UNDER THE ACACIAS
Part Four of Chronicles of the Pride Lands
by John Burkitt and David Morris
LEGAL NOTE
This original copyrighted work is based on Walt Disney’s feature film, “The Lion King.” Elements taken directly from “The Lion King” are the property of The Walt Disney Company. “Under the Broad Acacias” is distributed free of charge excepting reasonable distribution costs. Quoting passages from our work, writing original pieces based on our work, or using characters we created is fine as long as you secure prior approval. That begins by sending either of us a copy of the work. Our e-mail addresses are
John H. Burkitt: john.burkitt@nashville.com
David A. Morris: damorris@wilmington.net
Your comments on our work, pro and con, are always welcome.
This story is a fictional work, but we don’t claim that any resemblance to any characters living or dead is purely coincidental. With love and respect, we acknowledge the debt we owe to those who taught us how to laugh and cry. Without acting as clear models for any one character, many great souls, some non-human, have been woven deeply into the fabric of our lives only to end up in “Under the Acacias.”
FOREWORD BY THE AUTHORS
Much of this material was originally slated to appear in “Shadow of the Makei,” and “Spirit Quest,” but it pulled from the focus of the works. It had to wait its turn to be published. Does this mean the material is a series of “outtakes” stitched together? Hardly! In a very real sense, the four parts of Chronicles of the Pride Lands were being worked on at once. Each part matured at a different time. In that sense, The Spirit Quest was not a sequel, nor were Shadow of the Makei or Under the Acacias. These form parts of a whole, and reading them out of order will make a lot less sense to you. It is my fond hope someday to see the four parts ordered chronologically and united into one work.
In completing this story, we have used the last of the “next project” file, and unlike the others this work did not produce the core of a future story. It is with a sense of fulfillment and closure that we submit the conclusion of the cycle begun with Chronicles of the Pride Lands.
Will Dave and I collaborate again? Sure! Will the stories be canon with Chronicles? Sure! Will it be Volume 5 of Chronicles? No. Than what will we do? From time to time I taunt David with humorous pitches for stories based on the gopher (“Under the Golden Savanna”), and the wildebeests (“The Little Chewer That Cud”). Don’t spread gossip about these pseudo-fanfics—not even in your dreams!! But Nala—hmm, that could prove an interesting challenge for two male authors trying to avoid stereotypes and cliches…
This story is lovingly dedicated to the memories of George and Joy Adamson. Gathered to Aiheu, they are indeed “forever free.”
John Burkitt, Nashville, Tennessee
February 12, 1997
Well, here we are again. Pride Rock’s shadow has grown long, burying the promontory in darkness as the sun slips beneath the western horizon. We have many things to do tonight, but first there’s something we’d like to share.
Somewhere in the midst of writing “The Spirit Quest,” something strange and wonderful happened. This story is mainly about two figures from that work, one brand new, the other a familiar companion from “Chronicles” who came together, forging a relationship that was to ultimately affect not only those around them, but John and I as well.
The new figure from “The Spirit Quest” is of course Ugas. And the old companion? The lioness Uzuri. Master of the hunt, devoted mother, and stalwart friend, she has touched the lives of nearly everyone around her to some degree… and that includes the authors, as well.
Let us go now; the lionesses are gathering, and Uzuri is ready.
The hunt awaits.
David Morris, Wilmington, North Carolina
February 12, 1997
PROLOGUE
High on top of Elephant Kopje where the bare rock lay exposed, weathered but defiant, there was a crack. Years of dust storms had patiently filled that crack with small amounts of soil. And in that crack grew a single stalk of Alba whose one red blossom looked up to God with hope for the coming rains. Where the seed came from, only Aiheu knew, but he looked down on it and smiled. “One Who Brings Rain,” Aiheu said, “take care of my garden.”
“Lord, I see but a single flower,” the cloud answered.
“But it has the faith of a thousand,” Aiheu said. “Any flower can grow by the river bank, but this one has brought beauty to barrenness.”
Even in the stoniest ground, the smallest spark of life may bring beauty. And where the beauty is found, Aiheu smiles. This is a story of one such spark—the lioness Uzuri—and the beauty she brought amid the dark days of Taka’s reign.
CHAPTER: HYENAS IN THE PRIDE LANDS
Birds still sang in the trees. Clouds still wafted across the sky. A gentle breeze still caressed the grass and stirred it in waves of serene detachment. But for the lionesses of Pride Rock, the old world they thought would last forever had abruptly ended: Mufasa and Simba were gone.
Sarabi was looking for strength to live from moment to moment. Nala was huddled against her mother, struggling to understand her loss. No longer would Mufasa call her “honey tree” and tell her stories of the great kings of the past. And her friend Simba was gone forever—no more games, no more words, no more anything. In the depths of her grief, she wished she had let Simba win at wrestling just once. Now she would never get another chance.
“How bad did it hurt?” she asked her mother.
Sarafina was a huntress and had seen her share of death. Shaking with emotion, she weighed her words carefully and said, “He was so surprised, he didn’t feel much pain. I mean, before he had time to think, they’d have been all over him.” She felt warm tears run down her face. “The poor little angel!” She began to fondle Nala with a paw. “If it had been my little girl, I’d have died! Just died! Don’t you ever go near that place, or I’ll cuff your behind! Do you hear me, Missy??” Sarafina nuzzled her and kissed her.
“Oh, Momma!” Nala began to sob. “I won’t go there! I promise!” She added in a near whisper, “But can’t we go see him one last time?”
“No!” Fini kissed her again. “You don’t want to remember him the way he looks now. You really don’t.”
Before the last warmth had left the old King’s body, a new ruler sat atop Pride Rock and proceeding toward him up the winding trail were the hyenas of Shenzi’s clan. This was the new world, a frightening place of uncertainty, mistrust and grief. Uzuri watched them with bitter anguish as they violated her sanctuary, and she silently cursed Taka for betraying his people. Hyenas had murdered his aunt and uncle, and he was taking them into his home!
Despite his promise of a “glorious new future,” Taka was merely paying his debt to Shenzi, and he cared little for most of her race. But there was one hyena that he loved above all loves remaining in his tortured heart. Fabana broke from her place in the processional and ran to Taka’s side, fawning on him. He nuzzled her gently, turning her small, scarred face with his large paw and kissing her cheek with his large tongue. “Muti,” he said in broken hyannic, “mo keth ban’ret dubrek!”
Some of the hyenas looked around, puzzled. “Betra hyannicha?” one of them asked.
He shook his head. “Just a few phrases I picked up.”
Shenzi satisfied the longing of a lifetime to see the world from the tip of the promontory, planning for the day when she didn’t have to share it with the lions. All the while, oblivious to her conceited gloating, Taka lovingly stroked Fabana with his paw and gazed into her smiling face.
“I sit here tonight because of you, Muti. I would have killed myself, and my hopeless spirit would have wandered the night while a stranger ruled the Pride Lands.”
“If it hadn’t been me, someone else would have stopped you.”
“You would say that. You always believe that goodness prevails.” He kissed her cheek. “I love you more than words can say.”
Tears ran down her face, and she sat leaning gently against him. “My dear son.”
CHAPTER: RECIPE FOR DISASTER
The first night without Mufasa’s comforting presence was the hardest for Sarabi. She slinked quietly to the spot where she had spent so many blissful nights pressed against his beautiful body. His scent still hung in the air, and closed her eyes, clinging to that one last trace. “Oh gods, help me!” she cried, falling to the ground sobbing.
That evening her own sister had practically thrown herself before Taka, even after he had brought hyenas into the Pride Lands. Hyenas had murdered her parents! After that, she could not bring herself to speak to Elanna. Now her dear friend Rafiki was confined in house arrest. She had no one to turn to for comfort and had to weep alone. Only God stood between her and total isolation.
There were exactly forty paces to the end of the promontory. On the forty-first she could find an end to suffering. One extra step into the arms of love, and all the things she wished she could say to Mufasa and Simba would come pouring out before them as sweet as fragrance from the nighttime jasmine. But what a blow it would be to those she left behind! Sarafina and Isha would have to drag her battered body to the jackals and watch as her flesh was torn from her by small, sharp teeth. No, after weighing the consequences, she accepted her fate and chose the path of duty. Her life, worth living or not, would go on.
Elanna had considered her own path of duty. Her heart was pierced with thorns over the anger of her sister and the disapproval of the Pride Sisters. It would have been simple to turn away from Taka and stay in the good graces of her friends. But she had watched Taka’s struggle with depression and frustration wear away at him and take his joys away one by one. His first love had rejected him, and his parents were dead. Now his brother was dead, and he had to turn to the hyenas for comfort. She wanted to love him, to comfort him and give his life meaning once more. And hoping against hope that he would find solace in her love, she had dared to offer herself to him completely and openly.
Sarabi had asked her to choose between her sister and her lover, to give up happiness and cubs of her own, and share Sarabi’s loneliness forever in return for acceptance by the Pride.
“It’s not fair!” Elanna prayed fervently. “I love her enough to die for her and right now I should be by her side, but she won’t have me! She loved him once—how can she blame me for needing him so? She doesn’t understand, God. What can I say that will make her listen??”
Taka stole quietly to her side and nuzzled her. “So sad, my darling?”
“Hold me,” she said, as tears ran down her cheeks. “Let me feel you near me.”
Taka kissed away her tears and began to stroke her with his paw. “I’ve never seen you more beautiful than you are right now. Such a kind heart, capable of such compassion.” He looked at her with a tenderness uncommon to him. “If I’d known how you felt before, things might have been very different now.”
“How?”
“Does it matter?”
Taka rested beside her feeling her comforting presence. He closed his eyes and could see Mufasa and Sarabi with little Simba resting in their favorite spot. Next to them, Elanna nursing a small Taka and a small Lannie. Taka loved Mufasa once, as he had loved Sarabi. If only he had stopped striving after a vain dream and seen the potential in Elanna long ago! Under the circumstances, Taka felt his deeds were justified, but still he wondered if there was more he could have done to purge the curse that poisoned Mufasa’s love and alienated Sarabi. The nagging doubt that he was partly to blame for began to eat away at him, and he felt contaminated—dirty in ways that no water could wash clean.
Oh to have felt clean again! He would have been content with Elanna’s sincere and unblemished love. And there would have been no hyenas in the Pride Lands earning him the undying hatred of the pride. The price he paid to rule was too high, but it was final and there could be no refund. Opening his eyes once more to the sobering truth, he kissed Elanna’s cheek and sighed deeply.
Uzuri and the other pride sisters were also very upset, but they found solace in the discipline and effort of the hunt. Sarabi’s missing position hurt them like a wound, and Uzuri discretely asked Ajenti to take the left point of the crescent formation. Ajenti took a few steps toward Sarabi’s old spot, but she broke down into tears.
“I can’t! I just can’t! It’s HER spot!”
“There now,” Isha said. “You take my spot, Honey Tree. I’ll do the left point tonight.”
Painfully, Isha stalked to the left point position and took the post with unaccustomed somberness. “Well, let’s do this thing.”
Meanwhile with unaccustomed jubilation, the hyenas were going to hunt the Pride Lands without the fear of being discovered. Used to the arid conditions of the elephant graveyard, the smell of fresh grass and trees, of blossoms and vines intoxicated their senses. The scents on the wind filled them with promises of good times ahead.
Not that Ber or the other loyalists got to enjoy any of that. Their ties to the former Roh’mach earned them endless, mind-numbing guard duty. Shenzi suspected that the old ways were too ingrained in them to trust them with anything else.
Ber watched the night sky and sighed. The distant laughter of his clan brothers stirred a longing in him to be out and about following the trail. “Roh’kash, first I lost my son, and now I’ve lost my true calling! Great Mother, am I to rot out here like a discarded bone with all the marrow stripped away? Show me the way out, Great Mother! There is only death here!”
Uzuri nodded, and her pride sisters spread out in a pattern of her own design, ready to advance on a herd of gazelles. The moon was kind—just full enough to see by, but not full enough to betray the lithe lionesses in the tall grass.
Uzuri’s ears flattened back and her tail twitched. Instantly her pride sisters tensed up, ready for action. They waited for the signal to rush…
“Now I got you!” shouted a hyena, darting between the lionesses and the gazelles in pursuit of a bolting hare. The gazelles looked around and fled.
“Damn!” Uzuri yelled.
The hyena closed on the hare and with a snap, he had snatched the life from the small body. Bearing his trophy proudly, he trotted back across the meadow toward Pride Rock.
Ber watched Skulk prance by with a dead rabbit. Not far behind him was the hunting party of lionesses, and Ber could tell they were furious.
“Back early, I see? Did luck go with you?”
“Yes!” Isha spat. “All of it bad!”
“Hfff! Did it have to do with that rabbit?”
Without answering, Isha and the others pushed past him and went to see Taka.
The King was lying down napping when he got a rude nudge from Uzuri. “Look here, we have a problem.”
“We do indeed,” Taka said grumpily. “Never do that when I’m asleep!”
“Those—friends of yours—just spoiled our chances of pulling down a gazelle or two for a lousy rabbit! We can’t have them running wild while we’re hunting! You’re King—do something!”
“Well I just might, since I AM King. Not that you’d know it from the level respect you show me.”
