Imani smiled and chased after Zeus, catching up to him quickly. She leapt and tackled him, chuckling as she did so.

The rest of the day went by quickly, a blur of giving orders and watching over the pride. By the end of the day, she was utterly exhausted. She flopped down in her and Zeus's new den, still smelling of the old king and queen. She sighed as she settled in, the sun setting slowly over the horizon.

Imani woke one morning to another sickly feeling in her stomach. The sun had barely risen as she rolled over with a groan, feeling very sick to her stomach. This had been happening for weeks

She hadn't really said anything as she hadn't wanted to cause a fuss, but it was getting progressively worse, to the point it was hard to hide it. She gazed at Zeus sleeping next to her and sighed, hoping the feeling would go away soon so she could go back to sleep.

Feeling something stir beside him, Zeus slowly woke up. He brown eyes fluttered open, to reveal Imani awake next to him. He stifled a yawn, a small roar coming out as he did. She looked sick again, and it made him upset. For the last couple weeks, Imani was always feeling sick. He looked over to her, "Imani you should see the healer." He said with a sigh. "It sometging more than bad prey now." He finished, casting a worried glance in her direction.

Imani sighed at Zeus's words. "I'm fine, it'll go away eventually."

Another wave of nausea passed over her, and she gritted her teeth against it. Imani had been sick a few times in her life, but never for this long. She didn't know what was causing it, as she was very fit and active. If the prey was bad, then Zeus would be sick as well.

Imani let out another long sigh and laid her head on her paws.

He looked outside of the den, most of the Pride was still asleep, except the males. He might as well put them to use. "Well, I'm going to go lead a border Patrol." He said, his brown eyes looking from her to the lions outside. "Imani," he said, a tinge of seriousness in his voice, "Visit the healer, I want to make sure my Queen is okay." He said, rubbing his head on her neck. With one last look at Imani, he made his way out if the den. "Come on you guys." He said, as there were only four males awake. "Lets go patrol the border, see if anything is up." Then Zeus, at a steady trot, made gis way out of camp to patrol the border.

Imani rolled her eyes. She was about to insist she was fine when a particularly strong wave of nausea overcame her, and she fought back the urge to vomit.

"Okay Zeus, you win." She grumbled to herself, taking her time getting to her feet. She had to stand there for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass. She made her way out of the den, stretching her back legs. She smiled at the lionesses she passed by as she reluctantly made her way to the healers den.

She poked her head through the entrance, making sure the healer was awake. He invited her to come in, which she did.

"What can I help you with, Your Majesty?" The old lion asked, looking up from what he was doing.

"I've had a pretty bad stomach ache for a few weeks, I was wondering if you could give me anything for it, it's getting rather annoying." She smiled at him as he looked her over.

The lion made a intrigued noise, looking back to her.

"Would you mind lying down for a second?" He asked.

"Of course." She said, easing herself down to the ground. Imani tried not to look skeptical as her prodded at her stomach. He seemed satisfied after a few minutes and she stood up. "So can you give me anything?" She asked, sudden panic rising in her gut. She could be to ill to cure, or she could have some unknown disease. She pushed the thoughts away as the healer spoke.

"I'm afraid I can't, Your Majesty. If I'm correct, you seem to be expecting cubs."

Imani's breath caught in her throat when she heard the words. Cubs. She had wanted cubs her whole life. All she ever wanted was to raise a family.

Imani didn't know what to say as she nodded her thanks and left. She blinked back gears of joy as she waited for Zeus to come back so she could tell him the news.

Zeus made it back to camp with the others, the patrol had spotted nothing, which was weird, usually they chased out some sort of predator, or saw a herd of something, but he pushed it out of his mind as soon as he saw Imani. He trotted up to her, "You did go to the healer rigjt?" He asked gently, he nuzzled her neck before backing up, waiting for her to speak.

Imani didn't say anything, only threw her head towards their den. She needed to tell him when they were by themselves. She turned and walked towards the den, looking back to make sure Zeus was following her.

Zeus was starting to get worried. Was she okay? Was it that bad? Either way, he followed her into the den. "Is everything alright?" He asked, worry creeping into his voice. "Are you okay?" His stomach starting to pang with worry, he started pacing before calming down and sitting before her. "What is it?" He asked, his brown eyes filled with panic.