Chapter 7
The Presentation of the Cubs
Karanga's sleep was very light and she woke up when she heard the lionesses coming into the cave. She looked around sleepily as they lay down nearby. She knew that it was awkward for her not to be lying next to Thembi, so she picked up the cubs and moved closer to him, to prevent any uncomfortable questions.
"Hey, Karanga, now that you are the Queen, what are you going to do? Have you got any plans?" Anasa asked talking softly.
"Plans? Well, for now I'm going to take care of the two cubs, and help Thembi in ruling the Kingdom, I suppose," she replied.
Kuuliza nuzzled her and whispered at Karanga's ear, "Dear, you never told me what Thembi's punishment was..."
"I can't talk about it right now, mom," she answered.
Kuuliza understood and didn't question her any further. Karanga looked down at the sleeping cubs and licked Hatari on the cheek. Karanga smiled at the cub and told him, "You are so beautiful, my little Hatari..."
Thembi, who was still pretending to be asleep, pricked his ears and listened to the lioness. "So beautiful, yeah, right," he thought angrily. He decided to focus his thoughts on Mufasa instead. A very important ceremony was about to come, the presentation of the cubs. Thembi frowned slightly, knowing that Hatari would have to be presented also, because the second cub still had the chance of becoming King in case something happened to Mufasa. Thembi grunted and shifted position. He managed to fall asleep after that, but his dreams were troublesome and restless, he kept turning from one side to another, and he was breathing rapidly.
Karanga was still awake and looked at Thembi as he slept.
"I was afraid Kitok would be angry if I became your wife, but given the circumstances, I don't think she has nothing to be mad about..." she thought, turning to look at the sky through the entrance of the cavern.
Karanga sighed and snuggled against her favourite cub, and held him close to her chest. The cub was still fast asleep, and after a few minutes, Karanga joined him too. She dreamt of several unimportant things, but suddenly, she saw herself back in the cave, and was amazed to see the silhouette of a white, translucent lioness walking towards her. Even though it was a dream, the lioness seemed to be so real... Karanga looked intently at her and she recognized the face of her best friend.
"Kitok!" she exclaimed in her dream.
Kitok smiled. "Karanga... I miss you! I wish we had had more time together..."
Karanga listened intently, feeling extremely peaceful all of a sudden. There was no trace of sadness, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Please take good care of Thembi," Kitok went on, "He's not thinking straight right now. Make him a happy lion again..." the ghostly image of Kitok said.
"I will try, but it's going to be very hard..." Karanga answered.
Kitok nodded, and no more explanations were necessary. It was as if they could read each other's minds; they both knew what the other was thinking and feeling. Kitok knew the hard time Thembi was giving to Karanga, and could only encourage her to be strong and hang on.
Suddenly, Kitok's face turned into a more serious expression.
"What's wrong, Kitok?" Karanga asked.
Kitok shook her head. "I must go now, Karanga, but I want to ask you a favour..." she said, as she started fading away slowly.
"Yes, Kitok, tell me..." Karanga said calmly.
"Take care of my younger cub..."
"Of course I will, you have my word," Karanga whispered, as she saw her friend disappearing.
"He will have a tough life, always obscured by the shadow of his father and brother..." Kitok said, and then faded completely.
Darkness engulfed the cave again.
At that moment, Karanga woke up and sat up straight, startled. She looked around breathing heavily, but there was no sign of the ghost of her friend. She could still feel her heart pounding on her chest as she recalled her dream.
Karanga looked down when she heard one of the cubs whining. She fixed her gaze on Hatari and whispered, "I promise, Kitok..."
Karanga took a deep breath and lied down again. Even though she felt a strange calm surrounding her, it was long before she could fall asleep again.
The day of the presentation had finally come. Zazu was very happy to help the King in spreading the good news. He told the other animals about the ceremony, when and at what time it would be carried on. Thembi was grateful for the hornbill's help; Zazu had proved to be a useful addition to his inner circle.
The sun started illuminating the savannah with its warm rays. Thembi and the lionesses woke up when the sunlight hit their faces.
"Finally! The day of the ceremony!" Sita said as she stretched herself and let out a noisy yawn.
The rest of the lionesses began grooming their fur as the sun continued rising in the sky. The animals were starting to gather at Pride Rock, and chatted happily about what they were just going to witness.