“I’m sorry—Sire.”
“This union will work. I didn’t say there wouldn’t be any problems at first. What we need is more cooperation. Something like a mutual hunt. That’s it—you get together with Pipkah and plan something you can all pull off together.”
“But sire, our styles are so different!”
“That’s why I’m putting an expert in charge. You will justify the faith I have in you, hmm?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I ask of anyone. Now run along and let me get some sleep.”
He closed his eyes and rolled over. Clearly, the subject was closed.
CHAPTER: WITHOUT A PRAYER
The next night came in silent splendor. Sarabi looked with misty eyes at the stars as they made their nightly migration across the heavens.
“Aiheu,” she wailed. “Help us! Call up the ancestral spirits! Send Taka wisdom to turn from the path he has taken! Help him to see the folly of his ways. But until he finds the right path, help us to deal with these hyenas.” She pawed at the sky and added, “I don’t understand any of this. I don’t understand why good people like Simba have to die while Shenzi goes on and on. But you are merciful. I know you are just and good. Don’t forget us in our hour of need! Please don’t forget us!”
Ber also prayed. “We are hated here. I want to go home and take my family with me! These lions do not want us, and though their land is good, I cannot sleep safely in the shadow of this rock. Touch our Roh’mach and open her eyes to the truth! Drive out from among us the deceiver and forgive us of our recklessness!”
“Let the hunt begin,” Taka’s voice boomed with unbridled optimism. “Hunt mistress, we need your blessing!”
Uzuri went to stand near Taka. The blessing was supposed to be an important milestone, and the new King had given her some prompting on what he wanted her to say. It should not have taken her much thought to do that. He wanted her customary reference to “Aiheu” to be expressed as a more generic “God,” and wanted all references to “Him” or “His” changed to avoid offending the hyenas whose God was the female Roh’kash.
And yet Uzuri stood before the crowd, lions on her right and hyenas on her left. She looked at the expectant hyenas and felt a shiver run down her spine. Then she glanced over at the lionesses. Their faces were downcast and their ears and tails sagged. Taka’s ideas on a “glorious new era” stuck in her throat. She could say nothing.
“Come on, Hunt Mistress,” Taka hoarsely whispered.
The desolation on Yolanda’s face matched the depth of bitterness in Isha’s expression. Uzuri had to drop her glance.
“Uzuri,” Taka growled, “they’re waiting.”
The hyenas began to murmur uncomfortably. She had to do something, so she did the only thing she could do. She faced the lionesses squarely and prayed.
“Have mercy on us, O Lord. For our transgressions, do not punish us. Look with favor upon we who call on you. And on the trail, let us find sustenance for our bodies and comfort for our spirits. Blessed Aiheu, hear our prayer!”
The lionesses somberly bowed one by one. “Blessed Aiheu, hear our prayer!”
The hyenas looked one at the other. “Great Mother, sustain us,” they said, nervously, bowing. Soon, the whole hunting party lay prostrate on the savanna.
“Good hunting,” Uzuri said shakily. She started to walk off.
“Interesting prayer,” Taka said with a harsh edge to his voice. “Did I detect a note of pessimism?”
“You detected a prayer,” Uzuri said, pushing past him.
Ber pushed up alongside her. She had been avoiding eye contact with the hyenas and it took a lot of work for him to get her attention.
“Well, what do you want?”
“It’s about that prayer.”
“I’ve already been called down once about it.”
“I’m not calling you down,” he said. “I can tell that you’re a good person, and I know Roh’kash will side with you. When the revolt comes, and I feel one will, spare my mate and pups. They are loyal to the old ways and do not want to be here. Remember us.”
She stared at him and sniffed. “I will.”
“I was the hunt master. Now I’m just a guard. Of all the lions, maybe you alone know how much I’ve lost.”
She looked him right in the eyes. For the moment, her feelings for hyenas was tempered with compassion. “I know what you’ve lost, and I hope I’m not next. Pray to your god for me and I’ll pray to Aiheu for you.”
Ber smiled. “God is God. She will hear both our prayers.”
Uzuri went to initiate the first cooperative hunt. She looked at Beesa and sighed. “Well, let’s do this thing.” She felt even then that the hunt was doomed.
CHAPTER: KICKING A DEAD HORSE
The first cooperative hunt was a disaster. Now Taka did not ask her but TOLD her to give the hyenas another chance. To make it worse, Uzuri’s plea for Ber to lead the hyenas fell on deaf ears. Taka deferred to Shenzi in the matter, and she wanted Pipkah to remain in charge.
Apparently the little creep was a better liar than he was a hunter.
Uzuri had little choice but to accept Taka’s decision, but she was going to make it quite clear to Pipkah that THIS time he would wait for her signal to close in.
Just as she was thinking of a diplomatic way to make her point, Pipkah swaggered up to her with a couple of large hyena guards. “Your advice got us into this mess, and it’s up to me to get us out. This time I plan the strategy, Toots.”
Uzuri looked at him speechlessly.
He continued. “Shenzi and Taka have the utmost of confidence in my abilities when I’m allowed to do what I do best.”
“If that’s irritating me, you have succeeded beautifully…”
“This is an outrage!”
“… and NEVER call me Toots!”
Uzuri was ready to explode. She looked over at her sister Sarafina, searching for the right words to vent her feelings. Frustrated and inarticulate, she struck the ground with a paw. “Look, Sis. You deal with this—PERSON—while I take a walk to clear my head.” She turned and started off.
“You’d better take a mighty long walk,” Pipkah called after her.
She whipped about and snarled. “I warn you, Pip Squeak—you don’t have enough friends to keep me from ripping your leg off and jamming it down your throat!”
“Now Sis,” Sarafina purred soothingly. “Don’t threaten him like that.” She patted Pipkah on the head with a paw, none too gently. “He might lose his concentration in the hunt and have an unfortunate accident.” She winked in clear view of Pipkah and Uzuri winked back.
Pipkah’s ears went back and his jaw trembled. “Holy Roh’kash, you can do without me or my plan! I always said it was a mistake to trust your kind! Didn’t I, boys?? Accident indeed!” He slinked away, looking over his shoulder uneasily. “The Roh’mach will hear about this!”
CHAPTER: OUT OF BOUNDS
Taka was a lion who inspired pity for a while, then contempt and finally anger. Uzuri had pitied him once. She had reached the stage of contempt during his difficult adolescence. Now she had reached the point of anger, a white hot anger that could swallow up the moon and the sun and make the rivers run red with blood. She was headed to the eastern meadow, ready to leave and never come back.
Being hunt mistress was her sense of belonging, her identity. Uzuri was beautiful, but she always saw herself first as a good provider and a leader. That night by siding with Pipkah, Taka had stripped her of all she held dear. She felt naked and ashamed and very angry. If he did not appreciate her talents, she would find someone who did.
Uzuri had no idea where she would go. Indeed, the world beyond the Pride Lands was unknown to her and fraught with danger. The intimate knowledge of her home that made her such a fearsome huntress would be gone. She would see only what was in front of her nose.
As she calmed down, her reckless courage failed her and she felt very vulnerable and small. Could she leave her sister Sarafina and young Nala? Could she spurn Ajenti’s sage wisdom, Beesa’s compassion and Yolanda’s gentle advice? And then came the terrible thought of losing Rafiki’s matchless devotion.
She realized she could never turn her back on those she loved. And the void her anger left behind filled with fear. Glancing about, she saw a large pair of eyes glowing in the moonlight.
“Oh gods, no!”
She backed back. It was a male lion! She turned and started to run.
“No, wait!”
“Leave me alone!” She ran madly toward her territory and safety.
“Please, come back! I’m not going to hurt you!”
“Leave me alone!”
She ran blindly into some hedges and got tangled. It only stopped her forward progress for a moment, but that was long enough for him to catch up.
“I’m too old for this,” he complained, wheezing. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll protect myself!” she snarled defensively. “Let me go! I don’t want to cause trouble, but I’ll fight if I have to!”
“I don’t want you to fight,” the lion said soothingly. “You came on my land and almost walked into me. Won’t you at least introduce yourself?”
“Sorry,” she said stiffly. “I’m Uzuri. Glad to meet you. Can I go now?”
“Sure you can,” he said gently. “Run away if you must, but don’t tell them I harmed you. At least tell them the truth, and be sure you get my name right.”
“I don’t know your name.”
“You never asked me. I’m Ugas.” He smiled bashfully.
“I’m sorry. I’m not always this rude—uh—Ugas.” She relaxed. “Are you the King here or a rogue lion?”
“I’m King here.” He drew near enough to reach out and touch her with a paw but he made no move to do so. His large, beautiful eyes swept over her face in a search for understanding. “Uzuri, you look depressed. Is everything quite all right?”
“I’m fine. Just fine.”
“Your words say you are fine, but I see something in the way you’re standing, the set of your ears, even the way you look at me. It’s as if your whole being is crying out for help.” He sat like a sphinx and began to idly groom his mane and said matter-of-factly, “You were thinking of running away.”
“How did you… says who??”
“Don’t be upset, my dear.” He smiled pleasantly. “You can confide in me. That’s the best part of meeting a stranger—you can say anything that comes to your mind. I’ve lived a long life—maybe I’ll have the answer you’re looking for.”
“No, it’s nothing, thank you.” She licked her paw nervously but looked into Ugas’ eyes and his warm, fatherly smile. “Well, yes,” she said at last. It felt good to admit it. “Our King is dead and now his brother is ruling the Pride Lands. I’m sure he means well, but he’s…”
“But you can’t stand him. Mufasa was a good friend. Scar is… how shall I put this… acting like himself.” He shrugged. “So are the rumors true? Are hyenas really living on Pride Rock?”
“Yes! Oh gods, it’s awful!”
“And terribly unfair to you, hunt mistress. I hear your first joint effort was a disaster.”
“It sure was!” She gasped. “How did you know that??”
“I have eyes and ears all over. Even Zazu.” He saw her expression of shock, but only nodded and began to examine his claws. “Don’t look so surprised. His mother lives here, and she’s a first-class gossip. And then Mufasa used to always do border patrol with me before ‘IT’ happened.”
“You walked the line together?”
“He’d nod at me, and I’d nod at him. He never said much, but when he did speak, it was always something worth hearing. And the first day he wasn’t there, I had this horrible emptiness inside.” He sighed. “I didn’t realize Simba was dead too, not for several days. Taka didn’t tell me anything, and Zazu hasn’t been back.”
Uzuri hung her head. Tears began to run down her cheeks.
“You poor dear thing,” Ugas purred, reaching up with a paw and wiping her face.
She looked into his gentle eyes and saw genuine compassion. “You really liked Mufasa, didn’t you?”
“Yes. And the child, too, for I have no son of my own. I used to think Mufasa was so lucky.” A tear slid down his cheek. “You’re a parent. Surely you understand.”
“I understand, but I’m not a parent.”
“You’re not??” He looked surprised. “As beautiful as you are?”
She looked down, embarrassed. “You flatter me.”
“Oh no, my dear. You are beautiful. And when you cry, the beauty goes all the way through.” He lifted her chin with a paw and looked into her sad eyes. “I bet a smile would have the same effect.”
“I don’t have any smiles left.”
Ugas kissed away the new tears. “You pierce my heart with a thorn, child. Taka is so full of hate—I’ve seen it when he walks the border. He glares at me and shouts, ‘This land is mine! You want it, but you’ll never have it!’” He nuzzled her. “There is no hate in me, Uzuri. Come with me and I’ll see if I can find a few smiles left. Meet the others—they could be your pride sisters.” He watched for her reaction, but when she said nothing, he added, “I’m offering you freedom, my dear. Freedom and friendship.”
“You’re very kind, but not now. I have family there.”
“Bring them with you. Don’t go back to Taka—it’s not safe while he’s there.”
“Thank you, but it’s my home. There’s more at stake than family and friends. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes. Do what you feel you must.”
She sighed. “Well, it’s time for me to make my report. You’re such a kind lion, Aiheu would listen to your prayers. Say a prayer for me.”
Ugas nodded. “I will. Take care of yourself, dear.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Call me Ugas,” he said, rising and touching her cheek with his nose, then kissing her lightly. “Come back to me.”
“When?”
“Any time you want to see me. Any time at all. That goes for your friends as well.”
She felt of his cheek with a paw. “Yes, I might just do that.”
CHAPTER: FAMILY TIES
Ugas hummed to himself as he trotted through the grass. His mind wandered back to Uzuri and the short time they shared, and he smiled despite himself. “Lovely Uzuri,” he thought dreamily, “what was Aiheu thinking when he fashioned you? Was he singing his favorite song? Was he in a good mood?”
Ugas had known many lionesses over the course of his life, but there was something about this one. The way she looked at him made him want to frisk about like a cub. He closed his eyes and summoned up the image of her face again. “Uzuri,” he whispered.
He tried to imagine what her smile was like, but her pervasive sadness was too strong. “I will make you smile,” he thought. “I’ll devote my life to it. The magic of your smile would cheat death itself, and I’d be young again!”
“Daydreaming again, you old goat?!”
Ugas started and opened his eyes to see the lioness glaring at him through the scrub bushes that lined the path he had been following. “Adhama, what are you doing here?”
