Deviation Actions
Description
“What exactly do you think you’re doing, Huria?”
The Princess paused, the sound of her sire’s gruff voice still holding a power over her she didn’t like much. She found her body language becoming submissive, despite her desire not to show compliant to him – his tone always held such authority and command that one could not always help responding to it the way he wanted.
“I can still walk about as I wish, as far as I was aware, or has even that right been stripped away from me?” she responded, some heat finding its way into her words even as she lowered her eyes away from the King’s blazing stare.
“I do not care for your tone, and you are certainly doing more than ‘walking about’. There are whispering and furtive looks, and I want to know what is going on.”
He loomed over her, using physical intimidation as well. She shied back from him, hating herself with every step. Hating him. “I owe you no explanations for anything. Least of all for speaking to others in our pride.” Her eyes flashed up at him, then away – a lone act of defiance that cost her, even as small as it was. “You can pretend I don’t exist, and ask others to do the same, but if I find myself needing company, I will seek it out.”
Snarling, her father came right into her personal space, moving with her as she again tried to move away from him, and soon enough her haunches pressed against the rough texture of stone. She could move no further.
“Now you listen and pay heed, Huria – I am King here, and when I say to explain yourself, you will do so without any backtalk or insubordination. Any punishment you find yourself bearing you have brought upon yourself. You deserve all you receive.”
“Punished for love!” she spat, but it had less fire than it did the whine of a child trying to understand why it was being disciplined. “For love!”
The big male snorted. “Love.” The word dripped with disdain. “You are a princess. You marry and you ‘love’ whom I tell you to. That is the law of the land, and always has been, always will be. You were betrothed to another, and yet you broke the law to instead flirt and flaunt yourself to that other creature.”
“He’s not a creature, and he has a name! Jangili is as much a lion as you are and I love him!”
“He does not exist if I say he does not!” Her father’s roar made her tremble to her bones. “He had no right to even look at you, much less accept your affections! His place was as a servant, if that, to you, and nothing more! You both knew better, and he is lucky I let him live after such crimes as he committed!”
Huria clenched her paws, the claws in them sliding out and then back in as she did so. She was a snarled tangle of emotions, from hate and rage and fear to pain and sadness. The sight of Jangili’s torn body filled her mind and memories, and she felt a strength she hadn’t before. He had stood up for her, taken the blows and the claws and the condemnation, and never apologized for what he’d done and what he’d felt. It had made her love him all the more, even if she’d been prevented from following him into exile, from being with him, and it made her loathe her father all the stronger right now. She loathed him enough to finally put it into words.
“I hate you.”
It was a whisper, but it cracked loud against the silence that had fallen after her father’s shouts.
If the words hurt him, King Rakaya did not show it. “Regardless, you are my daughter and my subject, both. You have responsibilities and duties that you will perform, and marrying whom I have selected for you is one of those. Whatever spawn that thing put into you will be destroyed as soon as they breathe air, and the damage will be undone as much as it can be. Once you are clean of his taint, you will go to your new home and be someone else’s problem. I’ll at last be done with you, disobedient child.”
With that, he turned and left her, always making sure he had the last word. Huria didn’t try to change that – the fight had made him forget why he’d originally confronted her, and that was a move in her favour. She slid away from the pride dens, tears gumming up her eyes, and did not notice at first that someone else was following. Whipping around, she prepared for another round in the ongoing battle with her sire, but it was only her other brother, Lutu.
“What do you want? Come to tell me again to stop provoking Father and just do as he commands? To stop fighting him on the matter?”
He flinched at the venom in her words, but didn’t go away as she would have liked. “No. No, I didn’t.” Lutu met her eyes with his own, and she could see a sorrow and regret in them that had never been there before. “One of the lionesses… came to me. She told me what you asked her.” Huria stiffened, but instead of castigating her as she expected, he merely nodded his head towards the borders. “Go.”
“You… you’re not going to try to stop me?” She was bewildered.
Again, he looked at her with that deep sadness. “This place isn’t for you. This life isn’t for you. Maybe out there… maybe you can be happy.” He smiled, faintly, even if it was slightly bitter. “If Agano can give you a better life, if he really can take his own kingdom, I won’t stand in the way of that. I sided with Father when you had no other prospects, because I did not want to see you dying the death of a rogue, but if Agano can change that and give you another home and safety… I won’t stop you from having that chance.” He turned to move away from her. “And those who would go with you, I won’t stop them, either.”
Huria’s heart was hammering in her chest as she called softly after him a single word that encompassed all her confusion: “Why?”
Looking over his shoulder, Lutu smiled for her again, sad but filled with love. “Because you are my sister, and whatever else you may become or wherever you may go, you’ll always be my little sister.” She watched him walk away, for the last time, and whispered two words that could never express adequate gratitude, but that she meant with all of her heart:
“Thank you.”
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Artwork & story; characters Huria, Rakaya belong to me.
Elements from the story relating to The Lion King including its associated characters ('Agano', 'Jangili', 'Lutu') (C) Disney.