Ten years before the princes had departed from their castle they had attended a party. Back then the brothers were not the fine looking men that drew the attention of any woman who saw them. They were both round like pigs with the only noticeable quality being their royal clothing to show they were princes.

The plump princes reached up on the tables higher than them to grab whatever food they could to stuff into their mouths. Loud drums and horns played throughout the hall. Men and women moved around them. Beautiful ladies sat in the laps of the fat drunken men.

Kovu and Dayo kept on eating as they watched the sights of the party. Their mother, the lovely Queen Vashti bent down in front them. She took away the remaining food her sons had snatched up. “Boys, stop eating and go play with the other children.” The queen had always encouraged her sons to be active; however both of them seemed to take after their father instead.

The brothers still hungry decided to head out of the hall and go to the kitchen where their mother would not see them. On their way through the hallway they sudden heard voices from around the corner. “You must claim down.”

“I cannot. All those fat hogs pawing at my body was disgusting.” The sound of the second woman’s outrage stopped the princes short. “Why do I have to let such men touch me?”

“They are the richest men in the country. They will set you up for life,” the other woman answered. “Endure it.”

“Why can’t they be like the soldiers? Oh, how I would love to be swooped up in one of their strong arms. If ever a man looked like an angel it is them.”

“Few men are so lucky to have both looks and riches, but we can enjoy their wealth.” The woman broke out into a laugh. “They actually believe they have our hearts. These nobles are all fools who could never satisfy a woman. We must make them believe they can.”

“I suppose you are right.”

“’Those women are nasty, we should get the guards to expose them.” Dayo looked to his brother for support.

Kovu however looked down at his own round belly. He grabbed a hold of his own weight. “They are laughing at us.” Kovu snatched up his brother’s arm and pulled him away from the women. The older prince did not stop until they were far away from everything.

He finally let go of his brother’s hand and turned around to face him. “Did you hear how they made fun of us?”

Dayo simply blinked. “They made fun of all the nobles.”

“No, they made fun of the fat ones. They made fun of the two of us as if we were the most disgusting things in all the kingdom.”

“We should have them arrested.”

“That will not change how they feel,” Kovu said. “That will not change how the women of the kingdom see us.”

“But I don’t have an interest in women. Do you?”

“Not now, but we will someday,” Kovu fumed. “And when that day comes I don’t want them making fun of us behind our back.”

“But we are princes. If they do we can have them arrested.”

“Stop that!” Kovu shoved his brother down to the ground. Tears had formed within his eyes, his fists balled up in front of him. “You’re so stupid. I will have a body no one can laugh at. And if you want to stay a fat hog, you aren’t my brother anymore. And when I become king I’ll banish you.”

“W-wait, you don’t mean that.”

“I do. I won’t have a joke for a brother,” Kovu shouted.

Dayo stood up. “I-I will not be a joke. I’ll be the most handsome guy ever. So-so…” The brothers had come to an agreement.

The next day, the brothers arrived just outside of the castle where the royal guard performed their daily training. The then Commander Abdul raised an eyebrow at the sight of the round princes wobbling their way toward him. “Your highnesses, what are you doing up so early?”

Prince Kovu stepped up to the man and looked him straight in the eye. “I want you to train us to be soldiers.”

“There is no need for that. It is what the royal guard is-”

Kovu cut him off with a stomp of his foot. “I want to be a soldier.”

Abdul looked to the younger prince. “And you, Prince Dayo?”

The younger prince nodded.

“It will be hard work.”

“No excuses.”

“If that is how you feel, your highnesses.” Abdul was sure the princes would quit once they realized how daunting being a soldier truly was. He turned toward his men. “Welcome the princes to our morning training.”

With that the brothers lined up with the rest of the men. Abdul ran through what the training would entail for the benefit of the princes. After that the men immediately began to run their required laps. Sweat poured down the princes’ entire bodies in a matter of minutes. Both of them collapsed before making it a forth of the way when they recovered their bodies too tried to continued with the rest of the training.

When the training had wrapped up for the day both princes had to be carried to their beds. Neither of them could move for the remainder of the day. Tears beamed down from Dayo’s eyes. He had been in so much pain and desperately hungry. He couldn’t even call out to a servant to fetch him a meal.

