For a while, Kako had the hope that her son could one day be King of Pride Rock.
      But things had turned against them, and so with none of the pomp and celebration associated with a royal presentation, a very private ceremony took place in the quiet of the east meadow. There, surrounded by a profusion of flowers, Kako reenacted the sorrow of most lionesses who have sons. It was supposed to be positive, a launching out on a great adventure. As such, Kako was strong, and smiled warmly. “Where has my little cub gone? All I see is this lion.”
      “I’ll always be your son, ” Baba replied, and nuzzled her.
      “Remember me, ” she said. “When you are a great king, do not forget that I gave you milk.”
      “When you are gone to be with your fathers, pray for me.” The words almost stuck in his throat. He knew he would not see her again until they had both gone to be with Aiheu.
      “I will pray for you, ” she said, her tail going limp. “Oh gods, my son, my little son! ”
      “Don’t cry, mother.” He kissed away her tears. “You must be strong for me. I will carry this moment with me for the rest of my life.”
      “I’m sorry.” She sniffed and smiled. “Besides, we will meet again among the stars, and nothing will separate us.” She put her paw on his cheek. “May the Lord Aiheu smile upon you. May the grass be soft beneath you. May the great kings enfold you. May you find love and safety wherever you go.”
      “I’ll be safe, ” he said. “The gods are with me.”
      Isha came. She looked at the small male and tears started rolling down her cheeks. It did not go unnoticed by Kako.
      Mabatu went to her, kissed away her tears, and whispered, “I’ll come back for you. If Aiheu lets me live, I’ll make a place for us. Will you wait for me?”
      “I will. I swear.”
      “I will always love you. If I die, look in the stars. I will be watching over you.”
      Mabatu nuzzled Kako. He wanted to remember the feel of her fur, the smell, the sound of her breath. He looked in her eyes. “Mother.”
      “My son.” She kissed him one last time.
      Without another word, he turned and walked north. He did not look back, for it would have been wrong to do so. He went to the edge of the trees, then through the shaded trail of the bongo to the hidden meadow where many lions go to die. There was a quiet skull staring sightlessly from the meadow grass, all that was left of old Maloki. He did not stop to regard it, but he did look at the far side of the meadow. That was the border of the Pride Lands. He regarded it with a little nostalgia. He’d never left the Pride Lands before and now he stood at the edge of The Big World. He took in a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly. Then he walked into the trees and let their shade close over him like a curtain.

      Shimbekh watched Mabatu’s mantlement from the shadows. It was a thorn in her heart. “Because of me, he will die. I cannot see it, but he is so unprepared, so young.”
      She walked back toward Pride Rock to take shelter from the sun and to talk with Makpil. Along the way, she tried to think of one thing that made her different from a murderess. Is it enough that she had been ordered to lie, even if it was the Roh’mach herself that so ordered?
      Makhpil was waiting for her. How wonderful it must be to see things before they happen! With great sadness and envy, Shimbekh asked Makhpil what the future held.
      “I see you standing by the river gorge, ” Makhpil said. She kissed Shimbekh. “You will experience joy.”
      Joy was something Shimbekh knew little about, especially in recent days. But somehow she knew that Makhpil spoke the truth. It was like a small echo of her once great powers.
      Shimbekh hurried out of the cave. Usually the lionesses were never directly addressed by hyenas. That’s why Uzuri was shocked when the Shimbekh spoke to her. Shimbekh told Uzuri that sticking by Pride Rock was not her idea, nor was it the idea of the Gods. It was Shenzi’s desire, as are most things done nowadays. The same is true of Mabatu. He must be found and brought home before death could take him.
      Uzuri was indignant and a little mistrustful. “This talk could get you killed, unless it is some kind of trick.”
      “Yeah, a trick.” Seer laughs bitterly. “Your blood would turn to dust if you knew half the tricks that had been pulled on you. My powers are gone. Because I lied, the truth has fled from me, and there is only one future I can see--my own.” Shimbekh stalked off quietly.
      Shimbekh walked to the edge of the gorge where Taka had once killed Mufasa. “I confessed my guilt. Just once more let me see the truth with my own eyes.” She closed her eyes tightly and took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. A smile crossed her face. “Yes, Lord. Thank you. Memu kofasa, Muti! Roh’kash ne nabu! ” She crouched down on her haunches and sprang over the edge. For several seconds she fell freely, then she struck the wall of the gorge, was sent bloody and broken through the boulders, and finally rolled to a stop.

