Chapter 2

Kagomes' POV:

My head was spinning. Marriage? With that jerk? No way. I shook my head.

"My Lady, with all respect, I don't want to marry your son," I tried to reason with her.

"And I don't want to marry a human wench," said the jerk next to me and I glared at him facing him straight on.

"My name is Kagome, you big arrogant self-centered dog. KA-GO-ME."

"And my name is Sesshomaru, you stupid excuse for a human. Learn your place. I am a Lord of the house of Dog demons. The mightiest demons in all the West," he said glaring down at me from that ridiculous height of his.

"And I'm a Lady from the house of Fox demons, the mightiest demons in all East. And they could kick your stupid dog asses any time we like!" I shouted at his face as I glared back up at him.

"You wish," he shot back at me and we just continued starring, till we both turned our faces away from each other. I can't stand the guy. I hate him to death! I just turned back to his mother and bowed my head.

"If you may excuse me, my Lady, I'll take my leave. Conversations with your son are making my brain cells die."

"What did you just say?" I heard him shouting after me as I started walking away from them both. Marry him? Over my dead body!

....

The evening came and the guards of the castle came to inform me that the Lady requires my company. I just smiled and immediately went into her chambers the same way I always did, the Shikon jewel securely on a small silver chain around my neck. I liked its' pure light. As I climbed the stairs of the tower to her chambers, a memory of a tainted Shikon jewel pierced my mind. It shone a dark light, evil aura surrounding it. And my sister, Kikyo....I stopped in my tracks. She's dead. And for such a long time now too.

I took the Shikon jewel into my fingers and remembered the times when it was still in the possession of my older sister. She was such a beauty and the jewel shone so brightly in her hands. But one faithful night, when the half-demon Inuyasha attacked the village and stole the Shikon jewel from my sister, it was at the same night that my sister died from the wounds that she got from the fight. And it was the same night that the Shikon jewel became black. I was scared of it. I didn't want to touch it. But the moment I did, the darkness disappeared and a bright pink light shone from it blinding almost everyone, but not me.

The jewel called to me. It spoke my name and carved my touch. It felt like it was almost alive. Even now, its pure light shone with content. I bit my lower lip and continued my walk up the stairs till I finally reached the chambers of Sesshomarus' mother. I took one last deep breath and put a smile on my face before I knocked, a soft "Come in," was heard and I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

"You called, my Lady?" I asked and bowed slightly to her. She just stood up and walked right to me hugging me tightly. I stood there and hugged her back. I liked the Lady of this particular house the most besides my own family. She was strong and knew what to do to get what she wanted. And that's what got me a little bit worried, because what she wanted now was my marriage to her son.

"Kagome, my dear," she said as she pulled me away to an arm's length to look at me. "Please sit," she motioned to a chair right near her own. I sat down and watched at how gracefully she sat next to me. Compared to her I looked clumsy and most definitely like a little kid. She gave me a pleasing smile and I returned the favor trying to act like a Lady should.

"What did you call me for, my Lady," I asked politely but already knowing what she wanted to discuss.

"My dear," she said as she took my hand in hers looking deeply into my eyes with her golden ones. "I would like you to reconsider. I already talked to your step-father and he was more than happy about my proposal. And even if Sesshomaru doesn't know about it, he does need someone like you in his life. "

I frowned. "My father agreed?"

"Of course! The union of our houses would be such a great advantage. Just imagine the Dogs and Foxes joining forces at last."

I just kept the frown on my face and the Lady laughed and stood up to look out of the window. The sun was setting and it reflected from her beautiful white hair making it look like molten gold. She motioned for me to follow her and I just walked standing beside her.

"Look," her voice soft as she pointed to a single star. I watched it twinkle in the sky and a smiled spread on my face.

"That's Sesshomaru," she said and I immediately frowned. She laughed at me as I looked at her.

"How's that Sesshomaru?" I asked, not really understanding what she meant.

She just smiled at me and looked back at the single star in the sky.

"He's all alone up there. He shines the most but he's alone. No mother wants her only child to be alone when she passes away."

Her words worried me.

"Are you sick, my Lady? I'm sure we can help you if there's something wrong.."

She cut off my monolog my putting her slender finger on my lips and then caressed my cheek.

