Nyota, Namana, and Nyarai dragged in the pride's lunch, and as they did they noticed that Icarus was staring into the lake, his face downcast in sorrow. But more than that, they noticed that David and Julia were walking up alongside him, offering their understanding and company. They had once again broken their mother's rules, but as the three huntresses got closer, they could overhear what the twins were telling Icarus. And none of them liked it.
"Icarus, um… hi." Julia nervously asked. The dark lion noticed that she was limping, and more pertinently realized that she hadn't been this morning. David wasn't in any better shape, but his emerald eyes held in them a steely determination. Almost as though he had made a decision, one that would have far-reaching consequences. The black-maned lion could almost see the thoughts going through the boy's mind; could he be steered from the path that Icarus knew Saul's son had chosen all too well? "What did she do to you two?" Icarus asked, not realizing that he had let it slip that he knew exactly why they were limping.
"Mom punished us even harder for disobeying her. She hurt us." Julia said, tears coming to her eyes. That much wasn't in question. He had heard Kuendesha lose her temper, though he pretended to be sleeping. He had resolved to simply do what Nyota and some of the other lioness suggested, and simply let Kuendesha raise her cubs as she saw fit. But seeing this; the fear they had of their mother; the anger of having to simply take it. It reminded him of all the times his own mother used corporal punishment on him, Saul and the other cubs of their birth pride whenever just one of them displeased her. And, in those memories, he always remembered how angry it made him to receive such physical punishments. And seeing Julia so afraid to even tell someone what has happened to her…
"Where is your mother-" And to Icarus's surprise, David had cut him off. "Kuendesha is not our mother! Even if she gave birth to us, she is no longer worthy of being our mother!" Icarus was shocked at David's outburst, but when he saw Julia silently concur with her brother's assessment it was then that he realized that it was worse than he imagined. He had never felt it his place to ask about their home life, but it was clear that what bled over into the pride's eye was merely the tip of the iceberg. If he asked, what answers would he get? "How can you say that about your mother? She just wants what-" And Icarus was cut off again.
"Before you even say that: No, she doesn't. Because if she did, why can't she tell us who exactly our father is? Why oes she beat us for merely suggesting he wasn't exactly who or what she told us he was?" Icarus couldn't argue that, even if he was playing devil's advocate. In fact, he often wondered that himself. "And, if we really are royalty, why doesn't she let us learn how to do the things that is expected of kings and queens?! Why does everything have to revolve around her and her alone!? She doesn't want what's best for us! She wants what's best for her!" David declared, having finally found the courage to raise his voice while speaking to an adult. Although Julia wasn't nearly brave enough to show it, she firmly agreed with her brother and looked to Icarus with pleading eyes. "All we want is for her to just ease up and give us our space. Just let us have our friends, without telling us who is a good influence and who isn't. We just want to be able to choose for ourselves." She said, her sapphire eyes so similar yet so different from her mother's. David's emerald eyes, however, burned with the same passion as Saul's did, and he was going to use that to argue his point.
"Julia, you know how 'mother' is. And you know how she'll react when someone tries to so much as ask her why she does what she does. I don't think it's worth the effort; let's just move in with Icarus." He said, and though Icarus said that he would gladly allow them to be part of his family, as Saul was in spirit, he also remembered exactly what the other lionesses of the pride thought about interfering with another parent's cub. And how he himself knew his own mate wouldn't approve of him essentially telling another mother how to raise her cub.
However, what Icarus didn't know was that his mate, as well as the mothers of two other cubs within the Pride, had overheard everything the twins had said to the king. And though the dark lion would hesitate on making a decision, considering all of the factors, the three mothers present had already made one for him. Though the cubs wouldn't tell everything, they had said enough; they knew Kuendesha could be a control freak, but they had never known just how right they were about that. An intervention had been long overdue, but better late than never.
And they would hope the rest of the pride would do the same for their cubs, if it had become to intervene, much sooner than they were doing for David and Julia.