What we have here is—failure to communicate.
—Cool Hand Luke

Kria hastily withdrew her paw, saying nothing about Atawale's comment. Atawale simply smiled at her, then turned back to Rayan. "My son tells me you are from Sanctuary?" he asked, somewhat skeptically.

"Yes, sire. I am Prince Rayan, and this is my mate . . . Kria."

"You can understand if I don't believe you. It's highly unlikely anyone would have made the journey across the desert. Dozens have tried, and all of them have yet to return."

"Are you calling me a liar?" asked Rayan bluntly.

"I would rather not," said Atawale. "It just seems that your story is—slightly farfetched. After all, no one since Giza has ever had that claim taken seriously."

"Giza?"

"A proud, noble lion. My ancestor in fact, many generations back. He came here, thinking he had found Heaven." Atawale chuckled. "You can imagine his disappointment when he realized he had only found Daima instead. He became king, and was possibly the wisest, strongest ruler we have had." Atawale smiled. "Of course, it's doubtful that he actually came across the des—"

"He did. He was the greatest king Sanctuary ever had."

"Really, now?"

"Yes. He ruled twenty-three generations before me."

"Is that so?" asked Atawale politely.

"I'm not lying," said Rayan.

"I'm sure. Now, I am willing to let you stay in these lands, even join my pride. But you will follow by my rules. If you would rather not, you are more than welcome to leave."

"Leave where? There's nowhere to go but desert!"

Atawale laughed. "On the contrary, there's nothing but savannah as far as the eye can see. No one stays in the desert, it's practically uninhabitable."

"But—you mean there's more savannah?"

"There's barely any desert."

"Is that so?" asked Rayan, mimicking Atawale's tone.

"You are more than welcome to see for yourself."

Jabali coughed behind the lions. Atawale turned to him. "Ah, thank you. You must excuse me, I must be going. Remarkably little that I have to attend to, but it does keep me busy." The old lion stood up and walked out of the den, leaving Rayan and Kria with Jabali and the rest of the pride.

"Sorry about that," said Jabali. "My father usually much more hospitable. Sometimes it can be a pain." Jabali grinned. "Sometimes I'd swear I was running the kingdom more than he is. So . . . would you like to meet the pride?"

"I think—" began Rayan.

"Of course," interrupted Kria in a polite tone. Jabali led them around the den, pointing out each lioness and stating her name. "And we've got a spot over there for you two; Dad's already agreed to let you stay.

"Uh . . . Jabali?" said Kria hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"We were thinking about just staying in the jungle—if that'd be alright," she said timidly. Rayan glared at her.

"Oh, uh . . . Are you sure?" asked Jabali.

"It may only be for a few days," said Rayan. "Assuming your father doesn't mind us on his lands."

"I don't think he will," said Jabali. "You don't seem like the gang type."

"Gang type?"

"You know. Troublemakers. We get a ton here. Especially rogues, you should stay away from them."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Rayan. "Now if you'll excuse us . . ."

"Sure," said Jabali. "See you two soon?"

"Maybe," said Rayan as Kria said, "Hopefully."

"Well, see you guys whenever," said Jabali with a smile.

oOo

Rayan shrugged the antelope onto the ground, quickly saying grace as Kria dug in. He glared at her over the meal. "What was that?" he said angrily.

"What was what?"

"Back at the den. We could have stayed there." He angrily ripped meat off the carcass.

"I just—I just didn't want to."

"We could have gotten out of this goddamn hellhole. You can't even breathe here."

"I just didn't want to stay there," said Kria, looking away.

"Then where do you want to stay? Here? You want to go back home and be ripped to shreds?"

"There's nothing wrong with being homesick."

"Forget Sanctuary. Forget it even existed. This is home now. That out there is our home."

"Why do you want to be out there? It—it can be nice in here," said Kria timidly. "It's rather comfy, it has a nice cozy feel—"

"I'm a prince, dammit!" snapped Rayan. "A prince! And here I am, wallowing in this filthy hole, and I can't even walk outside without them looking at me like a freak!"

The jungle was completely silent.

"Honey . . . look, just give it time. They'll accept you for who you are—"

"I could be sleeping out there tonight, in a den, and actually able to breathe for once, and you want to stay here!"

"I'm just—a little afraid."

Rayan snorted derisively. "Of what? Being welcomed to death?"

"I don't feel safe around Atawale."

