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“Your majesty?”

Amri turned his gaze away from the afternoon sky, and faced his mjuzi.

“Kwashi!” he said, quickly, “Is she ready to see me?”

“Shisayo has rested from the birth, and the cubs are eating well,” Kwashi answered, with a broad smile, “She is ready for you to meet them.”

He hurried past the mandrill, who couldn’t help but chuckle at the king’s eagerness, and ran down towards the base of Pride Rock. Shisayo had initially wanted to have their litter far from the pride, like lionesses had always before, but Amri had wanted their cubs’ to be born at home, under the watch of the pride and the mjuzi. Lionesses gave birth far away partially to protect their cubs from the males of the pride, and this new era was one where such cruelty as child murder was no longer tolerated. In the end, Shisayo elected to give birth close to home and with Kwashi’s help, but Amri had not been able to persuade her to be around anybody else or to stay in the main den.

Shisayo lay stretched out on her side, in the small, covered area behind Pride Rock. Sun streamed in from the mouth of the cave, warming the tired lioness and her babies, but she suddenly found a shadow thrown across them. The queen opened her eyes, and smiled.

“Are you feeling well?” asked Amri, stepping inside, “Are they all healthy? Kwashi didn’t say how many—“

“Three,” she interrupted, rolling onto her stomach, “And yes, we all got through it alright.”

The king sighed in relief, and sat down. For a moment there was silence in the den, save for a few mewls from the cubs who kneaded at Shisayo’s belly.

“Our first born,” Amri said, stiffly, “Is it a—?”

“The first born is a girl,” the queen said, nosing one of the cubs, “Then a boy, and anoth—“

“A girl!”

He nearly leaped the space between them, crouching down to look at the cubs.

“An heiress!” he said, “Couldn’t have gone better if we planned it! Like I was telling you yesterday,” he continued, lying down, “Some of our subjects don’t think a lioness can handle ruling—rubbish fantasies about hunting instinct making her go ‘mad with power’. Well, now they’ll have no choice but to learn otherwise!”

“You’re the king of strategy as much as the king of the Pridelands,” Shisayo said, “But speaking of strategy—“

“As if males don’t know how to hunt, as well,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard her, “And as if Askari and I would be here now, without your help! I can’t wait to start training her—when she’s ready, of course—and have all of our subjects see her.”

“Amri—“

“She’s a statement, in and of herself!”

“Amri!”

The king tore his eyes away from their cub. “Hm?”

“I’m glad that you’re excited,” Shisayo said, exhaustion evident in her voice, “And I want the same things for her that you do. But there’s something I’ve been trying to talk to you about through this whole pregnancy.”

Hearing this, he visibly tensed.

“You put a lot of faith in this circle of life, and I care about it as well,” she murmured, “But I don’t trust every animal in the world to care.”

“Neither do I,” Amri replied, “But I try to be optimistic. What are you saying?”

“Killing children is an ancient instinct,” Shisayo answered, bluntly, “And some instincts are hard to suppress. I know you like to think of those animals you’ve had to exile as exceptions, but.... Look, your mother had five cubs before you survived. My mother had eight.”

Amri shrunk back, sadly. He looked away from her, towards the three cubs again.

“You don’t think she’s going to survive?” he asked, quietly.

“I have hope for all of them,” she replied, “But I’m not certain that any of them will survive. No matter how careful we are, it’s still a harsh world, Amri. This cub may not remain our heir—“

“You can just say you want to have more,” he joked, with a forced smile.

“I undertsand why you don’t want to talk about this. I’ve been trying to bring it up for nearly four months. Well, now that they’re here... it’s time to start considering all of the possibilities. I know it’s hard, but I want to be realistic.”

Amri swallowed hard, and finally looked back at his wife.

“You’re right. You’re right, that’s—having a lot of cubs is still the best strategy, all things considered. I guess I... wanted to think that the world—at least that the Pridelands—had changed over night.”

One of the cubs, the female who would be their heir, pulled her head away from Shisayo’s stomach and started to mew loudly. Her mother quickly began to lick the cub, who sighed and settled back down against her siblings.

“Maybe they won’t all make it, maybe none of them will. But for now, that’s the future queen, and I want the Pridelands to know it,” said Amri, emphatically, “I think we should have a celebration, for her—for all of them.”

“I think that would be nice,” Shisayo said, with a small smile, “And I’m sorry we had to talk about this, but... hey, we were waiting to give them names, right? What do you want to name our heiress?”

The king seemed to relax, and he considered the cub.

“Inkosazana,” he answered, finally, “‘Princess’.”

