PODG Chapter 2

Disclaimer; Inu-yasha is not mine…so deal with it!

Prince of the Dancing Gypsies

Chapter 2

She had missed them.   She was sure of that as soon as she has seen the carriage leave the main gate of Rome.  Now she ran to her mistress's estate in order to find a way to get an alibi before her mistress found her.  Yet the weak feeling in her back told her it was soon going to be a loosing battle.

Kagome ran at full speed panting her dwindling wishes to not scar the perfect smooth skin of her back.  For so long she had managed to keep it untouched by leather that howled against the air and snapped when it made contact with something, and now it seemed like nothing would save her.

As she jumped over the fence that encircled the gardens she stuffed her cloak and basket under a thick bush and ran to into the house.  The kitchen smelled of beef and steaming vegetables, and the stink of onions not far away.  Kagome hated their stench, and quickly went to the fire where the smoke smelled of roasting beef and burning wood.

“Kagome,” a voice called from the dinning area.  After a short gasp she jumped to her feet holding the air in her lungs until she came to the doorway and stood tall and proper before the family as they stuffed the tender beef into the gaping dark holes in their faces.

“Varanese, ma’am?” she spoke, and watched as the old woman’s eyes stared at her, glittering with an evil curiosity.

“Where have ye been all day, girl?  The last time I saw ye this day was in the gardens.”

Kagome stood tall to hide her lie and looked at her straight in the eye controlling all of her fear.  “Working, Ma’am, with Cookie.”

Then the woman’s eyes turned a hellish grey as she plopped the bone stripped of it’s tender meat on her plate and stomped over to the girl and pinched her cheek hard.  Kagome winced and brought her fingers to her cheek to rub away the pain.  “That is a lying smirk on yon face.  I can see it clear as day.  You went to see those gypsies in the city today even though I told ye not to.”

The old hag slapped her other cheek hard enough to bring her too the floor.  Kagome tried to hold back her tears and sobs and turned to look up at the old woman to fight for her defense.  It was then that the old woman grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her through the dinning room and the kitchen to the barn.

She then opened the small shed next to the barn, and threw her into it.  “You wanted to go out, and now ye are not out.  Pray your rags will keep you warm on such a cold spring night for no fire will until sunrise, nor will food and drink until morning.”

With that the woman slammed the door and locked her in the dark shed.  With a click of the latch the door was locked and Kagome sat in the darkness, weeping bitterly into her hands as her legs gave out underneath her and she curled into a ball on the floor.

For an hour or so she stayed like that in the darkness, listening to the crickets and the night owls hoot.  She still let tears fall form her eyes even though her sobbing was over with moments before.

The brightest star in the sky

I’ll pick one for you

And when you see it

Your wish will come true

Know that I’m here

There’s nothing to fear

Oh daughter of mine

So sweet and fine

Father is here

No matter where

I’ll be there

In the brightest star in the sky

The lullaby soothed her, as she reminded herself of her father’s promise to one day come back for her.  It was all she could remember.  There was more to the song, but she never could remember what it was.  

As she hummed the song to herself she slowly began to drift off to sleep, until something in the darkness startled her.  The sound of footsteps made her stir and she sat up looking at the cracks in the wall of the shed to see a moving shadow block the light from peeking through.  

It was then that there was a voice that broke the rhythms of the night.  “You sure this is the place?  This family owns the diamond necklace your family once owned?”

The figure moved and Kagome jumped slightly, but made no sudden noises.  

“Of course this is it!  I wouldn’t mistake this place even if I was blind.  This is the home of the guy who stole my grandfather’s fortuned Gypsy Diamond, the treasure of my family, and now that the old geezer is dead I’m getting it back.”

The other voice spoke, and now Kagome could tell that it was that of a child’s.  “You’ll never get away with this.  I’ve heard rumors of the Lupo family here in Rome; they have hunters and all sorts of horrible creatures working for them.  They’ll find you, and hang you for sure, and then what will you do?”

There was a snort as the other voice said, “Shippo, the cards show no sign of death for me.  The Lupo Family will never even know I took it.”

The man then looked at the house.  “Now, stay here and keep watch.  You know the signal to call if there is any trouble.”

With that the cloaked man slithered to the mansion and quickly looked over the door to the kitchen.  “Idiots…they have the largest diamond known and no guards to even protect the doorways at night?  They really are dumb.”

A simple wire was pulled from his pocket as he began to unlock the door with small moves.  

Kagome quietly moved toward the shed door to peek through a crack in the door and watch as the green cloaked figure opened the door.

‘I have to do something!  Maybe if I catch him, Varanese will not be so hard on me in the morning.’

Quickly Kagome tried to look around the slightly dark shed to see what to limited amount of moonlight could aid her in finding something to get her out of there.

‘Don’t make any sudden noise; otherwise the boy will warn him.  I have to make sure the one inside has no warning.’

