flashed his teeth, and licked her ear. "Go to sleep, okay? We'll talk to Mheetu in the morning."

            That night, Adwin slept like a king.

 

-Back in the Pridelands...

 

            "Um, who are you?"

            Ashiki had his eyes wide open, and his claws unsheathed as quickly as he could. Not far from him stood an unfamiliar brown lioness, whose eyes gleamed green. He definitely did not recognize her as being part of the group at the funeral today.

            She was an invader to him. And too dangerously close to Chipo.

            "Leave," he snarled, only giving her one chance.

            But the lioness merely stood there, her face scrunched up in contempt. Good, she thought no better of him than he thought of her. Now he had reason to attack her.

            He crouched, preparing to strike, when Chipo poked her head out of their den. "Ashiki, I-" She froze as she spotted the lioness. "Oh..."

            "Chipo, get back in the den," he growled.

            The lioness snorted. "Where's my mother? I know that you're not Pridelanders."

            Oh, so she was a Prideland lioness then? That changed everything. Ashiki straightened himself, but left his claws bare. "Apologizes, I didn't realize you lived here," he said, not losing the edge in his voice. "And your mother?"

            "Kiara. Queen Kiara," the lioness said. "Does she know you're here?"

            Oh, how very interesting. This lioness definitely was absent from everything.

            "Oh, Queen Kiara," said Ashiki. "I'm afraid that... she's no longer with us."

            The lioness's ears perked. "Excuse me?"

            "Maybe it's best if you talked to King Abel about this-"

            "King?" Realization seemed to dawn upon the brown lioness. "He's not king. Mom said-"

            "Queen Kiara was killed earlier this evening by a rogue. King Abel now rules the lands."

            The brown lioness took a tentative step back, shaking her head. "No, that's not..."

            "Don't believe me? Then go speak to him about it."

            "Oh I will." She had such a defiant tone in her voice that it intrigued Ashiki, amusing him so. It reminded him of when he first stumbled upon Lindiwe. But unlike Lindiwe, this lioness was trying to keep herself together. He could hear that much beyond her tough exterior.

            But when she refused to make good on her word and instead stared more at him, Ashiki grew increasingly irritated. "Well?" he growled, swishing his tail. "Aren't you going to go?"

            Blinking rapidly, the lioness turned to climb the Rock, snapping out of whatever daze she had been. Ashiki watched her shadow begin to ascend, and snorted. Lionesses are always so snappy. Just like Ikuta was...

            Just thinking about his sister made him angry beyond all comprehension. She betrayed him, kicking him down when he needed her help the most. Probably because of that idiot, Ikinya. She always liked him the best, he thought resentfully.

            "Ashiki?" Chipo called out.

            He turned to her, his mind and attention now fully on her. "Chipo, I'm-"

            "Why did you kill her?" the lioness asked timidly, not leaving her spot from the den's entrance. "She supported us..."

            Ashiki moved so that he was in front of his mate, staring down at her beautiful face. "Chipo, she knew what needed to be done," he reasoned.

            But his mate shook her head. "She didn't know anything. She loved you, and you..."

            "I needed their help here. They knew who I was, who we are. I'm sure Ikuta already told them what I did."

            "Ashiki, I think we should run away somewhere else. Live a long happy life. Raise a family."

            Ashiki's face darkened, and his mate took a quick step back. "We had a family, remember?" Suddenly he didn't want to be in the presence of his mate anymore. "Chipo, go back to sleep."

            "Ashiki, I'm-"

            "Go back to sleep." This time he did not hesitate to raise his voice.

            Chipo quickly nodded her head and darted back into her den. Ashiki sighed, his anger now quelled and instead replaced by regret. He didn't want Chipo to be more upset by him, but he couldn't have helped it. He never wanted to be reminded of what couldn't happen for them.

            A cub. There was a cub in their future. But now it was dead, and the old Ashiki had died along with it. They couldn't even tell if it was going to be a male or female. What a shame.

            The clouds roared over their heads, and rain began to descend upon them. Ashiki gazed up, wondering if this was a sign. Whatever. He'd have his day, one day.

 

            Your sister approaches, warned Zuri.

            Abel sat up, blinking in the darkness. There, outside the entrance, stood a brown lioness who stared directly back at him.

            He knew who she was - Adanna, the first daughter of Kiara. The one who hated him for good knows why. The one who fled their lands because she couldn't stand the sight of him. A traitor.

            Abel growled lowly as he approached her, not inching to stand outside because he did not want to get wet. "You have some nerve showing up here again," he snarled.

            Adanna didn't seemed to be fazed by him, which only agitated him more. He wanted her to be afraid of him! "I can just banish you from these lands, you know," he continued. "I can call you a traitor, and exile you, and no one would bother to question me."

            "Where's Mom?" Adanna asked, lightning cracking in the background.

            Abel was surprised by the question. In his mind he had expected a sarcastic retort thrown back in his face. He knew, from Defir, that his mother and half-sister had always had their troubles, and that Adanna essentially ditched them when he was born. Four years, she had been gone. Where she had fled, no one seemed to have known. Nor cared, which was as it should've been.

            Adanna took a step forward. She was bigger than him, and older, but that didn't mean she could be stronger than him. "Where's.Mom?"

            Abel spat, "Dead. She's dead, and I'm King now, and there's nothing you can do to say otherwise!"

            Adanna's jaw twitched. Abel smiled with satisfaction. Good, that was the response he was waiting for.

            But the smack that followed, he did not expect. It stung him badly, and when he brought up his paw to feel at his new wound, Abel could feel the beginnings of blood forming.

            "So what, did you have her killed? Couldn't wait to be a king?" snarled

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