Characters: Kimondo, Selene, Fuu
Word Count: 1863
When the Mwezi’Johari showed up in the West House of the Tianxia, Selene and Fuu had been quick to depart. They approved of the decision to allow them to enter the lands and stay, but Selene especially was not eager to be found by her former pridemates. She still spoke little but by now, she had come to terms with what had happened to her parents, her mate and herself. Her life had just taken such an unexpected turn, parts of her were permanently changed. Selene didn’t want to be discovered because she didn’t want to make things complicated, and while Fuu didn’t think he’d be easily recognized amongst family .. he wasn’t going to leave her alone. Especially in the Central House.
Word came to them not long after they arrived in their hideaway, and though they shouldn’t have been, they were a bit surprised to find that Queen Kimondo wanted to talk to them. The message had little detail but they gathered the mood was not exactly friendly back in the West House, not between the leaders any way.. it made Selene nervous, but Fuu just shrugged.
Kimondo was so happy to be out of the West House. She realized what a grave mistake she made, leaving home with none of her close friends or advisers. Try as she might, she simply couldn’t channel Unyezi and imagine what his advice would be in this situation. She could wing it at home because she knew the pride and its politics. She should have known better here..
But she would manage, because she would have to. Even if she, Ria and Alizeti couldn’t get along, there was still hope for the lions she had brought with her. Kimondo was ever-optimistic, but it was her faith in her people that calmed her most in this frightening situation.
Still, now that she had arrived in the Centre of the Tianxia.. she had something else entirely on her mind. She had to remind herself to keep breathing as she was led to where Selene and Fuu, or rather.. Duchess Tiao and Duke Chao were staying.
Epione, Nebesa and Liuhe were the lions who came to mind when Kimondo first laid eyes on Selene. More surprising, it was not Shangyue who came to mind when she saw Fuu. It was Yueyun. The small group was left alone but a long silence held between the two sides as Kimondo took in every scar on Fuu’s face and Selene silently marvelled at how much Kimondo resembled a young, pale Aapep.
“I.. I didn’t..”
Kimondo cut herself off. Meshach had more scars than she could count but there was such deep hatred and vicious intent in the marks on Fuu’s face. As much as she tried to prepare for this, there was nothing she could have done to make it OK to face the parents of the usurper king, to see what he had done to them and not react, to say what she needed to say. What she wanted to say. Her time as Queen was hardly easy but none of it compared to this.
“Aapep,” Selene said quietly, “She’s your grandmother, right?”
Selene couldn’t help herself, and she could see the panic growing in the younger lioness as she tried to get a grip. Fuu was trying to remain neutral but he could see it too, especially since her stammering started while staring at his face.
“Yes,” Kimondo answered.
“You look a lot like her,” Selene said, offering a small smile.
And she didn’t look anything like Shangyue. That meant that whatever had happened when he was overthrown, it wasn’t his child that took over. Both Selene and Fuu were relieved to hear that, though recognizing who Kimondo’s grandmother was gave Selene more information and it did Fuu. He knew Aapep was a Priestess but that was about all he remembered at this point.
“It’s OK,” Selene added, “You wanted to talk to us, right? Can you tell us what happened?”
Kimondo’s confidence was crumbling around her as Selene took the lead, but that .. was to be expected, considering part of why she was here. She had to swallow her fear and do this, it was for their sake, the pride and, in no small part, herself.
“Shangyue died over a year ago,” she said, “It took us too long, but we took back our pride. His own sons were his undoing. Umepatwa, borne by an unwilling victim, died trying to rally the pride together to rebel against him.. and his death was more effective than any of his speeches or demonstrations had been. Liuhe and Yueyun, borne by his Queen, they worked with us so we could get close enough.. but when it was time..”
Kimondo shrugged, moving the fur encircling her shoulders and lowering her head so that it was placed gently before the ousted Princess and Lord. It was strangely cold without it, but it was at the same time an enormous weight off of her back. Fuu was listening to the short but slow story of how his son came to his end, but Selene was watching Kimondo and then the fur. She recognized the meaning immediately and bit back a sorrowful cry.
“I’m the one who killed him, in the end,” Kimondo continued, “That’s not the reason I became Queen but it was a factor. Shangyue’s heirs refused to take over and his trueborn heir asked that Lailah K’chol, our Shaman, name a successor. She chose me.”