Kovu on the other hand shook with frustration. He wanted to keep up like all the other men. He did not wish to be anyone’s fool. He may have been hungry, but he had no desire to eat not until he earned it.

The next morning, Kovu dragged his aching body out of bed and to his brother’s room. His brother had been fast asleep when he wobbled over to his side. He shook Dayo awake. “Hurry and dress so we can go train with the soldiers.”

“No, you can banish me when your king. I’m not doing it anymore.” Dayo threw his blanket over his face and turned away.

Kovu glared at his brother through the blanket. “So you’re not afraid of the mountain wolves eating you then?” Once he saw his brother peek in his direction he continued. “I heard they prefer plump prey because it’s easier to catch. You probably make the best meal of all.”

Dayo broke into a sweat at the thought. Soon he rose from his bed and the brothers met up with the soldiers to everyone’s surprise. “Your highnesses, you’ve returned,” Abdul spoke.

The boys ran once more with the soldiers. Again their bodies gave out before they made it a quarter of the way. They lied on their backs like turtles, catching their breath as they sweated like hogs.

“So…hungry,” Dayo huffed.

“Me too.” Kovu panted. “What…do soldiers…eat?”

“Why?”

Day after day the princes ran with the soldiers that turned into months. They began to eat as the soldiers did. When their mother sadly passed away they threw themselves further into their training so to avoid their new stepmother. The once round princes had become thin.

They finished their latest set of laps to bend over and catch their breath. Commander Abdul stood in front of them. “You did well today, your highnesses. You completed the entire run.”

Sweat still poured down Kovu’s face as he gazed up at the commander. “But we were the last ones to finish.”

“It is still an accomplishment,” Abdul said.

Kovu looked at his brother as he wiped his chin. “Well, at least I was not dead last.”

Dayo lifted his head. His hands rested on his knees as he caught his breath. “That’s because I was hardly trying.”

“Then try harder next time.”

Dayo stood up tall. “I can beat you at any of the training.”

Kovu faced him. “Then let us see you try. I believe push-ups are next.” His eyes harden, his heart filled with challenge. His brother showed equal fearlessness.

“Easy, your highnesses.”

Kovu and Dayo began to take part in the other exercises the guards performed. Their arms trembled as they began their first set of push-ups. Kovu found himself needing to outdo his brother with Dayo wishing to do the same.

Kovu soon drew a long sword from the collection of weapons. He stumbled backward with the blade almost falling onto his face. The blade fell to the floor of the sandpit where soldiers would wrestle. His hands still held the handle.

“Easy, Prince Kovu. You need to start out with a wooden sword to practice,” Commander Abdul warned. The boys’ lessons had moved from public training to a private set so they could get a better grasp on things.

“But…”

Commander Abdul took the sword away from the prince. “As with everything else you must build yourself up. Not only that, but it is too dangerous to use without proper knowledge.”

The next few years rolled by in constant practice with a number of weapons and hand-to-hand training. They learned how to keep their weapons in proper order, use dual weapons, and even learned archery. Kovu had been a quick draw with his bow as Dayo took more time however, hit his mark more offend than not.

When it came to unarm combat, Kovu had learned and mastered gymnastics and various styles of martial arts that he could use fluently together. Dayo took better to boxing and wrestling.

They had trained like this for the next few years. Their bodies growing ever stronger, their speed like that of horses. The princes outdid their guards by the time they reached eleven and twelve. Only finding challenge in one another.

One day the brothers battled each other with spears. Their tips slid against each other as they struggled to make the other give in. Kovu swung his pole only for it to be countered.

Dayo stabbed his spear out like several bolts of lightning, forcing his brother back. He could read his brother’s desperate movements and with it took full advantage. With one swift thrust he stopped his brother cold. The spear tip pointed at Prince Kovu’s throat.

Kovu bit down on his teeth. He had to yield. “Let us see you try that with a sword.” The brothers had switched their spears for their blades. Kovu wasted no time. He disarmed Dayo with one swing of his sword. He pointed the blade straight at his brother’s face. A smug smile spread over his.

The brothers tested each other with one weapon after another. The only weapon they showed equal skill in was the bow. They had been frustrated with whatever contest they failed at not wanting to be out done.

