Three Riddles For A Bride by Sonny Rose

Three Riddles For A Bride

This is a little idea I got as I watched Turandot with my history class and I couldn't get it out of my mind :P So I hope you´ll enjoy my first Sesskag fic. This is also posted on my Fanfiction.net acc SonnyRose ;P

(( None of the inuyasha characters are mine, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi))

Three Riddles For A Bride

Once in the beautiful land of Japan there was peace between all of the four kingdoms in the land that lived together in harmony. The four youkailords of the lands worked hard together to maintain that peace, so that the land would continue to blossom for generations. But after a few thousands of years, the lords grew old and let their sons take over as they moved on to the netherworld. But one of the new lords if the lands were greedy and he wanted it all to himself. So he tricked the others into a war, which lasted for hundreds of years.

And during these times, the heir of the land of the west, Sesshomaru, was born. He grew up during a time of blood and pain and his childhood were filled with things no young child should face. His mother, the only one that always had been there for the young pup was brutally murdered in front of his own eyes.

After that he wasn't the same.

A heart which had held love and compassion were shattered, but slowly healed to a whole piece. But the shell that put the heart together was made if ice and his heart grew cold, as cold as the silver in his hair. He grew up to a strong and proud warrior, feared through all the land for his strength and mercilessness. His father watched in silence as his son grew up, proud of his achievements but he was afraid that his son would never get a mate with his unsocial and cold behavior.

So one day he confronted his son to speak of his worries, but the son in question had just snorted and claimed there was no need for him to mate. All women were fools and money seeking bitches in his eyes. They could never be smart enough to be worthy of his person.

But the ruler had grown sick of his arrogance and turned his words back on him as he smiled slightly at him.

"Then if someone can prove their intellect, she be worthy of you? Very well. My son I'll let you prepare three riddles of your own choice. Then, the woman who can solve them all will be your mate"

The younger inus eyes had widened before narrowing into slits and he had immediately objected.

But then his father had narrowed his eyes as well and threatened that the title of the west would fall to the younger brother, Inuyasha, if the older one didn't choose his queen.

The heir if the west agreed then before turning and darted out of the room, fuming of anger. But after a while his temper cooled down and he started to analyze the words his father had said. If the woman could answer his riddles she would be his mate.

But if no one could solve them...

He smirked slightly to himself and immediately called his faithful servant and assistance, Jaken, to start his search for the most smartest and loyal men in the kingdom.

After about a week the riddles were made and the whole japan knew of this quest and price. Many fair women traveled to the western kingdom to try their luck, but none could even solve the first of the three riddles. The women who failed was thrown into the dungeon of the castle as the inuprince claimed that such idiots would not be allowed in his lands. The lord could do nothing else than watch as he chained up girl after girl, regretting leaving his son so much to decide in this matter. But it was his life on the line and he loved his son, so he had given him that freedom.

At least he didn't chop their heads off and put them in jars.

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A few years after the king had made his statement a young ebony haired Miko with pale blue eyes which traveled with a Young Kitsune, a monk and a tajija entered the western lands. They soon entered the capital and as they walked around they noticed a commotion on the plaza. The group had heard of the mating proposal for the prince but it wasn't why they were there.

They were just traveling by but out of curiosity of this prince so many risked their freedom for and they waited to watch as the royal family entered the grounds.

They shouldn't have done that. Because as soon as the young heir came in sight to Mikos heart stopped for a moment, to then start again with an abnormal speed. It was love at first sight for her.

This person up there could not be a demon. He had to be and angel, no a god. The Miko couldn't take her eyes of him and she knew she shouldn't let herself fall, but her heart had settled. She wanted him, more than she ever had wanted anyone before.

So even with her travel companions tries to stop her and take reason she stayed put. She just smiled sadly at them and explained that she had no choice and that she had to try. Her heart wanted him, needed him and if not she wouldn't know what would happen. The others had to give up at her speech and wished her luck as she made her way to the royalty, where she bowed lightly, her kimono moving softly as she moved.

