She didn’t know what to make of Kubali. Their first meeting still fresh in her mind, remembering how alone she felt until she meet him. How he didn’t try to control her life...how she could actually sleep through the day without it being interrupted by a scream. She could even express her thoughts to him, something she never dared to do to Taka. He was more like her memories of Mufasa and Ahadi. She sighed softly, trying to chart her future course.
Her eyes traveled back up to the sky. “I loved you so much, my dear, that I never realized how much you controlled and used me. Whatever you did to me, I still loved you and I always will.” She sighed softly, “But what is this I feel for this other lion? Is it love like I felt with you, or is this just my season? I talk about you so much to him, I guess that is unfair to him. You mean so much to me, even when you aren’t here, how can I just forget you?”
She heard a voice. It might have been beside her or just in the back of her mind. But its message arrested her. “Don’t forget me, but don’t forget him either. If he knew the truth, all would be well between you. Tell him the truth, Lannie.”
A lioness has little trouble following even an old trail when they are following someone else. But they are so accustomed to their own scent that it is hard for them to backtrack. She desperately tried to trace her steps back to Kubali. “Help me, Taka! Guide me, Aiheu! Gods, give me success!”
Suddenly, she saw a form move through the grass. Seeing the mane poke through the grass, she held her breath, hoping that it is the one that she is hoping for. As her line of vision cleared and his face came into view, she gasped and ran after him. Together in the middle of the savanna, they came together. At first, both are silent, just looking over each other slowly. Suddenly, they both began to speak. With a slight laugh, they tried again, this time with Kubali starting.
“I’m sorry for what I said. I believe in your love, and I’d trust you with my Ma’at and my very Ka. Gods, Lannie, I don’t know why you should love me, but I am grateful and I don’t question my good fortune. Can you forgive me?”
Elanna nuzzled him gently. “I’m sorry I was so angry. Let’s promise it will never happen again. The only good part of this whole argument is making up afterwards. Kubali, I love you.” With that, she gave his cheek a soft lick, walked a short distance and crouched. “Make love to me, my lion!”
He looked in the sky and smiled. “Thank you, God! You haven’t abandoned me!” He turned his attention to the golden body of his lover. With a soft purr, he approached her. “Beloved, I come!”
CHAPTER: GAMU’S FRIENDSHIP
Kubali went running to Gamu. “You know, you were right! Lannie and I got this out into the open, and she and I are closer than ever!”
“You did??”
“Yes! You’re a dear friend, and I’m sorry I ever doubted you. And someday when I have a kingdom of my own, you’ll be my Prince Consort--the brother I never had--and everyone that sees you will owe you respect.”
“Oh--great. Thanks. That will be nice--when you get one. There is this land to the south I think we could grab.”
“Soon enough,” Kubali said, giving his shoulder a little pat. “I have to get back. Lannie will wonder where I am.”
Gamu nodded absently. “Oh yes...go to her, by all means.” He stared off in the other direction as Kubali rose to pad away from him. “We can’t keep our lovely savanna flower waiting, can we?”
Kubali paused and eyed the other lion oddly. “Gamu?”
“Eh?”
“Are you all right?”
Gamu flashed a grin at him. “I’m fine...just full of thoughts. Go on, Kubali.”
Gamu realized that he had lost the battle, but was determined not to lose the war. Knowing that Kubali and Elanna would be otherwise occupied for the rest of the day, he slinked away to find his companion. The hyena was eagerly awaiting him.
“Any food?”
“No, not now. Lover Boy is in search of slower prey.”
“Oh.” Griz’nik’s ears drooped. “I guess your brilliant plan didn’t work.”
Gamu glared at him furiously. “No,” he spat out. “It didn’t.”
“I think you should cut out the fun and games and knock off the lion. This isn’t a pakh’jimbi match--there’s too much at stake.”
Gamu looked down his nose at the hyena and paused for a moment. “Dare I ask? What is pakh’jimbi?”
