Chapter 14

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that." Danyal said. Something that didn't involve him? That needed everyone's attention? That sounded rather ominous to him. Still, he was thankful that they were at least involving him in the decision. He didn't like being left out of things. If they were set on continuing this ridiculous charade where he pretended to be the King of the Pridelands, at least he had a voice in things. Not that he especially wanted to use it right now. "Can I not have even a moment's peace!?" Danyal snorted seeing everyone arrayed behind Koron reminded him too much of an ambush.

"Sadly no." Vitani said. "You are the King now. There is no such thing as free time." She pointed out. "We just need to wait for Kion." She said. Danyal blinked. He turned back to Sara.

"You should not feel... like that." He finished lamely. It was a bit of an anticlimax to her heartfelt confession but it would have to do. Even if it was not the closure he wanted to give her, he wasn't willing to elaborate further in front of an audience. What had passed between them was private. Vitani wasn't fooled and could guess what that had been talking about by the end of their conversation. Zira too looked at her and her expression and sniffed.

"Take it from me, child." Zira said. "Don't dwell on might-have-beens or maybes. Don't be haunted by regrets." She said. She had been worryingly accurate in her guess.

"Some of us have good reason to regret things." Vitani said darkly. "But others not so much. Does Almasi know you're out here?" She asked again. Sara shifted looking uncomfortable.

"She knows I went for water. I got hung up talking to Talib, he's one of the cheetahs travelling with Jahi. They aren't so bad." Sara said. Koron raised an eyebrow.

"You've changed your tune." Koron noted. The dark cub could remember Sara being slightly suspicious of the cheetahs.

"I don't think that we need fear them." She said. "The past isn't what matters. We're all on the same side now. They aren't going to betray us, we're their best chance at living free again. We all want that." She said. Vitani nodded in approval. It was insightful of her. Almasi would be proud.

"You see? We're all getting along now. One Pride. We are One. Or is it si si ni sawa?" Zira grinned. The former queen of the Outlands looked amused. Danyal suspected she would have advocated for executing the cheetahs just in case, if not for her own perilous position within the Pride. He didn't like her one bit. His mother had told him plenty of stories about the Queen of the Outlands that had made her seem like the worst imaginable villain. From the way Vitani acted around her, all skittish and nerves, he didn't think she had exaggerated.

"Don't joke about that." A voice came. It was Jasiri. The hyena was scowling at Zira's mockery, who grinned on response. She was following Kion. The red-maned lion had a peculiar expression on his face.

"I found her." Kion said. "You can tell them now." He said.

"Tell us what?" Danyal asked, but Koron was still looking at Zira with annoyance.

"This is everyone here who knows about Kiava. Except Damu and Almasi. They're keeping some of the others busy. This is as large as the circle gets." Vitani said. Danyal scowled.

"You know how I said I didn't like it? That it felt dishonest? Stuff like this, right here? Doesn't help." He said flatly. Kion shook his head.

"I don't like it either, lad. But it's better than the alternatives." He said. "The way things are at the moment; I don't think they could take a discovery like that. Sara might be playing nice with the cheetahs. We trusted Uhani and it nearly got us all killed. Not everyone trusts Jahi and his family yet." Danyal cleared his throat.

"It was my choice to welcome him and his family here. If it turns out that I am wrong then that's on me. But I don't think it will come to that." He said looked at Vitani. "Is this about that? Did I make the wrong call? It's a little late now. Or have I done something else wrong?" Danyal asked. Helio laughed.

"Oh, if only. No, we think you've been doing well. If you'd messed up, I'd have been the first to let you know." Helio said.

"I find that very easy to believe. So, what is the problem?" Danyal asked dryly. Jasiri shook her head.

"You're doing wonderfully, Danyal. Really." She said, looking around as if challenging them to disagree. Nobody did.

"Like we said. Its not about you. Quite the opposite actually." Vitani sai.

"Yeah." Koron said, turning to Vitani. "She said we needed to discuss something important and that I could make myself useful by coming along." he said. Vitani flatly ignored him.

"Like Jasiri says, you've done a remarkable job so far. Karrina and the others seem to have been won over for now. I was worried that some of the others would want to go their own way, but you have convinced enough of them that they have a real chance against the Shai'tan if we work together. More than that, you've shown them that they can work together." Vitani said stiffly. Danyal grinned.

