The Ceremony
Chapter 2:
The Ceremony
Drums sounded and cymbals clashed. The village women spread flowers onto the dusty path as the royal carriages slowly trailed behind. There were four carriages, each pulled by four beautiful manes. Next to each carriage trailed two servant girls and one male servant. In front of the carriages, two horses were walking in a slow pace. Sitting on the horses were Kagome’s mother, carrying her little brother Souta, and a toad youkai that everyone recognized as King Taisho’s most faithful servant, Jaken. Though invisible to human eyes, Kagome know that there’s a flea youkai sitting on Jaken’s shoulder that goes by the name of Myouga.
Kagome felt ridiculous. She was forced to wear a plain white and red miko ceremonial dress, and carrying her bow and quiver at the same time. And instead of walking around barefooted, she had to wear these ridiculous zoori. Kagome glanced at Kikyo, who was sitting next to her. Her cousin was always wearing that outfit, so Kikyo looked more comfortable than her. Kagome couldn’t help but fidget in her chair. She looked down the shrine steps and saw the royal carriages come closer and closer. It was almost time that the three of them descend the stairs to greet the royals. But with the zoori, Kagome was sure that she would trip.
“Let’s go.” Even Kaede looked more formal than usual. The old woman walked ahead with Kikyo following not far behind. Kagome stood up carefully and followed. The carriages stopped below the stairs. Kagome hesitantly looked below. She hated the stairs. It was hard enough walking down them without zoori, for she had a terrible fear of height. Kagome gulped as she walked down step by step.
It seemed like an eternity. Kagome knew that by now Kaede and Kikyo were probably already at the bottom. Kagome focused her attention on her foot. Step by step. No matter what, don’t look at the people. She repeated those words over and over in her head. But she was also curious and wanted to take a glance at her mother and Souta. So despite how much she tried to focus on her feet, she looked at the bottom of the steps.
She was right; Kaede and Kikyo were already at the bottom, while she was still in the middle of the steps. She was still walking down when she noticed that everyone was looking at her. No, staring was more like it. Even the royal family has gotten out of their carriages and was staring at her with amused looks.
Kagome gulped. Her eyes were on the people instead of her feet. And so, her right zoori fell off her feet as she was taking a step, and in panic she bent down to grab it before it can roll down. But to her surprise, she lost her balance and fell.
Kagome felt the wind whisk past her face as she fell. The terrified girl shut her eyes and tried to scream, but was unable to find her voice. She prepared herself for impact.
But it never came. After squeezing her eyes for a long period of time, Kagome finally decided that it was safe to open them.
Kagome opened her eyes and saw a smiling face before her. She blinked a few times before looking around, and that’s when she noticed that she was floating in mid air along with the man that was carrying her.
She recognized the man immediately and in joy she hugged his neck. “Uncle Taisho!”
King Taisho laughed as Kagome yelled out his name. He descended from the sky with the girl still in his arms and landed softly on the ground.
Kagome was both glad for her “uncle’s” presence as well as him saving her. Though the king was well over three centuries old, he looked like a man in his forties. King Taisho was a handsome man… uh… youkai. He always wore a mustache, but today he was without it. His hair was silvery white, and two white dog ears constantly moved on top of his head. A violet crescent moon on his forehead and two violet gashes on each side of his cheek are the signs of the Inuyoukai family. Kagome always loved his laugh. So warm and welcoming, just like her father’s as she remembers.
King Taisho still had the girl in his arms once on the ground. Kagome looked around and saw that no one seemed worried, as though they all expected her to fall and to be saved. So she focused her attention on the king.
“Uncle Taisho, what did you do to your mustache?”
The king chuckled again. “I shaved it this morning. What do you think, little Kagome?”
Kagome ran her little hand over the spot above the king’s lip. “It’s smooth.” This caused King Taisho to chuckle even more. “Uncle Taisho, you look so much younger now!”
The king finally put Kagome down. He looked over to his queen and said joyously. “My dear, I must say, having two sons is great, but you must grant me a daughter!”
The human queen blushed and smiled while covering her mouth, just as a royal woman should do. Everyone heard the king’s statement and laughed, even the servants. Behind the royal couple Kagome saw the two princes. The younger one did not look pleased with his father’s statement. But the older one was smiling.
Forgetting all the etiquette that Kaede taught her the day before, Kagome ran to the older prince and tugged on his arm happily. “Sesshomaru-niichan!”
The twelve-year-old youkai prince smiled at the little girl tugging his kimono sleeve. “Kagome-chan, long time no see.”
His warm welcome made Kagome smile even brighter. She let go of his sleeve and walked over to the eight-year-old hanyou.
“And hello to you too, Inuyasha.” Kagome grabbed one of Inuyasha’s ears and yanked it as hard as she can. She ran immediately as Inuyasha gave a painful yelp.
