SCENE: MOST WONDERFUL OF CALAMITIES.

Taka's espousal of Elanna had come when he was supposedly mourning his brother and Simba. But one day there came the most wonderful and yet frightening change in him. He came in to see Elanna as she lay in the cool of the cave. The blistering heat had soaked his golden body with sweat, and taken the fire from his eyes and the joy from his heart.

That's when a small miracle happened. "Husband, I know that there is not enough food to go around. But there is someone that wants to join the pride.

"Someone I know?"

"No, not yet."

"We have so little as it is. Male or female?"

"I don't know."

"You talked to them, and you don't know? Was it a cub or something?"

"Or something, " she said. "I sensed the change in my body a few days ago, but today I'm sure. Taka, you are very clever, but you haven't seen the light in my eyes?"

"The light in your eyes?" The hair on his back stood up. "You mean I'm going to be a father?"

"Please don't be upset with me. We'll have to stretch things a little, but we'll make it somehow."

"Upset??" Tears came to his eyes and he nuzzled her, fondling her ears and cheek with his large paw and kissing her. "I love you, Lannie. My dear, precious girl. Upset?? I'm delighted! Oh G.o.ds, I'd almost forgotten there was beauty or laughter in the world. Lannie, I will give you sons and daughters. You will fill the world with beauty."

She kissed away his tears. "Go tell the world."

He came running out to the end of the promontory of Pride Rock and shouted, "Listen, all of you! Elanna is with child! " He practically danced like a cub. "I'm going to be a father! "

Taka felt this small life would love him the way he loved Ahadi. The rest of the Pride Lands be cursed, this small treasure of his beloved would be his, fully his, and he would worship it. Be it male or female, it would be heaven and earth for him, even G.o.d. Surely there would be no unfairness in Taka's heart. If he had twin sons, the kingdom would be divided upon his death. Never would he inflict on his own the pain and suffering he felt. And he decided something else as well, something dark and sinister. For the safety of his own, the day Elanna gave birth would be the day Rafiki died. He gave explicit instructions on this to his hyena guard. The curse would not live on in his children.

There was no parade of lionesses coming to congratulate the happy pair. Only a few hyenas came by to fawn on him, seeking to ingratiate themselves. He despised thisa"it made the missing lionesses all the more obvious.

Then came Fabana. She squirmed with delight. "I told you not to die, didn't I? I told you that love would come, and it has." She stood up on her hind legs and put her rough arms around Taka's mane and kissed him. "I'm so happy! "

Taka purred deeply, kissed her with his large tongue and stroked her gently with his large paw. "I wondered when you'd come. You're the first one I wanted to tell about little Fabana."

"Little Fabana! " She kissed him again. "Aren't you the big sweetie! Yes you are! " He chuckled and rolled over like a big cub, batting at her lightly with his huge paw.

The news struck a chord of dread in some of the lionesses. Isha and Uzuri went to Kako and took her aside. There was one place near the cistern where a small damp cave blew cold air year round. A nice place to escape the heat of summer, it was the doorway to a strange underground realm that was corban to creatures of the sunlit world. Hyenas hated it because of the constant dampness, so there was not as much danger of being overheard.

"That cub could be female, " Isha said quietly. "Then again it could be male. If it was, I wouldn't give half a bleached zebra skull for Baba's life. Scar will either kill him or send him off. He's afraid of a good challenge. Pfft, I almost wish I was a malea"I'd show him a thing or two! "

"He's only shown me kindness, " Kako said.

"True. When it suits him, he can be a cute little kitten. But this kitten has claws, hon."

Uzuri said, "Listen to her, Kako. I've grown to think of you as my little sister. I would bleed inside if your son died. Make no mistake, we want to protect you. Your son is in grave danger."

"I'll keep watch, " Kako said. "It's the only thing I can do. I can't go home. I really can't do that."

"You are home, " Isha said, nuzzling her. "We are your family now."

"I love you too, " Kako said. "Don't think I don't. If you have a plana"any plan at alla"you tell me. Even if it's getting rid ofa"your problem." She couldn't bear to say "killing the King, " but it was understood. "We will either live together or die separately."

