Her husband smiled. “Plain old Isha, eh?”
She padded over and flopped down next to him. “And what’s wrong with plain old Isha?”
“Oh, nothing! It fits you, actually...” He rolled over and absorbed himself in watching the stars overhead, hiding a sly smile behind a paw.
She shoved him in the ribs. “It fits me?”
He nodded. “Dependable, predictable.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that a challenge, big boy?”
He chuckled. “So is that the constellation of N’ga and Sufa, or Mano and Minshasa?”
Isha rolled over and put her paws on his chest, pinning him to the ground. “Who cares! Are you going to just watch the stars or soar to them?" She rubbed her face against his and kissed him.
"Isha!" he stammered. He pawed her face, running his pads softly over her mouth. She parted her lips and softly mouthed his paw, then lay her face against his chest, listening to his pounding heart, nuzzling his mane and drinking in his masculine fragrance.
Mabatu wrapped his arms about her and grunted with pleasure. "I forgot how good you felt next to me. I’ve missed you so much--every day, every minute, every second. On the long lonely nights I would dream about the soft curves of your beautiful golden body....” He looked at her apprehensively. “Nip me--am I asleep?”
She opened her jaws and gently embraced his throat, drawing her soft pink tongue along his throbbing pulse. Kneading his chest and face with her gentle paws, she purred, “There. Are you awake now, honey tree?”
“What a nip!" he said, trembling. "I want you, Isha! I've waited for you so long! So VERY long! I want to make love to you!”
Her purring took on a deeper rumble. She rose and with sensual grace slinked alluringly into the tall grass, glancing backward over her shapely shoulder. "Follow me."
CHAPTER: DO IT FOR ME
For the next few weeks Kako and Isha traveled over the hunting grounds with Shenannii. Isha, who had much to learn, paid careful attention and thoroughly enjoyed the outings. Kako had to maintain appearances for Isha’s sake, but everything she saw brought back old memories from happier times. It was a bittersweet experience for her, and she walked quietly, speaking only when spoken to.
Even Baba noticed that something was wrong, and he fretted over his mother’s discomfort, blaming himself for his poor judgment in bringing her along. He just assumed she would want to leave the family she’d grown to love in the Pride Lands and settle down happily. He took careful note of the polite but reserved conversation when she was around, aware that some great secret was been being hidden, but he had no idea what it could be. It had never occurred to him to ask Mabatu just what debt he owed Kako, or why the lionesses all came and kissed her when she arrived. Baba felt that he should speak frankly with her.
When the restlessness of Kako’s season gripped her and she did not gravitate toward Mabatu the way he’d hoped, Baba decided to intervene. He began dropping hints about how handsome and regal the king looked perched atop the rocks, and how good it would be for him to chose a new mate.
Kako would nod, but she would never react the way Baba expected. His efforts at matchmaking were thwarted one by one, and he began to wonder how someone so unresponsive EVER had cubs. Finally, he took her aside one evening as the sun was setting. “Mother? Can I talk to you openly?”
“Certainly! Any time you’re worried, or you just want to talk, I’m here for you.” She padded over and nuzzled him warmly. “What’s wrong? Is it you and Isha?”
“No, nothing like that. I was wondering if you could do me a little favor.”
“Of course, Baba. What is it?”
“King Mabatu’s been really depressed lately.” Mabatu fidgeted uncomfortably as his mother’s hazel eyes regarded him closely.
“And?”
Mabatu scrubbed the ground with a paw uncomfortably. “Well, there’s no other way to say it but to say it. Mom, he’s struck on you. Here you are in the middle of--you know--and he’s going crazy every time he sees you. I can tell. Even though you loved Dad, don’t you think you could give him half a chance?”
She looked scandalized. “Baba, what EVER made you think of this??”
“He’s wanted to ask you out for a long time. This morning he asked me if I could put in the good word for him. He’s painfully shy, you know. Maybe you could help him. And besides, you’ve looked a little like a lost lamb since you’ve been here.”
“That’s very sweet of you. Really it is. But if he’s not going to ask me himself, I don’t feel right asking him. I’m fine--really I am--and I am old enough to take care of myself.” She kissed him.
Baba pawed her cheek. “Isha and I are so happy. We're living the way Aiheu intended, and it does make all the difference. Mom, just see him once. Once, Mom. That’s all I ask. Talk with him. Maybe hunt rabbits together. If you’ll just give it a try, whatever happens is OK by me. And I won’t pester you anymore. Is it a deal?”
“Baba, please!”
“Momma, please!”
“OK, Baba. It’s a deal IF you agree not to interfere anymore.”
“Sure! Thanks, Mom! You’ll be glad you did.”
CHAPTER: A FRIENDLY GAME
At the appointed time that evening, Kako made her way to a secluded spot behind an outcropping of rock and sat down, waiting. Presently the pad of footfalls impressed itself on her hearing and she saw King Mabatu’s bulk part the grass and stop across from her. A moment of awkward silence passed. “Hello, Kako.”
“Mabatu.” She nodded and sat. “How have you been?”
“As well as can be expected.” He sighed and sat across from her. “And you?”
“Quite well.”