“Damn it, wench, what did you do that for?!” The young Inuyasha grabbed his ear and cursed as Kagome ran to her mother.
“Inuyasha!” King Taisho’s expression suddenly became sullen. “Where did you learn that kind of language?”
Inuyasha flinched, knowing that he had said something he shouldn’t have in front of his father. His hand didn’t stop rubbing his ear while he thought about an appropriate response. “Umm… I heard Jaken say it to a human servant girl the other day…”
Not far from him the toad youkai almost fainted. It mattered not that King Taisho was a kind king, he still had his laws and prestige. The stare that he gives to someone is enough to make they tremble.
“Is that true, Jaken?” King Taisho changed into a completely different person in a matter of seconds. He looked directly into Jaken’s eyes; the toad fell flat onto the ground as though he was made of mud. “Do you know how many laws you’ve broken?” After hearing no response from the toad, King Taisho turned to the crowd and said, “Myouga, come forth.”
From nowhere a half inch flea demon appeared. He appeared old, with aging wisdom.
“Myouga, tell this servant how many laws he has broken.”
The puny Myouga cleared his throat and recited the law as though he got everything memorized by heart: “Clause 5, article 3: foul language before a member of the royal family. Punishment is cleaning all the water closet in the castle. Clause 10, article 2: upper class servants abuse lower class servant. Punishment for verbal abuse is no talking for a month. Punishment for physical abuse is ten beatings by a bamboo stick. Clause 1, article 6: abusive language toward another race. Punishment: loss of job.”
Jaken was now down officially completely on the ground, knocking his head every second, pleading and begging. “Your majesty, please, I’m so sorry. This Jaken will never break the law again. Please do not take away Jaken’s job. Jaken will forever serve your majesty…” The toad rambled on and on, referring to himself in third person.
King Taisho snorted in disgust. Seeing how the situation was getting a bit out of hand, Kagome’s mother grabbed the girl’s hand and walked toward the king, back bending a bit to show her respect.
“My lord, it was Kagome’s fault for pulling Inuyasha-sama’s ear in the first place. If anyone is to be punished…” The now very frightened Kagome squirmed, trying to get her hand out of her mother’s. The king interrupted before the woman can finish.
“The child was only playing, Ran, I do not blame her for anything.” The king’s tone softened when he was talking to Kagome’s mother, but turned harsh again when he turned to Jaken. “But this servant has broken three laws, it cannot go unpunished.”
The queen pulled Ran aside just as she was about to say something else. The king’s face was still sullen, a completely different expression from moments before. “Jaken, I will not ruin this wonderful day by punishing you, but we’ll have to have a talk once we return to the castle. Now then,” His expression changed back to cheerful in no time, “Kaede-sama, shall we enter the shrine then.”
Kaede nodded. King Taisho walked ahead of everyone, his queen and two sons trailing not far behind. Kaede followed his heel, with her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren following not far behind. Everyone was silent after the Jaken ordeal. The rest of the servants and villagers were to wait outside while the royal family and the few privileged ones were able to go inside the shrine. Looking up to the shrine steps, the little Kagome couldn’t help but groan. The fright she received earlier still hasn’t passed.
*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~* ~^~*
The inside of the temple was beautifully decorated for this special day. Kagome and Kikyo had helped Kaede light the candles and place the cushions earlier, and the girls’ faces shone with happiness as the saw the surprise on everyone’s faces a they entered one by one. A small oriental cauldron filled with burning incense were placed in each corner of the room. A bigger cauldron was placed on a table in the front of the room. Magical seals and scrolls that usually encircled the shrine were taken down that morning, otherwise, the king and his two sons would not be able to enter.
For the three Inuyoukai, it wasn’t as pleasant entering the room, for the smell of incense gave their noses quite a burn. But they had to get used to it. The older one sneezed none stop while the younger two constantly rubbed their noses.
King Taisho turned in good humor to his two sons and joked, “Every year it’s the same thing.” He tapped his nose, “Our only weakness.”
Kagome was too young to remember more than what happened last year. She figured it’d be the same this year. First everyone knelt down on the cushions that were previously prepared: the king and queen up front, their sons behind with Kagome’s mother and little brother. Kaede told Kagome and Kikyo to stand on each side of the table while she went to the back room and brought out the Shikon no Tama.
Kaede placed the Tama gently onto the tabletop and moved aside. Everyone that was on the cushions lowered their heads onto the ground three times. The ceremony was short and to the point. Each member of the royal family lit three incense sticks and placed them into the cauldron. Then it was over.
The king turned to everyone and announced joyously: “let the feast begin!”
Date started: May 31, 2003
Date finished: June 22, 2003
Word count: 1937
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