Heavy is the Head [Kion] ✔️

[4]

CHAPTER FOUR
royal arrivals

Kion stood with heavy shoulders beside his father and mother at the base of Pride Rock. His heart thudded painfully in his chest with anticipation. It was only yesterday that he found out that today he would be meeting his future wife.

It felt unreal. Like a nightmare. A nightmare he couldn't wake himself up from.

He glanced at his father in the corner of his eye. Simba was as perfect and regal as always. Kion felt like rolling his eyes but held himself back and instead muttered, "Do I have to do this?"

"This is for the good of the kingdom, Kion," Simba hissed back, "and for your own good too."

Biting back another remark, Kion pulled his shoulders back and faced the horizon, where a group of animals had appeared. Fuli, the most distinguishable of the group, was in the lead with Ono above, scouring for any potential danger. Bunga and Beshte took up the rear and Makini was in the centre with the new group of lions, walking with her stick. From what Kion could tell at this distance, there only seemed to be two lions, both with dark muddy-colored coats.

'Well,' Kion thought irritably, 'that certainly narrows it down.'

"Kiara was meant to marry Prince Baylio," Simba said suddenly. "That is, before that no-good Kovu got in the way," the king added with a low growl. He sighed. "In her place, Kion, you will be marrying Queen Rani."

Kion sputtered, his regal demeanor falling. "Queen?!"

"Quiet," Nala chastised, "here they come."

Indeed, Fuli had just appeared at the top of the hill, Ono perched on her shoulder. She gave Kion an encouraging smile before veering off to the side, allowing Makini to lead the two lions to them.

"Here we are!" The young mandrill cheered happily, clapping her paws. "Pride Rock! This is—"

Kion's ears seemed to fall off when he spotted Rani. Her fur was thick and brown, her eyes a shade of purple which Kion had never seen before and a blue stripe dyed across her forehead. She held her head high and proud and wore a pretty smile. This wasn't what intrigued Kion; it was the mark on her shoulder that looked so similar to that of the Lion Guard's that held his interest. Did she have the roar too? Was she a queen with a roar? Was—

"Kion!" Simba snapped and Kion blinked, quickly turning to Rani and giving her a polite bow.

"Your majesty," he said. "Welcome to the Pride Lands."

Rani nodded. "Thank you, Prince Kion, King Simba and Queen Nala. I look forward to getting to know all of you better."

"As do we dear," Nala smiled, though Kion could tell she was worn out from the morning's excitement despite it still being early.

Simba seemed to have noticed it too. He turned to Kion. "Why don't you and Queen Rani get to know each other? Take her on a tour, perhaps. I'm sure Fuli and the Lion Guard would be honored to entertain the Prince."

Bunga stepped forward before Fuli could reply. "Anytime, your Kingly-ship! Come on, Princey!"

The young lion at Rani's side nodded, grinning, and joined the group as they headed off on patrol. "You guys can call me Baylio!"

"Welcome to the guard!" Bunga cheered.

Kion could practically see Simba's embarrassment. Rani, however, chuckled. "Well, I'm glad he won't have to mope around until he returns home."

Kion nodded. "They'll take good care of him, your Majesty."

Simba and Nala excused themselves and returned to the den, leaving Kion and Rani standing there awkwardly.

"Well," Kion finally said, "shall we get started?"

"Lead the way," Rani agreed.

*

"So," Rani suddenly murmured as they passed through the Mbali fields. "Wanna tell me why I'm here?"

Kion frowned, glancing at her. "What do you mean?"

Rani sighed and came to a stop, prompting Kion to do the same. "We both know this wasn't the initial arrangement," she said. "So why did plans change?"

His eyes widened with realization.

"Kiara! Hang on-!"

"Kion!"

"No!"

He shut his eyes, trying to block out the memory. Finally, he managed to look back at Rani. From the few hours they had spent together, Kion could tell she was a good lioness, and a good queen. She was firm in her opinions —as he had learnt during a conversation about expanding the hunting grounds— but soft in her heart, perhaps a little unsure of everything going on around her. Perhaps that's why she wanted to know about Kiara...

"My sister died," Kion explained shortly. "I have to take her role now, and all her responsibilities with it. Including forming an alliance with the Tree of Life."

The Tree of Life. Kion had decided throughout the afternoon's conversations that that is where he would have loved to be, even just for a while. For a break. To rebuild himself. Of course that couldn't happen.

Rani hummed in acknowledgment. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

Kion frowned and blushed. "Not particularly."

The Queen chuckled. "I understand, and I understand what you're going through."

"You do?"

She nodded. "I lost my parents a few years ago. It was my fault."

"What happened?"

Rani sighed, looking wistfully at the blue sky, as if reliving it yet again. "It was a quiet evening. The Night Pride was on patrol but I— I wasn't feeling up to it. I was tired from the day and from learning that I would become the next queen and I— I wasn't happy. Wasn't... there," she paused to sigh again, drawing a long breathe. "We came to the entrance of the lands. It's a large, canyon entrance. Suddenly... a bear appeared in the distance. We thought he was peaceful but he charged at us —at me!— and I just... froze. My mother, she stepped in front of me at the last second, hoping to protect me— she was killed instantly. But the bear just kept coming! He was coming after me! We knew we couldn't let him inside, he'd hurt too many of our peaceful animals so my father— he told us to block the entrance. We-we managed to create a landslide and... I don't know what happened after that. By the time we got back over the rocks to help my father fight the bear off... my father was dead, and the bear was gone. That's when I became queen."

Kion was shocked by the intensity of her story. The fact that not only he had gone through something horrible was a shock to him, but he shooed away his thoughts.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Rani took a moment before sitting up straight, sniffing back tears, and smiled softly. "It wasn't your fault. It's in the past. Now, should we continue the tour?"

Kion nodded, and they finally walked on, eventually coming to the gorge. The young prince decided not to yet share all the horrors his family had faced down there.

As they walked, Rani sighed softly. "Neither of us want this, do we?" She whispered.

Kion frowned. He seemed to do that a lot these days. "It's our duty," he finally said. "We... don't really have a choice."

"I know," Rani agreed. "Just want to know if we're on the same page. This," she gestured between them, "is just a business transaction, right? For the good of our kingdoms?"

Kion nodded quickly, glad to have both of them on those terms. "Yes."

"Well," Rani said, "then hopefully we can make the most of it. What do you do around here for fun?"

*

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you to all my great supporters! Your likes and comments are keeping me motivated to keep writing and I really appreciate the feedback given. Hope you are all enjoying the story so far!
get_you_the_moon_252.