When another Pridelander fell dead, Nala yelled for her lionesses to run and save themselves. Lucky for them, instead of picking them off one by one, Zira called for the Outsiders to keep the Pridelanders from escaping. They circled them, trapping them like tadpoles in a drying pond. One lioness broke away, was chased down, and was dragged back to stand with the others. Bullied and shoved, the defeated lionesses lined up at the foot of Pride Rock.

The Pridelander lionesses stood side-by-side, bruised, cut up, and blood-smeared. Three lionesses sagged on their paws and looked like death would rescue them by dawn, no matter how much care they received. They stared hollow-eyed at the two dead lionesses nearby.

Kovu ground his teeth. Kiara was missing.

He didn't expect they'd give up their princess if they hadn't expected her to fight, too. Nala glared daggers at Kovu.

Mother doesn't look at Nuka like that…

Kovu sat back while Zira walked up and down the line of battered meat. Zira chuckled. "Your king is gone. You saw him by the water." A few Pridelanders hung their heads. "You'll surrender to me, the queen mother of the Pride Lands, and to your new king, Kovu."

"No," snarled Nala. Her right ear was shredded. A dozen deep gashes covered her chest. She held her head the highest and her voice was stony. "Scar was never our king. Kovu never will be, either."

"Yes." Zira chuckled. "Yes, well, isn't that the root of our problem? I cannot break the spirit of someone who hasn't broken their own for me."

But we can help them along, even if Kiara is still out there to give them hope, Kovu added silently. When we find her, I'm sure Mother'll make her suffer. And even if we don't kill her, the guilt and regret that she trusted me will be torture.

Again Zira paced up and down the line, once, twice, before she stopped in front of Nala, who bared her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Zira grinned. "The only cure for a strong spirit is death."

"Kiara's bringing an army," Nala said coolly. "Torture us. Kill us. But you and your pawn," she spat, looking at Kovu, "will not keep the Pride Lands."

Zira tsked. Without another word, she slapped her fully-extended claws across Nala's throat with a dull smack.

Cries of surprise and anger sent chaos into the air. Nala crumpled, but she kept her paws beneath her. The Pridelanders tried to get to Nala, but the Outsiders bullied them into staying in their neat line.

"Heathens!" an older lioness growled. Tears ran down her cheeks.

As she bled, Nala's lips moved silently; she tried to get something out. Every eye was on Nala, but her eyes were locked on Kovu. He glared back at her, but a chill went through him as her legs shook and her head grew heavy like a wilted flower's. Red pooled around her paws.

Her body and eyelids finally fell. The two lionesses on her sides rested their paws on their queen's shoulders in comfort. Everybody held their breath as she faded. Nobody spoke.

Kovu looked at his own lionesses. Skinny, dirty-furred, tough lionesses. Except for the blood on their muzzles and paws, they looked pathetic compared to the fat Pridelanders. But he was proud of his family. And he had led them to this moment, removing the pretender to the throne. From now on he'd be their king.

King… Kovu mused. For a moment, something started to nag at him. What was it going to be like to be a king?

The silence, marked by whimpering when they realized Nala was dead, grew too much for Kovu. He was thankful when his mother addressed the leaderless lionesses.

"I'm going to ask all of you two questions. You're going to answer quickly when I ask," she said. "There's only one correct answer."

The Pridelanders murmured amongst themselves, their eyes wide with dread. The faces of the older lionesses hardened.

Zira grinned. "So… Who'd like to live a little longer? Who'll be loyal to us? Show it! Bow to Kovu!"

Kovu fidgeted, but lifted his chin. The younger lionesses glanced at their elders before looking at one another.

"Bow!" Zira snarled.

Letting out a sob, one young lioness stumbled back and threw herself to the ground, shaking in fear with her paws over her bowed head. Then, without a word, all but one of the young lionesses, who was already dying, took their step back behind their elders and bowed their heads to Kovu. Five older lionesses remained standing with their heads held high.

"Traitors…" one elder hissed. The Outsiders chuckled.

Zira smirked. "Welcome to the pride," she said. "As for the rest of you…" She turned to her soldiers and jerked her head.

The blood of the lionesses was added to the blood of their queen. The remaining seven lionesses hung their heads and cried. They were escorted into Pride Rock and ordered to stay at the back of the den. That's when Vitani noticed the hole, and the Pridelanders were shooed away from it.

"Think this is how the princess got away?"

Kovu nodded. "Probably." He looked down the hole and was impressed with the size of the rocks that had been moved away. He could smell the unmistakable scent of fear.

They had no idea where Kiara was. She'd had a good head start. Nala had said her daughter was bringing an army, but Kovu was unsure if this was a bluff. He wanted to hunt the princess himself, but his exhaustion was catching up with him. They also needed to watch the Pridelanders. He wasn't sure why his mother just hadn't killed them all, but he had a couple guesses why. They weren't alive out of pity.

