Chronicles of the Pride Lands Part 10

"That's not fair, Taka. When I was young, my mother died of Beh'to. Before the end, she was banging her head on a tree, trying to force the headache out. I watched her die in the most dire agony. That's when I knew I must be a shaman. I would never have to feel so helpless again."

"Then why not help them?"

"As my knowledge grew, every answer raised new questions. I cannot heal every wound. So more important than my herbs and spells is knowing something to say to comfort the Ka when these bodies of Ma'at crumble."

"Then say something comforting to me."

He stroked Taka's mane. "I think about the prophesy. I think about it a lot. Oh, I knew where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do in a year, in five years, in ten. Now I am committed to fight this thing. All my hopes and dreams have been turned upside down. In this way we are alike, my friend. Our childhood dreams are over. The morning has come and we awake to face reality in the light of the sun. Let us find something real in the sunlight, something that pleases us, and hold on to it. All else is vanity."

"You are a foolish ape, " Taka said. "But even a fool may say the right thing at times."

With that, Taka stalked quietly away to some secret place to be alone. His absences had become more and more frequent as his life fell apart. The loss of his father was a terrible blow, but after the death of Akase he was never the same again. Mother she was, friend, and ally. It would be fair to say she was his conscience, his goodness, his faith in the G.o.ds. All of these things and more.

Hours pa.s.sed with no sign of him. Mufasa and Sarabi in the midst of their deep grief gave him some thought and tried to find his private world of brooding depression and nuzzle him. They could not find him, but Yolanda would later say that a one eyed hyena and her brood was sitting next to him near the elephant graveyard as he wept like a baby. No one believed her storya"it was too improbable. She must have seen poor Ahadi. Even though Yolanda said it was a dark maned lion she saw.

Later that evening as Mufasa was asking Rafiki's help in finding Taka, Zazu came flying back.

"News? Have you found my brother?"

Zazu said, "Your father...." His head bowed and he sighed deeply. "Have courage, Your Majesty."

Rafiki came and put his arms around m.u.f.fy and whispered, "It's time."

Mufasa climbed slowly up the precipice of Pride Rock and when he reached the tip, paused for a moment. Then he lifted up his head and roared. It was a sad and terrible roar that rent the evening sky, and the lionesses joined in. The King was dead. Long live the King.

In the silence after the unearthly shout, Mufasa could hear his father's voice speaking to him from the past. "It is always wonderful to be needed, especially when you always do your best to meet those needs. Someday you will know that feeling when I am gone." m.u.f.fy sighed. "It doesn't feel very wonderful, Dad. I wish you were here right now. There's so much I want to tell you."

Sarabi drew up alongside and sat by him, resting her head against his mane. "Let it out, m.u.f.fy. Quit trying to hold it in."

Mufasa's chin trembled. He tried to hold his composure, but tears welled up in his eyes. "They're gone, Sa.s.sie. They're gone! " He leaned against her and sobbed.

SCENE: THE LIGHT IN HER EYES.

"Then Herod told them *Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I may go and wors.h.i.+p him as well."

-- MATTHEW 2, VERSES 7-8.

As weeks pa.s.sed, Sarabi began to show evidence of the life inside her. The other lionesses would coddle her and hang on her, suggesting male and female names. Among the most favored choices was "Shanni" for a female and "Simba" for a male. Simba was Ajenti's idea, and it was an instant favorite. Never once did Taka wonder if it would be a male. He felt it was his destiny to fight an uphill battle until he gasped out his last breath. It would be male just to spite him.

Seeing the "light in her eyes" made him ill. It was the mark of m.u.f.fy's pa.s.siona"his brother's final insult. He would look away when she pa.s.sed to avoid seeing her in that condition. Once he sought to drown his sorrows in a night of loveless pa.s.sion, but he was soundly rejected, even when he offered to take the vow. Once he was caught staring at Isha who was known to sun herself on the rocks in the most liquid poses of feminine beauty. His jaw trembled and his tail lashed from side to side as he dared to make love to her with his eyes. Yolanda, who was suspicious of Taka anyhow, caught him and threatened to go tell Isha. "She would break your l.u.s.tful little carca.s.s into tiny pieces."

"She will understand. You've been jealous since we broke up."

"What??"

"Night before last when you excused yourself from the hunt."

