CHAPTER:  A BLESSED EVENT

	Isha responded to Baba's love by kindling new life within her.  
Baba had never witnessed pregnancy before, and he spent many days in 
anxious pacing as the evidence of his new family began to show.
	"This waiting is killing me!" he said after two moons.
	"What do you think it's doing to me??" Isha asked.  Then she laid 
on her side and motioned for him to come over.  "Lay your head against 
me here.  Now listen very carefully."
	Baba settled against her belly, straining to hear the sounds of 
new life.  "Hey!"
	"Did you hear anything?"
	"No, but something moved!"
	"Not something.  Someone.  Your child."
	Baba raised his head, a look of such beauty in his eyes that Isha 
had to reach out with a paw and stroke him.  "Life is a miracle," he 
murmured.  "My beautiful Isha!  I love you so!"
	Isha did not follow Kako's lead and hunt when she was having 
contractions.  But she did hunt right up to her due date, taking a 
position as beater and leaving the main kill to the unburdened.  Even 
that made Baba nearly split his hide.  Mabatu had to reassure him that 
Isha knew what she was doing.  
	One day, Isha excused herself from the hunt.  Worriedly, Baba 
asked her, "Are you all right?"
	"It's time," she said.
	"Time for what?"
	"Time for Habu's mantlement," she said pointedly.  "I'm having 
contractions!"
	"Oh."
	When the full realization hit him, he nearly went into 
histrionics.  "Where are the midwives??  Don't you think Rafiki should 
be here??  They're out on the hunt at a time like this??"
	"Just relax and it will all be over soon," Isha said.  She could 
tell it was going to be a difficult delivery, and she wished that Rafiki 
could have been there to give Baba something for the pain.
	"What are we going to do?"
	Isha grimaced and breathed deeply.  Trying to remain calm, she 
said, "Bring Mabatu here.  My midwives will be midhusbands."
	"But I don't know what to do??"
	"I'll talk you through it, Honey Tree.  Just relax."
	Her water broke, and labor began in earnest.  Throughout the 
stressful process, several cries of discomfort broke the stillness of 
the night, but Isha tried hard to ignore them.  She brought out one, 
two, and finally three cubs.
	"Remove the sacs," she told Mabatu.  "You can do it."
	He reached out with his paw, claws extended.
	"No, use your teeth."
	"My teeth??"
	"Hurry or they'll suffocate!"
	Grimacing with disgust, Mabatu pulled the membranous sac from each 
cub.  "Eew!"
	"Now Baba, you help lick them clean.  Hurry, Baba!  You wanted to 
help, didn't you?"
	Baba parted his lips and managed to part his tightly clenched 
teeth.  He touched the first cub with his tongue and licked toward the 
face.  After the initial shock, he relaxed and began to groom more 
vigorously.  Mabatu took one of the others and began to groom.  "It's 
not SO bad."
	"Of course not," Isha said, taking the third one and grooming 
quickly but lovingly.  "Do you realize these are your children, Baba?  
And your grandchildren, Mabatu?"
	"Yeah!" Baba said.  "My children!  Look how small and fragile they 
are!  Look at those tiny paws and that little pink nose!"
	Isha smiled proudly.  "Two sons and a daughter.  The sons will be 
N'ga and Sufa.  But I'm unsure about the daughter."
	Habu came up.  He regarded the small bundle of fur and said, "I'd 
like to name her Jona."
	A pained look came to Isha's face.  "Why that name, my son?"
	"Because she was my friend.  She was very special to me."
	Isha put her paw on his.  "She was very special to me too.  That's 
why no more of my cubs must ever have that name.  I already have two 
Mabatus to keep track of, honey tree.  Let's think of something else."
	Habu said, "Maybe we could call her Penda?"
	"Rafiki's little girl."  Isha thought for a moment, then smiled.  
"Yes, that is a good name.  It means `beloved,' and she will be."  She 
looked around at the three generations of males and nodded.  "You were 
there when I needed you.  I don't know what I would have done without 
your help."


