more beautiful. Her father had been trying to marry her for years, but she always rejected every proposal.

`'You are impossible!'' her father used to shout at her, as well as her teachers. She never listened to her tutors. Only in one class did she pay attention. History. She liked knowing the past of things, and was specifically interested in the most powerful demon lord of all times. Inutaisho, Lord of the West. She despised her family for killing the great lord, along with wife. The only one that had his blood on their veins that survived had been Sesshoumaru. His other son, Inuyasha, as the story tells, had died of grief at his parent's loss. Sesshoumaru, in fact, was still alive and living in their side of the country. He was the most powerful lord, but had less power than her father, the emperor. Her father had even tried to convince Kagome to marry Sesshoumaru, but he rejected the offer even before she did. He despised humans. The story told he even killed Inuyasha's mother in revenge.

`'I am done, lady Kagome. Do you wish anything else?'' Kieko snapped her out of her daydream.

`'No. I will be in the east garden of cherry trees, if anyone needs me'' and with that she was off.

 

Her father's palace was the only thing she liked of her family. It was very big, with many roofs in their Japanese stile, in green and gold colours. Most of the long hallways were opened spaced, that gave many views of patios and gardens. On the top floor, in the most northern side, her father had his personal rooms, studio and a meeting room. In the second floor were the dormitories of the noblemen, and Kikyo's and Kagome's. The bottom floor was reserved for maids and the kitchens, and the access areas to the lower patios. The patios, in order to get light, were distributed between each floor in a staircase model, one patio one step higher than the other. Kagome's favourite patio was one in the east side of the second floor, were they kept the cherry trees, that at this time of the year were blooming their flowers, and the floor of the patio was covered in pink petals, and the wind sent floating away magically most of them. The patio had the form of a square, and not a very large one. And it was the only side of the building that the pillars were made of stone, for three years ago it had caught fire. And there was a bench underneath one of the trees, were Kagome usually sat to think or read history books of Inutaisho. Her family possessed the biggest library in Japan. So she oftenly paid a visit to the library, got a few books and sat in here bench in the patio, and read beneath her beloved cherry tree. But that day she did not read. It was raining a bit, and she loved dark days. So she sat in her bench, and lifted her head up to the sky, smelling the humid scent of the rain in the trees and the dirt, listening to the pitter-patter, feeling the raindrops hit her face. Then, Sango came into the garden. Sango was her best friend, and she worked as personal messenger of her father.

`'Hello, Kagome-chan!'' Sango said happily to her. She was the only one in the household that named her by -chan. She was usually treated as `'Lady Kagome'' or `'Kagome-sama'', and only her father called her simply Kagome.

`'Hello, Sango-chan!'' said Kagome, and she moved to let Sango sit with her.

`'I've got great news, Kagome-chan!''

`'What?''

`'Your father has just said that you may marry my brother Kohaku! Isn't this great? We will be family!''

Kagome's heart sank. She knew Kohaku would love the idea. He had always been in love with Kagome. The other one that was obsessed with her was a wolf demon, Kouga. And he was a real pain in the ass, too. But Kagome did not want to marry Kohaku. But how could she say it to Sango? She did not want to offend her.

`'Yes...great....'' Kagome felt worse and worse.

`'What's wrong, Kagome-chan?'' Sango asked her, concerned.

`'I'm not feeling very good...I think I'll go to sleep for a while'' and with that, she got up and left for her dormitory.

She let herself fall into her bed. She had a big window covering most of her wall, and they had planted a tall cherry tree for her to see it trough her window. She had her own drawer, where she had all of her Kimonos, and a small dressing table, with a big mirror. Her bed had black sheets (under Kagome's orders) and a beautiful purple canopy, that surrounded most of the bed, and also had two large red cushions. And there, in her gloomy coloured bed, she cried. She was sick of her father, always wanting him to do things that were considered `'right'', not caring about feelings or other real important things in life. No. The only thing he cared for was reputation. And she was sick of it. If only she could find somebody she truly love, if only she could run away...........

 

And then, she saw something trough her window. Later on she thought it had just been a hallucination. She saw something, no, someone, that jumped to a roof and then disappeared in the air, a flash of silver and crimson. How strange.... Kagome thought. Forget about it, it was just your imagination, she ordered herself.

 

But she didn't know how wrong she was.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOo

 

Kagome woke up, disoriented. How much time had passed since she had fallen asleep? She looked at her window. It was pitch black. Someone was knocking on the door.

`'Lady Kagome?'' Kieko's voice was heard on the other side of the door.

`'Come in'' Kagome said, not bothering to get off her bed.

