|
Imara had known Sikia for a VERY long time, so it came as no surprise that his good nature won out against his sense of duty to his King. She was the first to rise and join his cause, and the first to turn away from her home, when it turned away from him.
She wasn't in love with him - hell no. He was much too...stiff. And formal. But he was a good friend. Reliable. And honourable.
She tried to convince as many lions as she could to join them, but it was difficult. Many were afraid to leave their home - they hoped things would get better, but they only got worse and worse. Soon, the King would die, and that evil rat of a son of his would take over, and have even MORE power.
Imara couldn't just wait for that to happen.
When they finally reached Achilia's territory, their numbers had dwindled dramatically. Imara was finding it difficult to bring down enough prey on her own. And Sikia wasn't much help - his enormous mass made it nearly impossible for him to hunt!
She was glad to finally be settling back into a stable life. The pride members were very accepting of her, and that Achilia. Mmmmhm yeah, she definately wanted a piece of THAT.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imara was certainly okay with what had occurred.
Not long after their arrival and acceptance into Achilia's pride, he had come forward with a small chocolate lioness in tow and announced that not only was she pregnant, but that she was being elevated to the rank of Queen.
He would still mate with the other females, should they wish it, but this new Queen Mabusu had his heart.
And that was okay with Imara. Oh yes. She knew what she wanted, and it wasn't rank or royalty. Not love or commitment.
So one evening, she met the King out by the waterhole, and stuck it too him. Her request startled him a little - she certainly lacked subtlety. She teased him for his slow response, joking that he was afraid.
But he knew her type, and he pounced her. She kicked him off and began to run, laughing, and he gave chase. She was one of a kind. Not HIS kind, but special.
That night, Imara fell pregnant. Later, she felt a little guilty, and went to speak to the Queen about it. Mabusu seemed to be a little confronted by their conversation, but was okay with it overall. The way she saw it, it was her King's duty to provide his lionesses with whatever they needed to be happy - including cubs.
Oh yes, Imara was DEFINATELY okay with that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Imara's pregnancy came to an end early, although not as abruptly as Hatimaye's. She hadn't expected it at all, and was forced to give birth on the savannah, only a short ways from the den, in the early hours of the morning.
The two female cubs were small, but definitely healthy and immediately took to suckling with the gusto of a starving warthog. And Imara was overjoyed.
She named her firstborn Maisha, meaning 'life', and her secondborn Uhuru, meaning 'freedom'. Together they represented her will to live free and she certainly hoped they inherited that spirit from her.
Imara means 'strong' in Swahili.
|
