Bedeinka waited patiently for Nahasi to return. She was ready to leave the pride, not for good of course but to find a male outside the pride who was worthy of her time. It was terrifying to think of having the cubs of a male in the pride. Most of the nobles she was related too. That would not due. The other lions were lower class and she would not give birth to lower class cubs. No she would find a male who was handsome and strong outside the pride and return with a full litter to the pride. Her cubs would be nobles of course. Hopefully they will be on the council when they grew up. She would make sure they were close to their cousin Nahasi.
She smiled as she waited. And close to Nahasi’s own cubs. Soon he should be looking to have cubs. It won’t be long till there is an heir. She would push her cubs to be as close to them as possible. If they were close to the future king they would have a chance to persuade the king to their beliefs. There would still be a chance that the pride would return to the old ways. How exciting that would be, she thought as she saw Nahasi come closer. As he approached she gave a bow. “Hello my king.”
Nahasi had his own things to worry about. He wanted to confess his love to Juan, but he was finding it difficult to do so. Instead he focused on his work. “Hello Aunt Bedeinka.” He greeted with a smile. “How has the world treated you since our last encounter?” Since the last time they saw he had grown taller and now had a full mane. It was a silver with red stripes in it.
“Well my king. Very well.” She said with a smile. “I was hoping though that you would listen to my request I had.”
“I have my own request to make to you.” He said. He wanted a member of his family to approve of his proposal to Juan. Bedeinka was one of the only ones he could think of. Normally he would want to get approval from his father, but his father was so far away he doubted that he could get in touch with him in time. Plus he wouldn’t know what to say to his father. He was still bitter about being left to rule at such a young age. It annoyed him to no end. “You may go first though. What do you need of me?”
“I want to go to the rogue lands. I want to bring back a litter of cubs for the pride.” She confessed. “Our numbers are diminishing and I believe that we need more numbers to suit us. I would like to bring back some boys to give to some of the nobles to have as their own. The girls I would raise of course. It would only be proper. I would only leave the pride for a short time and I would be back shortly.”
Nahasi laughed. “You know you do not need to ask permission to leave the pride. You are able to leave when ever you would like. You are my aunt and I do not want to order you around. You are free to do what you want.”
“Thank you my king. I don’t deserve such kindness.” she said. She thought about how her father would have ruled. If a female even thought about leaving they would be slapped across the face. Nahasi was to soft for his own good. Hopefully that would be his downfall. She would train his son to be hard and angry. No one would think about disobeying a king who had a temper. A soft king though was easily tricked and no one respected a soft king. “Now what is it that you needed me to do?”
Nahasi looked away with embarrassment. Bedeinka could tell this was the thing that was troubling Nahasi the most. She had seen him from a far, working on his work, hardly stopping to take care of himself. He was love sick. How disgraceful, she thought. She wondered who would have caught the king’s interest. Surely not a female. How her father would rant in his grave. No it must be a male.
“I’m in love aunt Bedeinka.” He finally said sitting down. “I’ve been in love for a while now and I don’t know what to do. I’m scared that he won’t accept my feelings in return. I think that he might fancy someone else.”
“My king, do not worry. Any male would be lucky to have you as their mate. Do you understand? You are a handsome young lion and you deserve only the best. You should be more worried if this male is worthy of you no the other way around.” She said giving him a nudge with her face. “Who is the lucky male anyways my sweet Nahasi?”
“My guard Juan.”
A leopard. Nahasi’s soon to be mate was a leopard. She knew that the leopard had feelings for the young king, but she never would have thought the feelings were returned. She was sure that Nahasi would keep with the tradition of being with a lion mate. Now what should she do? She couldn’t disprove of the male he liked. It could end her bond to the king. No she would have to do something else.
“My king, Juan is a lovely male. He will surely be glad to be your mate.” She said with a soft smile. “But it’s too bad for him that he will have to say yes. I would hate to be stuck like he would be.”
“What do you mean?”
“If the king ask for you to be their mate you must say yes. Who would say no and gain the anger of the king. Juan will only say yes because you ask him not because he cares for you that way. Such an unlucky soul. I am sure you’ll make him happy though my darling.” She said.
Nahasi stared wide eyed at her. “I- I never thought about it like that. What if he only says yes because I’m the king. I couldn’t do that to him.” He looked away from his aunt and thought about his choices. Did he even have choices at this point? He would never force someone to mate with him. It was wrong. A mated pair should be together out of love, not out of duty to the king. “What do you think I should do Bedeinka?”
“Wait my king. See if another catches your interest. I have seen many handsome lions around her recently. You should try for one of them if you suspect they fancy you. I am sure they all fancy you to be honest.”
He nodded. “Thank you aunt Bedeinka. I should be going now. I have some more duties to attend. Have fun on your trip.” He walked away from her, leaving her with a smug look on her face.
WC: 1,200
