to her. “No, she didn’t misunderstand. What your son…” No, Ahadi you’re perhaps as much a victim of Scar’s deceit as Sarafina is, though you, as king, should have known better. But then, blood is thicker than water, isn’t it? “What you, Scar, told her were lies. You manipulated and used her for your own ends.” No, don’t give me that ‘what poor, innocent me?’ look. You know what you did. You’re never going to admit it, so I’ll just have to tell it like it is. Not that any of you are going to like me for it. “You lied to my friend, you lied to my mother and you lied to me, and you tried to take me away from Mufasa, your very own brother.”

“Who me? Surely not? Father, you’re not going…”

“Quiet Scar! No Sarabi, I am sure both my sons have acted with dignity and integrity. I will not hear any more of it. Do you understand?”

“No Ahadi, you cannot order me to forget it! It happened, I know it happened. My mother knows what happened. Scar knows it happened! You may want, through…” Neglect? No… “…inaction, to let it happen again, but I will not.” Yes, Ahadi, you may well drop your head, but you’re not the only one. “And you Rafiki; you used me. You used me: for what end I know not, but you used me as surely as you use that stick of yours.”

“Me? Pabpt! It’s for the pride; for your pride, to keep you all safe. The king needs to know. Needs to know everything.”

“Yes, he needed to know, but you needed to tell me that he needed to know, and I would have told him.”

You can wipe that smirk off Scar. You not won anything in this, you’ve lost everything. You’ve lost almost all respect I had for you. But you still think you’ve won, don’t you? For you, I have this, “                                            “.

Fluffy, oh my  Muffy Fluffy, what about you? “Mufasa, you are the only one to come out of this with any shred of dignity and honour, but do you really have any idea of what is going on around you? You so want to see the best in others that you blind yourself to the harm and the pain they can bring.” Do you believe your brother? Do you still think he wants you to be king? Just how far do you think would he go to make his mother’s delusions reality? Has he really forgiven you for living? "There you are, all males together: the great Ahadi and sons. The crazy, all knowing but oh so lovable Rafiki and even that stuffed up Zazu: all in the male club together. You had it all planned out: my whole life, didn’t you? You knew what I was going to do long before I did any of it. Yes, you all knew because you had decided it long ago. Whose idea was it? Come on, tell me. Who decided I was going to be Mufasa's queen?"

"Akase and I decided it, Sarabi. Zazu told us it had always been traditional here."

"Tradition? Tradition! Why did you have to follow some tradition told you by a... flappy messenger? You're the king Ahadi. You decide for yourself. You decide for the pride even, but no you decided for ME before I could even see! Did any one of you ever stop to ask me what I wanted? Find out how I felt? Did you?”

Did they? Let’s see them all, one by one. Did you Rafiki? You, Ahadi? Scar? You thought you could have me for yourself didn’t you? And Mufasa, you just went along with it all; always assuming I’d be your queen. Then in bounds Sarafina, the outsider. She knew none of this: impressionable, easy to lie to, wants to feel she’s part of the pride.

"No? You all just kept on going in your cosy all-boys-together club; expecting us females to toe the line. If we know what's good for us." Yes, if. Got nothing to say? Good. “Rafiki: when you used me did you stop to think what I would feel? And Scar, when you were telling Sarafina those lies, did you think how she felt? Was it that you knew how she felt, but you did it anyway? Ahadi: you may be the king; you may hold all the power in this pride but you don’t control love and you don’t control me. For love must be freely given and joyfully received between equals with no obligation or expectation of any reward. Mufasa: until you now this, I cannot be with you.”

"What is it that you want Sarabi?"

"It’s too late now Ahadi. You should have asked years ago, you all should have, before you choose my fate for me. I never got to choose anything. My whole life, I've done what's expected of me and what do I get in return? Nothing. No choices, no dignity."

"But how can we make it right Sassi? Tell me, I want to make it right."

I’m sure you do Mufasa. I’m sure you do, but it’s not that simple; it’s really not.

"So do I Sarabi."

"Ahadi, you really want to know? Really? Don't tell me who my mate is. Let me decide for myself."

No Scar, that doesn’t mean you’ve got a chance. It doesn’t mean that at all.

~oOOo~

Glad it’s all quietened down at last. Mother finally got round to accepting Saffi. Well she had to in the end. After all that, most of a day of frustrating missed strikes. Wildebeest too, not your gazelles or anything: proper prey. Oh the look of mother’s face as Saffi shot past her! A young male, strong, but careless. Didn’t have long to know his mistake: Saffi made sure of that. Leapt up and pulled him down from behind as clean as you like. I almost needn’t have piled on after. No more half-kills: that was all Saffi’s.

Even Ahadi was surprised when we told him who had taken it down. Ahadi…. it’s about Ahadi: it’s got to be. That’s what this pride meeting is. He’s back, surely?  Unless… Scar? Could he have killed Ahadi? Maybe Scar wanted Sarafina to kill him that day? No. No, that’s ridiculous, surely not? Anyway, Mufasa would simply have become king. No, that’s impossible. Immue? No, she couldn’t have got the better of a male such as Ahadi? No, he’s alive, he must be.

~oOOo~

“You are all… no doubt aware… why I have asked for you all… to gather here today.”

This is not good. This is serious.

“It has… been a moon… since my father, the king,”

It is Ahadi! He’s not here. He’s not here!

“…left us… one early rain-filled morning. “

Mufasa! He’s going to say he’s gone, dead, isn’t he?

“During… this difficult time… I have been supported… and comforted by my family: …my father’s queen, my mother, Akase. Also by my brother, who has made the decision I have made… less difficult through his… unwavering support and assured allegiance.”

Decision? It must be Ahadi. Scar’s support… and allegiance?  How do you think you’re kidding? Fluffy, what happens now? I’m sorry: I couldn’t be there for you….

“I have naturally… relied on the counsel and assistance of Rafiki and Zazu… and will continue to call upon their wisdom in times ahead. For that I am very grateful.”

“I have to tell you now… that we have received no word from… nor seen my father… since that morning and so... we must assume… that he is lost. So it now falls to me, his first born son, to take our pride forward… as I know my father would have wished.”

So, that’s it: the king is dead. So much has happened, so much has changed, and Mufasa has to endure it alone because of me.

“I have always known it would be my duty, as my father’s son, to take his place were anything to have happened to him. You will also know that I would have wished this to have happened in personal circumstances other than these.”

I must be those ‘personal circumstances’. But I had to: I had no choice. That was the whole point: I had no choice. If I had, then I know who I’d have chosen, and you wouldn’t be going through this alone.

“Yet, and speaking more personally, I am painfully aware…”

No Fluffy, don’t torture yourself like this, please!

“…that there is one pathway of support that I cannot tread alone and that for the good of our pride I face the unappealing prospect of taking other, less  life-affirming, sensitive, independent and beautiful, paths in the future.

So it is… with a heavy heart… that I now ascend to begin to take on… the heavy burden of my duties as king… without the help and support of the lioness I love.”

I’m here. I’ll always be here. Mufasa! Please! I am here! You won’t always be alone, I promise.

“Whatever you do, don’t trust Scar.”

“Why not mother? Does he still want to be king?”

“Of course he wants to be king. Of course he does; his mother brought him up to be king. He still loves her.”

“How can he still love her and yet do that to his own brother?”

“And maybe his own father… think on that.”

“Oh come on... how can he love her?”

“Sarabi, you’ll find out soon enough; when it’s your time. You always love your mother… even you.”

That