"I wish to do the trial, mi lord"

The king looked sadly at the girl who now had entered, he had long ago lost hope that maybe just this girl would make it.

"Are you certain woman? And if you accept, there is no return"

She looked up at the lord which such a determined look, mixed with yearning and love as she stated a clear "I accept" and the kings heart suddenly felt like he had been wrong. Maybe actually this girl is what they had waited for, maybe she actually was the one.

So he smiled lightly at her and invited her to follow them as they walked to move into the largest room of the castle room where the trial would be.

The people followed eagerly, knowing either another one would enter the dungeon or succeed as the day ended or no one wanted to miss a thing.

The royalty seated on their seats as they called for the ones that took care of the riddles.

The mikos friends had taken places close by her and smiled encouraging at her, but were only seen by her eyes. The scroll keepers arrived and the evonyhaired girls neroudity tose and she glanced up at the prince, which looked as he could had been anywhere but there. But somehow his casual calm calmed even her and her determination rose again. She would make those lips smile, she would whip that boredom of his face. After all, that was her work, so why wouldn't she be able to do it now?

"I wish you luck, young one"

Then the king nudged his son lightly and with a deep and smooth voice any woman could had die to have whispering her name called out a soft

"Begin"

The first scroll-keeper stepped forward and stated the rules, that every riddle would only be read once and what would happen if neither success nor failure.

Then he began:

"What rises at night, invoked by all the world, only to die at dawn reborn in the heart? "

The woman leaned back slightly, tapping her finger against her smooth chin as she thought. Then a smile broke out on her face and she looked certainly up at the prince.

"The answer is hope"

The keeper checked the answer as one pair of amber eyes widened slightly. So she had cleared the first one. Then he calmed down again, regaining his emotionless facade as he eyed the woman before him. She was very pretty for a human and he could feel the reiki strongly within her. So she was a miko. That was surprising. Why hadn't he noticed before?

Anyway, she still had two riddles left so neither her correct answer or this fact disturbed the prince.

Then the next keeper stepped forward.

"What darts like flame but is not a flame, that grows cold with death yet blazes with dreams of conquest?"

The mikos eyes closed as she fell in deep thought and her forehead wrinkled slightly in concentration. The daiyoukai almost smirked in triumph. She wouldn't solve this one and he would still remain free.

But then she opened her eyes and he froze at the happy and triumphal look in them and he knew that he had been wrong.

"The answer is blood"

Two solved riddles. The crowd started to giggle and whisper in anticipation as their excitement rose. No one had ever heard the third riddle before, since no one had solved the second one. Maybe this human girl would be their queen and the young girls would be free?

Then the room went quiet as the prince rose of his chair and snatched the last scroll, glaring down at the woman in front of him. He opened the scroll himself and read it with his cool and collected voice, but something still seemed off with him. Was he nervous?

"What inflames you, white yet dark, that enslaves if it wants you free, but in taking you captive makes you queen?"

The young girl fell into deep thought and as the time wore on a grin reached the princes face.

"Why don't you just give up? You will never solve this riddle"

The ebony haired beauty herself didn't believe much in her victory at that moment either and she chanted his words in her mind once again

"What inflames you...white yet dark..."

Her eyes traveled around the room to then rest on the silver haired prince, as usual clothed in his white and red colors.

"...that enslaves if it wants you free, but in taking you captive makes you...queen"

Her eyes widened slightly. Could that truly be the answer? She looked up at the heir again and a smile reached her lips. Of course, someone like him would make such a riddle. So she stepped forward to the prince, a smirk plastered on her face.

"My prince. What inflames me, white yet dark, that enslaves if it wants me free, but in taking me captive makes me queen..."

She grinned slightly as she now stood right before him, the regal prince now as stiff as a statue and she looked straight into his golden orbs as she spoke in a soft voice.

"...Is you, Sesshomaru. You are the answer of the last riddle"

The room became deathly quiet.

No one moved, was the answer correct? They didn't know and the prince had the answer. After a minute of silence the last scroll keeper carefully snatched the scroll from the frozen heir and opened it. Then he smiled widely and announced high to all the citizens.

