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Hari was in a sulky mood. One of the lions who had asked her to entertain him by singing to him had complained that the songs she chose were not the songs he wanted to hear, and when she had asked him what songs he wanted to hear, he had been unable to come up with anything. Apparently she was expected to read his mind or something. He had complained at length, as though that would change things. It was funny, in a way. Hari did have abilities beyond those of a normal lion, but mind-reading was not one of them.

Mirsajadi stretched and looked over at his brother's son, Khozar. The young lion was growing up well. He was nowhere near as large as Raja had been, but he might not have come into his growth yet. At least the boy was clever and responsible. Mirsajadi knew he and his daughters could not have made it this long on their own if Mirsajadi had not been able to leave Isa and Aara in Khozar's care while he hunted and scouted ahead. Soon he would have to teach Khozar to hunt, too, but that would have to wait until Isa and Aara were a little bit older.

In her pique Hari stalked out into the open desert, which was something she would never have done if she had not been in such a foul mood to begin with. Her upbringing in a cool, moist place had prepared her very badly for the desert pride where she had eventually decided to make her home, and the only way she managed not to expire from heat on any given day was by keeping to the caverns and the maze and never, ever venturing into the open desert. By the time she realized her mistake, Hari was already an hour out and into unfamiliar territory. Not that she was lost, mind. She knew how to get home. She just didn't know where she was otherwise.

At first it had made Mirsajadi nervous to go into the desert with the three youths. For one thing, the desert was a harsh and unforgiving terrain, and for another thing it reminded him of his home in the Ukuucha'Wafalme, and he had no desire to be reminded of that viper's den. On the other hand, he had a very strong feeling that this was where he was supposed to be, and usually those feelings weren't wrong. So he told Khozar to watch out for Aara and Isa and went to scout ahead in the desert. It wasn't wise to do it during the day, he knew, but the idea of waiting for hours was unappealing. Doubtless Khozar would find something to fight over if he stayed that long.

Hari was ready to turn around and go back to the pride before the sun got too her and left her too weak to do so, but she saw a figure in the distance coming toward her. It wasn't exactly a rule of the pride, but soon after coming to the desert thieves Hari had made it her personal rule that she would never leave another creature at the mercy of the desert without at least offering them aid. Probably that attitude would not go over well with her fairly secretive pride, but she had been raised by the goddess of love, and that made it difficult for her to be truly indifferent to the suffering of others.

About the same time Hari noticed him, Mirsajadi noticed her. There was not enough of a breeze for him to be able to smell her, but the desert air was very clear and he could see an impressive distance. He knew he was looking at a lioness. Up until now he had been more or less avoiding contact with other lions as he traveled with his daughters and nephew, but he was entering a desert now, and he knew that there were different rules of hospitality that would apply here. For instance, if he asked, the lioness would probably be honor bound to feed and shelter him and his family for at least a day, and give them directions if necessary. Mirsajadi decided to take the chance.

Before Mirsajadi could call out to her, Hari had already altered her course so that the two of them would meet if he did not make a move to avoid her, which he did not. Because she was staring into the sun to see him, she could not tell at first what he looked like. Only after Hari drew closer did she realize that she was walking toward the young lion whose life she had more or less followed through her visions from the time she was a very young cub. Upon realizing who it was, she broke into a run exclaiming, "Mirsajadi!"

Whatever greeting Mirsajadi had expected, it had not been the one he received. How in the world did she know his name? His claws slid out of their sheathes even though he did not think this lioness meant him harm. There had been none of that in her voice. Thankfully, she did not run into him, though she did stir up some sand and dust around their feet. Mirsajadi didn't like sand or dust, but he was used to it. He regarded the strange lioness carefully and did his best to ignore the strange feeling that insisted she was important. In his most chillingly polite voice he asked, "I don't know you. Explain, please, how you know me."

Hari drew up short when she realized that Mirsajadi was looking at her like she was mad, and then she stood absolutely still when he spoke to her as coldly as any stranger. He didn't know her at all. Despite all the visions she had of him, he had never seen her in return. Hari had never even considered that might be a possibility. Before things could go more wrong, she tried to explain, "I'm...I'm sorry. I'm Harimau'tapi. I'm a seer whose visions show me other seers while they are having visions. I've seen you many, many times over the course of my life. I didn't mean to rush you like that. I thought you would know me, too, but I guess you don't."

A good judge of people, Mirsajadi heard what Harimau'tapi was not saying, too. Somehow, without ever really meeting him, she had fallen in love with him. It seemed unbelievable, and Mirsajadi barely credited it as the truth, but the exuberance with which she had greeted him and her crestfallen expression when he had not known her combined with other factors to make him certain. For his part, Mirsajadi was definitely not in love with this lioness. After all, he barely knew her. But he did know that she would give him whatever assistance he asked for, and so he asked if she knew of a place where he and three cubs could take shelter for a time. And that was how Mirsajadi, Aara, Khozar, and Isarmaq came to the Kauzi'Ukame.