Four days had passed since Zira's confession, in which time the lovers had barely spoken to each other. They slept apart, at opposite ends of the cave. Occasionally one sneaked a glance at the other, quickly hiding their eyes when detected. Zira crooned over her twins; Scar could not tell whether she was deliberately provoking him or pleading with him to love them again. He would not ask - his pride prevented him. Nuka was still missing. Sarabi said she had seen him with the hyaena pack, but search and call as Zira might, he did not come to her.
Scar's first, fatal reaction to the news had been anger. Blind rage took him; he could hardly see, and he roared hugely, instinctively, baring claws and teeth. The cubs trembled, and Zira stood protectively over them. When the mist cleared, he could see from her face that she had thought he was going to kill all three of them. A flood of shame and grief washed over the king.
"Tell me it isn't true," he whispered, cowering. But the damage had been done. Distrust showed in Zira's eyes, and she backed slowly away. "I can't," she said flatly. "It is true."
She told him everything. How, the very day before Scar came into her life, a black-maned rogue had come upon her and forced her to have him. She was too weak to resist, and besides the male had threatened to kill Nuka if she refused his advances. She had not told Scar, because the incident filled her with shame and she did not want to reveal how feeble she had been, allowing herself to be defiled in such a way. Indeed, she could hardly bear to think about it herself. By the time she was stronger she was in love with Scar, and was afraid to mention her rape by the other male in case he rejected her. The emotionless manner in which she told her tale was to keep her from tears, but to Scar it seemed as though she was taunting him.
Guilt was added to the king's feelings. He knew that what had happened was not Zira's fault. He knew that he should feel terribly sorry for her. He should promise to rear the cubs as his own son and daughter. He should hold her and nuzzle her and reassure her. Yet he could not.
Scar remembered that the cubs had arrived before they were due, yet had been born big and healthy. It was true; they were not his. Fancy his thinking that fate would allow him to be a happy father! He gave a low grunt at this blow. It seemed to Scar that all his life he had been dealt misfortunes, from the moment he came into the world too late, when his larger, stronger brother had already been born and named heir to the throne of Pride Rock. He wanted to whine like Nuka that it wasn't fair. Instead he stalked silently to the back of the cave and lay down, drowning in his misery.
Nuka ran, for the second time that day. He was running from, not to, and had no idea in his head except to get away from Scar. That glance had said it all - the king was a magic lion who could see inside Nuka's head, and expose all the wicked thoughts that lurked there.
He had not gone far before he found Ed. The clumsy hyaena had caught his paw in a mousehole and, rather than freeing himself, was running madly in a circle and yelping with terror. The sight of someone in a worse state than himself had a calming effect on Nuka, and he stopped. "Hey Ed," he said gently, once again the big brother. "Scar's not coming. Calm down - and hold still." Ed obeyed, though he shivered as he stood. Nuka released his paw from its trap, a little swollen from Ed's frantic pulling.
"We're still friends, aren't we?" Nuka asked. His mother and Scar had turned against him, and he could not bear the thought of being all alone. Ed moved his head solemnly, once up, once down. "Come on then Ed, old friend. I'll take you home."
The hyaena was so scared and confused that he hardly seemed to know which way was up, and Nuka had to guide him to the dens a little way off Pride Rock where the hyaenas had made their home after the migration from the Elephant Graveyard. Shenzi and Banzai were just visible in the gloom, standing guard. Nuka heard a frightened yell of "Lion!" and then an "Aww, it's only him."
Shenzi dashed out, nuzzling and licking her brother. "Ed - we thought he'd eaten you!" Ed pushed her away, his lower jaw stuck out. "You left me," he accused. "Nukie saved me!"
"Is that so?" Banzai walked stiff-legged towards them, bridling at Nuka. "You made us look pretty bad back there. Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now, runt."
"Banzai - he rescued Ed. And they're friends." She turned an almost loving look on the pair; bully him though she did, the tough female had a soft spot for her simple brother.
