John Burkitt - The Leonid Saga

“’I do not know what pleases Aiheu,’ the voice said plainly. “But it would please me to ease your suffering.’

“He opened his eyes and saw very dimly a lioness bearing a zebra haunch. ’Bless you, child!’ Hungrily he devoured the meat, muttering thanks to Aiheu and the stranger. ‘I would have perished without your help.’

"’Milord values my presence, then?’

"’I value you well!’ He said, ‘Your voice is familiar, but tinged with some great sadness. Who has harmed you?’

“’I was scorned by my betrothed. He saw no value in me but my hunting skills.’

“’Stay here, then. I will appreciate you.’

“’But does my voice not still croak like a raven? Is my face not too round? Only don’t worry, my betrothed, I do not laugh harshly anymore, for all the joy has gone out of my life.’

“Negeb fell before her and sobbed. ‘Tashi, Tashi! How I wronged you! Heaven and Earth have condemned me, and justly so!’

“’You feel sorry for me?’

“’I feel sorry for myself, that I have lost the love of a noble and gentle creature. But for your prayers each night, Aiheu would have slain me.’

“’He spared you for my sake that we might be married someday. You have not lost my love.’

“He nuzzled her and said, ‘I long to see your lovely round face and your beautiful small eyes. And your sweet raven’s voice I would hear always....’”

She looked up at Taka again. Her eyes followed the curves of his body and the sad set of his chin. “’....and you shall laugh again, so swear I before Aiheu that I will put joy back in your life.’” Elanna reached out toward him with her paw. “Joy and love, my darling! Love that will last till the last beat of my heart. Love that will overlook your faults and build you up when others tear you down. Love that looks past the scars and sees the beauty! Oh gods, just look at him! He’s worrying himself into an early death and all they do is heap abuse on him!”

Lisani started to cry and paw Elanna’s tear-stained cheeks.

Elanna tried desperately to cover and go on with the story. “’The land is dying,’ Negeb said, ‘and I am dying with it. It is no good to stay here.’

“’Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on you for my sake. I shall remain.’

“And so at last they became husband and wife. And Aiheu saw true repentance in the lion's heart and relented. He allowed One-who-brings-rain to return and make the land fertile again, and called back the animals and birds. Oh, and what a beautiful sight it was, my cubs!”

She looked out over the dust-choked landscape with its leafless trees writhing in mute agony in the dry wind. “When the rain came, it smelled so sweet and dry earth soaked up the water and the grass turned green again!” She ran her paw through the dust. “Oh to see the green grass and the flowers one last time! To feel the rain pelt on my fur again and watch the waterhole grow broad and deep again the way it was when I was a cub! Can you remember when the water was deep enough to reach the base of the shrubs? Can you?”

“I can,” Lisani said, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Oh, Lannie!”

“Look at me going on like an old fool! I’ll never finish this story if I keep wandering like that!”

“You’re not an old fool!” Togo said. “Don’t say bad things like that--it’s not true!”

Elanna stroked him with a paw. “No, you’re right of course. I just feel old. Bless your heart, Honey Tree. You were always good to your Aunt Lannie.” She waited a moment until she was properly composed before she continued.

“The land healed itself of its scars, and Negeb thereafter acquitted himself nobly, with Tashi as his queen. And though Aiheu blessed the land and its inhabitants, each year he called the animals away for a time and One-who-brings-rain withheld his gift to remind Negeb of his obligation to the gods. And so it is till this day.”

"Did Taka do something bad?" Habusu glanced nervously at the dark lion brooding up on the promontory above. "Is that why Aiheu is punishing us?"

Elanna drew close and nuzzled him behind the ear. "No, Habu. Aiheu isn't mad at us. The drought is a part of life, and so are the rains that follow behind it. In this way, Aiheu reminds us of our place in the Circle of Life, that we are all equal in his eyes, king and commoner."

Lisani peered up at Elanna. "Even cubs?"

Elanna kissed Lisani on the tip of her nose. "Yes, even cubs."

"And Taka too?"

"Of course, even Taka too. Aiheu loves us all, hon."

"Good." Lisani craned her head back up to where the king sat still, watching the horizon for some unknown sign. "I hope God makes it rain soon to remind him. I think Taka's forgotten it."

Elanna kissed the cubs again and sighed deeply. "I hope so, too." She managed a smile. “Why don’t we do something happy? How about the Sufa Song! Does anyone know all the movements?”

“Me! Me!”

“OK, Lisani! Why don’t you lead us?”

Wiggling with pride, Miss Priss faced her small audience. Her eyes narrowed in deep concentration for a moment as she mentally went over the parts she was unsure of, but then she brightened. Facing away from the sunset with a paw against her cheek, she began:

She turned to face the sunset and touched her nose to the ground, putting a paw on top of her head.

Finally, with simple, heartfelt faith, she rolled on her back and rubbed her chest above her heart. Elanna and the others followed her.

“Wasn’t that good!” Elanna kissed her repeatedly. “And how big you’ve grown! Don’t wait so long till you come to see me again, or you’ll be all grown up!”

Isha, who showed up near the end of the song, said rather urgently, "It's time for your bath, Habu. You too, Lissie."

"Oh, I can handle that," Elanna said.

"No thank you," Isha said, almost curtly.

“I don’t mind, really! You take Habu and I’ll do Lisani.”

“No thank you, my lady. Unless that’s a direct order.”

"Of course it’s not an order. I just love them, that’s all." Elanna bowed her head. "And I thought you loved me, Isha! Don’t you remember when I used to groom you after the hunt? You said we’d always be friends! Have you forgotten, Isha??”

Isha looked away and sighed. “Please, not in front of the children. They don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. I wish to Aiheu someone would explain it to me!” She looked at the cubs who stared at her with sad faces. “Good bye, Miss Priss. Take care, Habu. Well, I guess you other cubs had better run along too." As Isha stalked off with her pair, Elanna left Togo and Kombi and sneaked off to hide in the reeds.

Shouldering the plants aside, Elanna stared down at the dry dust. A tear trickled down her cheek, hanging from a whisker for a moment before dropping to vanish into the parched earth. "Aiheu, Aiheu, why have you abandoned me?? This judgment is more than I can bear! Let it rain, God! One little drop to fall on my husband’s parched tongue! Why won’t you listen to me! Oh God, if there’s hope for me, show me a sign! Don’t abandon me, God! Please don’t abandon me!"