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."
	She looked away in disgust.
	"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."
	"I do."
	Kubali came back.  "It was nothing.  Just a rabbit."
	Gamu made a show of an overly affectionate greeting, kissing 
and rubbing Kubali full length.  Innocently, Kubali closed his eyes 
and enjoyed the closeness.  Elanna's chin trembled.  
	Kubali came to Elanna and tried to rub her but she backed away 
from him.
	"Don't you TOUCH me!"
	"Lannie, honey tree, what's wrong??"
	"You know EXACTLY what's wrong!"
	Kubali looked at Gamu.  "What have you been telling her??"
	"Not what you think.  Only about how we used to play as cubs."
	Elanna snarled at Kubali.  "I never want to see you again.  Get 
out!"
	"Out of what??  We're out in the corridors, remember??  Now 
Lannie, don't pull this nice-again, mad-again crap on me!  I've tried 
hard to be a good mate, and I've put up with a lot from you!"
	"Well no longer!  No more putting up with me!  Get out!"
	"Aren't you going to at least tell me what I did?"
	"You know what you did!"
	"Fine!"
	"OK!"
	Kubali turned in a huff and charged off into the savanna.


CHAPTER:  STORMY WEATHER

	Gamu watched Kubali disappear into the distance, then when it 
was too late for her to cry out, he looked back around at her.  
"Lannie, will you ever get over this?"
	"Someday.  Not today."
	"Yeah, I suppose so."  Gamu sighed and rolled on his back.
	Elanna needed the comfort of another living Ka next to her.  
She came and laid next to Gamu and began to pine for Kubali.  Then 
suddenly she looked about with a start.  "You're trembling."
	"Am I?"
	"You feel like a leaf in the wind."
	"So I do."
	She rose and came about to face him.  "What's wrong, Gamu?  Are 
you sick?"
	"I was never more well in my whole life."
	"Then are you afraid?"
	"Afraid?"  He shrugged.  "Don't worry about it."
	"If you're not afraid, why are you trembling?"
	He looked at her hungrily and intently.  "You're the one that 
said you hated a liar.  You're the one that wants the truth all the 
time.  I asked you if you could ever get over him.  You said 
someday."  He rose to his feet and faced her.  "You are many things, 
but foolish is not one of them.  I inhale the fragrance of a 
beautiful lioness in her receptive days and feel her warm body next 
to mine.  Oh gods, I'm not made of stone!  Ever since I first saw 
you, I fought my inclinations for Kubali's sake.  But now he's gone, 
and I look at you lying there, so alone, so sad, so vulnerable, so 
very beautiful."
	She backed back a step, but he advanced another two, bringing 
him almost nose to nose with her.  "Here's the truth, if you can 
handle it.  I breathe in your essence and it spreads like fire 
through my being.  Ever since I met you, I have had passionate 
fantasies of your soft, beautiful body under mine while I explore you 
and tremble.  Oh gods, to know this pleasure would heal a world of 
hurts for me."
	Her tail clamped firmly down and she trembled.  "There's no law 
against dreams.  Not as long as they end when you wake up.  I will 
defend myself if I must!"
	"Who said I would force myself on you?  Lannie, I love you!  
Did you not question me in depth about my personal feelings?  Did you 
not say you'd leave me if I lied to you?  Gods, you're beautiful and 
exciting and intelligent and so kind!  You've had two lovers that I 
know of, while I am still as I came from my mother's belly.  You 
saved Taka from total dispair, and you pulled Kubali from the depths 
of his misery.  You see before you a broken lion who has faced pain 
and hardship, much of it due to Kubali.  I cry out for your redeeming 
love.  Be my conscience, my faith, my principles.  You could save me!  
Do you blame me if I tremble before you??  Teach me how to love, 
Elanna!  To love deeply and well.  Crouch for me!  Please!"
	She looked at him with mixed pity and disgust.  "Maybe I should 