“Making sure you do your sentry duty this time.” She emerged from the cover and stood face to face with him. “I found hyena tracks not twenty lengths from our kopje last night, Ugas! What have you been doing out here, napping??”
He drew himself up to his full height, his neck arching in indignation. “You know full well I was patrolling! If it wasn’t for me, Sis, this pride wouldn’t even exist!”
“Oh, THAT’S for certain!” Not intimidated in the least, she paced forward, forcing him back a step. “I know all about your ‘efforts!’ They’ve produced a rather large pride, in case you haven’t noticed. A pride which needs to be fed, protected, cared for, and LOOKED AFTER! Why can’t you be more like your brother was? Now THERE was a responsible lion.”
Ugas groaned. “Not again, please!”
“Kazi was out here from well before sunup to well after sundown, patrolling the land and defending us against our enemies.”
“And he died of exhaustion. Is that what you want me to do?”
“At least he died with honor. I’m glad he didn’t live to see you like this!” Her jaw trembled as she wheeled about and stalked off a short distance, her head lowered.
Ugas stood still a moment, then slowly padded over to her and nuzzled her cheek. “Addie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snipe at you.”
She raised her head and blinked back tears. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. I just-”
“Ugas, I know you loved him.”
He took his paw and gently wiped away her tears. “I’m trying, Addie, but I’m just not my brother. He was always better at fighting, better at tracking, but I had the personality. Well my charm won’t work on rogue lions and wild dogs. I’m having to be someone I’m not, trying to support a double burden on old shoulders, rising early and resting late, patrolling this whole land by myself. No son to help me, and now no brother.”
“There are many lions who never had a brother. Do they complain? No—they are glad just to have a home and a family.”
“But they are young, Addie. They still have their health.” He looked down. “I’m near the end of my path, old girl. I should be able to pass some of the load to another. Instead I have to spend my final days tired and afraid. Always tired and afraid. I have aches where I didn’t think I had bones, and every time I think about making that long trek, my heart skips a beat.”
Adhama took a shaky breath. “Are you just giving up, then? What are you saying to me, brother?”
Ugas looked at her intently. “I’m not giving up. Tonight I met someone that may help us. If I can work my will, she’ll be my wife and mother of my son. A son, Addie!”
“Mother of your son?” She looked at him skeptically. “Kazi fathered nothing but daughters, and so have you. It looks like you’d stop trying.”
“I CAN’T stop trying. Don’t you know what happens to old lions who have no son?” He looked pleadingly into her eyes, then turned and trudged away, his head and tail hung low. “There are lots of rogues out there who would swap their whiskers for this place,” he muttered. “I won’t let them drive me off. I’d rather die here in one brave gesture than starve slowly. I love my daughters, but if only Aiheu would give me a son! Merciful God, help me!”
CHAPTER: A FREE LUNCH
Uzuri crept back to the Pride Lands with a knot in her stomach. Ugas’ offer began to sound ever better as the ominous shadow of Pride Rock began to loom over her. “Aiheu abamami,” she muttered, taking the trail up the stone to where Taka was waiting.
Before she even walked into the cave, Taka said, “So you have a problem with Pipkah, I hear?”
“He’s a royal pain, Scar.”
“Need I remind you who’s really royal??”
“Sorry—Your Majesty.”
“Well then.” Taka pulled himself up straight and tried to sound commanding. “Let’s work things out. If you don’t want to hunt with Pipkah and his group, you don’t have to.”
“Thank you VERY MUCH, Sire.”
“Just make sure you get enough food for all, because they get first choice.”
“What??”
“They are willing to hunt for their share, but you seem to think it’s unwise.”
“But Sire… surely you don’t expect us to… we’ll starve!”
“Not when you’re motivated by hunger to learn some courtesy.”
“But I…”
“No buts, Uzuri. Pipkah tells me Fini threatened his life, and you went along with it.”
“We spoke in anger. You didn’t see what they did!”
“I didn’t have to. Everyone’s talking about it. Now there are a lot of hungry eyes looking to you for food. Go scrounge up something like a good girl.”
Uzuri was stunned. She numbly nodded her head, turned and left. For a third time, she remembered the kind words Ugas spoke to her: “There is no hate in me.” Never had he seemed so kind as by contrast with Taka.
Uzuri went about shouting “Baraza!” which is to say, “meeting!” It was like any strategy meeting might have begun before the hunt, but it had a very important purpose.
By ones and twos the lionesses arrived. Soon they were all together, except for Elanna whose absence was both expected and painful.
“Aiheu abamami,” Uzuri muttered as she nuzzled each of the lionesses from Yolanda, the oldest, down to the newest huntresses. It was an order dictated by tradition. But there was a tenseness in the air, so strong it could be prodded with a paw like water.
“Taka has laid a burden on us,” she spoke slowly. “Now we must hunt for ourselves and for the hyenas. It seems they are afraid for their safety.”
“Damn straight!” Isha said. “And well they should be!”
Ajenti, who was usually more democratic, said, “It’s time to cut King Droopy-Drawers down to size.”
“The hyenas are on his side,” Uzuri said. “We must solve a major problem tonight. Our cubs must eat, and so must we.”
“I say I could acquire a taste for hyena,” Ajenti said.
“This talk is dangerous,” Yolanda said. “They could be spying on us.”
“Let them get an earful,” Isha said. “I heard Fini’s joke about the accident. But I believe we really could kill them one or two at a time tonight without alerting the others. By the time the news got out, there would be too few of them left to fight us.”
“And have you forgotten about Taka?” Uzuri said.
“Leave him to me,” Isha said. “I’ll kill him myself.”
“My gods!” Uzuri’s hackles were raised. “Do you mean commit murder? What about Elanna? She’s Sarabi’s sister, for God’s sake!”
“Don’t remind me,” Sarabi said with understandable bitterness. “That’s all that keeps me from marking her. She’s a disgrace to her people, fawning on that hyena-kissing brother-in-law of mine. As far as I’m concerned, the moment Muffy died, he was out of my family.”
Uzuri looked around at the other lionesses. “Don’t you know the gods would judge us if we just butcher him like a gazelle?”
“Can we possibly be any worse off?” Sarabi insisted. “Maybe the gods will judge us if we DON’T kill him!”
“Some of us have small cubs,” Sarafina said. “Nala might get hurt—or killed. I don’t think we should rashly jump into this.”
“I agree,” Uzuri said.
“You would,” Ajenti said and spat. “You’re her sister.”
“And I’m not yours??” Uzuri said, stepping in front of her and glaring into her eyes. “Aren’t we ALL sisters here? I didn’t say that we shouldn’t overthrow him, just that Sarafina was right. We can’t be rash. We won’t have to kill him if we can get rid of the hyenas. He wouldn’t dare fight all of us.”
“All right, so how would YOU get rid of the hyenas.”
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll think of something. In the meantime, we have to bide our time.”
“Until what?” Ajenti looked around at the others. “Until we’re so hungry we’re too weak to fight?? I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime, but I never thought I’d live to see Uzuri turn coward!”
Uzuri cuffed her across the face—hard. “You take that back, Missy! We can’t fight them while we’re fighting each other! Pull in your claws and apologize!”
Ajenti tried to think of something angry to say, but the more she looked into Uzuri’s face, the more ashamed she felt. “Sorry,” she half whispered. “No one thinks you’re a coward. But it’s a dirty shame not to strike now.”
Uzuri nuzzled her. “One day we’ll cleanse the land of shame, I promise you.”
Upset by the bad news, they hunted very poorly. They missed a Duiker that was practically waiting to die, and tempers flared. Blame enough for three prides was quickly exchanged in low but angry hisses. Uzuri needed all her powers of persuasion to calm them down and refocus their energies on the quarry and off each other. And though it took most of the night, they finally found an old zebra and managed to kill it.
Ajenti was sent to call Taka and the others. “Fresh kill, My Lord,” she said to Taka, her bitterness concealed by a forced smile.
The hyenas ran to the site while Ajenti and the cubs merely trotted. There was no reason to run after Taka’s edict. So while the lion cubs sat and stared in misery, the hyenas feasted. And they feasted and feasted.
Lisani nudged her mother Beesa. “When are we going to get our turn?”
“Soon, dear. I hope…”
“That’s what you said last time.”
Beesa was hoping against hope for her daughter’s sake that something would be left at all. But the hyenas finished off the carcass and even began to crack the bones for marrow. Lionesses began to grumble. If ever they had hated hyenas, that moment was the all time high point of their rage. Somewhere in the melee a hyena pup shrieked.
Uzuri noticed the pup running from the carcass, sobbing. Fighting down her bitterness, she went after her; a child had no business running about the savanna alone, leonine or not.
Drawing up alongside, she asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like zebra?”
“Leave me alone!”
“What’s wrong? Hey, little girl, I’m not going to hurt you.”
The pup looked up into Uzuri’s eyes. At once she relaxed. “I know. I’m a seer like Shimbekh.”
“Really?” Uzuri felt an odd sensation as the child looked at her.
“Yes. I wish I wasn’t!”
Uzuri nuzzled her. “I’m not a seer. Come on, little one. Tell me why you’re so sad.”
Makhpil looked up. “Don’t you think I can tell how much you lions hate us? Night and day wishing we were dead! All of us!”
“Heavens, child, don’t say that! I don’t wish you were dead.”
“You’re not like the others. But just a minute ago, one of them…” she pointed—“was thinking…” Makhpil drew up close and in a whisper of supreme embarrassment said, “Get out of my way, brat! I ought to send you straight to hell.” She looked down and wept.
Uzuri stirred uncomfortably. “Some of them are upset now. We had trouble on the hunt. We love our cubs the same way your mother loves you. When they have to go hungry, we get upset and sometimes we say things we don’t mean. But I don’t want you to die.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I don’t want to be here! I want to go home! I want to go far away and never come back!”
Uzuri comforted the child, holding her close with a paw and nuzzling her. “Hon, it’s not your fault. I know one lion that’s going to have a lot of explaining to do when Mano gets a hold of him. But you do what’s right and someday when you face your god, you won’t have anything to be ashamed of. So why don’t you get something to eat, OK?”
“I wish you were Roh’mach,” Makhpil said, rubbing against Uzuri’s cheek.
Just then, an adult hyena trotted up. “Is everything OK, Makhpil?” She looked suspiciously at Uzuri.
“Everything’s fine,” Uzuri said quickly, patting Makhpil with her large paw. “She just found out that the innocent often suffer along with the guilty.”
The female looked straight into Uzuri’s eyes with a peculiar stare that made her feel like her fur had fallen off leaving her naked. Then the hyena relaxed. “I’m sorry I doubted you. You were kind to my little girl, and I won’t forget that.”
“How did you…” Uzuri smiled shyly. “You must be Shimbekh. You’re the seer, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’ve heard my share of insults today. This unholy and unnatural union will lead us only to sorrow.”
“Don’t get me wrong, but if you’re unhappy here, why don’t you just leave?”
“We can’t,” Shimbekh said. “This thing has divided families down the middle. We’re trapped here to the bitter end, and it will be bitter you know. Death will grow fat on our misery, and pups will cry in the night for their parents but no one will answer them. Don’t judge my clan brothers too harshly. They have been misled, filled with false promises and foolish notions. They are expecting a golden age. They will find something very different.”
“Did you foresee this with your powers?”
“Uzuri, when the truth comes out, sisters will fight brothers and children will fight parents. And not just hyenas will know death, my dear.”
“Us too?”
“To a lesser degree, yes. At least one of your own will die—I have seen it. And what is a seer to do about it? I can make them listen, but I can’t make them believe.” She sighed. “Don’t you think I know about the plan?”
“The plan?”
Shimbekh sent Makhpil back toward the kill with a pat of her paw. “Run along, girl.” And as soon as they were alone, she drew close to Uzuri. “You know, the plan to kill the hyenas off one by one and make it look like an accident.”
Uzuri gasped.
“Don’t worry, hon. I’ve told no one about it. But we have to talk. There are hyenas good and true that would shed their honest blood to drive out Shenzi and cleanse the land of shame.”
Uzuri remembered saying almost the same thing to her pride sisters. She touched Shimbekh’s cheek with her paw and whispered, “When the last battle comes, fight by me. You and Ber and any willing to join you. I swear to you that there will only be two kinds of people that day—friend and foe. Understand?”
“Completely.”
CHAPTER: THE PHOENIX
Ugas trudged slowly along behind Adhama with an ache in his right shoulder that made him grimace slightly with each step. But it had been worth it to see Uzuri’s sweet face. They neared the kopjes that served a home for the pride, and the old lion sighed and pushed through the edge of the grasses, emerging into a small clearing where the pride lay.
Lionesses lay scattered about in various spots, but they quickly straightened up nervously as they spotted him. Ugas had been very temperamental in recent days. Conversation dulled and fell silent as he paced past the group and settled onto the ground. His hip twinged again and he groaned.
A cub skittered past him, giggling, and he glared at her from under lowered lids. One of the lionesses hurriedly sat up and called softly. “Alyssa! Come back here!”
The cub slid to a stop and slowly crept back towards her mother under Ugas’ gaze. She glanced at him quickly, then she looked away when she encountered his stare.