“It’s a pup’s game. You need at least three players on both sides. The head of each side is called a kor’hum, and it’s his or her job to coordinate the other players called gam’gis. Now when the referee, which we call a bar’gem, gives the signal with three sharp cries, the two sides assume a formation called a tar’tar on either side of the center line or mehlo. The object of the game is to rack up the most points by getting more of your gam’gis through the four obstacles or mosh’muikheti....”
“I get the point!”
“The point is you’ll never ditch the lion at this rate, and I’ll be stuck in this hellhole with no hope! You’re a big disappointment, Gamu. You have no hope of ever being but a THINKER--you should be a DOER.”
Gamu snarled at the hyena, setting him aback. “Be glad I’m a thinker right now. You wouldn’t like what I’d do!”
“All right! OK! Don’t get upset--you know you’re bigger than I am, and I know it too. You don’t have to prove anything.”
Gamu calmed down at the hyena’s show of submission. He made a very clear show of sharpening his claws on a tree trunk. Then he yawned, showing off his ivory daggers of death. Out of the corner of his eye, masked by a quiet expression, the lion watched with glee as his companion stared at the arsenal. And satisfied, Gamu finally settled down and closed his eyes for a nap.
Griz’nik watched him very closely. “Gamu almost looks decent when he’s asleep,” he thought. He waited several minutes, looking deceptively like a guardian angel. The great chest rose and fell softly. Once, before Griz’nik realized the true depth of Gamu’s disdain for him, he had longed for the soft warmth of another body next to him as he slept. He would have tolerated the odor of a lion which he found foreign and irksome. “We might have been friends,” Griz’nik silently mouthed. “As my mother used to say, if you hunt trouble, someday you’ll catch it.”
The hyena looked at the thin-skinned spot in the upper throat right under Gamu’s jaw. Griz’nik knew if he suddenly bit down--hard--and then ran away quick, Gamu would bleed to death before he could catch him. Griz’nik squirmed close, his belly to the ground, his eyes fixed on Gamu's throat. From time to time he glanced up, and the great eyes were closed. Now was the moment of his destiny, the moment he took charge of his own life once again. The eyes were still closed. Gamu’s breath was even and slow. He crept closer, every movement designed for stealth and accuracy. One last time he looked up--the eyes were slitted...watching him. He froze.
Gamu said, "Come here," and patted with his paw on the ground. “Lay down, old friend.”
The hyena crawled next to him, exposing his neck in submission. The lion, with a razor-sharp claw stuck out, said, "You know something......" He drew the claw lightly over Griz's throat and abdomen. “Claws are a wonderful thing. A mother tends her little cub. It glides through his fur and gets out the mats very gently, very tenderly. Then that evening she puts her little cub in a safe place. ‘Now don't you move--Mommy is going to get you dinner....’ Then she goes out on the hunt, and Mommy becomes a huntress.”
The claw tightened on his skin. “She stalks the gazelle like a ghost...then, suddenly, springs! Those claws become very different!”
Gamu swiped quickly down Griz’nik’s soft underside. The hyena looked down in panic, expecting to see blood and entrails. Whimpering and shrieking, he examined his abdomen. There was nothing--Gamu’s claws had been tucked in.
Gamu laughed. "But you're my FRIEND, Griz’nik! I wouldn't hurt a FRIEND, would I?” He shoved the hyena away and stalked off, leaving Griznik to stare after him, rubbing his belly and shivering.
/> CHAPTER: A FRIENDLY GAME
Early the next morning Gamu came to Elanna. “Good morning, my dear.”
“Oh, hello Gamu.”
He stared at her sensual curves, his jaw hanging slack as he thought of those curves pressed against his body. “You are really very beautiful, Elanna dear.”
Kubali was away, and Elanna was not very comfortable being alone with Gamu. But she nodded and said, “Thanks.”
Your face is kind and gentle. Your eyes are like twin sisters of the stars. Yes, my dear, Kubali is lucky.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, laughing nervously. “I’m sure someday you’ll find someone who can make you very happy.”
