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Ilyas wasn't sure what had done it, or how it could be that in all the time he and Afsar had been trying for cubs, there had been no evidence that they were in any way successful. It was only after his new banu, Elsa, had been brought into the harem that Afsar began to show signs of pregnancy. Perhaps the lioness who had possessed such rotten luck in the rogue lands was something of a good luck charm for Ilyas and his family. He liked that thought.

The only thing was, for most of his life Ilyas had lived in celibacy, wanting his first time to be with Afsar, who was the love of his life. After he returned from his quest with Itzel he and Afsar had fully consumated their mating, and in hopes of bearing cubs they had done so fairly frequently. As frequently as Ilyas could come up with excuses to sent Itzel out of the den. Now that Afsar was pregnant, Ilyas was reluctant to have sex with her for fear of risking the health of his cubs, but he had grown used to sex and missed it.

In short, he was horny. In the Ukuucha'Wafalme, that wasn't such a problem, since a pad could avail himself of his other banu if need be, but prior to this he and Elsa, his new banu, had not had that sort of relationship. He had promised she would be safe and protected if she came to live with him, and he had done his best to uphold his end of the bargain. He didn't know if she considered herself to be his mate, and how she would respond to his overtures. He'd have to feel her out carefully, but in some haste.

He found her in a grove of trees.

She had been dozing in the shade, having finished her duties for the day. She was taking on being a banu quite well. Almost as if that meeting with Mirsa had made her change her way of thinking. If some could be that way, she was thankful for the kindness she had found in Ilyas. She couldnt fault him for his pride, and she had come to the decision that she wouldnt fight him. She had alot of fire within her, and giving up felt like failure. But she knew that it would make her life (and his!) alot better. He didnt need to stress about a banu that wasnt exactly what the pride looked for in a banu. She didnt want Ilyas to ever regret bringing her here.. She was safe here after all.

She had heard about the pregnancy through the grapevine, and she was happy for Ilyas. She was going to congratulate him, but it had seemed everyone else was in the mood to do so, so she refrained. She was growing more observant, trying her best to keep to talking only when Ilyas really required it. She wasnt sure if Asfar liked her. She wasnt sure how she would feel in her paws either, since now she had to share her mate with Elsa. But it hadnt been her idea to be his banu, and so she just went with the flow.

Bright blue eyes were closed as she rested, not quite asleep. No, one didnt need to sleep when they were relaxing in the shade to escape from the noon-day sun.

Ilyas wasn't exactly wise in the way of women, despite what he would have liked to think, and yet he did manage to correctly interpret Elsa's hurried attempt to put her mane fluff in order as a gesture made on his account. He smiled, pleased that she wanted to look nice for him. He didn't know if that was because she generally took pride in her appearance or because she wanted specifically to look nice for him, but he did rather hope it was the latter, given how he was feeling that afternoon.

"If you've finished, why apologize?" Ilyas asked, genuinely curious. There was a fine line between being conscientious and being silly. He felt in this case her apology was more toward the silly end of the spectrum.

"You know, I don't really know much about your pride," he said, which was true. He lowered himself to the ground and continued, "Will you tell me about it?"

She saw his smile when he approached, and she smiled herself. Best reward kindness, with kindness right? She flicked her tail again, swatting at the damn pesky flies that were making her life miserable today. She hated flies that bit! She wasnt sure why she had apologized, other than wanting to make sure that she didnt embarass herself. He wouldnt want a lazy banu, and she knew it. She had felt the need to assure him that she wouldnt be such a thing.

She could make him proud, she knew it. She was attracted him, and though she'd been with no other male, she felt an attraction to Ilyas. Sure that likely came from her pretty much owning her, but she wanted to look nice for him, and she wanted him to find her attractive too. She had been a catch before, and she wasnt so sure it was the same thing anymore.

"I just dont want you thinking you have a lazy banu is all." She explained, looking at the ground when she said it. When her eyes were finally ready to meet his own, she smiled again. It was seeming to be contagious today, she simply couldnt STOP smiling..

"My old home?" She asked, though she assumed thats what he meant. She watched as he lay down, and chuckled.

"What kind of things are you curious about?" She asked. "Purple is an honored color, and means you're born Noble. It was such a nice thing to be purple there."

She grinned.

