fight again with Nuala without interruption. Everything in him wanted to but he knew if he did someone, a male member of his family or more of the same, would stop him from harming or even killing their future Queen. But he resisted the idea. It was foolish and suicidal.

The journey continued. Though he still grappled and contemplated returning, another part of him told him that this – ruling another kingdom – wouldn’t be so bad. Thoughts filled him, spoke to his spirit.

“Isn’t this what you always wanted, young Prince: To rule a pride… to be a King?”

Thoughts like that carried on in his head until his escort chirped happily. “There it is Your Highness!” With a wing he pointed while keeping himself in the air with the other.

Prince Aricin looked ahead to see a nice looking, lush, green land. He sighed. “So, this is Jangwa, is it?” he asked, trying to sound surprised. His father practically sold him to another pride. Why should he be impressed?

The escort looked at him. “It is, yes, my Prince. The pride is located ahead. I’m sure you’ll be able to find them without too much trouble.” With that the bird flew off, not expecting a thank-you not that the Prince would give it. If the bird was honest with himself, it was the most uncomfortable journey he had ever taken.

Aricin watched him go and shook his mane. With a breath of nervousness, something very uncommon for him, he followed the bird’s instructions and made his way to where the pride was. In time he found it. There was a large group of lionesses whose heads shot up at his coming but one lioness, who, from what Aricin could see, held a great respect. He stopped. She knew who he was.

They were face-to-face and the lioness introduced herself. She was Tosca, the mother of the Queen and his new mother-in-law. “You are most welcome here, Prince Aricin. Come let me introduce you to everyone.”

Aricin looked about. The lionesses bowed to him and told him their names. Even some younger lions just growing their manes bowed and did the same. “What kind of pride is this?” Aricin wondered to himself while trying to smile. This scene was strange. He was actually liked, and on first impression no less. “I could get used to this.”

Tosca spoke again. “These are my daughters, Princess Mila and Princess Themba.”

The two females bowed and Aricin was able to look on them. He had to admit, to himself that is, that the two lionesses in front of him were pretty. But it made him wonder too. Neither of these young lionesses were his intended, so where… He cleared his throat and looked away from the Princesses, addressing Tosca again. “It’s… good to meet them, and yourself, Lady Tosca. What of the Queen?” Aricin asked. “Is she among the pride?”

Tosca smiled. “My eldest daughter Asya is in the den. She’s waiting for you.”

He dipped his head. “Thank you,” he said with a dry voice and walked on into the den. He paused, allowing his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. He wanted to call out the Queen’s name, but couldn’t. It would be disrespectful.

“You must be Prince Aricin of the Pridelands,” said a female voice.

He started. “Yes, I am. You are Asya, the Queen of the Jangwa Pride, yes?”

“I am. You’ve met my pride?”

“Yes, they’re quite nice.”

“Good. Have you eaten?” When he said no, Asya started walking out of the den. “Follow me.”

It was there she announced that he was going to be, per her late father’s, and his still living father’s wishes, her mate and the new King. The pride cheered and Asya gave them permission to eat the kill. Aricin noticed it was zebra and as the leaders of the pride he and Asya took their pieces first. There was quiet conversation. Aricin and Asya exchanged smiles and the red brown Prince felt himself relax. He wasn’t sure what the future held, the betrothal was proof of that, but Aricin felt that for the first time in his life, he could relax.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Aricin jolted. He jerked his head and mumbled something, nothing, to himself, and stared at Asya. Now she was quivering. Clearly, she was in pain and there was nothing he could do to stop or ease it for her. He turned away, looking around the cave. They had been alone many times in this chamber before. It was the chamber of royalty. Every King and Queen of the Jangwa slept here with their family. Aricin flexed his paws along the stone ground. He had never been in this kind of situation in his life and his lack of experience was showing. Thankfully Asya couldn’t see it. It would have made him feel foolish and embarrassed, ashamed, even.