"Then it is settled, " Uzuri said. "We will all see what we can come up with. May Aiheu give us the light."

SCENE: SO LIKE HIS MOTHER.

Two and a half months after Elanna married Taka, she began having contractions.

"Husband! "

Taka came running into the cave. "What's wrong?"

"I'm in pain. Something is wrong! Terribly wrong! "

Just then he noticed the blood. He is in a panic. "You're not due for two weeks! " Looking about helplessly, he shouts, "Midwives! Come quick! "

Sarafina and Isha come quickly. They took one look at her, and they were grim. "We need herbs. Your Majesty, Rafiki has always helped with these things. We really can't do much without him."

Rafiki was under house arrest and couldn't find what he needed in time even if let out. That does not stop Taka from sending for him.

It took a long time for the mandrill to get to the cave. When Rafiki showed up, Taka bowed before him, closing his eyes tightly. "No matter how you feel about me, you must save the child. In whatever G.o.d's name you believe in, you must save the child! "I'll do anything, anything! You can go free. I'll make sure you never have to work hard again! Oh G.o.d, do you have a heart of stone??"

Rafiki asked, "How long has she been in pain?"

"About an hour."

"An hour?" He buried his face in his hands. "Oh Lord, so little time, and so much I must do."

"What do you need? I'll send help with you. Take Sarafinaa"ride her back if you need to. But hurry! "

But does not even get to leave the cave before Isha, bearing a small dead male, goes past.

"Put him down! " Taka said.

He looks at the tiny body. "Rafiki, do something! Anything! My son, my son!! "

Rafiki picked up the infant and hugged it. Tears came to his eyes. "So tiny. So beautiful. Such a waste." Rafiki looks at Taka with some pity. "His spirit is already with the G.o.ds. It can not return."

Isha touched Taka with her tongue. "Bayete." She took the small dead cub with her.

Rafiki came to Taka and watched his soft, quiet sobs. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You are useless to me, " Taka says to Rafiki. "Go back to your tree."

"I am not unmoved. There is no great love between us, but I feel your pain. Let me see if...."

"Get out! "

Sarafina, with genuine pity, told Taka, "You will have no more heirs. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, right. Now leave me. All of you! "

He has a short period of grief where he goes out on the promontory under the stars. Calls to his father Ahadi. "I wish I could believe! " Sobs, "If there is a G.o.d, please help me! " Fabana creeps stealthily out onto the point and sits by him, resting her head on him. She does not say a word--she does not have to.

He roared. The lionesses took it up. There is no doubt what it meant.

Still weak in the knees, Taka headed down Pride Rock and crept slowly to Kako's spot where he found her with her son.

"It seems the G.o.ds have spoken, " Taka said. "There will be no prince from my line." His chin began to tremble.

Kako quietly padded over and bussed his cheek. "I'm so sorry. You poor deara"I mean, Your Majesty."

"Kako, you came to me from the G.o.ds. Your goodness is one of the few things that can laugh at the curse that burns my blood." He sighed, and with great effort said, "Mabatu is my Prince, and your future King."

"You honor us, Bayete."

He looked at Mabatu. "h.e.l.lo, sport."

"h.e.l.lo, Your Majesty."

"You are a prince now. You should call me by my name, or if you feel like it, you may call me...please call me.... Dad.?"

Mabatu came and sat next to him, burying his head in Taka's mane. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too." He kissed Baba. "You're my last hope, son. Go to sleep a little early tonight *cause tomorrow, I'm waking you at sunrise. I have something I want to show you."

"What?"

"You'll see."

SCENE: MAKING DO.

With food supplies dropping low, Shenzi was looking for ways to make things go further. Among the hyenas, the punishment of eating last and taking what was left became more and more common. It seemed to the rank and file that the leaders of the clan were looking for excuses to reduce the number of mouths to feed, and they were right.

