I've been kicking this idea around for a few months, and figured it was time to make some use of it. This was originally written as a non-Inuyasha story, but I was a few pages in when I decided that it would make an interesting piece of fanfiction.
By the way, Inuyasha is completely human in this story. Sorry, no doggy ears.
Also, Kagome is an unusually hyper trickster in this story. A little out of character perhaps, but other than that I'm trying to keep her more in character. She also has several non-canon siblings other than Souta, including her older sister Filiola, and her eldest brother who does not have a name yet. Well, he has a name, but it hasn't been mentioned yet, because I cannot think of one.
Speaking of Kagome, I don't know what her mother's name is, so I named her Pretiosus. An unusual name, perhaps, but it she was named so after a friend. (And Pret said I would forget! Hah, take that!)
And just to warn you, I tend to distort and blend cultures to my liking. Please excuse the shameless mockery of the medieval feudal structure.
And of course, (why must you make me say this?) I do not own any character in the Inuyasha series, including Kagome, Inuyasha, Myoga, ect.
That said, let's get on with the story!
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Chapter One: TroubleIf you were to ask the members of King Regius's Court when the trouble started, most would say it began seventeen years ago. Seventeen years ago, the King's sister, Pretiosus, became Queen upon her marriage to King Higurashi. King Higurashi ruled over a minor kingdom called Solum, to the southwest of King Regius's kingdom Rubrica.
The trouble took form fifteen years ago, when Pretiosus bore King Higurashi a second daughter, Kagome. It was the last child she ever had. A year, later the seemingly healthy young queen fell ill, and remained bedridden for seven more years. Her condition continued to worsen over those years even as Higurashi hired every doctor, pharmacist, apothecary, physician, and herbalist he could find. Eventually, Pretiosus died on an autumn evening. Higurashi was deeply saddened by the loss, but he carried on like a King was expected to.
But he remained worried about Pretiosus's children, and figured it best to send his two daughters and his younger son away for a time being. Filiola, the oldest daughter, was sent to Castellum, a well-established province in the northern Solum lands. Souta, the youngest son, was sent to Villa Russus, a province of eastern Solum, closer to Solum's capital, Corolla.
Kagome, however, was sent to live at the court of Higurashi's brother-in-law, King Regius. That, the courtiers would tell you, is where the trouble came to a head.
Solum was not a large kingdom, nor overly prosperous. It had a stable economy and people were generally happy, but it was not a kingdom to be ranked among the finest of the day. Perhaps if Kagome had not been born in Solum, if she had instead been born in one of the more prestigious kingdoms, such as Rubrica, maybe she would have turned out differently.
Or perhaps not. It is said by some that the true spirit will reign, and if that is true, Kagome would have been just the same, in whatever kingdom she had been born in. Of course, any kingdom with Kagome in it would probably have soon been wishing that she had been born elsewhere.
To the King, people would have said she was healthily energetic. In the court, they would have said she was free-spirited. To their friends, they would have said unruly. To themselves, they would have said rude, disgraceful, and wild. Truly, Kagome was nothing less. She disrupted court and drove the nobles crazy with her wild antics, never passed up a chance for a prank, and generally enjoyed making life as helter-skelter as possible.
Her behavior was hardly suited to one of such pedigree, in most of the court's view, especially for one her age. King Regius, however, only smiled at his precious niece's wild conduct, laughed at her pranks at the nobles' expense, and happily encouraged her to continue her untamed antics. Though the nobles of the court found Kagome at best an annoyance and at worst downright torture, none would say anything straight to the King's face about his unruly niece. They would drop veiled comments about her 'abundance of energy', or comment icily on her 'clever tricks', but none wished to drop out of the King's favor with outright criticism of his dear young charge.
Kagome was not extravagant like her mother, or spoiled like some of her siblings. The nobles could have easily handled a pampered little princess. What they were unable to handle was the rough, outspoken, down-and-dirty Kagome.
