(A/N: Early chapter release, you guys! I do have a backlog, but I'm pacing out the content so I don't overwhelm myself. I needed a little break from my jewelry shop today as well. Feeling kind of bummed out for no particular reason, and I thought posting a chapter would be helpful. I have a few projects I'm part way through, but I knew this post was a task I could complete.)


With a paw, Zira wiped the blood from her chin and shook the dirt from her ears. She craned her neck and stared up the big, wild-maned lion as thin wisps of clouds hung in the blue sky and a shrill grasshopper chirped nearby. When he snarled, she looked away; today's punishment was enough already. At her father's paws lay five fat mice, their little feet sticking up in the air and their little mouths gaping.

Kralj smirked, making the buffalo-horn-sharp angles of his wide face look harsh in the sunlight. Scars like tree twigs ran across his face into the thicket of his faded brown mane. One scar in particular crossed over his cheek bone and halved his nose.

He'd lost interest in her other sisters long ago. They'd cowered and cried for their mothers. Wailing, stop! Stop, don't hurt me! Through her "disobedient nature," and her refusal to be like her sisters, Zira had become his favorite child. She was his daughter, when none of her aunts or her own mother could give him a son that wasn't stillborn.

"Every breath you take… well… Sometimes I wonder how you're able to take another. And have the gall to look anyone in the eye."

The tone of his graveled voice struck her. It was the same, unmistakable tone he used when he'd tell the tale of how he'd won his first pride from two—or sometimes three—old males, or how impossible it would be to find a pride that didn't know his name. His chest puffed out, his eyes half-lidded with pride… Was he proud of her? She'd never heard any sort of compliment come from her father's mouth. Was something wrong with her ears? "Your Majesty?"

Kralj snorted to himself, started to turn away, and gave Zira the impression that she was no longer on his mind. "I'm going to walk the border." He scowled at her. "That enough time Zira?"

"Yes." She nodded furiously. A good lunch was in order. Why had she thought he'd want mice for breakfast? An insult, and she'd known it. She tongued the blood from her split lower lip. If she'd gotten up earlier, she would've had time to find something much better. Now she'd wasted the morning. But she could make it up to him.

If Kralj had no son, then she would be the daughter to make it up to him, too.


Days and days passed, and soon Kiara saw not one full moon turn full again in the night sky, but two. Ramik brought her more of the white paste to ease her nerves. The last thing Kiara wanted to do was sleep, but the waking world was just as painful.

In her dreams, she saw them. Torn limb from limb. Flesh stabbed with dagger claws. Her mother's wide-eyed face hurt the most, and she woke up screaming and crying again. Ramik stayed by her, always comforting her, never more than few feet away.

Her mind was fracturing, but she grew numb. She could do nothing for the poor lionesses at home.

She also dreamed about walking up to Kovu and slapping his smug face. He'd barely flinch, and he would laugh at her, his green eyes flashing while he cursed her for her silly stupidity. Once, she tore him to pieces, but his immortal, maniacal laugh was endless and deafened her as she spat out his blood that threatened to drown her, too. It was a dream far worse than any of the rest.

Her one-day friend had murdered her father. She's mistaken a cold killer for the cub she'd met years before, as had probably been designed. He'd come back into Kiara's life like he'd never even left; he'd repaid her with betrayal and destruction.

And what can I ever do about it? He's too strong. He has my family. It's my fault… I trusted him… and he took advantage. Will I ever see the Pride Lands again? Is this how I'll live the rest of my life? In exile with this guilt in my heart? My father was right. You don't turn your back on an Outsider...

Kiara lay alone under a shady tree, exhausted, but too awake even after a sleepless night. She was all but friends now with her exhaustion. A few of Tojo's lionesses had asked her to join in their hunt that day, but soon realized how useless she was and had sent her away. Caught in her thoughts and fears of what she could do about anything, she was startled when Ramik said her name.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'm okay…" She sighed and sat up. The leaves overhead shivered in the slight breeze, and she shook her head when a fly tried to land on her cheek.

"I know I can only ask." In his eyes, she saw the unspoken you know I'd do anything for you…

Kiara smiled. "I know… You always ask."

They'd grown close, and close fast. Ramik offered her comfort and kept her steady. He told her she was beautiful and sweet. Kiara vaguely remembered that Tojo and her father had once considered betrothing them. Her mother had intervened later and had insisted that Kiara be allowed to marry who she wanted. Regardless, the lost princess was happy that any such an arrangement would've worked.

He licked her cheek. "I found something cool the other day that I want to show you. Want to check it out?"

