Hello, and welcome to my second work of fanfiction. I'm excited about this one, even though my other story has taken months of my time...so if you haven't read it, do it! This story is not a Mary Sue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I do own this story.

Summary: Princess Kagome runs away from royalty in disguise as a peasant and is captured by the rough bandit, Inuyasha. What will happen when he discovers she's holding exactly what he's been searching for?

The Captured Princess

By: Sanci J

Chapter 1: Default Chapter

"Princess, your father would like to see you in his quarters in approximately ten minutes," a servant said with her head bowed in respect.

"Thank you," came a soft voice from the balcony. The princess wondered why her father whom she hadn't seen in a while wanted to speak with her. Her stomach tied itself into knots. He must want something from her...that was it.

The last time her father had wanted to talk to her in private was when she turned fourteen, and even then she had only seen him a handful of times that she could recall. She faintly recognized him when she did see him At fourteen, he had been anxious for her to have suitors because he wanted her to marry at a young age. But she didn't want a suitor, past or present. She didn't want to think about marriage before her seventeenth year, and then she would only think about it. Despite her protests, her father had arranged for a ball in her honor of coming out, and she was forced to dance with other boys and pick the one who caught her fancy. No one had, and her parents hadn't mentioned it since then. Now she was in her fifteenth year, and she still hadn't found one.

It was either that or the situation that had happened today, and past days that would cause her father to want to speak to her. The princess had snuck out of the castle with her most trusted servants to the village, but seemed to get caught every time. No one but her closest friends understood how confined she felt, not being able to walk free and alone. Day after day she read about great romances, adventures, and new places, and regularly found herself gazing out her balcony past the gates of her home, past the village and into the wilderness. What lay out there?

Either the guards were very good, or one of her confidantes had told on her. If that was true, then someone didn't want her to leave the castle. But why? Was this person keeping her from seeing or hearing something important? She didn't care...she knew she would just try again.

She had hoped her parents were too busy with political fares or something more important so they wouldn't notice.

The princess heard breathing behind her and turned her head in annoyance. She felt a headache coming on. "You can go Soi." She waved her hand freely, not paying much attention to the servant girl.

The girl bowed. "Of course, m'lady." She flew out the door.

The princess returned her attention to the view from her balcony. It was one of her favorite things to do because she felt the most calm and peaceful there. She could see the beautiful sunset and sunrise from there, but she loved it at night when the stars came out the best. Thinking of the sunset reminded her of old fairy tales, where the handsome prince rescued the princess from danger. She tried not to cling to those tales, because they weren't true. But they were so romantic. Sometimes when she was on the balcony, she imagined her prince riding on a white horse coming to rescue her from this prison cell she felt she was in. Now she laughed at how childish she had been, but she always ended the laughter on a sad note.

Then she would close her eyes and dream of being down there. In the village, where people all sizes and shapes bustled around all day, and slept in silence at night. She wanted to go there, not as the princess or soon to be Queen, but as a commoner. For once, she didn't want to stand out in her fancy clothing and sparkly jewels.

She had told her younger sickly brother her dreams before, but he simply laughed at her.

"You could never make it out there. You would stand out even if you didn't try," he had said.

How that angered her, but she knew he was right. She didn't really know how those people survived. After all, she had been cared for all her life. She had no worries; at least, that's what everyone else thought. But she had more fatal worries, such as being attacked by demons in other lands. That was a main worry, because her kingdom was full of humans...and maybe a few witches, but they were considered evil to her family, so any that were found were hung. Humans were weak and powerless unless, per say, one possessed the Shikon no Tama.

To the princess, though, this story was just an old folk tale. She had never seen nor heard of the real jewel, so it was useless to her. But if it were real, she would single handed-ly search for it. She could barely think of all the good things she could get from this powerful jewel of the Four Souls. But it wasn't real, she had to remind herself of that. There had to be some other way to keep her kingdom safe from demons and witches. Though she never thought witches were all bad, just the ones who practiced dark magic, they were still more powerful than regular humans so they had to stand guard at all times.

A knock sounded at the door and the princess frowned. "Am I to come early?" She turned around and broke into a smile when she saw her long time friend and servant. "Sango!"

"Hello dear, it's good to see you again." Sango replied with a smile. "I'm sorry I couldn't visit you earlier. I was sent out of town for three days to retrieve someone. But it's not necessarily good news Princess."