      When Isha’s time had come, she had three cubs. Her son was named Habusu, and her two daughters were named Jona and Minshasa.
      Some of the lionesses filed by to see them, more out of curiosity than of joy. Importantly, Kako was not among them.
      Clearly, while Isha was not a social outcast, there were few doubts who the father of the cubs was, and the circumstances of their conception. There was tension and a feeling of disapproval in the pride mates who stopped by to see the cubs, sniff them, touch them, then say something pleasant, only to go outside and gossip. And with Isha’s excellent hearing, there was no doubt she heard many hurtful things before the day was over.
      Public attitudes were rather jaded. “She will be a devoted mother, ” one said; “She has SUCH a way with KIDS.”
      After the embarrasment of a presentation Isha would have just as soon skipped, the hunt mistress arrived.
      Uzuri’s love for Isha was absolute and unconditional. In her eyes, there could be no taint to spoil the beauty of childbirth. She looked at each cub, sniffed them gently, and touched them with her tongue. “Habusu looks like Mabatu when he was that age—very handsome. Sometimes I worry about Baba; where he is, what he’s doing, and if he’s missing you. You must pray for him.”
      “I do.” Isha nuzzles her. “I love you, Uzuri.”
      “Why? What did I do.”
      “Nothing—and everything. Just because you’re you.” As Uzuri left, Isha brought the cubs to her warm belly and guided them to her milk. She rubbed over them with her paw tenderly as they nursed. “I don’t care what the others think. You are my children, and you are wonderful. You are Mabatu’s children. Our children.” She half closed her eyes. “My little Mabatu. Wherever you are, I hope you know how beautiful they are.”
      Taka himself came by. “Look at the little angels, ” he cooed. “Aren’t they beautiful! ”
      “Mabatu’s children, ” she said. “That’s what you came to find out, wasn’t it?”
      “Mabatu, ” he said softly. “I will go to my death grieving for him. He was my son, and always will be.”
      “Then why did you let him go?”
      “I don’t have to tell you, but I will. You alone deserve to know.” He sighed. “The seer told me he would meet an evil fate if he stayed here. I love Mabatu. I loved him enough to give him a small chance over no chance at all.”
      There was a truthful ring to his voice. Isha looked at the sadness that clouded his face as he recalled his friend.
      He looked at the male cub. “What is his name?”
      “Habusu.”
      “Habusu, you are son of my son. You will be my heir, and the one true King. I am not a seer, but I predict that you will not be hated as I am hated. You have brought some measure of peace to my heart. That is not an easy thing to do.”
      “You honor me.” She looked a little worried. “Please don’t tell the hyenas just yet.”
      When he asked why, she said, “If their seer is so good, let her come tell you.”
      He chuckled, amused. “Yes. Let her. But aren’t you a little curious what the future holds for him?”
      “Yes. That’s why I plan to be there when it happens. We all have to suffer thorns and bruises, and we all have to die, but isn’t it really better not knowing how and when?”
      Taka looked at her strangely. “Why Isha, you’re a philosopher.”
      “All mothers are philosophers.”
      Watching him leave, Isha thought back on her sister, Beesa. She had once been a philosopher. Fortunately, she had only had one cub to worry about feeding, a daughter named Lisani. Adopted by Isha upon Beesa’s death, the lioness cared for her niece as if she was one of her own; like Uzuri, she made no distinctions where children were concerned. Perhaps someday Lisani would grow to love Habusu. Perhaps Aiheu in his mercy will provide some future for them all. Then again, Isha kept her mind almost solely on the present. It was her way of keeping her sanity.

