“Yeah. Me neither.”
Adhama briefly bowed before them. “Welcome home, my King. I touch your mane.”
Togo glanced at Kombi and nodded at him.
“I feel it,” Kombi said. Then he nuzzled his brother and whispered, “You’re OK, kid.”
There was an unearthly quiet over the land. No birds sang, no crickets chirped. Even the wind did not blow. Adhama expected to be met by some of the pride sisters. But there were no sentries, no messengers, no hunting parties. It seemed like the calm before the storm. Could it be that Ambia had forced one of the lionesses to reveal her plan? Were they walking into a trap?
They got to the Pride Kopje. Ambia was nowhere to be seen, but there were several lionesses around with pained expressions.
“Does he know?” Adhama asked. “Is he watching us?”
“He’s behind the rock--with Amara.”
Adhama’s jaw trembled. “Not my little girl! If he hurts her, I’ll kill him!”
Togo and Kombi crept quietly around the rock. They saw a large lion looking very smug. Lying on the ground with a paw over her face in shame was Amara.
Ambia got up and sauntered over to her. “Admit it, I’m fun to be with. Someday you’ll come to appreciate me.” Trembling, he nosed her slender thigh. “Try to relax this time. It will be good for you too.”
“Stop!” Togo cried.
“Says who??”
“The true king!” Kombi cried.
“The what??”
Togo and Kombi took advantage of his momentary surprise. They snarled and mounted a viscous frontal attack. Amara cowered back as Ambia flailed back at them with swipes of his bared claws and snaps of his powerful jaws. One well-placed blow and he could even up the match.
Suddenly, Ambia felt a hot pain rake down his back leg. He turned around for one fateful moment to look into the burning eyes of Amara. “Was it good for you too?” she hissed.
Before he could look back at Togo and Kombi, they grabbed him by the throat and forced him to the ground. Wide-eyed he stared up, pushing with his paws but unable to dislodge himself. As Togo’s grip threatened to crush his windpipe and choke the life out of him, Kombi came about to face the desperate opponent.
“Spare me!” he cried, gagging. “Spare me! I’ll go away and never come back!”
“Kiss her feet,” Togo said.
“What??”
“I said kiss her feet! Now DO IT!”
Trembling, Ambia crawled across the ground on his stomach toward Amara, kissing her forepaws, then rolling on his back. “Tell them to spare me! Please, for God’s sake!”
The lioness looked at Togo and Kombi. “He defiled me. Do with him what you will.”
Kombi came to him, raising his claws as if to rip him.
“Please, for God’s sake!” Ambia cried. “I surrender!”
Kombi smirked at him. “My mother always said to put personal feelings aside and have mercy on the helpless.”
“Oh thank God!”
“But you’re not dealing with my mother.” He raked Ambia’s face with his claws out. Ambia screamed hysterically, blood staining his cheek a bright crimson.
“Now you know how it feels. Get out!”
Ambia squirmed before Togo and Kombi. “I’m going! Thank you!”
Togo roared with his full voice, “You heard him--DO IT NOW!!”
The intruder bolted wild-eyed across the savanna and into the shelter of the rushes. It was safe to assume he was gone for good. The lion that terrorized lionesses and their cubs was a coward.
Then in the quiet left after the storm, lionesses and cubs came from the bushes and tall grass as if they were popping out of the ground. “Look everyone, it’s Ugas’ sons!”
Lionesses came from all sides and rubbed against them. Cubs stared at them, noting the uncanny resemblance Kombi had to Ugas.
“Is it safe now, Mommy?”
“Yes, honey tree.”
Togo nuzzled some of the small cubs. He turned on his back and began to play with them, the way he had played with Tanabi and Misha long ago, bouncing them on his legs.
Adhama saw that and began to cry. “Look, Kombi! Look at your brother! Ugas lives on in you!”
Kombi nuzzled her and pawed her cheek. “Auntie Adhama, I miss my mother, but it’s good to be home.” He went to Togo and whispered, “Hey, let's not mess this one up."
As everyone watched in gratitude and relief, Kombi climbed to the top of the kopje where Ambia had so recently held sway. But to Kombi it only meant one thing--it was where his father had ruled. It was the closest he would ever come to meeting Ugas in the world of Ma’at. Feeling his father’s blood surging in his veins, he lifted up his muzzle and roared--loudly. The lionesses answered him. He felt shivers go down his spine. As the echoes died away across the savanna, a distant reply caught his ears. His blood rushed as he recognized the voice of Simba answering him from the Pride Lands, acknowledging Kombi’s sovereignty and proclaiming his own. He heard Simba’s lionesses declare their allegiance as well, tears stinging his eyes as he recognized the voice of his mother. He bowed his head to the ground. “Thank you, God. It’s good to be alive.”
CHAPTER: TO THE VICTOR GOES THE SPOILS
Togo felt a thrill as he watched his brother atop the kopje, the breeze blowing his mane back from his forehead. It was hard to believe the rambunctious brother he had grown up with had grown into the stern faced lion making his way down the rocks. Togo sighed deeply at the wonder of it all.
He was about to join his brother when he felt a gentle touch at one shoulder. Glancing around, he saw a lioness beside him, a smile on her face as she gazed at his hazel eyes. “Your Majesty,” she said, bowing her head in a curtsy.
Togo chuckled. “Oh, hello. I’m sorry, but I’m not--”
“Oh no you don’t!” Another lioness trotted rapidly over. “I saw him first, you hussy!”
“WHAT?!” The first lioness flattened her ears and growled. “Don’t even THINK about trying that stunt, dear. He’s big, he’s beautiful, and he’s all MINE!” She looked back at the shocked Togo. “I’m sorry,” she giggled, her voice returning to normal. “Forgive her, Sire. Now where were we?”
“Nowhere, really,” Togo stammered. “You see, I’m not the--”
“See?!” The second lioness shouldered her way in roughly. “His Majesty has taste AND class...qualities you obviously lack, hon. Now get lost.”
“Ladies, PLEASE!!” Togo thundered. They fell silent, staring at him in adoration. “Please don’t argue like this.”
“And sooo assertive,” the first crooned. “What a monarch! Please, Sire, choose me! I shall rule by your side with loyalty. We’ll bear our children in happiness and joy. Our love will shake the earth!”
“But I’m NOT the king!” Togo finally said. “My brother is.”
The lionesses fell silent and peered over at Kombi, who was already beginning to attract a crowd of his own, then looked at each other.
“He’s YOURS,” they chorused, and sped off towards Kombi. “Sire! Your queen is here! Our love will shake the earth!”
Kombi groomed his mane and looked at his nails. "Check it out, Togo! They're fighting over me!”
"Which do YOU want?"
He looked at both of them. "Decisions, decisions! Oh, it’s not easy being King."
Togo smiled quietly and sat down, wondering if Kombi would survive the realization of his dreams. He lay down, resting his maned head on his forepaws, watching the tips of the grass sway and move in the gentle breeze that caressed the land. The sound of feminine voices drifted back to him and he sighed deeply.
A slight touch at his shoulder startled him and he turned his head to see a young lioness standing close by, the quiet one he had noticed earlier, the one who had been cowering under Ambia’s abuse and had then suddenly slashed at him, giving the brothers the crucial instant they needed to make their move. She smiled nervously at him. "Are you still undecided? Do I have a chance?"