"I like to think I have done a decent job so far. At least, I haven't broken anything."

"Believe me, things could be going a lot worse." Jasiri said, grimly. "We have fewer fatalities than if this were a bunch of hyenas so I guess that is good news." She said. Kion rolled his eyes at her pessimism.

"You have done brilliantly!" Sundar said, grinning. Lukaan nodded at that, the white lion looked pleased.

"That being said until Rei and Ras return to us, we should be thinking about our next move. Jahi and his followers are a good first step. I think we should extend our paw to any other survivors of the leopard tribes and the cheetah leaps." Vitani said carefully. Danyal nodded.

"Talib's parents, if they are out there." Sara said. She quickly told the others what he had told her, when they looked at her in surprise. Sundar felt her heart ache for the young cheetah.

"That poor boy." She said, shuddering. He was not the first to be orphaned by the Shai'tan and their invasion.

"That just leaves the divisions between the Pridelanders and the asiatics." Vitani said.

"Is that a problem?" Danyal asked. He wasn't aware of any deep divisions or distrust between the two groups. Most of the fighting seemed to be between the former slaves and everyone else. Their nasty habit of hording food, fighting dirty whilst training, and reacting with violence to the slightest provocation or to the softest unexpected footfall, had driven a wedge between them and much of the other rebels. He hadn't noticed anything between the Pridelanders and the asiatics. Although, he reasoned, he spent most of his time with Sundar – and occasionally with Helio and Lukaan. Yhodda and the rest were perfectly pleasant people, but he wasn't exactly close to them.

"Not in the short term." Lukaan admitted. "But right now, there is an unspoken question among my people, what happens to us if we do succeed? Do we return to what is left of the old Imperium? Even if we break the Shai'tan's power, that land is overrun with their supporters and followers. The truth of the matter is that we are the edge of extinction as it is." Lukaan said. He glanced at Helio, and Danyal noticed. Helio was the only male Asiatic left who wasn't a pawn of the Shai'tan. "Do we succeed here, only to die off one by one?" Lukaan asked. Danyal clutched a paw to his head, groaning. It was a horrible thought.

"I hadn't thought of that..." Danyal said, guiltily. Vitani nodded. The mood around them was glumb.

"The hard truth is that the asiatics survival is now permanently bound to our own fate. You've done a very good job of bridging that void. Our allies have shed too much blood for us to allow that to happen." Vitani said. Lukaan nodded.

"Our destiny is in the Pridelands. Not in the Imperium. Vitani and I have come up with a plan." He said. Vitani nodded.

"I have to say, I am curious about this mystery scheme." Zira admitted, smirking. Vitani hadn't shared anything with her, but she an inkling of an idea herself nevertheless.

"I should think the solution was quite obvious. We'll do what my brother and Kiara did to heal a fractured Pride. We will find Kiava and when we do, he'll take the crown, the throne... And eventually, he will take a Queen. That's our plan. We'll betroth Kiava to Sundar and unite our Prides properly. For good." Vitani said.

"Ah." Zira said rolling her eyes. "Obviously." She wasn't the only one who reacted. At Vitani's pronouncement, there was stunned silence, and then bedlam erupted.

Sara's mouth dropped open. Koron looked amazed. Helio started. Lukaan looked away, saying nothing. Danyal leapt to his feet looking aghast. Sundar felt as though the ground had disappeared beneath her feet. Then Helio shattered the silence by giving a stark and bitter laugh before turning away grinning, the hilarity completely lost upon Sundar and Danyal.

"Oh, that is just brilliant. That is fantastic." He stared at Danyal and Sundar, who looked aghast. "Good luck sorting this out! Fools surround me." He said, stalking away, chuckling as he did so. Vitani watched him leave in confusion. Sundar now was just beginning to recover her voice. Jasiri was looking at them in confusion.

"What's she talking about?" She asked. Kion sighed.

"Among lions, it can be… difficult… to attract a mate at the right time in the right place. Rogues wander from place to place and you can't always rely on one turning up at the right time when females are… ready for them." Kion explained as delicately as he could. "In some Prides, the parents of cubs will match up their children whilst they're still children and arrange the whole thing for them so that when the times comes they're good to go." He said. He looked over at Vitani. "Sometimes it works well." Kion said lightly. This was true. Sometimes it worked extremely well. Sometimes it did not. Jasiri blinked. It sounded completely absurd to her. "It's much more common between royalty though. Lukaan and Vitani are each the guardians of a royal scion." Kion added.