      When Isha’s cubs were old enough to stray away from Mom, they found that there were other cubs with other mothers. But while other cubs were free to make friends at will, there were strange difficulties for Isha’s children as they sought to be accepted by the parents.
      Usually, there was polite avoidance. Gobiso came out and said, “My mother told me I couldn’t play with you.”
      Therefore Isha’s children grew up thinking all cubs pretty much stayed only with their mother. It was a fiction that helped keep the hurt of rejection from stinging so badly.
      But Uzuri was always there to see them, chatting amiably with Isha and doting over little Lisani. Miss Liss, as she was known, often was called Miss Priss by the others because she was so proper and erudite. Habusu was so polite and gentle, he and Miss Priss got along fine. They were not only cousins but milk brother and sister. Uzuri always made Habusu feel welcome and loved. While his sisters liked to play together, Habusu would fawn on Uzuri like a second mother, and followed Lisani around like a puppy.
      But eventually Habusu wanted another male to play with. He turned to Uzuri’s twin sons Togo and Kombi. Here it was Isha’s turn to be apprehensive, for Togo and Kombi had a reputation for mischief. Everyone knew that except, loyally, their mother.
      Still, despite all the difficulties he faced, Habusu was loved unconditionally by his mother, Uzuri, and a few special friends. Even the King and his Queen loved him.
      His first experience with death came when he was two months old. His sister Minshasa, always frail, began to develop symptoms of Dol Sani, a condition that would have been survivable if she had not been malnourished. Helplessly, Isha watched her decline. Finally after a week of suffering, Minshasa died peacefully in her sleep.
      After the death of the first, public sympathy begins to turn, though stubborn Tameka said, “Yes, it’s too bad. But she asked for it.”
      One moon later, when pneumonia claimed Jona, it was Tameka who was upbraided. The outpouring of sympathy and grief was spontaneous and heartfelt as they saw how Isha suffered. If anything, grief made her already beautiful features almost godlike. Her son that was left she treasured, and her care of him was seen by all as a sign that something wonderful had escaped their attention all along.
      Finally, he became weak in turn. Taka began to panic. He felt some evil curse had come to take what little he owned and smash it. Some lionesses helped Isha smuggle herbs from Rafiki to build his blood and heal his infection. Even Taka let Isha eat from the King’s share to enrich her milk.
      Still, though, Habusu had few friends to play with. Though he was polite and soft-spoken, there was the black mark that Taka and Elanna spent time with him. It was hard on Isha to know what to say or do on this matter, for she did not like Taka any more than Uzuri or Sarafina did.
      Uzuri’s older kids Togo and Kombi played with Habusu, for their mother’s friendship with Isha would allow no prejudice to turn her head. With Habusu’s sisters dead, this contact with them and with Miss Priss became much more important.
      From an early age, the older Togo and Kombi were rough with Habusu, but he put up with it. He picked up bad habits that had to be patiently broken one by one with Isha’s firm but gentle parenting. The only thing that jeopardized their friendship was the awful time Togo and Kombi told Habusu that he was born out of wedlock.
      Habusu did not know what wedlock was. That’s when they told him his father was a mere youth that skipped out on their mother. “Ask anyone.”
      Habusu cried. Isha took him aside and explained to him in gentle terms what had happened. That she loved his father, married him, and that he promised he would be coming back for them someday. That he would love his son, and tend to him. She did not know if Mabatu was alive or dead, but she did not express this to Habusu.
      That night she watched the skies for his star. She wondered if she had seen him or not.
      She could not reach Rafiki to ask his help, and in her desperation, she went to see Makhpil.
      “Please be truthful with me. Please. I know we have been enemies in the past, but the gods have given you this talent for a reason. Please use it for good. Do not lie to me.”
      “Lies cost me my best friend, ” Makhpil said. “She was my only friend. I will not lie as she did.”
      “I will be your friend, ” Isha says.
      Skeptical but willing, Makhpil looked into Isha’s eyes. “Yes, there is truth in you. Goodness that I did not expect to see. Your friendship honors me.”
      Makhpil did not get a scrying bowl. She merely closed her eyes and let out a mild, high-pitched whine. “It comes to me. Yes, your husband is alive. But how he fares, I do not know.”
      In her hope and joy, Isha fondled Makhpil with a paw. “Perhaps he will come back to me. Perhaps he will claim what is his.”