Thembi walked to the promontory and looked down at the animals, who looked up at him expectantly. He roared loudly for everyone to hear. Those who had not made their way to Pride Rock yet, heard Thembi's imposing roar and hurried to clean themselves, heading there fast as they could. Thembi watched as a group of zebras came galloping from the east, and some elephants approached walking slowly. He stood there, watching the animals gather, and after several minutes, among all the animals present, he spotted Rafiki heading towards their lair. Thembi smiled. Once Rafiki got there, the lion greeted him.
"Thanks for coming, Rafiki."
"How could I miss this?" Rafiki said, patting Thembi on his back.
Rafiki and Thembi walked into the cave. Karanga was holding the two cubs between her legs, and she looked at Rafiki smiling. He was happy to see that the Queen was feeling better and less depressed, ever since Kitok visited her in her dreams.
"Hello Karanga, you are looking well," Rafiki said to the lioness.
"Thanks, Rafiki," she replied. Karanga then nuzzled both cubs, who were looking around with eyes wide open, becoming more and more curious about their surroundings with every day that went by.
"Now, let me see..." Rafiki said as he examined the cubs, "Let's start with the older one."
"Go on, Mufasa, go with Rafiki," Karanga said, as the baboon picked the cub up gently. Mufasa's legs hung in the air limply, apparently he didn't mind being held by Rafiki at all.
Thembi's chest swelled with pride.
The rest of the lionesses were watching the scene, and none of them made a single sound.
The baboon anointed Mufasa's forehead with the juice from one of the gourds that hung from his staff, and spread some dirt on top of it. Mufasa stared at the baboon with curiosity.
"There we are, little Prince. What a good cub!" Rafiki said.
Karanga and Thembi couldn't help but smile.
Rafiki picked up Mufasa and held him close to his chest. "Now it's time to show you to the rest of the savannah, little one," the baboon whispered, and walked out of the cave.
Karanga and Thembi followed him, the rest of the lionesses walking behind them too.
The animals were watching expectantly, and they were excited to see the cub Rafiki was carrying. When Rafiki reached the tip of the promontory, he held Mufasa up for all the animals to see.
They all cheered and clapped yelling, "Look at the Prince! Hail to the Prince!"
The cub looked at all the animals as they bowed. He enjoyed the view, and looked from one side to another, until Rafiki held him down. At that moment, Thembi took a step forward and waited for the crowd to calm down.
As soon as silence reigned again, Thembi shouted to the crowd, "My son's name will be Mufasa."
The crowd cheered again, shouting, "Prince Mufasa! Prince Mufasa!"
Rafiki gave the cub back to Karanga, and picked up Hatari. "It's your turn now," he said, as he anointed Hatari's forehead with the juice and dirt. The cub seemed to be afraid of him and kept squirming.
"Don't worry, Hatari, I won't hurt you," Rafiki said soothingly.
Hatari looked at him, wrinkling his tiny nose slightly. Rafiki simply smiled. He picked up Hatari and took him to the tip of the promontory. The cub whined softly and was terrified, even though Rafiki kept talking soothingly to him. He lifted the cub up for everyone else to see, and the crowd cheered again.
At this moment, Thembi turned around and stared in the opposite direction. Not everyone had a good view of Thembi at the spot where he was standing, but those who could see him hushed considerably, wondering why the King had turned around. Rafiki didn't notice this, he was more concentrated trying to hold on to the struggling cub, who was clearly enjoying this a lot less than Mufasa did.
"You see? This isn't so bad..." Rafiki whispered at the cub's ear, trying to calm him down. Eventually he succeeded and Hatari stopped struggling.
He lowered the cub and turned around. It was until then that he saw Thembi looking to the west, ignoring the cub's presentation. The baboon frowned as he placed Hatari between Karanga's paws. Karanga rolled her eyes and shrugged at Rafiki. She didn't feel like getting into yet another argument with Thembi right now. Instead, the Queen kissed the cub lovingly.
"You were afraid, Hatari?" she said softly, while the cub looked around, still a bit uneasy.
"Thembi!" Rafiki hissed, "what are you doing?"
At that moment, the King turned around again and walked to the tip of the promontory. The animals fixed their looks upon him. Thembi cleared his throat.
"That cub's name will be Hatari," he announced.
Only a few animals clapped, but the rest of them looked at each other in complete silence, wondering if they had heard correctly.
"Hatari? they whispered amongst themselves, "Why in the world did he choose such a name? It's so unusual..." they wondered.
Thembi continued speaking. "Well, thank you everyone for coming to the presentation of the Prince, who, I know, will be a great King someday."