"What?!" Sundar hissed, staring at her father in absolute shock. Vitani blinked, but Lukaan looked shocked at her reaction. Kion shook his head. He had made his thoughts rather clear to begin with when Vitani had floated the idea.

"Sundar – wait. I know how this sounds but I need you to think about this for a moment -"

"Father." She made the word sound like an insult. "How dare you... how dare you-" She was seething. Blisteringly angry, and Jasiri could see why. She didn't voice her initial reaction, but she didn't like it one bit. What about meeting mates? What about falling in love? What about – she cut off that thought as quickly as it emerged. She wanted to ask Kion if he had been betrothed to Rani. She didn't think that Kion's parents had known Rani's before they'd met, but before she could ask such a question as delicately as she dared, Sundar was pushing her way past the two of them.

"Sundar hold on -"

"Dad! How could you think to..." He voices dropped low. "When did you plan on asking me about this?! Don't I get a say?! Don't I get a choice!?" She stood up, incensed. Danyal was just beginning to find his own voice.

"That's completely insane!" he said suddenly. "You can't do that!" Vitani shifted and glared at him.

"Kiava's parents are dead. I'm responsible for him. Like I am for all of us. Of course I can make decisions about him." She said.

"About him! Not for him! For King's sake, he's a child! He's just a cub! He can't have a mate – it's insane!"

"Don't be ludicrous." She snapped. "It's a betrothal, not a marriage. We announce their betrothal and they are mated when they are of age." Vitani said shortly, looking annoyed.

"But Kiava is-"

"He is the same age that Simba, Ahadi, and Mohatu were when they were betrothed - to lionesses that they all ended up falling madly in love with, as I recall. You're the expert on the Pridelands stories. Did either of them come to regret their matches?" She challenged him. She knew full well they had not. "As for the age difference it only looks large right now. It will hardly matter in a few years. Mohatu was dozens of months older than his mate and they ended up perfectly-"

"You can't just betroth two people together without asking them! That's barbaric!" Danyal almost shouted. His eyes were wide, and his voice cracked for moment. Vitani scowled. Sara's head whirled. He was clearly upset, in fact Danyal seemed desperate.

"Danyal, calm down." Kion said. "You too, Sundar. Its okay, I promise. Vitani and Lukaan are exploring options that's all. Royal betrothals are a tradition of the Pridelands, and it's one that the asiatics share." He said. That was true, but Sundar couldn't remember the last time anyone in her Pride had been mated that way. Vitani was scowling though, looking annoyed.
"I'm not sure I see the point personally, but I suppose if you're the type to go in for romantic stories then the rest of the rebels might find it all very compelling." Zira suggested. "I think its rather nauseating myself, but needs must." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"You weren't betrothed to anyone were you?" Jasiri asked, carefully.

"N… No." Kion admitted. "My father didn't like it, even though he ended up with his betrothed anyway. He wanted us to meet our mates ourselves without any meddling from him or Mother. But he never outlawed the practice itself. And even if he had there is nothing to stop Vitani bringing it back." Kion conceded.

"Ah ha!"

"What, are you saying you don't like the idea of being betrothed to my dear daughter, King Kion?" Zira suggested, making Vitani and Jasiri blush. It was certainly one way to have avoided the civil war with the Outsiders.

"Perhaps you were unaware, but kings and princes have a duty to their people that supersedes any personal wishes that extends to every part of their lives! Life isn't a feytale!" She snapped. Danyal growled. Lukaan meanwhile was trying to reason with his daughter.

"I can't believe that you'd go behind my back, without telling me?!" Sundar looked hurt. More than that, she looked angry. Outraged.

"This is me telling you! This is a real chance for you, Sundar! An opportunity!" Lukaan protested. Kion looked conflicted. Jasiri looked extremely uncomfortable. She knew she didn't like the idea, but this sounded like the sort of thing they ought to leave Sundar and her father alone to discuss in private.

"A chance? A chance for what!?"

