Chapter 3

Had Sarabi been wrong? Was there a direction that she had missed when her father had talked with her the night prior to coming? Confused, the lioness sat down and scanned over the place. She was sure he said exactly what she had already done, so, either there was something wrong with his directional skills or Zebenjo was one for a dramatic entrance.

A wiser, more prideful lioness might have turned and walked away, but Sarabi had a mission, and she knew what she had to do. There, she would just have to wait for the lion to show up, or otherwise beg for forgiveness and hope all was smoothed over. She began to lay herself down, taking extra caution to be very quiet as to see if he was sneaking around and being silent whilst she made a fool of herself and waiting for his presence. Nothing to be heard, nothing to be seen as far as Sarabi was concerned, so her body landed on the dirt and she began her wait.

It was unknown to her how long she was really there for, but she was pretty sure all the biding of her time was spent looking at the clouds' shapes and watching the bugs crawl on the ground and across her paws. She sighed, noticing just now how annoyed she was. Wasn't he royalty in his pride? Didn't royals have an obligation to be on time all the time? At least that's what she heard, but she was no princess. Not in her parents' eyes at least.

"Were you waiting long, princess Sarabi?" A voice pondered, slithering out of the bushes and into Sarabi's ears.

"Well, it's about time you showed up-" she got up rashly and turned her head, noticing that the voice which spoke to her came from no Zebenjo, but the little prince whom had come to gather her this morning with his older brother and the king and queen. "Oh, my- prince Taka. Please, forgive my tone, I didn't mean to insult you" she started to walk towards the bush where the prince was and looked at him. He wasn't too bad looking, she had to admit. He was lanky and thin, sure, but he looked as though his mane was going to grow into a lush sea of ebony locks. His appearance resembled his father to almost every minor detail, while his body shape was that of his mother's.

In her kind words to him, Taka pulled himself out of the bush and held himself at full height, making him the same as her. "Don't worry about it. I guess you're waiting for someone?" He asked, Sarabi nodding. "Who?"

As Sarabi knew, Zebenjo was an illegal prince; he raised a pride that sought to kill the Pridelanders and overtake the lands for himself. Telling a prince about this guy was probably not a good idea. But it would have appeared that she wouldn't get the chance to come up with an incredibly colorful, and on-your-toes kind of reply as she was called upon by the sound of paw steps coming towards her. Quickly turning her head around, she spotted a few lions coming in the distance. They looked like Outlanders, and they looked like they were going to speak with Sarabi about something.

At the risk of being rude once more to the young prince, Sarabi pushed him back into the bush. "Please, I'll tell you everything later if you stay quiet and hidden for right now" she urged him. Challenge accepted, as Taka slunk his head back into the safety of the bush.

Sarabi looked back and noticed now that there were only three other lions- all females- following behind the one male who looked as though he had a prince-like air surrounding him... sort of. Picking his appearance out from the distance, she noticed his appearance was definitely more Outlander than anything. He had the Outlander nose in black, and an Outlander build. His pelt was light brown with tan undertones, and his mane black. The lionesses following behind him looked as if they were Outlanders as well.

When the space was closed between the two, she now noticed his appearance was that of Zebenjo described to him. "You are Sarabi, correct?" He questioned. His voice was rich and mellow, which caught Sarabi off guard.

"I am" she replied.

He simply smiled a pleased smile to her once he heard what he obviously wanted to, and spread his mane in the air before gazing at her, in what he probably thought was, dreamily. "I," he stated with such 'umph', "am prince Zebenjo".

Already she didn't like him. This wasn't working out too well. Sarabi looked at him before she looked at the lionesses. They weren't swooning where they stood- they weren't even looking at the guy! They were too busy looking around for something more than what his "amazing good looks" and "charming personality" could give them.

"You," she stated the same as he did, "are late". That sure got the lionesses looking at her instead of their surroundings and pulled the prince out of his little world where he was the gift from the Great Kings.