Nuka lay flat, his half-grown mane in a tangle and his eyes enormous. "Can I stay with you guys?" he pleaded. "I'm so scared." Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other doubtfully, while Ed twirled his stumpy tail and whined with eagerness.
"Well, OK." Banzai said at last. "But you get to bunk with Ed."
"I can leave, you know." Zira glared at her mate, daring him to contradict her. Hostile as she was, Scar was cheered slightly by her choosing to speak to him at all.
"You can't. Not now." He looked to the twins, acknowledging their presence for the first time since their paternity was revealed. "You can't carry two cubs away with you, and you need the lionesses to provide enough food for the three of you to survive." The fiercely independent lioness glowered as she tried not to accept the truth. Though she had been part of a pride for several months, she still wanted everyone to know that she could make it on her own.
"Perhaps it's best if I leave." The King rose and walked slowly to the cave entrance. He could not stand to be here any more. Feeling so stiff and awkward with Zira in the very den where they had snuggled and embraced was torture to him. He itched and burned with restless frustation. And if going away meant deserting his pride - well, they had made it clear for a long time that he was not doing his royal duty. Let them manage without him for a while. A day, or a week perhaps. He and Zira were getting nowhere while they were lumped together like this. A time apart might heal the rift between them, as tempers cooled and a familiar presence was missed.
"Will you come back?" Zira asked suddenly, cublike.
"Yes. Will you be here when I
do?" Scar was afraid to leave her alone, but he could not stay. She looked at him
coldly, and merely shrugged. As he crossed the threshold she was not even looking
at him but was washing the inside of Kovu's ear. Scar knew this because he
sneaked a glance over his shoulder to check.
Nuka was in the sleeping-den when Scar arrived. He would rather have been outside - the hyaenas were none too clean or tidy in their habits - but he did not want to be seen. So he adopted the creeping nocturnal life of the pack, and relied on food they brought him rather than go to the lions for his share. He was dozing uncomfortably, his head on a heap of old bones, and was startled to hear the voice of his recent nightmares asking for him by name.
Shenzi came crawling down to him, eyes mad as Ed's with alarm. "Scar wants you," she said. "Stay here. He can't reach you." She had grown fond of the lanky, untidy lad; he was like another younger brother. Ed nodded mutely, pressing himself against Nuka's side. But the lion shook his head.
"No, I'm going. If you've been bad, and you put off being punished, it's only worse in the end when you get it." The few times he had dared to run from an angry Zira had taught him this lesson. Trembling, he pushed himself through the narrow entrance that was easy for a hyaena to negotiate but hard for a growing lion, and stepped blinking into the afternoon.
"Uh...hi there." Nuka shuffled his paws. Scar looked sad, he thought. In truth, Scar was again seeing himself in the scared, unhappy adolescent. He had come here for a purpose. If he was to be estranged from Zira, he could at least try to make peace with her son. It had dawned on him as he paced his territory that this whole mess would never have come about if he had not snapped at Nuka and dashed his hopes of ruling the kingdom.
His expression remained inscrutable, the lazy lids drooping over his green eyes.
"Let's take a walk, Nuka," he said, and it was a command. Nuka fell in step
beside him, wondering. It was several minutes before he plucked up the courage to
ask where they were going.
"First we are going to the waterhole, where you will take a bath." Scar wrinkled his nose. "As my nephew would have said, you're stinky!"
Nuka gave a nervous little laugh. "Living with hyaenas does that, I guess. Heh. Ehem." Was he supposed to mention the hyaenas? Would that make it worse? And when was he going to be punished? He jumped with nerves, and studied Scar's every little movement with wary dread.
After Nuka's wash they walked together almost to the edge of the desert, Nuka skipping every few steps to keep up with the adult's longer stride. At last they halted beside a rushing river that drowned out all sounds but the nearest. Here Scar sat on his haunches and Nuka nervously crouched before him, looking up into his closed face.
"Let me tell you a story," the king began. He seemed uncomfortable seated, and, standing, began to pace to and fro. Nuka's head swivelled as he kept his eyes fixed on Scar.
"Once there was a lion. His father was a king and he and his brother were princes. But because his brother was older, he would be the one to rule when their father was gone.