"The answer is correct. Ladies and gentlemen, we have our new queen!"

The people started cheering, finally the torture of this contest were finally over. But as the cheers were heard the statue known as Sesshomaru woke up once again and he growled dangerously, effectively shutting off the cheers as he turned to his father.

"You can't mean I'm supposed to mate this woman?! This HUMAN woman?! And a Miko nonless"

His eyes were blazing red of desperation and anger. How could this be? How the three riddles could have been solved, by a mere mortal?!

"Sesshomaru"

The king looked disappointed at his son. How could he say such a thing to harm his honor in this agreement? Was he truly that against it?

The ruler sighed lightly, before he looked down with a hard gaze to his son.

"I have stated the rules as was agreed. Human or youkai, as long as they answer the questions correctly they qualify to be your mate, Miko or not. Do not bring dishonor to my kingdom by breaking your word."

The prince was still fuming, shaking slightly in frustration and the woman saw this clearly as she watched him with sad eyes. Did he really hate this so? Was she not good enough for him? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them too look at her beloved prince. She felt her heart breaking slightly of what she was going to say, but she would give him a chance and maybe, he would grow to love her too.

"My prince...let's make a deal"

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The said person turned around towards her, his eyes still tinted red as he snarled

"What are you speaking of?"

Pale blue eyes looked softly up at him and he felt something stir inside him, but he showed that away as she moved to speak again.

"I'm willing to pull back my victory if you answer a question of mine before the sun rises tomorrow. Just one."

She crossed her arms slightly as she looked at him and the prince raised an eyebrow as his eyes returned to its usual amber.

"You say that if i answer your question correctly before the sunrise tomorrow , you will act like you lost?"

She nodded slightly in agreement and then the king strode towards the young pair, watching the girl closely.

He could clearly see in her eyes that she had fallen for his son and that she had hated to see him in his previous state. It seems this girl was ready to sacrifice her own happiness to give him another chance.

"Are you sure Miko?"

She bowed lightly to the king.

"Yes, I'm sure."

He nodded slightly towards her before he stepped a little closer to her and spoke low to her.

"I would love to have you as the next queen and my sons mate. You're exactly what this kingdom needs as well as he, even if he is to stubborn to see it"

He got a slightly mischievous look in his amber eyes.

"So I hope it's a hard question you have to him"

She smiled softly towards the king, a smile which he returned before moving back to his seat.

"Then stand and give my son his question"

The woman stood up once again, looking calmly towards the ice prince.

"Alright my prince, this is my question"

She smiled slightly.

"What is my name?"

The whole room went silent, only to be filled with endless chatter.

Was that all?

Her name?

What an easy question, she will end up in the dungeon as everyone else.

Wait, what is her name? Do anyone know? After all, she just came here so no one knows. Maybe it was a smart question after all.

As her question had been stated the prince went to his advisors, asking them to search the names for every traveling Miko in japan. The result was indeed that they found the reports of a Miko with her exact descriptions but there was one problem. They all referred her as Miko-sama.

Still no name.

But they stated that she had some traveling companions, a Tajija, a Kitsune and a not so holy monk. He seemed to have the reputation to be more of a womanizer than a man of the cloth. So the young lord headed out to search for the group and luckily found them without their Miko friend.

He had masked himself, having a feeling they wouldn't give the information up so easily. But unfortunately they found him out and refused to tell him anything, not even a clue. So then he went to the woman and counted up any riches every wan could want that she could have if she complied but she said a straight no. Then he went to the monk and brined him with a smirk that he could give him every woman he wanted but before the man even got to answer he was knocked out cold by the tajijas large boomerang and he had to turn to the kitsune. He tried to lure him into his net with nice words and promises of toys but the young ones loyalty was strong to the Miko, which he got to know was his adoptive mother.

The prince was now getting more desperate as the night fell and the thought of torturing the group to tell him her name, but he dismissed that quickly. He was honorable, so he wpuld not take such actions.

So he did the only thing he could think of.

He went to the Miko herself.

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"Miko, what do you want?"

