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 Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:49 am
 Pur had a plan, and she always preferred to have a plan. Knowing what she was going to do for the immediate future helped, even if the fact that she was pregnant was still reverberating in her mind. She was torn between being horrified with herself and furious with the cubs' father, Koursi.
Except it was hard to be furious with Koursi, because she knew he was a good lion, but he would not fit into the pride. They hadn't even discussed the possibility that he might return to the pride with her. They hadn't discussed much, she thought now. He had known she was in a pride, and that she had a number of responsibilities because of her rank within the pride, but she wasn't sure she'd even spoken the name Suka'Fumo. Perhaps it had be something subconscious to prevent him from coming to look for her here.
Well, she didn't think that was likely to happen now. She'd told him in no uncertain terms the last time she saw him that she never wanted to see him again and she didn't want him to follow her. To her knowledge he had not done so, and she had been finding excuses which would take her to the pride's borders so she could keep watch. Not like she used to do, where she would spend hours looking out into the rogue lands, hoping for a prince from a play to come to her, but more like sentry duty.
She hated feeling conflicted like this, and wished there was someone she could talk to. She'd be alone in the rogue lands for a long time - the duration of her pregnancy as well as her cubs' youth. It would give her plenty of time to think, but very few people to talk to, she guessed. Confessing to her parents had helped, but there were things she wanted to say that she couldn't tell them. Like how kind Koursi had been, and how gentle, and yet so brave in defending her that one night.
Moodily Pur paced the den, getting nowhere with her preparations to "visit her sister."
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:41 pm
Now, it seemed Pur'Jed, the female who had clung closest to their mother, was using it as her own personal brooding place. The terminology Gali's mind had chosen for her rang between her ears for a moment as she observed her sister's clear agitation. Gali's pursuit of her place within the pride and the recent moving up from child to adult didn't leave her much time to see her siblings; she and Pur'Jed had never spent much time together to begin with. Pur had known from cubhood what role she wanted in the pride. It had drawn lines that Gali knew several of her siblings had observed and refused to cross.
"You look unsettled," Gali offered, finally stepping into the cave with Pur'Jed. She smiled slightly, but her eyes scanned Pur'Jed's face for hints at her sister's thoughts. "Is everything all right?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 11:19 am
Pur wasn't much surprised by the arrival of her sister. For all that Gali had moved into a den of her own, she was still a frequent visitor to the den Pur shared with their parents and a sibling or two. Pur herself probably would have found herself another den to live in - nearby, of course - in the near future, were it not for circumstances being what they are. She wouldn't have made the move until she was an adult, though, because she had still expected her parents to make a match for her, and in that case it would have been pointless for her to have a den of her own if she was just going to marry someone and go to their den.
But that was neither here nor there. After all, Pur wouldn't be moving into her husband's den. She would be leaving the pride's lands completely and dwelling in the rogue lands until the end of her pregnancy, and until her cubs were old enough to fend for themselves. That wouldn't be too long, she knew logically, but it seemed like an age and a half. And, of course, the family would say she had gone to visit her wayward sister Nyota. Almost like a charity case, or something. It would make her look better when she came back.
If she came back. If she wasn't murdered by rogues. The possibility of another encounter with the demon lion lingered terrifyingly in the back of her mind.
"Hello, Gali," Pur said, insisting on observing common courtesy in first greeting her sister before responding to personal questions. She and Gali didn't spend a lot of time together, but of her siblings, Gali was probably her favorite. She seemed the most grounded and sensible, and yet sensitive to the demands placed on her by her privileged birth.
"I suppose I am a bit unsettled, but things will be fine, of course."
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:26 am
Gali considered Pur's response before she replied, "You're implying again that things are not all right now." Her bright eyes lingered on Pur's eyes as she traced her sister's face with her gaze. The stare was just beginning to border on unsettling itself.
