The bathhouse filled with steam as a servant girl poured fresh fragrant oil into the female half of the castle bathhouse. It wasn't conventional, structured and modern like the one that Kagome had been used to. 

Instead, the Musashi Castle bath had a natural look, made over an ancient hot spring that's boulders and stones still made up a great deal of the large warm basin, though it was also built up with modern brickwork. It was also only partly inside, part of it remaining out in the open night air, the stars glittering above.

In the short time since she had come to the home of her new husband, the Shikon Princess had only seen a portion of the massive castle that was now her new home. It hadn't seemed that large as she approached that first evening, but with so many other things on her mind, she guessed she'd kind of missed the size and grandeur when she had only seen the front of it sticking out of the trees, surrounded mostly by the dense forest.

And to top it off, being injured and confined to the upper level of the royal bed chamber with an injury until the day before hadn't really let her see much anyway.

Kagome slowly followed Sango forward as they entered, her cold feet stepping down into the warm water as she sat down on one of the half-submerged rocks and opened her robe. She knew she couldn't submerge her tender, barely healing wound into the water, so she only allowed her legs to dangle in while Sango looked through the medical basket she had brought, sitting down beside her.

"It's really pretty here," the princess says softly, and Sango nods. The sky glittered with stars, the moonless first night of the lunar month allowing them to shine with all their splendor and the colors of the cosmos above them.

"Yes," She says. "And even more, Inuyasha's forest is a fortress with the Northern and Western Wolf Demon Tribes running their patrols through it." Kagome looked down at the thick bandages that wrapped her belly and she carefully shrugged off the thin robe she had worn down to the baths. Sango remained clothed and she leaned forward and began undoing her morning's work on the castle's lady, untying and coiling up the dirty bandage.

"Yes, but if the jewel keeps bringing demons here, how many of them will be injured or killed because of the malicious yokai that it draws?" She says. "I mean, Mistress Centipede was resurrected from bones and ash after lying dormant in the ground for fifty years." Kagome's arm came up, reflexively covering her chest as Sango pulled the last of the soiled linen way from her middle.

The wound was pink and raw, but it was clearly healing, the stitches already starting to hang loose as her body healed closed. The bruising around it was the worst, having reached a deep, midnight purple color resembling the sky above.

"You don't need to worry about that," a voice sounded above her, and she looked up to see a strange, redheaded woman in a yellow robe, standing there. "Demons as weak as the ones able to get into the forest are easy prey for the wolf packs." Sango looked up and nodded.

"Ayame is right," She says softly, and Kagome looked up at the female wolf demon. She had heard the name, that she was Koga's mate and often took the night watch over the castle and forest.

"You're Ayame?" She asks and the young woman nods. Her long red hair was pulled up in twin tails and her brilliant, leaf green eyes were friendly. She looked mortal, like a girl Kagome might meet at one of her mother's garden parties. But she smiled revealing a set of sharp white teeth, the canines near the corner of her mouth nearly as large as Inuyasha's and she also noticed that behind the red ponytails, a set of pointed, yokai ears rested beneath a purple and yellow iris flower.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't properly introduce myself," She says. "It's a little awkward when you finally meet your boss and she's naked." Kagome giggled and then winced as Sango started washing away the crust of herbs that still resided on her belly.

"That's fine," She says, watching as the wolf demoness sat down next to her. She pulled the ties from her hair and shook the red locks out as they hung straight down her shoulders.

"I hope you don't mind if I join you," She says, starting to untie her robe. "Koga is taking me with him on a run and I want to make sure I look my best."

"Uh, no," Kagome says, surprised by the casual way the woman spoke to her, but remembering her interaction with the male wolf demon, she guessed it wasn't so much of a shock that she would be informal in her actions.

"Thanks," She says, shrugging the yellow fabric of her shoulders and sliding into the water. She ducks under the water and then stands up, shaking out her hair. She glanced at Kagome's wound and snorts a little. "Dang, you really did get tore up, huh?"

"Ayame!" Sango gasped and the yokai woman just tilted her head.

"What? With Inuyasha's strength, I'd figured she'd be more healed than that," She says but her eyes trail up and she realizes the woman's pale neck didn't bare the purple line of an Inu-Yokai mating mark over the pulsing vein that led down to her heart, "Oh." Kagome looks down and chuckles.