The most effective punishments would of course be banishment and death. Not that most hyenas were ready to turn on their compatriots at a whim. But Amarakh, the beloved former Roh'mach, had a daughter Takyla that many felt should have been the next ruler rather than Shenzi. This adolescent was the subject of constant hara.s.sment by Shenzi and her friends. Her ouster on a charge of treason could consolidate Shenzi's hold on the clan and mean an extra bite or two for everyone at mealtime. Everything Takyla did or said was reported by some of Shenzi's spies. Shenzi called them "Guardians of the Clan Spirit, " but everyone knew a spy when they saw one.

Getting rid of a lion would have been much more effective even than offing a hyena. But it would be highly unlikely to garner a strong complaint, much less any hard evidence. The lionesses stuck together on almost everything with a singleness that was impenetrable by the Guardians of the Clan Spirit. That left the male cubs.

One male cub in particular posed a grave threat. For since Mabatu had become Prince, Taka had regained some of his youthful bravado. He began to look ahead more than a day or two at a time, taking charge and making difficult decisions he'd usually left to someone else. It was becoming progressively harder to control Taka, and Shenzi was worried that Mabatu would take heart and become a strong leader when Taka died.

And die he would. Makhpil had clearly forseen that Taka would die young and violently. It was a vague prophesy, but one that filled Shenzi with the urgency of the moment. There was not much time to play the waiting game.

To denounce Mabatu as a youth would almost certainly backfire. Taka worshipped the cub and would almost certainly fly in the face of the G.o.ds themselves to protect him. The thought, however slim, that Taka would rather give up his life than take another frightened Shenzi. For their last hold over him would be gone.

To kill Mabatu was one possible solution. But Taka would not rest until the truth was out. He would take no one's word for what had happened. Even if someone volunteered to carry out the job, admit guilt, and die to achieve greatness in Roh'kash's clan, Taka would never believe they acted alone. They would have to be more subtle.

Weeks pa.s.sed into months. During that time, they did not manage to get rid of Takyla either, but they always had a couple of familiar faces missing at each meal from the strict discipline.

Mabatu grew closer to Taka with each pa.s.sing day. With Makhpil's prophesy in the back of their minds, the hyenas began to worry that a weak leader would be replaced by the stronger one if they waited too long. So when Mabatu was a year and a half old, and a few bits of ruff began to form around his neck, the leaders of the clan had a private meeting and decided at that point that Mabatu must go.

But how to do it? Certainly, Shimbekh must be involved. Fed information from Makhpil, she still made several correct predictions to Taka, enough to cover all the lies Shenzi wanted to sneak in.

Relying on the old hyena proverb that a half truth is like a half carca.s.sa"it can be pulled twice as fara"they decided on a lie that would soften the blow, but still strike home.

Timid and unsteady, Shimbekh stood before Taka to deliver the news that may bring instant death. "My Lord, evil tidings."

"Oh?" He involuntarily put his paw before his mouth. "Surely not! "

"I don't know how to say this, my lord. But there is an evil spirit in this place. One too strong for our powers to drive off. Unless Mabatu driven off early, the day after his mantlement he will go mad and kill his mother, then you."

"What??" Taka ran abruptly to within a few inches of her face. "If you're lying to me, I'll rip you apart! "

Regardless of her safety, she wept and kissed his cheek. "You love him, don't you."

"Yes, I love him."

"Then...." She struggled for words. "Send him away now while his heart is pure. You know what it is like to suffer from the inside. There is nowhere to hide." Her voice began to trail off. "No one knows what torment there is in the wounds we bear inside. We try to smile when our heart is breaking."

Mabatu was told two days in advance that he would get a commoner's mantlement so he could do his leave taking and make the appropriate spiritual preparations. But he was not told why. Taka was clearly upset, and despite the obvious temptation, Mabatu showed him no hatred or resentment. Taka also clearly loved him.

Mabatu and Kako were both in a bit of a panic. Baba was not ready yeta"he had minimal hunting skills and he was still not what most lions consider mature. Kako makes an impa.s.sioned plea for a little more timea"that not waiting a moon or two would be just condemning him to death--but is turned down by Taka. "He will learn. It's Nature's way. Besides, I will pray for him every night."