She nodded, having no will to refuse, and hoping a little walk would help her mind. "Okay."

Tojo's lands weren't too different in that the sparse grass was green when the rain came, and golden brown in the withering heat of the dry season. The other lionesses had told Kiara they rarely had to look hard for their dinner. But more of the land's dirt was exposed, and easily stirred up in the wind. Kiara still wasn't used to the small pebbles and other rocky debris that constantly wriggled in between her toes. Her mouth often felt gritty. The air smelled earthier, especially in the morning when the occasional dawn mist would roll halfway over the low hills to the west before the sun rubbed it out.

"It's not too far, Kiara."

Ramik led her to a towering tree. The behemoth shared one base, but something had split the single trunk in two, creating a V-shape. The bark within the split was skimpier and darker. Kiara tilted her head back. Higher up, the branches had tangled together in a mass of laced wood and dense leaves.

"Cool, huh? At least I think it is. I couldn't believe that nobody told me about this before I found it. Maybe they must not've been impressed. I mean… I'm amused too easily. I think it was struck by lightning."

Kiara's eyes went from ground to sky again.

"Do you like it?" Ramik went behind the tree and rested his chin within the point of the split.

She nodded. "Yes. It's very beautiful. It's amazing that it looks so healthy. My father would've appreciated something like this." Her face fell. "I miss him so much… As if I haven't said that a hundred times…"

"Even when you've lost count, that won't make you miss him any less."

She walked over to the tree. "And I'll never be queen. Like he wanted… Like I didn't want..." she trailed off. She'd been a foolish cub, and look where fun, play, and new friends had gotten her.

"Would you be my queen? Er, if you'd like to be my queen, here in my pride, since I am my father's heir, and I do like you very much, and well… it's not the same as being queen of Pride Rock… but… well…" He let out a frustrated sigh and hid part of his face in one of the tree's trunks.

She looked at his young face, outlined by a light brown mane that framed his cheeks with stray strands. His eyes were bluer than his father's. When he looked away, self-conscious, she nuzzled him. He was stumbling over his words and practically blushing under his light fur. "I like you a lot, too…"

He jerked his head to look at her again. He grinned wide. "Will you be my queen, Kiara?"

It was true—Ramik made her feel at peace. He was kind to her, and she knew she would grow to care about him even more. Maybe this is where I'm meant to be?

She nodded with a smile. "Yes."


"Did you patrol today?"

"Every day," Kovu told his mother as he crouched down at the watering hole for a drink. The cool water ran over his parched tongue. He dunked his head below the surface.

"Today?"

He pulled his head from the water and shook his mane out with a pleased sigh. "What? Yes, this morning. I wouldn't forget my only daily duty." He turned to his mother and raised an eyebrow.

"Tojo could surprise us at any moment. We must be ready." Zira paced. She muttered, "You must be prepared."

At first he'd been happy to see her, but like most days now, he found her paranoia grating on his nerves. Like most days, he turned to his distraught mother and said, "From where I'm standing we definitely have everything under control. What do we really have to fear?"

From the first few days on, after Tojo and his escorts had left without a fight, everybody had gorged themselves. Someone could always be found with her belly grossly distended, a pleased smirk on her face. After a few days, Kovu had ascended Pride Rock's outstretched arm and had given a roar to proclaim the Pride Lands in the name of his family. Every night, they gladly slept inside Pride Rock with a roof over their heads, their hostages safe and secure. Frightened and compliant. Zira herself slept where Simba had spent his nights in the middle of the den on a flat, raised spot in the stone floor.

Zira scolded him. "Taking the Pride Lands was easy. Keeping Pride Rock is another matter." She stopped pacing for a moment, and she tried to sit down, but her tail hardly touched the ground before she bounced up and started to pace again. "And Tojo's sons! Do you know what they could do?"

Kovu raised his head and forced a reassuring smile. In as soothing a tone as he could muster, he said, "Hey… We've all trained, Mother, you know that. We've trained to your standards. Aren't we safe?" He scoffed, "Don't we have hostages?"

His mother ground her teeth and whipped her tail. He could see it now in her quick strides and the wild look in her narrowed, occupied gaze. She doubted their safety. She didn't trust Simba's lionesses.

"They cower anytime anyone walks by them." Kovu pointed out. "We are feared. We haunt nightmares." He did want to tell her that Tojo and Kiara had given up, that Simba's lionesses would never throw away their lives or the trust they were gradually securing. Anything to put her at ease. Though, in reality, he couldn't be so sure of anything, either.

