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Life since the war had been very different for Una. Robbed of the honour of being a Sacrifice; she had been delegated to the loathsome position of Mistress, instructed to command her sister. It was Una’s responsibility to make sure that Petra behaved herself. Peta’s future, as well as her freedom, rested in the pale blue lioness’s troubled paws. She was not cut out for this, and was uncertain of how to continue.

Sakata had given them both a little of what they wanted.

Una would not have to be separated from her opposite for a very long time. Petra was no longer a Sacrifice.

Sakata had also stolen from the sisters any hope they might have had of finding true happiness.

This was not his fault, Una knew. If it was the will of the Spirits- then it was meant to be. But she was still a little bitter, still a little disappointed with the way that things had turned out, because nothing had gone they way that she’d expected them to. This was not the life that she’d imagined for herself.

The bright blue lioness sulked on a boulder with her chin on her paws, and peered imploringly up at the clouds.

“Spirits,” she murmured, and her voice was desperate,“please, help me. Tell me what I should do.”

She was asking them for a sign.

Una sincerely hoped that this wasn’t a sign. She sat up when the Warrior approached, and had to work very hard to keep her expression polite at the way he offered himself to her. This had never happened to her before and, apart from being a little bit offended, Una was baffled.

This lion was certainly not a gentleman.

“Thank you for the offer,” she murmured, and her voice was sweet enough. But it was obvious from her posture and everything else that she was not flattered. “I think I’ll pass, though. I’ve already had my lunch.”

This was a lie, because she had forgotten to eat. But Una wasn’t going to tell him that.

This was not what she had asked for. While she was lovely, no male had ever bothered with her before. If they had, they had been far more subtle than this brute who approached her now. Their attentions had gone right over her head, but his intentions were difficult to miss.

She was feeling nervous, as well as a little shy, and moved away a respectable distance when he sat down beside her.

“I was just thinking,” Una sighed honestly, and was reluctantly grateful for his company.

The Warrior would get an earful, instead of what he actually wanted, but the lioness was beyond caring. He had come to her, and so she would give him what she wanted to give him.

“I have been given a job to do, and I… I don’t know how to do it.”

It was unlikely that he could help her with this issue, and Una wondered why she bothered at all, but bother she did.

It really was not very hard to resist him. Una cocked an eyebrow at the lion who stretched out before her; looked down her nose at him. She would have been lying if she said that she did not find him attractive. But it was in a purely… physical sort of way. He was large, and looked capable of breaking skulls with his powerful paws. The brute strength he obviously possessed impressed her. His personality, however, left a lot to be desired.

“You don’t understand,” she informed him coldly, and felt foolish for saying anything at all. This was a sensitive issue, and he was clearly not a sensitive sort of man.

“You’re a Warrior,” Una murmured, and it was not a question. “Tell me, sir, what is so very difficult about taking orders?”

Giving them was much more complicated.

If Jelani wanted more than what she was currently giving to him, then it was good that he was persistent. Because Una was not a one night stand sort of girl. However, she was, for all her propriety and slightly haughty personality, a naive creature. It surprised, but also pleased, her when the Warrior demonstrated a bit of compassion. She did not think he was smart enough to lie to her, and believed him to be sincere at once.

“Something you believe is wrong,” the Mistress smiled at Jelani, repeating his words, and the corners of her eyes crinkled upwards. She was warming up to him, but only slightly.

“You’re very right, Warrior,” Una murmured softly and turned her gaze upon the clouds, “How am I supposed to give orders when I do not know what is good and what is bad?”

The war had inspired a bit of doubt in the blue lioness. Doubt in their system. Doubt in the Queen, as well as Sakata. Doubt in the Spirits.

But she would not say anything about that. Not to him. Una knew better than that.

Everyone made mistakes. This was something that Una had heard before, and something that she believed, but she was harder on herself than she was on others. She did not want to make any mistakes, because the fate of her sister’s soul (as well as her own) might hang in the balance—

But then, Una reasoned with herself silently, the Spirits (Sakata) had punished Peta and her for their indiscretions. The blue lioness was still very sore about her punishment and, while she did want to appease the Spirits, Una could not bear to have so much control over her sister’s destiny. This was hypocritical, considering how much work she’d put into trapping Petra, but Una was a selfish creature who did not want to be selfish.

“Believe in myself,” Una murmured softly, and looked him in the eye. She was being more friendly than before, but this was also not an invitation of any kind. She made a point of keeping distance between them. “I have never believed in anything other than the Spirits, and the strength of the pride.”

How was she supposed to go about believing in herself?

Food was the last thing on her mind. Una was not thinking about anything much other than herself, and how she was going to help Petra. Her sister meant the world to this quietly passionate blue lioness, and she was willing to do almost anything to ensure Petra’s well-being and safety. She was not at all interested in Jelani’s needs, particularly now because he was being subtle.

His hints went right over her head, because Una had no desire to acknowledge them.

“I am not hungry,” she murmured with a shake of her head, and stood. “but, thank you for the offer. And thank you for talking with me about this.”

This brutish Warrior’s advice was kindly, even if his motives were selfish, and Una appreciated that he’d taken at least a little bit of time to listen. But it was also clear to her that he could not tell her anything she didn’t already know, and it was time for her to leave.

“Until we meet again, then, Warrior.”

This farewell was a reasonably cordial one. It was difficult to tell whether she was looking forward to it or not.