In the savannahs, far away from any place humans had ever stepped foot in, there was a kingdom. This kingdom was ruled by my father, the great King Mufasa. He was a just and fair ruler who preserved the Circle of Life. Under his monarchy, the kingdom, known as the Pridelands, flourished with large herds grazing on the greenery that covered the land.
But, one tragic day, the king and his son, Prince Simba, were killed in a wildebeest stampede. At least, that was what my pride and I believed.
My mother, Queen Sarabi, was about a month pregnant with me, although the pride didn't know this, and was devastated by the loss of her family.
My father's younger brother, the tyrant Scar, took over the throne. He was physically weaker than the average lion and he did not believe in the Circle of Life. He believed that mighty should be free to take whatever they wanted and let the rather large hyena clan to run havoc in the Pridelands.
Things were not easy for the pride sisters, as they were forced to hunt for the hyenas as well as themselves. The hyenas devoured anything the lionesses caught, leaving barely enough for the pride. Unfortunately, this meant the lionesses had to over-hunt and the herds were quickly decreasing in size.
As I grew bigger in my mother's womb, my mother hid herself in the cave so as not to attract Scar's attention to her growing stomach. The only lioness who knew of my mother's pregnancy was Sarafina, a close and loyal friend of my mother. She used the excuse of my mother's lack of appearance as "still recovering from the loss of her family", so everyone left her alone.
At the time I was born, the lionesses were sleeping in a cave at the side of Priderock. According to my mother, the pride used to sleep in the main den, but Scar turned that into his personal residence.
I was born during the night, much to my pride's surprise. It was extremely difficult for my mother to remain silent during labour, but, somehow, she managed it and my birth went unnoticed by the hyenas.
My mother named me Shani, which means wonderous.
My mother had found a small hole in the back of the cave in which she hid me during the day while the lionesses went hunting. I instinctively knew to remain silent and wait until my mother returned at night to nurse me.
That was my favourite time of the day. My mother would cuddle me close to her chest and tell me stories of my father and brother, many of them were my brother getting into trouble and my father getting him out of it. I loved listening to those stories and I felt like I knew them deep in my heart. Still, I wished I could have met them. Usually, my mother would wrestle playfully with me before putting me back into my hole. Then I would lie there, thinking about my father and brother.
This went on for the first few months of my life. I had begun to eat meat, but I still relied on my mother's milk.
As time went by, I became bigger. I wasn't getting much to eat, but it was still enough to keep me alive and growing.
But, although I was smaller and thinner than cubs my age (due to lack of food, exercise and room to grow), I would inevitably grow too big to fit in the hole in which I lived.
My mother knew she had to introduce me to Scar before the hyenas did, or they would kill me without hesitation. But she couldn't let Scar know who my parents were for fear of Scar killing me to remain in power.
Luckily, she knew what she had to do.