Princess Lioness. That was my birthright. Fierce and proud, sleek and beautiful. My people were the true rulers of the land, despite what the other clans insisted. We were the ones revered, the ones that the other clans came to when times were rough, the ones everyone relied on. Our beasts were also the most powerful. The lions, the sun colored ones, not the quiet gentle white ones; we remained undefeated every year at the tournaments. Our trainers understood our beasts, we communicated with our beasts in a way that the other clans envied. Our beasts were our kindred spirits; the other clans had long ago let their bond to their beasts dwindle.

The wolves were the only ones that even came close to us. The only ones that were ever compared to us. But they were a small clan, weak and lazy, more interested in merrymaking than the progression of their clan. We despised each other; our borderlands touching indistinctly, causing feuds and bad feelings between us for decades.

But those were all things that at the age of 12 I thought little of and didn’t pay attention to when it was brought up in the political meetings I was required to attend as the heir to the title High Lioness. It would still be many years before I filled that role; I still had many things to learn before I could and those thoughts allowed me to justify my flippant and flighty attitude.

Still, when I turned 14, I felt the pressure growing stronger and stronger everyday for me to be prepared to fill the role of High Lioness. My mother was long dead and my father’s health suddenly started failing. As their only child I could see that my time was coming; I had a lot of growing up to do.

“Do you think I’ll be ready when the time comes, Maria?” I had asked my nursemaid as I sat on my bed, caressing my beast, Layosa, and staring out the window, watching the leaves fall steadily from the trees.

Maria continued folding my clothes, not turning to face me. I knew she didn’t think I would be, my nursemaid thought very little of me, as did many of my clan.

I was the spoiled only child of the High Lion King, doted on and privileged. I’d never been sent out to the wilderness to fend for myself for a month like all the other children of my clan were, I wasn’t brought up communally like the other children were, I wasn’t treated like “every other” child, I was loved by my father, raised by my father and no one else.

I had heard the gossips sitting around talking about me, I had heard the servants comments, I knew I wasn’t loved and respected by my clan like my father had been, like his mother had been, like all the heirs had been. I was simply the heir, the future ruler of the clan, the despised political figure of our shining clans’ pride.

I can’t say, though, that I would have liked myself very much either if I hadn’t have been forced to live with myself everyday. I knew I was flippant, reserved, uncaring. My attitude wasn’t necessarily bad, not as bad as many of the children were, but it wasn’t what it should be for the princess lioness.

Nonetheless, I would be the High Lioness soon and I’d have to be rid of the feelings of inferiority that my birthright gave me and instead grasp the pride and stability that it gave me.

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     It was my right of passage. Pitted against the feral relatives of my beast, I had to fight and kill them. I was 15 and the idea wasn’t an uneasy one for me. This was what I had trained for all my life, wrestling with my pup since I was but a pup myself, wrestling and fighting my eight brothers and the other children of my clan.

Three feral wolves ran wildly, jerking and yanking their chains, growling and barking, trying to get free to kill me. I stood at the other end of the arena, waiting for the master trainers to let the feral wolves loose on me. I only had a short curved blade attached to my waist, I was barefoot and only wearing my pants. The lions tooth necklace my father had given me thumped rhythmically against my chest as I shifted excitedly from foot to foot, ready for the fight. I would either come out victorious, or I would come out dead. Either was fine with me; if I was victorious, the glory would be mine; if I wasn’t, then death was my just reward.

My clan was gathered around the arena, cheering and yelling their support for me. The energy from all the noise buzzed through the air, making the wolves more excited as well as me. I looked down at my own wolf, Kofia, as she stared ahead, her legs in place for the fight ahead, her tail low and ready. I patted her side and she glanced up at me, as if affirming that she too was ready for this to begin.

The master trainers looked to me to make sure I was ready and then carefully but quickly let the beasts loose. I pulled out my blade and Kofia bared her teeth as the feral wolves rushed upon us in a heated fury. I sidestepped the largest male as he lunged at my right calf, bearing down upon him with my knife. I slit his throat and the blood sprayed up on my chest and face. I then ran for the second largest male, pulling him away from ganging up on Kofia. He circled around me, keeping his distance as he and I both weighed the situation in front of us. I ran at him and he pulled to the side of me, turning and sinking his teeth into my right bicep. I only winced at the pain and allowed the sensation to spur me on in the fight. I brought my fist up to his jaw, forcing him to let go, but dropping my blade in the process. I flew at the wolf as it regained its footing from the blow and rolled on the ground with it, struggling for dominance with the some odd 150 pound creature. Several times he snapped at my face and several times I evaded and wrapped my arm around his large neck only for him to pull free from me. He was the smaller of the two males but obviously the more adept at fighting. I spared a glance at Kofia for only a minute to see that she was wrestling with her equal.

Finally I gained some footing in my fight against the feral creature and broke its rib, winding him and knocking him to the ground. I quickly grabbed for my blade and sunk it into his heart, then turned to help my beast companion, to find that she had also just finished off her opponent.

I felt sweat and blood mingling on my forehead, not completely sure if it was mine or one of the wolves as the clan cheered louder and the master trainers came forward to present me and Kofia as the winners of the fight to the crowd.
I was exhausted from the struggle, but my right of passage to be a true clan member was now complete and that filled me with a revitalizing energy.