CHAPTER:  OUR BODIES BECOME THE GRASS

	Lisani grew into quite a beautiful lioness.  Isha looked at her 
appraisingly one day and said, "Beesa would be so proud of you.  I know 
I am."  Habu noticed as well, and while his cubhood devotion remained 
undimmed, it took on an additional richness of depth and meaning as he 
longed to bond with her and raise a family.
	Miss Priss was an apt pupil, quick to master hunting skills and 
put them into practice.  She was rather young when she made her first 
kill and was doubly proud when Isha put the blood on her cheek.  All she 
had to wait for was Habu's mantlement.
	Habusu enjoyed something that was a rare privilege for Ahadi's 
line.  He had a grandfather.  King Mabatu doted on him as much as he did 
Isha's newer cubs.
	King Mabatu had lost his wife, but it would be unfair to say his 
last years were dark.  Far from it, he would roll on his back and sweep 
his paw at Aiheu, thanking him for the love that was the comfort of his 
old age.
	Still he never forgot Kako, and a day never passed that he didn't 
express his grief in his own special way.  The day of Habusu's 
mantlement, when he watched Habu pledge to Lissie, Mabatu could almost 
feel Kako's presence next to him.  It was a peaceful feeling, and after 
the ceremony, he sought her out.
	King Mabatu slinked quietly to the Termite Mounds.  He stood where 
the green grass swayed and flowers nodded in the breeze.  On that spot 
Kako had gone to be with Aiheu.  Mabatu stroked a tender spike of purple 
flowers.  "From one beauty to another," he murmured gently.  "My little 
Nisei."  Finding comfort in the soft grass that sprang from her body, he 
spoke to her.
	"You know, Habusu is an old married lion now.  Yes, he's taken the 
big step, and you should see what a good couple they make, Miss Priss 
and Habu.  When I see them together, I remember the wonderful times we 
had together.  Oh girl, what times they were!  I'm just sorry you're not 
here to see this.  You would be so proud."  He closed his eyes and 
pillowed his head in the soft grass.  Taking in a deep breath, he tasted 
the fragrance of the flowers.  "See you in my dreams, honey tree."


