Her name was Kaer. Her feet had been raw, and her stomach ate at her muscle.
Her journey had been long already, leaving her home pride. All she had ever known was gone. Her king, her own father, had given her to this..this
brute of a lion. She understood why, to save her pride from slaughter. Cabsi offered them the deal.
"Give me the choice of your daughters, and I will spare your pride."
Aeris watched helplessly as Cabsi stalked along the his daughters. Some were still young cubs, but even his eldest were shaking ever so slightly. The dark red king shook his black mane, black eyes scathing as they looked at the lionesses for a second. Cabsi took his time, big paws thumping with each step he took between them. Aeris was still convincing himself that this was the least bloody way for his kingdom when Cabsi stops walking. He was looking at a little black cub. She shook, looking back into Cabsi's bottomless eyes. Poor cub started to cry, pearly tears fading into the fur on her cheeks. Cabsi smiled, turned, and pointed at Kaer with a nod. The cub's mother darted in, snatching her away, as Aeris nods with defeat.
"What will you do with her?", Aeris asked hesitantly as Kaer was being herded away by Cabsi's lionesses. The black maned brute smiled, watching his new prize being escorted," Make her a queen." An explosive snarl shook the clearing as Cabsi lands a smack across Aeris's face. Growling rumbles from Cabsi's throat as he leans in,"Don't bother trying to rescue her. We have a deal. Remember that Kaer is gone."
"Move it.", a lioness hisses, her scarred face making Kaer nervous. Blinking, the lioness's name resurfaces in Kaer's mind," Yes, Aesop." Her burning paws turned over a bit faster, doing what she could to avoid these lions' cruelty. They had been walking through a desert for a day and half. Her, the six lionesses, and Cabsi would hardly say anything to each other.
Considering her options, which were few, Kaer decides to risk it,"Cabsi?"
His ear flicks, grunting,"It is King to you. What?"
Kaer's heart brightens at the small success,"You wish for me to be your Queen, but how can I be without knowing you more?"
"You will know me when you are a proper Queen. Not now. Right now you are weak. I will make you strong.", the king chuckles as he speaks. It's unnerving that the lionesses join in after.
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It was nightfall when the group finally arrived. Two lioness cubs streak out from under a short acacia tree along with a little male. A white faced broodmother watches passively, licking her paws. Cabsi glances around," Where is Panoi, Nurse? She's guarding the newcomer tonight."
Nurse hums," Went to find some feathers for the cubs." Cabsi snorts, sitting down as the cubs paw at him," You three, off to sleep. Go on, get!" The trio yelp, running back toe Nurse. A blue eyed, light red, adolescent slips in between the savanna grass, a ball of feathers in her mouth. "Spit those out and watch the newcomer. She has to be ready at dawn.", Cabsi growls out in short.
Panoi huffs lightly, but nudges Kaer towards some shrubbery. Kaer raises an eyebrow," You're supposed to watch me all night?"
"Yep. King's order. You learn fast not to disobey.", She mumbles, sitting next to the shrub as Kaer slipped under the branches. Kaer makes herself as comfortable as possible, glancing around before she whispers," Where are they taking me tomorrow?" Panoi stiffens, her ears falling," It's where the last Queen went. She didn't come back. Only Cabsi goes there. You better eat whatever is given to you at dawn. It might be your last meal." Kaer's hackles raise up, her hissing out," Get me out of here!"
Panoi snarls quietly," Shut up! I have spent too long getting Cabsi's favor. I have watched him kill his own
cubs! I survived. You think I'm gonna let you get me killed now? You survive if you're strong. If he likes you. Now quiet before I get in trouble!"
Kaer's ears flatten down at the harsh words. She felt so minuscule and lost in this place. Perhaps sleep would be kinder.
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A sharp nudge startles Kaer awake, her pale amber eyes making out the shape of a huge lion. Oh...it's Cabsi. The king glares down at her, his yellow teeth poking out from his mouth," Get up. It's time to get going. Panoi convinced me to let you eat before we go. A meerkat waits for you." A brisk huff and the villainous lion pads over to the sunbathing lionesses on a large rock. Huh, she didn't see that last night.