Ugas saw the visible fear in her face and felt a thorn pierce his heart. “Alyssa?”
The cub came to an absolute standstill.
“Alyssa. Come here, Honey tree.” He beckoned with a forepaw.
Slowly, trembling, she inched forward until she stood beneath his immense bulk. “Yes, sir? I’m sorry.”
Ugas stared wonderingly at the shaking cub. “Sorry for what?”
“Whatever it is I did.”
“Did you just do something naughty?”
“I… uh… don’t think so, Sir.”
“Daddy will do nicely.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.” She looked back at her mother and back at him.
“Don’t you want to give your old Dad a kiss?”
“I guess so.” She edged carefully forward, stretched out her neck and touched his foreleg with her tongue, then darted back a couple of feet.
“Honey tree?” He looked at Agavi. “Vivi, what’s wrong? Doesn’t she love me anymore?”
“She loves you,” Agavi said soothingly. “We all know you’ve been depressed since your brother died. And those aches and pains and now that crick in your spine. I know that a lot of noise and prodding makes you upset, so I told her not to disturb you.”
“Upset?? Since when have my children ever make me upset?? Maybe I like to be disturbed!”
Adhama said, “Let me field that one, hon.” She looked piercingly at Ugas. “Lately, everything makes you upset. You snap at us all the time and think we’re supposed to rub your shoulder all the time and say ‘poor baby’ and ‘there now, that’s a good fellow.’ Well it’s taking its toll on your popularity, as if you haven’t noticed!”
Ugas snarled. “Since when have I snapped at anyone??”
Adhama said, “Oh, that’s a tough one.” She frowned. “Shame on you, carrying on like this in front of the children!”
Ugas sat down, nonplused. “Well, maybe I have been a little…” He glanced over at little Alyssa. “Oh, the poor dear!”
He went to the cub. When she shrank from him, the pain that drew his face was not from his shoulder. “I love you, Lissie.”
Alyssa’s jaw trembled and she almost cried. “I love you too, Daddy.”
“There’s my girl!” He rolled over on his back, scooped her up with a paw and when she stood trembling on his stomach for one moment, pulled in his back legs and arms, lifting her up wriggling on a pedestal of four paws. He began to pump her up and down. “Three baby bunnies a hopping around. Three baby bunnies hop over the ground. If you keep hopping, you’ll never start stopping, but you’ll get away from the hound!” His legs shot out straight, tossing her into the air. She fell giggling with a sound plop. His stomach was not as firm as it used to be, but he hid his discomfort. He held her to his chest and nuzzled her softly, kissing her with his warm, pink tongue and grunting with pleasure when she kissed him back and rubbed along his soft mane. “I’m never going to be gruff with my little girl again! I promise!” He nuzzled her, then looked over at the other cubs who were watching him closely. “And that promise goes for the rest of you too! Come here, you little scamps! Rides for everyone!”
The other cubs rushed over and mobbed the two of them. Ugas rolled about laughing as a crowd of cubs tickled him, pounced on his tail and tugged at his mane. “Oh, I love you all so much! I could just eat you up!” He would be bouncing bunnies for a long, long time before he got a rest.
Alyssa’s mother watched Ugas rolling about, bellowing laughter at the cubs around him. Nudging Adhama with her paw, she asked, “What’s got INTO him? You’d think he was young again!”
Adhama smiled. “Young again? Don’t you mean alive again?”
“Up we go!” Ugas cried, hoisting another giggling cub. “Now let your Daddy catch his breath…”
CHAPTER: THE OFFER
Rafiki was languishing in house arrest, unable to leave his baobab without a hyena escort. Once he had tended to be a loner, preferring to deal with one or two friends at a time rather than large groups. But the enforced loneliness was preying on him and he spent long hours in front of the scrying bowl desperate for some shadow of his past to comfort him. His father’s face looked back at him, tinged with sadness. Rafiki didn’t know if he was seeing the past, the present or the future, and tears began to run down his face. “Father, I wish you could be here. I always felt so safe when you held me. So safe and happy.”
Uzuri heard rumors that all access to Rafiki might be cut off without advance notice. She put on her best limp and headed out to the tree. The large number of guards chosen to guard one elderly mandrill was a testament to Taka’s fear of him.
A couple of hyenas stopped her. “My lady, no further please. We insist.”
“I’m injured,” she said. “I need medical treatment.”
“We have good doctors. May I recommend Da’klesh?”
“Rafiki is familiar with my problem. Now if you want me to wake Shenzi from her nap, I’ll do it.”
“No need. Come this way.”
Surrounded by hyenas, she went to the baobab. It was a very tense moment, and she could feel the oppressive sense of being confined already.
The moment she looked in the baobab, the mandrill’s face lit up. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed her. “Honey tree, you remembered old Rafiki?? I’ve missed you so much!” Then he backed off and looked worried. “Are you hurt? I should have asked before I grabbed you like that. What is it, old girl?? Nothing serious I hope.”
She winked and shook her head no. “I think my shoulder is out of joint,” she said loudly. “If you don’t fix it, I won’t be able to hunt for a long time.”
“Do something quick,” one of the hyena guards said, looking inside. “We don’t have enough food as it is!”
Uzuri smiled sweetly and walked over to him. Clearly he was uneasy at her approach despite her smile and he backed out.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” she purred. “You know I’ll always take care of you, even if the others do without.” She gave him a long, slow lick on the cheek. “Meet me behind Pride Rock at sunset, and don’t tell anyone.”
“What’s this??” Krull demanded.
“Nothing, Sir!” The hyena began to tremble. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying!”
“Holding out on us, Dourbet??”
Uzuri looked at Krull pleadingly. “Leave the poor boy alone.” She kissed Dourbet again. “It’s not like he’s the only one to beg for scraps. You ride them so hard, they all wonder who made you a god.”
Krull went into a slow burn. “Well,” he said, his hackles raising, “They won’t wonder any more!!” He looked around. “General assembly, ON THE DOUBLE!!”
Uzuri went back to Rafiki. As Krull cursed the guards loudly in Hyannic, Rafiki began to rub Uzuri’s stiff shoulder.
She grunted in pleasure as the muscles loosened up. “We can talk now. They’ll be busy for a while.”
“I’ll say, you little devil!” He chuckled—his first good laugh in a long while. “So my dear, what is the latest news? I never know when I’m being lied to by those fellows.”
“Lies would have to be better than the truth,” Uzuri said with a sigh. “The land is dying. It’s being hunted out, and the rain has stopped. What’s happening to us?”
“I wish I knew.” Rafiki began to rub the other side, his eyes half closed as his thoughts wandered. “There’s a lion to the east. His name is Ugas. If things go too badly here, you could make the excuse you’re hunting for gazelles. When you cross that border, honey tree, no one is going after you.”
“I couldn’t do that. Not and leave my pride sisters in the lurch.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
She looked at him in the eyes for a moment and purred. “So you know Ugas?”
“Not very well. And these days I don’t get out much.”
“I know.” She began to groom around his face and neck and he sat still, a look of contentment on his face to feel her closeness. “I’ll mention your name the next time I see him. In fact, I might just arrange for you to drop by and see him in person. You could use some fresh air and sunshine.”
He put his arm around her neck and gave her shoulder a pat. “If those hyenas were all that stood in my way, I’d be out like a sparrow. They raid my pantry when I’m not looking. A little Bumpweed in a honeycomb and I guarantee they’d all be sleeping like little pups while I walked out as big as you please.” He chuckled for a moment, but then looked down at the tooth of Ahadi he kept with him always. Fingering the ivory fang, a wistful look of sadness washed the joy from his face. “My life is rooted to the Pride Lands deeper than this old baobab. I’ve lived most of my life here, and I guess I’ll die here. Whether I die happy or sad is for Aiheu to decide.”
CHAPTER: UZURI AND UGAS
A few evenings later Uzuri was meeting with the pride sisters to discuss the approach for the night’s hunt.
“Tonight we’ll come into the Southern meadow. There is a group of Tommies down there and if we move fast, they’ll still be there if those hyenas will shut up and keep out of our way.”
“How will we approach them?” Ajenti asked.
“We’ll use the double blind method. You take the right side with Yolanda and Isha will come with me on the left while Fini leads the rest of you around through the wadi to wait for the signal.
“Sarafina is sick,” Ajenti said. “Remember?”
“Okay. Then Yolanda can lead that group.”
“And who will that leave on the right with Isha?”
She struggled to concentrate. “Oh, Beesa can do it. I don’t care. Let’s just do this thing before the darned gazelles go home, OK?”
Uzuri paced away nervously. She was in her season, a time in her life that could make her feel very special or very alone.
She sat down and sighed deeply. Rafiki was confined to the baobab or she would have asked his advice on what to do. Maybe he had some kind of herb to find her lost powers of concentration and dull the empty feeling inside of her. The temptation to push past the guards and plead for help was great.
Still she could not risk two visits in such a short time—it might arouse suspicion. She sighed deeply again.
Then she remembered who she could turn to for advice. Ugas was just across the Western Border. She had not accepted his invitation to come back, but this would be the time. He would dispense more of his fatherly advice and compassion.
“Beesa, I don’t feel good. You lead this hunt the way we’ve planned, OK?”
“Sure, hon.” She drew close and whispered, “You got yourself a Honey Tree out in the bushes?”
“Beesa, you should be ashamed!” She added in a whisper, “Girl, I wish!”
“There’s been a rogue male sighted to the south. Maybe you two will hit it off.”
“Beesa!” Uzuri groomed one of her paws nervously. “I’m not selling myself to the highest bidder. Still, thank you.”
Her remark was casual, but her inner turmoil was great. A lioness’ natural drives are as strong as a lion’s. Aiheu did not make them to rebel against the natural order of things, so she found herself at odds with her own body, a conflict that left her no place to run.
Making sure no hyenas followed her, she went to the east and finally slipped into the neighboring territory. “Ugas? Are you out there?” There was no answer and she realized just how disappointed she was. “Ugas??”
“Uzuri!” a rich voice said at last. The lion hurried over, his face beaming. “I’ve waited for you. I thought you’d forgotten me.”
“I see you haven’t forgotten me,” Uzuri said. “Thanks.”
“You’re unforgettable,” Ugas said. “I enjoyed our talk, but I’d like to get to know you a lot better. Can you stay a little longer?”
She bowed her head. “You said if I had a problem I could come to you. Does the offer still stand? Can I tell you anything?”
“Anything at all, my dear. I’m so glad you came back—I’ve been really worried about you.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t hunt with those hyenas—well most of them. Some of them aren’t half bad, but that Pipkah—ugh!! And their Incosi is a she-devil!!”
“You didn’t come here to talk about hyenas.”
“You’re very perceptive for a male.”
He laughed. “It doesn’t take much perception to tell what’s bothering you.”
She cleared her throat self-consciously. “Well, uh, yes. Ugas, I’m so alone and confused!”
Ugas smiled sweetly. “Uzuri, you’re not alone now. And perhaps you’re not as much confused as you are frightened.”
“Frightened of what?”
“Frightened of this.” Ugas drew close and touched her cheek with his nose, then kissed her lightly. “Simple closeness. Letting your feelings show. Do you have a consort?”
Uzuri looked at him timidly. “No. Why?”
“Because all I could think about for the last moon was your beautiful, sad face. I wanted to kiss away your tears forever.” He nuzzled her, and though surprised, she did not pull away. “I’ve never seen your smile. I bet it’s beautiful.”
“You’re toying with me.”
“I’m too old for subterfuge and subtle gestures. Now let’s see that smile. Think of something happy. Like maybe fresh antelope.” He looked into her eyes deeply. “Not good enough? Then imagine the look on Taka’s face if he caught us making passionate love behind Pride Rock!”
She tried to look away before the smile covered her face. Hiding behind a paw, she felt like slinking away, but he looked around her camouflage and said, “Oh, it IS a pretty smile. You should do it more often.”
“You’re terrible!”
“I know. Quite wicked. And if you can pardon me for dreaming out loud, I really would like to make passionate love to you. You make me tremble.”
Uzuri shoved him with a paw. “You aren’t serious!”
Ugas looked at her pleadingly. “I was never more serious. When you get to be my age, you see more and more yesterdays behind you and fewer and fewer tomorrows ahead.” He sighed. “I have no son to inherit my kingdom. I was almost desperate enough to form a loveless union, and then you came. Uzuri, I could love you. I could love you with my whole heart, my whole being. You’ve awakened feelings in me that I thought were dead. Am I selfish to want both a son and a little happiness before the sun sets on my life?” He waited a while for her reaction, but she stood unmoving, staring at him.
He bowed his head. “I’m sorry. I still feel like the same young lion inside, before the evening aches and pains settle in. Sometimes I forget that I’m just an old fool.”
“Ugas, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“No need to apologize. Why would you want a broken-down has-been like me when you’re so young and beautiful? I wasn’t always old. There was a time when I might have lured you away from that lonely lifestyle and made you happy. Please tell no one you saw me this way out of respect for the Ugas that once was.”
He turned and trudged away, his tail hanging limply and a distinct slump to his face and ears.
“Ugas, wait!”
He turned and looked at her, tears in his eyes.
“Only if you will pledge to me,” she said.
“And tie you down to an old carcass? How long could I make you happy?”
