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It was time.

Sahen had watched the children grow from afar, and his spies had reported back to him about the things that their aunt was up to. A smirk played across his beautiful face, and he sat arrogantly at the foot of The Jaw as he waited. The river behind him, which poured forth from between the Weeping Lion’s lips, was impressive in its power. There was a path of large stone boulders leading from the riverbank to the place where he slept, sheltered safely in the warm upper caverns of the giant stone lion’s mouth.

This had been the home of the First Blood for generations. Many of the pride’s lions believed it to be Mahabala’s face— immortally preserved in stone for all too see. While the river had not always flowed so strongly, little about this place had changed over the years. Sahen adored it here, because it was his home, but also because it was the foundation of everything that he stood for.

As Shatkona, it was his right to sleep in The Jaw, with the Mwanasheria and the Zahama as his Eyes.

This was where the pride gathered when he had important announcements to make. This was where his Ligi, those ever faithful bodyguards, slept and fed and bred. His Warriors worked hard, and he was good to them because of it.

Any moment now, Jahi would return with the children in tow. He had not been gone long, and Sahen wasn’t worried. This was not the first time he had beckoned for the children, and Fila knew better than to get in the way.

He sat, proud and glorious as the stone behind him with the heat of the sun beating against his head, and waited.

It was wrong of Fila not to heed the potential consequences of her rash actions. The sound of her roar, as well as the angry words that followed it, were carried to the Shatkona on the wind. An amused, almost merry sort of chuckle rippled out passed his lips and he pasted a smile onto his face as the little family neared him.

“Thank you, Jahi,” Sahen addressed the Ligi with a cordial nod, and gestured for him to come stand by his side. “Bring the children. Be gentle.”

Jahi, who was not usually Sahen’s first choice for tasks as important as this one was, nodded and ushered the children forward with careful paws. They were juves now and big enough that it took some effort for him to wrangle them all together, but he managed after only a couple of irritable growls.

With the children tucked comfortably by his side, Sahen turned his golden eyes on the adults that stood like sentries in from of him. Those lips were twisted into a smile that would have been warm, if it wasn’t so empty, and his voice was like silk when he spoke.

“Sikudhani, Amira,” Sahen nodded his head, “It is a lovely day. I am so glad that you could join us here this afternoon. I trust the journey was a pleasant one?”

Behind him, Jahi snorted. Sahen ignored him. He waited a heartbeat, and then looked the lioness with the cream coloured fur in the eyes;

“You look much like your mother, Fila. She was very beautiful, and also spirited.”

The apprehension in the air was thick, Azubuike almost found it hard not to suffocate in it. Each of his family members oozed with stress, but the poor cub just couldn't solve the enigma. The mystery of the horrendous Sahen. The evil, insufferable, cruel, sinister, untrustworthy, hateful... Well the list could go on. But Azu could not comprehend any of it. The young lion did not complain when the Jahi guided him and his siblings to the Shatkona. Azu met the great king's face with a cool smile before snuggling into his warm red fur that always seemed to glitter like fire. He felt secure now. All the tension had just melted away... It was a magical effect that could only be brought on by his magical king. He couldn't help but wonder why he deserved to be so close?

He also wondered why this time had to be different from all the other visits. Azu's gold eyes wandered to where his family now stood. Strong Aunt Fila, Noble Uncle Kudha, and his dear, loving mother...

"Mom?" A deep frown creased the young lion's pale fur as he cautiously stepped forward. Amira was trembling, and her face looked... Well, Azu couldn't pinpoint this particular expression. He had never seen it before. It was almost like the expression she wears when he and his siblings go away to visit Sahen... only this was overwhelmingly magnified. And it appeared to be contagious, but Azu didn't even notice that his legs started to quiver. "What's wrong, mom? Don't be afraid..." Reluctant to leave Sahen's side, the cub could only look on from a painful distance.

If Fila wasn’t careful, he was going to personally cut that tongue out of her mouth. Sahen’s eyes flashed dangerously at her angry words, and his posture was very straight, but there was nothing else about the Shatkona’s appearance to hint at any animosity. He had not tensed. He had not bristled.

In fact, he ignored Fila completely. Instead, he trained his gaze carefully on Kudha’s and flashed a knowing smile at the other male.

“I am glad that it was not too rough on you,” his voice was very deep, but smooth like satin. He spoke this way on purpose. Everything about Sahen was carefully controlled. “These are trying times in which we have the misfortune of living.”

Thoughtfully, he patted Azubuike on the head, and allowed him to cuddle into the fur at his leg. It was very soft. Sahen was always impeccably groomed.

“The children are correct,” he informed the adults, smiled at Kafele, and gestured grandly at the home of the First Blood with the paw that was not currently resting on Azubuike’s head. “There is nothing to be afraid of.”

The air was very thick with the immensity of his lie.

“I have invited you here today,” Sahen licked his lips and looked up at the sky, for a moment, before returning to stare at Kudha and Amira. “Because I would like to invite you to join me here; to live under the protection of my Warriors, and the eyes of Mahabala.”

Fila was obviously not invited.

It pleased him when Amira agreed to say. A golden smile lit up his face, and he nodded at her with approval. She was a sweet mother, and Sahen knew that her children adored her. It would be good for them to have her nearby.

Fila’s words, once again, made him scowl. He looked down his nose at her, and his expression might have been that of a father scolding an unruly daughter.

