It was a warm morning in the Pridelands. The sun was starting to rise, as the animals got awake. A marabou stork slowly scretched, and under him, a leopard went down the tree to drink some water. All was calm… except the king. The golden lion paced frantically on Pride Rock. His uncomfortable growls sounded all over the place. Only some painful screams along with those growls broke the peace of the morning. Shwari, as his name said, was usually a very calm lion, and one of the best kings the Pridelands had ever had. He always seemed to have a solution for everything, always knew everything they asked to him, and knew how to keep the peace between the pride members. Another growl of Kijani, the queen, made Swhari enter the cave where she was. She was lying on the floor, with two other lionesses at her sides, helping her. The contractions made her face, usually so pretty, wrinkle with each growl, and her green eyes shone in pain. The other lionesses growled at seeing the king at the entrance. Swhari did know well what could happen, the scars on the lions that were too impatient to see their cubs proved it. He stayed there, with a frown of worry.
"How is it going?" he asked. One of the lionesses changed her expression.
"She is doing wonderful, she is a strong lioness. Please, let us do our job" she got near him and nudged him, pushing him out at the same time. The other lioness licked Kijani's head and ears, trying to calm her, and shared a deadly stare with the king. He reluctantly went back to pacing and growling. When he finally settled, he heard a scream louder than the rest. He inmediately peeked again, to see a small cub, covered in blood, being licked by one of the lionesses. Kijani smiled to her mate, as the lioness picked the cub and put it between her paws.
"Look, here he is" she smiled.
"You can enter now" said the lioness from before, smiling. "Congratulations. It's a beautiful boy."
Swhari didn't wait for more, and he got close. He sniffed the cub, who sneezed. All of them laughed at the king's surprised face.
"He looks just like you" he simply said. Kijani nodded in response, tired. Both looked forward to the future. They thought he would be an amazing heir, son and future king. The pathetic meows of the cub waked Kijani from her dreams, and she put it near his belly, where the cub inmediately started sucking milk.
Later that afternoon, Kijani got up and scretched. She told the pride she was going for a drink. Getting to the waterhole, she scratched her belly with a rock. She didn't gave it too much attention, it was a small cut after all. She cleaned it with a bit of water and that was all.
Two days later, they noticed the cub was weird. He wasn't as active as other cubs, and had some trouble breathing. He had trouble finding his mother's breast, usually nudging all over her belly to find it. His mother was really worried for him, as that sudden change was very weird. She didn't told her mate or any of the others, just to the pride's healer. Both decided it'd be better to keep the secret.