John Burkitt - Chronicles of the Pride Lands

"We will hunt again two nights from now. If you are fine then, you will be welcome to come. It was my fault, really. I should have reviewed your training and helped you more. I know you have a male waiting for you, and I'm sorry."

Just then from the bush, a young rabbit that couldn't take the suspense anymore darted toward his hole. An alert lioness sprang for him and tore him in her teeth.

"You should have let Misha try, " the Uzuri said crossly. Then she changed her expression. "Sisters, perhaps it is not too late." She dipped her paw in the blood and said, "Misha, come here."

Misha obeyed, and the head lioness tried to touch her cheek with the blood.

"Please don't, " Misha said, backing back.

"They won't tell, " Uzuri said, glaring at the others. "Will you?"

"No, " the others replied. "Certainly not."

"But I will know, " Misha replied. "Every time my husband touches me, I will think of this. They say you never forget your first kill, and I'd have to live with this for the rest of my life. Please, Uzuri, don't tempt me."

Uzuri gravely nodded. "Wisely spoken." She nuzzled Misha affectionately. "You have honor, like your mother."

For the tenth time that hour, Tanabi asked his father if he'd caught sight of the returning hunting party. He wished that he could sit out on the point of Pride Rock, but he was being coached on what to do by Rafiki in the quiet of the cave where he was born. Zazu could not see well at night, and only Simba had time to scan the horizon for the flakes of tan.

"Do you think they will be back soon?" Tanabi asked.

Simba came down off the point and went to his son. "Look here, Tanabi. I tell you what I'll do. You let me sit out there and watch in peace without one more word, and when I see her, I'll arrange a quick, private ceremony as soon as she comes in. It will be our secret. There will still be a public ceremony tomorrow, but by then you should be in a very good mood. You understand?"

Simba went back to the point on the rock and sat back on the warm spot he'd made. It was still rather comfortable.

"Dad?"

"What is it now, son?"

"Thank you."

Simba smiled. "You're quite welcome." He wanted his son's mantlement to be everything that his was not. Timon and Pumbaa had been the only ones to witness Simba's coming of age, and they did what they could to make it a happy time for their young friend. The Pride Lands had not seen a real royal mantlement ceremony conducted the way they should be done for years, since Ahadi had first sprouted that ruff of fur. The blessing was not just on the lion being honored. It was a blessing on all who flew, walked or swam. It was the reason why those who fear lions still loved and venerated the Lion King. He was the one through whom the blessings of the gods came to all. Those who came to the mantlement ceremony would crowd around hoping to touch that mane and derive strength from it, strength they would pass on to their own offspring.

Perhaps Simba was anxious to make sure this would make the gods happy and make up for all the years missed. But he was also anxious that his son be happy. He spotted the lionesses returning from the hunt. "Look, it's them! " Simba said, prancing like a cub. "Tanabi, did you hear??"

Tanabi came bounding out of the cave. The two lions met in the middle of Pride Rock and wrestled like a couple of kittens. "Getting to big for your mother's milk, eh?"

"You're just jealous."

"I could still make you wait till tomorrow."

"Father! "

"Go greet her, my son. Bring her here. Remember, I get to kiss her first."

Tanabi got off, shook the dust off what mane he had, and headed quickly down the side of Pride Rock. "Just wait till I tell her, " Tanabi thought as he forded through the grassland like a ship on silver seas. Their eyes shone green and gold in the moonlight. Two were the lights of his beloved. "Misha! Misha, dearest! It's me! "

Uzuri passed him without looking up, a glum expression on her face. Isha shook her head as if to say "Don't ask." Then came Misha behind her, her head bowed, and a dusty footprint on her swollen shoulder.

"Misha?"

Misha looked at him silently, then burst into tears.

"It is better you go now, " Uzuri counseled. "She will hunt again soon."

By the time they got back to Pride Rock, there was no need to tell Simba what had happened. "I have given Zazu clear orders, " Simba softly purred to his son. "He is to be your chaperone till Misha makes her first kill. I trust you, but we must silence the gossip before it starts."

It was to be a mantlement ceremony as held in the days of old. All of the celebrations would be strictly observed, including the one day moratorium on hunting that allows the animals of the Pride Lands to celebrate the prince's good fortune. Even the cheetahs and leopards were expected to abstain from blood, something that was probably unpopular with them, but they carried themselves with too much dignity and too little strength to complain. Misha was depressed. There would be no hunt that night for her to prove herself. Indeed, after a careful examination, Rafiki told her she would be off the hunt for at least a week.

To lift her flagging spirits, Nala asked her to sit with her during the mantlement ceremony. It was a place reserved for a sister or, had things gone well, an announced mate. Nala knew what Simba would never know--she had turned down the gift of another's blood. Nala respected her, and even considered pleading for an exemption so she could be wed on what should have been her son's perfect day. But as Simba reminded her, it was not just a custom, but a religious custom designed to protect the young and inexperienced.

The morning of the ceremony, space close to the rock was at a premium. The elephants and zebras came in close, followed shortly by the buffaloes and gazelles. The giraffes said they didn't mind being in the back because they were tall, but it was clearly noted that they fought their way forward over the course of a quarter hour until they were almost to the elephants.

Zazu stood on the tip of Pride Rock and looked over the huge assemblage. The speech he'd planned to make once for Mufasa came to mind the way Ahadi and Makedde had taught him and Rafiki had rehearsed him. He spread his wings, and the crowd came to a startlingly quick hush. Such was the power of the King and his representatives.

"I speak the words of Aiheu the Beautiful who breathed into our nostrils the breath of life: Come, let my children grow in grace and stature, and let my gift of life endure from generation to generation as long as the sun shall rise and set. And I place a sign among you that my favor endures forever."

Zazu, deeply moved, added, "Listen well, all of you. The sign has appeared once more on Prince Tanabi, the true son of the King. The gods have remembered us through him."

Tanabi came forward. At the sight of his new mane, short as it was, the crowd bowed deeply in silence. The sight of so many standing so quietly was unnerving. For a moment, he forgot about his troubles and straightened with pride.

Simba stood beside him to give the blessing. "Great are you Aiheu, father of all races. Anoint Tanabi, your chosen servant with the blood of mercy and rain of love. Fill him with the wind of freedom. Stand his feet on the soil of faith. Shine upon him with the light of knowledge. And through him, bless all flesh that holds you dear."