`'Lady Kagome! You slept all day! Are you ill?''

`'No, I'm fine....why did you wake me up?''

`'Your father wishes to speak with you! I must get you ready!'' Kieko said, and helped her get up, get the wrinkles of her Kimono away, tighten her ribbon and comb her hair. When she finished, Kagome left for her father's dormitories. She knocked on the door to his studio, and a voice told her to come in from inside.

`'You wanted to see me, father?'' Kagome asked, bowing her head in a respectful manner. He looked at her, and motioned for her to sit in the chair in front of his desk.

`'I do not know if your friend Sango has already told you, but I have arranged you to marry her brother, the boy named Kohaku. It will be a good marriage, empower our political resources. And this time I would not take a `'no'' for an answer. You will marry him without protesting. Have I made myself clear?'' the threatening voice he had made Kagome scared. She could not refuse this time.

`'Yes, father'' she said.

`'Good. I have arranged you to have dinner with him tonight, so you can get used to being with him. I don't want you anymore wandering off to the garden, unless he is with you, and you shall be with him at all times. I have arranged as well for you to have a room with him, on the same floor of your own dormitory. You will only go again to your room in cae it is really important. Understood?''

Kagome's heart sank even more. She wanted to die. He wants me to sleep with him already?

She felt like the life was slipping away from her. But I am only sixteen....he has the same age as me, yes, but still.... (A/N YES Kohaku is a bit older, just like Kagome, and Sango is 25).

`'Go get better dressed and then you shall meet him in the upper dining room, the one next to the patio of the weeping willow. Be there in half an hour. Leave me now, I have important work to do'' and with that he dismissed her.

 

Kagome ran back to her room, tears trailing off. She felt her heart had been stabbed a hundred times, and shattered in a thousand pieces. The pain in her chest was too much. But she knew she had to do it. She couldn't fake she was sick, her father knew her all too well. Taking deep breaths, calming down, she went to have a bath (she had a bathroom next to her dormitory) and then she called for Kieko. Her maid helped her put on another Kimono, this one was Crimson as blood, with back flowers in the sleeves and legs. Just like the other one, but in opposite colours. This one had a black ribbon that tied the corset that surrounded from her breasts to her waist. Her maid put her hair up by the sided with two hair clips, letting it fall loose in the back.

`'You look beautiful, Lady Kagome. Come, I will lead you now to the dinning room'' and the maid led her upstairs. Kohaku was waiting at the doors of the dinning room. He had a dark blue robe, and his hair tied up in the warrior style. He smiled at her, and opened the door, letting her pass first. Kieko left, and they sat at the long table, facing each other. They were silent while the servants and maids brought all the food, and then they let them have their privacy. The big windows of the dinning room faced the garden of the old weeping willow. She stared at the magnificent tree, in the moon's light. Kohaku was staring at her face, light by the candles of the chandelier in the middle of the table. Kohaku started eating, but Kagome was not hungry. She had lost all appetite.

`'Are you feeling alright, love?'' Kohaku asked her. Kagome snapped out of her thoughts, and stared at the man that was to be her husband.

`'I'm not hungry'' she said simply. Kohaku stared at her, and he got up the table, and went by her side.

`'Look, Kagome, I know that you do not love me, but once we are married, I'm sure you will. You'll see. I'll make you the happiest woman of this land'' he said tenderly.

Kagome thanked he was being nice, but she knew that she would never love him. You cannot force love. She sighed.

Kohaku called the servants to retrieve the food. They left together for their dormitory that was on the opposite side of Kagome's old one. She dreaded what was to come. When they were reaching their room, Kagome said:

`'I have to get a few things from my room. I'll be right back, you wait for me'' she said, and she ran off, but not to her room precisely. She burst into her beloved garden, that had something magical at the moon's light, and she sat in her bench, crying silently, hidden in the shadow the tree gave her. She did not notice someone was watching her. Then she heard a rustle of leaves. She looked up, only to find a big pair of beautiful amber eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. It was a boy, more of a man; he looked to be in his twenties. He had long silvery hair, a red haori, and a rosary of dark blue beads and fangs. And, the most amazing of all, he had two snow-white dog ears on the top of his head. It was the same one she had seen bounce on the roof when she had fallen asleep in her room. He took a step forwards, staring at her with his beautiful gold amber eyes. Kagome froze.

Who is he?

 

 

A/N

 

Well, there goes chapter 1! I hope you liked it, although it was a bit short. So, you know the rules. I want at least 5 reviews, or you're not getting any more chapters!!

 

Petpeeves12: lol. You keep reviewing, I'll keep updating.