Let My People Go by landofthekwt (Cotton Anniversary Challenge)
Title Let My People Go
Author landofthekwt
Rating PG-13
Prompt Cotton (Dokuga Second Anniversary Challenge)
Word count 1708
Genre General
Warning none
Summary Kagome frees Jaken’s people
She still had to pinch herself. It was hard to believe that she really was a princess living in a castle married to her Prince Charming. The wedding had been everything she ever dreamed of. Her prince had made her wedding night especially memorable. She was ready for her happily ever after.
She walked out to her balcony to survey her kingdom. It was time to acquaint herself with her subjects. To her surprise all the fields she surveyed were blanketed in white. It was midsummer’s day. Far too early for snow. The people moving through the snow looked like ants. Her curiosity
was piqued.
Summoning Jaken she pointed out the white carpet covering the plain as far as she could see.
“Jaken, can you tell me what that is? “
“Pardon, My Lady”
It was still shocking to hear Jaken call her My Lady, but she had gone through the crash course in being royal that Sesshoumaru’s mother had offered her before their wedding. She had learned how to walk, how to dress, how to talk. They had even decided upon a title for her. The Honorable Mother would continue to be known as the Lady of the West to avoid confusion. (Though she had jokingly offered Queen of the Heavens, which Sesshoumaru did not find funny,) Kagome was to be known as the Lady of the Western Shiro.
For her part she simply referred to the Lady as the Honored Mother mirroring the honorific that Jaken had attached to her. She continued to call her husband, Sesshoumaru despite Jaken’s attempt to force her to call him Lord Sesshoumaru. Whatever else he was he was not her Lord. He finally began calling her Kagome in private since miko seemed rather stilted for use between lovers who had shared intimacies.
“That field of white over there. What is it?”
Jaken looked more closely “That would be the cotton field, My Lady.”
Kagome looked blank. Cotton fields. Since when had anyone in Japan started raising cotton on a plantation scale. What was going on? Her study of Japanese History had shown only individual
patches of cotton grown by peasants for their own private use. Yet there it was.as plain as day.
“Since when do we have cotton fields in Japan?”
Jaken hesitated. Should he tell her of the tome that he had discovered in the yellow bag after she had disappeared? He had not revealed the book to anyone not even Sesshoumaru. It was amazing that his Lord had followed his suggestions. Of course if they had failed there would have been hell to pay. Amazingly, everything had worked out just like the book had said it would. Lord Sesshoumaru had even been impressed by the device which he had recreated to separate the cotton from its seeds.
“ Since my people arrived at the Westen Shiro.”
“You have people?”
“I was once a great leader. My armies swept all before me.”
“What happened?”
“I met Lord Sesshoumaru and have followed him to this day.”
“What happened to your people?”
“I did not give any thought to them until recently: For me all my thoughts were of my Lord. Then one day they arrived on my doorstep tired and hungry. Lord Sesshoumaru left their fate to my discretion: It was such a quandary. They represented my old life. My old responsibility. Yet I could not burden Lord Sesshoumaru with their needs. Having been through the wars they had nothing left. When I left my old kingdom crumbled. They wandered homeless without purpose. looking for me to set things right again.”
“That still does not explain the cotton.”
“I remembered a book that I found in an old yellow sack back at the village where the hanyou lives. It provided a solution to all our problems.”
Kagome looked startled. Just when she thought that life was wonderful it rose up to smack her in the face. The tumblers began to whirl in his mind. What did one do employ an army when there was no more war. She had been studying American History before she left home. The chapters on slavery and the American civil war had affected her deeply. Japan was lucky that slavery had never developed here. It was a cruel and peculiar institution. which ruined so many lives. The American Civil War had ended it with more dead than in all the other American wars combined. There was an important event that had set it all in motion, but what that was she could not remember at the moment. Suddenly she felt a righteous indignation. How dare he bring such an odious practice as slavery to Japan.
“How could you enslave your own people? They came to you to save them. Instead you enslaved
them. I should just purify you where you stand.”