The day she arrived from Solum, the royal carriage had been lead through the gates of the castle with full ceremony and pomp – the entire cavalry, decked out in their finest, was there to deliver a full salute; gaudily dressed nobles sat proudly astride royal stallions drawing the livery-laden carriage; imperial soldiers in golden armor and red velvet capes flanked the procession; banners flew from every spear and lance and turret.
Amid the cheers of countless people and the blare of trumpets, the royal carriage had stopped in front of the streamer-bedecked platform where was seated the King and his highest-ranking nobles. The carriage door had been opened by the primly-dressed coach driver, and out had stepped, with flawless grace...a dog.
The well-groomed dog (with the princess's golden circlet about it's neck) had proceeded with dainty, measured steps to the King's platform, bowed regally to his royal highness, and threw up on his royal highness's royal foot. In the midst of the shocked silence, a single voice rang out in delighted laughter. A young woman with dark hair popped up from behind the King's bejeweled throne and put her hands over his eyes.
A few soldiers rushed forward to remove the commoner from their King's head, but halted as King Regius gave a great 'ha!' of laughter as he turned around and threw his arms around the girl. The two held the happy embrace for a few moments, laughing heartily into each other's faces, before the King pulled away, and proclaimed to the speechless nobles and the shocked crowd, "Rejoice! The Princess has arrived!"
That little prank Kagome pulled that first day should have been recognized as but a preclude to the barrage of tricks she would pull for the years she would remain at court, but few saw it as such an omen until she had been at court for some time.
The next day, when the nobles had recovered from the blatantly improper (not to mention embarrassing) display that had occurred, the court assembled once again in full ceremony, this time within the castle, to properly welcome the princess.
While the nobles had donned their best apparel – fine clothing suited to their station, accented heavily with brocade, gold-plated designs, and jewels sewn right into the extravagant silk and linen garments – princess Kagome was dressed rather simply. If her entrance the day before had not made such a deep impression on the nobles present, many could have easily passed on the young girl on by, mistaking her as a handmaiden or even a court servant.
After many an extravagant introduction on the nobles' part, with much reciting of titles and formal bows, Kagome had jumped up and excitedly shook the hand of the closest (and highest-ranking) noble. With a wide, impish grin on her face, she moved down the line of stunned men and women, shaking the hand of each in turn with a roguish exuberance. Upon shaking the hand of the last one, she made a show of making a deep, extravagant curtsey before sprinting cheerily back to her seat beside the King.
The first noble tried to discretely wipe his hand on the side of his intricately-embroidered silk tunic, and didn't have much success in stifling his cry of dismay when he saw the bright red hand-print that appeared on the fine cloth. The one next to him saw, and looked down at his fur-trimmed mantle to find a similar red hand-print. Soon almost all the noble-men and -women were forcing down groans of horror or disgruntlement as they examined the red marks on their own clothing where the palms of their hands had touched their garments.
A few who had not touched their clothing and therefore had no marks were holding their hands out in front of them with an annoyed look on their faces, examining the red dust on their palms. A smaller few were snickering quietly, mostly the lower-ranking nobles who had been towards the end of the line and sported only very faint red prints.
Many eyes had turned to Kagome, who sat on her chair with an innocent look on her face, eyes wide as if saying, Who, me? Never! She was resting her hands on her knees with palms up, the red powder on her hands blatantly obvious.
"Go on," the King said with a nod to Kagome. He himself had a red hand-print on his fine velvet tunic, though his eyes were filled with amusement and silent laughter rather than the anger or annoyance in the nobles' glares.
"Red ochre," she announced brightly, clapping together her hands to send little puffs of red powder into the air. "A truly Rubrica hello, yes?"
Over half-stifled shouts of fury, Kagome and King Regius shared another laugh. Rubrica was the Red Earth Kingdom, where much of the soil was tinted red with the natural red ochre that gave the kingdom its name.
The red ochre incident was soon forgot by most, but only because Kagome wasted no time in setting up more of her roguish pranks, ranging from simple little spur-of-the-moment jokes to complicated plots with intricate plans requiring the skill and attention of a dedicated trickster. Eventually, the nobles who attended court learned to check their seats before sitting down, keep their personal affects close about them, be suspicious of anything on the ground, treat any offered food or drink with trepidation, and generally be more cautious.