“However long it would be is that much more than nothing. And I could give you sons.”
“You just pity me. I shouldn’t have begged you. Maybe it’s better that I go now before you do something out of pity that we’ll both regret.” He turned and trudged away again.
“I don’t pity you, Ugas. I want to give you a son. My world is slowly crumbling around me—I need your love. Come back and I’ll prove it to you. You’re a dear, sweet creature and I’ve been thinking about you since we met—all the time.”
He stopped and looked back. He straightened to full height and looked like a real lion again. “Please Uzuri, I have feelings. Don’t say that unless you really mean it.”
“I never say what I don’t mean.”
Trembling, he stalked over to her, his gaze locked into hers, and he held out his left paw to touch her shoulder. “Before I lose my nerve, I’m going to say it!” He drew in a breath, let it out in a sigh, then said, “Before the gods, before the stars, before the assembled host I swear to give you my protection, my life, and my comfort forever.”
She purred and nuzzled him. “Till the last beat of my heart, to the last breath I sigh, our lives are one, so help me gods.”
He took his large paw and fondled her cheek. “I’ve only seen you twice. Once for an evening. And once more for the rest of my life. Bless you, Uzuri! You’ll never be lonely again, and you’ll never feel regret or hopelessness again. Come, let me show you around your new home!”
“My new home?” Her smile dropped. “This is foolish. I can’t be your queen! I have responsibilities and family. They need me!”
“Uzuri! Oh gods, what are you saying?”
“I’m sorry, Ugas. Our vows have not been sealed, and it’s best that I leave now.”
“No, you just can’t!” He ran in front of her and stared at her with wide eyes. “Please, Uzuri! Beloved! Can’t you at least stay with me as you can get away? I want you by my side always, but if you can only visit, don’t renounce our pledge! I’ll always be here when you need me. I didn’t want to beg before, but I’m begging you! Uzuri, I’m begging you!”
“Ugas, please don’t!”
Tears began to stream down his face. “If you leave me now, never come back. You remind me of too many things I’ve lost—youth, beauty, hope.”
“Ugas, don’t cry!”
“Why shouldn’t I?? If it bothers you, go tend to your responsibilities and you won’t have to watch.”
“Fine.” She turned around, her nose slightly lifted and began to trot away. But after a few steps, her head lowered and her ears drew back. A tear ran down her cheek. “What am I doing??”
She whipped about and ran to the old lion, nuzzling him desperately. “Forgive me, darling! Forgive me!”
Ugas nuzzled her face, then rubbed against her neck, walking slowly along her and letting his tail stroke her under her chin. “Since you stumbled into my life, you’re all I think about. You’re the first thing I want to see in the morning, and the last thing I want to see at night. I want to fill my senses with you!”
She sighed deeply. “I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I thought I’d lost you, but when you came back, I knew it was our destiny to be together.”
“If it is our destiny, then it must be so.” She nuzzled him passionately and purred. “Ugas, make love to me.”
CHAPTER: PARTING OF THE WAYS
The morning sun painted Pride Kopje with golden optimism. Uzuri missed the shelter of her old cave, but she delighted in the feel of Ugas’ mane and felt very safe with his strong arm around her. Still, it was time to go, and she gently and quietly worked her way free of her lover’s embrace and got to her feet without waking him. For three days she had craved his closeness and whispered a thousand loving names in his ear. For three days her grief and loneliness had been lost in his love. But the light of dawn was revealing more to her than the savanna. She could see clearly that her sisters would miss her, and they were suffering for lack of her leadership.
She considered waking him to whisper farewell, but thought better of it and silently trudged away.
Ugas felt cold, and opened one eye. “Uzuri! Are you leaving without saying good bye?”
She looked around. “Ugas, beloved, you looked like a sweet little cub lying there. I didn’t want to remember you sad. But even the best dream has to end, and it’s time for me to go.”
He stood quickly. “But you’re taking my heart with you! When it crosses that boundary, it will cease to beat! Uzuri, have you learned nothing in these whole three days? Nothing at all?”
“I must head home—there are others counting on me. But someday when things are better for my pride, I will come back to stay. Till then, remember what you agreed to—when I have to leave I will leave. You agreed, remember?”
“I remember, but…”
“But I’ll be back, love, and we’ll take up where we left off.”
“Please hurry. I’m not getting any younger.”
“None of us are, Ugas.” She ran back and nuzzled him. “Don’t worry if your heart leaves with me—I’ve left mine with you. It will always be with you, wherever I go.”
CHAPTER: JUST BETWEEN US
Ugas’ love had taken on life within her. Uzuri was both proud and worried. For a while she could conceal her pregnancy, but as days turned into weeks, the other lionesses began to talk behind her back that she had the light in her eyes.
Finally when the changes in her weight and balance began to affect her hunting, there was no need to pretend any longer. Her sister Sarafina was chosen to confront her because of her own daughter Nala. No one would dare imagine that Taka was the father of Nala, nor would they speculate about Uzuri and Taka—it was just too awful to think about!
Sarafina thought of a dozen different approaches and discarded them one by one. Finally, she saw her sister alone and had worked up the nerve.
Nuzzling Uzuri gently, Sarafina purred, “I’m so happy for you, Sis.”
“About what?” Uzuri said tensely. “Have you heard some good news that I don’t know about?”
Fini laughed gently and kissed her. “No, Sis! I don’t see how you couldn’t know about it. There’s a miracle happening inside of you.”
Uzuri did not speak. Sarafina squirmed in the tenseness of the moment. “Look, Sis,” she said at last, “you have a heart full of love. I know how fond you were of Nala, and how you liked to groom her and play with her. And I used to pray that you’d fall in love and have children of your own. Let me be the Aunt that spoils the kids. Confide in me, Sis. Please? Don’t shut me out of this part of your life—I didn’t shut you out.”
Uzuri looked down shyly. “How many times did you practice that speech?”
“A dozen times at least. Only because I love you so much. Hon, you don’t ever have to be alone, not as long as I’m around.”
Uzuri drew close and in a near whisper said, “Pray that at least one is a male.”
“I guess so—but I thought you’d want all daughters. You know that sons are a heartbreak when they have to leave. Unless you’re a queen, anyhow.”
“And who says I’m not a queen?” Uzuri smiled.
“Oh my gods! Not—HIM??”
Uzuri thought for a moment, then burst out laughing. “You mean Old Droopy Drawers! Shame on you for even thinking it!”
Sarafina breathed a relieved sigh. “You had me worried, girl! If you’re a queen, then that time you were gone for three days… you weren’t really sick!”
“I was in season and left for three days. Now I’m pregnant.” Uzuri glanced at her out of half-closed eyes. “You know, with your ability you should have been hunt mistress instead of me!”
“Now, Sis! Spare me the sarcasm and tell me all the details!”
“Well all the details is a bit much—right now anyway—but he’s a king and yes we’re married. He’s a little older but he could charm the thorns off an acacia. He’s sweet and gentle and…” She drew close to Sarafina’s ear and added, “… remarkably entertaining!”
“Oh you little devil!” Sarafina said with a squeal of delighted approval. “Does he have a brother?”
“Don’t you WISH!” Uzuri purred, examining her claws and meeting Sarafina in a sly sidelong glance. “When the time is right, our son will go meet him and take his place as prince. Then he’ll be king someday. Of course that can be postponed indefinitely—I’m having too much fun. Besides, I love him. He’s just like a lonely cub. When you see him, you want to protect him and make him feel happy.”
“I’m so glad for you, Sis! But you’re not going to leave us, are you?”
Uzuri’s pained expression left no doubt how she felt. “When things get better. But right now I’m not going to leave you in the lurch.”
“I love you, Sis. I might just come with you. Little Nala too.”
“Fini,” Uzuri purred, nuzzling her. “My happiness would be complete. But tell me about your mane event.”
“He’s a rogue lion. I don’t want to say too much right now, but we’ve seen each other as often as possible. He’s a little older too, but very sexy. I don’t know what’s best—youthful enthusiasm or the wisdom of age…”
Uzuri giggled. “NOW who’s the little devil!”
CHAPTER: THE TWINS
All of the other lionesses plagued Sarafina for details. The only thing she would say is, “She has a husband.”
Uzuri’s condition was evident to Taka, and he watched her progressing pregnancy with dread. He was afraid the lionesses would abandon him and leave him to feed all those hyenas himself. And when it was only him and his wife, he knew chances were good to excellent that they would hunt lions.
Elanna was no less distraught, but for different reasons; she feared that Taka was being unfaithful. This suspicion, never voiced aloud, still hovered between them like a Makei until the birth of Uzuri’s cubs. Elanna went to see Uzuri and Sarafina, and she cooed and fondled the cubs with undisguised delight. They were not at all like her husband, something she secretly thanked Aiheu for as she kissed Uzuri on the cheek. “I hope you’ve found your true love,” she said discretely. “I know I have.”
Uzuri, who was not entirely blind said, “Their father loves me the way Taka loves you—completely. He will be pleased to know he has a son.”
“Two sons,” Elanna said.
“Togo and Kombi.”
“I wish you’d had a daughter. It’s going to be hard when their mantlement comes.”
Uzuri looked at her intently. “Can I trust you?”
Sarafina shook her head ever so slightly in disapproval, but Uzuri either did not see it or did not care. “They have a future. Not here, but they do have one. But tell no one—it’s our little secret.”
“Not even my husband?” Elanna said.
“Especially not your husband,” Uzuri said. Then realizing how it might sound, she quickly added, “He’d give anything for a son. I don’t want to rub it in—you know how melancholy he gets. And Lannie, this must be hard on you too. I’m so sorry.”
Elanna nodded. “As long as I have my Taka, I can get by.” She was on the verge of tears. “I can understand how some people might dislike him. I know there are a few that wish to harm him. Love hasn’t turned me into a complete fool. But Uzuri, there are times when we are alone when he can be beautiful and gentle and witty and so full of love. Under all that fear and rage, there’s a little cub that just wants to feel safe and loved. And no matter what he ever does or ever becomes, my destiny is to love him and protect him from all the hate in the world. They all think I’m crazy to feel that way about him. You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”
“No, hon.” She thought about Ugas, and for one moment she could understand what Lannie saw in him. “How’s Sarabi taking this?”
Tears ran down Elanna’s cheeks. “We hardly speak anymore. This little talk is more than I’ve heard from everyone else for the last moon. Only Taka ever speaks to me anymore. My own sister will turn her head to keep from looking in my eyes. Oh gods, Uzuri, I’m all alone in the world! What would I do if something happened to him??”
“It’s unfair,” Uzuri said. She patted the ground with her paw. “You’re not that alone. Come here, Lannie.”
Elanna laid by Uzuri quietly, with her side along the ridge of Uzuri’s back while she nursed her cubs. She felt her breath come and go, and felt the gentle tenor of the pulse in her neck. She listened to the cubs feeding and to the soft sounds they uttered to each other and to their mother. Her stress began to work itself out and in a few minutes, Elanna got up much improved and kissed Uzuri’s cheek. “I’ve been carrying on like a mad jackal. Someday Aiheu will reward you for being my friend. Can I come back sometimes?”
“Any time you want.”
Elanna hurried back to her husband. Full of peace and love, she snuggled alongside his warm body and nuzzled his dark mane.
“My, you’re in a good mood,” Taka said, fondling her with a paw. “Your fit of depression seems to be lifting.”
“And it’s not coming back, I think.” She nuzzled him again. “Uzuri’s children are quite beautiful, aren’t they?”
“I have yet to find out,” he said crossly. “I couldn’t even get near her today. You’d think those lionesses had never seen a cub before. I shall have to make a formal inspection in the morning.”
“Good. That means I have you all to myself tonight.” She began to groom him lovingly and nuzzle him until at last he had to smile.
CHAPTER: THE INSPECTION
The next morning, Sarafina came in to see Uzuri. “Here he comes,” was all she said or needed to say. Uzuri felt her stomach tighten up with fear as the long-dreaded confrontation approached.
Taka entered her cave. “Good morning, hunt mistress.”
“Good morning, sire.”
Taka approached the twin cubs and looked at them. He smiled and touched each of them with his tongue. “You are blessed, Uzuri. Twin sons.”
Uzuri nodded as Taka sat down, his tail flicking back and forth.
“I was young and fresh like them once,” he said. “Before I was marked, and life took it’s toll on me, there were people that thought I was cute. Remember, Uzuri?”
“You were a cute cub. I remember.”
He fondled her sons with his paw. One of them reached up and swatted at him and Taka had to laugh. “Look at them. They are too young to know I’m ugly. When I kiss them, they don’t want to slink away and rub it off in the grass.”
“You don’t look that bad. People are just afraid. Afraid of you and afraid of the hyenas. Maybe you have this unique kind of thing with them. Maybe they like you. But they don’t like us. They make it painfully clear that all we’re good for is hunting. Don’t take my word for it—just ask them.”
“It’s too late to change that now.” He sighed and his shoulders sagged. “I will never live to see them gone, just as I will never live to be forgiven for bringing them here. I don’t think they like me any more than they like you, but they bow and scrape before me, seeking favors. They’ll kill me when they get the chance. Every time I pass one of them, I wonder, ‘will it be you?’ And every night the same dream reminds me that each day may be my last.”
