CHAPTER:  AN AWKWARD MOMENT

	The next morning, Gamu looked at Kubali with a smile but also a 
hint of reproach.  "Miss some sleep last night?"
	"Yeah.  The lightning and thunder."
	"I bet.  It's a wonder you slept at all."  He glanced at Elanna 
who hung her head embarrassed.  "All that lightning and thunder."
	Kubali looked at Elanna.  "Lannie, are you OK?"
	"Why shouldn't I be?"  She edged nearer to him, but said 
nothing more.  Kubali glanced at Gamu, then back at her.  She made no 
sign whether she wanted Gamu to know about them.
	"I bet you didn't sleep well either," Gamu said at Elanna, 
pointedly.  He winked slyly.
	"Look here, Gamu," Kubali said sharply.
	"Yes?"  Gamu smiled.
	For a moment, Kubali was nonplused.  He didn't know what to do 
or what to say.  He looked at Elanna again, seeing how she wanted to 
curl up and die.
	"Look here, Gamu.  I'm unworthy of her, an exiled prince with 
no one to blame but himself.  But last night, that wonderful 
creature...."  He became inarticulate for a moment, looking for the 
right words.
	"We made love," Elanna said, moving next to Kubali and nuzzling 
him.
	Kubali found his tongue again and straightened with pride.  
"Yes.  Many times.  And if I died tomorrow, I could look Aiheu in the 
face and tell him I've lived a full and meaningful life.  Well, Gamu, 
aren't you going to congratulate us?"
	Gamu smiled meekly.  He'd clearly lost the first round.  But if 
anything, he was tenacious.  "I'm glad for you.  Both of you.  I've 
lost to the better lion."
	Elanna pawed Gamu playfully.  "We need to find you a mate.  But 
for right now, you understand, we'll need some privacy.
	"Of course.  You just give the word."
	Kubali leaned against Elanna and purred softly.  "The word is 
given.  Go scout up some gazelles--or something."
	"As you wish, Lover Boy."


CHAPTER:  JUST BETWEEN US

	Gamu was soon over his disappointment at Kubali's triumph.  
After all, no prize easily won was worth much.  Tolerating their 
desire to make love in the morning, Gamu went to the watering hole 
and looked at his own reflection.  He tried to make the most sad face 
he could create and looked at the reflection.  "Oh Gamu," he said in 
a rough imitation of Kubali's voice.  "Why did I ever let you back in 
my life?  Why didn't I see this coming??"
	Gamu could no longer keep a straight face, and he rolled on his 
back with laughter.  "Griz, get over here!"
	Nonplused, the hyena left the cover of the reeds.  "How did you 
spot me?"
	"I didn't.  I just know you, you little sneak.  The same way I 
know Kubali and Elanna.  And my little flea-bitten friend, knowledge 
is power.  So he's breathing down her neck, is he?  It will give him 
something to think about when he's on the savanna alone."
	"I thought you wanted to kill him," Griz'nik said.
	"I'm not sure.  I wandered around alone for the longest time.  
I know what it's like.  But for him it will be far worse.  He's lost 
the kingship, and he will also lose her.  I see those shapely thighs 
of hers, and I think about the sweet delight of her lithe golden 
body...."  He trembled.  "How much sweeter it will be to know my 
enemy is alone and unloved!  And every time she cries out my name, it 
will pull out a thorn that lion put in my heart!"
	Griz'nik looked at him crossly.  "You're sick, you know that?  
Even I can tell she's beautiful for a lioness.  If I were you, I'd 
take her out behind the reeds, and Kubali would be the farthest thing 
from my mind.  My gods, Gamu, if you want to know what I think...."
	"I DON'T," Gamu said, swiping at the hyena and shoving him into 
the water.
	"One of these days you're going to go too far," Griz'nik said, 
huffing and puffing as he left the cold water.
	"And then you'll do what?"  Gamu patted Griz'nik on the cheek.  
"Face it, my little friend.  You need me.  Even if you could kill me, 
and the thought is laughable, what would you do?  Expect a handout 
from the mistress you ill treated and her husband?  I think not."
	"You promise me much," Griz'nik said, "but what have you 
actually delivered?  A couple of lousy rabbits?"
	Gamu gave him a withering look.  "These things take time to be 
done right.  Remember what I told you about the territory to the 
south?"
	"The land between the hills?"
	"Yes.  You and Elanna and I.  You'll get to hunt gazelles and 
no one will bother you.  Maybe you'll find another mate and have some 
little--whatever it is hyenas have."
	"Pups."
	"Yeah, right.  But only if you obey.  Only if you wait.  I'm 
not like your Taka.  I won't be pushed around or circumvented."
	"Circumvented?"
	"Shoved aside."
	"You and your big words."
	"Big words for a lion with big ideas."
	Griz'nik shook himself, and water went flying about, getting in 
Gamu's eyes and wetting his mane.  Griz'nik tried not to smile 
broadly at the mischief he'd created.  "Oh, pardon me."