Pur wasn't shy about her troubles, except where it concerned propriety. If it was something that would affect her place as a proper noble, or it would be unseemly in appropriate company (also, noble), Pur kept her words to herself. Otherwise, her opinions were generally open for all-- or at least her family-- to hear.
Which means, Gali thought, as she pulled her eyes away from Pur's face to glance around the rest of the den, It is something affecting her. It also means it's something she believes will taint her good name. Probably.
No sense in approaching her directly, though. If her parents knew why Pur was so out-of-sorts, she might need to be cajoled into taking Gali's offered ear.
"Is it Nyota?" Their headstrong sister was generally a sore point. Gali didn't think it likely that Pur'Jed would be brooding about something Nyota had done, but it was as good a place to start drawing Pur'Jed out of her thoughts. "Has something happened to the cubs?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 10:28 am
Pur's fur twitched and settled uncomfortably along her spine under her sister's regard. Why Gali had the ability to look so deeply and see so clearly was a mystery to Pur, but it unsettled her when that peculiar gaze was turned on her and set the task of piercing her thoughts and unraveling her private secrets.
"You're so quick to pick up on exact turns of phrase, Gali," Pur said, forcing a smile that she doubted would fool her sister. She was no player, after all, to hide her true feelings and replace them with others in such a way that no one would guess at the originals' existence. Her grasp of the minutiae of emotion was not so firm as all that, having never made any sort of devoted study of the subject.
"It's quite impossible to hide anything from you." She continued to smile. "If it weren't for the fact that you never seem to spill all the secrets you must uncover, I imagine you'd be thoroughly despised as a gossip and a sneak."
Not that Gali was a sneak or a gossip, but it would be hard to believe that she could have access to all the information she seemed to possess without being something of a sneak. And if she was a gossip, well, that would probably not make her very popular. Feared, maybe, which could bring its own sort of popularity, but that wasn't really the sort of popularity Maua's girls had been brought up to seek.
"Nyota? As far as I know she and her cubs are fine. I'm going to see them soon." Here her smile faltered a little. "It will be a very exciting trip."
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:54 pm
Gali ignored the almost-slight to her character. When Pur said things like that she didn't mean them negatively. Well, not intentionally. She did have a tendency to dig up things most lions would rather leave buried. She wasn't a gossip or a sneak, though she imagined those in the pride who did despise her thought so.
Pur's revelation snapped Gali's eyes and mind back to the mostly purple lion. That was just wrong. Pur'Jed and Nyota never got along, for more reasons than Gali could count, although the main reasons all had to do with their mother and nobility. Gali couldn't think of a single occasion since Nyota had left where Pur had voluntarily thought of going to visit their sister. As far as she knew, Gali was the only one who did that. She couldn't think of a time her sisters had agreed either. The thought that Pur would voluntarily go to visit Nyota was so unbelievable it seemed ridiculous.
Gali moved over to her sister and gently rubbed her head against her sister's neck to try to soothe the agitation that was still visibly leaking into Pur's body.
"I'm sure it will be. The cubs are speaking now, and I imagine they will be happy to see another aunt."
She wasn't running away. First, it would ruin her reputation. Second, the way she was covering up rather than blurting it out said her parents already knew and had sanctioned her leaving on her visit to Nyota. Gali was beginning to get the impression it was going to be a fairly long visit.
Reputation. That was what it boiled down to. What was so serious that knowing about it would ruin her image within the pride?
"When was Nyota expecting you and how long were you planning on visiting them for? Social season will be rolling around in a few months. I thought Mother would be intent on introducing you to some of the more elusive higher-class nobles."
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:05 pm
Pur's fur refused to lie flat, despite Gali's efforts. She was stressed about this whole affair, and as much as she hated the situation she found herself in, a treacherous part of her actually missed Koursi. Not just his conversation, or the way his voice rumbled when he spoke, even when he whispered, but his physical presence, and the thrill of intimacy. Which was just ridiculous, she told herself with such sternness her ears went flat against her skull.