The princess stopped in her tracks, the smile disappeared from her face. "What do you mean? Did my father send you out?"

"Yes...although by the look on your face, you probably already know what I'm about to tell you." Sango started wringing her hands.

"Oh...please tell me it has nothing to do with a suitor..." The princess groaned and fell on her large feathered pink bed.

Sango winced and she saw. "Yes...but that's all I know. They wouldn't let the servants see him though. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out since you already knew."

The princess sat up, remembering she wasn't supposed to wrinkle her evening dress. "Do not even think that Sango. You did help me. I had no idea until you said that you had toretrieve someone, and especially when you said it wasn't good news..." She was about to pat her friend on the shoulder when she remembered she had to meet her father still. "Oh, no...I'm on my way to talk to my father right now.."

"Are you serious? It's so soon...that can't be good."

"Of course not. He's going to introduce me to...to...the suitor!" The princess said in a mocking tone as she put on some facial powder. "Hopefully he's the man of my dreams, because that's the only way I'd concede to courting."

"And I the same, Princess." Sango answered and watched her friend brush the wrinkles from her dress.

"Hopefully I won't have to stay very long. This dress is killing me, it's so poofy. I feel like a watermelon." she said with a laugh.

Sango laughed along with her. "You don't look like a watermelon! Anyway,it's just a suitor. You know you can turn him down." She was about to hug her friend, but stopped. "I forgot to clean up before I visited you...I'm sorry." She blushed.

The princess laughed at Sango's distress. "I don't mind Sango...you should know that by now." She sobered and sighed. "I think it's about time to go. Can't keep them waiting for long." She picked up her matching white gloves and left.

She sighed and they made their way to her father's quarters. There they parted quickly and the princess confidently put her gloves on, silently wishing she were back at her peaceful balcony, or in her village getting ready for bedtime early.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

"Is it you, daughter?" She recognized her father's voice and she walked in, closing the door with ease.

"Yes, father" She made her way to her father's side and kissed him on the cheek, before sitting in a chair.

Her father leaned back in his cushioned chair and took a good look at his daughter. "I am in awe, daughter. You have grown to be a beautiful young woman since the last time I saw you. Have you been keeping yourself out of trouble?" her father asked, gazing at her.

Oh no...he knew about her measly escapes from the castle. "Um...I suppose," she said slowly. Oh why did every meeting with her father have to be so uncomfortable?

"You suppose? That's not what I heard." He dragged his hand through his beard.

"And what did you hear?" She spoke innocently, yet she just wanted to get this confrontation over with and be gone.

"You, daughter of the throne, havebeen trying to sneak out of the castle...more than once. Luckily for you, my guards are the best in these lands. Don't you know what would happen to you if you left the castle?" he said, tension in his words.

She waited for his answer, her head lowered.

"Darling, the Prince is waiting."

Both the king and his daughter looked towards their interruption. "Wife," the king said, acknowledging his Queen.

The princess felt her stomach quake. The prince...

"Send him in, dear," her father said. When his wife left the door to get the prince, her father coughed.

"Are you alright, father?" she asked in concern, secretly hoping he would give in. "Maybe you should do this another day."

"No...I am fine daughter."

Drats. She sighed then, and waited impatiently for her mysterious suitor.

She looked up when there was a knock at the door. Her eyes widened.

This prince was a looker. He had short black hair and a handsome face. His clothing was stylish and he wore her favorite color, green. But as soon as she saw him, she knew he wasn't her handsome prince. Sure, he was a prince, and he was very handsome, but he just wasn't the one. She stood up to greet him. His eyes widened and he smiled widely when he saw her.

He kissed her hand. "Good evening, Princess."

She forced a smile, trying not to stare in disgust at the wetness left on her delicate hand. "Good evening to you, too."

After greeting, they all sat down. Her father turned to her. "I suppose you know what is happening daughter?"

"Yes, father." She wanted to say more, but it was impolite for a woman to speak unless she was asked for her opinion.

He nodded. "This is Prince Hojo of the Northern lands. There will be a treaty between us of alliance for protection against the demon empires."

The princess nodded. She understood the safety precautions needed for her empire to remain in power.

"His father and I have discussed this, and in order to make this treaty real, we have come to the conclusion that our empires will come together when the two of you join together in marriage."

Sorry, since this is the default chapter, it's shorter than future chapters.

Thanks for taking time to read this story and I hope you keep reading, and please review!