“Oh gods, how awful!”
He examined her face carefully. “So you’re not amused by my plight?” He purred. “You have a kind heart, just like your mother had.” He put his paw on hers and gave her a gentle pat.
Uzuri was surprised. She met his glance directly, and the kindness in his eyes was genuine. While he was in such a good mood, she sought her heart’s desire.
“Sire, when you were born you weren’t breathing. I saw Rafiki breathe life into you with his own mouth.” She put her other paw on his. “Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive him? It would mean a lot to me. Please?”
He heaved a sigh. “Of all else, I could forgive him. But for trapping me in this life of pain, I cannot.” He winced at the thought. “And what’s worse, I am too much of a coward to undo it. If I could just go to sleep one night and never wake up…” He sighed as a tear rolled down his cheek, then kissed the cubs once more. “I do tend to run on like a fool, don’t I?” He rose and turned. His shoulders slumped under the weight of the world as he trudged away.
Sarafina hovered protectively near Uzuri and her cubs. “Phew, thank the gods that’s over.”
Uzuri looked at Sarafina and sighed. “Will things ever be well again? There’s some kind of curse on this place—I can feel it.”
“That’s why you wanted Rafiki back, isn’t it?”
“One small reason, Sis. One reason among many.”
“You’re rather fond of him, aren’t you.”
“Aren’t we all.”
“But you especially.”
Uzuri looked at her from half-lidded eyes. “Where’s this leading?”
“Nowhere.”
Uzuri purred. “There’s so much goodness and kindness in his heart. Of all the people I’ve ever known, he’s the most like Aiheu. He loves everyone.”
“That may be. But he adores you.”
“Come on, Fini!”
“You can ‘come on Fini’ till Pride Rock crumbles to dust. I’m telling you that monkey thinks the sun rises and sets just for you.”
“So he adores me! What’s wrong with that?”
Sarafina smiled sweetly. “If he wasn’t a mandrill, I’d say he’s sweet on you.”
“Fini, you should be ashamed of yourself!” She laughed. “He’s just very demonstrative.” A troubled look came across her face. “That’s just part of being an ape,” she said as if she were trying to convince herself. “Ask anyone.”
Later that day as Taka rested on the tip of the promontory watching the wide savanna below he saw the ungainly approach of Gopa the stork. Gopa landed a great flapping of wings and bowed. “I have your daily report, Sire.”
Taka looked down at Uzuri, who lay sunning herself on a rock below with her cubs nursing peacefully. Tameka lay beside her, clearly with the light in her eyes. “Gopa, where are all these new children coming from? I have cubs practically running out of my ears!”
Gopa bent down and almost whispered, “Who do you THINK brought all those cubs? The stork? Well it certainly wasn’t me.”
Taka looked at him askance. “What the devil are you talking about?”
“Forget it,” Gopa sighed.
CHAPTER: DOUBLE TROUBLE
When Togo and Kombi were first born, they slept most of the time, and they moved around very little. But by the age of three moons they never stopped moving, and everywhere they moved trouble followed close behind.
It must be understood that Uzuri was a strict mother. Around her, the twins were as good as gold—even better. She used to brag about how well-behaved they were to the other lionesses. Most of the time they would listen patiently and nod. There were a few times, however, when their patience ran thin. Times when someone else’s cub would misbehave and Uzuri would look at the mother with a superior attitude and say, “Togo and Kombi would never do a thing like that.”
The love Uzuri felt from her pride sisters was well-earned. No one would dare compromise her happiness by telling her what they thought of Togo and Kombi. At least not aloud.
One day, an outraged Isha was chasing them when Sarafina innocently stepped in the way. Togo and Kombi hid behind her trembling and Isha barely stopped in time to avoid crashing into the three of them.
“What’s wrong here??” Fini demanded. “Isha, remember your low boiling point!”
“Where is the mother of those—PERSONS??”
“I’m her sister. I’ll handle it.”
“Well, you asked for it. These two little hellions…” She bent close to Sarafina’s ear and while Togo and Kombi huddled behind her for protection they strained to hear what she was saying.
“You’re kidding!”
“No, I’m not! I caught them in the act!”
“I’ll take care of them, Isha. It won’t happen again.”
“Well it had BETTER not!”
“I’m sorry,” Togo said, sniffling. “We’ll be good from now on.”
“I’ll give them a good talking to,” Sarafina said.
“I sure hope so. That mother of theirs ought to cuff them more often.”
Kombi began to bawl. “We were just funning! I’m sorry, Isha.”
“Well, OK I guess,” she said, somewhat mollified. Isha could not stand to see cubs cry, even Togo and Kombi.
When Isha walked off, her dignity defended, Sarafina glared at the twins. “What am I going to do with you two??”
Togo and Kombi pleaded with all their charm and hound-dog expressions of remorse for her not to tell Mom.
Sarafina softened a little. “Kombi, don’t you understand that a joke isn’t funny when people get hurt? I like a good joke as much as anyone, but when you love someone you should respect them and try to think about how THEY are going to feel when they find a fully-grown… Well, you know what I mean.”
“I’m sorry,” Kombi said, tears coming to his eyes.
“And you, Togo. I know you probably didn’t start this, but you went along with it. That’s almost as bad. You love Isha, don’t you?”
“Yes ma’am.” Togo was the shy one and he looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock.
“Do you think what you did was the best way to show it?”
“No ma’am.” He began to wail and huddled up tight against her. “She’s really mad at me, isn’t she?”
“Yes, but she’ll get over it. Look, we’ll forget it this time. But you have been warned.”
For the rest of the day at least, Togo and Kombi were as good as two Nisei, but whenever Kombi had to pass Isha, he’d look at her suspiciously and change direction. By contrast, when Isha awoke from her mid-sun nap, she felt something warm and soft snuggled against her, and she fondled Togo with her paw. Kombi, sitting off a discrete distance, watched uncomfortably. Isha jerked her head ever so slightly and grunted. Then Kombi stirred himself and gamboled over, a relieved smile on his face. He rubbed his small back and tail under her chin and over her strong neck. “I really am sorry. Please don’t stay mad at me.”
“I really should, you know.” She nuzzled Kombi and kissed his cheek. “I hope you learned your lesson.”
Uzuri also stirred from her nap. “Fini, where are the boys?”
“Oh, around and about.”
“That’s not good enough. Nothing must happen to them, Fini. Not just for my sake, but for their father’s sake.”
She stretched and yawned, then quickly began to search Pride Rock for her children. They were not in the small cave where they liked to play. They were not by the cistern. Still, there were several places left where they MIGHT be. Oh if only Zazu were on the job, they would be properly supervised. Zazu loved children though he often had an odd way of showing it. Gopa didn’t really give half a minnow for the children. “Smelly, noisy things,” he would croak with irritation. “They really should be hidden away till they’re old enough to behave themselves.”
And then Sarafina had an odd thought. She knew Togo almost better than he knew himself, and she led Uzuri to Isha’s rock. And there, snuggled to her side, were Togo and Kombi.
Uzuri breathed a relieved sigh. “Look at them, Fini. Isn’t that sweet! They’re just a pair of little angels!”
Sarafina quickly bit her tongue to keep from laughing. “They’re a pair, all right.”
CHAPTER: PEACE AT LAST
The hunt mistress had been having a hard time finding food in the overhunted and parched Pride Lands. There was little to do except to hunt for all kinds of unwholesome creatures that only desperate lions would attempt to choke down. Togo and Kombi were growing drastically emaciated, and Uzuri was even worse off. The only way her twins survived was the generosity of Ugas who would have Adhama pass her an occasional hare. He did not know about his sons yet, but he suspected that she was struggling even harder than she would admit.
Disgusted, she returned empty yet again to her favorite rock, there to wait for one simple pleasure she allowed herself. Every night, Shimbekh would come and talk with her. From Shimbekh, Uzuri learned many stories of the hyenas and even a few phrases in their language. In return, Uzuri taught her about Aiheu and all the stories of the great kings of the past. These brought her comfort in her distress, and of late Shimbekh had looked strangely tormented.
Time passed. One Called Alligator and The Three Monkeys rose above the horizon. The moon sailed like a silent swan to the zenith of the heavens, crested at midmoon, then settled lower in the western sky. And still Shimbekh did not come. Irritated, Uzuri was ready to leave. “She knows we have a standing date.” But it occurred to her that the hyena might be sick.
Shoving through the brush, a look of desolation on her face, Makhpil went to Uzuri and fell before her, sobbing.
“There now, my child! What’s wrong?”
“It’s Shimbekh,” she gasped. “Holy Mother Roh’kash, she jumped into the gorge!”
“Oh no!” Uzuri pulled Makhpil close with a paw. “Oh gods, no! You poor creature!” Tears began to stream down her face.
Togo and Kombi were attracted by the commotion. Miserable, they huddled next to their mother and Makhpil.
“We have to set her soul free,” Makhpil sobbed. “I don’t want Shenzi to know. I hate her! It has to be just us, and maybe Ber. She liked him, you know.”
Sadly, Uzuri trudged with Makhpil and Ber to the side of the gorge followed by her twin sons. They sat on the spot where her trail abruptly ended. Togo looked over the side.
“Get away from there!” Uzuri shouted, pulling him back by the nape of the neck and then grooming him nervously.
Makhpil wailed—a high-pitched, heart rending cry that made Togo and Kombi’s hackles raise and their tails bristle. “Roh’kash, give me strength to walk this path alone, for my companion is gone into the east.”
“We look to the dawn where comes our salvation,” Ber said. “May your firstborn find no fault in her. May he recognize her righteousness.”
Uzuri put her paw on Makhpil’s shoulder. “Great Mother, let our friend rise with the sun to meet you and nurse at your side. Roh’kash, hear our prayer.” Falling on her back in a hyannic posture of prayer, she pawed at the sky. “Go to the sun, Shimbekh. Rise with the sun, Shimbekh. It is the dawn of your eternal bliss.”
Uzuri then went to the edge of the canyon and drew in a deep breath. She unleashed a roar—a loud, terrible roar that echoed off the walls in a thousand protests of grief. When the sound finally died away, she added softly, “You have put a thorn in my heart, old friend! I shall miss you.”
CHAPTER: A PROUD FATHER
Distraught from the death of her friend, Uzuri sneaked out to see Ugas. He would remind her of all that was beautiful and kind and soothe her heartache.
Indeed, the moment she caught sight of him, her heart was filled with joy. “Ugas!”
“Uzuri, my angel!” He nuzzled and pawed her. “How hungry you look. Please come dine with me, dear.”
“I’m not here to stay long, my love. I just had something to tell you.”
“By any chance, is this about cubs?”
“Twin sons.”
“Twin sons?” His eyes grew large. “Are you serious??”
“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes, Uzuri! Yes!!” He practically wiggled with joy. Ugas came up on his hind legs and sprang at her, wrapping his arms around her neck and wrestling with her. She was smaller but had youth on her side. She held back some of her great strength to keep from overwhelming him all at once. And when she felt him beginning to tire, she finally let him push her to the ground. As she lay with her back pillowed in the soft meadow grass, he stood over her and tickled her chest with his nose. Looking into her beautiful eyes with his warm smiling face, he said, “Go retrieve your sons. I want to look at them, smell them and nuzzle them. They will know their father loves them, and Uzuri, we’ll be a family at last. A family!”
Her face lost its smile. “I can’t,” she said. “I must go back, beloved.”
“But why? Think of our sons, Zuri. Don’t they need my love too? I would raise them to be Princes and they would get respect they will never have out there.”
“Don’t be upset, my love.” She reached up and fondled his neck, following his mane down his broad chest. “Someday we will come to you. Someday we’ll be a family.”
“When?” He drew his face down to almost touch hers. “What time I have left, I’d like to spend with you. When you’re gone, I don’t live, I only exist. Don’t you think I’ll make a good father?” He saw her tears start. “Oh, honey tree, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He kissed away her tears. “I was so lonely tonight. Must you go now? So soon?”
“Not right this moment, anyhow.” She patted the ground beside her with a paw and Ugas lay next to her. She pushed her face into his soft mane and put her paw on his chest, feeling the tides of his breath and the reassuring rhythm of his heart. Her tears began to flow freely. “You poor, dear thing! I feel awful about this. You must think I’m a terrible wife.”
“That’s a foolish thing to say,” he said, putting her paw in his powerful jaws and giving it a little squeeze, then stroking it gently with his warm, pink tongue. “You know, I’m tempted to play on your guilt, but I won’t. I want you to stay, but not out of guilt or obligation. I want you to need me the way I need you.”
“But I do,” Uzuri said. “I swear it.”
Ugas glanced over at her. He fondled her cheek with his paw. “If you think one day you’ll wake up and have nothing holding you to Pride Rock, you’re mistaken. It will never be easy to leave.” He pulled his paw back. “You’ll keep finding one more reason to wait. It will always be one more week, and the weeks will turn into moons. But I’m old, Uzuri, and when I’m dead all the tears in the world won’t bring me back.”
“I thought you weren’t going to play on my guilt,” she said.