"I was sick! "

"You were love sick. Oh baby, the things you did weren't in the talk my father gave me. Which one did you like best--naughty bunnies or the wildebeest's revenge?"

Her eyes grew wide. "You dirty little liar! "

"No worse than a dirty little snitch. Just try me and see if I won't."

The Isha incident was never referred to again. Indeed, Taka was wont to behave himself in public. And with Sarabi's child coming closer to the sunlight every day, he stepped up his nocturnal dealings with the hyenas and took a whole new interest in the royal family.

Everyone experienced mixed joy and sadness when the big day came. The male cub was named Simba and his small sister was named Shanni. Shanni was weak and tiny, and she never even tasted her mother's milk before she went to join the G.o.ds. Simba was strong and handsome, and he had enough strength for two cubs. His large paws and well formed features were admired by the relatives and close friends that caught first sight of him.

Taka came in his turn to look at the child. "He looks so much like his father, " he said. Something Mufasa mistakenly took as a compliment. "You will live an interesting life."

Though he had no doubt all along the cub would be male and an heir to the throne, seeing Simba with his own eyes was the final cement on his resolve. The cub was innocent, unaware of the resentment in his Uncle's heart. And he was expendable.

Oddly enough, it was on this day that Taka first noticed how much Elanna was like her sister Sarabi. Only Elanna did not avoid him. In fact, she would speak to him without even being spoken to. She came to him smiling and asked, "Isn't he a dream? I just know you're going to spoil your little nephew."

"Of course." He looked in her eyes and half smiled. "But it's a shame he didn't have his mother's eyes. Shaka's daughters all had beautiful eyes."

She smiled shyly. "Well Ahadi's sons aren't so bad looking either."

"Hmph! " He straightened a little and began to groom his mane. When she left, he watched her till she disappeared in the tall gra.s.s.

Ahadi's name brought back a stinging pain that finally overtook his good mood. And a little shame began to creep into the darkness of his heart as the wondered what Ahadi and Akase would think of his plans. Simba was the grandson they did not live to see. No doubt they would have loved him. For a moment, but only for a moment, he reflected on the small cub gilded with the glory of sunrise who wanted to divide the kingdom with his brother. "No, m.u.f.fy, " Taka said under his breath. "Dad was right. There can only be one King in this land." The mood brought mist to his eyes. "Father, if only you had chosen me. d.a.m.n Rafiki! d.a.m.n the nurse that gave him milk! Someday I will kill him, but not all at once. I'll destroy him a little bit at a time the way he destroyed me."

The words of hate hardened his heart. He drew away to the lair of the hyenas to bring news of Simba's birth and to plan his death.

SCENE: ONE DAY TOO LONG.

"Mufasa's death was a terrible tragedy; but to lose Simba who had barely begun to live.... For me, it is a deep, personal loss. And so it is with a heavy heart that I a.s.sume the throne. Yet, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era in which lion and hyena come together, in a great and glorious future."

-- TAKA'S ELEGY Over the next three months, Simba grew from a small mite that slept most of the day to a joyful, exuberant toddler. He had his moments that could try the patience of a tree, but his heart was good, and his charm didn't invite lovea"it practically demanded it. Nala also fell under his spell, following him everywhere like a puppy.

Then suddenly, as a tree is struck by lightning, Scar came wild-eyed with horrible news of a stampede in the gorge. Simba was in trouble.

Trouble indeed! Taka nearly wretched as he described the small battered body that lay in the dust. Those eyes so full of innocence and love for all Aiheu's creation staring lifeless at the sky with the final look of horror fixed in them forever! Taka spoke all the earmarks of genuine griefa"no one suspected him of harboring ill will toward the golden child of his brother. Often Simba was seen sleeping under the protection of his Uncle's watchful gaze. It was at those moments that even the most skeptical lionesses looked at Taka with some tolerance.

Nala huddled by Sarafina, sobbing. Sarabi tried to think one minute ahead, even one second, but she could see no future, even her next meal. She contemplated curling up and sleeping, never to wake up again. Yet things were not so simple in real life as they are in wishful thinking.

Rafiki came running up Pride Rock. He saw the hyenas and did not know what to make of it. Going into the cave, he says, "Mufasa, I heard the cry. Who is dead? Old Maloki?"

"No. Not old Maloki."

"Taka?" Rafiki looks around. "Where is your brother?"

