never patient, like her parents or her sisters. But this was her father! She could try to be patient for his sake, couldn’t she?

“What sort of crisis?” Asya heard herself ask.

“King Chaka told me that he wasn’t sure which of his children should succeed him and his mate, Queen Penda, to the Pridelander throne. His cubs were at such a young age when I saw them, not even three moons old.”

Her eyes grew wide with surprise. “You mean, even then, he was considering his successor?”

“He was. His children were so young, but Chaka clearly knew their personalities. His three eldest, or rather, two eldest, his first cub, first daughter, Nuala, and his third born, second son, Aricin, to Chaka’s thinking, both seemed to be capable of ruling after him, it was just a matter of choosing which one. He didn’t know then, he might not know now, but… I could tell that he wanted Nuala as his heiress because she was first born. His son, Aricin whom I could tell possessed a strong and fierce personality – much like that of his sister – was longing for the throne too.” Malka sighed hard and deep. “Now I didn’t know what my future had for me. I had no idea that I would find Jangwa, meet your mother and have you and your sisters. After I left the Pridelands and came here I still kept in contact with King Chaka.” He sighed again, long, hard, and painfully. His body hurt and he tried to stretch his forelegs, barely succeeding. He ran his tongue over his maw. “Not long ago I found out that King Chaka had chosen his successor, his daughter Nuala. And that, of course, means his second son, Aricin is at a loss, his future uncertain.”

In spite of herself, Asya rolled her eyes. “Father, what does the Pridelands or the fate of Prince Aricin have to do with me?”

Malka laid his paw flat on the stone ground. “Once I learned that Princess Nuala would be succeeding her father, I sent a messenger bird to the Pridelands to tell King Chaka that…” Here he told her everything and knew that he would be embracing her anger and frustration.

Asya listened, sitting upright, her tail striking the ground in angrily. Her gaze was stern and hard. What could she say? Could she rebuke him? Then… if he was dying – She shook herself and managed to keep a low, dangerous growl from forming. Betrothed… He had secretly – maybe long before she was even born let alone conceived – betrothed her to a Pridelands Prince in the event he would not become King of his family pride. Which meant this Prince Aricin would be King of her father’s pride, her own!

Her throat constricted, anger flared up inside her. Why had he done this? Did she have no say in whether or not she would marry? Where had her freewill gone? Did she make the wrong decision out there by the waterhole?

“Asya… please, you must believe me when I tell you that I –” But he was stopped when he felt his daughter’s face touch his own. She nuzzled him kindly but firmly.

“It’s ok, Father,” she said with a dry, stiff voice. “I will do as you have commanded.”

Malka didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. His daughter was willing to accept her fate. He just hoped she wouldn’t hate him for the rest of her life, long after he was gone, which, he knew, could be at any time.

Asya remained by her father’s side for as long as she could. Then when her mother came in, she rose and began to leave, knowing her mother probably wanted to spend as much time with her sick mate as she could and, perhaps, say goodbye. Her sisters would be in too no doubt. But after Mother, she thought to herself.

She approached the Queen and nuzzled her. “Did you know of his betrothing me?” she asked with a hard voice.

Queen Tosca hesitated for a moment, swallowed a large lump in her throat, and gave a curt nod. “Yes, I did. Asya, I didn’t want him to, but what could I say? He is the King. He… He loves you and wants to make sure that your reign and our legacy is completely secure. A match with a Pridelands Prince…” She stopped, unable to say more.

Princess Asya pulled away. “Yes, of course,” she said plainly and departed.

Not long after she learned of an impending betrothal, did King Malka pass to the stars. As was custom, his body was taken by several lionesses and some of the young males and laid to rest on the plains of Jangwa to become the grass.

One day after the death of the King, his firstborn and successor Princess Asya become Jangwa’s new Queen. She organized the young males and demanded that they continue to patrol the lands for her as they did for her father when they first started growing their manes, but Asya started assuming the responsibilities of leading long before her father died. Now that she was Queen the responsibilities came in full. The hunting party flourished under her sisters’ combined leadership and the tutelage of her mother.

In the days and weeks leading up to her accession to the Jangwa throne Asya was already gaining a reputation for her strong leadership abilities. Sometimes she would join the young males on patrol, sometimes not, same with the hunting party.

When she wasn’t protecting her lands or keeping her pride fed, she lounged and thought about the future. She even thought about the lion who would become her mate. She wondered what he was like and knew that he was due to arrive in Jangwa soon. She was worried, nervous and only slightly excited, if that. But she told herself that once this Prince Aricin arrived, she would give him a chance. To do otherwise would put their respective prides at a risk for war because one side couldn’t keep their end of the agreement or bargain.

Whenever she slept in the royal chamber – her mother or sisters no longer did because it wasn’t their place anymore – she dreamed of her future with this Pridelander Prince. To her, the future looked grim and highly uncertain. She was afraid, more afraid of this than she ever was at becoming Queen. Marriage to a lion she never met was foreign to her and she wondered if her intended felt the same.

Well, once he arrived, she would know.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Asya felt her body tremble and quiver. Everything in her screamed for relief! But she wouldn’t get it. Jangwa had no shaman. Whenever someone fell ill they were either strong enough to overcome it or they weren’t. What category did she fall in? Was she weak or strong?

Pain filled her whole body and she had no strength to open her mouth to speak or even move a paw let alone a foreleg. She was immobile, she was useless. Weak… Normally I am strong but today I am weak…

His scent invaded her nose and with all her pain she found herself surprised. Aricin, her betrothed mate, her King, was still here in the chamber they had respectfully slept in many times since his arrival in Jangwa so long ago, yet not. He was a strange lion, the dark red brown colored Prince of the Pridelands, now King of Jangwa.

When they first met she’d had no idea what to think of him but she told herself – before he came and after – that no matter what the anger she had toward her deceased father, she would give this lion who was thrust into the same situation as she a chance. Wasn’t it the least she could do for him after he had been practically kicked out of his home by his own father so that the next ruler of the Pridelands, his older sister, could be sure that her reign was secure and that the threat to what was soon to be hers was gone for good?

Asya felt her ears go back, then forward and then twitch. From the day he arrived she treated him like an equal, which he was. He had been a Prince before he became King, just as she had been a Princess before becoming Queen. It seemed to be the only thing – other than being set up for each other by their kingly fathers – they had in common. What could they build off of that? Asya had wondered for days and weeks about it and in her sickly state she still did. She’d agonized over the idea that he could have feelings for her but she couldn’t have any for him. The way they worked together, the way she practically forced herself to somehow find feelings for him only worked for so long and in those moments of wondering she remembered the way Jangwa was before her father came, before he had changed the leadership mating laws.

Her grandfather, her mother’s father, had deemed it so that the leader of the pride could have more than one mate. Well, she was Queen. She could reverse her father’s laws and let the pride go once more with the laws her grandfather had set up, anything to get out of the possibility of Aricin having feelings for her.

A pained moan escaped her. Whether Aricin heard was unclear. She didn’t want him to hear the horrible pain she was suffering in her body and still in her mind.

She remembered the day she finally told Aricin that she didn’t have feelings for him. Fear had fallen over her, even as she studied his face to study his reaction. A few times she turned away, not wanting to see. His response was far different than what she expected. He’d had no feelings for her either! Her heart had beat in triumph, but something in her spirit had fallen, dwindled into a dark place. She just ignored it and considered her success. Asya then told him of the laws her grandfather made. Aricin looked confused, almost as if he had never heard of such laws before. He hadn’t. And he agreed that they would take other mates while they acted like a pair around the pride.

Her father told her that the Pridelands was a