"Now, this lion had brains, but he wasn't very strong. For a time he was content to help and advise his brother as he ran the pride. Then his brother had a son."
Scar paused and his green eyes flicked briefly to the sky. When he looked back at Nuka they seemed unfocused, as though he were seeing something beyond the adolescent. He swished his tail, once.
"Sir?" Nuka whispered timidly. Scar rounded on him, pressing his face close to the youngster's.
"The lion was jealous! Before, if his brother had died he would have taken over the kingdom! Now there was a new prince and he would be pushed into the shadows and ignored!" Scar's white teeth were visible with every word he spoke. The analogy was not lost on Nuka, who trembled and hung his head.
"What did the lion do, you ask?" Scar hinted, eyeballing Nuka with bristling mane.
"Wh-what?"
"He tricked his brother and his nephew, leading them into a trap. He watched his brother die in agony and lied to his son so he ran away to his death. He killed his brother, and his brother's child."
"Was he king then?" Nuka asked. The next second he would have bitten his tongue off if it could have taken his question back.
"Yes, Nuka, he was king!" roared Scar. "But he was tortured every day by the memory of what he had done. A murderer's existence is a living hell, Nuka. That is what you have escaped." His paw shoved Nuka in the chest with surprising strength, bowling him over. For minutes he lay where he had fallen, his flanks heaving. Nuka was not a particularly perceptive lion, but another question rose in his brain.
"Scar? Was that lion...was it y-"
Scar's paw, claws sheathed and gentle this time, clapped over Nuka's mouth.
"Hush," said the king. He turned his shoulder and began to walk away.
Nuka sat still, his brow wrinkled. All he really knew was that he had hovered on the brink of doing something terrible, something that would have stayed with him all his life. And Scar had saved the situation. Nor had he given Nuka the punishment he deserved. The King seemed to swell to the stature of a god at that moment, although in fact he stooped sadly as he walked. Nuka bounded after his leader in a frenzy of hero-worship.
"Where're you going?" he asked, pattering alongside the bigger lion.
"Away." In
truth, Scar hardly knew. He was a solitary animal, ill suited to being at the
centre of a pride, and he wanted only to be alone. Perhaps he would wander into
the desert, the direction Simba had taken when the hyaenas pursued him, and live
as a rogue - or die as one.
"Why? Come back to Mother with me. Please." Nuka still persisted, though Scar had picked up the pace in an effort to shake him off. At last the king stopped. "Your mother and I had an argument," he said quietly. "I don't think she'll want me back."
Nuka raised his eyebrows at this news, considering it. At last he brightened. "Well, she doesn't like me any more either. So I'll come with you, huh?"
In truth, Scar had never frightened him the way his mother did. She was calculating, striking hours after you thought you'd got away with a crime, and her tongue was harsher than her paw.
Scar winced. "Nuka, no! Please go home."
"Your Majesty...Scar? I want to be with
you. You're the closest I've ever had to a father. I love you." He said it as if
he expected to be hit, gabbling the words together.
Scar stared at him, frankly astonished. Really, the child was impossible. Nuka loved him? He who had been so cruel and thoughtless? He who had probably put the idea of murder into the cub's head in the first place? An unwilling smile hiked up his muzzle, and he awkwardly ruffled the sparse mane between his step-son's ears. His black mood dispersed as suddenly as it had come upon him, and he straightened his shoulders. What had he been thinking of? He was the King. Back at Pride Rock he had a bunch of lionesses to lick into shape and a mate who, he was sure, loved him. They had tried to beat him down, those shadowy forces that brought depression and despair upon him, but they had not won. They would not win, never.
"All right, Nuka," he said shortly. "Let's go home."
Scar was the King, and every part of Pride Rock was his domain. Yet he hesitated on the threshold of the birthing den.
"Scar!" Zira's voice betrayed happiness at seeing him, but the next moment her eyes had narrowed and she had tucked her babies protectively under her forelegs.
Her mate lowered his body, humbling himself before her. Yet he smiled. "I brought you something," he said, standing aside to let Nuka through.