"A chance to win back something! Back home you were going to be a queen someday, Sundar! My brother was going to leave his Kingdom to you! Now you still could be." He told her. The two cubs looked at them all as they quarrelled. Koron looked completely bemused, but Sara looked aghast at both Vitani and Lukaan.

"But... What if Sundar doesn't love Kiava?" Sara asked. Vitani winced. Cubs. Such a naïve view of the world...

"I don't love Kiava! How could I? I've never even met him!" Sundar hissed.

"For Spirits sake of all the sentimental… Royal marriages are seldom about love. At least not at first." Vitani said. Lukaan bit his tongue. It was harsh, but it was true.

"Vitani is right, Sundar... This offers you... offers us... so much. We can't afford to turn it down. Our kind faces extinction if we don't do something. We have a duty to our Pride, to do anything that could spare us that." Lukaan said. Sundar could have despaired.

"You know what?" Jasiri said. "This seems like the sort of discussion that lions should have without me being here, so I think I'll just –"

"Oh, stick around Outlander. This is just getting good." Zira said, smirking. Danyal stood up; his throat dry. There were a hundred things he wanted to say, a thousand things he wanted to scream. But he could not find the words. Anything he could have said would have sounded hollow. The rage was dwindling and in its place was a sickening empty void of... what? It felt like grief. He choked out a few words.

"Vitani... Why didn't you think to involve Sundar or me in these discussions, you've apparently been having before now!?" He said, hoarsely, his head low, his mane covering his eyes. Vitani looked surprised.

"Involve you? You seemed were concerned with other matters. If you're worried about the pretence, don't be. It will only come into play when Kiava is returned to us. I didn't see the point-" She didn't manage to finish. Now Danyal's head jerked up, his face twisted into an angry sneer.

"Well next time, do see the point! Don't you dare try to hide things from me again! Why on earth didn't you think to tell Sundar before now?! Are we all just pawns to you? Or is this her influence?" He said viciously, looking at Zira. Zira practically laughed.

"Oh this is nothing to do with me, I assure you. I have never plotted a royal marriage in my life. Except my own. I'm certainly not sitting here playing matchmaker." Zira said, snickering at the idea. "But if you want my honest opinion, I'll concede the scheme has merit." Zira offered. Vitani might have reacted to her mother's support, but she was too busy reacting to insinuation that she had been manipulated by her mother. And to the odious glare Danyal had fixed her with, which was entirely unpleasant.

"We are telling Sundar, right here and now! But it can't come as that big of a shock: she's a Princess!" Vitani protested. Danyal ground his teeth and seemingly without conscious thought, emitted a low growl that made even Sara shiver. For a minute, she almost thought that Danyal about going to rip Vitani into shreds. Sara didn't like what she saw in that moment. There was a horrible glint in his eye, but much more than that, a terrible sadness, as if a gulf had opened up inside him. Then, even as she watched, she saw a change come over him. It was as if something had winked out inside him. His eyes lost their usual brilliant intensity, he seemed to sag as he exhaled, looked exhausted. He was pale, almost ashen faced. He swallowed. Then he looked away. The fight seemed to leave him. She was right.

"I... Guess they make good points Sundar. This will be a good thing for... the Pride. The things we do for duty. I am starting to hate the word. Either way, I cannot stomach anymore of this talk." He meant that literally. He felt his belly coil, and wanted to vomit. With that, he turned away and left them standing there.

"Danyal – wait!" She began, but he had already gone. Sara watched him leave in shock and heard the pleading tone in Sundar's voice. For a moment he looked back, but then he left without another word. There was something in the way he walked that Sara found shocking, something that made her feel, anger. Something that made her feel bitter. Danyal clearly wasn't angry or indignant on Sundar's behalf, he was well and truly incensed beyond measure. She could almost see it, a jealous and wrathful shadow forming behind his eyes before it was banished. But Jealous of what? There could only be one answer.

She wasn't the only one who looked troubled. Jasiri was looking between them, looking thoroughly taken aback. In hyenas tended to do things their own way, and she was fairly sure that the parents of young and eligible hyena fighters were likely to find themselves getting bitten if they attempted to meddle in this way.

As if to provide further validation for Sara's thoughts, Sundar had recovered from her shock and there was a terrifying anger building with her as well. Ice like and merciless. She rounded on her father and for a moment her claws seemed to unsheathe.