The ebony haired woman sat on the bed in her hired room as she looked over at the prince which stood by her window, his golden eyes set on her.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?!" He snarled back as he frustrated hit his hand lightly against the wall, making a nice imprint of his fist in the wood. Yeah. He actually did hold back.

A bit.

"What do you want for you to tell your name? A free leave from this place? Money? Jewelry? A titel? Just name it"

The female looked at him with her soft blue eyes, having a expression that clearly told the man he was totally out for the wrong things.

Sesshomaru growled frustrated as he fell to his knees beside her bed, feeling the chains of his vow tighten around him. His head hung slightly as he stared into the floor, his arm resting heavily against the edge of the bed.

"...then what do you want?"

"What I want is not any worldly possession..."

The girl looked softly down on the breaking man before her, her heart clenching slightly in the fact she was the source of his pain.

"What I wish for...is your love"

The figure before her tensed, but he didn't move otherwise and she closed her eyes as she spoke in a soft but yet broken tone.

"Do you dislike me that badly?"

His heart clenched slightly at the tone of her voice and he couldn't find any words to answer.

"Am I not beautiful enough for you? Am I not proper enough? Or is it just my humanity?"

Her eyes were now blank with held back tears, the pain of his rejection finally taking its toll on her.

"Why don't you even give me a chance?"

The young inus eyes widened slightly as the scent of her tears hit him and he lifted his gaze to meet hers.

His amber gaze fell into the misty blue eyes of the female before him and for once he stopped to think of her words. Did he hate her? Did her appearance repel him? Did his soul reject the woman before him as much as he thought?

"Yes..."

He said low as his own eyes softened slightly, still keeping contact with hers.

"You are beautiful...more stunning than any woman I've ever seen."

A slight smile reached his lips by the doubt and slight shock in her face, accompanied by a soft blush that had stained her cheeks as she let out a slight theatrical gasp, like to cover her burning cheeks

"Wow...I must be dreaming. The ice prince just smiled"

He felt a grin threatening to appear on his lips as their edges twitched slightly at her statement and a slight warmth in his chest as he saw the redness reach her skin, a feeling that felt a little alien to him but he liked it. He liked that he made her blush and he couldn't say this newly found feeling wasn't unpleasant either.

He wanted more.

"I have the ability to smile, just like any other living being. I just choose to share them wisely"

A slight smile spread on the woman's lips and her tears seemed to stop as the girl seemed to transform back to the strong woman he had seen before.

After that they started small talking and they talked about many different things. The prince found that he unconsciously opened up to this woman as he even shared his mother's death with her and how his life had turned upside down. How his father had mated another woman just months after she had died and his relationship with his half-brother. He did as well get to know much more about her, like she had grown up in a shrine with her little brother, mother, grandfather and her cat Buyo. Her father had just like his mother been killed in a war and the two of them found that they weren't all alone in the pain they had endured. But as he had closed himself up the Miko had done the opposite and opened herself open wide to the world, giving everything she could to everyone else.

As they kept talking his being stirred slightly and he realized that now when he didn't think of the forced mating, his tragic past nor anything else for that matter, that he was no longer in pain. He wasn't lonely anymore as he sat chatting with this mere human girl.

A girl which had even managed to make his heartbeat quicken with just a single smile.

After a while the night began to come to its end, only about 30minutes remained to the decided hour of the task. But the prince had completely forgotten about it, he was too occupied with these new feelings that had awakened inside him, feelings he hadn't felt since his mother had passed.

"Kagome"

The prince tilted his head slightly at the sudden word, the confusion clear in his usually emotionless face clear as he watched the now quiet woman.

"My name is Kagome"

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His eyes widened slightly. She had told him her name. The sun had yet to rise.

He had won.

He cleared the assignment.

He was free.

"Why..?"

His voice was soft as he looked up at her, his eyes unreadable.

She smiled sadly towards him as she places her hand softly on his thigh.

"Because I don't want you to be forced into doing anything you don't want anymore. I don't want you to suffer"

They remained quiet for a while after that statement as they just looked into each other's eyes. Then the clock tower rang.