"I do so prefer cubs when they're capable of speech. It makes them seem almost like real people," Pur muttered.
Obviously, she wasn't a cub person. She didn't mind them for short periods of time, as long as they were well-behaved and either silent or polite, but overall she preferred not to have to deal with them. They were loud and messy and demanding and unpredictable. And soon she would have a litter of her own. Gods, what a wretched thought. But it was a well-timed thought for reminding herself why she shouldn't miss Koursi at all.
"I will probably miss the Season," Pur said with real regret. "But family comes first, and there will be others, I'm sure. Perhaps when I come back, I'll find that she's married you off and you've started a family of your own."
She knew Gali wouldn't do anything to hurt her or their family by telling what she was really doing, but her desire to minimize any potential for embarrassment was very strong, and it was easier, more instinctive, for Pur to play coy than to confess what she had done and what she would do. It would almost have been easier to admit to what she wanted to do, which was to find Koursi and be with him. He'd occupied her thoughts entirely too much, but she couldn't seem to get him out of her head.
"Just...make sure you wait to get married. I don't think Mother could take it if another of her daughters went that way."
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:42 am
Pur's final comment made Gali look at her, really look at her rather than through her. She didn't need to think about that to understand what it meant, although it was clear Pur had not consciously intended to imply herself in that statement. The flattened ears, the commentary on cubs, her leaving, all tied in now. And Mother knew, which put an all-new spin on things.
"I don't intend on taking a mate any time soon. I have my goals to consider." Gali did not mention that Ela had far more purple than she did, so Mother would likely go after her first. It was a blessing, in Gali's opinion, and she didn't want to get into coat color. Pur was probably not intending on visiting Nyota, but just in case, she didn't want to remind her mostly-purple sister of her niece's lack of nobility.
The real question became how Pur was going to handle her homecoming. She could run far enough away that the pregnancy and birth wouldn't leak back, but Gali couldn't imagine her sister staying away from the pride forever. Pur was too ingrained in the role of a noble to find another pride that didn't have the same lifestyle. When she came home, even with older cubs, everyone would know what had happened. Their mother's genes were strong; the cubs would have to show some traces of familial familiarity with Maua and several of her children, if not with Pur.
"If the king does open a position for advisers, I need to be focused on that, not on supporting an arranged mating and cubs. I'm happy spending my love on my nieces and nephews rather than cubs of my own."
Pur had to understand that someone in their family would love any cubs Pur had, regardless of color, even if Maua was ashamed. Gali couldn't imagine Dad would be sorry about this for any reason other than Pur was having cubs out of wedlock. Which begged the question of who the father was, not that Gali could really ask that outright. Perhaps it was a mystery best left for Pur's return, after her sister had handled her own emotions with the situation.
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Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:41 am
"Please don't look at me like that," Pur said, smiling self-consciously. "It's almost as bad as when you look through me."
She was trying to keep the tone of the conversation light, but it was a challenge when it dealt with themes which were as heavy as those they presently considered. Futures were important things, and Pur knew for a fact she had seriously jeopardized hers, and not only hers, but those of her sisters, too. If word of her pregnancy got out, it could only hurt their chances of making a good match - or becoming an adviser to the king, in Gali's case. Even a king as open-minded as Bwana could not help but consider the family reputation of his advisers.
"Unless Ela or Zamba, or maybe Dunia has cubs in the near future, you could be waiting a long time for someone to use all that love on. Though, like I said, that's probably a good thing."
A completely inappropriate thought shot across her mind and a wicked grin followed it. "You know, there's always the option of a discreet affair if you find yourself with a surfeit of love. I'm told those are exciting, and if the lion in question knows what he's about, they're fun, too."
Koursi had definitely known what he was about, she reflected, keeping her grin lingering on her face, but at the same time softening her expression as she remembered. She was not doing a very good job of hating him. It would probably be easier when she was alone and deprived of the comforts and safety of home.
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