“And those strong huntress shoulders which can be so soft. Sleek sides that ripple with each step, and hips like Minshasa’s.” He kept looking further back.
Elanna felt naked and ashamed, and she made a subconscious effort her clamp her tail firmly against her backside.
“Kubali will be back soon, Gamu. Oh look, there he is now!”
Kubali had returned from the watering hole. “That was refreshing.” He looked at Gamu who smiled innocently and at Elanna who was supremely uncomfortable.
Elanna glanced at Gamu. “Why don’t you drink now?” She wanted to speak alone with Kubali, and she was hoping he would leave.
“No, go on, Elanna. I’m willing to wait for what I want.”
She reluctantly left the two of them alone. And while she was gone, Gamu saw Kubali’s good mood and twitched his tail. “Think you’re hot stuff, huh?”
“And I suppose you are??” Kubali reared up and flailed at Gamu, laughing. Gamu seized him around the neck with his forelegs and began to wrestle with him.
“I guess you think you’ll win,” Gamu grunted in the height of his exertions. He tried to shift his weight and throw Kubali.
“I always do,” Kubali grunted, compensating with a hind limb and pushing hard.
“You won’t win this time!” Gamu broke away, then started flailing out with his paws.
“You’re quick,” Kubali said, sparring with him. “But you’re not quick enough for me!” With a sudden jab, he had Gamu on his side and bore his great weight down on him. “Beg for mercy!”
“Never!”
“Beg for mercy!” Kubali rubbed the back of his paw against the fold of Gamu’s hind leg, making it kick.
“Stop tickling me!”
“Beg for mercy!” Kubali laughed and nudged his thigh again. Gamu’s face tightened into a mask of misery as he struggled to keep his composure. “I can stay here all day, Gamu!”
“OK, MERCY! Get OFF me!”
Gamu struggled out from under the laughing lion. “You win--this time.” He looked at Kubali from narrowed eyes. “But be careful not to let success go to you head. It makes you careless, and that’s a big mistake while I’m around.”
Kubali laughed at what he thought was a joke, and he rubbed against Gamu, nuzzling him. “I used to think you didn’t like me.”
I can hardly wait to show you how true my friendship really is.” Gamu nuzzled him back. “Someday, you’ll look back on this talk and remember what we said.”
“Yeah, buddy.” Kubali looked in the distance. “She’s back. Go for it, Gamu. There’s a long hot day ahead.”
CHAPTER: MATCH POINT
Gamu was gone a very short period of time. He had something to do, and it had to be done quickly. He was gleeful when Kubali thought he heard a strange noise and went to check it out. “You pulled it off, Griz’nik,” Gamu thought. “You’re totally unprincipled and ruthless. If you weren’t so irritating, we could be quite a pair.”
Gamu used his moment alone with Elanna to fullest advantage. He watched Kubali leave, very intently. So intently that it got her curiosity. She was afraid that he was about to try and force himself on her. She mentally prepared herself for the struggle ahead, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. The fur on her neck and back began to rise and her ears went back.
“Elanna, we need to talk.”
“Oh??” She backed back a step.
“When I first saw you two together, I felt like it was a match made by Aiheu himself. You seemed so happy.”
“However??” She backed back another step. “You think it’s not working out??”
“You’ve noticed too? I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“I bet you do.”
He looked into her belligerent stare. “I realize this is all my fault. I should have never come back. I’m so sorry.”
Her ears flicked forward. “Sorry? For what??”
“You don’t know?? I thought he’d discussed it with you. I could understand him not wanting to. Maybe I should just leave.”
She pressed the point. “Gamu, you say you’ve repented of your crimes. That you want to be good and start over. It would be a big step if you'd put my mind to rest. Be honest with me. He’s jealous of you. He thinks you’re trying to cut in on me. You are, aren’t you?”
“Not exactly.”
