Through the breezeway, they entered the tower’s inner courtyard. Silvery trees with long trailing branches loosely ringed a circular pool at the center, above which shimmered a thin layer of glittering steam. Pinnacles of white stone rose from the pool, in no particular pattern, but there was something artful to the arrangement nevertheless. “You’d really

“That was a mistake; I shouldn’t have gone back there. All it did was make me go ballistic for no good reason.” “I could have told you as much,” Sesshoumaru said coolly. Kagome glowered. Having mumbled her regrets into his fur, she didn’t think he’d have heard her over the rush of the wind. Or

Kagome took Sesshoumaru’s hand. As he drew her to him, his grip was cool and strong. Against the inside of her wrist, she felt the scrape of his claws and frowned, the touch chafing her more than she thought it should. Their destination was a largely unremarkable place, for all that it signified in Kagome’s

In the tottering wreck that had once been her home, Kagome stripped off her miko attire and cast it aside. Donning a simple traveling kimono instead, she gathered up all the possessions she considered of any worth to her. For so wealthy and prestigious a person as she had become, the number was surprisingly few:

In the woods outside of the taijiya fortress, Kagome slid down from her horse and collapsed onto the shores of a swift, icy creek. Rocks bit into her knees, her palms. Frigid water crawled up the hems of her sleeves. She felt it, and she didn’t. She was aware of it, and she wasn’t. It

A beat of brittle silence passed. “And?” Kohaku demanded as it broke. “What does that have to do with me?” Kagome went red in the face. “It has everything to do with you! She’s carrying your child.” Kohaku’s eyes flashed coldly. “Who’s to say? She threw herself at me so brazenly it begs the question.”

So direct, Kagome thought with an inner wince. Apart from the taijiya uniform, she’d have been hard-pressed to recognize him at a glance, he seemed so changed. Taller and meaner, though she doubted the former to be true. And the latter didn’t surprise her. On his cheek, the scars of the slashes she’d given him

Uetsugi paled. His stout jaw went slack. A riot of emotions stormed through his charcoal-colored eyes, before he went down into an awkward bow before Kagome on the steps. “You honor me, Kagome-sama,” he said slowly and carefully, as if trying to master his stutter once again. “Yet this charge I must humbly refuse; forgive

The body had been washed and dressed, in Kaede’s former home of all places. A distressing coincidence, but not one to be remarked upon. Going through the motions, Kagome felt worn-out and jaded beyond belief. All this gruesome ceremony struck her as so utterly pointless, when the funeral pyre was just going to burn everything

Outside, a small crowd had gathered at all the commotion. Soldiers leaned warily on their spears. Concerned faces peeped out from the neighboring tents. Voices whispered, muddled and low. Torchlight seared into Kagome’s eyes as she hurled Kanako out into the mud. “Get out,” Kagome said, raising her voice for all to hear. “You’re banished