able to sleep for a while. Kadiri rose carefully so as not to rouse his children and giving their sleeping forms another smile, the gray guardian made his way out to the entrance.

            In the cool crisp night, he felt wide awake but his face held something different. The moment his paws touched the stone ground, he walked over the ramp of Pride Rock just staring. He sighed in emotional pain. He knew why he had woken in the lower cave and why the pride was there, along with his children. In that moment he remembered every bit of the day’s events.

            Just that afternoon he had been walking with his beloved mate and she coughed. He told her to go home and when he arrived, she was in the king’s chambers. He felt in his heart that she was still there even now. He lowered his head all the while that hoping Etana’s help would prove successful. He sighed and sniffed.

            Taking his eyes away from his home, he turned and started running, the cool breezes hitting him full face. As he ran, his heart pounded, the beats coming faster and faster, his breath in short gasps. After running for a few minutes to the western side of the Pridelands, he fell in the grass, panting, and tears leaked from his eyes. He bit his tongue, trying to surpass a growl from his throat.

            It was no use. The growl came anyway. With a flash of temper, a temper he hadn’t allowed himself to show in years, boiled to the surface. He leapt to his feet, a fire burning within his body. He stood still for a long moment, eying the grass, noting how the tips of the blades seem to touch the middle part of his legs and the beginnings of his sides. With a snarl, he put his head to the skies, looking at the stars. The stars were beautiful in the late hours of the night. But he was not looking at them with admiration for their beauty.

            In a loud, sorrowful voice, he cried out. “God, my God! Why? Why have you done this to me? Why to Dailia? She has done no wrong in her life. Why must she suffer this?” He let out an anguished sob and bowed his head, hot tears streaming down his face. The color in his eyes was thickly moist and he sobbed again. “Please!” he cried again, lifting his head back to the sky. “Don’t take her from me. I can’t live without her. She’s everything to me!”

            The cool air wrapped around him, caressing his face gently.

            “I need her, our children need her,” he continued. “What is Etana doing for her, if anything? I love her! You brought us together! You’ve given me everything I could ever want. A home, food, friends… and you gave me Dailia. Please, don’t take her from me now. If she died, I’d kill myself. Is that what you’d want! Please, give me a sign… let me know she will live!”

            He bowed his head again, his mane falling over his face, his heart pounding wildly, his shoulders trembling and his legs weakening. He wondered now if his call to the heavens would be answered. He hoped that it would, otherwise, he would keep his promise of suicide… but what of his kids? How would they react to the fact that their father, in a moment of turmoil, killed himself just so he could be reunited with their mother?

            If Kadiri did such a thing it would leave his son and daughters without parents. Kadiri shut his eyes. He realized in that moment that he couldn’t give up. He knew in his heart that Dailia would not want him to end his life all for her. It would be unthinkable. The idea of an early death was abandoned by responsibility. So what could he do? He sighed, the answer obvious. He would have to continue to living, if not for himself than for his offspring.

            Finally, his exhausted body fell to the grass and he rolled onto his side, his legs sprawled out. He closed his eyes, whimpering like a lost cub…

“Dailia?” a young gray lion asked as he entered the lower cave. He looked through the darkness, in search of the one whose name he had called out.

            “I’m in the far back, Kadiri,” said a female voice.

            The young adult padded towards the back, the beginnings of his mane hanging in the still air, clinging to his face, neck and back. When he reached the lioness, his face grew sorrowful. Dailia had been lying in the cave for a long while. Kadiri sighed. He knew the reason why. Dailia’s sister, Hasira, had brutally attacked her when she tried to keep Hasira from Baraka. The prince of the Pridelands was being taught by his parents on how to rule and be a good king.

            When Baraka came home, he was tired but not exhausted. He said ‘hello’ kindly when he came to his friends and brother but Hasira came up, nuzzling him gently. The prince pulled away and Dailia ran up and told her sister not to go after him as he strode away. Hasira, with an angered stare launched herself at Dailia and began to attack her but thanks to Mabaki, who fought the lioness, took Dailia into the lower caves, and a lioness fetched the mandrill shaman, who immediately, tended to her wounds.

            Kadiri heard of the attack and of Dailia’s whereabouts a few moments later. He now looked upon his injured friend, his face frowning. “Dailia…” he said in a choked voice.

            The lioness smiled. “It’s alright, Kadiri. Rafiki says I should be healed in a day or two but in the meantime I have to stay here.”

            His ears fell. “I should have been there. I’d have made sure she didn’t hurt you. I’m sorry.”

            “It’s okay. You can’t always be there for me…” She paused. “But I’m glad you’re here now.”

            He smiled. “So am I. Mabaki told me what happened.” His expression darkened. “Damn Hasira!” he growled.

            “Kadiri… don’t worry about her. She just doesn’t know when to leave Baraka alone. She never will. Even as cubs she always told me that he was ‘too shy’ to blurt out his feelings.”

            “Yeah, his feelings are that he doesn’t love her and never will. Your sister is extremely stubborn.”

            “I know, but try living with her.” Dailia smirked then winced.

            Kadiri noticed. “Get some rest. I’ll check in on you later.” He turned to leave but a touch on his lower hind leg caused him to turn back. It was Dailia who touched his leg. “What is it?”

            She smiled embarrassingly. “Kadiri… please, stay?” she asked, looking him in the eyes sadly. “You couldn’t be there before… but now that you are…” She paused, her ears falling.

            He understood. “You want me to stay with you?” He was surprised but then a warm smile crossed his face. “I’d be glad to, and Mabaki said he’d bring you a good piece of the kill when the hunting party returned.”

            “Good, I’m hungry.” She laughed and he laughed along with her.

            When Kadiri lay down beside her a few minutes later Mabaki, as promised, brought in a strip of the evening meal. They looked at it. It was gazelle. They split it, both eating slowly but by the time they finished, Dailia had fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Kadiri remained where he was. In his own mind, he intended to stay with her even if it meant sleeping in the cave. He looked down at her as she slept. He smiled warmly but the smile quickly left. Why did she, a lioness whose name meant ‘gentle’, have a sister with a name meaning the opposite of gentle?

            Kadiri felt sorry for his friend and felt his heart shatter at what kind of future Dailia would have with Hasira for a blood relative. In that moment, he felt his heart skip a beat. As he watched her sleep, he lowered his head down to her and nuzzled her, licking the side of her face with his warm tongue. He purred soothingly in her ear.

            “Dailia, you know I care about you,” he began, whispering gently. She