"Yeah," She says. "I'm still pretty mortal, so the bite is healing well, just really slowly." She watched as Sango carefully started mixing a fresh infusion for the injury, frowning as she worked, something clearly on her mind. She applied it with great care to be gentle, seeing the way the princess' stomach flinched away as she put on a brave face and refused to make any noises of weakness in her present company.

Sango found the mortal wife of her leader to be quite the interesting thing. Pretty and kind, and cunning to deal with that grumpy, stubborn brat of a hanyo she had been signed over to. She pitied her, even though she considered Inuyasha a friend. His short and quick temper that came without thinking could not be easy to deal with as a life partner, let alone a husband.

She was also extremely brave to have done what Inuyasha said, standing unarmed and screaming her declaration that she would never hand over the jewel willingly to a creature that had already been throwing her around like a scrap of prey. And such a compliment showed that the Prince of Musashi already had a great deal of care and respect for the mortal girl.

She couldn't believe, however, that he had somehow refused to properly make her his mate when he dared lay in her bed each night, if he had that respect and care she had witnessed as Kagome lay unconscious from her injuries.

Digging back through her basket, she pulled up a fresh roll of linen bandages, starting to wrap them over the young mortal woman's healing wound. Her work was firm and tight to the skin as she worked, doing as she was trained since a child to be able to do, being the daughter of the demon slayer chief.

As Sango tied the last of her bandages, the princess shifted her legs, causing the one who was tending to her to gasp and step away a little, shocked by red stain she saw had appeared.

"What?" Kagome asks and the woman moves away from her.

"You're, you're bleeding," She says, and Kagome saw the dark red color trying to feather out on the robe she still had tucked beneath her. The young woman groaned and quickly folded her robe around her lap again.

Ayame glanced back at the two mortals and sniffed, catching the scent of blood and mortal pheromones. She kind of shrugged, not really seeing what the big deal with mortals were when that happened. Then again, her cycle only came to pass during yokai mating season, which was hardly a third of the lunar year and even that was annoying.

"What's the big deal, Sango? She's just starting to get ready for her heat, and I know for a fact you've bled before yourself," She says matter-o-factly as Kagome quickly pulled the rest of her robe back on, embarrassed as having someone else discover her period. And to hear her call it that word that she so often heard the mares in the stables referred to being in.

"I guess I hadn't realized it was almost time for my bleeding," She says. "What with all the excitement and the wound in my gut making me miss the cramping." Sango had turned red as she sat next to the princess, her legs dangling in the water as she sat on the rocks beside her.

"I'm so sorry," She says, and Kagome looks at her, confused.

"Why are you sorry?" Kagome says, adjusting her robe, even though her cheeks were red. Sighing, she grabbed up a pony from Sango's basket, sliding it on her legs, which were still covered in fading bruises. "It isn't like it hasn't happened to me for a few years now. I just forgot it was supposed to start so soon is all."

"You, you didn't expect to be pregnant?" She says and the mortal princess suddenly turned white as a sheet.

"Of course she didn't," Ayame replies, slipping out of the water and shaking her hair out like a dog. and spraying the other two woman as she sat up, naked as the day she was born. "She's still a maiden." Kagome blinked at the red-headed woman in embarrassment, wishing she could sink beneath the hot spring's surface and disappear.

"You mean, you can tell?" She says and Ayame giggles behind her hand.

"No, not really," She says. "Just an educated guess. Inuyasha doesn't seem like the type to make such a decision lightly. Male canine yokai tend to have a little more class when it comes to accepting a mate than mortals. A piece of paper doesn't give free reign to such things if their hearts aren't in it. And Inuyasha has a good heart, even if it is half mortal."

"You mean, you two haven't-" Sango starts, and Kagome hides her face in her hands.

"No, uh, we haven't done anything," She says, "I mean, we share a bed and everything, but nothing happens. We just sleep." The demon slayer looks away from her.

"But he seems like he's really attached to you," she says. "I mean, he was so upset when you got hurt. I assumed you two were intimate." Kagome pulled her legs up out of the water and rested her chin on her knees.