The morning had come.

The prince rose quietly and the woman, Kagome, stood up as well.

He turned around towards the door, before looking slightly back towards the girl again.

"Let's go. The court awaits the answer"

She nodded slightly as the girl smiled a faint smile towards him and followed him outside, his long silvery white hair moving softly behind him as he walked, the morning sun's rays reflecting in its silky strands. A weight staining her chest as she now would lose her loved one forever.

As she had came to know him better her love for him had only kept growing and that was why she had to do.

His happiness surpassed her need for her own and as they walked out to meet the awaiting people and nobles she knew she had done the right thing.

She had to let him go.

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The crowd became silent as the prince and Kagome came in, seeming like the whole town held their breath to the announcement that would come.

Sesshomaru walked out to stand on the place in front of the masses of people, youkai and humans alike after he had bowed in greeting to his father. Everyone's eyes were locked on him.

Then he started to speak.

"The woman cleared the test that was made for my mating and yet she gave me a chance to win, by answering one simple question by sunrise. All I needed to do was find her name and I used every trail and every way I had in my power to attain it"

The crowd's aura seemed to darken slightly. They should had known, if the prince wanted something, he got it. Everything was lost and the human would be imprisoned as many more girls would have to suffer.

The sad whispers already traveled through the crowd and this was only seconds after his words and the friends of the Miko felt the hope was lost. Their little carefree Kagome would never join them again.

Sesshomaru clearly heard the crowds whispering with his youkai hearing and he smirked slightly and took a deep breath before he let out the words no one expected.

"But I failed"

The crowd turned deathly quiet as they just stared at him, the prince looking as calm as ever.

The ice prince failed?

…and was that a smirk on his lips?

Kagome couldn't fully comprehend what just happened.

What?

But she had told him within the time range...why would he say he fails? Her mind was racing with confusion and shock and she didn't realize what was happening until a strong arm surrounded her waist and she felt a warm body next to her own. She looked up to meet a pair of warm golden eyes filled with so much love and yearning that her knees seemed to weaken, his gaze so intense as it held her captive.

"This woman..."

The Inuyoukai smiled slightly towards the dazed Miko in his arms, knowing the decision he'd made was the right one.

"...will be my mate and queen"

The crowd finally pulled themselves as his final words were said and they cheered happily. Once again the kingdom would return to its previous glory, ruled by a king and queen.

And just as the Queen herself managed to melt this fact and she had smiled happily towards her fiancé', the said demon had clashed his lips on hers in a fierce but loving kiss and after the towns people regained after that new shock of the princes official show of emotion they cheered and whistled towards the couple, making Kagome`s cheek burn even hotter.

That fact didn't bother Sesshomaru at all as he instead kissed her even more yearningly an purred in contentment and soon the girl relaxed into his arms once again as she threw her arms around his neck, leaving her old life behind her.

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The pair mated about a week later, to the dismay of the young lord which hardly had been able to wait another day, his feelings for his Kagome just growing stronger every day.

It was his father's fault as he insisted on a traditional royal mating which included a wedding and crowning ceremony as well, meaning they needed time to prepare for the wedding and succession ceremony.

The wedding day came and went and the two young lovers finally got the happiness they always had sought in each other.

The young kitsune had moved in with the newlyweds as well, being accepted into the pack as the newly crowned lord of the west and his mates pup.

The rest of her friends had been offered to stay as well but they declined as they rather returned to their home village. The Tajija and the monk also married about a year later as the monk confessed his love to her and promised that he would never look at or grope any other woman again...which meant he instead groped his wife.

A lot.

But surprisingly she didn't seem to mind.

The relationship between the lord and his brother had never been better and they actually grown quite close. The hanyou even got his older brother to acknowledge his skill and was soon assigned a job worthy of his skills.

So the land of japan was once again prospering. Peace as the land of the west blossomed by the fair rule of the lord and lady, which soon gave birth to a little beautiful girl which they named Rin.

A girl that later would give her father lots of new suitors on his mind.

I wonder what riddles he would find this time...