She isn't the first consort of King Muse, or even the second or third. In fact, Muse already had several consorts when he Met Astra, yet she is still his Queen and the love of his life. They met by accident locking eyes at a watering hole and his heart skipped a beat. He broke eye contact to turn away from her only when he heard a noise behind him and when he looked back, she was gone.
He looked for her until nightfall and then went home, but the next day when he woke up, she was still all he could think about. He went out to look for her again every day after that until finally he found her outside of a cave.
He discovered she felt the same way about him, but she wouldn't come back to the Pride with him. Every day he came to see her and they fell more in love, yet she would never come with him, and went night came they went their separate ways night after night.
One day, he brought the rest of the pride to meet her and she bonded with another one of the lionesses. Eventually Astra confided a secret in her.
When Muse got back home with his pride, Astra still back at her cave of course, the other lioness told Muse the truth. We don't yet know if she had an ulterior motive for this, but either way, Muse was beside himself with sadness. He spent the next several days sulking and didn't go back to see Astra.
Finally, the other lioness said to him "It doesn't have to be this way, you can bring them home. No one has to know the truth. We will figure it out." Again, her motives weren't clear, but it was all Muse needed to hear. He was so in love with Astra and all he wanted was to finally bring her home.
Early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, Muse returned to Astra's cave where he found her sitting outside looking worried.
"I know the truth, I want you all to come back with me and join the pride." he told her. They discussed how things would have to be for this to work out and then Astra hesitantly led Muse inside the cave where he could see three sleeping cubs. His heart sank. They were the most beautiful cubs he had ever seen which meant that if he brought them home and presented them as his own, they would be eventually be able to challenge him for his place as king. How would he keep his promise to Astra to not kill them and to raise them as his own knowing they were more beautiful than his own cubs? Was he really willing to risk his bloodlines place as heir to the throne for Astra? He truly loved her but this went against everything he was raised to believe in..
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