Selene, teary eyed, looked back up and considered what Kimondo was saying. Lailah’s was not the name that should have been used there, but so much had changed and there was no time to wonder about them all. Her heart was relieved but she couldn’t help but feel conflicted, her son was dead. She hoped that meant he at peace, but she would wonder for a long time if he could possibly have made it to the stars. Fuu nodded slowly, listening and filled with questions for more details but he knew this conversation was not for him but for Selene. He picked up on three names belonging to grandsons amongst the details and hints of other monstrous deeds committed by his son.. and he chose to focus on them.
Shangyue’s heirs had refused, even the one borne by his Queen.. it was more than Fuu could have hoped for, knowing with such absolute certainty that Shangyue’s children were not like their father. Not all of them, at least.
“Thank you, Kimondo,” he said, adding abruptly, “Your Majesty.”
Kimondo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the accidental reminder of how poorly things were going in the West House, but it steeled her resolve to tackle the next item on her list while she had these two lions before her. She took a deep breath and .. was surprised to find Selene smiling at her when she looked back up at them.
“Actually,” she said, bowing her head respectfully, “I came here today to ask if you wish to claim your birthright, Princess Selene. What happened with Shangyue has changed all of us, but we’ve survived. I know you both would be welcomed home, and I know it would be better for the pride.”
Kimondo couldn’t make herself say it was best for the pride, she didn’t honestly know what was best.. she was sure it would be better, though, even though Selene and Fuu were so far removed from their life in the Mwezi’Johari.
Fuu was stunned into silence and simply stared while Selene flashed back to her last conversation with Meshach.
Don’t become king.
She said that to him because she felt like peace was impossible, that the job was cursed. Faced with a young lioness struggling to accept the sudden twist in her life, Selene regretted ever thinking that. She didn’t want to believe it was cursed and she just plain didn’t think that she and Fuu were any better for the job than Kimondo.
“Kimondo,” she said, “I didn’t think peace would ever come back to the Mwezi’Johari. You helped it get there and I’m so grateful to you, and to all the others who worked so hard to make it happen. We may be alive but we gave up the right to claim leadership of the pride when we chose to stay here.”
“Well, we would have died-” Fuu started in a slight grumble but was cut off by his mate.
“But we didn’t,” she said.
“Nobody could blame you,” Kimondo said, still not raising her head but looking up at them warily, “It was a nightmare for Shangyue’s children, I can’t imagine, as his parents..”
“They could,” Selene injected, “But even if they didn’t, you are what the pride needs now. The Great Lion saw you out of the mess we created by not realizing our son’s true nature, and now He’s chosen you to rule. Have faith in Him, and yourself.”
Kimondo expected to be rejected, but this wasn’t what she expected to hear. She wasn’t always sure what she thought of the Great Lion but her general rule of thumb was not to put all of her faith in Him. It was Selene’s sincerity that surprised her the most, though. Fuu, too, had a look of surprise on his face- whatever he was expecting Selene to say, it wasn’t that.
“I don’t think I’m doing a very good job,” Kimondo said suddenly, having decided not to push the matter but letting her big worries come tumbling out of her mouth, “Not here, especially. I wasn’t raised to be royalty but at least everything makes sense at home.”
Fuu blinked, glancing to Selene and back to Kimondo.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I wasn’t expecting Alizeti to be so .. bitter,” she confessed, “He’s family. I didn’t expect this to be easy but I was expecting him to be more understanding.”
Fuu and Selene exchanged a look, both surprised to hear that it was Alizeti that was making it difficult and not Ria. Fuu’s first thought was that she let her expectations get too high while Selene started reviewing the cultural differences between them.
“Maybe Ria has rubbed off on him more than we realized,” suggested Fuu.
“Chao,” Selene scolded, glaring at her mate.
Kimondo looked at them blankly.
“Ria was OK until I said the wrong thing in response to Alizeti,” she said.
The Duke and Duchess exchanged another look.
“OK, start at the beginning,” Fuu said.
“We’ll see if we can help,” Selene added.
And despite herself, Kimondo was grateful. Insight into ruling her own pride was hard to come by, she hadn’t expected Selene and Fuu to be so easy to open up to so she hadn’t dared hope for insight into making peace between the two prides. But she desperately needed it. Knowing she was talking to someone who might truly understand was a huge relief.
So the young Queen sat down and braced herself as she got ready to tell her story and face whatever criticism the more experienced nobles could offer her. She would do her best to make things right again.
Fin.
.:. Shadows of Africa - New Guild! .:.