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“We are half brothers. We have different fathers, but the same mother. Divad’s father is the Alpha. Mine is the war chief. They were friends long before we were born, and when my mother entered this world, they both fell in love with her. They have been together ever since. We were not born too far apart.”
“Oh, wow, that sounds complicated,” I said. “How do they manage to keep it straight? Isn’t there any resentment or jealousy?”
“They seem to make it work.”
“I guess that’s the only way to do it. When I think about it, there were three people involved in my parents’ marriage, although Mom didn’t know it at the time. I guess it’s better that people are honest about it. Is that, like, a thing between lions?”
“It is a thing between my parents,” he replied.
I nodded. “So, you and Divad then, you must get on pretty well if you’re going on these trips together all the time?”
“We were bonded from a young age. It is my duty to ensure that he is kept safe. He is the world walker and he cannot come to harm. Where he goes, I go.”
“I see… and you can’t walk between worlds?”
“No,” Naaro gritted his teeth.
“I guess that must make you pretty jealous a lot of the time. I know that I would be jealous of a brother or sister if they were special.”
“Divad is most likely going to become the Alpha. He will lead this pride and I shall stand beside him to help him in whatever way I can. That is my role. That is my purpose. I shall act accordingly and be the lion this pride needs me to be.”
I sighed. “You sound so honor bound. I don’t know if I could ever do that.”
“Follow rules?” he suggested. I shot him a look.
“I’m a good girl,” I said, not sure why I said that exactly, or what had inspired the flirtatious tone, but the words just seemed to slip out without much that I could do about it. “No, I just mean, have life decided for me. Isn’t there anything you want to do? Isn’t there any dream you have? Maybe it’s just the way I was brought up, but I couldn’t imagine having my entire life laid out before me.”
“It’s not my life that is laid out, just my duties. I am free to decide what I do in my free time, and who I eventually marry.”
“Oh, so you do have marriage here then. So, is there anyone you have in mind?” I asked.
Naaro cringed a little and looked away. He was clearly uncomfortable about this path of conversation and I was eager to capitalize. For the duration of my stay so far, I had been the one on the back foot, the one who was filled with fear. At least with Naaro I could feel something akin to comfortable. I was actually a little surprised at how easily conversation flowed when we got into the rhythm of it. My fear took a back seat and I wanted to be able to pretend for a moment that I was in a normal place with a normal person.
“There is nobody in the pride who I think about in that way,” he said.
“Sounds lonely, although I suppose it must be hard to find someone when you literally have other worlds to choose from. I can’t imagine the people you must have met.”
“It is… sensible to choose a mate who is also a lion. Otherwise, things can get… complicated. For now, I am happy by myself. Besides, I do not need a mate. Divad is the one who does. He has Char and they shall rule the pride together one day.”
“Char… is that the girl who caught me? The one with the dark hair, kinda crazy eyes?” I asked, a slight tremor coming into my voice as I remembered the threat she had hissed towards me, and the snippet of a conversation I had heard in the bowels of the tower. Naaro nodded. “What is her deal? I mean… is there anything about her that I should know?”
Naaro shook his head. I was confused. I’m sure that she had been there in the room below with a strange man, but what had they been talking about? Were they having an affair? Should I have told Naaro? I decided that in the end it wasn’t my business to interfere. The warning she had given me made my blood turn cold, so I wasn’t inclined to bring more suffering. The best thing I could do was leave this matter to them and get back home and try to pick up the pieces of my life. Naaro might not have wanted or needed a mate, but I had one. Peter had proposed spending our lives together and he was back at home waiting for an answer. The last thing he had seen was me walking out of the door after telling him that I needed some time to think about it, and now I felt awful for him. He would be pacing the halls, his mind rampant with worry that I had just disappeared, and what was he supposed to think? He must have believed that I was gone from his life, scared away by his proposal.
The worst thing was that he might have been right.
*
Time passed and night fell outside. I became bored, wondering when Kara was going to come back because I wanted to go home. I asked Naaro if lions had any games. He brought back a triangular board with wooden pieces that were crafted in different shapes. It looked a little like chess, although it was a lot more bloodthirsty. It was a game of war and strategy, and Naaro said that by studying this game lions could become great generals. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I decided to play.
I lost the first few games handily because I was still learning the rules, but this was also part of my plan. There was much that people could learn from losses, which was a lesson Dad had taught me a long time ago. We used to play chess every weekend. I even went to chess clubs before the incident happened and Dad stopped doing those things with me. I suppose he thought that life was like a game of chess and all he had to do was keep manipulating the board state to his advantage, but things were never that simple. There were always chaotic elements that could throw a wrench into any plan, no matter how well laid it had been, and so I incorporated that philosophy into every subsequent chess match I played, and now I was using it here as well.
Naaro was deep in thought. He leaned forward and furrowed his brow. His fingers were pressed against his lips as he examined the board, waiting for that moment when inspiration could strike and all would become clear to him. His eyes roved from piece to piece, almost as though he was waiting for one of them to whisper the right move towards him. He had cocked his head more than once at some of my moves. It was clear that in his mind there was a ‘right’ way to play, and a mere novice like me was able to make the rules far more elastic than they were in his mind.
I sighed loudly. “I hope we get to finish this game before I end up going home. I’d hate to leave not knowing which one of us is the better tactician.”
He murmured under his breath. “Give me time.”
“I’m sure in the heat of battle you don’t have to make time. Perhaps you should just go with your instinct and make a move that feels right to you?” I suggested.
