Chapter 2: Meeting the Pride
It's been a few days since the prince and princess of the Northern River Pride have been born. The Queen of the pride was laying in her cool den with the cubs at her paws. Sarabi was just starting to crawl while her brother, Mansi, laid sleeping in his mother's paws. The King of the pride, Mosi, walked into the den with another male at his side.
"Kema, where are the cubs?" he asked. Kema looked up and saw the king. She smiled and he returned it slightly.
"Well, Mansi is here sleeping and Sarabi is trying to crawl." Kema said.
The King looked over at his daughter and smiled. He caught himself before the other male caught it. The male, a light brown lion with blue eyes and a black male, looked over the cubs.
"Hello Kema. How are you?" the male asked.
"I am good Abasi. How are you?" Kema replied.
"I am good thank you." He said.
Abasi was Mosi's father. He had his moments of niceness and evilness but it was very unpredictable of how he would act.
"Son, tell me, what are you going to do with the girl? She simply cannot be queen of a pride." Said Abasi.
Kema turned her head and rolled her eyes making sure neither male saw her.
"She will just be another member of the pride." Mosi said.
Kema hated the way her mate talked about females. Some of things he would say offended her too.
"And what will you do if a male wants to mate with her?" Abasi asked.
"Well-" he was cut off by Kema.
"If a male wishes to mate with her then it will be her decision. I will not force my cubs into doing something they do not wish to do." Kema said. Abasi turned to Kema and looked her in her eyes.
"She will not be queen of this pride." Abasi said. Kema sighed, stood, and looked at him.
"I really wish you two would stop saying that. My daughter will be whatever she wants to be. If Queen is wish she wants to be than it will be her choice. That is perfectly fine if she isn't queen of this pride. But she will always be a queen in my heart." Kema said.
Mosi smiled but it dropped when his father turned to him.
"As you wish Kema." Abasi said.
He growled under his breath and walked out of the den. Mosi had a new feeling inside of him. It was a feeling of pride in his mate. The king smiled at his mate as he and his father exited the den. Kema smiled to herself and turned to her cubs.
"Come cubs, let's go meet your pride." She said.
She picked up both of her cubs and took them outside. The entire pride came over. It wasn't a big pride. It was a small and some of the lioness had cubs of their own. Aslin was among the lionesses in the pride and stood next to Kema. The two lionesses had been friends since they were cubs and one was never seen without the other. Aslin was all white with blue eyes and black rimmed ears.
Two twin lionesses were named Titu and Zuma. They were young and were taken in by Kema when they were cubs. Titu was a slender lioness and she had beautiful green eyes with black rims around her ears. Zuma was a little larger than her sister. She also had green eyes but she didn't have the black rims. Then there was Alika. She was an orange color with brown eyes and a creamy white underbelly. She had a small build with broad shoulders.
There was also Kani. Kani was taken in when she was found by a river dying. It had taken Kema two days to convince Mosi to let her in the pride. He finally gave in just so that Kema would stop talking.
The last lioness was Kesi. Her mother had died during giving birth to Kesi's brother. When Kesi was taken into the pride, her brother was banished by Mosi. The two see each other almost every night across the river. The pride loved to two new editions greatly.
"Kema, what are you going to do with your daughter considering she won't be seen as a princess by her father or grandfather?" asked Kesi.
"She will be trained and taught as a princess no matter what her father or grandfather says. She may not be queen of this pride but she will always be a queen in my heart. And as far as Mansi goes, I will teach him how to treat a female. His father may have his suave moments but I will teach him to be what a female wants in a male. No matter what." Kema said.
The lionesses in her pride smiled and roared in agreement. Then Mosi appeared.
"Ok, ok. My Queen and our cubs need their rest. Continue on with your day." He said.
"Why are you being so nice?" Kema said.
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Come. Get your rest." Mosi said. He picked up Mansi and Sarabi and carried them back into the den.
"Are you ok?" Kema asked.
"I'm fine. Now, get your rest." He licked his cubs and his wife on the head and walked out of the den. Kema thought to herself for a moment but let it go as she enjoyed her mate's kindness. The Queen slept for hours and woke up to find Mosi injured and bleeding.