Jaken was now quaking. “ You have it all wrong. They are not slaves. Once they were soldiers. They had been forced to fight all of their lives. I offered them a place to live, a place to work where they did not have to fight for a living. I am still their leader. They followed me here and have seen to their needs.”
Kagome was confused. What Jaken had done was wrong. She had read how slavery had been justified. The masters would provide for the slaves and offer them a better life than they left. But
they were all lies. Surely, her instincts could not be wrong. She would go to Sesshoumaru. Surely, he would see that slavery was wrong. She had faith in her husband.
“We will see about this. Take me to Sesshoumaru.”
She stomped up to the daiyoukai’s office. He looked up at her and smiled until he saw the look in her eyes. He remembered that look. She had almost purified him with her arrow because she thought it was improper for him to use a shard of the sacred jewel to steal Tessaiga. He never thought that as his wife she would ever look that way at him again.
“Jaken tells me that you have enslaved his people to pick cotton for you. That is just wrong. You must free them immediately. Give them the land they are on. You are rich and powerful. Until five years ago, you did not raise cotton or keep slaves. Let these people go.”
Sesshoumaru looked bewildered “Jaken, what is this about slaves? When did we start enslaving your people and why are they picking cotton?”
Jaken sputtered “My people are happy for the first time in their lives. I did not think to bring such a trivial matter as my people to your attention. I know that you have more important things to worry about so I took care of it.”
Sesshoumaru scowled. He could see that Kagome would have none of this. Jaken’s army would have to go. It was the only way that they could keep the peace. If there was a choice to make, Kagome’s happiness was of paramount importance.
“Fine, free them “ he dismissed them with a wave. Kagome forgot everything else and gave him a big kiss with the promise of more of the same when they went to bed. Sesshoumaru was sure that he had made the right choice.
Kagome and Jaken rode Ah-Un out to where Jaken’s army had been assembled. A hush came over the crowd as Jaken rose to speak perched atop Ah-Un
“ My people I have brought you a great benefactor. This is Lady Kagome the Mate of Lord Sesshoumaru and Lady of the Western Shiro. She has heard your pleas and wishes to right all of the wrongs done to you.”
Kagome stood up and looked over the crowd of imps. Looking at the hope in their faces, she gulped. Did they think she was one of the kami? She decided to keep to her script.
“People of Jaken. You should not be slaves to any man or youkai. You are a free proud people.
Henceforth none of you shall be required to toil for Lord Sesshoumaru. You are free to go anywhere and do anything you want.”
It began as a low murmur and then became a thunderous acclamation proclaiming their beloved Lady Kagome who had released them from bondage and freed them from the slavery. . Kagome was so overcome that she wept. They cheered as flew out of sight on Ah-Un. Later that Sesshoumaru reaped the benefit of her good mood.
“ I am glad that you are feeling better.”
“Thank you, Sesshoumaru for what you did. It is wonderful to know that you actually did some good.”
Jaken was informed that his people wished to speak to him.
“ The guards are telling us that we are to leave.”
“Yes, Lady Kagome freed you. You are free to go.”
“But we do not want to go. We like it here. Our homes are here. We are fed and clothed. Why should we leave?”
Jaken was perplexed, but not surprised. He knew that he had done his people a favor allowing them to pick cotton for Lord Sesshoumaru. It was so much better than previous living conditions. Anyone who has ever lived in a bog can tell you that. The question was what he should do. The imps did not want to go, but Lady Kagome would be angry if she returned and found them there still picking cotton.
Suddenly he had a brain storm. A memory from her textbook. Something that the plantation owners had done after the Civil War to ensure that their labor force did not depart. Sharecropping
“Lady Kagome in her kindness has informed me that she has granted your homes and fields in perpetuity. so long as you deliver to her shrine a third of whatever crop you should decide to produce.”
The consensus among the imps was that the Lady Kagome was indeed a good and wise patron. Candles would be lit to St. Kagome in each family shrine next to the one for Master Jaken. Both good and wise saviors of the imps.