“We must be honest with each other. I will not tolerate lies from you. I’ve been very understanding, Gamu. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt, but I must be able to trust you.”
He tried to meet her glance, but could not.
“If you would consent, I’d be on your back in a moment, girl. But you won’t and I understand. It’s not a crime to want someone, especially when they are so beautiful and charming. My one great crime was not my fault. I was given my mantlement because of Kubali.”
“Are you blaming your crimes on him?”
“What crime??” he asked impatiently. “Aiheu’s mane, Kubali loved me! Why would I want to hurt him??”
“So he loved you. But you must have done SOMETHING.”
“You don’t understand. Poor dear Lannie! He LOVED me. Every time he passed me, he used to run his paw over my thigh. ‘Crouch with me, Gamu! Don’t you find me handsome?’”
She backed back and snarled. “Liar! You liar! How DARE you say that!”
“You think I’m a liar??” He snarled back at her. “He wanted me all the time, and no one would believe me because he was the prince. Then one day the King saw his son nosing my butt. Do you think he punished Kubali?? No, he tried to hide ME away, thinking he could match him up with Penzi. The superstitious old goat believed the gods spoke in the bending of a twig. Because she was his betrothed, the King refused to see any possible outcome but Kubali crouching with Penzi and raising lots of little cubs. So he tossed me out into the wilderness to live or die by Aiheu’s whim, me too young to hunt properly! Then Kubali has the nerve to greet me like I’m some sort of plague when he finally found a lioness he could bear to make it with!”
She cuffed him across the face. He felt of his cheek--there was no blood. “Claws in. At least I have some good luck left. I have lived a hard life, and I gave up on Aiheu being fair long ago.”
She was almost instantly sorry. “I should not be so hasty to judge. I will hear your story, but may Aiheu have pity on you if you are lying to me!”
“Of course, I never encouraged this. I never once said that I found him attractive, and I would make excuses to get away from him. If it’s any consolation, we never actually DID anything.”
“But he and I made love!” Elanna insisted. “It was so special!”
“I know, and I’m very glad for you. My one great sin was in coming here. I should have turned and run the moment I saw him. My dear, I know you well enough to feel remorse for this.” He showed her some small scratches on the turn of his thigh. “We were having a little wrestling match. I was having fun, but--alas--he found it quite stimulating. He bore me to the ground and began to--well--I shouldn’t be telling you this. I should have just left.”
She sniffed the scratches. As she nosed his thigh, a half smile came over Gamu’s face. “Careful, Missy. Especially now. After all, you’re in season and I find it a big turn on when a lioness touches me there.”
“Just you be careful with him,” Gamu warned. “He’s made it with you but he’ll never pledge to you. At least not with me around. But say the word and I’ll go far away. I am rather fond of you, my dear, and I don’t want you to be deprived of your happiness and consolation, not after what you’ve been through.”
She looked away. “He COULDN’T be attracted to you!”
Gamu sighed. “You’re right. Whatever you say.” He then added, “But tell me, was he a little awkward? You know, in his technique? He wanted you, but he didn’t quite know what to do?”
She looked at him, explosively angry. “How DARE you ask me that!”
“But it’s true. I can tell by your reaction. He’s not a virgin, you know. Why do you think they sent him packing? Do you really think the lionesses wanted him out of there because he was impolite?? They found him crouching with Ajhada in the bushes and that’s why he was forced out. You can’t trust him around other males. My dear, you must always remain a rogue if you want him--if you love him. Always a rogue. Out here in the open, you have a chance. And who knows--being a father may change him like nothing else would.”
She started to sob. He comforted her with a soft nuzzle. “Poor, dear Elanna! Your life has been a hell on earth. I’m so sorry, so sorry! If only things had been different and Aiheu had shown you to me first, I would have devoted my life to you.” He backed from her. “I’ll go now. You will never see me again. Still, I’ll even mend my ties to Aiheu so I can pray for you every night.”
“No, don’t go.”
“If you really wish it.”
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