she wanted a position like her father, a position that would be her calling in life just as it was his? Like father, like daughter… She looked down at the cub. “Yes, you do have a purpose in life… All cubs do and Njozi, you’re a very special cub. Your dream, I will admit, was a little scary, but… I don’t think you’re crazy or wrong. Dreams can be strange things and can tell us of things yet to come or things to come.”

            Njozi breathed heavily and bit her lip. She found herself grateful to Saada for not judging her or calling her a cruel name. She was afraid her own mother would one day. “So… should I tell her? Tell my mom?” she asked, her voice shaking.

            “That’s up to you. If you do, that’s fine. If you don’t, that’s fine too. The decision is yours and yours alone. No one can force you.”

            Njozi laid down, her head low. “I know… I want to tell her and I want her to believe me. But I don’t think she will. I’ve heard Dad talk about a message he got but that he can’t say what it is. I know how Mom’s been acting toward him. I hate it, Saada. I hate seeing them distant but Dad is a shaman and… there are rules, right?” She shut her eyes and began to cry again, her little body heaving with sobs.

            Saada noticed and lied down beside her, gently wrapping an arm around Njozi’s body, pulling the cub to her. She purred to ease the cub’s cries. It broke her heart to see and hear it. In her heart she felt a chill. If Akase kept such behavior towards Arif up, making her cubs, her daughter especially, hurt in the process, she would have a few words to share and they would not be pleasant.

            A while later, Njozi fell asleep in Saada’s embrace. Instead of taking the cub back to the den, Saada stayed out there. The princess was safe in her care and being out of the den was what they both needed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

At midnight, though he presumed that’s what the time was, Baraka walked up the stone stairs to Pride Rock. When he reached the last one, his forepaws touching the platform that would take him either into the den or up to the promontory, he looked at the sky. There were still stars but no moon. He sighed. The lands were so beautiful when the silver rays of the moon shined down on it. Baraka hung his head. He wished the night had gone differently, better. He’d wanted to find Akase and talk to her again but knew it wouldn’t do any good.

            Baraka closed his eyes. The same thought that came to him as he left her at the waterhole had stayed with him for however many hours he spent out in the Pridelands. The thought was still there even as he beheld and stepped up onto his home and gazed on the stone where many kings, queens, princes and princesses had been presented and where he himself had been crowned.

            Sadly, the thought was the cold, hard truth. Arif did not deserve a wife like Akase.

            With a shudder Baraka raised his paws and moved towards the den but before he entered, he turned his head to where Etana slept. He watched her, unsure why. She was sleeping almost peacefully, her sides going up and down softly. Her left ear flickered, causing him to smile and shaking his head almost amused. For some reason, half unknown to him, he was tempted to wake her. He wanted to hear her voice, hear any words she could give to help ease the heartache he was feeling over his brother’s situation. But he didn’t want to do that. She needed her sleep just as he needed his.

            With another sigh, this time a disappointed one, he made a step to move into the den until movement out of the corner of his left eye caught him. He stepped back and watched to see Etana’s right ear flicker and her eyes open. He was surprised. Did he wake her? He hadn’t made any noises that he knew of. His surprise increased as she opened her mouth to speak.

            “I can sense your tiredness, Baraka, so I’ll be quick. We’re all worried for Arif and Akase. I cannot tell you that they will reunite or not but I can tell you that… though I do not know either of them well, that Arif is a good lion with a loving heart. The ancestors have given him a special gift and a message that only he is to know. Akase is someone who doesn’t like secrets, but Arif is bound. He cannot speak of it. Does Akase love him? It’s hard to say. I could tell you something about that but it is not my place. What I can tell you is that because of all this Akase is changing and not into a good mate or mother to her cubs.” She paused and Baraka, standing strong or trying to, swallowed hard. She continued. “I hope she can see that she is in the wrong and return to Arif and tell her cubs that everything will be well.”

            That was it. That was all she had to say. Baraka watched her put her head back down onto her paws, her sides going up and down softly once again. Baraka was frozen in place but in the agony of his heartache he was feeling better. Her words had brought him comfort but left him with a question. What if Akase couldn’t see she was in the wrong? What if she and Arif didn’t get back together?

            The King shook his head. Too many questions… there would always be too many questions. He opened his mouth a bit and smiled faintly. He looked at her and said, “Thank you, Etana. I really hope you’re right.” He saw her smile.

            “Sleep well, Baraka,” she said.

            He managed to chuckle out of relief. “Sleep well, Etana.”

            He walked into the den, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. As he made his way to his chambers, stepping carefully over the lionesses as he did, he looked to the large corner where Kadiri and his family had made their spot. The gray guardian’s cubs were at his side sleeping peacefully; his beloved gray brown colored mate was on the other side of him, her head buried in his mane. Baraka smiled at that and then noticed his nephews sleeping near their friends, but there was no Njozi. Where was she? He turned around, looking over the sleeping pride members. He noticed his parents weren’t there in their spot. Was Njozi with them? If she were, surely he would’ve seen them as he headed back, but no, so where…

            As he scanned the cave and the pride with his eyes he saw that someone else was missing. He walked to the back entrance and saw Njozi, her little body wrapped in the embrace of… Saada…? At this Baraka was confused. What were they doing out there? He shook his head, thinking that Njozi needed to be away from the pride and that Saada went out to check on her and they both fell asleep. It was a logical conclusion and an understandable one.

            His dear niece had been through so much in these many last hours. He couldn’t blame her. At least his nephews were able to sleep better than she but it was nice that Saada, out of her own free will, went outside and made sure Njozi was safe. Baraka was happy and angry. It should’ve been Akase out there with her daughter, not that Saada was any less suited for the job. But Akase was Njozi’s mother. She should’ve been there, out there with her cub.

            Baraka shook his head and left the sleeping lioness and cub alone and went into his chambers.

            The moment he stepped inside, his heart pounded and his breathing heavy. He thought he was hyperventilating. With snapping green eyes he walked to the back wall of his cave and with a forepaw full of his claws, ran them down the stone. The fur along his back rose and a growl emerged from his throat. Then, he began to feel fatigue. A pained look came across his face as he walked to his sleeping spot near the side wall and lay down. He heaved a sigh, which became a soft sob. He put his head down to his paws and a tear fell from his right eye, another forming and falling from his left soon after.

            As he forced his body to fall asleep, in the back of his mind were the questions, but he forced himself to block them for the time being. He had to sleep. He needed to sleep.

            A few minutes later, his eyes closed but he shook with fear. How was his brother? That question came unbidden. How was Akase? At the moment, though he loved his sister-in-law, he could’ve cared less. She didn’t understand her mate, his position, or the message he had to keep. She was the reason his brother and only