Burkitt John. Under the Acacias

   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 but a little judgmental. “You’ve been very busy.”
   “I don’t have much time left,” he said. “And you know I meant Togo and Kombi. They’re the only sons I have--all the rest are daughters. Ah, that’s it, rub further to the left....oh, yes!”
   “Those two are quite a sight,” Rafiki said, rubbing harder.
   “They’re Uzuri’s. That’s good enough for me. I love that girl.”
   “You love all lionesses.”
   “I LIKE all lionesses. I LOVE her.”
   “Well you’d BETTER love her!” Rafiki said sharply.
   “What do you mean by that??”
   “If you ever hurt her, I may be only an old monkey, but I’ll get you. I swear I will! You take care of that girl, you hear me??”
   “Calm down, will you? Not so hard with the hands, you old monkey!”
   “She means the world to me. I won’t have you treating her like a plaything to toss aside when you’ve had your fun!”
   “Calm down! Your face is turning red! Besides, you’re rubbing my fur the wrong way!”
   “I’m sorry. I guess I’m playing the honey badger.” He gave Ugas’ shoulder a pat. “So you really love her?”
   “I’m deeply in love with her. Just like you are.”
   “Well I....” Rafiki was supremely embarrassed. “I love her, but I wouldn’t say I’m IN love with her. I mean, not THAT way.”
   “Come now,” Ugas said, patting his shoulder with a large paw. “Let’s be honest. I won’t be upset by the truth. Now before Aiheu, can you truthfully say that you’ve never had one small inkling of attraction to her? Your wife has been dead all these years. Uzuri does practically everything for you a wife would do. She has even groomed you.” He smiled. “I can tell by looking at you that you feel threatened. You’re very transparent, and the guilt leaves tracks all over your face.”
   Rafiki looked down. “Ugas, you wouldn’t understand. I mean, sure. Sometimes I wish we were--the same kind--you know. But I pray about those feelings and they go away.”
   “You’re giving me half an answer. Rafiki, Aiheu knows your heart. And so do I.”
   Ugas drew him close with a paw and patted him gently, nuzzling him with his large face. “She has that effect on people. In your heart, you know that even the stones and the grass she step on love her. I count myself lucky that I can act on that love. We see each other as often as possible, and not only when she’s in season. Sometimes we sit under the stars and talk for hours.”
   “About what?”
   “Oh, one thing she really likes is star lore. What she doesn’t know about the night sky isn’t worth knowing. I can tell--in my younger days, I was quite a scholarly type. As deadly serious as a baobab tree in a rain storm.”
   “I didn’t know that.” Rafiki cleared his throat. “Does she ever talk about me?”
   “Oh does she ever! How cute your little girl was and how pretty your wife was, and how you work miracles on her stiff shoulder--I can tell from personal experience that you do. You’d think she was your mother the way she talks about you. And did you really stop Akase’s miscarriage with Heartleaf?”
   “Yes. With Maraliscus. The combination kept it from poisoning her but stopped the contractions. It was touch and go there for a while.”
   “Uzuri has good taste in friends--she doesn’t smile at everyone that nods their head at her. She cares for you a great deal. More than she probably lets on.” He drew close and said in a near whisper, “If you were a lion, I’d be insanely jealous. Odds are five to one she’d be married to YOU right now.”
   Rafiki rubbed more and more slowly as a dreamy expression crossed his face. “Don’t be foolish,” he muttered. “What an odd notion!”
   “I want her children to inherit my kingdom,” he said matter-of- factly. “That was our understanding from the beginning. I would give her love, and she would give me sons. And she has--twin sons when I thought I only had daughters in me. We must not let them slip away.”
   “I’ll see what I can do.”
   “Can you arrange a meeting? Just them, their mother and I?”
   “I’ll do what he can.”
   “You’ll do better than that. Her happiness means everything to you. You’d do whatever it takes.”
   Rafiki looked down again. “Yes, I would.”
   “And Rafiki, I’ll be gone long before Uzuri. You know I’m rather old.”
   “You shouldn’t think that way.”
   “Why not? It’s true. And I know I’ll be leaving her alone.” He looked at Rafiki intently. “I want to know she will have someone to look after her. Swear to me--swear by Aiheu’s holy name--you will see she is well tended to. Let no harm come to her.”
   “I swear.”
   Ugas put his large paw on Rafiki’s shoulder and gave him a soft pat. “Someday, somehow God will reward you for all this.”
   The mandrill looked up. “He already has, my old friend. More than you could imagine.” He hugged Ugas around his strong neck and said, “She talks about you too. All good things. I just thought you’d want to know that.”
   Rafiki said a quick blessing over Ugas’ land, then walked away. When he was safely hidden in the rushes between the two kingdoms, he clasped his hands and bowed his head. “Merciful Aiheu, I can’t help it if I’m in love with her. Help me! I’d die if she ever found out!” Tears ran down his cheek and he sniffed, rubbing his eyes.