Yeah, when she had first gotten hurt, Inuyasha had seemed different. He had allowed her to cuddle up to him, had held her hand against his chest as they slept, her face resting in his soft white hair. He was protecting her, determined to keep a promise he had made barely audibly the first night they met. She had felt so calm and safe, pressed close to his warmth with his hand clutching hers with such care.

It felt like he had really, truly, wanted her there and was happy to have her by his side.

But it hadn't lasted. The next morning he had pushed her off, though he wasn't rough about it, and had taken his suikan back. He complained about how she had left the stink of her scent on his clothes and left that morning before Sango returned. The cuddling and gentleness had ended with the sunrise and the insistence that Kagome pertain herself to "her side" of the futon.

That is where she had stayed, watching from the balcony of their chambers as he would spar with anyone and everyone who was willing to take him and the Tetsusaiga on. Mostly Monk Miroku or Koga, Sango when she wasn't busy checking Kagome's wounds. Even Kirara had transformed a few times and approached her half-demon master in a fighting stance.

He was amazing, skilled in his movements. She had never seen such a thing as when her husband moved with the Steel-Cleaving Fang. It intrigued her and made the boring day on which she was still too injured to move on her own pass very easily.

But it had been two days since then and even as she was able to walk around and start to actually see her new home as she had wanted, he had avoided her save for dinner and going to bed, where he would be ignoring her once again as he faced away from her, guarding them silently from anything the shadows of a castle of yokai might cause her to fear.

"Just wait until summer comes before you start fretting about being a rejected and neglected wife" Ayame says, breaking Kagome from her thoughts as she turned to look at the wolf woman who was starting to get up and dry herself from the brief bath she had taken.

"What does summer have to do with anything?" she asks, and Sango quickly looks away, standing up and grabbing her basket.

"It's mating season for Canid Yokai," She says. "But I've never witnessed Inuyasha be affected by it. It's kind of a pain, because the males get so moody and competitive whenever there's a girl around that they get interested in."

"That's because he's already moody and agitated all the time because he's got human blood, and at heart is a teenage mortal boy" Ayame says as she pulls her robe back on. "Besides, he's never taken an interest and had a claim on a woman. This year he does, and at the end of the day, that yokai blood from Lord Toga is what gives him his instincts. And there is nothing more instinctual to a male canine yokai than fighting and mating." Kagome looks down, playing with the jewel nervously. "There will likely be a fresh-faced little quarter Inu-yokai pup next spring, if you two are keen to it."

Sango saw the worried look on the princess' face at the thought and looked at the wolf demoness. "Don't put so much pressure on her," She says. "Baring children doesn't come easy to some mortals. I'm sure she already gets enough of that from her family now that she's married."

"The pressure isn't on her, Sango," the red-head says, pulling up her hair, "Everyone, at least if you're raised like we are, knows she-wolves, vixens, and bitches are just the kiln. It's the male's job to know when the heat is right and add their 'clay.' If they want a pup, they're pretty good at getting one. Their noses are sharp as a freshly forged blade when it comes to their mate."

Kagome stares at her for a moment. She'd never quite heard it put like that, but she supposed her way of viewing it made sense, seeing as they were demons with animal blood in their veins. And sharp-nosed animals almost always produced young in the spring.

But having a child right away, with Inuyasha? She barely knew him, and he really didn't seem like he wanted her to. Sure it's what her family wanted, what she was prepared to grin and bear a week ago when she came to the castle. But was that something she wanted? To just be the kiln that the prince of the Inu no Taisho clan sired an heir in?

"Lady Kagome?" Sango says and she looks up. "Are you alright?" The princess nods and starts washing her arms and legs in the warm water.

"I'm fine," she says before looking over at Ayame, "It was nice meeting you. Thanks for the reassurance. I'll uh, keep your words in mind." She nods and casually waves her hand.

"No problem. See you around, My Lady!" She says before turning and dashing into the nearby forest, a whirlwind of leaves surrounding her. Sango kneels down next to the princess as she crosses her arms around herself, shivering a little.

"I'm sorry, for assuming things about you and Inuyasha," She says and Kagome just shrugs. "I mean, I've been shooting him dirty looks ever since you got hurt because I thought you two were, well, you know, and he hadn't cared enough to protect you with the heartbeat spell. But I guess seeing how he looked after you so fiercely, that really didn't make much sense."