CHAPTER:  EPILOGUE

	Old King Mabatu had not walked the border for many days.  He left 
the job to his capable son and grandson, and while he was not worried 
about safety the inactivity was a blow to his self esteem.
	For a week or so, Mabatu said, "Tomorrow I will mark, but today 
I'm just not well.  But don't worry about me."  Then as he declined 
rapidly, he stopped the pretense and began to speak of Kako more in the 
present tense than in the past.  "She will be young and fresh.  What 
will she think of this broken-down old lion coming to meet her!"
	Makaka and Anasa were taking turns monitoring his care.  At first, 
Mabatu chafed saying, "I don't trust these female doctors!"  After a 
couple of days, however, he would rest his large head in the shelter of 
Anasa's arms and whimper as he would not dare in front of the males.  
"Honey Tree, do you have anything that will help this pain?  It's all I 
can do just to go on from minute to minute."  She would kiss him and 
treat him with herbs, and before a week was out, he would be 
disappointed to see Makaka coming.  "What have you done with my honey 
tree??"
	Then one day Mabatu was restless.  He could barely move, but he 
spoke incessantly about going to the termite mounds.  "This is not a 
good place to die," he insisted.  "I need a change of scenery."
	He was so insistent that Makaka was afraid he would hurt himself 
in his struggles.  He knew what was happening, for Baba had told him 
about his final wishes long ago.  "Eat this.  It will give you what you 
need."
	Old King Mabatu chewed the strip of jerky slowly, careful to 
swallow all of it.  Despite the strong spicy flavor of the meat, he 
could taste the medication in it.  "I hope you know what you're doing," 
Mabatu said slowly.  "This stuff tastes awful."
	"It will loosen up your joints," Makaka said.
	"That's what I need.  Even now, I can see Mano standing over 
there."  He looked around at an empty place on the meadow.  "See, the 
white lion does not cast a shadow.  Or maybe you do not see.  Mano 
appears to whom he will."
	While he laid still and let the drug take effect, his daughters 
came one by one and filed past him, kissing him and saying, "Pray for 
me, Daddy."  Baba and Isha kissed him, and their cubs came and rubbed on 
his face.  Mabatu looked about at the crowd and heaved a sigh, then he 
smiled gratefully.  "You made my life worthwhile.  I thank you all."
	With a look of supreme effort, King Mabatu struggled to his feet.  
Isha and Umande pushed him fully upright and leaned against his sides as 
he took to his last trail.
	Away across the long meadow, they walked under the hot sun toward 
the distant termite mounds.  Another lion might not have endured the 
long trek, but Mabatu had one last thing to accomplish, and he would not 
die until he had done it.
	He dragged himself the last final steps to the termite mounds and 
found the spot where he had slept so many nights.  There he collapsed 
and sighed deeply.  "This is a good place to die.  Maybe a flower will 
grow here, and both of us will come back as one beautiful blossom." 
	Mabatu wanted to tell Baba that he really WAS his father but 
didn't dare say it directly.  "When I am gone, talk with my daughter.  
She will tell you things that I would say if only I could.  But son, if 
Aiheu allows, my Ka will remain here a moment after I'm dead.  If you 
have anything to say to me, speak then."  
	Baba put his paw over the King's.  "Is it about Mom?"
	"I cannot say.  But know this--I loved your mother very much, and 
I love you with all my heart."
	He rolled on his side and his eyelids began to droop.  "Prepare me 
for my death.  The darkness is settling in."
	Baba reached out with his paw and drew a circle around his 
father's eye and touched him under the chin.  As tears started, he asked 
him, "Are you my father?"
	Mabatu smiled weakly.  "I love you."  He took in a deep breath, 
shuddered, and released it in a prolonged sigh.  His mouth hung open and 
urine trickled out behind him in a small puddle.
	Umande came to him.  "Your real father is dead."
	Mabatu answered, "I knew.  Somehow, I always knew."  He looked at 
the body, pained.  "Why couldn't he tell me?"
	"He promised to keep silent for your sake.  When my father was 
very young, he was separated from his sister."  Umande sighed, looking 
at her dead father and stroking his mane with her paw.  "Dad and his 
brother grew up and eventually ruled the Pride Lands together.
	"Then one day a rogue lioness came in wanting refuge.  Her name 
was Kako, and eventually she and my father fell in love and pledged to 
each other.  Between them, they raised many cubs.  Most of them were 
female and lived, but the two males they had were born dead.  Then your 
mother became pregnant with you.  She left your father soon afterwards."
	But if they were so much in love, why did Mom leave him?"
	"To save your life."  Umande pawed him.  "Your father wanted to 
know why none of his sons lived.  So he asked a shaman for help and 
found out to his horror that Kako was his own sister."
	Baba gasped.  "Oh my gods!"
	"The shaman said if Kako would forsake my father and if they would 
hide the truth from you, that you would be spared.  Few parents have 
ever shown such love to their child as you have been shown."  Tears 
filled her eyes.  "Do you remember the day I tried to make love to you?"
	"How could I forget?"
	"I found out that evening that I was your sister."  She touched 
his mane with her paw.  "His pain had become mine.  I've never loved 
another lion but you, and I never will."  She wept softly and bowed her 
head in shame.
	"Oh honey tree!"  He kissed away his tears.  "I'm so sorry!"
	"Don't be sorry," she said.  "For some odd reason, I feel much 
better now.  No more vows of silence, but I hope you won't breathe a 
word about--you know--US--to Isha?  She looks like the jealous type."
	Baba nodded.  He stroked Mabatu's mane with his paw.  "I was going 
to say it made no difference if you were my real father or not.  But you 
know, Dad, I don't think I've ever been as proud of being your son as I 
am right now.  I love you."


THE END:  THE PROMISE

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