Vitani licked one of her wounds. "I'll help seal it up, have a couple lionesses keep watch."

Kovu nodded. "Whoever is less injured should go look for dinner."

"That weird monkey in that big tree probably won't help us, huh?"

"Kovu!" Zira called from the den entrance before he could answer his sister. He went to see what their mother wanted.

"Everyone's settled," he told her.

"Good. Walk with me, Son."

Kovu followed his mother and they stood at the point of Pride Rock. His anxieties edged into the forefront of his mind again. What was it going to be like to rule over the lionesses of another king—a king he'd murdered? Again, Kovu brushed these worries aside. Well, rogues take over other prides all the time… and I have my whole family behind him. He was about to ask her about the lionesses when Nuka slunk up behind them.

"Mother, we did it," Nuka said. "And I helped! We fin—"

"Yes, Kovu did it," she corrected her eldest son, the only child to have ever had the blood of Scar run through his veins. The child Scar had rejected. She'd reminded Kovu of this whenever she would tell him that he had been chosen by Scar. The name of his and Vitani's real father had never come up, and he had never asked where the lion had gone. Now he wondered if he had one, that he would have someone to guide him. He hoped his mother knew more about ruling a real kingdom than she'd let on.

Kovu watched Nuka stare out across the Pride Lands. His older brother's face hardened. He wasn't seeing the lush grass, full trees, and vast herds of wildebeest and zebra. He didn't appreciate the openness of the sky and see freedom... For as long as Kovu could remember, Nuka had doggedly tried to impress their mother. He'd tried just about anything to gain any bit of her affection, her love—from finding her mice to snack on, being the one to genuinely listen to her rant about Simba, to bringing her little flowers when she was depressed. He mattered so little to their future. There was nothing left for Nuka to do that could even remotely impress Zira.

Nuka asked, "What'll we do if Kiara returns? Nala said she was bringing an army, Mother!"

Zira huffed and rolled her eyes. "She'll be helpless when we say we'll kill her family."

Nuka chuckled. "Yeah, of course!"

Of course. At any hint of a battle, long before an attack could reach a crisis, they would execute the imprisoned hostages. Kiara loved her family as much as he loved his. She wouldn't want anyone else killed. That would destroy her. Blood was already on her mind, clogged and clotting in her soft, naïve heart…

At that moment, as Nuka and their mother reminisced over the day, the thrill of killing his enemies faded like paw prints in a rain storm.


Kiara had limped on bleeding paws through the day and half the night when Zazu had found her a place to hide in a dense thicket of trees while he flew ahead to Tojo's pride. The hornbill had wanted to stay with her to keep watch, but they had no choice.

"I'm slowing you down," Kiara told him, her throat raw.

"I'll go get help. Stay hidden, Princess!" The bird took flight and disappeared.

Alone, Kiara had tried to stay awake, but her exhaustion overtook her. The sound of someone moving through the trees, snapping off branches and disturbing leaves, woke her with a start at dawn.

It's them! It's them!

She curled her lips over her teeth and hissed.

"Kiara?" came a lion's voice she'd never heard before. "Princess?"

Behind the grey branches of a bare bush, she could see a young lion with a light brown mane, golden fur. She pressed her sore body close to the ground, and when he saw her, his blue eyes widened.

"No, it's all right! I'm Prince Ramik. Tojo's son." He moved back a couple steps, snapping more branches. "Zazu sent me to find you."

Kiara relaxed. Slowly, she stood up and waited for Ramik to break through the foliage to get to her.

"My father went ahead with my brothers and a few lionesses to the Pride Lands." Ramik's brow arched. "Kiara, I'm so sorry. We always thought they were more roar than bite…"

Kiara lowered her head. "I'm not sure what happened… There was a fire yesterday, and Zira's son saved me, and Daddy let him into the pride, and—"

"It's all right," Ramik told her gently. "Zazu explained. You don't have to."

"I'm so scared for them."

"My father will do what he can."

"I can't believe this…" Kiara lowered her ears and looked at her paws. Her father's decision to trust Kovu now seemed less noble. What it must have been like for her family to face the Outsiders… To take their claws, their teeth, their bitter and determined rage. How could any lion face that monster?

But maybe… M-maybe they chased the Outsiders away? How am I so convinced my family couldn't fight and win? Can't they handle themselves? And Tojo will help… And can't I give Kovu the benefit of the doubt, too? That he didn't betray our trust?

Ramik led her to his pride. By the end of the journey, traveling under the hot sun on raw paws and little sleep, Kiara's limbs were shaking and her stomach felt cramped. King Tojo's lionesses, the ones who had stayed behind, tried very hard not to stare at her. A buzzing ring started in her ears. Everything went fuzzy. The ringing sharpened like a cold morning frost. She squeezed her eyes shut and saw lights dance in her eyes.