"There's nothing wrong, my dear. But no one is here forever. And you, my dear Kagome, shine just like he does," she looked back onto the darkening sky and another star now shone brightly right next to the first one. I bit my lower lip. She just smiled and patted my head.

"I'm not asking you to fall in love with him now, or even to marry him out of obligation. All I want you to do is to give him a chance. He's stoic, always solving things on his own, taking this entire burden on his shoulders, to take care of his land. Yet he's still just a child. My child. And I want him to know how happiness looks like. What I think is, you are the way to that happiness."

"Me?" I raised my eyebrow at her. "But he hates me more than anyone. He always did, from the very beginning. After all, I'm just a human."

She took the Shikon jewel into her fingers and raised it in her palm.

"But you're not just a human. You're a powerful priestess that is capable of great things. If you managed to lift the darkness from the jewel, please, please lift the darkness from my sons' heart as well."

I bit my lower lip.

"That's impossible." I said, looking straight into the stunned eyes of the elegant Lady in front of me.

"Why do you say so?"

"Because he's right. The crown prince Shippo told me about what happened to his father. And if I was in his place, I don't think I could forgive humans that destroyed my family." I looked down onto my hands gripping my pink dress. "I don't even know why you're willing to talk to me like this, let alone want me to marry your son."

Sesshomarus' mother turned her back to me and she sighed.

"It may have been brief, but I loved Sesshomarus' father. As you may know now, dogs mate for life. And I will never find another mate. But I don't want Sesshomaru to carry any bitterness with him for all his life. What happened to his father was unfortunate. I just wish to see him smile again."

My head was hanging low and I didn't know what to say. I certainly didn't love the guy. Actually, I hated him more than anyone. But in a way I sympathized with him. I understood him. My dear sister was killed by a half-demon so I know how he feels. The horrors of the night still haunt me in my nightmares.

"I won't marry your son," I sad as I raised my head. "But I can try to spend more time with him. Maybe that way I'll be able to ease his mind enough so he smiles again."

She just turned to me with gentle eyes and smiled.

"That's a start," she said as I bowed my head to her.

"It's getting late, my Lady. If you'll excuse me I'll take my leave now."

She nodded in agreement as I left her chamber and went back into mine.

....

That night I couldn't sleep. The nightmare of my sisters' murder haunted me and after midnight I gave up on sleep and just sat near the window looking up at the moon and countless stars that covered the sky. But there were two stars that shone brighter than any other.

"Sesshomaru and me, huh?" I said to myself as I watched them twinkle, the cold breeze making me shiver. I didn't like it. Not one bit. But what was I supposed to do? Say no to the head of the house of Dog demons? Am I crazy? I leaned my head back on the window frame and sighed. How did it come to this? Just the thought of that damn dog was making my blood boil. He irritated me. The way he looked down on me just because I was born as a human. His arrogance was infuriating, his appearance annoying and his behavior boring. There was nothing fun about him.

The more I thought about him the more irritated I felt. Why should I stand for this treatment? I'm a lady as well and I should get the same treatment as he does. But I'm not stupid. The looks of other demons were giving my family just because they took in a human child and a priestess just to make things worse. The only human that is capable of purifying demons.

No. I couldn't sleep. There were too many thoughts running in my head. I just stood up and walked my way down into the kitchen. Sure, I could have the milk I wanted served into my room but I welcomed the walk. I stepped down from the last stair onto the cold floor and turned the corner absentmindedly when I bumped into someone. I rubbed my nose and bowed in apology.

"I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I think this is the first time you ever bowed to me," I heard a deep voice and irritation spread through my body. I controlled my anger and just straightened my pose. I gave him a small smile. Just remember what you promised to his mother Kagome, I kept saying to myself as I walked past him. I felt his eyes follow me as I turned another corner to continue my journey into the kitchen. I was beyond irritated, not being able to return his jabs was almost painful. But as I looked out of the window and saw the two stars on the nights' sky, my anger vanished. Yes, I did hate the guy. But there was something about him that bothered me. If I would spend more time with him, maybe and just maybe I would be able to identify the source of it. And then maybe just maybe I would be able to tolerate him. And he would find a nice mate that would be a good Lady of the West.

Yes. He deserves someone on his level. Someone that he wouldn't have to be ashamed of, someone who would be worth the great Lord of the West, someone other than a lowly human, someone other than me.