Chapter 5

Kopa's point of view

The meeting went on as usual, the eight of us sitting on a circle, each one gave a status report from each one of the kingdoms, I couldn't wait until this meeting was over, I want to go home right now, fortunately ours was the second to last report "the Buffalo herds in the Pridelands are big this year, a little too big I'm afraid, after the heavy rains last season their numbers skyrocketed" Tiifu spoke before the council "Nala suggests we divide the herd into two and lead one of them to a different territory"

"That sounds like a lot of work, Buffalo are not easy to deal with, I can barely handle the ones we have at the Furaha lands" Libya said

"Yes but if we don't do it, the herds will outgrow their feeding grounds" Tiifu explained to her

"Exactly" Kiara said "maybe the herd could be brought here, there's plenty of space for it and it would secure food for us during the dry season"

"And how are you planning to do that?" Kion asked "You've never led a migration before"

"No, but the guard has" she told him

"Oh no sis, I need the guard for something more important" he retorted "an issue that needs to be addressed"

"Kion, it was Tiifu's turn to speak" Libya nudged him

"It's okay Liv, I was pretty much done" my queen smiled politely

"For the past couple of months rogues have been attacking the herds by my borders" Kion spoke and everyone gasped

"Rogues? How many of them?" Kiara asked concerned "are they hostile?"

"Well…" he cleared his throat "I don't really know, I haven't seen them"

"Then how do you know the herds are being attacked by rogues?" our cousin raised an eyebrow at him

"The signs are pretty obvious Kaya and we've discarded the possibilities of leopard or hyena attacks" the red manned king said "I'm sure they're rogues Kya and I don't want to risk my family and pride's safety"

"We have a protocol for this situation remember? We need confirmed sightings of the rogues" cousin Kya said firmly

"I don't have enough guards patrolling my lands" Kion explained "And the ones I do have, don't have enough training or experience to deal with this type of situations and that puts all of us at risk"

"You're right Kion and it's best to not take any chances" Kovu spoke "if they're rogues we need to show them that they do not want to mess with any of us, a secure border is a secure kingdom"

"I understand the concern but I personally can't send members of my guard all the way to the Furaha lands to fight rogues that might not even be there risking my own kingdom's safety" our Kaya told the two males and her mate agreed nodding his head, quiet guy that Hakim, but I'm glad he has his queen's back.

"And we can't send our guard they'll be helping with the Buffalo migration and securing food for our pride should be our top priority" Kiara told Kovu

"You're right…but I believe we should give some importance to Kion's situation" the dark manned king mused before turning to me "what about you Kopa? Can you send some reinforcements?" he asked and all eyes fell on me

"Well the Pridelands are a big territory, we need constant patrolling and that requires a large number of guards, however-" I began

"The Pridelands are the most secure place on earth" Kion interrupted "you don't need that many guards"

"I wasn't finished" I told him and he suppressed an eye roll "I'm willing to send Nuka and Haraka to help with surveillance and once we have a confirmed sightings of the rogues, then we can decide how we proceed with the situation on the next council meeting"

"Or just send a bunch of them and we can just put an end to this whole situation quickly" he countered

"That is my final offer, either you take it or you leave it" I told him and he looked away angrily, Kion can be impulsive and tends to make rash decisions but this time he will have the power to make them

"Fine, I'll take it" he muttered

"That settles it then" Libya smiled placing her paw on Kion's shoulder "thank you Kopa"

"No problem" I said bowing my head

"If there aren't any more issues to address, then I guess we're done" Kovu said addressing everyone "next month's meeting will be held in the Pridelands, thank you all for being here today, this meeting has concluded"
"are you ready to leave?" I asked Tiifu as soon as the meeting ended

"But sweetie, we just got here besides I promised my sister I would go hunting with her, maybe you'd like to spend some time with your family too" she smiled sweetly

"Fine…" I sighed, I really don't want to be here another second but I know spending time with Vitani would mean the world to her "but we're leaving as soon as you're done"

"Is everything alright?" she asked concerned

"Of course but you know there's always plenty to do back home" I said putting up a smile "especially now with the migration and the guard transfers"

"Okay…" she said unconvinced "I won't be long"

"Thanks sweetie" I said and as soon as she was out of the den my smile dropped, now I just need to find a way to avoid my siblings for the next couple of hours

"Yay uncle Kopa is here!" and it seems like I just found a way.

Libya's point of view

"I hope you're happy now, Kion" Kiara said hitting my mate's shoulder "you ruined the family reunion"
"Ouch!" he complained glaring at his sister before turning to her mate "Kovu, do something" he told him but the green eyed king simply shrugged
"What happened?" I asked confused
"Kion and Kopa had an argument" my sister-in-law told me before turning back to him

"Seriously why can't you two just get along?" Kya asked walking closer

"I'm not the only guilty one here" Kion shrugged it off and Kiara rolled her scarlet eyes "I don't see Kiara punching Kopa"

"Well he's not here right now and you're the reason for that" his sister said "the comments you made were way out of line, you need to apologize"

"You done with the lecture, Mom?" he asked with an eye roll

"Oh, grow up! You haven't changed one bit since we were cubs" she snapped at him "You're still a hard-headed selfish brat!"

