Tanabi's adventures with Usiku continued as time went on. They had taken to each other like wildfire, and Tani wouldn't leave her alone. Whether this bothered her or not, I couldn't tell, and she was unlikely to let her feelings be known to anyone, least of all me, in all honesty. There's something about the life of a rogue that makes their personality and view on life altogether different than a pride lion. They like to keep themselves to themselves, and don't always appreciate company as much as we do. Not only that, but she was surely determined to keep her head down and not cause trouble. She knew her dangerous situation, and that she definitely did not want to cross the line. For this reason, she was never heard to moan at all, or complain about Tanabi!!

As it was, one day, I and a group of lionesses were basking in the afternoon sun on the savannah. Usiku was not there, preferring instead to remain in a shady part of pride rock, out of the way. None of the others had any real problem with this, and we peacefully discussed how things were going.

"She leads a good hunting party, she's taught us a thing or two!"

"Yes, I think it must be her natural stealthiness as a rogue," offered Hulo, "she's used to fighting and hunting on her own, so a team effort must be a real blessing for her."
"Unless you lot get in the way," I laughed.

I got a slightly sour look from her, and I resolved to keep my mouth shut from that point onwards, and instead listen to what they had to say.

"I'm glad she's settled in," said Nala, breaking the uneasy silence.

"Yes, we're pleased to accept her into our pride, aren't we girls?" said Mtifu.

A murmured approval swept the circle. "I just can't imagine why everyone's treated her so appallingly in the past," said Hulo, finally getting onto a subject which everyone had pondered, but had so far been too shy or scared to ask.

Nala gave me a look. It was true, I probably did know more than most of the lionesses, but I wasn't sure it was really my place to tell them. Nala, it seemed, agreed with me, as she gave me a shushing look, and replied, "Perhaps we shouldn't be so scared and intimidated by her. If we want her to be close to us, why don't we feel free to ask and share all our closest secrets? That's what we have each other for, right?"

There was another stir of mixed nodding and grunting which seemed to indicate that most of the pride did indeed agree with Nala.

Mtifu spoke up. "But won't it be rather intimidating for her to answer any questions, surely we should leave it to her in her own time."

There was quiet gossiping and whispering around the circle. I was burning to say something, but after my last effort, I tried very hard to keep quiet. I realised most of them didn't know about poor Usiku's past and how she was unwilling to let on the pain she felt because of it. Also, she was never likely to get too close to the pride as a whole whilst she still felt there was a chance she might not remain here forever, be it as a result of the River Pride coming after her, or the rebel lionesses, or even by her own choice. As I mulled the thoughts over, the lionesses continued their talking.

"She's so good with the cubs, I wonder if she ever had any herself?"

"Who knows?" said Mtifu quickly, clearly covering up the truth, and I was quite grateful to be honest. She then finished, "I don't think she'd really appreciate us talking about her like this, maybe we should leave it?"

The overall reaction of the crowd was that they were more than prepared to continue the chat, but, in the interests of what Usiku's closest ally and friend wanted, they relented.

The talk moved onto more boring and trivial things, which seemed to interest the lionesses immensely, though I personally couldn't understand the appeal. I lost interest rapidly, and was hoping for a diversion when from behind the circle, the figure of Tanabi waving at me caught my eye. No one else noticed him, and I was pleased of the diversion, so I snuck out of the circle without being noticed (it wasn't really all that hard!) and made my way towards him. Considering he'd only been playing, he looked quite hot and bothered, even worried.

"Hey Dad," he greeted me, "how's the boring mothers meeting?"

I laughed, "Boring," I admitted. He seemed delighted in my answer, and rolled on his back giggling.

"So, what's up? Any problems?" I asked him.

"Not really," he stopped rolling, looking slightly confused, "Why would there be?"

"I thought you looked worried," I said, looking at him seriously.

He smiled, "Oh, that was just a plan to make sure you came and saw me."

What a crafty cub. I'm sure I would never have done something like that…

"And also…"

"Yeah?" I quandered.

"Well, Auntie Usiku looks kinda worried, Dad. She wouldn't admit it though, just carried on playing with me and Sava and Ella as if nothing was wrong, but I know there was. I always know."

I wasn't that surprised. "You have to understand, Tani, that it's difficult for her. Coming into our pride, I mean."

He looked confused. "But why? She gets on with everyone… Except for those ones who left, but they never see her."

"But she's not a pride lion. She's still not fully used to it."

He still didn't understand. He didn't know about rogue lions yet. I didn't consider it the right time to tell him, so I told him not to worry for now, and that I'd explain another time. The Serengeti, in the heat of the afternoon sun, is not the ideal time for frustrating explanations to an impatient cub.

So we left it at that, and he jumped on my back. As we heard Nala calling him for a bath, he climbed onto my shoulders and whispered in my ear, "Please, Dad, take me to the waterhole or somewhere, anything to avoid a bath."

I grinned to myself. Was that me or him talking?! I set off, leaving Nala's call behind. After a distance, Tanabi rolled off my back and started walking along beside me. "You know what, Dad?"

I looked at him, "What?"

"I know there's something weird going on. With Usiku and all that. I'm sensible enough to realise. Sava and Ella, they don't really care. They wonder why I do. But I should care, shouldn't I dad? Because it's important, I can tell, cos of the way everyone hushes up about it all the time whenever I ask," he tailed off, sheepishly.

I sighed. Should I tell him? Should he care? I wasn't sure, but perhaps he did have a right to know after all. On the other hand, could I trust him with the knowledge? Would that put him in danger? Would he give it away to others who shouldn't know? We'd stopped and he was staring at me expectantly, head cocked to one side. "C'mon, Dad."

"Well…" I began, unsure of quite what to say. "Yes, it is kind of important."

Now it was Tanabi's turn to sigh. "Kind of? Come on, you can say more than that."

I lost it, and blurted, "Usiku…she's…she's worried, Tani."

"About what?"

"What might happen to her."

"What might happen to her?"

"Others could come looking for her."

"Is that all?" said Tanabi, sarcastically, no sense of its possibilities.

"Doesn't that worry you, what might happen to Aunt Usiku?"

"Not really," he shrugged, "she's good at looking after herself, and anyway, if that's not good enough, you'll protect her, won't you. No one's any match for you really, are they? No one ever challenges the King."

If only life were as simple as it seemed in Tanabi's world. But perhaps he did have a small point. No one ever challenged the King. Most of the River Pride were even too scared to venture over their borders into the Pridelands. In fact, the only one who had was Usiku herself. Tanabi had bounded off towards the water hole, apparently contented at what he considered only a minor problem being solved. Though I knew different, I ran after him. For now, what was the point in worrying what the future might bring when we could so easily just make the best of what we had. And, by Aideu, what I had could be seen as rather good!