"You... How could you do this to us...?" She almost spat. Lukaan looked shocked and hurt.

"Sundar, I would never want you to be unhappy! This is a chance for you to become a ruler. A Queen! I thought you would be-" he trailed off. Sundar was staring at him and stalked towards him.

"Go on. Say it." She almost whispered. "You thought I'd be pleased! Pleased to give up all of my own dreams in the name of honour and duty!" The outburst was bitter and Sara took a step back, hearing what everyone else seemed to miss. That she had dreams of her own. Dreams of mating? Her confusion could not be rectified though, as Sundar growled with fury.

"You really think that I would be pleased to be sold like a piece of meat for a price named behind my back? I have more pride than that!"

"Sundar-"

"I will never forgive you for this, and I promise you, I will mate with the lion that I love and no one else!" She hissed.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Zira said. "Be betrothed to Kiava in public, and carry on with whosoever you like in private. You wouldn't be the first. Especially for a lioness with such proclivities." She said, cheerfully, looking amused at the whole affair. "If you're the kind of lioness who prefers the company of other lionesses, just lie back and think of –"

"Don't be absurd! Mother you aren't helping!" Vitani glared.

"Sundar, I am begging you to listen to me! Please! You know that I would never-" He took a step towards her. That was a mistake. Now Sundar let out a howl of bitter anger and rage and her eyes flashed a brilliant and terrible sapphire for the briefest of a moment. She was enraged. She could feel it welling up within her. There was crack, as half a dozen bolts of lightning bust into being around her. They shimmered with harsh brilliance. Then, with a crash and an almighty bang as is blasted out before her, striking at the ground in front of Lukaan. Zira's amusement faded and she cursed loudly.

"Fool girl! Wait! Get back here!" The ground before their feet shimmered and Zira grunted.

Lukaan too stumbled back, staring at the ground, upon which he had been standing was encased in rigid ice, crystallising before his eyes. The frost swept grasslands hardened into spears of shear ice. She wasn't even breathing heavily from the effort. Without another word, she turned her back on her father and left. Lukaan watched her leave and made as if to follow her. Vitani held up a paw.

"No. Does she look like she wants to talk now? She needs to work out her anger... And then she'll be able to reason with again."

"If she doesn't want –"

"At least give her a chance to think about this clearly before we rule anything out. She is mistaken if she thinks I am going to let this go easily, given what is at stake." Vitani said, sounding almost cold, angered. The two lefts in silence, leaving only Koron and Sara standing there.

Sara slowly breathed out.

"I... Don't believe it. Kiava? With Sundar? But... The very idea." She said. Koron shrugged.

"It clearly doesn't sit well with her. Or with Danyal for that matter."

"You think?" She snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Koron rolled his eyes.

"I didn't think that Kings and Queens tended to pick their own lovers. They'd be idiots to let their own feelings override their duty, but even so, I feel bad for them." Koron pointed out. Sara frowned.

"Why Danyal? It's Kiava who'll be mated with her, not Danyal." She said. Koron smiled, but there was no pleasure in it.

"You don't think that that might well be the problem?" Koron said, sounding unusually concerned. Sara started, her own throat going dry. So, she hadn't imagined it. Koron thought Danyal was in love with Sundar? The notion filled her strange feelings that twisted and coiled within her. She didn't like how it made her feel.

"It seems so cruel though. She clearly feels nothing for Kiava." She tried. Koron shrugged.

"I doubt anyone falls in love overnight. I know they say they do in stories, but don't think that's a real thing." Koron told her.

"No offense, Koron, but what on earth do you know about romance?" She asked him, wistfully. The darker cub shrugged.

"Fair enough. I just think that you'd have to feel something for a person you're mated to, right? Even if you're not head over heels in love. It'd probably take work, but there is no reason why they couldn't be happy in the long run. This won't ruin her life, whatever she thinks." Koron said pragmatically. Sara swallowed, a bitter taste in her mouth.

"That's cold." She said. "You are a real romantic – you know that?" She said, sarcastically. Koron smirked.

"True enough. I've got limited use for romance." Koron admitted. Sara shuddered.

"I need to go." She said. "Clear my head. I… Oh… dear." She said. Somehow they had made a right mess of this, and she didn't like the twisted pit of emotions that turned in turmoil in her own stomach.