If Ni thought he was nervous before, it was nothing compared to right now, with a very angry and worried mother and her lionesses in his face. "YOU ARE A DAMN LIAR!" Kuendesha said, her fur bristling at the young male. He'd back away if he could, but his back was already against the wall. He was now wishing he hadn't stepped out of the cave after he had told Icarus his story. "I and everyone here knows exactly what you are after; what all of you males are after! If you think for one moment that I'm just going to allow you to waltz in and steal my daughter from me, you have another thing coming, boy." As if to show him exactly what he has 'coming', she bared her teeth in a low growl. Ni, against his better judgment, attempted to defend himself.

"That's not what I'm here for at all. I never intended to-" Kuendesha mocked his timid, nerdy voice as a way of interrupting him. Even Miasa, Namana, and Nyarai had to double-take at the immature display. The look on Ni's face, which even Kuendesha had to admit was very handsome, would have been disarming if she didn't also that he was bigger and definitely stronger than the current diplomatic king. And she was not going to be fooled by whatever plan he had come up with. "I'm only going to say this once. Keep your claws off of my daughter, and away from the lionesses here! The others, including my friends here, like our king, and the will of the pride says Icarus is to rule. So in a perfect world, you will leave, today! But, if the world isn't perfect, you will be dragged out by tonight. It's your choice." Ni, for the first time, shows his displeasure at the way he is being spoken to. "There is no need for-"

And Kuendesha interrupts him. "No one cares what you think boy! I-" And now it's Kuendesha's turn to be interrupted, by Icarus. "That's enough Kuendesha. You've said more than you need to." The looks on the faces of Miasa, Namana, and Nyarai told Icarus everything he needed to know, but they would certainly try to change his impression. "Icarus, we're only here to ensure Kuendesha doesn't do anything to Lana's guest." Nyarai tried, but she knew how dubious that statement was just as much as Icarus did. He pointed to the main den just above, signaling for the three of them to give him some alone time with Kuendesha and Ni. As soon as they did, he turned his sight towards the sub-adult.

"I am so sorry for how Saul's queen is acting. She's still recovering from losing him." She's a queen here!? Ni thought, not liking the fact that someone with power in this kingdom distrusted him so. "Please, stay as long as you like. You are my daughter's guest, and she vouched for your character. As far as I am concerned, that's good enough for me." Icarus directed that last statement more to Kuendesha than to Ni, but Ni managed to take the hint, bowed, and reentered the main den. Especially since he could sense the showdown that was about to happen.

And it would be Kuendesha to make the first move. "How can you let your child tell you what to do like that!?" She started, but Icarus' low growl told her that he will say what he has to say. If that meant hold her windpipe closed so that she would not interrupted, then so be it. Kuendesha would rather it not come to that, simply because she knew who would get the better end of a fight between the two. "Tell me, Kuendesha. What exactly would you have done if Ni had decided he was going to have a bad attitude, too, and attack? While you were saying no one cares about his feelings, could you stop him from acting on his feelings?" Icarus inquired, to which Kuendesha stopped and thought. That bit of self-doubt was all the confirmation Icarus needed, and he might have stopped there if not for Kuendesha deciding to have an answer for his rhetorical question. "The young boy is a pervert, not a fool. He would not be stupid enough to attack a lioness whilst her pride is in the den above her." At that, Icarus laughed. A mirthless, taunting laugh that signaled his low opinion of the intelligence of the one standing in front of him. And Kuendesha knew exactly why he was laughing. "I never took you for a fool, Kuendesha. But what you just said showed just how little you actually know about others." He said, and Kuendesha becomes angrier.

"And what you just said proved to me that you have your head up your ass! Lions aren't trustworthy, especially at this age! They will say and do anything if it means they get access to any lioness they want, and you're falling right for it. As for me, I am not letting some horny male leave his cubs in my daughter." Look who's talking, Icarus thought. What he said, however, was perhaps much worse than what he was thinking. "And what if your daughter likes 'horny males'? Hell, what if she doesn't mind running off with one of them?" To that, Kuendesha growled. "She doesn't like males like that. I've taught her better. And how are you going to tell me what is best for her anyway?! You aren't her father." To that, Icarus raises his voice.

"Correction: you think you know! But tell me, oh wise sage of motherhood, have you ever asked EITHER of your children what they want? Or how they feel about what you're imposing upon them?" To that Kuendesha seemed to falter, but then she regained her resolution. "Why would I do that? They don't know what they want; they might make the wrong decision and then who will they blame?" She posited, and Icarus merely looked at her as though she grew another head. "So you have that little faith in your cubs? That little faith in Saul's cubs? You think they are so incapable and incompetent that you have think for them?" He asked, but Kuendesha did not answer. Icarus scoffed at what he knew the real answer to be. "Heh. There lies my answer. It's not that you don't know how they feel, or that you care so little about what they think. It's just that you care even more about yourself and turning them into what you think they should be. And making them want what you think David and Julia want. But they don't want to be your little cubs forever. And know this because David and Julia both expressed to me just what he wanted. Right now they just want to be the teenagers they are, and wish you'd stop treating them like children."

To that Kuendesha retorted. "But, until they are officially adults, they are my cubs! And let's say I do follow your advice. What if they turn out like Lana?" Now that made Icarus mad, but he also knew what he might do if he decided to lose control. Kuendesha wouldn't survive the fall from this height, so Icarus took a deep breath.

"And what is wrong with Lana anyway?" He asked simply, yet his tone full of danger. "Males like Ni, Iago and that Sefu boy she keeps talking about see her as easy. Don't you see the way she acts? Do you approve of her being so forward with males like that?" Icarus rolled his eyes. "She's a very pretty lioness, just like her mother and her grandmother. And she knows it." He said simply. "And what about the fact that she thinks she can talk back to her elders like she does, and disrespect everyone who knows better than her?" Kuendesha accused, and Icarus shrugged.

"You know, thinking for oneself, having an opinion and not simply agreeing with someone just because they happen to have been living longer than you is not the same as disrespect." I can't believe I actually have to say this, he thought as he said that. "Kuendesha, you will see. If you keep going the way you're going, keep treating Saul's cubs the way you are, you're headed for disaster, heartache and eventual loss of your relationship."

As Icarus turned to walk away and rejoin the rest of the Pride, he added one last part. "Take it from someone who has seen first-hand what selfishness in a relationship can lead to."