“I’m not. I just have this terrible dread that when you’re gone I’ll never see you again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said with a deep sigh. “Nothing will keep us apart, dear. You’re the only lion I’ve ever loved, and the only one I ever will love.” She got up and shook off. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. My cubs are hungry.”
“Our cubs,” Ugas reminded her.
“I know.” She nuzzled him. “Darling, I will come back. I promise you.”
“Soon?”
“Soon.”
“I love you. Never forget that.”
She looked back at him sadly. “I love you too. Wait for me.”
CHAPTER: THE WINDS CHANGE
Uzuri was true to her heart. Once her feet were set on the path she did not stop until she arrived. Out of her love for Elanna, she kept an eye on Taka whenever she could.
She heard a rumor from Ber that some of the hyenas were plotting to kill Taka, but they needed a way to make it look like an accident—or suicide. It panicked her, not so much because of Taka but what it would do to Elanna. Little did she know they were planning to kill Lannie as well, or she would have really done something desperate.
To settle her mind, she went to see Taka—something very few lionesses would ever do, for his mental state had deteriorated to a barely suppressed madness.
He was not in his usual place. She bullied one of the hyena guards to tell her where he went.
“The cistern place, I thinking,” he said in broken leonine. Leonine from a hyena! Indeed, the occupation had lasted longer than she’d thought.
“Ka’del chul,” she replied in perfect hyannic. Now it was his turn to be surprised.
She ran down the slope of Pride Rock along a path covered with hyena footprints. Going around to the lee of the stone, she saw the dark-maned lion huddled by the side of the water, talking to his reflection. “No way out. There’s no way out. If there is a God, please help me! But how can there be a God? How can there be a God with so much misery in the world?? If I were God, things would be a lot different around here, that’s for sure!”
“Sire?”
“What??” He looked up, more afraid than angry. Tears had stained his cheeks. “Oh, Uzuri, it’s only you.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Did they send you to find me? Did they put you up to it—all those lionesses that want to know if I’m totally mad??”
“That’s not fair!” Uzuri upbraided him, something only she and Elanna could do. “Lannie was worried about you. She asked me to keep an eye on you.”
“Spy, you mean?”
“No. If I was spying on you, would I call out? I could see you quite well from over there.”
“Yeah.” He wiped his eyes with a paw. “You do think I’m mad, don’t you.”
“Well, I think you’re hurting.”
“Hurting.” He laughed bitterly. “I’m going to die soon. Not that I dread being dead one bit. It’s dying that frightens me.”
“Surely you’re not going to kill yourself??”
“No, nothing that noble. My friend, I know my star lore well. Well enough to know that the rumors are true, not mere whispers in the reeds.” He sniffed. “Uzuri, you believe in God, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then if you swore something by Aiheu, you’d consider that binding for all times, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course. Where is this going, Taka?”
“You looked after me for Elanna. Now I want you to swear that you’ll look after her for me when I’m gone. I want you to swear by Aiheu.”
“I don’t have to swear it. I love her, and as long as I have breath in this body, I’ll take care of her.”
“When I die that the others will want to hurt her because she was my wife. You must protect my Lannie. She gave up everything for me, and that kind of devotion must not go unrewarded. Don’t let them hurt her, Uzuri. They’ll listen to you.”
“I’ll do my best. I promise. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll swear it to Aiheu.”
With a pronounced trembling in his limbs that made him look far older than he was, he drew up alongside her and nuzzled her. For a moment she could see the frightened little cub that used to call her Zuzu. “I said some unkind things about you in the past,” he said. “When you remember me, I want you to remember that I felt regret. Say a prayer for me from time to time.” He nuzzled her once more. “Now be a good girl and please leave—I should like to be alone now.”
Uzuri nodded and softly padded away. She had no way of knowing that Shenzi would crush the life out of him later that evening.
CHAPTER: REBIRTH
Until the final dark days of Taka’s reign, most of facets of pride life continued to operate, but in a more subdued and somber manner. Cubs were born, Beesa died and was duly mourned, a lioness came of age and earned her annointment of blood and a lion was given his mantlement.
Toward the end, however, there was not so much life as existence. Thoughts turned toward Aiheu and the life beyond the world of Ma’at. Before the futile mockery of a hunt that almost never succeeded, Yolanda would lead her pride sisters in prayer and nuzzle each of them tearfully, not knowing if they would all return safely. One of them, a young female, broke ranks during the hunt and ran madly for the border screaming “Aiheu abamami!” She was never seen or heard from again.
Since that fateful escape, patrols of hyenas enforced a no-hunting zone near the borders, making it more difficult to abandon the crumbling kingdom when the borders and a new life were calling alluringly.
And yet Nala did. “If I don’t come back by next moon, don’t try leaving one by one. Settle on one night and leave as a group. Fight like fire and fly like the wind. Let Taka and his hyenas rot together, but for God’s sake go!”
She was determined to get help. Indeed, by the grace of Aiheu she received it.
Simba’s return infused the pride with new life and hope. The hyenas were gone—at least the ones that supported Shenzi—and fairness returned to the conduct of life. Without Taka’s violent mood swings, Simba was a very accessible King, and day by day the pride sisters saw in him the marks of his father. To say there was none of Ahadi in Taka would be unfair, but only Elanna’s tenderness could look inside and see it within him.
But there was no change overnight in the bleak landscape. Animals that avoided the boundaries of the pride lands in their migrations now felt confident to walk across Simba’s land rather than detour through Ugas’ and Mabatu’s kingdom.
Getting them to stay was another matter. One-who-brings-rain visited the land when the evil had been driven from it. The fertilizing drops quenched the dying thirst of the land and wakened seeds long buried in the desolate soil. Those sparks of new life realized the fulfillment of Aiheu’s promise, and they ached for long overdue freedom, straining at their bonds and breaking free to push up new leaves for sunshine and fresh air.
Within a few days, the brittle gray savanna began to show a green haze that tinted the bases of last year’s burned grass. And within a moon, the appointed time for the escape, lush grass was thriving on the nutrients in the ash strengthened soil. Antelope and zebra came to graze on the verdant treasure. Giraffes plucked new green shoots from the wakening acacias and rabbits began to clear out old burrows of their ash and mud. And to the careful ear, the sound of singing birds broke the long silence with messages of hope and joy.
The golden tide of rebirth was climaxed by Simba’s roar from the promontory. “Listen all of you! Nala is with child!”
CHAPTER: IT STARTS
Togo and Kombi once thought all males were like Taka. Simba’s good natured sense of humor and gentleness made a deep impression on them.
In particular, they watched the way he treated Nala, and the way she reacted to his attention. They were curious about this sort of relationship which seemed to bring Simba so much happiness.
Their mother nodded and smiled. “That’s the way I feel about your father. Someday you’ll have a wife and cubs, and you’ll be that happy.”
That was probably the most she had ever told them about having a father, and she made no signs of elaborating on that statement. But it did stoke their hopes somewhat.
Isha thought she was in for another prank when Togo and Kombi showed up at her resting place.
“What are you up to this time?” she asked, somewhat impatiently.
“Nothing,” Kombi said innocently. It was when he looked like he was not up to anything that Isha suspected him most.
“And why are you up to nothing by my spot? Go do nothing somewhere else—I’d feel much safer.”
Undaunted, Kombi sat in front of her. “It’s like this. You know how moms are. They won’t tell you any of the good stuff.”
“Oh?” Isha’s ears flicked forward. “And what is the good stuff?”
“Lionesses. You know—lionesses.”
“Yeah, I know.” She folded her paws and the tip of her tail twitched. “Do you want to be more specific?”
Kombi looked at a loss. He glanced over at Togo who looked equally nonplused. “Just start talking and I’ll tell you when you got it.”
Isha laughed. “You mean…” She drew close and whispered, “… lionesses?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place!” Isha spread her claws and groomed the end of her paw nonchalantly. “That’s a big topic, but I’ll fill you in. You see, there will come an age when you will be walking along big as the world and along will come this cute little lioness. You’ll stop in your tracks and stare at her, and even though you’ve seen her dozens of times before, she’ll look different to you because you’ll be looking with different eyes. You’ll think that she’s special somehow, and you’ll want her to think you’re special too.”
Togo and Kombi watched her raptly, their full attention riveted by the topic. “What happens then?” Togo asked.
“You’ll know when it happens to you. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of. It’s Aiheu’s gift to you to fall in love with someone. If that someone loves you back, it’s even more wonderful. That’s the kind of love that brings light out of the darkness.”
“Neat,” Kombi said. “When is it going to happen to me?”
“That’s one thing I can’t tell you,” Isha said. “When you finish going through puberty, you’ll understand.”
“Thanks,” Togo said, rubbing against her. “Has it ever happened to you?”
“A few times,” she said, smiling coyly.
Armed with all the information they needed, the experts in love went on to other pursuits like playing tag and baiting a poor hedgehog to distraction.
The hedgehog was protected by spines which hurt their paws. They were not old enough to know to tip the unfortunate beast over and attack the underside, but they were old enough to age the hedgehog several years in a few moments.
Finally the hedgehog darted into some reeds and skirted away.
“Darn,” Togo said. “I was hoping we could keep it.”
“And what would you do with it? Teach it tricks?”
Just then, Vianga came slinking out of the grass with remarkable grace for a lioness in that long-legged age. “Hi, Togo.” She smiled at Kombi and winked. “Hello, hot stuff.”
“Uh, hi Vivi.”
She strutted past the two lions with a flip of her tail that brushed the tip of Kombi’s nose.
Togo watched the playful ballet of her shapely thighs as she headed on to the watering hole. His mouth hung open.
Kombi said, “It just happened.”
“What?”
“I finished going through puberty.” He got up and padded after her.
“Hey Kombi, wait for me!”
CHAPTER: ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
Togo lay glumly at the foot of Pride Rock, sprawled ungainly across one of the stones that lay tumbled at its base. He stared bleakly at the trembling tips of the savanna grass and wondered if puberty was worth the agony he was going through. Perhaps Rafiki had some obscure potion that would calm his jangled nerves and keep him from staring at HER.
He groaned a put a paw over his face. “Oh, Vianga! Why won’t you love me just a little? Why won’t you give me a chance?”
By day he had fantasies of her sunning herself on a rock. When he closed his eyes at night, her smiling face pursued him into the depths of feverish dreams from which he awoke from trembling and calling her name. He couldn’t pass her by without feeling his heart race. He would want to gaze into her liquid amber eyes, nuzzle her cheek, rub against her side, and yes, place his paw on her left shoulder to make her his forever. Only one thing separated him from his goal.
Kombi.
Togo’s jaw clenched as he thought of his brother. Kombi must have the favor of the gods, for every time Togo tried to impress her, Kombi would one-up him.
Togo, who was not as dim as he seemed, was only painfully shy. When she was away, he would think of witty and charming things to say, but when she looked right at him—which she rarely did—all that would come out is, “Nice weather we’re having.”
Togo had practiced for days at jumping the small creek that trickled into the water hole, soaking himself many times to the laughter of several animals. He ignored that laughter and kept on trying, concentrating on balance, poise, and distance. It would not do to land in the mud and splatter the girl of his dreams. Early that morning, he had gotten the jump down pat, and he tried it several times, always landing with a whisper in the dry grass on the other side.
Elated, he then padded off, seeking out Vianga and talking her into taking a walk with him. The two paced down to the water, chatting idly, with Togo fighting down his irritation at Vianga’s repeated wondering about the location of his brother.
“Oh, he’s probably wandering somewhere, playing cub games.” Togo smiled indulgently. “You know how CHILDREN are.”
“I like children,” Vianga said, bending down to sniff at the edge of the creek. “I think they’re cute.” Barely more than a cub herself, she nevertheless managed to throw a dazzling smile at Togo. “I can’t wait till I have cubs of my own.”
“Neither can I,” he breathed. His heart was pounding, and he was looking into those liquid hazel eyes. It was all he could do to keep his left paw firmly on the ground.
Then a tawny shape shot past, leaping into the air to land with a solid thud on the other side. “Hey, Vivi! What’s up?”
“Kombi!” Vianga squealed delightedly. “Wait for me!” With a bound, she cleared the creek easily, landing silently next to him. They paced off together, Kombi shooting a quick grin and a wink over his shoulder at Togo.
“Hey! Wait up guys!” Togo gathered himself and leapt, watching the water flicker by underneath him, the sunlight dazzling off it’s surface in a starburst of light, the far bank coming closer… and rising much too rapidly…
“Uh-oh,” Togo muttered. He closed his eyes, wincing as he hit the water, the cold driving the air from him with a burbling gasp. Sodden and covered with mud, he dragged himself off, the soft giggles of Vianga’s laughter driving thorns into his heart. He stormed home and he’d been sitting on that rock ever since.
Togo stared at the trembling grass and sighed again. No doubt about it—love was a cruel trickster that played by its own rules.
“Hey, Togo.”
His hackles rose as he heard the voice. HER voice.
“Vianga?”
She paced around the rock to look at his sad face. “Togo? I, uh…”
“What?”
“I’m sorry I laughed at you this morning.” Vianga scuffed a paw in the dirt nervously. “It was really mean of me.”
Togo gaped at her. “Uh, well, it’s okay.”
“Really?” She glanced at him quickly. “You mean it?”
“Sure.” He smiled at her.
