daughter’s pain and worry over her vision. And Mabaki, I felt your worry over your sister. Both will be fine. Arif, your daughter is strong in mind, body and spirit. She will grow into a good lioness one day. You will teach her everything you know about shamanism. Her dreams, or visions, are a gift from God. Mabaki, your sister is also strong and with my help, she will live.” The blind lioness walked in-between them and whispered in Mabaki’s ear. “Saada has much more to do. Her time has not yet come.”

            Without waiting for a reply, she walked into the king’s chambers.

            The three lions went outside and Baraka gave the pride the same instructions he had given in the past. No one made any objections, not even Hasira, for which Baraka was thankful but he didn’t dare say that aloud.

            Mabaki joined his friends, who expressed their sympathy and love.

            “She’ll be fine, ‘Baki,” said Dailia. “Etana freed me from the pain of my fever. She can help Saada, too. She’s a gifted.”

            The white lion just nodded, silently thanking her but then he shuddered. How he wanted to tell Arif the truth! But was he right? Was the scent he smelled hers? He put it out of his mind and ate his share of the kill, which Kadiri put in front of him.

            As the pride continued to eat, some now engaging in soft conversation, Baraka and his parents left to talk in the grasses.

            Kovu was first to speak. “Son, does Etana feel comfortable healing Saada? I know she can do it but don’t you think –”

            “Dad, she felt me come out. She came to me, asking if she could help. It wasn’t the other way around. In fact, she was very insistent. Who was I to say no?”

            “Baraka, did Mabaki say anything?” Kiara asked.

            The king nodded heavily.

            That night, while the pride slept in the lower caves, Baraka and Arif slept beside the main den.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Akase walked around at mid-moon. To her relief, the weather was cool. She loved cooler evenings, especially out here. Everything was peaceful but she was not out from her shelter for the peace. She couldn’t sleep. She’d been having bouts of sleepless nights ever since she arrived in this part of the kingdom. But in her sleepless nights she had no inkling to go home. She couldn’t. Not with Arif there. She could never face him again without feeling angry.

            The question was who was she really angry at? Arif – for doing his job, for keeping a message, or herself – for being hardheaded and all but driving an irreparable wedge in her marriage?

            Was there an answer? Akase wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. But there was one thing she was sure of: She hated being in the dark, she hated secrets with a passion. To her, that’s what Arif was keeping. Not a message but a secret.

            She thought about her daughter. She thought about choosing a name. It was Arif who suggested that she be named, ‘Njozi’. He knew what it meant: Dream. Akase had been wary but it stuck, as did the names of her sons, names Arif had also given. But Njozi… how was it that she literally lived up to her name? It didn’t make sense and it scared Akase to a deep extent and she still believed it was Arif’s fault. She felt that not only if he hadn’t become a shaman, that if he hadn’t given Njozi such a name that this wouldn’t be happening.

            But the past couldn’t be changed. She knew that better than anyone. And names… names couldn’t be changed either. Once they were given, they stuck for life. Akase had never been good at names, much less giving them to others. She never realized that her own mother and father had had names, and she never heard her parents speak their names aloud in her presence. She still marveled at the fact that she’d been named. Why? Rogues didn’t have names. They did not associate with anyone but themselves.

            But in a pride, or all prides, everyone had names. Everyone was different. They had attitudes, personalities, hopes, dreams and futures, lives to live and families to protect, love and care for.

            In all her time in the Pridelands, the past – her rogue life, the only life she had ever known – was washed away. Being in a place where you thought of others before yourself was overwhelming but Akase had fallen into it quite well. Now, it seemed her old life had caught up with her. How she wanted to go back, apologize to her mate and daughter, apologize to her parents-in-laws and brother-in-law for her behavior! Was there a chance? Could she go back? Would Arif accept her?

            Without warning, Akase growled and shut her eyes. No. There was no way he would, not after what she did. Her heart beat skipped. Did he know? Surely he must by now. She was surprised that he had not come to her, angrily demanding an explanation. What was there to explain? How could she explain it?

            She looked down at her paws. She could not see the faded remnants of blood, she felt it. No matter how many times she licked her forelegs or washed them in a waterhole, the feeling remained. She committed a crime. She brutally attacked an innocent lioness and left her for dead. Worse, it was a lioness her mate had deep feelings for. She worried the rest of the day that the Prince would find her. When he hadn’t sought her out, she was relieved. Akase wondered how he was, and then mentally cursed herself. He wouldn’t be alright. He was probably angry.

            No, she couldn’t make amends now. She had crossed the line. There was no going back.

            Akase stopped and looked around. Had she really walked this far from her cave? She was standing in tall grass, the tips of the blades coming up to her shoulders. She never realized what beauty the night could produce out here this far into the Pridelands.

            In the darkness and so much grass surrounding her body, she failed to feel something touch her foreleg. Suddenly, she hissed a little in pain and looked down at the ground. She could see nothing and perceived the pain to be nothing but a stick she’d accidently brushed up against in her stop.

            Looking up at the stars one last time, Akase resumed her walk. After a few minutes, and without warning, she found herself stumbling and falling several times. She shook her head when a wave of dizziness came over her. Was she tired? Her eyes felt heavy, her limbs ached.

            “Maybe I’ll rest here for the night,” she said to herself, lying in the grass with her head on her paws.

            Within a fracture of minutes, darkness closed in on her, and her breathing, once relaxed and deep, became slow, and another minute later, non-existent.

Chapter 14: Grief

The rise of the morning sun, with a thin layer of mist to accompany it, was a rare thing in the Pridelands. While the animals of the kingdom didn’t seem to mind, the lion pride would. If the hunting party went out, it would be hard to spot a good sized herd of any kind. But for the moment all lions, lionesses, and cubs of Pride Rock were asleep in the lower caves. The entire area that had housed the lion pride for many generations was quiet.

            In those lower caves, no one moved. Only the soft breathing of the adults was heard. Even in the early hours of dawn, sleep was welcomed. After yesterday’s news they needed all the sleep they could get.

            Up above, lying beside the main den, in which the pride always used, rested two lions: the King of the Pridelands, and his twin brother, the shaman. The brothers’ breathing was soft and deep, but on their faces was a mixture of relaxation and pain. The relaxation was for the fact