remove the temptation.  I will go away--far away.  Maybe you'll find 
someone else to crouch with."
	"Why?  Am I ugly?"
	"No."
	"Stupid??"
	"No!  Of course not."
	"Then why not??"
	"You are great for a story or a joke, but the thought of you 
mounting me makes me sick.  Even pity won't make me crouch for the 
likes of you.  Understand?"
	She turned to leave.
	"You never know how long a single female can make it in this 
land."
	"I'll take my chances."
	Then, as if on cue, a hyena came up from the grass and growled 
menacingly.  Gamu stood protectively in front of Elanna, then with a 
snarl chased the hyena off ferociously into the bushes.  
	Behind some bushes Gamu began to beat the earth, while Griz'nik 
began to shriek horribly.  Gamu growled and tore into the earth, and 
Griz'nik made one heart-rending yip, then fell silent.  Griz'nik got 
the rabbit he had cached away and watched with amusement as Gamu 
minced it in his jaws, soaking his face in blood, then wiping his 
mane with his paws to bloody them.  "Not bad," Gamu whispered.
	Gamu returned to the shocked Elanna a bloody mess.  "I saved 
you that time.  But they will be back, and in greater numbers.  You 
need me.  Someday you'll come to love me."  He nuzzled her, getting a 
spot of blood on her cheek.
	She shrank from his touch.  "If you respect me at all, you'll 
keep this locked away inside of you and never mention it again.  And 
unill I'm through my period, I'd really prefer that you sleep apart 
from me.  Stay nearby, but don't touch me."
	The icy silence that she began continued for some hours.  Gamu 
was beginning to feel the isolation of his old rogue life coming back 
on him again, and he was listless and miserable.  Finally, when 
hunger began to set in, he said, "Elanna, it's time we tried to hunt, 
don't you think?"
	"I guess so."
	She had spoken!  Hearing her voice again was a balm for his 
woes, and he did anything to hold her in conversation, becoming too 
talkative to seriously stalk prey.  Instead they settled for making a 
new kill by watching the buzzards.  Elanna knew how to watch the 
skies, and she soon spotted the wounded gazelle that had escaped one 
lion only to fall to another.
	Gamu, who was very hungry, roughly grabbed the shrieking beast 
by the hindquarters and began to tear into the muscles of its haunch, 
satisfying his hunger with living flesh.
	"Stop!" Elanna shouted.  She drew close to the weakly-panting 
gazelle and said softly, "Think about Aiheu's realm.  Soon you will 
be out of pain."  She took the gazelle's neck between her teeth and 
cut off its breath.  And in a few moments, when the body had slumped 
into a final slumber, she looked up at Gamu.  "What's with you, 
anyway??  Can't you wait for a clean kill?  You hunt the way you woo 
females!"
	The birds began to gather, but Gamu looked up hatefully.  He 
was already angry, and their unwanted company set him off.  "Stupid 
birds!  Piss off!"
	The vultures looked at each other, stunned.
	"I said piss off!"
	They took to the air before he had a chance to charge them, but 
then they circled maddeningly just out of reach of his leaps and 
shouted at him, "Gamu, Gamu!  Naughty boy!  We know who you are and 
we know what you did!"
	He was mortified.  He shouted "I'll pluck you and eat you!"
	"You can't fly!"
	"And you can't fly forever!  You'll have to land sooner or 
later!"
	"Promises, promises!  Look at the naughty kitty!  Time someone 
taught him some manners!"  They flew off, laughing.
	Gamu stalked back to Elanna who stared at him.  "So, what are 
YOU looking at!"
	"What did they mean?  They know who you are and what you did?"
	"It's between them and me.  Besides, how should I know?  Maybe 
he saw Kubali trying to seduce me.  Just drop it."
	She looked away from him.  "If you say so."
	"I didn't mean to snap.  Sorry, my dear.  I just hate buzzards, 
that's all."

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