already awake and walking from all corners of the kingdom to start another day.

            Baraka smiled and laid on the stone, his paws dangling over the edge. Such a beautiful dawn, and the sun wasn’t up yet. He couldn’t blame his pride for sleeping in, they deserved it. But he could not have that luxury, nor did he want it, unless it was needed. They didn’t know his burden. He was the one with the heaviest responsibility weighing on his shoulders. He was the one who had to rise early and patrol to keep his lands and pride safe from intruders. No one understood what he was going through except for his parents.

            “At least I can still come to them for advice just as they did to Grandma and Grandpa,” the king thought, and he smiled sadly. Simba and Nala were wonderful leaders, even when they gave the leadership duties to Kovu and Kiara and kept the titles of King and Queen. “I miss you both… Would you be proud of me?” He had to wonder. Would they be upset because he had no mate, no cubs of his own and no one to carry on his bloodline?

            Baraka shrugged and rested his head on his paws. He hoped to sleep a little longer…

            “Uncle Baraka?” said a voice in his ear. He groaned. The voice spoke again. “Uncle Baraka?” it said, more kindly.

            The king, much to his dismay, slowly cracked open an eye. His vision was blurry but soon he was able to make out a pair of eyes looking at him and then a face. He was surprised to see that it was one of his nephews, his brother’s second son, Adisa. The young prince looked like Baraka when he was a cub. Though he was still tired, he managed to smile.

            “Adisa, what are you doing up so early?” the king asked, while trying to suppress a yawn.

            The cub laughed and nuzzled the lion’s face. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I just felt the need. You did too, right?”

            No matter how he felt, Baraka was so amazed at his nephew’s mind. He knows me too well… “Yes, as always. A king must rise before the sun or with it. He cannot be late for his duties.”

            “Well, I’m glad you’re up, uncle.” Adisa looked up at him, smiling.

            Baraka stared down at the cub. It was looking into the water, seeing your reflection, and in the cub’s eyes, Baraka saw himself, the way he used to be. Adisa was so full of innocence and purity, caring for others before himself. I hope he does better with the lionesses than I do. He raised himself to his paws and sat down, Adisa joining him. They didn’t speak.

            Uncle and nephew watched the animals and noticed the sky’s colors change from red to pink and orange colorations. At last the sun began to rise. The two lions were in awe of the beautiful sight, the sun’s rays showering the lands and the inhabitants with its warmth.

            “Your parents and siblings are still asleep?” Baraka asked, not taking his eyes from the sun covered lands.

            Adisa nodded. “Yeah and I asked Adabu if he wanted to join me but he said he was still tired. I didn’t pressure him, or Njozi.”

            “That’s good.” Baraka chuckled. “My parents used to get upset at your father and me whenever we wanted to see the sunrise but Grandpa would take us out.”

            Adisa smiled sadly. He wished he had known his great-grandparents but through the stories told to him, his siblings, and the other cubs by the pride it was as if Simba and Nala had never died. Adisa and his brother and sister were always sure that the late King and Queen of the Pridelands lived on in them. It was a soothing thought and belief. As Adisa stared into the grasslands, eyeing the animals, he had a sense that there was something bothering Baraka.

            “Uncle?” he began to ask. The king looked down at him. “Can… can we go for a walk?”

            The question surprised him but since the sun was already in the sky and he was up… Baraka looked into the cub’s eyes, seeing no pleading or silent begging but just a hope to spend some time together. He is so like me… “Adisa… that’s a good idea,” he said warmly. “Let’s go.”

            They rose and walked down the promontory then padded down the stone steps of Pride Rock.

            When his paws touched the grass, Baraka breathed a sigh of relief. A walk with his nephew was just what he needed to prepare him for the day and he welcomed it. He welcomed any time he could spend with his nephews and niece. He would never tell Arif, but he considered his brother’s children as his own and when the time came, if things didn’t change, he would ask Arif and Akase if their eldest son, Adabu, could be king after him.

            The king and prince were not unseen as they traveled through the grasslands. From out of the darkness of the den, two figures emerged and stood above the stone stairs.

            Kovu and Kiara looked out at the almost un-seeable forms of their son and grandson. They smiled until Kiara turned to her mate with a distressed look in her eyes. “Kovu, do you think Baraka will be alright?” Her tone held worry.

            The Prince Regent didn’t answer right away. He wouldn’t admit it, but like her, he also worried. But his words differed from his thoughts. “Yes, Kiara, I think he will be. Adisa has a way of helping others and maybe he can help Baraka, just a bit. The walk will be good for both of them.”

            “I hope you’re right,” she whispered. “It’s been six months and he still has no mate.”

            “Even if he doesn’t, Adabu, Adisa and Njozi are also the future of the Pridelands.”

            Kiara didn’t reply. She knew he was right. But she was a mother and she could never stop worrying for her children.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Baraka enjoyed his stroll with Adisa. The cub was so kind and listened to any word Baraka had to say. But after a while, the cub’s mind began to drift and while they walked a butterfly flew by and Adisa tore himself away and began to play. As he watched, Baraka laughed. Adisa was so like him that he wondered if the child inherited more of his genes than Arif and Akase’s.

            Baraka’s heart swelled with pride at the lion his second nephew would one day become. Adisa was already showing signs of wisdom, intelligence and care as his brother, Adabu. Rafiki told the cubs’ parents that the first prince’s name meant ‘good manners’ and Adabu was living up to the meaning. The king recalled a time when he had given the blessing to eat the evening kill and Adabu allowed his siblings to go first, an action which surprised many of the pride, even his parents.

            “You’ll make a fine king one day, Adabu,” Baraka thought to himself.

            He was right. Adabu would make a fantastic heir. Then, as always when thinking of his nephew taking over after him Baraka’s eyes grew hard. His mind was conflicted. Indeed Adabu would take over unless he found a lioness and had cubs but it would never happen. He wasn’t into it. Even as an adolescent, when he thought his feelings for lionesses started to change, it was nothing more than his mind that was changing while his heart was still undecided.

            Instead of following his heart to the right lioness, he followed his mind. More often as the days passed, he felt himself being split into two parts. One part, his mind, was the king that didn’t need a mate while the second part, his heart, was a normal lion that cried out for a lifelong companion. It frightened him to think that he was in a battle with his own body but it was true.

            He wanted to see Rafiki but what could the mandrill do? Surely he couldn’t cure sickness of the body. Did shamans even have that kind of