“Great. You’re really nice, Togo.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by an all to familiar voice. “Vivi!”
She looked over Togo’s head. “Hey Kombi! He’s right here.”
Togo turned to gaze at his brother. “What is it?”
“I hope you aren’t sore about this morning. I explained to Vivi that it wasn’t your fault, since you were… you know, born uncoordinated.”
So that was why Vianga looked at him with such a mixture of sorrow and pity! Togo struggled to take in the depth of his brother’s deviousness while wondering where he had learned a word longer than three syllables. “Uncoordinated, huh?” Togo bristled.
“Yeah! I told her that’s why I can already catch prey, and you can’t.” Kombi grinned.
“What??”
“Sure!”
“You can NOT catch prey, Kombi!”
“Can too!” Kombi’s grin turned sly. “I bet I can catch something before YOU can!”
Togo shot a flat gaze at Kombi, all too aware of Vianga’s eyes on him, measuring… “Deal.”
“You’re on!” Kombi sniffed the ground purposefully, then dashed away into the grass. Grumbling, Togo padded off in the other direction, wondering what he was going to do now. Pushing his way onto the tall grass, he nosed about uncertainly, then froze as he heard a horrific shriek. Turning, he tore back to where Vianga sat, her eyes wide.
“Did you hear-”
“What was that all-”
Both of them were silenced by the sight of Kombi padding out of the grass, humming busily to himself, a fat savanna hare dangling from his jaws. He deposited it on the ground, grinning hugely. “Told ‘ya!”
Togo gaped wordlessly as Vianga praised Kombi nonstop. A lead weight seemed to fill his stomach as he turned to stare at his brother, his jaw trembling. “I… I guess you win, Beebee,” he croaked.
“Hmm?” Kombi looked away from Vianga. “Oh yeah!”
“Good luck.” Togo turned and paced away slowly, his tail dragging in the dust. Even in extremis, he did not want Vianga to see him cry—or Kombi for that matter.
“Togo?”
“What??” he said tremulously. “Leave me alone!”
“Hey… no hard feelings, okay?” Togo turned to see Kombi carrying the rabbit toward him. Laying it at Togo’s feet, he turned away. “You keep it, Togo.”
Vianga stared at Kombi in wonder. “You are so SWEET!” Togo watched agonized, as she leaned over and kissed Kombi’s cheek. A beatific grin lit his face, and he nuzzled her in return, purring.
“Well, you know, I have to look out for him. I mean, he IS my brother-” Kombi froze, staring at something behind Togo. “Uh, I gotta run. Seeya later, okay?” Without waiting, he turned and trotted off quickly. Vianga stared after him. “You’re lucky to have such a wonderful brother, Togo.”
“Yeah.” Togo wrapped his forepaws around his head in shame. Warm breath puffed in his ear as he was nuzzled softly. “WHAT??”
“Jeez, cool it!”
Togo looked up to see Habusu looking at him oddly. “Oh, hey, Habu.”
“What’s shakin?”
“Nothing,” Togo sighed. “Nothing at all.”
The older cub looked over at Vianga. “Hey, Vivi.”
“Hello, Habu,” Vianga said in a voice that fairly dripped sweetness. “Looking handsome as ever today, I see.”
“Thanks,” he said, grinning crookedly. “Oh hey, Kombi brought you the rabbit!”
“Yep.” Togo grunted.
“Wild. I tell you what, your Mom had a time catching that sucker this morning.”
Togo lifted his head to stare at Habusu. “What?”
Habu nodded. “Uzuri finally caught it a while ago; she gave I to Kombi and said to share it with you.” He stared in wonder. “I’m surprised he didn’t eat it himself. No offense,” he added hastily. “But you know Kombi.”
“Yeah,” Togo growled. “I know Kombi, all right.” he looked at Vianga, vindicated. “See?? I TOLD you he couldn’t do it! That was a dirty, underhanded trick!”
Vianga dissolved into giggles. “Wow! He’s smarter than I thought!”
Togo and Habu looked at each other. “What??”
She giggled again. “Boy, he really pulled a fast one on you. He’s so clever, you have to think twice before you go up against him!” She batted her eyes and sighed deeply. “What a lion!”
Desperate times called for desperate measures, Togo decided. He made off purposefully through the grass, and before long was sitting before the pride’s shaman, parading his woes before the mandrill. Finally, Rafiki shushed him. “What do want ME to do about it?”
Togo squirmed uncomfortably. “Uh, well, uh… can’t you, like give her something to make her love ME instead?”
Rafiki’s eyes widened in surprise. “Tell me young buck, if I DID have such a thing, would it be right to use it on her when she is already in love with someone who loves her back? How would your brother feel?” Rafiki peered at him, interested. “And could you REALLY enjoy a love from someone that comes from a drug instead of their heart?”
Togo wilted. “I guess not.”
Rafiki patted the young lion and laid an arm across his shoulders comfortingly. “There, there, son. You’re going through a difficult time right now. Believe me, Rafiki knows.” The mandrill chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, thinking. “Has your mother talked with you yet about… lionesses?”
“No, she hasn’t.” Togo frowned deeply. “She probably thinks we’re still too young.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Rafiki said, smiling at the cub whose mane was little more than a shaggy ruff around his neck at the moment.
“Yeah,” Togo said, not seeing the amused look on Rafiki’s face. “At least Isha told us the truth about it.”
Rafiki’s smile froze. “Oh?” Visions of the sultry lioness having a heart-to-heart with the two cubs about the facts of life made his heart skip a beat. “And what did she tell you?”
Togo recounted the somewhat vague details Isha had given him, and Rafiki relaxed as he mentally chastised himself for having so little faith in her. Clearing his throat, he stroked the thin mane on Togo’s shoulders as the afternoon crept gently past, and began to speak, slowly revealing the wonderful secrets that life held for a lion, the things Ugas would have told his sons had he been able to.
At last he sat back, sipping at a bowl of water to soothe his dry throat. “Well?”
Togo gazed thoughtfully out at the grassland. “Wow. That’s really… something, Rafiki. Thanks!”
“Of course.” Rafiki sat back and smiled. “Anything else?”
“We-ell…”
“Come on, out with it.”
Togo glanced at him. “Is there REALLY any such thing as a love potion? I’d really like to know.”
Rafiki sighed. This WAS Ugas’ son, after all. Reaching into a small alcove in the side of the baobab, he withdrew a small leaf wrapped tightly around something. “Here. I believe this is what you want.”
Togo’s eyes grew large. “Awesome!” He bent to pick the bundle up.
“Listen to me carefully, son. I’m giving you this as a special gift. I want you to keep it, not use it.”
Togo drew a puzzled frown at that. “Huh?”
“This is to keep you honest, my boy.”
The young lion drew back indignantly. “Who, me?! I’m always honest!”
“Of course,” Rafiki said dryly. “That’s why I entrust this to you. Because I know that every time you look at it, you’ll think better of meddling in the lives of others.” Rafiki laid a hand on Togo’s head. “You’ll never use it. Every time you see it, you’ll feel proud of yourself for doing the right thing.”
Togo’s chest swelled with pride and purpose. “You betcha!”
A short while later found the adolescent lion proudly laying the wrapped bundle before Vianga. “Look what I got for you, Vivi!”
She eyed the leaf warily. “What is it?”
“A treat… a sweet treat for a sweet girl.”
She giggled shyly. “Thanks. Even if you did slobber on it.”
“Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Sniffing the concoction, she picked it up delicately, chewed, and swallowed.
Togo eyed her apprehensively, heart pounding. “How’s it taste?”
“Okay.”
“How do you feel?”
“Fine.” She stared at him because he seemed to be waiting for something else. “It was very nice, Togo.” She looked into his searching eyes. “Thank you very much?”
“Is that all you feel?” He looked disappointed.
“Oh, you want a kiss?” She gave him the briefest lick and said, “There. I hate to run but I have a date with Kombi.”
She started to walk away. Then she looked back. “What was in that thing?”
“What does it matter? It didn’t work.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From Rafiki. He told me it was…” He looked down.
“A love potion?”
“Yeah.”
“That explains it. Gods, that’s strong stuff!” She fell at his feet and pawed at him. “I’m ready, Togo! Take me!”
“Take you?? Where?”
“Make love to me! I’m on fire!”
Togo backpedaled madly as Vianga nuzzled his face and chest vigorously, prostrating herself before him. “Love me, Togo! Love me quick or I’ll kill myself!”
“Well, I…” He closed his eyes tightly as if it could make her go away. “We’re not old enough. Do you know what they’d do if they caught us??”
Her passionate kiss made his eyes fly open.
“Run away with me. So what if we’re not old enough. We’ll hack out a living in the wilderness, just you and I facing danger and hardship together, but we’ll have our love. Our love, Togo!”
“But Vianga…”
“We’ll make love morning, noon and night! I’ll live for your touch—your closeness—your beautiful body next to mine as we climb to the skies together and cry out from the dizzy heights of passion!” She began to writhe sinuously before him.
“Vivi, get a grip on yourself!”
A burst of uncontrolled laughter erupted from a nearby bush and Kombi tumbled out, staggering weakly. “You dope!” He walked over to Vianga and nuzzled her cheek, grinning as she returned his affections.
“Hey!” Togo said. “What’s the big idea!”
Kombi rolled on the ground, laughing. “Let that be a lesson to you, brother. You’re messing with MY girl. She and I have this special thing, see, and you can’t be a part of it. Did you think that was a love potion or something?? That was only cough medicine.”
“It was?” Embarrassed, Togo squirmed and tears began to roll down his good-natured face. “You let me make a fool of myself?? How could you do that to me, Kombi! How could you be so cold!”
“Love potion! How could you be so stupid! You should know I’m her honey tree. She doesn’t even know you exist. It’s not your fault—you didn’t have a chance with me around. I’m the love doctor!”
Vianga frowned. “Beat it, love doctor. I want a second opinion!” She pushed away Kombi and nuzzled Togo, wiping his eyes with her paw. “I’m glad I found out who the real love doctor was before it was too late. I’ll follow you anywhere—all you have to do is ask.”
“The joke is over,” Kombi said, incensed. “This isn’t funny anymore.”
“Who asked you??” She looked penetratingly into Togo’s eyes. “Who needs him? He’s so conceited he’s swelling up like a carcass in the sun. He’s not gentle and sweet like you.”
“Don’t try to pull the same trick on me,” Kombi said. “I’m wise to you.”
“Put a paw in it!” she shouted. She turned to Togo and nuzzled him again. “I’m sorry I came on to you like that. It was a nasty little joke and I’m sorry. You tried to trick me and I just wanted to teach you a lesson.”
“You sure did. If you’ll dump him that quick, you’d dump me too. Vivi, you’re very pretty, but you’re a shameless flirt, and that’s not what I need.” He took in a deep, cleansing breath, let it out and smiled broadly. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other ‘cause I’m cured of puberty! No more symptoms at all! See, I can look right at you—nothing happens! I can kiss you!” He jumped down and gave her a lingering, passionate lick. “Nothing happens! I feel so much better, I ought to thank you! I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to play tag with Habu.” He turned and left.
She rubbed her cheek where he kissed her and shuddered. She padded after him. “Togo, wait! I think I love you!”
“Vivi, come back!” Kombi chased after her. “TO-GO!! VI-VI!! Wait up!!”
CHAPTER: THE SHADOWS GROW LONGER
Ugas’ eyes half closed as Rafiki’s herbs had their desired effect and the old mandrill’s hands worked his stiff joints. “I’m sorry I’ve been so long coming,” Rafiki said. “I’ve had to nurse Simba through a nasty fever.”
“So how’s my second cousin doing?”
“He’s fine now.”
“Is he like his father? I mean, I really miss old Mufasa’s gentle wisdom.”
“You knew him well? I thought…”
“That lions are territorial? We are. But we always walked the line between our kingdoms at the same time each week.” He sighed. “He would never say much. But I always looked forward to seeing him. And the first day he didn’t show up, a small part of me died.”
“I had no idea. If you cared for each other, why have territories at all? I mean, it makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense. We have duties to perform, duties that Aiheu gives us.” Ugas put his paw around Rafiki and drew him close. “One of them is to hunt and feed our children, and territories help us do that. Does that mean we hate our prey, or that they don’t deserve to live? I think not. Life is a struggle, but it is in the struggle that we define ourselves and find our place in the universe.”
“So it really is duty that keeps us separated from the ones we love?”
“Yes. But ultimately it is love that brings us together. When we’re reunited before Aiheu, there will be no territories. When I see Muffy again, I’ll do more than speak. I’ll nuzzle him and share jokes with him and see if I can best him in wrestling. I’ve always wanted to take him on, no holds barred. He was such a big lion, so full of power and resolve.”
“You must have given this a great deal of thought.”
“Yes. Death is like a distant mountain. At first it’s all gray and green, like a mist. But the closer you come to it, the more you see. You begin to make out separate trees and rocks. I’ve come to see it all too clearly now.”
“Oh no! You’ll outlive us all.”
“Yeah, right.” He coughed as if to drive the point home. “We all have to die sometime. But before I go, I want to meet my sons. I want to look into their eyes and tell them I love them.”
“Are you sure you have that much time left?” Rafiki asked, amused