Inside, the thief was slowly making his way through the sleeping bodies of cooks, work aids, and maids as he drew closer to the doorway that lead to the dining room.  

Once there he looked at the silver candle stick holders.  ‘Tempting!  These could feed quiet a few in Romania.’

Without a second thought he bagged the two silver staffs and made his way through the rest of the house.

He slowly made his way to the library and smirked, ‘Yeah, right!  Like the Lupo family has ever read a book in the last three generations.’

Slowly he began to knock on the shelves of books and tap on the walls quietly.  ‘Come on, let Daddy know where you’re hiding.’

Kagome shifted around in the small shed as quietly as possible as the young watch keeper grumbled and yawned as he began to nod off.  Slowly Kagome made her move, as she picked up a piece of wire used for the chicken coop.  Slowly she curved it and brought it around the latch.  Slowly and as quietly as she could, she began to try and lift the latch in order to make her way out and warn her mistress’s family, or at least try and catch the thief who was in their home.

‘I’ll never look at gypsies the same way again after this,’ she thought to herself and she struggled with the wire lifting it up to try and jiggle the latch upward to open the door.

The thief within looked over books and knocked against some of them listening to the sounds each one made.  The sound from a row of red encyclopedias caught his attention as he leaned in to listen again to the different hallow sound.  “Well, well, what do we have here?”

Slowly, he took hold of the top of the fake books and pulled them away to reveal a small iron box with a keyhole lock in the dead center.  “Ah, now this isn’t too suspicious at all now is it?”

He reached into the pouch and pulled out two crocked pieces of wire and began to work at the lock.  “The Lupo family really has no idea who they stole this thing from now do they?”

It took all but a moment before there was a loud click and the thief smiled to himself as he opened the small door to find his prize.  “Ah, there you are.  I think it’s time we took you home, huh?”

In the moonlight, the large fist sized, pear cut, rock shined as the thief took it into his leather gloved hand and held it close to his amethyst eyes.  “Hello, sweetheart!  Did the bastards treat you well that past few years, or have they keep your beauty in the dark too long?”

Slowly, he reached for his velvet pouch and wrapped his fist around an exact copy of the gem.  “Glass is such a wonderful thing to have these days.”

Kagome grit her teeth as the last tiny bit of the latch gave her trouble before finally slipping out of the slot and opening the door.  

Shippo snorted as Kagome dodged out and the two of them looked at each other for a spilt second in fear.  

Kagome took a deep breath and ran for the house, as Shippo reached for his shirt and pulled out a tiny wooden whistle and blew a high pitched note.

The thief jumped and it disrupted his train of thought.  He heard movement as someone screeched and other’s yelled as they asked what the sound was.

“Stupid kid, he fucking panicked again.”

Slipping the gem and it’s glass copy into the velvet pouch, he pulled his cloak around him and ran down the hall, as he began to hear dog bark outside in the back as someone ordered them to be set loose immediately.

Kagome stumbled into the kitchen and then to the door that lead into the house, and before she knew it she had run into the very man she was trying to catch in the act.  She gasped as she fell back and he fell into her mistress’s dining chair and broke it.

He shook his head and looked at the young girl before him gasping only for a moment, as she scrambled to her feet.  “Don’t move!  Whatever it is you have taken from my mistress, give it back and go quietly to your grave.”

The thief laughed with confidence as he got up quickly not even giving the girl a second look.  “I don’t listen to young milk maids.”

She grabbed his cloak and tried to bring him down to the ground again, and as she pushed and struggled he made poor attempts of trying to pry her off of him.  “Let go girl, or I’ll have to take you with me.”

“Drop dead!” she hissed.

“Suit yourself!”

And with that he let her pull him to the ground, and it disrupted her thought long enough for him to pry her hands off and pin them above her head as he looked at her from above.  Yet the movement made his hood fall off his head and the moonlight light up his face.

Kagome gasped as her auburn eyes met amethyst.  His widened as well when her face came into the light.

“You!” they whispered in unison.

It was him, the prince, the one that had tried to tell her the fortune she had no money to pay for, Inu-yasha.

The moment only lasted a few seconds, until they heard Varanese’s voice scream, “The Diamond!   Robbery, we have been robbed!  My husband’s gem has been stolen from the strong hold.”

“Shit!” Inu-yasha cursed as he struggled to his feet leaving Kagome balling into a heap on the floor to try and protect herself if he was going to try anything.

He merely stumbled as he made his way to the window and pulled his hood over his face again, looking back at her for only a moment as she looked at him through the moonlight, and just as easily as he had appeared, he vanished into the night as he slipped out the window and was gone.

Varanese’s cries continued as Kagome continued to stare at the open window.  She looked at the ground as something glimmered, and picked it up.  She gasped as she got to her feet.  “Oh my goodness!” she said as she held the gem to her face.