"He may be a jerk, but at least he knows how to treat his guests," said Rayan. He stared down at the barely-touched carcass, then stood up and walked a little ways before he lay down again.

Kria walked over to him. "Are you okay?"

"I just want to sleep tonight," he said.

"But you barely ate anything. We haven't eaten for days, you need to eat something. You're getting thin, it's scaring me . . ."

"I'll eat when I feel like it."

"Rayan . . ." she lay down next to him. She nuzzled him. "You know I love you, right?"

He sighed. "Yeah." He looked up at her and grudgingly said, "I love you, too."

Kria smiled, her smile fading as he turned away. All couples have their fights, she thought. This'll pass . . .

oOo

Sansasha cringed as she lay near the river. "It's the same damn argument every time!"

"She's just as much my daughter as yours—"

"Then where are you? Huh? You don't ever come to see her, you never try to—"

"You know damn well that's not true! You never let me around her, never! Sambi even tried to rape me when I asked if I could see her—"

"She's better off with me!"

"She's better off with you? Running around with thugs all day—"

"At least I'm not raising her to be a whore, like you!"

"At least I do something decent!"

"You're a filthy whore! What's decent about that? You were sleeping with that bastard Shaka right in front of her!"

"Don't you call me a whore! Augh!"

"I'll call you what I want, bitch. Now get—"

"Daddy?"

Jito turned around, startled. "Just go back to the river, Sashie."

"You hit Mommy."

"We're just talking. Grownup stuff. Now go back to—"

"Sashie! You want to come with Mommy, don't you?" Jito snarled at her. "You want to come live with Mommy? You don't have to stay with your father."

Sansasha looked from her mother to her father, and back again. "But I like it here with Daddy."

"Are you sure, honey?"

"I wanna stay with Daddy."

"But—"

"You heard her. Now leave!"

Sansasha's mother stood, shaking. "You even took her away from me!"

"I said leave!"

The lioness ran into the savannah, tears streaming down her face. Sansasha nuzzled her father. "You know I love you Daddy, right?"

"I know, sweetie. Now really, you need to get to sleep, it's late again and . . ."

oOo

So much had happened in the last four months. They'd finally moved out of the jungle, settling down on the outer part of the kingdom. Kria had convinced Rayan to stay out of Atawale's pride. He'd grown to even somewhat like it. It was peaceful, the two of them alone together. Jabali came by and visited often, seeing how the newcomers were settling in. Atawale came less frequently, mainly interested in business only.

It was about a month after they had come that Kria announced the news; she was pregnant. Rayan looked up in surprise, amazed. He couldn't believe it, but here it was, nevertheless. It was the happiest day of his life.

The first person to hear the news was Prince Jabali; he brought them to the den and gave them a feast. The king, Atawale, only attended briefly, only coming to extend his congratulations to Kria, saying she would be a fine mother.

Rayan took up the hunting from then on. He had become restless as it was; there was far less for him to do now that he wasn't the prince. Jabali did what he could to help his unease, showing him every corner of the kingdom. The land itself was interesting enough to raise Rayan's spirits; so many things were new to him here. The variety of animals, the difference in culture, the rain—the rain was amazing. Never before had he seen anything like it; water falling freely from the sky, dousing him. He was ecstatic when it began to rain all day—until it kept up for an entire month.

Kria amused herself with the other lionesses, learning of all the gossip around the kingdom. It was almost like being back home, and the lionesses instantly adopted her as their own.

It was in the third month that he began to have his doubts. He was, unfortunately for the both of them, a very jealous mate. In Sanctuary, it had been his, all of it—and now not even his mate was necessarily his own. He became more and more worried about her visits to the den, even going so far one evening as to interrogate her. The doubt of what she carried weighed more and more heavily on his mind.

And then the day finally came. He waited anxiously by her side, feeling her claws digging into his leg as she strained with the effort of giving birth. He was relieved when she finally let go, only to feel her grip it again an instant later. The shaman, Moyo, placed the first cub on the ground and then delivered the second. He placed them both in front of Kria's smiling face as Rayan looked on. "It's a boy and a girl," said Moyo.

Kria beamed up at Rayan. They had already chosen the names. She bathed the cubs happily. "Little Kaata," she said, nuzzling her daughter. "And little Reyn."

Rayan gently picked up his son, smiling, devastation hidden behind it. His cubs' pelts were darker than his, darker than Kria's, darker than any lion of Sanctuary. These were not his cubs. This was not his son.