Edmund wasn't the only one. But how was Al supposed to acknowledge something like that? There were so many differences between them, so many things that stood in the way. He couldn't just ignore the vast crevasses that lay between them, socially and -- otherwise. He'd never heard of someone mating outside their species, even when there wasn't a crisis like the lions were facing now. It just wasn't done. It was totally taboo, and while Al was willing to transgress boundaries to a point, something like what Edmund was asking him for...

"You don't. You just want the idea of me, your majesty." Al closed his eyes and drew in an unsteady breath. he wasn't sure entirely how true that was. It certainly sounded plausible. And it was easier than facing the reality. He wanted Edmund too. He felt something, a connection between them, that he was working hard to deny. But it was there. And every time Edmund lampshaded it, instead of just -- ignoring this, whatever it was, and going about his life -- it made things so much harder.

"We can't be together. You know that."