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The black lioness was wandering the pridelands again. Her cubs were home in their den, being ferocious little bastards. Slaves known to be completely loyal to Shangyue, hand-picked by Tyfu, kept a watch in her absence.

She wandered the slave dens now, casting her eye over the lions who lived in this area of the pride. Many of these were the most loyal to the King, but there were also those who did not care for him.

There was always room for more Royal Guards, and Tyfu meant to find some.

There wasn't too much to draw her interest this night...not until one of the lionesses abruptly began to leave. Tyfu's lips drew back off her teeth in what could charitably be called a smile.

A few swift steps helped her to catch up with the brown female. "So quick to avoid me?" the black lioness purred in the other's ear. At the moment, she was content to torment the other lioness with words, not claws. And who knew, she might find enough of a spine under those red bone markings to be worthy of the Royal Guards.

"And yet you showed no hurry until I appeared on the scene," Tyfu observed carelessly. She didn't pay any attention to the other lioness' weak attempt at insults. Whatever the slave spent her time on, it wasn't how to inflict the most emotional pain possible in the fewest number of words.

"You speak as if I have no job of my own, other than "harrassing lions of the pride"," the black lioness observed. "What nonsense. I am currently excused from most of my duties as a Guard to care for my children." It was a common practice to allow the parents of new cubs to care for their children as was necessary. True, slaves often helped them out, but it was still important for the parents to help.

The rusty brown lioness was lucky that Tyfu chose to be amused instead of offended. For now.

Tyfu had no way of knowing what Manyara was thinking, but she wasn't just any new mother. She was a great believer in giving children the freedom they needed to discover their own strength, which they certainly wouldn't do if a parent was hovering over them every moment of every day. Not that she'd bother explaining any of that to some idiot who expected her to be some mushy mother.

The black lioness made a show of examining the claws on one paw as she considered what the other had said.

"Truly, you are a marvel of observation. Seeing that I quite clearly have not brought my cubs with me, or that I seem to be reaching for nothing at all. Perhaps I am as you say, and perhaps I am looking to see what an observant lioness will see within herself. She should, however, remember that the sharper her words are, the sharper the response she'll garner."

The threat was implicit. Tyfu chose to do nothing for the moment, but the brown lioness should be aware that that could change in a flash based on what was said or done.

The black lioness snorted. "It seems you are a waste of time and effort in every way," she answered, turning away from the brown lioness. "Not even marking you is worth my time. Clearly you're a Slave who will always be a Slave."

Really, there was some fire in the other lioness, but not nearly enough. Frankly, Tyfu was disgusted with the caliber she'd found. Apparently tonight she wouldn't find anyone who was Royal Guard material.

An understanding of the world that she didn't? That was one way to phrase it, but a more accurate way would be that Manyara's perception and understanding of what she perceived was far more limited than what Tyfu garnered from those same events. The brown lioness was naive, and foolish, thinking that the world was a good place. Tyfu understood that the world was full of terrible people doing terrible things and it was far better that you were one of those than one of their victims.

She ignored the other female's greeting and headed for her own den and her children. At the very least she would teach the four of them how to properly view the world and what their place in it was.