“But that’s very hot and dry,” Simba said. “And it can be very dangerous.”
“We don’t mind, Sir,” Kombi said, bowing with respect. “Danger is our life.”
“And what would you like in return?”
Kombi looked shocked and scandalized. “Sire, we’re just trying to be nice.” He looked casual, but his tail twitched nervously. “Since you asked, I wish we could go on being friends forever.”
Simba sighed deeply. “I know you do.” His heart was not into having them become rogue lions, bachelors on the open fields having to support themselves with marginal hunting skills, being driven from pride land to pride land by a succession of males. Despite their routine truancy, Simba had grown to love them, and he saw in them some of the basic goodness that was in their mother.
Uzuri would be the real problem. Next to Sarabi and Nala, Simba loved Uzuri the most, and he would steal glances of her private grief that weighed on him like an injury. And despite himself, Simba had grown extremely fond of Togo.
The brothers watched him carefully to see how he would react. Simba scratched his mane uneasily and said, “You want the Western Plain, eh?”
“Yes sir.”
“Fine. We’ll start there in the morning.” Simba rose and stretched.
Togo glanced at Kombi quickly, his eyes widening. “S-Sir?”
“You heard me.” Simba looked them up and down. “I’m glad to see you taking on some responsibility. However, a responsible lion also knows his limits, and I’m afraid you aren’t yet up to the challenge.”
Kombi looked indignant. “What do you mean?!”
“Your heart is in the right place, but you’re too soft to go out there.”
Togo sucked in his stomach self-consciously. “We can hack it, sir.”
Simba shook his head. “No.”
“We can take care of ourselves!” Kombi grated. “I’ll beat up any lion who dares challenge our border!”
“Really?” Simba looked at him. “Knock me down.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Knock me down.” Simba looked at him. “Or can’t you even handle that?”
Togo flicked his eyes to Kombi, who was staring balefully at the king. “Kombi, give it up.”
“Yeah?! Watch and learn, Togo!” Kombi gathered himself and leapt towards Simba, intending to tackle the other lion full force. Simba sidestepped neatly and wrapped his forepaws around Kombi, seizing him in mid-air and wrenching him around to bring him crashing to earth, Simba’s weight holding him fast. Kombi gasped for breath, humiliation in his eyes as he looked up at the sad face above him.
“Had this been a real fight, your mother would be mourning your death.” Simba nuzzled him gently. “I’m sorry, Kombi. You and Togo have one month left to you in which to do something.”
“What are we gonna do?” Kombi said in a small voice.
“I’ll not cast you out unprepared, son.” Simba laid a paw gently on his head. “We’ll patrol the Western plain tomorrow...together. Each morning, we’ll go out on patrol. Talk with your Mother; she knows a lot about the lay of the land. When we get back, I’ll show you how to fight.”
CHAPTER: A STRANGER WALKS
For the longest time, Ugas’ pride managed to hold together the fragile deception that kept their sovereignty intact. The lionesses doubled border patrols after reports from several revealed a rogue male had been observing the pride carefully.
Then one evening when Adhama said in her deepest voice, “This land is mine!” a distinctly male voice answered her from the bushes.
“Nice try! Now all you need is a mane!”
The worst had happened. Through long observation, the stranger had learned the patterns of the watch, and he easily slipped through where there were no sentries.
“The king will make you pay for this!”
“Are you the king?” He laughed. “What’s the problem, Sis? Am I that ugly?”
The lion stepped out into the moonlight. Indeed, he was anything but ugly, but she did not like his attitude one bit.
“He will be back soon,” she said. “Then you’ll pay!”
“Fine.” The stranger sat down and began to groom a forepaw. “I’ll wait for him right here.”
For several minutes that felt like several hours, Adhama stared at him icily. There was no sign of nervousness in his manner. He knew that he had won.
She bowed her head. “What good is it pretending. He’s dead.”
“Good. That saves me the trouble of killing him. In the meantime, I’m hungry. What do you have?”
“A little bit of wildebeest. Not much.”
“Not much?” He uttered a short, ugly laugh. “It’s an acquired taste, lady. When you’ve eaten ‘not much’ as long as I have, you never turn it down.” He frowned at her. “Well, do I have to draw you a diagram??”
Adhama’s heart sank. She rose and led him to the larder, watching in despair as their rations for the next two days disappeared in a matter of minutes.
“Is there any more?”
“No. There is no more.”
“Too bad.” He burped. “I was still hungry.” Licking off his paws, he said, “I’m Ambia. King Ambia now. You’re really lucky, you know. I almost went east, but instead I headed west, and here I am.”
“Well hooray and hallelujah.”
He looked at her with half closed eyes and scowled. “You must be the one that peed on the shrubs. The urine was very sour.”
CHAPTER: WALKING THE BEAT
As the days passed, Togo and Kombi began to feel the weight of a lion’s responsibility settling on their shoulders. It was a remarkably heavy burden.
Well before sunrise, Simba would rouse them and head off into the early morning mists, each day choosing a particular section of border or area to patrol. At night, as the sun set, they would return to Pride Rock, where Simba would instruct them in various modes of attack and defense. Only after finishing their lessons, far after the sky had turned dark and the stars had emerged, were they allowed to rest and eat their dinner.
Once Kombi protested this. “With all due respect, if I could eat first, I could concentrate better.
Simba simply looked at him. “This is no game, son. If you lose your meal in a fight, you go hungry. Concentrate on that.”
There were no further complaints after that.
The demands of patrolling and sparring practice were shaping the young lions. Their low, swinging bellies had given way to firm muscle. The young lionesses began to notice, and Kombi would strut about with a conceited swagger, showing off the merchandise. Togo was a bit more shy, and he shuddered when Visima rubbed along his body and ran a curious paw down his thigh.
Simba and the brothers began to range farther afield, even patrolling the dry and empty Western plains together.
Early one morning, the three had gone out to examine the border between the Pride Lands and hyena territory. Simba expected no real threat from Uhuru’s clan, and after greeting the hyenas who were doing their own guard duty, the morning passed slowly. Kombi ranged ahead slightly, practicing his rudimentary hunting skills as he followed the trail of an impala who had passed by recently. Togo and Simba followed at a distance, padding slowly across the ground in the gradually increasing heat.
“Sire?”
“Mmm-hmm?”
“Why do we patrol the hyena’s lands when they’re friendly? Isn’t it a waste of time?”
“Well, for one thing, it helps to keep an eye on things. If things turned ugly, we wouldn’t know about it until it was too late.”