The animals clapped at the speech politely, and a few of them did notice that Thembi had spoken as if he only had one son. Something must have happened with the second cub that's causing the King's rejection, they thought.
They started walking away, discussing this unusual presentation.
In the meantime, Thembi walked back to the lionesses. Karanga was looking at him.
"Brilliant display out there. Bravo," she whispered sarcastically.
Thembi rolled his eyes. "Let's not start again, Karanga. I told you, you can do whatever you want with Hatari, but my son is Mufasa, and he will be the King. The throne is not for murderers."
Thembi picked up Mufasa with his mouth, and walked away. Hatari looked at the lion and followed him with his eyes for a moment, as the King walked down the promontory. The lionesses looked at each other sadly and walked away silently.
Rafiki approached Karanga and patted her head softly. "Things are not going very well, are they, Karanga?" he asked her.
Karanga looked around briefly making sure the lionesses were far enough. "No, Rafiki..."
She hadn't talked to anyone about what was really going on between her and the King. Even Kuuliza didn't have all the facts. Karanga simply told her that her punishment had consisted on being told that she would never be Queen, only to be taught a lesson.
Rafiki sat next to her. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.
Karanga looked at him for a moment, and then looked away, embarrassed. "I feel ashamed of myself for putting up with all this. I should just take Hatari and leave this place, but I promised Kitok..."
"One single lioness and a defenceless cub won't stand a chance out there, you know that," Rafiki said.
Karanga nodded, she already had pondered that too. "I just need to be strong and maybe one day things will get better..."
Rafiki looked at Hatari, who was attempting to stand on his wobbly legs. "I have to warn you, Karanga... This cub will suffer a lot. I saw it in my shell," the baboon confessed.
"I know Rafiki, Kitok came to me in my dreams and warned me," she replied, sighing deeply.
Hatari looked up and fixed his gaze upon the baboon. Rafiki looked into his green eyes. The baboon tilted his head as he looked at Hatari. "I wonder..." he said.
"What?" Karanga asked.
"He is very little, but I ask myself whether he already knows that something is wrong..." Rafiki said.
"You think so?" Karanga asked, looking at the cub.
"There is something in his eyes. I just can't put my finger on it. Some sort of sadness..."
Karanga looked at Rafiki. "But... he is so young to realize that..." the lioness said.
Rafiki nodded. "He is little, but smart," he replied.
Karanga looked at the baby again and licked his head. The cub closed his eyes and pressed his soft nose against Karanga's body, looking for food.
"I'm sorry, Rafiki, but I must return to the cave now. Hatari is hungry and Dalasini must be feeding her cubs by now..."
"All right, Karanga. Take care of yourself and your cub," the baboon told her as he gathered together all the items he had brought with him for the ceremony.
"Good bye, and thanks for everything." Karanga picked Hatari up and carried him to the inside of the cave, where she ran across Thembi.
"Thembi, can we talk for a second?" she said, after leaving Hatari under Dalasini's care.
"Fine, let's go outside," he said curtly.
They left the cave together and walked to the shade of a nearby tree.
The King looked at her silently.
"I just want to ask you something. More like a favour," she told him, holding her head up high.
"Hmmm, I wonder what sort of favour you would ask from me..." He circled her, pacing slowly. "Let me guess... It has to do with that cub of yours, am I right?" he added sarcastically.
"I just want you to promise that you will not hurt him... It has already been established that you don't feel any kind of love for him, and I guess I'll have to learn to live with that. But, can you at least try not to make him suffer unnecessarily? Please?"
Thembi looked away for a moment. "Let's strike a deal. You keep him away from me, and I'll do my best to ignore his presence. How does that sound?"
He looked at Karanga again, his cold eyes giving her a shiver.
Karanga narrowed her eyes a bit. "Ignoring someone can be very hurtful too, you know."
"Take it or leave it, Karanga," he said, knowing very well she was also talking about herself and how distant he's been towards her lately.
After pondering for a moment, she said, "Fine. So be it."
"It's settled, then," Thembi said, "He won't have trouble with me as long as he stays out of my way."
Karanga turned around and left without saying another word and without looking back.
Thembi watched her leave. "I guess things could have worked out for you and I," he thought, "but that damned cub is getting between us just as he did between me and Kitok... How long can you keep it up, Karanga? How long?"
Thembi shook the dust off his mane and left to patrol his territory, thinking mostly about how he would pass on his knowledge to Mufasa once he was old enough.