Some of the courtiers found her antics humorous; a refreshing break from the dry and tedious political affairs of court. They would smile behind their sleeves when someone would jump out of his seat with a yelp to find there several tiny caltrops (none larger than a quarter of an inch high and fashioned from harmless bits of wire), or some flawlessly dressed lady would unknowingly have dirty rags pinned to the back of her dress for hours.
Nobles were soon muttering amongst themselves that the dog that Kagome had employed in her first joke would have been preferable to Kagome herself. At least the dog had been well-groomed and acted accordingly (right up until the end, anyway, when it had thrown up on the King's foot). Kagome would have none of the preening or primping expected of royalty.
She refused to let anyone put up her hair in any of the complicated, extravagant styles of the ladies of the court, or to paint her face with any of the powders and dyes usually utilized by any female (and many of the males) who stepped foot in the court. Upon her arrival, her wardrobe had been suitably prepared, filled with fine gowns and many-layered formalwear, but soon after she had made Rubrica her home, the silk robes and embroidered stoles gave way to plain breeches and tunics, simple sandals and boots, and undecorated coarse wool cloaks.
No one was sure where she obtained such 'commoner's garb', but even when they would sneak in to replace the plain clothes with traditional royal garments, Kagome would always outfit be seen running about cheerily the next morning in her chosen apparel. They had questioned the servants but were still unable to root out her source. Kagome herself had no servants or handmaidens. Several girls, hand-picked by the King, had been assigned to her when she had arrived from Solum, but Kagome had quickly instructed them to go help someone else. When they seemed hesitant, she had filled their arms with several of the fine gowns and told them to scram or she'd put the fine silks and velvets where the sun didn't shine.
Kagome would not have anyone dress her in the morning, or rouse her when the others of the royal family were awakened. The first time she woke up in Rubrica, she had quietly slipped into plain workclothes, and went downstairs where she quickly located the mess hall where the servants ate. She helped herself to the gruel and bread being served there, and seated herself at a table of scullery maids, stable boys, runners, and others of that domestic army that kept the castle going. She ate and talked animatedly with them, and when she left a few wondered who the new long-haired boy at their table was, but as servants came and went often, no one paid much attention.
Over the next few days, she had developed a sort of camaraderie with many of them. She was welcomed by them for her sharp and clever attitude – she could battle wits with the best of them, always had an amusing trick up her sleeve, and had a seemingly limitless supply of bawdy jokes. She found it quite enjoyable to spend time with people her own age who didn't care about politics or courtly manners, and in any case she found the simple, hardy food preferable to the confusingly complex and extravagant dishes everyone always seemed to be trying to stuff down her throat.
If the courtiers had to say something in Kagome's favor, they would probably mention she took great pride in her hygiene. Almost every morning, before or after breakfast, she would take a bath. The odd thing, in much of the court's eyes, was that she insisted on preparing the bath herself. She had made her plans, and a few days after her arrival she had convinced the chief of kitchen staff to give her the key to the largest old storeroom in the castle.
Upon procuring the key, she combed over the gigantic storeroom (which was really more like a dump and mostly held ancient or broken cooking and cleaning equipment) until she found what she was looking for. Somehow, she hauled a great cast iron pot, about four feet high and five in diameter, into a corner of the castle's much-neglected secondary herb garden. The more-used garden was closer to the kitchens, so almost no one frequented the area she chose. She spent two days scrubbing out the giant pot, and made a permanent home for it in the shade of a large oak tree in that half-dead garden.
No one really knew what she was doing until the third day, when someone spotted her carrying a large pot of boiling water (this in a more kitchen-sized vessel, mostly used for soup) across the castle grounds. The porter who spotted her immediately rushed out to see what she was doing and offer to carry the pot for her, but she waved him away and continued on her way to the gardens. There she poured the soup pot of boiling water into the iron cauldron, which was already mostly full of steaming water, in which steeped a few handfuls of some dark green herb. Kagome had shooed the porter away, and happily took her bath.
