“No, up a little. Oh yes.” She sighs contentedly. After a moment of such bliss, she said, “Goodness, I have to see Yolanda!” She got up, stretched, and started out the door. She paused for a moment and looked back at Metutu with a smile.
"If you have more problems, don't hesitate to come back. Please."
"Thank you," she says. She had started down the side of Pride Rock when she stopped again. Uzuri called after him, "Do your people have any star lore?"
"Yes we do. I love watching the constellations.”
“Remind me sometime and we'll trace the night sky together."
After she left, Metutu looked back at Makedde. “Brother, I think I have a friend.”
Makedde nodded. “Just don’t push it. You’re doing fine if you just let Nature take its course.”
“Indeed, brother. You have ground that same bit of Campa shoot five times over.”
“It needs to be fine.”
“I wouldn’t say it NEEDS it.” Metutu smiled and put his arm around Makedde’s shoulder. “Still I guess it can’t hurt.”
CHAPTER 29: INVITATION TO THE DANCE
Akase had come into her season. She knew after her last miscarriage that she might not survive another pregnancy. Ahadi was very demonstrative to her, even in public. But he knew that she could die during a pregnancy, and so his need for intimacy was not expressed in the usual way. Instead he looked for ways to enjoy closeness with her but not give in to his strong desires.
He soothed his need for her presence by lying his great mane down and letting her fall asleep resting on his side. He would kiss her, but always chastely. And he would tell her he loved her for who she was, and always would. That just being with her was the great joy of his life.
In this, Akase was little help. She was firmly in the grip of her natural inclinations. Her thoughts drifted back to all the blissful moments she had spent with her husband, and to the hopes and dreams they shared. Now they had no cubs. And worse, she was not even allowed to try!
“Husband,” she whispered. “Lover, come to me.”
“Call me husband, but do not call me lover.” Ahadi looked down, ashamed. “You are putting thoughts in my head.”
“Someone needs to.”
“We’ve been through this before. After your miscarriage, I thought we BOTH agreed that our marriage could last, but that we would be strong and face this thing rationally.”
“What you want isn’t a wife but a sister! If I must live as a sister, and never feel you close to me, I’d rather be dead!”
“Wife!”
“Lover!” She repeated it to make the point stick. “Lover, lover! That’s what I am--that’s what you married!”
“Don’t do this to me! I’m showing my love the best way I know how!”
“When I see you, I want you. But you say I could never have you, and you could never have me. Have you declared our marriage null and void?”
“No! I love you--God knows I do! I don’t want anything to happen to you!”
“But it is happening. Can’t you tell? This is not natural.” She rubbed him full length. “I may not become pregnant. It is always a risk, but one that I’m willing to take.”
“But darling!”
She nuzzled him, kissing him gently and passionately. “Make love to me, I beg you! Make love to me!”
“Oh gods!”
“Make love to me, husband. Lover, I know you want me. Let me hear you cry out my name in ecstasy!”
He looked in agony. He was. “Oh gods, I can’t endure this! Can’t you help me just a little?? Aiheu, help me!”
She nuzzled him. “Can’t he help ME just a little? I don’t want a miracle--I just want you.”
“For you, anything. But I feel guilty that it should please me too! I have no right to any pleasure that puts you in danger. If you died, my cries of passion would come back to haunt me like a curse! I would have to live with that for the rest of my life!”
“Never let that make you feel unclean! Never! Don’t you know that our pleasure is rooted in love? Love that will outlive these mortal bodies. Love that will make beautiful all that it touches! Love that will one day reunite us in the heavens! Come to me freely, because you love me!” She rubbed her face along his cheek. “I want to make you happy. I want to make you deliriously happy. I want to feel you shudder once more like a thunderbolt.”
“Oh gods!” He began to kiss her passionately. “I’m on fire!”
She walked a few paces in front of him and knelt down. Looking over her shoulder, she peered deeply his eyes and her jaw quivered.
He stalked toward her lithe, golden body, awash with the raging fever of his passion. “Lover, I come!”
CHAPTER 30: CRAFTING THE TOTEM
Metutu had studied long and hard. The gods had blessed him with wisdom and the strength to use it, and he used those blessings well for one whose heart was filled with so many distractions. Indeed, there were times he wanted to be with Asumini, but had to sit through lectures on star lore and wade through the savanna grass to learn the different herbs and their uses. Patiently Asumini would wait for him to return. She remembered her father well, and how he put his service before his comfort. Metutu was a lot like him, and it felt comfortably familiar. Also, like Busara, Metutu would use the time he was with her to its best advantage. Feeling guilty, Metutu would forgo rest when he was tired, and rush through meals. The precious minutes he saved were spent holding her hand, brushing her hair, talking about whatever was on their mind, and of course there were also times when he would take her hand and lead her away with him. Makedde would smile and try not to notice that some chores were being neglected. Makedde was married to his work, but he understood that Metutu was not.
One day, Makedde questioned Metutu at length about treating wounds and setting broken bones. He tried very hard to find some weakness in his knowledge, wondering where to concentrate his training. He found no weakness at all, and anxious to help Metutu settle down with his new wife, offered to take him to the council.
That evening, a nervous Metutu was ushered into the circle and presented to his brother Makoko. This was no time for casual greetings, and Metutu did not speak unless spoken to.
Some of the elders were leery. Dedou asked, “How could such an admittedly bright young buck know all that a shaman needs, and bear the weight of that much responsibility? Is it not the optimism of youth here rather than the considered opinion of his esteemed sponsor?”
Makoko looked at Metutu. “Well, candidate? Answer him.”
Metutu glances around at the other faces, then looks right at Dedou. “My love for the King is the light of my world. His people are my joy, and his welfare is my abiding concern. Even if you forbade me, I should humble myself in the dust before him and offer my hands to his service. The wonder of one acacia leaf is so deep and rich that I could never learn it all. Who can hope then to understand God’s world? And if we must concede that no shaman could possibly know everything, we must ask how much knowledge is enough to comfort those who suffer? I tell you brothers that I am an expert on suffering, for I have suffered greatly. It was suffering that put me on this path. But I also understand love, for I have received much of it, and it is love that keeps me on this path. Without the path, my life has no meaning. That, my esteemed Dedou, is my answer.”
“I withdraw my objection,” Dedou said.
Makoko stood up, deeply moved, and waived the age requirement, allowing Metutu to be admitted into the Council. The high priest gave him a large rock to hold. “This is the burden which you willingly accept, for with knowledge comes the weight of responsibility.”