"Its fine," She says, "I'm pretty sure anyone would assume that newlyweds would be doing what married people are supposed to." She stands up, pulling her legs from the water. "I'm gonna head inside."

"Do you need help?" Sango asks and Kagome quickly shakes her head, giving a small smile.

"No, I'll be alright," She says, "I feel a lot better with the fresh infusion on my belly. Besides, with all that talking and treating my wounds, you never got a chance to take your bath. So, I'll let you continue in peace and head to my rooms on my own."

Sango couldn't help but think her new friend still looked a little troubled but nodded. If she was upset, she probably just wanted to get out of the environment that had been created with Ayame's comments. Not that the Wolf demon had meant any harm, but she sure did seem clueless when she opened her mouth sometimes. She really needed to learn to read a room.

Shrugging and turning back to the water, she untied her robe and sunk into the water to soak her battle sore muscles.

*****

Kagome reached top of the steps that led to the small walkway and her bed chamber just as the moon should have been up above the trees on a regular night. But tonight, only a deep, barely visible grey circle sat in the sky. The forest, filled with its mystic plants, didn't have its usual glow to it, many of the flowers usually gaining their glowing power from reflecting moonlight.

But even so, the view from the railing was still very beautiful.

Kagome slid open the door, but to her surprise, the room was dark and silent. Kirara looked up from her bed she had kneaded out of Kagome's laundry. Letting out a soft mew, she got up and walked over as the mortal woman crouched down, gently stroking her head.

"I figured Inuyasha would have been back by now," she says aloud, sliding the door quickly closed. "I guess I at least have time to change into fresh clothes then." I really don't feel like listening to any further comments about my blood letting and I'm sure that snarky dog-boy would have plenty.

Shaking out her hair from the loose knot she'd pinned in it, she allowed the fabric to pool at her feet as she grabbed a fresh pink yukata and slid it on, tying it securely around herself once again. It fell to her ankles, warm for the cool, dark night. 

Glancing in the mirror, she pushed her hair off her shoulders sighing. She could just go to sleep, but her mind was far too full of all this new information. And besides that, without her protector there, she found the dark room cold and quiet, the silence deafening and making her ears feel like they were filled with sand. 

She couldn't just sit here waiting up for him all night, her mind wandering around in circles about the bathhouse conversation. It would drive her nuts. She needed to clear her head and maybe look for the absent prince if she had any chance of sleeping peacefully.

"What do you say to going down to the garden and looking at the stars, Kirara?" She asks the cat demon sniffing at her stained clothes. Grabbing the robe up, she stuffs it away, under the rest of her clothes until it could be sent out in the wash. It wasn't something she wanted to leave laying around for him to just find. The very thought was really, really embarrassing. "Let's go."

Sliding the door back open, she went outside and down the stairs, stepping barefoot into the grass of the garden. It was cool, wet with dew as she walked out. Kirara let out an annoyed mew at the damp ground and leaped upward, her paws scurrying up the princess' robe and crouching on her mistress' shoulder, purring.

The stars glittered in the cosmos above her as she walked through the silent, empty garden. I was so dark, but it gave her no fear as she walked the edge of the tree line. Her fingers grazed along some of the plant life. She could feel the wind rustling around her as she walked, and she was thankful for the length and warmth of the thick cotton yukata.

She couldn't help but wonder where Inuyasha might be. It was strange of him to disappear. He hadn't missed supper yet since she'd been hurt, usually coming back to their rooms before sundown. And even though he'd pulled back like he had, he never left without telling her at least where he'd be.

"Did he come back at all, Kirara?" she asks the cat on her shoulder and the small Yokai shook her head. "I wonder where he is then." She glances at the stars above them, frowning and gripping her necklace.

Koga and Ayame were out running in the forest, their wolves surely patrolling the acres of land that the castle sat upon. Sango was bathing, which left only one person, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't be out drinking with Miroku and his raccoon dog, Hachi.

And if he was, well it was very likely that might lead to trouble. Sango had warned her about the way Miroku was able to goad Inuyasha into things, seeing how hot headed he was, and the monk wasn't exactly known for virtuous acts.