When she was done, she had used the soup pot to portion the water out to the parched earth of the garden, and went to find the head gardener to procure the supplies she required to revitalize the mostly dead plot of land. A few days later, word had gotten round of her odd bath ritual, as well as her new project to replant the secondary herb garden. By the time the dead plants were cleared away and new sprouts broke the surface of the carefully tilled soil a few months later, most were referring to the resurrected garden as Kagome's Garden.
Slowly, the court learned to adjust to Kagome, and life at King Regius's castle slowly learned to flow smoothly again, for the most part. Kagome could have left after just a month and Rubrica would have never been the same, but by the time our story takes place, she had been there for over two years.
In those two years, Kagome had blossomed from an impudent, mischievous, free-spirited child into an impudent, mischievous, free-spirited young woman. Stories had spread of her trickster ways and unladylike behavior, but nevertheless, a few would-be suitors had trickled into Rubrica with the purpose of wooing Kagome, perhaps thinking the stories to be either completely false nonsense, or in any case to be greatly exaggerated.
King Regius had let Kagome deal with the suitors herself, and they had often left within a matter of days. Some of them would be nursing small wounds received from some of her more exuberant antics, but most were nursing only wounded pride. They often left with ruined clothes, cut or burned hair, manure-filled pockets, or broken possessions. The most recent had coldly suggested to King Regius that he keep his "barbaric niece" in line, before leaving with half his fine fur stole in tatters, and a face colored bright green by one of Kagome's newest innovations, an exploding dye-bomb.
King Regius had been unconcerned by the reactions of the suitors, and had only sent out more invitations to the princes of any allied lands he could think of, including a few overseas. Fewer suitors arrived with each passing month, and Regius was at a loss to explain why. Kagome was rather disappointed in the lack of new arrivals, as the princes had been very amusing diversions and quite enjoyable 'playmates'.
She was not completely at a loss for people to play her little tricks on, as now and again a brave prince would dare to enter Rubrica and seek out Kagome's hand. Some went because they figured they could handle whatever an energetic woman-child could dish out, or because they were being herded into Rubrica against their will.
In fact, one such not-so-willing participant in the Suitor Game was arriving today.
It was a grim day, to say the least. The sky was painted a dark gray, and thunder muttered threateningly on the horizon. A faint drizzle was keeping up at just the right rate to cause maximum discomfort and annoyance.
A small train of carts and carriages wound its way through the sparse woodlands near the east wall of Regius's castle. No banners flew, being so soaked that it would take a storm to stir them, and the attendants to the royal caravan were just as drenched and listless. The sorry caravan was hailed as it approached the wall, and the east gate was opened to allow them admittance.
Normally any cart was briefly searched before it was allowed to continue, but the guards recognized the livery that adorned the carriages, and waved the little procession on through. A dark blue shield adorned the side of the carriage, with two crossed swords behind a white dog's head, with a round pink stone in the center of the dog's forehead. It was the crest of the Shikon family, a moderately powerful family to the northeast of Rubrica.
The caravan came to a halt in the muddy ground in front of the castle itself, as stablehands and servants rushed out with practiced precision to quickly lead away the weary horses, unload luggage and supplies from the carts, herd the caravan's attendants into the castle, and receive the royal guests. The guests were lead into the main reception hall of the castle, where Regius was waiting with several of his nobles and most of the royal family.
It was clear that Regius and the tall, dark-haired man who seemed to be the spokesperson for the small group knew each other, but there was much formal introduction and extravagant bows to get through as dictated by tradition. Eventually though, Regius stepped forward with a smile and clapped the dark-haired man on the shoulder, a gesture which the man returned.
"Kengou, my old friend," Regius said warmly. "It has been a long time."
"Indeed," said the man called Kengou, with a smile that brought a flicker of light to his tired eyes.
"You must stay this night and wait until tomorrow to travel again. We have a banquet ready for your arrival, and by the looks of it, you and your crew could use a good time."