      After two years as King, Taka’s Drought, as it had come to be known, had dried up the very lifeblood of the Pride Lands. It was another hot, dry day on the scorched savanna as the lionesses turned over rocks and dug at promising burrows trying to find something, anything. No one else would be foolish enough to attack an elephant calf—Uzuri had seen to that. Any lioness caught breaking the rules would be suspended from the hunt for one moon, and have to rely on the generosity of others.
      Nala could remember better days, but since she had been an adult, there was no large game to hunt. Somehow she held out hope that rain would come, and there would be a future where all her mother taught her about wildebeests and antelopes would be useful.
      The heat made shimmering blue patches of the sky look like cool lakes on the dry savanna. Waves of heat made the trees dance and soaked her fur with sweat. She panted.
      “Nala, you rest in the shade, ” Uzuri said. It was not a request, but an order. Uzuri was strict, but only out of genuine care for her. On hunt, she was everyone’s mother and exercised her parental authority to the letter.
      Nala was half relieved to get a break. She curled up in the shade of an acacia and thought to take a short nap. The heat had literally drained her.
      A large grasshopper climbed to the top of a stalk of grass. In her desperation, Nala started to swat at it.
      “No time to rest, Nala, ” a voice said. With a start, Nala looked around.
      A lioness looked at her, smiling pleasantly. “My little Nala, how tall you’ve grown.”
      The face was familiar, but Nala sniffed the air to no avail—the stranger had no smell. “Who are you?”
      “Does it matter?” The lioness lay next to her. “What a hot day. And you trying to find snakes and lizards under rocks. Have you ever killed big prey?”
      “Well—uh—no.” This visitor was nothing if not impertinent. “How about you?”
      “Big prey, small prey, you name it. And what’s more, I know where you can find what you are looking for. I know all the good spots to hunt. You can be the salvation of the Pride Lands with my help.”
      “Not until you tell me who you are.”
      The lioness pawed her gently. “Why honey, you know who I am—you just refuse to believe it. Take a close look.”
      Nala trembled a little. “Oh my gods—Beesa! ”
      “I’ve never heard it put quite that way before.” She laughed pleasantly. “What makes you think I’ve turned mean and ugly just because I died?”
      “But you’re not mean and you’re not ugly.”
      “So what are you afraid of, Hon?” Beesa touched her with her warm, moist tongue. “Tell me you’re glad to see me. Where are your manners?”
      Nala pawed her and nuzzled her. “Good old Beesa! I’ve missed you.”
      “That’s more like it.” She nuzzled her back. “Follow me, child. I’ll take you to the jungle where your destiny lies.”
      “The jungle? But Uzuri said I have to....”
      “Don’t worry about her. She can’t see me and she won’t see you.”
      Beesa got up, stretched, and headed out into the sun. Nala followed her across the savanna and into the shade of the trees.