“It hurts me to know that you think so little of me, Fila.” Sahen was making a show of the things that she’d assumed; pressing a theatric paw to his chest, on top of the place where his heart beat like a drum, and twittered sadly at them all. “I would never dream of bringing harm to such precious faces. They are darlings, and they do adore me so.”

He listened quietly when Kudha endeavoured to be the diplomat, with that same accosted expression on his face, and sighed heavily when the other male had finished. It was some time before he spoke again, and it was difficult to tell whether or not he was truly aggrieved by the decision he’d made.

“But you are of the First Blood, dear Kudha,” Sahen met Kudha’s brown eyes with his own golden ones, “You, and these beautiful children here, are descendants of Mahabala, just as I am descendants of Mahabala.”

Sahen had not known the truth of about this little family until Kudha’s sisters had joined them here in these lands. Kudha looked little like him. Fila and Amira also resembled their mother too closely to guarantee the specifics of their lineage. But they had brought with them these four children, and Sahen had known instantly that he was their grandfather. Kafele had given them all away.

“You are my son,” he told Kudha softly, and gestured at the children with a mighty paw, “These are my grandchildren. As you know, I have no heir at the moment-

His eyes shone on Dada’Ntombi, and lingered a little on Kafele.

-and I intend to bring these children up as members of the First Blood. And to teach them the things they need to know, as my eventual successors.”

It pained him to have to admit that he was not immortal.

“Your arguments on your sister’s behalf are very strong, but I cannot allow her to live with me here until she has changed her attitude.” This was his final word on the matter. Fila would not be staying with them.

Dada'Ntombe had had to hide her excitement at being called up to Sahen's home. True, she'd been there before, she'd seen more of the Shatkona and his home than anyone, she thought! That didn't mean she wasn't excited though. Today felt like a special day. And why not? She was a special lioness, special to Sahen--the world was her oyster, and she intended to gobble it right up!

She'd hung back with her family (ugh could they BE any slower??) for the walk, and it was only her mother's restraining paws that kept her from hopping right up beside Sahen when he came into view. Sure, he WAS Shatkona, and she was just...well herself...but he wouldn't have minded. He'd paid attention to her before, and unlike her family she knew him for what he was: a lonely, sad, handsome king, held captive by his own Ligi and used as their scapegoat. Of course here he seemed to be bossing them around, but it must be for show. She scowled deeply at them.

At Sahen's invitation, she needed no herding. With a lash of her tail at the Ligi's growling, she pranced right up to the king like the little queen he'd always made her feel like. She swiped a paw at Kafele as he tried to pin her between him and the other boys. No sir! She tipped up her nose, beaming with both adoration for Sahen and superiority for her siblings, and slipped under one of the king's great legs. She nuzzled against him and eventually ended up laying down between his massive paws. Ah yes. THIS was her special seat!

She nearly leapt with joy when Sahen asked them to come live with him. In her ears he was speaking to her alone. Under her fur, her face warmed. Such attention! And now he wanted her to move into his home...oh, and her family too. But right now she only had eyes for the glorious king. She put one paw on his and mouthed up to him 'I won't let you be lonely anymore.'

That had to be why he wanted them, to ease his lonely life. Maybe even to help fight the Ligi!

Their reactions to his news were less than unexpected. Sahen sat very calmly before his progeny, and let everyone adjust to the changes he intended to make with a serene, resigned sort of grace.

"You are worthy if I say you are worthy," the Shatkona ignored Kafele's embarrassing display of emotion in favour of the more agreeable things he'd said. "As my grandchildren, this is where you belong."

As far as everything currently stood, Amira's children were the keys to his future. Sahen intended to take them now, and to raise them as he saw fit. They would live good lives under his care; guarded by the Ligi, served by the slaves. The Jaw was the safest place for them to be.

He smiled down at Dada, who was ever his favourite, and said; "How'd you like to be my princess, little one?"

Sahen appreciated her affection for him, and he, above all the children, would be spoiled.

"You will remain a Lord," Sahen sounded surprised and a little bit exhausted, as though he thought Kudha's questions below his answers, "Amira shall become a Lady. Only one of the children can follow in my footsteps; the rest will, when the time comes, join you as members of the upper class."

There was a pause after he spoke, and then the Shatkona turned his golden stare on Fila. His lips curled into a strange half-smirk, half-smile sort of thing.

"Its time to say goodbye, children."

He was addressing all of them.

It's amazing how quickly the bravery and valiance of a great lion like Azubuike can disintegrate when mommy's upset.

But the young cub wasn't registering any of the words tossed back and forth from each of his beloved family members. It was as if a powerful force had clogged his ears with sharp rocks and wax. The young lion would have noticed the pain if it wasn't for the intense emotions jabbing at him from every direction. Mom's fear and sadness had suddenly melted into relief... Azu's frown and quivering legs had faded away as a result. But now there were the others to be concerned about.

Kafele was outraged. Azu couldn't understand why, but the cub offered a tiny nudge of comfort for his brother. "Everything will be okay, Kafe." The honesty and love of his words shined through his eyes. He could hardly hear his own voice, he must have spoken too quietly? This time he took it up a notch. "When this is over, we can go play." He glanced at the King for confirmation, oblivious he might be too busy speaking with the other adults to respond. "But this time, I won't let you catch me." He cautiously added a dash of jolly into his words. That usually worked to tame an upset sibling, right?