"Ah, but only if I could," Kengou sighed with true regret in his voice. "But we are under orders to return as soon as we have safely delivered the young Prince. I am pained to have to leave so soon upon seeing you, but I'm sure I will see you again soon."
Kengou leaned closer and whispered so that only Regius could hear, "Very soon, if the stories I've heard are even half-true. Your young niece seems quite the wild one."
"Nonsense!" Regius scoffed. "Kagome is an angel! She's just a little playful."
"Really?" Kengou said, raising an eyebrow. "I do seem to recall that Prince Hojo returned home with a shaved head and quite devoid of his rather finely-crafted spectacles."
"Ah, well, you know young people these days," Regius said, waving his hands in a vague, dismissive manner. "She's a bit of a rascal, I'll admit, but she's nothing but pure innocence deep down. You know, correct me if I'm mistaken, but the Prince does not seem to be with you at the moment. Where is he?"
"I believe he's still with the caravan. Myoga should be fetching him soon." Kengou said. "And now that I think about it, the Princess does not seem to be with you, either. Where is she? I was quite looking forward to meeting the young barbarian in person."
"Oh, around somewhere. She's probably in the kitchens now, seeing as it's almost noon, but you can never really be sure where she is. But I did tell her of your coming, so she'll be on the look out for your young Prince for sure. She's always looking for new people to play with. It's a shame they often leave so quickly."
xXxXxXx
"Master Inuyasha, would you please come down already?" Myoga pleaded. He was a short, balding man, about as wide as he was tall. He was currently trying to persuade his young charge to get out of the rain and enter the castle.
The boy was sitting on top of one of the carriages, cross-legged and unperturbed by the rain that had soaked him to the bone and plastered his silver-white hair to his skull and shoulders. He was dressed in extravagant royal-class garments consisting of many layers of thick fabric and heavy brocade, adorned with all manner of intricate embroidery, fur trim, and other similarly grandiose ornamentations.
The extravagant regalia had been long ruined by the rain, though the prince seemed less concerned with the state of his clothing than the thoughts that currently occupied his head as he glowered at the castle before him. There was a deep scowl etched into his features, and by the look of it, his face was one not unaccustomed to such an expression.
"Mater Inuyasha, I know you are not here by choice, but can you at least come down and come into the castle? Sulking will get you nowhere," Myoga advised.
When Inuyasha showed no response, the tired but patient man sighed and continued, "You can spend the next month out here in the rain, or you can at least come down and maybe even just pretend like you want to make a good impression. At least try this time, would you? You as well as I that the King of this land and your father have very good relations and it would advisable not to ruin anything. Your brother, at least, would a––"
"All right, all right!" the soaked prince snapped. Muttering darkly to himself, he clambered down from the carriage and was lead into the castle by a relieved Myoga. The two entered the main hall just as Kengou and Regius were exchanging their farewells. A few servants slipped quietly out of the shadows to make an attempt to discretely clean up the water that was dripping from Inuyasha and Myoga onto the floor.
Kengou caught sight of the disgruntled Inuyasha out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned about with a quick bow before ushering him forward. After Kengou had delivered several practiced lines of introduction on Inuyasha's part, the dark-haired man bowed a final time before departing with most of those who had arrived with him.
Inuyasha stood stunned and disoriented as he listened to the clatter of horses' hooves outside, and watched from the open doorway as the sorry caravan was urged into motion and settled off at a dreary pace through the mud. Well, there went his plan to hide in one of the carts before they departed. He had not planned on them leaving until the next day.
Well then. They were going back to Shikon. He was not. Instead, he was staying in this godforsaken kingdom he had never been to before and knew very little about, except that it was inhabited by a malevolent trickster who seemed to have it out for princes.
It was going to be a long month.
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So that's it for this chapter.
I'm going to bed now, because I am far too sleep-deprived to function much longer.
Please review, even if it's a flame. Flames will be used to burn down the damn shrub (they call it a 'Christmas tree', but I can see through its pitiful disguise) that has taken up residence in our house.