In Sickness and In Health

Summary: Aricin is King of the Jangwa Pride, but he and his mate are trapped in a loveless marriage with only one way to keep themselves and their kingdoms together: By pretending to be mates around the pride. They are living a lie. They are not true mates but they cannot separate for fear of their prides going to war. When Queen Asya falls ill, the possibility of her dying fills the young King’s mind, but with such a possibility comes something else that enables the arrogant son of Pridelander blood to open his blocked heart.

Rating: PG although there really is nothing serious, but better safe than sorry, right.

Disclaimer: The Lion King, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride and all characters from the films are the property of the Walt Disney Company. Fan made characters such as Chaka, Penda, Nuala, Jelani, Kala, Jia, Asya, Themba, Mila and Tosca belong to Namacub95. Other fan made characters like Aricin, Mohan and Jyotika belong to Claire Cooper, and Rashid who belongs to –FallenAngel–

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King Aricin looked out at his kingdom, ears tipped forward and whiskers twitching. He ran his tongue over his mouth and sighed deeply. Another day… probably filled with the same duties, not that they ever changed. He would patrol his lands; some of the younger lions would probably join him. He would welcome it. He would need them. Oh, he was strong and full of endurance but not even he could keep the lands safe from rogues by himself.

His ears tipped backward. Aside from the younger lions there was one other who would probably join him. He was King but she was Queen. She was more in charge than he was. She was of royal blood, but so was he. It was one thing they had in common. But she was firstborn, the daughter of a late King. He, Aricin, was the third born of his siblings. There were five of them and the eldest, his sister Nuala, would be the new Queen of the Pridelands. Maybe she would have her coronation on the death of their father or when their father and mother decided to step down.

Aricin looked down at his dark red brown colored paws, musing. Either way, it doesn’t matter. She will be Queen… and Rashid, our cousin, will either be her King or her Prince Consort. He closed his eyes, trying to suppress the growl that wanted to rise in his throat and make its presence known through his anger and slight envy of the unfairness of it all. He had long hoped, long dreamed of being his parents’ heir, his father’s heir. He wanted it desperately and his father just couldn’t choose from any of his eldest children. Aricin’s younger brother, Mohan, and his younger sister, Jyotika, were simply not interested, but then neither was their elder brother, Jelani, Nuala’s respective twin.

So it was between him and Nuala, and since she was firstborn she was bound to get the throne. The others… their siblings, their cousins – the children of their aunts and Princesses, Kala and Jia and their mates, who were Princes in their own right through marriage – they would all pay homage to Nuala and declare their loyalty, their servitude. His cousin Rashid would be Nuala’s partner in the leadership. They would rule together, they would love, they would have cubs of their own and the Pridelander blood that flowed through their bodies would continue. The Pridelander line, its legacy, would grow.

Aricin wanted so much to growl at his sister’s good fortune, a fortune that should have been his he didn’t realize until the sound reached his ears that it was coming from him. He was growling. It’s not fair, he thought to himself. She gets it all! The wealth of the lands, the power of the throne and of commanding… She even gets one of our male cousins as her mate!

His eyes snapped open and he could feel the blood flow through his body. He felt hot. He was angry, raging. He knew he should be over it, but he wasn’t nor could he be. His older sister would be on the Pridelander throne one day, if she wasn’t now, and he? He was only in the Kingdom of Jangwa because his so-called father believed him to be a threat to Nuala’s soon-to-be position and the power she would hold.

“And because he owed Asya’s father a favor,” he muttered to himself, his tail swishing softly behind him, “here I am.”

He raised his head and stared at his and Asya’s realm. It was a beautiful place, he couldn’t deny that but he still envied Nuala’s luck. He swallowed, feeing the dryness in his throat. He was parched. He rose and began his walk to the waterhole and was surprised that Asya, his mate by a forced joining – at his father’s insistence, and to get him out of his fur – wasn’t with him. When he woke he noticed how tired she looked and decided that it was best she sleep in, something he probably never would have considered in the past. He always got plenty of sleep when he was in the Pridelands but not as much as he would have liked. Here, in Jangwa, there was always time to relax and he took joy in it. He knew his pride did too.