If she was used to having servants and people to do things for her, Ilyas supposed he ought to be impressed that Elsa managed her duties as well as she did. It also explained a brief conversation he and Afsar had shortly after she came, about how she seemed to know very little about how to do anything a banu ought to know. Ilyas had left it to Afsar to instruct her, since he certainly didn't know those things.

"What made you start to question that?" Ilyas asked.

He had never thought to question his pride's ways or beliefs, and it wasn't an activity actively encouraged in banu at all, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it if she was only questioning the beliefs of her former pride, and not his pride. There would have been difficulties if she'd called those into question, though none too serious. Ilyas would have just informed her that was the way things were and left it at that.

"Lionesses were allowed to hold positions of rank, then, or did the males mostly do that while their wives tended to raising the cubs well?" He wasn't exactly clear on how many wives a male might have, either, but he figured he could save that question for another time. Or ask it right away. Patience wasn't really his thing.

"Is it like the Ukuucha'Wafalme, where males have multiple wives that they must protect and care for?"

She supposed she had done amazing in getting the hang of banu life. She had been spoiled rotten, and it hadnt changed as she had aged through her life. She had constantly been praised, and her virtures were constantly being discussed. She had been once, a proud, strong, and rather snotty lioness that hadnt taken crap from anyone, though she never needed to defend herself either.

She shrugged, rather unsure of if it was the result of questions that she had left. She wasnt sure anymore, though she had wondered what life was like outside of it. Of course if anyone had told her she would no longer be noble, she wouldnt have left..

"I was spoiled, and I didnt have boundaries. They didnt keep me there, and my curiosity called me away. Though I was unaware that not everyone acted, or treated, nobles the same outside of the lands." She responded. Though his next question made her smile. She was growing fonder of Ilyas, because he took nothing she said when she explained, as an insult. He actually wanted to genuinely know. That made her heart pound a little faster.

"Oh some females hold a very high rank. They can do whatever they please, but its not unheard of for males to raise cubs for the females either. I guess things are severely different there, than they are here." Shaking her head though, she giggled, her tail twitching a little.

"Oh no, theres only one mate for every male. They dont take on multiples. Its amazing how different things are in different places." She said.

She had been absolutely shocked when she had gotten out of that pride!

Ilyas grinned, pleased with himself for managing to please a banu who was used to something so very different. He took it as a sign that he was doing things very right. However, her last words about others in the pride not being very friendly caught his attention.

His tail flicked at the biting flies that buzzed around and his ears twitched. These were also signs that he was not perfectly pleased. He might have been, but now he wondered who had spoken unkindly to his banu. He didn't feel like going to the effort of sneaking around and finding out subtly, so he just asked.

"Who are you comparing me to?"

Oh geez, his smile went from happy, to concerned and soon disappeared off his maw. She knew she had said something wrong, and she thought back to that meeting with the striped male. Great, now she was about to offend him.. She gulped and looked at him apologetically. It was probably her that had caused Mirsajadi to get so angry, but.. he hadnt been very friendly from the beginning.

"Um.. Im sorry, I probably started it myself. I was probably not being very polite." But she knew she had been. Or at least, she thought she had been. She certainly hadnt meant to piss him off. She'd never forget the males name though, he had terrified her.

"A striped male that called himself Mirsajadi." She said, looking at her paws. She hadnt wanted to upset Ilyas, and she hoped this wouldnt..

"Don't worry, Elsa. You're not in trouble. I'm just glad you only ran into Mirsajadi, and not his father. His father's got no trouble handling banu roughly if they displease him." He sought to reassure her because he had misinterpreted her uncertain expression.

"In fact, if any other pad or pesar gives you a difficult time, tell me about it. I'll remind them that they are overstepping their bounds in doing so. You are my banu, and under my protection. Remember that."

She nodded, standing so she could approach him. She knew they really didnt have a close bond, and she knew that it might have been uncalled for.. But she also knew she needed to do something so that he knew she was ready to be his banu. To be his, and to respect and obey him. She headbutted him gently, nuzzling her head against his cheek, before pulling away and trying her damndest not to blush, though the pink tint touched her cheeks anyway.

"Thank you, Ilyas." She said, flicking her tail. If he followed, she likely would give in to any sort of demands that he was feeling. She didnt know that he had been looking her over earlier, but she would let him know it was okay. She smiled, the gleam reaching her eyes.