Out of necessity, Simba's lionesses were allowed to leave the den, one at a time, to relieve themselves, drink water, or hunt a little food. They had bowed to their new king, and had cooperated with their captors. Each had been assigned to a guardian. They had to stay near Pride Rock, take an escort, or report back to their guardian quickly. Sentries watched them at night. So far there had been no problems. Though, that was easy when Zira had told them that if anyone was even thought to be missing, the others would pay the price. In the back of Kovu's mind, too, he knew there was no guarantee their hostages would never fight back, if given the chance. "Relax, Mother. Feel the grass under your paws like you never left the Pride Lands. Enjoy your full stomach. Enjoy it for Scar."

Zira snarled, but finally sat down. She glared at the ground. "I won't lose Pride Rock again. It's finally ours. It's yours." She looked up at her favorite son with urgency in her eyes. "I loved Scar, and I would have offered my life to save him, but he was a fool. My own father was a fool..."

A flush of indignation filled Kovu. A fool? I'm not a fool. Firmly, he said, "Relax. You're safe."

Zira nodded slowly, but then a bird with blue feathers flew overhead, and she muttered something about Zazu and his spies.

Leaving her to her fears, Kovu sighed, shook his head, and walked away from the watering hole. He was glad when his mother didn't follow him.

"Is this happiness? Pleasure? Satisfaction? I'm not even sure," Vitani had remarked one day while they'd trained and practiced, for no precise reason at all. "Have you seen Nuka lately?"

"Sometimes."

"I barely recognize him."

"I barely recognize myself sometimes," Kovu had replied quietly.

"Well, we've got all the food we could ever want." She shrugged. "Now we just might be killed by our own boredom. There's that to look forward to. Because what's the alternative?"

Kovu had nodded, but he had no reason to complain. Since he'd come to the Pride Lands, the flesh around his ribs and hips had thickened. It was strange. Looking at lions, who'd been skinny for as long as he'd known them, fatten up and begin to look more like their hostages. Even their faces looked pretty. Some looked prettier than Simba's lionesses, several of whom had ugly scars on their faces that he knew they were ashamed of. Nuka's fur alone was healthier, and he'd started to grow close to a lioness named Batzail.

They never thought he was around, Vitani had told him the day before, though few of the lionesses ever sought Kovu's company to begin with. They took care of themselves, as most lionesses did, but, if showing his face every once in a while kept them pleased, made them feel safe, it was the least Kovu could do. Walking, he found four lionesses lying together on the backside of Pride Rock in the shade.

"I don't think that zebra agreed with me," groaned Batzail, who was also one of Vitani's friends. "Oh, boy…" A grimace pinched her face.

Another lioness overheard and scratched her notched ear with her front paw. "Eat slower, why don't you."

The other two lionesses chuckled.

"I know a plant that helps with stomachaches."

Kovu looked over, as did the four lionesses. One of Simba's lionesses was just passing by, too. She stood with her legs bent, as if she was preparing to flee, but her ears were perked up like she'd caught sight of a lone cheetah's freshly-made kill.

"No thanks," Batzail snapped. "You'd poison me."

Kovu wrinkled his nose and held back a gag when the breeze shifted. I feel like I'm being poisoned.

"I'll show you. I'll eat some so you'll see. It's helpful." The lioness glanced nervously at Kovu when she noticed him standing nearby with a sour look on his face. Her voice took on a slight tremor. "I-I really think—"

"Go choke on your tail." Batzail groaned loudly and stood up. With a head jerk, she gestured to her sisters, who stood as well. The four friends walked past the outcast lioness as she ground her teeth in annoyance. When one of Batzail's friends noticed this, she shoved the Pridelander; she lost her balance and fell. Batzail stopped and looked back, stone-faced.

"Remember your place, bitch," the bully snarled before moving away. The four lionesses walked away, almost immediately resuming their complaining chatter.

Kovu blinked, dumbstruck. He raised an eyebrow when the lioness—he thought her name was Mgana—glanced over at him and lowered her ears. This lioness was their hostage. She owed Batzail and the others nothing but mutual distaste, when Batzail's own friends had just mocked her discomfort.

Mgana's eyes grew wide. She climbed to her paws. "Good afternoon, Sire," she muttered before she dipped her head, quickly turned, and jogged away.

If she's not lying, Kovu thought as he watched her leave, at least one of them might be good for something. Huh, Scar knows none of us are healers—only the opposite. Kovu had little against the outcast lionesses. Now that Simba was gone.

He flicked his ear when he thought he heard someone call his name in the distance. Yes, it was his mother calling. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he loped away from Pride Rock to find some peace.


(A/N: If I don't post before, Merry Christmas everybody!)