Author landofthekwt
Rating PG-13
Prompt Cotton (Dokuga Second Anniversary Challenge)
Word count 1708
Genre General
Warning none
Summary Kagome frees Jaken’s people
She still had to pinch herself. It was hard to believe that she really was a princess living in a castle married to her Prince Charming. The wedding had been everything she ever dreamed of. Her prince had made her wedding night especially memorable. She was ready for her happily ever after.
She walked out to her balcony to survey her kingdom. It was time to acquaint herself with her subjects. To her surprise all the fields she surveyed were blanketed in white. It was midsummer’s day. Far too early for snow. The people moving through the snow looked like ants. Her curiosity
was piqued.
Summoning Jaken she pointed out the white carpet covering the plain as far as she could see.
“Jaken, can you tell me what that is? “
“Pardon, My Lady”
It was still shocking to hear Jaken call her My Lady, but she had gone through the crash course in being royal that Sesshoumaru’s mother had offered her before their wedding. She had learned how to walk, how to dress, how to talk. They had even decided upon a title for her. The Honorable Mother would continue to be known as the Lady of the West to avoid confusion. (Though she had jokingly offered Queen of the Heavens, which Sesshoumaru did not find funny,) Kagome was to be known as the Lady of the Western Shiro.
For her part she simply referred to the Lady as the Honored Mother mirroring the honorific that Jaken had attached to her. She continued to call her husband, Sesshoumaru despite Jaken’s attempt to force her to call him Lord Sesshoumaru. Whatever else he was he was not her Lord. He finally began calling her Kagome in private since miko seemed rather stilted for use between lovers who had shared intimacies.
“That field of white over there. What is it?”
Jaken looked more closely “That would be the cotton field, My Lady.”
Kagome looked blank. Cotton fields. Since when had anyone in Japan started raising cotton on a plantation scale. What was going on? Her study of Japanese History had shown only individual
patches of cotton grown by peasants for their own private use. Yet there it was.as plain as day.
“Since when do we have cotton fields in Japan?”
Jaken hesitated. Should he tell her of the tome that he had discovered in the yellow bag after she had disappeared? He had not revealed the book to anyone not even Sesshoumaru. It was amazing that his Lord had followed his suggestions. Of course if they had failed there would have been hell to pay. Amazingly, everything had worked out just like the book had said it would. Lord Sesshoumaru had even been impressed by the device which he had recreated to separate the cotton from its seeds.
“ Since my people arrived at the Westen Shiro.”
“You have people?”
“I was once a great leader. My armies swept all before me.”
“What happened?”
“I met Lord Sesshoumaru and have followed him to this day.”
“What happened to your people?”
“I did not give any thought to them until recently: For me all my thoughts were of my Lord. Then one day they arrived on my doorstep tired and hungry. Lord Sesshoumaru left their fate to my discretion: It was such a quandary. They represented my old life. My old responsibility. Yet I could not burden Lord Sesshoumaru with their needs. Having been through the wars they had nothing left. When I left my old kingdom crumbled. They wandered homeless without purpose. looking for me to set things right again.”
“That still does not explain the cotton.”
“I remembered a book that I found in an old yellow sack back at the village where the hanyou lives. It provided a solution to all our problems.”
Kagome looked startled. Just when she thought that life was wonderful it rose up to smack her in the face. The tumblers began to whirl in his mind. What did one do employ an army when there was no more war. She had been studying American History before she left home. The chapters on slavery and the American civil war had affected her deeply. Japan was lucky that slavery had never developed here. It was a cruel and peculiar institution. which ruined so many lives. The American Civil War had ended it with more dead than in all the other American wars combined. There was an important event that had set it all in motion, but what that was she could not remember at the moment. Suddenly she felt a righteous indignation. How dare he bring such an odious practice as slavery to Japan.
“How could you enslave your own people? They came to you to save them. Instead you enslaved
them. I should just purify you where you stand.”