Suddenly, one of the dogs jumped up on the window with its front paws and barked furiously at her.  She screamed and took a step back into the dinning room table.  

Five candles came into the room, Lady Varanese gasping for air and her family along with Kouga close behind her.

All eyes fell on Kagome as she held the stone in her open hands and the dog barked at her.

Kagome snapped out of her shock and looked to her mistress.  “Milady, the thief, he’s escaped through the window.”

But all eyes stayed on her, and Varanese’s panic stricken eyes turned dark and her face red with rage.  Her bony hand came up in less than a second and hit Kagome’s cheek and ear hard enough to throw her to the floor.  The gem rolled from her hands and Kagome tried to cover the area that burned with pain.

“You little bitch!” Varanese hissed.

Kagome’s eyes filled with tears of pain and fear.

“You dare try and steal my husband’s prized jewel?” she growled before ripping the bonnet from Kagome’s hair and grabbing a hand full of her raven hair.  Kagome cried in pain as Varanese dragged her to the wall and grabbed hold of the cable horsewhip above the fireplace next to wear the family ate dinner.

“Antonio,” she directed to her son, “break the cords in the back of her dress and undergarments; I want to see the skin of her yellow spine.”

Kagome’s tears turned into cries of, “no” and mercy as Antonio wasted no time lifting her dress and his wife aided him in pulling away the undergarments.  He held her, and his wife backed away to spare the youngest eyes in the family, which were her two young sons.

Kagome wept bitterly as she heard Varanese hiss, “Cry all you want, you’re father will never come for you now.”

With, a loud crack cut through the air and struck her back, followed by four more.  Each one felt like it took years and her tears fell from her eyes slowly making it hard to see, not that she could see anything with her face looking at a brick wall.

When it was over, she couldn’t hear anyone’s voices except her own as she was taken outside by servants and locked back into the shed she had tried to escape from.

“I want the police to be called immediately, and for her to be hanged for what she has done.”

Kagome cried as she wept on the wooden floor of the cold shed her back pulsing in pain.  How did this happen?  How did it happen so fast?  She shouldn’t have even touched it, she shouldn’t have even picked up the damn jewel on the floor.  Now her fate was sealed.  Death was now at the door instead of her father.

There was no one to save her now.

No one…

“Kagome,” a voice in the shadows said.  “Child quickly you must get on your feet!”

Kagome pulled her black hair away from her face as her teary eyes found the worried face of Alessandro, the gardener.

He took hold of her arm and helped her up.  “We do not have time to talk.  You must eave this place.”

Kagome looked up at him in fear. “Leave?  Alessandro, I have no where to go.”

“But you cannot stay here, only death waits for you here in Rome, now.  You must not stay here any more.”

Kagome held back tears.  “I didn’t do it though!  It was a gypsy…a boy!”

Alessandro looked behind him for anyone who might be watching.  “I believe you, but this will not change the Mistress of this House’s mind.  You must flee, Kagome and run as far from here as you can lest you die hear for a crime you did not commit.”

Kagome tried to catch her breath and think.  “What do I do?  Where do I go?”

“Run, run anywhere as long as you are far from this hell.”

Kagome’s eyes looked up at the old man as he took her hand and led her to the woods behind the house as servants rushed to aid the family and announce that the police carriage was not far down the road.

Alessandro looked at Kagome with heartfelt eyes.  “Go, Kagome!  Leave this place and find your family, for there is no prayer for you here as long as you are in Varanese’s eye.”  Alessandro kissed her forehead and gripped her hand a moment before letting it go as Kagome took two steps back not wanting to take her eyes off the only person who had ever been kind to her.  Her only vision of family.

“Alessandro,” she whispered for what would be the last time she would ever say his name again to him.

“Go!” he growled, “Do not look back, look to the path your heart guilds you for it will be your only ally now.”

Kagome shook her head as tears formed in her eyes again.

“Here they!” come a man cried, and Kagome froze.

“GO NOW, CHILD!” Alessandro hissed, and Kagome fled into the woods, into darkness, into an unknown future and destiny with only a fear for her life and a face of the man who destroyed everything she had ever known.

She only ran straight through the night, not stopping for even a moment to rest.  Kagome just kept on going as she cries and branches cut her legs and face and ripped her clothing.  

She only continued to run, not knowing what drove her to continue or what force kept her moving.

And then after hours of running in the darkness, her feet failed her and she tumbled a ways before her body came to a halt at something hard and covered with earth, but she was too exhausted to care as fatigue gained the upper hand and took her, and there in the dark she collapsed, feeling pain in her back and leg.

No where to run, no where to go, she was lost in an unknown world, with no one at her side.

“Papa…Papa…” we’re her only words as she lost conscious of everything around.  Not that it mattered; to her everything was nothingness itself.

There you go guys!  Chapter 2…I finally got my groove into the story and now things are picking up.

Leave a review!  The more I get the more I know people like this story, the more I make sure I update more often.

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