The Kings Secret
By: Nightshade89

Dada crouched next to her friend in fear looking at her king framed in front of the entrance to the cave. The great king that she knew was forgotten in a flash. There was fury in his eyes as he glared at Dada, Nala, and the little bundle of fur lying in the crook of Nala's stomach. It had been known by Dada that the little cub wasn't really Simba's son, a closely guarded secret between Nala and Dada.

It started near the end of Scar's rein over the Pride Lands, and when Simba was still believed to be dead. Nala met a male lion while out hunting. The two started a relationship but it wasn't to last long. Somehow Scar had gotten wind that another male lion was in the Pride Lands and it became too dangerous for the two to meet. He left Nala one day and told her when he got his own pride he'd come back for her. Soon after he left Nala discovered she was pregnant. What should have been a wonderful revelation was one to bring about fear. What would Scar do should she give birth to a cub? Especially if it wasn't his own. Nala had come to Dada and told her what had happened. Dada and Nala both knew if the cub were to live that Scar would have to believe the cub was his. This would mean that Nala would have to seduce Scar into committing the act, which wouldn't be to hard because it was no secret that he pined for Nala. He would only be too willing to serve his purpose. The other option was to go and look for the cub's father and bring him back to challenge Scar's leadership. Nala came to the conclusion that the best course of action, no matter the dangers, would be to find her lover. Nala set out while Dada stayed behind and hushed up the other lionesses about Nala's disappearance. Soon she came back with Simba in tow.

Now Nala had another dilemma on her hands, what would Simba do? She and Dada once more discussed what should be done. Dada told Nala that it would only be fair to tell Simba the truth about the cub. Nala knew this was true and she truly did love Simba, but she didn't know if he would think she didn't love him because she was carrying another lion's kin. She decided that she would tell him about the cub but wouldn't tell him that he wasn't the real father.

Dada was sworn to secrecy about the cub. Neither she nor Nala had ever told any of the other lionesses about her pregnancy. It at first was to protect them, so if Scar found out about it, they would be the only ones punished and the others would be spared….hopefully. But now it was to protect Simba.

Dada's mind raced. How did he find out about the cub's half heritage?? She though. She had gone through extra ordinary precautions to make sure the truth never got out. So how did he figure it out? Then it came to her. It had been known that Scar had a right hand man, or woman. Zira was a lioness that had joined the pride some time after the death of Mufasa. She had been the only one that seemed to take a keen interest of Nala. It was now apparent that somehow she had noticed the bulge that was appearing on Nala due to her pregnancy.

Zira and her son were found in the Pride Lands half starved and delirious. The lionesses had all expected Scar to either send her away or have her killed. It wouldn't have been the first time; several others had faced that same fate. But for some reason he showed compassion for the lioness and her son. Soon she recovered, but her cub however didn't. Zira soon became attached to Scar and the two were near inseparable. It was clear that Scar did not truly love the lioness, but she served him a big purpose. Zira had been infatuated by Scar. It was either because he showed her mercy or she truly did see something in him. But either way she did everything to show her love for him. That included getting all the dirt on the others. The lionesses had to give up their spoils to the hyenas. The lionesses though soon started to take small chunks of the food to a hideout where they could eat without hindrance. It worked out so well they started to bring their whole catch. Zira however soon found out and reported it to Scar. Many other instances like this happened. Soon however, Zira started to get a mind of her own. She stared to black mail the other lionesses. Her love for Scar was nigh impossible to break but she still loved herself more than him. She knew that she could bully the lionesses into what she wanted them to do because of her position with Scar. If it held no purpose for her, then it was instantly reported to Scar. So somehow she must have found out about it and kept it to herself. But this brought about a new question, how did it serve her a purpose? Either way, she must have told Simba about it.

Simba's eyes were filled with anger, but not only that, hurt and uncertainty as well. Dada knew he must have been struggling to find the right course of action. She could hardly blame him though. He had just found out that his mate had lied to him about the cub. It must have come as a huge blow. Simba shook his head and asked in a calm voice, "Is it true? Is it true that this isn't my cub?"

Nala heaved a sigh. And said, "It's true, it is not your cub."

"Why did you not tell me this? Why did you tell me it was my cub?"

"I was afraid of what you would do."The look of anger was leaving Simba's eyes, but it was rapidly being replaced with hurt. Nala's revelation seemed to hurt Simba all the more. Dada knew this wasn't going well. "

She was trying to protect you", Dada was surprised at how calm she sounded. Despite the fact that she was trembling, her voice was unwavering. She knew what she said sounded foolish, but she had to try to make him understand. "She was afraid that if you found out the truth about the cub you wouldn't think she loved you!"

"So what am I to think when she lies to me about who the father is?" asked Simba. What am I to think about that?"

"I just didn't want to hurt your feelings", said Nala desperately. Simba looked at her and said, "How do you think my feelings are now? Now that I find out that my mate has been keeping a secret about the cub that I believed to be my kin? I don't think I could be anymore hurt." Dada, knew he was right, by lying to him the whole time made the truth that much more hurtful for him. "Who else knows?" Simba asks suddenly.

"Wha-"

"Who else knows?"

"Nobody else, just us. We made sure to tell no one else, the only other one I can think of is who ever told you." Then Dada stopped and looked at Simba more closely and asked, "Who DID tell you? I am pretty sure that Nala and I were the one ones aware of the pregnancy. We didn't even tell Rafiki about it."

"Zira" came the reply. Dada knew by the way he looked the fact that Zira knew of the cubs half heritage didn't sit well with him.

Simba started to walk away, then stopped and said over his shoulder, "We'll discuss the future of the cub later. I need some time alone." And with that Simba walked away. Dada knew by his stiff legged movements he was highly agitated. Dada sighed and sat down next to Nala and stared out into the savannah. Simba's agitation worried her, but there was nothing for it. She and Nala would just have to wait and see what his decision was.