CHAPTER:  LATER THAT DAY

	Gamu came back later that day.  Elanna was lying on her back, a 
blissful smile on her face.  Kubali was sitting sphinx-like a short 
distance away, looking at her with mixed pride and love.
	Gamu tapped Kubali on his shoulder, jerking him out of his 
reverie, and he signaled for him to come away a short distance.
	"This had better be good, Gamu.  You know I said I needed some 
time alone with her."
	"You know, Kubali, I've tried hard to earn your respect and 
trust.  I keep hoping someday we'll have a land of our own, and you 
will be my King as it was meant to be."
	"So?"
	"I come to you as a good friend to tell you something you need 
to know about your mate.  She carries a burden on her heart and you 
can help her find peace.  You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
	Kubali looked at him skeptically.  "A burden?  She discusses 
everything with me, no matter how drastic.  We've been completely 
honest with each other."
	"Then you know about how her husband died?  Have you told her 
yet that you've forgiven her?"
	"Forgiven her?  For what?"
	"Oh my gods," Gamu said in a near whisper.  "I thought you said 
you were completely honest with each other."
	"What are you going on about, Gamu??  Is this another one of 
your tricks??"
	"Tricks??  It's true--no good deed ever goes unpunished.  Fine 
thanks I get for trying to help you!  I know very little about her 
past, but she's admitted to me the cause of her nightmares."
	"Her nightmares?  She won't discuss them with me.  Why should I 
believe she told you?"
	"That's PRECISELY why.  She doesn't care what I think of her.  
She could ask me anything.  You're another matter entirely."
	"And why are you discussing this with me?"
	"Because I feel I owe you something.  Now do you want to hear 
it or not?"
	"OK."
	"See, you two are not completely open as you thought.  I told 
her that I thought she could talk about Taka with you, but she's 
afraid.  You need to reassure her.  Then she'll bare her soul about 
everything and seek forgiveness.  It will set her free, Kubali.  If 
you really love her, you'll want her to be happy.  And true happiness 
comes from the inside out.  With this locked inside her, she'll never 
be truly happy."
	"I know that Taka killed his brother, and that he tried to kill 
Simba.  She was not aware."
	"That's not what she told me.  He went completely mad at the 
end.  She knew it was only a matter of time until there was a civil 
war, so she worked with the hyenas in their plot to depose the king.  
She betrayed him to his enemies.  They ripped him, you know.  Now she 
has nightmares racked with guilt and remorse.  I mean, when Taka died 
he was screaming her name.  And she will carry that burden all her 
life.  She felt she had to tell SOMEONE.  It was all bottled up 
inside her, and she was going crazy holding it inside."
	Kubali's face fell.  Gamu tried not to smile and betray his 
deep satisfaction.  The lie was planted, and he would give it time to 
grow.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | reddit | newsvine | furl | google | yahoo | technorati