Jaken was now quaking. “ You have it all wrong. They are not slaves. Once they were soldiers. They had been forced to fight all of their lives. I offered them a place to live, a place to work where they did not have to fight for a living. I am still their leader. They followed me here and have seen to their needs.”
Kagome was confused. What Jaken had done was wrong. She had read how slavery had been justified. The masters would provide for the slaves and offer them a better life than they left. But
they were all lies. Surely, her instincts could not be wrong. She would go to Sesshoumaru. Surely, he would see that slavery was wrong. She had faith in her husband.
“We will see about this. Take me to Sesshoumaru.”
She stomped up to the daiyoukai’s office. He looked up at her and smiled until he saw the look in her eyes. He remembered that look. She had almost purified him with her arrow because she thought it was improper for him to use a shard of the sacred jewel to steal Tessaiga. He never thought that as his wife she would ever look that way at him again.
“Jaken tells me that you have enslaved his people to pick cotton for you. That is just wrong. You must free them immediately. Give them the land they are on. You are rich and powerful. Until five years ago, you did not raise cotton or keep slaves. Let these people go.”
Sesshoumaru looked bewildered “Jaken, what is this about slaves? When did we start enslaving your people and why are they picking cotton?”
Jaken sputtered “My people are happy for the first time in their lives. I did not think to bring such a trivial matter as my people to your attention. I know that you have more important things to worry about so I took care of it.”
Sesshoumaru scowled. He could see that Kagome would have none of this. Jaken’s army would have to go. It was the only way that they could keep the peace. If there was a choice to make, Kagome’s happiness was of paramount importance.
“Fine, free them “ he dismissed them with a wave. Kagome forgot everything else and gave him a big kiss with the promise of more of the same when they went to bed. Sesshoumaru was sure that he had made the right choice.
Kagome and Jaken rode Ah-Un out to where Jaken’s army had been assembled. A hush came over the crowd as Jaken rose to speak perched atop Ah-Un
“ My people I have brought you a great benefactor. This is Lady Kagome the Mate of Lord Sesshoumaru and Lady of the Western Shiro. She has heard your pleas and wishes to right all of the wrongs done to you.”
Kagome stood up and looked over the crowd of imps. Looking at the hope in their faces, she gulped. Did they think she was one of the kami? She decided to keep to her script.
“People of Jaken. You should not be slaves to any man or youkai. You are a free proud people.
Henceforth none of you shall be required to toil for Lord Sesshoumaru. You are free to go anywhere and do anything you want.”
It began as a low murmur and then became a thunderous acclamation proclaiming their beloved Lady Kagome who had released them from bondage and freed them from the slavery. . Kagome was so overcome that she wept. They cheered as flew out of sight on Ah-Un. Later that Sesshoumaru reaped the benefit of her good mood.
“ I am glad that you are feeling better.”
“Thank you, Sesshoumaru for what you did. It is wonderful to know that you actually did some good.”
Jaken was informed that his people wished to speak to him.
“ The guards are telling us that we are to leave.”
“Yes, Lady Kagome freed you. You are free to go.”
“But we do not want to go. We like it here. Our homes are here. We are fed and clothed. Why should we leave?”
Jaken was perplexed, but not surprised. He knew that he had done his people a favor allowing them to pick cotton for Lord Sesshoumaru. It was so much better than previous living conditions. Anyone who has ever lived in a bog can tell you that. The question was what he should do. The imps did not want to go, but Lady Kagome would be angry if she returned and found them there still picking cotton.
Suddenly he had a brain storm. A memory from her textbook. Something that the plantation owners had done after the Civil War to ensure that their labor force did not depart. Sharecropping
“Lady Kagome in her kindness has informed me that she has granted your homes and fields in perpetuity. so long as you deliver to her shrine a third of whatever crop you should decide to produce.”
The consensus among the imps was that the Lady Kagome was indeed a good and wise patron. Candles would be lit to St. Kagome in each family shrine next to the one for Master Jaken. Both good and wise saviors of the imps.