Mabatu sighed. “Tell me you didn't ask Baba to 'put in the good word' for you! What COULD you have been thinking!”
“But I never! I thought that YOU told HIM to...." She had to smile. "Why that little scheming furball!”
Mabatu chuckled. “His heart was in the right place." His smile vanished as quickly. "This must be hard on him. Oh, if I could only tell him the truth!”
"If," Kako said with a sigh. “You know we swore an oath. You must never tell him, and neither must I.”
“Yeah. So Kako, how’s the hunting coming along?”
“Very good; I’ve had to do a lot of relearning, but the patterns haven’t changed that much around here.”
“There’s much around here that hasn’t changed.”
“Mabatu, please...don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
He sighed. “Kako, I know my limits old girl, but do you think the gods would mind if we got a LITTLE closer?” Mabatu lay down in the soft grass and beckoned with a paw. “Please? I don’t have anything catching.”
Trembling, Kako inched her way over to him and eased down next to him, daring to lay her head on the luxuriant softness of his mane. She inhaled his musky scent and trembled. “My darling Mabatu...”
He gingerly placed a foreleg around her and patted her softly on the shoulder. “Kako, it feels like old times. I never thought I’d see you again, and here you are close to me. I still love you. We have to pretend for the lad, but I never want you to be deceived, not for a moment.”
“You know how I feel, darling.”
He gave her another pat. “Still, I like to hear you say it. I don’t get many chances these days.”
She put her paw over his. “I live for you.” Her inner reserve broke and she burst into tears, embracing his comforting bulk. “Oh gods! What is there left to live for!”
“Shhh, my Nisei. There is plenty to live for. What did you do before you met me?”
“I wandered the barren plains with nothing but my name and a few aging kills to scavenge. I spent those days sure that there must be something better. I spent those days looking for you.”
“And now you’ve found me--again.” He managed a half-hearted smile. “We have our memories, and we have our children. No tears, old girl. I mean it! Our love lives on throug
h them.”
She lifted a paw and caressed his cheek tenderly, tracing the wistful expression on his face. Gently she stroked the flowing curves of his cheek down to the broad mantle of auburn mane that covered his throat and chest, feeling the rumble of his purr. Absently she followed the flow of his mane, her paw making lazy circles as it moved across his chest and onto his upper belly.
Mabatu shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t think you should do that. Don’t start something that can only end one way.” He sighed. “If it was only my life to pay, nothing could stop me from making love to you! I would feel your lithe and tender body against mine one last time and die without regrets.” He shuddered again in the throes of passionate arousal. “Couldn’t we see this Rafiki Isha talks about? He has the ear of the gods, doesn’t he?”
“And what would that accomplish?”
“Maybe there is a way. If we gave up the kingdom and ran away together, the gods would have no reason to torment Baba.”
“You mean we’d become rogues?”
“Yes, if that’s the price of our love.” He reached out with a trembling paw and ran it down her chest and belly. “You are my kingdom, my treasure, my every need. I want you. I’ve waited for so long to crouch over your beautiful body and feel you shudder next to me! The border is right over there! Just beyond those trees! We could make love tonight!”
“And throw away everything we’ve worked for?? Territory? Safety?”
“Long, lonely nights! Empty days!”
“Our family?”
“Our separation!”
“Just like that??”
“Just like that, and never look back! Yes!” He rested his forearms on her chest, his throbbing heart pressed against hers. His lips brushed against her own as he spoke in a passionate whisper. “I’m on fire! I want you! I want both your body and your Ka. I want to fill myself with you. I can feel you tremble. You want me too--admit it!”
“Yes, I admit it!” she cried, more like a cry of remorse than passion. She wrapped her paws about him and rocked him gently back and forth. “Do you think the gods would accept it? Would they be content to let us steal a little happiness? Do you really think they would?”
“Don’t you?”
“Well I...if only we could....” She burst into tears and shoved him away with her paws. “We can’t! We can’t take the chance!”
“He sighed and kissed her again, this time gently. “Is that what you really want?”
She sobbed, “Does it matter what I really want? What I can’t have, I must learn to live without!” She touched him with her tongue. “Baba’s a lion with a wife and cubs that love him! I’d never gamble with his future, and neither would you. Not when you have control of your passions. Not when you’ve thought about what he means to us--both of us.”
He slid off her chest and rolled on his back, taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh. “Yes, I love him too. I owe him my kingdom and my life. I have let my feelings run away with my common sense, old girl.”
“Then you understand.”
“I understand.” He looked at her intently. “Perhaps for the last time in this world, let me say that I love you with my life, my heart, my very soul. Never forget that, my blessed Nisei!”
“Lover, in my dreams tonight I will feel your breath on my cheek!” She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I will tell our son that we were bound too tightly to our past to build a new love. That’s not really a lie when you come to think about it.”
“You can’t build a new love till you lose the old one.” He reached over and very gently kissed the tip of her muzzle. “God bless you, Kako.”
She struggled to her feet, looking back with a silver tear catching the moonlight on her cheek. “God bless you too.” And then she turned and stalked away into the shadows.