"My brother is dead. So is Simba. There was a stampede in the gorge."

"Oh my G.o.ds! " The shock made him weak in the knees. "Aiheu, I have lived one day too long! " The old mandrill could barely stumble out of the cave. He saw Sarabi, her head hung low and her ears fallen flat. "Sa.s.sie, is it true? Tell me it isn't true! "

She turned to look at him, her jaw trembling. "Rafiki, how good of you to come."

He fell to his knees, put his arms around her neck and wept on her shoulder. "My precious little girl. Oh, my heart breaksa"it breaks, yet I do not die! "

Sarabi turned and touched his cheek with her tongue. "You are an ape, and yet you are also a lion. You must say prayers for me, old friend. My heart lies in the gorge, yet the sun goes on rising and setting. I wish I had been there to greet Aiheu with them."

"You are needed here, so you remain. I do not understand, I only acknowledge."

"Pray for me."

"Indeed I will, Sa.s.sie." He kissed her. "Morning and evening, and night." He placed his hand on her brow. "Oh G.o.ds, let your hearts be moved. Take pity on her in her time of loss. Open your arms of love and feed her with the blood of mercy...."

"Rafiki, " said a hyena. "The King wants a word with youa"right now."

The mandrill looked up in shock. He tried to pull himself together. "Did you say the King?" He took up his staff and tried to stand as straight as he could, but it was a little harder just then. He was escorted into what was now Scar's cave and faced Taka and his guards.

"It is a sad duty I ask you to perform, " Taka said. "You once said my road would be long and hard. Now I am King, but I cannot enjoy it. It is an obligation I must fulfill, and I seek divine guidance to carry out the job wisely and well. Give me your blessing."

Rafiki stood closer to Taka. He did not know, of course, that his brother's blood was on his paws. But when he looked into Taka's eyes, he saw no sadness. He saw only the glint of triumph there, and it made him feel ill. "This blessing I bestow. May the G.o.ds in the heavens give you what you richly deserve. May you find as much inner peace as you are ent.i.tled to. May you receive mercy in the measure you bestow it, no less and no more."

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment, " Taka said, patting Rafiki's cheek gently, then giving him a blow that sent him into the wall. "You twisted little ape. It was your words that brought us to this. I hate you. Your painted face sickens me." Taka nodded, and the two hyena guards stood on either side of Rafiki. "You are corban. For the rest of your life you will remain within two hundred strides of your tree except with an escort of hyenas to take you to the watering hole, and only when I am not there. For the next time we meet, you will surely die. Krull, take charge."

Taka shoved the staff back at Rafiki. Then the mandrill took his staff and picked himself up. As he left Pride Rock for what seemed to be the last time, he cast a longing glance at Sarabi. "Perhaps you will say a prayer for me too?"

The lionesses watched his exit. It was the final injury on top of all griefs. Only Elanna who could see no evil in Taka thought there must be a good reason for his confinement. She went into his cave humbling herself, laying on her back and reaching out. "I touch your mane."

"I feel it. Rise up, my dear."

"Your heart is dear to me, even when it is broken."

"And you have come to comfort me?" Taka was genuinely moved. He saw in her trusting eyes the love that once Sarabi had born for her. Risking all, he reached out and touched her shoulder. She purred deeply. "Tonight my brother lies dead by his son. The day we first make love must be a happy memory. Return in three days, and I will pledge myself to you."

"Incosi aka Incosi, " she said. "Great King." Then she mouthed the word, "Beloved."

Coming from a lioness, the phrase was liquid light, a thing of beauty. The hyenas that surrounded him were too full of flattery and manners. All fear and ambition, no real substance. Even those who were genuinely grateful could only excite the smallest fleeting pleasure. Only one hyena did he actually love, though he did love her enough to tolerate the rest.

ELANNA: Why can't they see the one I see when others look at him?

His inner light is s.h.i.+ning bright; why do they find it dim?

TAKA: I've seen that face through all my days, but now I see it new,

And all my dreams of hope and love begin to look like you.

CHOIR: There's a renaissance of love here, a respite from an age of fearful darkness

Calling to the hopeless to enter the light.

There's a wakening of spirits, a call to overcome the bonds of sadness

s.h.i.+ning with a fervor ecstatic and bright.

TAKA: Far over the hills coming in warm crimson splendor