Alpha by Lyra

X: Xanthippe

Drabble Collection Alpha

CXXIX

Prompt From The Alphabet Challenge

X:Xanthippe: ill-tempered woman

A thick and sensuous voice reached through the shoji, chuckling and then speaking in rich tones.

“It is good to hear someone speak well of me; are you sent with the evening meal? It...has such a sweet smell...”

A frisson of pale terror climbed Kagome’s spine at the sound of that voice, but with a supreme effort of will, she quenched it, and nodded at Yoko’s questioning expression. Yoko slid the door open, took twelve steps forward and bowed. Slowly, her steps swaying between nervousness and elegance, Kagome entered behind her and stood one pace ahead, wetting her lips with her tongue.

The figure that confronted her shook the carefully fastened cover of her fear. She stared up into eyes of utter black without iris or pupil, perfect almonds whose surface glittered like faceted gems. They were insect eyes, spider eyes, and Kagome blinked, and then forced herself to look away, to look at anything else.

She took in a curvaceous form of feminine beauty distorted by four extra arms and a hovering, predatory presence. Full red lips were smiling with sensuous intentions; but those eyes -

A flicker of impatience woke in them, blue and darting in the infinite black.

“Well? Speak, servant; I was summoned for the mate of Sesshomaru-dono! Where is she?”

The eyes skipped over Kagome completely, dismissed Yoko as beneath their notice. Hesitantly, half-smiling, Kagome spoke.

“I...I am Kagome. I am Sesshomaru’s mate.”

There was a moment of silence, and then cackling laughter.

“You? You? Oh little human, if I were you I would be silent, lest I call his wrath upon me...”

Yoko spoke up at once, her tone frosty.

“You will be the one on whom his wrath falls. This is his mate; he has summoned you here to dress her according to her station!”

Again, there was laughter; Yoko shook her head and stepped back.

“My lady, it is best if you teach her.”

Kagome stared at her new companion blankly.

“Teach her?”

In that moment, a certain number of things clicked. The threat that hovered over her, and over Sesshomaru; her humanity, and the trouble it would cause, even if she was somehow to leave here and never return. She remembered what she had read in Izayoi-hime’s book, and she remembered the tale of fear she had pieced together in bits and pieces; the tale that had begun Inuyasha’s life.

And chose not to live it.

The laughter of the Silk Mistress grew suddenly dim as a pink and burning aura grew in waves and ripples from Kagome’s skin. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, allowing the power to expand and fill her, rising from the quiet places of her soul.

As she did so, she felt the twin presence of youki in the room, dark and vibrating under the pressure of her power. Carefully, she finessed her swelling strength. It passed Yoko by with a brush of unbearable sweetness, and bore down on the Silk Mistress.

Defiant, she heard the laughter continue for a few moments; after came a silence, and heavy breathing. The pressure increased. The sweetness was burning and pressed on all Yoko’s senses; Kagome stood utterly still, half in a trance -

Finally came the screams.

Immediately, as if a switch had been shut off, Kagome’s power evaporated, drawn back towards her skin in a great concentration of light that glowed over her body for a single instant. She opened her eyes to a smoking, panting figure; the Silk Mistress was on her knees, hunched over, supporting her weight on two pairs of arms while the third curled protectively around her body.

Her unfathomable eyes still glittered, but there was respect in them now, and fear.

“My lady...my lady, I will stitch for you the finest robes, the finest, from my own silk. My lady...”

Several minutes passed, in which the effects of Kagome’s brief display faded, and the Silk Mistress stared at Kagome with a strange expression, unable to understand why she still lived. When she could stand, she did, and was surprised to find Kagome’s hands reaching out, lifting her, helping her, despite a flinch which she could not prevent.

The sound of Kagome’s voice surprised her too, curious and somehow warm.

“Now that that’s out of the way – will you tell me your name? And then maybe we can get started on my clothes.”

The Silk Mistress blinked twice, and then gestured for Kagome to disrobe while she reached for the stick she used to mark measurements.

“My name is Aya, Kagome-dono. Please, stand still.”

Outside the half-closed shoji, where he had been watching, Sesshomaru made a small, satisfied sound that was noticed by no one but Yoko.

She only smiled.

~~~~

A/N: 800 words! See, just like I said, more chapter :D Coming Soon: new clothes...and probably citrus. Cause...it’s just so tasty.

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