When she was gone, he rolled on his back and looked at the stars with a sigh. “Aiheu, I wish I were dead!”
CHAPTER: THE NEXT DAY
Baba was anxious to hear news of his matchmaking game, but his mother's polite smile prepared him for disappointment. “It was interesting,” she said. “Things just didn’t work out. I felt guilty, like I was about to cheat on my husband, and he felt like he was sneaking out on his wife. In the end, we just sat and talked politely. He’s a good friend, and I’m glad I got to know him better, but neither one of us had nerve to go make love."
King Mabatu passed by. “Hello Baba. Good morning, Kako.”
“Good morning to you too,” she said. “I trust you slept well?”
“Yes, thank you.” He glanced at her longingly and trembled. “I enjoyed our little chat last night.”
“So did I,” she said, following the curves of his mane and the build of his shoulders with her eyes. She had to look away. Baba did not know what to look for, or he would have seen much that morning.
Listless and somewhat detached from the rest of the world, Kako went through the motions of her morning routine, taking a long cool drink from the stream, grooming her face and neck with a paw, and settling down for a nap with the Pride Sisters. Only her eyes rarely closed, and during a brief bout with sleep, she twitched and moaned a great deal, waking with a start and crying, “I can't!”
Mabatu fared little better. Baba saw him perched on a kopje, watching the goings on of the savanna with a sullen, withdrawn air. He climbed up and sat next to his father. “What’s wrong, Dad? Are you feeling sick?
“No, son. I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“About you. How much I loved you, and how much I’d give up for you. You do love me too, don’t you?”
“For shame!” Baba buried his head in the old king’s mane and purred affectionately. “Of course I love you! I owe you my very life!”
Mabatu leaned on him. “Son, those words carry a bitter irony you can’t understand now. But someday you will.”
“What does that mean?”
Mabatu pawed his shoulder. “You have a son now. Bringing him into the world was one of life’s sweetest pleasures, but raising him is one of life’s hardest responsibilities. Look around at these faces. On the surface, they appear to be looking in every direction. But deep down inside they are all looking to me for protection and guidance. And someday they will all be looking to you. You see, son, there’s only one difference between you and a rogue lion.”
“What’s that?”
“A rogue lion has nothing to lose. Always remember that.” He laughed bitterly. “Listen to the old lion going on. I’m rambling and not making any sense.”
“I think you make lots of sense,” Baba said. “I never knew my real father, but I don’t feel so bad about it now.” He rested his head on Mabatu. “What did I do to deserve all this?”
The king purred. “You made an old lion feel much better. That is enough.”
That evening, Kako tried to lose herself in the hunt. But she does not concentrate well. One of her daughters said, “How do you stand it? I mean, you’re in your season--you and him together alone!”
“This is one subject not to mention in front of Baba or Isha. Is that understood?”
“Sure, Mom. But you were taking a big risk last night being alone with Dad. It’s clear to all of us that you still love him.”
“I kept my head about me. Nothing happened.”
“Oh? Really? You weren’t even tempted for a moment?”
“My son lives, doesn’t he? My love for your father is strong, but my mother love is even stronger. God bless him, Baba was trying to fix me up with a date. He doesn’t know, and he must never know why your Dad and I are not together.”
“I think it’s a shame to give up so much and not be able to tell him.”
“I think it would be a worse shame to have him feel guilty.”
“True, true," the others said.
Kako sounded in control and very rational, but she could barely concentrate on the task at hand and she was very forgetful. Umande watched her in anguish as she strove to act norm
al with the turmoil she felt inside.
Kako taught them Uzuri’s crescent formation, and they decided to use it. She took up her old post on the left point, but gave the pre-arranged signals with her ears that guided the others unfailingly through the steps of the predatory ballet.
Wildebeests had congregated on the meadow near the termite mounds. The splashing of water in the creek was a perfect cover for the delicate leonine tread that brought the huntresses ever closer.
Most of the young calves were in the center of the herd protected by a wall of formidable adults. But one young mother let her inexperience show, and she was at the rim of the herd with her calf. “Aiheu abamami,” Kako silently mouthed. “Aiheu provides.”
Her ears flicked forward. At once, several lionesses plunged from the surrounding grass. The Wildebeests cried out in alarm, taking flight. The central column of huntresses drove the well-ordered herd into two bodies that fled in opposite directions. Shennanii tore into the right company, grabbing hold of a large bull by the shoulder, climbing on his back and slowing him just enough for others to seize his flanks, stomach and lower back. He fell into their deadly embrace as Shennanii closed on his throat.
Kako strode swiftly after the screaming calf, cutting it off from the rest of the herd. She bounded ever closer and readied herself to aim a blow at its shoulder that would make it hers. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw the cow approaching, horns lowered.
Umande heard a lioness scream. Galvanized, she broke off her pursuit of a calf and searched frantically for the source. Lying in the grass trembling was a golden body smeared with its own red blood. Trembling, she drew close.
“Momma!! Oh gods!!”
Wide-eyed, Kako reached for her with her one good arm. “Mandy, go get Mabatu! Quick!”
“Momma!!”
“Go, honey tree! Run! Get Mabatu!”
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