He himself had never been sick. In the Pridelands, there was hardly any cause or reason, but here in the Jangwa… He had been here for a long time. From the moment he stepped onto the lands he never bothered to count the days. There was no point. He was here for life. His father saw to that. The pride had no shaman, which he thought strange when he first came. He wished they did and perhaps Tosca wished so too.

A shaman could help you, Asya, Aricin thought. Whatever is wrong, a shaman could give you herbs to dull any pain you’re in and help you sleep. He sighed. Rafiki, you old baboon, if you were here you would know what to do. You could help Asya.

The sudden turn of his thoughts surprised him and he was stunned that he was actually finding himself caring for Asya. Maybe not in a romantic way which is what his pride expected of him and Asya on a daily basis, but he did care about her. Love or not, she was his mate and he hers. He was moved by his thoughts.

He got up and paced. He suddenly thought about his parents King Chaka and Queen Penda. They were rulers together, they were mates and they were parents. He recalled a time when he and his siblings were cubs and – much to his great reluctance – had crowded around their parents who told their children how they met. His father said that he was instantly crushing on her while the Queen replied that she – at the time since they were adolescents – didn’t feel the same and hated him for his arrogance.

Hearing such a thing had made Prince Aricin chuckle and now he shook his head with a smirk on his face. “I’m more like Father than I realized,” he said quietly. “Never knew that he himself was arrogant and cocky…”

Then his mother went on to say that she left the Pridelands for a time, which, according to his father, had put him into a state of depression. The story went on and Aricin and his siblings learned that his father had been walking and saw some hyenas attacking a lioness. He had saved her and they exchanged names. The royal children learned that because of that attack and the exchanging of names his parents were reunited. Penda, after that, decided to stay in the Pridelands In time the Prince and rogue lioness had fallen for each other and became the new rulers of the kingdom.

Aricin laughed quietly and shook his head. When he was younger he would flirt with the lionesses of the Pridelands, not that he could help it. He was a Prince and, if he said so himself, was quite a catch.

He glanced back to Asya, his heart dropping. His gaze fell. He’d never had a chance to flirt with her; they had already been set up for each other. There was no chance for him to get a reaction from her in regards to his flirting. He felt himself smiling a little. I wonder what you would have said Asya, he thought again, his throat constricting. He found it strange that since he came to Jangwa he never flirted with any of the lionesses. He was in a loveless marriage so he could. He was free to. Why… I did it all the time back home.

He thought about his parents again and on how they met. It was odd that for all of his arrogance and cockiness Asya didn’t hate him the way his mother had, at first, hated his father. He looked at the ground shuffled the dirt in front of him with a paw. “Asya and I are different from my parents,” he mused quietly.

His eyes stung and he closed them for a moment. He felt cold and turned his head back to Asya. He walked over and stared down at her. Unlike his parents when they first met there was no animosity between him and Asya. She had treated him kindly from the start and from that day on he had wondered if, whether or not, he could fall for a lioness like her. She didn’t seem to mind his occasional bouts of cockiness or his arrogance, both of which had seemed to ease quite a bit in the time he’d been here. Were the lands changing him or was it the lioness that was lying on the ground, sick with a heavy fever? A lioness, a Queen, no less, who didn’t even need or want to be kind to him yet was.

He lay down, his eyes never leaving her face. For all of his flirtations with the lionesses in the Pridelands he had often wondered if he would ever settle down with someone. Well here he was in the Jangwa, married to a Queen and through that marriage he was a King. He had a pride, maybe not of his own, but he had a pride. He had food, shelter, a kingdom to protect and young lions he could shape into guardians, maybe even warriors.

His late grandfather, Kovu, had been trained to be such… and a killer. But a warrior nonetheless, the young King thought with a sly grin. Maybe being a warrior was in his blood so maybe he could teach the younger lions a thing or two.

He and his siblings, along with his cousins, had learned of their grandfather’s past. How he was trained by his mother to be a killer and how meeting the Princess of the