“‘Princess,’” the lioness repeated, “I think that’s perfect.”

~~~

Cheeky wee story regarding the first king of the Pridelands, and the next in line for the throne. I mentioned here that Amri and Shisayo had so many children because of the hectic time period, and I wanted to expand on that—plus getting to show more of their personalities. Amri is very idealistic while Shisayo is more realistic, but both of them are unbelievably strategically minded, rather than sentimental: everything they’ve done since they were teenagers has been deliberate, making them very unusual individuals. Even so, this particular bit of strategy is quite hard for Amri to talk about; it’s not directly stated here in the story, but his hesitance is because he was traumatized by watching the deaths of his siblings, cousins, etc. when he was a child.

The background is an edit of a screenshot, done by

Description
“Your majesty?”

Amri turned his gaze away from the afternoon sky, and faced his mjuzi.

“Kwashi!” he said, quickly, “Is she ready to see me?”

“Shisayo has rested from the birth, and the cubs are eating well,” Kwashi answered, with a broad smile, “She is ready for you to meet them.”

He hurried past the mandrill, who couldn’t help but chuckle at the king’s eagerness, and ran down towards the base of Pride Rock. Shisayo had initially wanted to have their litter far from the pride, like lionesses had always before, but Amri had wanted their cubs’ to be born at home, under the watch of the pride and the mjuzi. Lionesses gave birth far away partially to protect their cubs from the males of the pride, and this new era was one where such cruelty as child murder was no longer tolerated. In the end, Shisayo elected to give birth close to home and with Kwashi’s help, but Amri had not been able to persuade her to be around anybody else or to stay in the main den.

Shisayo lay stretched out on her side, in the small, covered area behind Pride Rock. Sun streamed in from the mouth of the cave, warming the tired lioness and her babies, but she suddenly found a shadow thrown across them. The queen opened her eyes, and smiled.

“Are you feeling well?” asked Amri, stepping inside, “Are they all healthy? Kwashi didn’t say how many—“

“Three,” she interrupted, rolling onto her stomach, “And yes, we all got through it alright.”

The king sighed in relief, and sat down. For a moment there was silence in the den, save for a few mewls from the cubs who kneaded at Shisayo’s belly.

“Our first born,” Amri said, stiffly, “Is it a—?”

“The first born is a girl,” the queen said, nosing one of the cubs, “Then a boy, and anoth—“

“A girl!”

He nearly leaped the space between them, crouching down to look at the cubs.

“An heiress!” he said, “Couldn’t have gone better if we planned it! Like I was telling you yesterday,” he continued, lying down, “Some of our subjects don’t think a lioness can handle ruling—rubbish fantasies about hunting instinct making her go ‘mad with power’. Well, now they’ll have no choice but to learn otherwise!”

“You’re the king of strategy as much as the king of the Pridelands,” Shisayo said, “But speaking of strategy—“

“As if males don’t know how to hunt, as well,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard her, “And as if Askari and I would be here now, without your help! I can’t wait to start training her—when she’s ready, of course—and have all of our subjects see her.”

“Amri—“

“She’s a statement, in and of herself!”

“Amri!”

The king tore his eyes away from their cub. “Hm?”

“I’m glad that you’re excited,” Shisayo said, exhaustion evident in her voice, “And I want the same things for her that you do. But there’s something I’ve been trying to talk to you about through this whole pregnancy.”

Hearing this, he visibly tensed.

“You put a lot of faith in this circle of life, and I care about it as well,” she murmured, “But I don’t trust every animal in the world to care.”

“Neither do I,” Amri replied, “But I try to be optimistic. What are you saying?”

“Killing children is an ancient instinct,” Shisayo answered, bluntly, “And some instincts are hard to suppress. I know you like to think of those animals you’ve had to exile as exceptions, but.... Look, your mother had five cubs before you survived. My mother had eight.”

Amri shrunk back, sadly. He looked away from her, towards the three cubs again.

“You don’t think she’s going to survive?” he asked, quietly.

“I have hope for all of them,” she replied, “But I’m not certain that any of them will survive. No matter how careful we are, it’s still a harsh world, Amri. This cub may not remain our heir—“

“You can just say you want to have more,” he joked, with a forced smile.

“I undertsand why you don’t want to talk about this. I’ve been trying to bring it up for nearly four months. Well, now that they’re here... it’s time to start considering all of the possibilities. I know it’s hard, but I want to be realistic.”

Amri swallowed hard, and finally looked back at his wife.

“You’re right. You’re right, that’s—having a lot of cubs is still the best strategy, all things considered. I guess I... wanted to think that the world—at least that the Pridelands—had changed over night.”

One of the cubs, the female who would be their heir, pulled her head away from Shisayo’s stomach and started to mew loudly. Her mother quickly began to lick the cub, who sighed and settled back down against her siblings.

“Maybe they won’t all make it, maybe none of them will. But for now, that’s the future queen, and I want the Pridelands to know it,” said Amri, emphatically, “I think we should have a celebration, for her—for all of them.”

“I think that would be nice,” Shisayo said, with a small smile, “And I’m sorry we had to talk about this, but... hey, we were waiting to give them names, right? What do you want to name our heiress?”

The king seemed to relax, and he considered the cub.

“Inkosazana,” he answered, finally, “‘Princess’.”

“‘Princess,’” the lioness repeated, “I think that’s perfect.”

~~~

Cheeky wee story regarding the first king of the Pridelands, and the next in line for the throne. I mentioned here that Amri and Shisayo had so many children because of the hectic time period, and I wanted to expand on that—plus getting to show more of their personalities. Amri is very idealistic while Shisayo is more realistic, but both of them are unbelievably strategically minded, rather than sentimental: everything they’ve done since they were teenagers has been deliberate, making them very unusual individuals. Even so, this particular bit of strategy is quite hard for Amri to talk about; it’s not directly stated here in the story, but his hesitance is because he was traumatized by watching the deaths of his siblings, cousins, etc. when he was a child.

The background is an edit of a screenshot, done by