CHAPTER 4

Inside the royal cave, Kuumiza was already asleep. Scar stood over her for a minute, watching her. As he watched her, he began to ache. He longed to be with her like a mate, not a father. She was so beautiful. And she wasn't really his daughter, not by blood. She wasn't even from the same pride. Deciding, he slowly, gently, began to mount her.

Just as he got into position, her eyes popped open. Looking back quickly to see where the pressure was coming from, she freaked when she saw Scar. "Father, what are you doing?!" she cried. "This isn't right!"

He smiled. "I am king," he declared. "Right is what I make it."

"No, Father," she objected, struggling.

"I am not your father," he hissed in her ear. "I am simply a king who chose you long ago."

Kuumiza began to cry. "Please, don't do this!" she begged.

Scar smiled wider. Without warning, he entered her. Kuumiza gave a roar of pain and fear, struggling with all her might. But she had never been a strong lioness, she was too small. And as he continued, she found herself filled with a mixture of pleasure and pain.

When he finally finished, and backed away, she lay there panting. There were still tears in her eyes, but also a feeling inside her she had never felt before. And she longed to know what it was.

Scar licked her ear, and lay down beside her. "Good night, my dear," he whispered.

"Good night... Your Highness," she gasped out, then lay her head down. And she didn't move for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Nala walked up to Kuumiza. "Are you all right?" Nala asked. "I heard a roar last night, but I was too afraid to come."

Kuumiza smiled sadly. "I understand," she said softly. "I'm fine. I simply..." she thought hard, trying to think of a convincing lie. "I sat down on a sharp bone."

Nala looked hard at her, not believing it. But Kuumiza didn't offer any other explination, simply walked away.

As the days went by, Nala continued to stay with the rest of the pride. And each night, there would be a roar heard from the royal cave. Every morning, Kuumiza would come up with a random excuse of what happened, but some of the pride began to have suspicions, mostly that Scar was hitting the princess. Nala had her own suspicions, apart form the pride's but kept them to herself.

You see, Nala was still called queen, but she noticed, to her relief, that Scar never touched her, or even looked at her seductivly anymore. Instead, all of his affection seemed to be pointed toward Princess Kuumiza. And each day, Kuumiza seemed more dejected than the day before. All of this didn't stop Kuumiza from helping rule the kingdom, however. She still went between Scar and everyone else, fixing whatever needed to be fixed.

As time went on, Kuumiza grew hungrier, and more tired. When she started to vomit, she went to Rafiki to figure out what was going on.

Rafiki looked her over. When he was through, he looked at her grimly.

"So," Kuumiza asked, worried at his expression, "what's wrong with me?"

"You're pregnant," he told her simply.

Kuumiza opened her mouth to say something, but found herself too shocked to speak. She fell to the ground, sobbing.

"Who is the father?" he asked quietly. She refused to look him in the eyes, simply sobbed harder. Rafiki nodded, understanding. "So it is the king."

"Rafiki, what do I do?" Kuumiza sobbed. "He takes me every night, and I'm too weak to fight him!" She sniffed. "He even forces me to keep calling him 'father' around the others. I can't keep doing this. And now I'm pregnant? We can't hide it anymore. He's a pervert, and I'm a disgrace!" She sobbed again, covering her nose with her paw.

When she finally quieted down, Rafiki spoke. "You are not his daughter by blood. And your word holds weight in the pride. I'm sure you will not be cast out for this."

"But that's just it, Rafiki," she admitted. "There are times... I like it. I want more, and I know I shouldn't."

Rafiki thought for a moment. "Then perhaps," he suggested, "you should insist that he name you his queen, in place of Nala. He merely adopted you, and could disown you as his daughter easily."

"Do you think it would work? Would he actually do that?"

Rafiki shrugged. "It's worth a try. Especially now that he will soon have a new heir."

Kuumiza nodded sadly. After thanking Rafiki, she headed home slowly. She didn't greet anyone she passed. When she saw Scar talking with three of the hyenas, she called out to him, "Father, may I speak with you?"

Scar looked over and nodded. "Of course, Kuumiza." Dismissing the hyenas, he led the way into the royal cave, where he turned to her. "What is it, my dear?"

"I'm pregnant."

Scar's eyes widened. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Kuumiza nodded. "I just came back from Rafiki's. He confirmed it." Scar nodded, not saying anything. "What are we going to do?" Kuumiza asked him, distressed. "What are we going to tell everyone?"

Scar stared at her cooly. "It was a rogue," he replied sharply, then turned and walked out of the cave.

Kuumiza's jaw dropped, and she watched him leave. He didn't look back at her. She burst into loud sobs and collapsed onto the cave floor. This was her worst nightmare come true. She was pregnant with her father's cub, and he refused to even admit it was his!

As her sobs quieted, she thought about what Rafiki had said. Perhaps she could hide the pregnancy long enough to convince Scar to become her mate. It was worth a shot.

As she left the cave, the hunting party was just getting back with gazelle. Her favorite. Too bad she didn't feel like eating.

She tried to walk by them, but Serabi stopped her. "Eat something, Princess."

Kumiza shook her head. "No, you go ahead. You caught it, after all."

"But the royal family get the first choice, you know this," Serabi pressed.

"It's ok," Kuumiza assured her sadly. "I'm not hungry. Give it to Queen Nala. She needs it more than I do."

Serabi frowned and walked up to the princess. "You need to eat too," she said quietly so only Kuumiza could hear. "Going without isn't good for the cub."

Kuumiza's eyes went wide in panic, and she looked at Serabi in disbelief. "How did you know?" she whispered.

Serabi smiled sadly. "I'm a mother too," the former queen replied sadly. "I know the signs."

Kuumiza's breathing became short and fast. Serabi frowned in worry. "Calm down..." she began, but Kuumiza turned and ran as fast as she could away from Pride Rock, away from the Pridelands, away from everything she had known from a cub till now. She vowed she would be a rogue lioness again.