CHAPTER: LIEBESTOD

   Adhama flicked an ear absently at a buzzing fly as she shouldered her way silently through the high grass. As she emerged from the surrounding brush, she spotted Ugas atop a small rise, looking into the west toward Pride Rock.
   Padding to his side, she craned her head to look at him. “Who is it this time?” she asked with a wry smile. “Do I know her?”
   He glanced at her and grinned dazzlingly. “It’s not a lioness, Addie! My sons are coming to visit me! My sons, Addie!”
   Adhama beamed. “Togo and Kombi? Coming here?”
   “And why not?? My sons can go anywhere they please!”
   “When are they coming?”
   “I don’t know. Within a few days. But what’s a few more days after all these moons?” He leaned over and nuzzled her warmly. “After I’m gone, I’ll feel good knowing that my sons are taking care of you.”
   “And who says you’re dying first? You may outlive us all.”
   “I hope not.” He reached out with a paw and fondled her cheek. “I’ve lived a long life, a full life. I’ve had a lot of happiness, and now I have peace of mind. I prayed for a son, and I got twin boys! Aiheu has been good to me.”
   “You forgot to mention your sister that loves you.”
   Ugas smiled and nuzzled her again. “Yes, I have a sister that I love.” He thought a moment. “Addie, I’m going to try and talk Uzuri into staying. Things are fine in her pride now, and she said she would come to me when things improved.”
   “Does she know about the others?”
   “No.” He looked worried. “It’s better that she never knows. She’s my wife, you know. I pledged to her.”
   “She’s the Queen?”
   “Yes. You sound surprised.”
   “No, not at all. I think she’ll make a good Queen. But do you think you can remain faithful to her?”
   “Addie!” He smiled, somewhat embarrassed. “If she’ll only stay this time, I’ll be faithful to her. It’s an even trade. She’d be giving up her pride, and I’d be giving up....” He half closed his eyes and looked pensive, counting on his paws. “Well, maybe it’s not an even trade, but I’ll do it for her.”
   “Be serious!”
   “I AM serious. I’d do anything for that girl. When she’s here, she makes my world. But every time she leaves me, I feel this horrible emptiness. If she will make sacrifices for me, I’ll make them for her.”
   “She might just do that. At least I’ll never leave you.”
   Ugas smiled and his eyes sparkled. “Have I told you I love you recently?”
   “Many times, Honey Tree.”
   “Well I’m telling you again.”
   Adhama smiled and slipped silently into the grass headed for Pride Kopje. The hunt would begin in an hour or so, and already the Pride Sisters were starting to gather to discuss plans.
   Adhama had spoken of sacrifices. Never had she understood sacrifice more keenly than as she went over the night’s plan with the other lionesses. Despite her advanced age, her slowing reflexes and her weakening eyes she was still hunt mistress for Ugas’ pride. With her renowned hunting abilities and keen sight, Uzuri would surely replace her, but so great was her love for Ugas that she would willingly step aside for Queen Uzuri. Adhama, who loved cubs, would tend the children in her remaining days and dream of nights on the trail. She determined to remember every moment of what might be her last hunt as a leader.