The next thing she knew a flurry of paws were on her, patting her sore muscles to bring her back around. She'd collapsed while walking behind Ramik.

"Kiara? Can you hear me? I should've let her rest. I just wanted to get her here."

"Poor girl."

"Those Outsiders will pay. One way or another."

"P-please… help… help my family…" The sound of her hoarse voice made her tears start. She squinted up at Ramik with doubled-vision, fighting to come back to her senses. Great Kings, she felt crushed. She rubbed her tears away on her shoulder and gasped a rough sob.

Kiara's vision settled just as Ramik set his mouth in a hard line. The golden-furred lion made a gesture to a lioness and instructed her to see their shaman for a sedative. He told another to hunt something small. Sniffling, Kiara tried to sit up, but Ramik put a paw on her shoulder.

"Nope, you stay. Don't move. You hit your head when you fell." He rubbed and massaged her shoulder gently.

She nodded and rested her head on the dry grass. It sounded like a dull thud, and she didn't know what it was, until she realized her heart had taken on an anxious thrum, and her whole body felt flushed. Panic and grief overwhelmed her. Her mouth opened in a soundless grimace. She sucked in a loud gulp of air, and still felt breathless. She could hear Ramik say something to her, but she wasn't sure what he'd said, and he did not repeat it. She could only think of her family, think of Kovu. What had he done when the Outsiders had attacked her pride? And why had they attacked now? Why had they waited for so long? A chill ran through Kiara, and she shivered. She knew something terrible had transpired, something well out of her control.

"Here, eat this. Take this. Kiara?"

Time had fallen away. Kiara blinked and looked at Ramik, who was looking down into her face with arched brows.

"You need to eat. And see? This stuff will numb you for awhile."

By her head Ramik had laid three mice and a big leaf with a smelly white paste smeared across it.

"I had some when my mother died," Ramik confided with the volume of a soft breeze. "You won't feel anything."

She nodded.

The white paste clung to her tongue and was barely covered by the musty fur, blood, and bones of the mice, which her tight throat and upset stomach tried to reject. She licked her lips, catching salty tears. She tried not to gag.

"You'll get tired and be able to really rest. Anything else I can get you?" Ramik cocked his head to the side for a moment before he pursed his mouth and moved back to give her space.

When her nausea passed, Kiara rubbed her eye against her shoulder and sat up half-way. "I'm a mess… What am I supposed to do? My family—I-I can't…" She closed her eyes as the wave of pain flowed over her again.

"I'm sorry, Princess…" Ramik moved closer again and touched her shoulder with a paw.

Kiara looked up at him through blurred eyes before she head-butted into other foreleg and cried harder.

Ramik rested his paw along her back. "I'm so sorry… It's okay to let it out… I'm here to protect you. My father will do what he can."

Kiara nodded before her face constricted with another pained grimace and silent sob. Soon, she grew drowsy and fell into an anesthetized sleep.

Tojo, Ramik's three younger brothers, and several lionesses arrived at sunset. The news wasn't good. Beyond their exhaustion, Kiara already saw the sadness in their faces. She knew what they were going to say.

Nala and Simba were dead. The lionesses who had bowed to Kovu were now Zira's hostages. The others had paid with their lives.

"With any sign of retaliation," Tojo reported solemnly, "they will kill the hostages. We saw the survivors. It wasn't good." He hesitated, looking straight at Kiara. "Kovu killed your father. That's what started it."

Kiara hung her head. Her mind went blank with disbelief. She was anguished by the news, but didn't know what to say. She felt used.

"You are very lucky, Princess," Tojo said.

"Yes, I am lucky…" Kiara looked up at the king, who immediately turned away with guilt and helplessness in his blue eyes. A king and his warriors were useless against a hostage situation.

Ramik whispered into her ear, "I'll think of something. I won't let your lionesses suffer, Kiara…"

Zazu had stayed behind to meet with Rafiki. The hornbill flew home a few days later. His news was bittersweet.

At the time of the Outsider's attack, Nala had told Timon and Pumbaa to run to Rafiki's for safety. When their family had fallen, and deciding it wouldn't be practical to join Kiara, Timon and Pumbaa had made a run for it. At the border, a band of Outsiders had chased them. The meerkat and warthog had barely escaped to the desert. Her father's friends were safe, having moved on to the jungle beyond. Although they were separated by miles and miles, she knew they were together in their despair.

Great Kings! Why? Why would you do this to our family? Have you no mercy? Have your hearts grown hard against us as you turn a blind eye and let the Outsiders murder without remorse? How could you… I wanted to know who I was, who I truly am, but now I'm not even the princess I didn't want be.


(A/N: Happy belated Thanksgiving and thank you bunches for the follows, faves, and reviews of any of my stories! Makes me smile to see those notifications in my inbox. c:)