The hunger pain snaps her out of the trance. Quick paws carry her to a limp meerkat left out under some grass. It didn't take Kaer very long to reduce the creature to mostly scraps. A pool of water catches her eye next, and soon the cooling effect of it filled her stomach too. Kaer sighs, sitting with satisfaction for the first time in days. The moment lasts as she watches the sunrise, feeling the warmth sink back into her.
"It's time to go.", Cabsi's hissing voice makes the warmth shrink away as icy shivers claw down her back. She sheepishly looks up at him. Those bottomless black eyes made her heart twist with fear. His face held a constant scowl..."Are you suddenly deaf? Get up."
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Cabsi's silence is more unnerving than his voice, Kaer decides. They had spent the last few hours climbing up this mountain whose stones would crumble under their paws like brittle bones of birds. Kaer claws up the side of the rocky hill. Halfway over the top, Cabsi is just sitting there and watching her.
"Help me!", Kaer huffed, scrabbling for purchase. Cabsi laughs for the first time,"No."
This son of a bitch. This..fucking
MONSTER of a lion has invaded her homeland, terrorized her family, forced to leave her home, and now climb this stupid
FUCKING MOUNTAIN! Kaer lets herself snarl out in fury, hauling herself up and getting into Cabsi's face,"
I hate you!"
Cabsi smiles,"Good. You're supposed to. Now, why don't we head into the cave before I fling you off this cliffside?"
Fear, in its never ending cold, shocks her with the reminder she was still close by the edge. Close by death. She snaps her jaw close, flinching away from her captor. Her king. Cabsi sits silently, waiting. With a last lungful of fresh air, Kaer slips into the darkness.
Her paws make the loose soil shift under her paws. The darkness strains her eyes to search for any light. There didn't seem to be any air drafts here either, so there was no other way in or out. She turns, about to ask Cabsi what they were doing, when it occurs to her that she only heard her own footsteps. She was alone in this dark cave.
That's when the fire sprung to life. It roared encircling the center stone in the space. A face ripples and rises in the hellfire. It appeared to be a lioness? Her voice boomed with authority.
"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"
Her voice seemed barely manageable to evoke," K...Kaer.Who..?"
"THAT NAME IS NO MORE. YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HERE TO ANSWER."
"W..what?"
The flaming face snarls, rearing up and roaring,
"YOU DO NOT ASK THE QUESTIONS!"
Kaer, or who used to be of that name, shrieks, cowering down. The light fades for a moment before a red glow illuminates the cave in a much softer shade than before. Above the living lioness was a flaming outline of another. The spirit's eyes glow like coals. The heat felt worse than the desert Kaer had crossed for two days.
The flaming spirit sniffs, smoke billowing out,"Kings are the victors. The conquerors. The one with flames, fortune, attention, achievements, and power. Lionesses are forgotten for their hard work. To bring the food, fight the wars, birth the next generation. And the next. And the next. This has been history. I ask you, would you like to be remembered? Through me you can gain power, your legacy will live on long after your body has been dust for a thousand years, and you will be seen as an equal to a king. The lioness before you refused, thinking herself better than an ancient spirit. She was wrong. She had fury, but she lacked in everything else. So I ask again, do you want to be remembered?"
There was silence for a minute before a single word was uttered,"Yes."
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It had been several minutes since Cabsi had heard the screaming. His pelt twitches with impatience. Had she accepted? She was the one the spirit demanded, yes? Had he failed again?
The scent of smoke and flame told him everything. There was no dust this time. Cabsi turns, watching as the newly transformed lioness steps out. Amber eyes had become red, her body cracking as what appeared to be soot stains her body and fills cracks. Long gold claws poke from her paws as an equally gold crown seems attached to her head.
She was perfect and as promised. The voice has changed too. Melodic and airy," My name is now Maleficent, King Cabsi."
Cabsi purrs, leaning in to nuzzle her side," I will always think of you as the name you told me when we first met...Queen Amita. Maleficent is beautiful, though."
Maleficent chuckles, hoarse and cracked," Well, we can't have other prides thinking I came back to life, now did we?"
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