"You'd better not be off getting into trouble, or I'll sit your ass real good!" she says, almost expecting to feel the ground shake as he was thrown to the ground by the word as he had been when she used it in passing the first time. Looking around, she sighed, rubbing her temple. "I'm going crazy. It isn't like I have any reason to think he would do anything lecherous just because he's with that perverted monk."

As she kept walking, she came to a small pond, filled with water lilies. She crouched down next to the water, running her fingers over the surface of the water. watching the dark ripples spread across the surface, stirring the plants. Her reflection was barely visible in the dark water, but she sighed, resting her hand against her bandaged middle.

Is this what life was now? Lonely nights, wondering about a life that was so planned and structured and pounded in her head that would never be fulfilled. Waiting for a husband who didn't even seem to like her much to come back so she could sleep.

Receiving letters from her mother and other family members wondering when the announcement that she had done her duty and bore a son would come. The pitiful looks from people like Sango each time her body bled, like she had committed some failure when there was no attempt, that there would never be an attempt.

Kami, was she some neglected woman to be pitied?

Suddenly, Kirara let out growl and leaped from her shoulder, running at a large tree, her tails puffed up. "What is it?" Kagome stood and slowly, cautiously followed her. She could hear a hushed, angry voice talking to the cat as she sat, still the size of a kitten beneath the tree she had reached.

"Damn you, Cat!" She heard a male voice whispering. "Get the hell away from this tree before she catches up with you!" Looking up, into the tree, she caught a faint, nearly impossible to see in the shadows of the forest, red clothed figure in the tree. Realizing she recognized the voice, she sighed, crossing her arms.

"Inuyasha?" She asks, rather puzzled as to why she would find him here of all places. Especially when the word of subjugation hadn't made him fall from the tree or at least make noise as he was thrusted against the tree branch he sat in.

"What are you doing out here?" He grumbles as she steps closer, seeing his leg hanging lazily from the branch he sat on about ten feet up.

"What are you?" she asks, and he scoffs.

"Feh! I can do whatever I want, Wench!" He grumbles and Kagome lets go of the jewel, resting her hands on her hips. "Just leave me alone and go up to bed."

"Why are you acting so strange?" She asks. "You didn't even come to dinner tonight."

"I said leave me alone!" He says and Kagome tilts her head. He sounded, almost nervous.

What was the problem? Why was he up in a tree of all places on a chilly spring night when there was a perfectly comfortable futon out of the wind inside? She knew he thought she stunk, but surely it wasn't that bad. As she looked up, she realized she really couldn't really see him, the shadows hiding all but the leg that hung down. The shadows of the moonless night were too deep for her to even get a glimpse of his silvery hair.

Stepping closer, she pulled up her skirt a little and clung onto the tree. "Hey, what the hell are you doing, Kagome!?"

"What do you think?" She asks. "You're being ridiculous so I'm coming up."

"Not with your injuries you ain't!" He snaps and she shrugs.

"I sure can try," she says. "You know I will."

"Keep your voice down!" He says, his voice still that hushed yelling.

"What are you hiding up there?" Kagome asks and he scoffs.

"Feh! You're crazy woman. I ain't hiding nothing," Inuyasha said from above. Gripping onto a low branch, she used her feeble strength to start pulling herself off the ground. "Hey! I told you not to! Just go to bed and we'll talk tomorrow."

"No, we're gonna talk right now," She says, straining a little as she started to heave herself up into the tree. She reaches for the next branch and hears a rustling above her.

"Damn it all, woman!" she heard him huff and suddenly he jumped down, lifting her off the tree trunk, his arms around her middle. "Why can't you listen?"

"I can," She says, starting to turn around and face him. "But only if you listen-" She stopped as she saw her husband behind her. "-too."

He was glaring at her with irritation, his golden, sun like eyes replaced by grey ones that resembled the dark moon above them. His silvery hair had turned a deep black like hers and she could see very human ears sticking out of it. She looked down, noticing the hands that had moved to grip her arms when she turned around had flat fingernails shorter than hers.

"Inuyasha?" She says, "is that, are you human?" He let go of her and stepped away, clearly uncomfortable with her seeing him like that. He quickly turned and started walking forward, further into the trees.

**************

Index

*Pony- A type of feudal Japanese undergarment worn by women during their menstrual cycle, often stuffed with cotton.