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It's women's work

Absalom stretched and rolled over as Delilah stopped grooming his ear and the top of his head, and flexed his claws with a yawn.  She flopped down nearby and arched her back, putting her own ears in range of his tongue, so he obliged her.

"Brother," she said after a while, "did your lizard come to an agreement with you about when you train together?"

Their other sister, Miriam, looked over her shoulder at them.  "You're not supposed to watch them," she warned.  "The historian would pick you up like a kitten and she'd hold you down while the Queen raked you up something fierce if they knew you were watching the boys sparring."

Absalom ignored Miriam, who was always the first of the three siblings to grovel in subservience to anyone in any generation over theirs.  He continued cleaning out Delilah's ear before rolling up and yawning again.  "No, there's no agreement between Walther and I other than wanting to win.  I mean, in theory I wouldn't want to kill him!  He's almost a brother to me.  I could, though.  Dan told me once that ultimately, that's what I need to be working for:  to be good enough to kill him."

Delilah abruptly turned to stare at him.  The sisters then looked at each other and Miriam began laughing.  Delilah shook her head.  "You'd MEAN to kill him...you COULD if you wanted to but you don't?"  

Miriam slowly padded over and lay across her brother's flank, grinning at him.  "Is he trying to kill you?  Because it looks like Walther holds back."

"I thought it was such a grievous offense to watch us," Absalom said, his pride slightly hurt by their reaction.  If he'd known they would watch, he would have tried to be tougher--even if they were only his sisters!

Delilah nodded in agreement with Miriam.  "He leans down to get a good grip on you, the back of his head and his neck are right there.  A quick bite and you'd paralyze him. He also rears up tall enough when he avoids your claws that if you were fast, you could get a good grip on his neck and choke him."

It was like a veil was lifted from Absalom's eyes.  "I...I could have done that," he said.  "But I'm not ready to really hurt him."  That was a lie, but a complex lie.  It wasn't strictly speaking true that he didn't want to hurt Walther.  But making him submit and give up, buckling under and admitting that his strength had failed when pitted against the young lion's power...that's what he wanted out of Walther.  Maybe he could try moves like that, next time.  It sounded quite a bit like...

"Is that what you learn when you're hunting with the matriarchs and the Queen?  I'm learning to fight."

"There's more to hunting than that, but the end seems the same," Miriam said.  "But the whole point of it is to be quick about it, and not let things drag on too long, especially if you're alone."

"You should learn to hunt," Delilah said.

"Absolutely not!"  The three young lions turned to see their great aunt Herodia--the historian.  "Ladies!  Come with me at once."  She turned and didn't bother to watch to see if she was obeyed; it was something she took for granted, and she was right to do so.

The two sisters stood, and Delilah was unable to keep her face neutral.  The unfairness of being called away when Absalom was also talking about this!  Their brother wandered off in the other direction, to the training grounds.  

They followed the historian to the east den, and she sat and looked out towards the river.  "Do not discuss hunting with Absalom.  Hunting is for us.  It is our duty, our privilege, our pleasure and our honor.  What males do is....something else entirely.  Entirely necessary in its own way, but not hunting.  And it should never be confused.  Their fights are part of a completely different world, one that has very little to do with anyone but the matriarch, her consort, and any others he may have chosen for directing the pride.  Understood?"

"No," said Delilah.  Miriam nipped her sister's shoulder; the historian's ears flattened for a moment, but slowly returned to their normal position.

"I will not discuss this with you further, but your mother will likely have more to say if I choose to tell her that you require more instruction.  Are we clear?"

"Yes, Aunt," the sisters said together.  Miriam shared a bit of her sister's attitude for once.  They had only been trying to help their brother, after all!  His "fighting moves" seemed more like feeble gestures, compared to what they were training to do.