      After two years as King of the Pride Lands, Taka had earned many enemies. But his oldest enemy was the one he dreaded most. In the night, caught in the suffocating embrace of his recurring dream, Taka began to jerk and moan. Even in sleep, the suffering mirrored clearly in his face as his teeth bared. Elanna stirred and rolled over. His whimpering caught her attention and she shook him. “Taka?”
      He awoke in icy terror, almost biting her.
      “It’s me. Elanna. You’re safe. Calm yourself, dear.”
      “The hyenas, ” he stammered. “It’s always the same. Oh but that the gods would let me roam the earth by day and night, never needing sleep! I try to tell myself it’s just a dream, but I can’t wake up, and I am torn apart, torn apart alive.”
      He looks piercingly into her eyes, something that always made her uncomfortable. “What does it feel like to sleep? To just lay down and sleep without fear?”
      She yawned. “It’s wonderful. I’d like to try it myself.” She kissed him indulgently. “Tomorrow you must go to Rafiki and ask him what the dream means.”
      “Rafiki hates me, ” Taka said. “He would lie just to get me killed. He’d really like to see me ripped apart by hyenas. Poetic justice, he’d call it. He started the problem. I’m not fool enough to trust that ape a second time.”
      “Then why don’t you kill him?”
      “The gods protect him. His power is too strong. That Makhpil is too close to Shenzi. I don’t trust her either.”
      “If everyone is against you, why do you stay here? I’d follow you anywhere—you know that. We could start over, just the two of us.”
      “We’d be no safer anywhere else. The true seer had spoken, and I believe her.” He nuzzled her. “Elanna, you must live forever. You’re all I have left. Swear you’ll never leave me.”
      She nuzzled him again, rubbing his tense body with her paw. “You’re all I have. I gave up everything for you. I can’t bear your child. You won’t even let me hunt anymore, not that the others can stand me. Taka, leave your doubts at the mouth of this cave. Don’t you know I would never leave you?”
      “I know.” He kissed her. “I have to trust you. If you betrayed me, I’d kill myself. You’re the only reason I cling to this miserable existence.”
      “Don’t say that, Taka. You know how it tortures me. I wish everyone could see you the way I do.” She touched him with her tongue. “Stop this foolish cub talk and go back to sleep. I’ll put my arm around you and keep it there all night long. At the first sign of trouble, I’ll wake you.”
      “Promise?”
      “I promise.”
      Taka laid his head down and she placed her arm protectively around him, stroking his mane. In a few moments, his calm, slow breaths showed that he was peacefully asleep.
      Two hyena eyes shined softly in the darkness as silent feet padded out of the cave.
      Skulk headed to a special clan meeting about Scar. Shenzi greeted him affectionately and called for silence. “Our ears have returned. What have they heard?”
      “It is no folly that my mother named me Skulk. I was silent, I was unseen and I heard it all.” Pleased with the expectant hush, he continued. “It seems our King has dreams, nasty dreams about being torn apart by hyenas. Not once or twice, but night after night, and always the same. Now I ask you, is a dream dangerous?”
      They looked back at him not knowing what to say. “It IS dangerous, ” Skulk thundered. “Especially when he thinks it is a vision, a sign! ”
      “He should have been an actor, ” Banzai whispered. Shenzi hushed him.
      “I tell you Scar cannot be trusted. He will turn on us the first time he feels threatened.”
      “What are we going to do about it?” Banzai asked.
      “We could strike when the advantage is with us.”
      “Even if we could gang up on him and win, if we attacked him the lionesses might side with him just to get rid of us.”
      “Fair enough, Banzai. But do you think I’m a hot-headed fool?” His frown discouraged Banzai from answering. “He is a hollow shell, a dried husk. His very life hangs in the balance.”
      “Your speeches are murder, ” a heckler called out.
      “Say that to my face, and I will show you a murder! ”
      There was deadly silence. Skulk was a well-sculpted fighting machine.
      “As I was saying, I heard with my own ears Scar telling Elanna if he lost her he would kill himself.”
      The remark was followed by some gasps of surprise. “With him gone, we could figure out something more creative. Maybe the lionesses would be in a position to bargain with us. We know of a male cub, an adolescent, that would be much more likely to need and want our help. He would be the next king. He would owe us his very soul, but unlike Taka, he’s a level-headed chap that knows which end of the carcass to chew.”
      Bree said, “If we hurt Elanna, he’d try to get revenge on us, THEN kill himself. We can’t rely on that.”
      “No, but if it looked like an accident, or like she’d left him for another lion, it just might work.”
      “An accident?” Shenzi said. “He won’t let her hardly breathe, much less get involved in an accident.”
      “Let me see to that, ” Skulk said
      “But isn’t this treason?” Bree asked.
 