"Alright that's enough, we don't need to start another fight" Kya said stepping in to calm Kiara down

"Why can't you be on my side for once?" Kion asked his sister and she sighed "why do you always defend Kopa?"

"Cause at least he tries" she said simply "I think he's as tired as I am of the constant fighting"

"He did agreed to help with our situation despite it all" I reminded him

"The least you can do is apologize" Kiara added

"What? No way" he said stubbornly "I can't just apologize to him-"

"You're right Kion, you should also thank him for his help" his cousin said in a serious tone and he rolled his amber eyes and groaned as Kiara and I nodded in agreement

"What do you think I should do Kovu?" he asked his brother-in-law with an arched brow

"Showing gratitude and apologizing, would be the most honorable thing to do" he said and Kion sighed defeated

"Hakim, I'm guessing you agree with them?" my mate asked the quiet lion, getting a simple nod in response "Alright then, I guess I have no choice" he sighed standing up "I'll apologize" he said leaving the small cave with Kiara, Kya and I following behind him, we found Kopa on the royal cave with all the cubs gathered around him and our daughter sleeping on his arm "brother, can we talk?" Kion interrupted the story being told

"We're in the middle of a story here uncle!" Sarabi told him

"Yeah dad, this is the best part" Yame added

"I'm sorry but this is important" Kion said "please, Kopa?"

"Alright" Kopa sighs, standing up and carefully handing Ishka to me "I'll be right back" he told the pouting cubs before following Kion outside the royal cave.

"No fair, I wanted to hear the rest of the story" my son sighed

"Uncle Kopa will be right back darling" Kiara told him with a smile before turning to me with a smirk "I can't believe he finally found someone that enjoys his stories" she joked and Kya and I chuckled lightly, the three of us chatted among ourselves while the cubs played, and few minutes later the two brothers walked back inside, Kopa resumed his story telling and Kion sat quietly besides me "everything alright?" I asked him

"Yeah" he nodded "he accepted my apology"

"And did you thank him for his help?" Kya asked arching an eyebrow

"Yes Kya" he sighed before resting his head on his front paws watching his older brother intently

"Good, now we can enjoy the rest of the evening" Kiara smiled and Kion nodded absentmindedly. Whenever my husband is around his siblings he becomes a different lion, I can tell there's issues that come from being a triplet, specially coming from a royal family, I just wish he would speak about it instead of keeping it all bottled up inside.

Soon, Tiifu and Vitani came in dragging two wildebeests, as everyone gathered around to eat Kopa walked over to his mate "ready to go now sweetie?" I heard him ask, she glanced at her sister and niece sadly before looking back at him and nodding her head slowly

"Leaving so soon Kopa and Tiifu?" I asked and everyone turned to look at the couple, the trip back home was long and usually we would spend the night and leave first thing in the morning

"Yes…" Kopa said with a half a smile

"There's plenty to do back home" Tiifu said "I have to get started with the migration"

"And I have to inform the guard about their temporary transfer to the Furaha lands" her mate added, without further explanation and despite Kiara and Kovu's insistence for them to stay, the couple left for the Pridelands that afternoon while Kion, Ishka, Yame and I spent the night at the Aduli lands.

"It's a shame you all have to leave so soon" Kiara as she and her family walked us and Kya's husband and daughter to the borders

"Let's not get sentimental here, we'll see each other soon" Kion told her

"I know, don't think I won't be there when your little one arrives" she smiled

"That would be wonderful Kiara" I said happily

"I'll try to make it but I can't promise you anything" Kya said apologetically

"It's alright we know how busy you are" my mate answered and I raised an eyebrow at him

"And Kopa isn't?" I asked and he rolled his eyes while everyone else laughed

"Alright time to go, cubs! Say goodbye to your cousins" Kion told Yame and Ishka this morning while they ran around with the rest of the cubs

"But we don't want to leave yet" our daughter pouted

"Yeah, we want to keep playing with Hadi, Sabi and Binti" our son added

"You heard your father; we have to go back now- ah!" I groaned in pain

"Livy, what's wrong?"

"Are you okay mommy?"

"Are you alright?" everyone panicked

"The cub is... just kicking really hard is all" I breathed out "I'm fine"

"Should we stay here? Just in case you-" Kion began

"No reason to worry" I smiled waving it off, it wasn't the cub's time yet but it might come soon and though I love visiting the Aduli lands, I want to be home when it happens "It's nothing, let's just go home"