He approached the waterhole and drank. A small breeze stirred through his medium pale colored mane. He licked his maw and studied the lands in front of him. It was going to be another good day and as much as he wanted to enjoy it duty called. It always did.

He walked back to the pride’s keep. His mind filled with so many thoughts he had no idea which one he wanted to examine first. He loved these lands, of course. What was not to love? He was surrounded by lions and lionesses who were not his family. That was a change, a big change, one he wasn’t sure he would get used to after being around so much family for nearly four years of his life. He was surprised he’d gotten the hang of not seeing them after a while. For the first few days he was here he expected to see a brother or two or even some of his cousins’ walk up to him or avoid him.

He even expected to see Nuala sending him that smirk of hers. The smirk that said, “Father will choose me, not you. I was born first.”

There were times when he wanted to smack that smirk off her face and the fight they’d had before he left, before he discovered his father betrothed him, had done the trick. It was a dirty fight, a brutal fight, one that left them both scarred. But it was hard to see any trace of a fight on Aricin’s body because his dark red brown fur covered it up. The blood mixed in with the color, masked it.

His mane, however, was a different thing entirely. Aricin heard himself chuckle and shook his head. “Yeah, it’d be hard to hide blood stains on a mane as pale as mine,” he said, of course, to no one. “Wonder where I got it from? Could I have gotten it on Mother’s side of the family? Certainly not from Father’s, no way…” He considered the color of his mane; however he got it, a beautiful trait. Maybe it was a rare trait. He didn’t care.

As he approached the pride’s keep he saw one lioness standing outside the den with a grave face. He walked up to her. It was Tosca, Asya’s mother, his mother-in-law. “Tosca, what’s wrong?” he asked, his brow furrowing a little. He had never seen her look that way before.

The older lioness sniffed and stared at the King. “It’s Asya. I went into your chambers to see what she wanted the hunting party to do.” She looked down but managed to continue. “We’re out of food so we need to hunt again. It’s been a few days.”

Aricin nodded at that. “And Asya said what?” he asked.

Tosca shook her head. “She said nothing. She didn’t even acknowledge my presence so I went up to see if she was still asleep, and…” The lioness paused.

Aricin rolled his eyes and swallowed his urge to order her to get to the point. “And…?” he asked in an irritated voice.

“I laid my paw on her head. It was hot, like if you stay too long in the sun. She’s sick, Aricin, very sick.”

He took a breath and stared ahead at the den. So, his Queen was ill, which meant he would be taking care of the kingdom alone. “I see,” he said after a moment. “Well, I’m sure it’s nothing. Asya is strong, she’ll pull through.”

He started to turn. The last thing he needed was to see his so-called wife sick. What could he do anyway? He was the King and as such he had to take care of the kingdom no matter what the circumstances. His father would never have taught him that, but he was no longer near his father or his family or his father’s teachings. His father, the King of the Pridelands, cared for his family and would do anything for them. Aricin knew that from experience, but he had no family to speak of and never would.

He continued on his way when he noticed Tosca, who in a quick move for a lioness her age – not that she was that old, she was probably as old as his own mother – blocked his path. Her eyes were angry and there was a disappointed look on her face. He groaned. “What?”

“I should ask you the same thing, my King. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to do my duty to the kingdom, Madam.”

She growled lowly. “Don’t madam me, Aricin. Your mate is in your chambers sick with who knows what!”

“I tell you she will be fine,” the red lion insisted.

“She may, but you still need to see her.”

“You said Asya didn’t even acknowledge you. What makes you think she’ll do so for me?”

“I don’t know, but you are her mate and it is your duty to see