SKULK:His mind was once a trap, but now it’s growing rusty,
He’s running from his shadow in the night.
I hate to say it friend, but Taka’s ‘round the bend,
In short, our King is not quite right.
 
 
BANZAI:I think I see your point. His brain is so disjointed,
And though sometimes he’s very meek and pert,
He weighs five hundred pounds, and brethren it sounds
Like he could cause a world of hurt!
 
 
CHORUS:He’s twitterpated, pixilated, nutty as a fruitcake,
A badly-addled, muddled, batty cuss!
A truly royal pain, a major hulking heartbreak,
In short, he’s not a thing like us!
 
 
BREE:What's a fruitcake?
SKULK:It's all mixed up, like Scar.
BREE:This is treason!
SKULK:You bet your whiskers! And remember you heard it here first!
 
 
BANZAI:He promised us a feast, instead he gives us famine,
And now on top of that he’s gone berserk!
Now even when he sleeps, he still gives me the creeps,
I think it’s time we can the jerk!
 
 
SHENZI:We’ve been a patient lot, so downright sentimental,
And overlooked his lapse of sanity.
Enough is now enough, the King is playing rough,
It’s time to cast your lot with me!
 
 
CHORUS:He’s twitterpated, pixilated, nutty as a fruitcake,
A badly-addled, muddled, batty cuss!
A truly royal pain, a major hulking heartbreak,
In short, he’s not a thing like us!
 
      Skulk said, “You know his mind is falling apart. He thinks his dream it is a sign--I think maybe it is.”
      “You must not do this evil thing, ” Fabana cried. “There is good in him.”
      “Who is that old fool?” Sarabi said. “Someone shut her up.” She did not recognize that it was her mother.
      “We won’t be without help, ” Shenzi shouted above the commotion. The room grew suddenly quiet. “There are some lionesses that would go along with us in our plan.”
      Fabana makes a remark that seems quite reasonable to the others, though she is not too strong those days. “If Taka must die, let me kill him.”
      Shenzi smiled broadly. “See, Mom is as anxious as the rest of us to be rid of this dandelion. And it was her idea for this union to form.”
      “That was not my idea, ” Fabana said. “He’s suffered much in life. Please don’t drive him to take his own life in despair. If Taka must die, first I will make him happy. I will tell him all the things he wants to hear, and when his heart rejoices, I will give him a little something from Rafiki to make him sleep. When he’s quiet, I will choke off his wind. It will be quick and merciful. He deserves that much.”
      Shenzi looks at her mother with a little bit of respect. “It might work.” She thinks for a moment. “But Elanna will find him. She’s always with him when he sleeps. I’m sorry, but that’s out.”
      “You don’t understand. He’s a tormented little pup, a fizh’lo that the gods would have been wise to take as an innocent youth in his milk.”
      “You advise the gods?”
      “No, I advise my daughter. I adopted Taka—he is my son, and a true believer in our faith. You will give him the same rights you would give one of your own. Rights under our law. We cannot torment him. If he dies, it must be honorably. We must fight him one at a time.”
      “You mean that vain, overstuffed excuse for a king is my brother?” She shuddered. “I don’t agree. I didn’t swear to it. That little boy of yours is dangerous. He’ll turn on you. You’d better not try and warn him if you know what’s good for you.”
      “You’re right. He’s not your brother, for that would make you my daughter.” She turned her back on Shenzi and scratched some dirt up with her hind legs. “By Roh’kash, I renounce you.”