It was the longest the big cub had ever spent apart from his mother. He threw himself upon her, licking and nuzzling. She protested and tried to cuff him away, but soon gave up and began grooming his unkempt fur.
"Thanks for bringing him back," she said awkwardly to Scar. His gaze dropped away, to the two cubs on the floor. They seemed to grow hourly. It was as if Scar was seeing them for the first time - he had not touched them for almost a week, and suddenly he longed to. He was surprised at himself. Was paternal instinct rising in him, even though he was not their father? Was this how Mufasa had felt when Sarabi presented him with their child?
Kovu, who was growing rapidly into a bold, curious cub, stuck his head over his mother's leg and frankly stared. For the second time that day Scar felt an unbidden smile cross his face. In a soft, low voice, the voice he had used to comfort Zira the day he took her for his mate, he called to the little brown creature:
"Kovu. Come...come to daddy."
Zira's eyes opened wide and her paw curled reflexively around her son. Then she released him and watched. The cub hesitated, blinking up at the vastness of his cave world. With tiny wobbling steps he tottered over to Scar - a great distance for his small paws to travel. Filled with determination, he ran the last few feet before falling against the lion's foot.
The teeth that had gleamed in a grin when Mufasa fell to his death took Kovu's scruff and lifted him. The cub made a cooing sound of delight and interest as Scar turned his head and placed him between his crooked shoulder blades. He bounced gently upon his pads, rocking his passenger. Walking to the entrance, he gave Kovu his first glimpse of the outside. Kovu's eyes screwed up at the touch of sunlight and he gasped, tightening his new claws in Scar's back.
A phrase came into Scar's mind: Everything the light touches is our kingdom. He remembered his father Ahadi saying it to Mufasa, as the young Taka sat neglected in the shadows. He turned.
"This is my son and heir," he said. "On the day of the new moon's rising he will be presented before the entire kingdom. Zazu will spread the word."
"Presented?" Zira frowned. Scar trotted over, deposited Kovu at her paws and kissed her ears.
"I forgot you were an outsider. When the king has a son, he is held up at the tip of Pride Rock before all the animals." There were precious few animals around at the moment, Scar remembered. He flicked the angry thought aside. "Rafiki, our shaman, performs a ritual to seal the ceremony. Kovu will be a prince."
"Me, too!"
Scar jumped. Kovu's sister, Vitani, was peeking at him and had spoken. First Nuka and now Vitani - would Kovu ever be safe from his siblings? He looked hard at the blue-eyed cub. He could not bear the thought of her growing up as he had done, in the shadow of a dominant brother. It might even be kinder to dispose of her now, as Nuka had thought to do...
As he watched, however, Vitani hit Kovu hard on the nose and pounced on him. Thoughtfully, Scar rubbed his bearded chin.
"Vitani, come here."
"Shan't."
Scar raised an eyebrow and marched over to the cub. He picked her up, less gently than he had her brother, and swung her in turn onto his back.
"Now, Vitani. Boys are princes and kings. Girls are princesses and queens. You have to look after your brother and help him as much as you can. Be his friend, play with him, help him learn what it means to be a king. Then, one day, you will be at his side to help him rule. Will you do that?"
"I guess." Vitani stalked up Scar's neck to perch on his head, her sharp little claws making him wince. He removed her with his paw.
"I see you won't have any trouble making Kovu toe the line." And I will be a better father than Ahadi, Scar thought. I won't neglect you, Vitani, my lover's daughter. I see Zira's spirit in your eyes already.
He dropped the sassy lioness cub at her mother's side and turned again to Kovu, one black claw lifting the curl of dark fur that fell across his forehead. He looked into the startling green eyes that anyone who knew no different would believe inherited from him.
"Some day in the future, you will be a king."
Zira looked proud and happy. Vitani pouted, but changed it to a grin. Even Nuka looked pleased, and smiled at his little brother as though he himself had conferred the honour upon him. Only Kovu didn't seem affected by Scar's speech. He was busy patting at a bug that crawled across the cave floor.
