CHAPTER:  ALONE AT LAST

	Isha was amused at all the new attention she received as wife of 
the prince.  It was sweet revenge for all the humiliation she had 
suffered when her cubs were born.  Still she turned away the respectful 
titles thrust on her, insisting with a disarming laugh that she was not 
a "Mistress Isha" or a "My Lady."  With a casual nod, she would say, 
"I'm just plain old Isha."
	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 through 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!"

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