Sometime later Kovu decided to get stronger outside of training. He started to scale up the castle’s walls. His arms wobbled as he tried to find foot holes and hand holds. Slowly he lifted himself up the wall to the second story. He pushed himself upward.

He reached up for the window above him. The prince stopped short when he heard the voices of female servants above. “Have you seen how handsome the princes have become as of late,” one spoke.

“Oh, yes. If only they were a little older I-”

“I am sure the princes know nothing about that. Besides they are royals.”

“But haven’t kings always married common women?”

“Common women not-”

“Hey, what are you two doing? Get back to work,” another woman called.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kovu’s feet slipped from underneath him. He held onto the wall of the castle with a single hand, dangling there. The prince thought about what the women had said. His body had become ideal, yet he still lacked something. “About that? Sex?”

He let go of the wall and landed on the ground. Prince Kovu headed straight for the castle garden where his stepmother had been known to spend her time. He sat down on a stone bench with Queen Aaliyah. Water shot up from the fountain behind them.

“It is not like you to come to me,” the queen spoke.

“I wanted to know how to have sex with a woman,” Kovu answered.

“You are interested in that already?”

Kovu blushed, lowering his gaze which still showed his childish nature. He swallowed hard before he gathered the courage to look her directly in the face. “I want to be good at it. I want to make sure the woman has no complaints.”

A sneaky smirk appeared on the queen’s face as she narrowed her eyes. “I see, so you are ready to become a man?”

“I asked Abdul about it before,” Kovu confessed. “He told me a man only needs stamina through practice. But I want to be good at it the first time.”

“Of course that would be a man’s view,” Queen Aaliyah scuffed. She rested her hand upon his shoulder. “Not to worry, I will teach you everything you need to know to please any woman you seek.”

For the next few hours the queen began to teach her stepson about women. What they looked for in a man, what attracted them and how to touch a woman. He would need to be confident, know the different positions, foreplay and how to read a woman as he took her into bed that way he knew if a woman faked it or not.

Kovu listened carefully to the queen’s instructions. He asked several questions when he did not understand something. He inscribed the queen’s words into his heart. The thoughts and images she gave with her skillful tongue made the prince’s body hot.

No longer able to take it, the prince took a servant to his bed that night. Kovu exhaled one large breath. He rolled over onto his back after he had finished. His servant lay beside him, recovering herself.

“That was amazing, your highness.”

“Good to hear.” Though the prince would have liked to ask the girl many questions, such an act would have gave him an image he did not desire. He had relied on both his stepmother’s instruction and his own instincts. He certainly enjoyed his first time which would lead to even more conquest.

Two years later, Dayo walked down the hallway to the royal study. He held a few books as he began his lessons in war strategy and tactics. He had begun lessons on the subject with the now General Abdul. He had been determined to beat his brother in the subject.

Coming out of the study was a young servant around the same age as the prince. She turned in the prince’s direction only to stop cold. Her eyes downcast while a flush of red embedded her cheeks at his sight.

Dayo stopped short of her. “Are you feeling well?”

“Yes, Prince Dayo.”

Dayo tilted his head to try to look into the young maiden’s eyes. “And yet you cannot look up at me.”

“I’m sorry, Prince Dayo. I am not worthy of such a thing.”

Dayo raised his eyebrow. “What do you mean?” The girl did not answer only fidgeted about in the hopes to leave. Dayo wrapped his hand around her chin and lifted it up so he could look into the girl’s eyes. The maiden was indeed a beauty and the young prince began to understand what his brother meant all those years ago.

“Do you desire your prince?” he asked. A sense of arrogance appeared in his voice which had never been there before. His eyes filled with the lust of a wild beast and a smug smile which seemed to aid his handsome features. “Be honest with yourself and the angels themselves may reward you.”

The woman’s eyes trembled as truth spilled from her lips. “Yes.”

Dayo’s smile broadened. It was not long before the princes made bedding women another contest between them. They prided themselves on seducing the maidens and noble women of their own free will rather than the use of their titles the older they became. In order for Prince Dayo to catch up with his brother’s impressive lead he took to having two or three women at a time. These facts were quickly spread in the upper courts, but no woman tried to resist such lovely bait.