Chapter 10 – A Life Not Wanted
Nala's eyes widened when she heard Scar's voice, and she twisted around to see him smirking down at her.
"Come, you need better accommodations for raising a cub." He ushered her back through the rows of hyenas, the cub's fur clenched firmly in her teeth.
Nala caught a glimpse of Talani's loathing expression as they passed back toward Pride Rock, and wished desperately that they had switched places.
The cave was utter blackness. She settled herself and the cub in a corner easily enough, but had to bite back a gasp when she glanced up to see Scar's eyes glowing green at her from three feet away. That horrible stormy night eight years ago flashed in her mind: Scar stalking her into a corner, prepared to kill her before the space was dazzled by lightning.
Her ears pasted automatically to the sides of her head in fright, and she nearly bolted as the cub began suckling again.
"His name… his name…" Scar murmured aloud, his voice echoing softly around the rocks. "Nala, do you have any ideas?"
She looked up with a start. "I… hadn't given it much thought," she said. More like no thought at all. With this pain and humiliation, and he thinks I have an idea for its name?
"No, I suppose not," he mused. He began pacing, pads making no sound on the floor. The sound of his unsheathed claws scratching the jagged rock unnerved her more than total silence would, and she fought nausea as the cub seized another nipple.
"What are you thinking of?" she asked finally, after hearing his tail swish too close to her face a few times.
"I'm thinking we should call him Taka," he replied.
Nala cocked her head.
"That was my name, you see," he added conversationally. "Before the—incident—from whence I acquired the name Scar. Taka… it's been so long. Oh, what a proud line we will have. My son with his father's name; he will be a great, worthy, strong ruler. Just like our beloved Mufasa." He spat the name with malice. "What do you think, my dear?"
Nala shivered. She knew he had deliberately said Mufasa's name to see a reaction from her. Bowing her head in submission, she said quietly, "I think it's a wonderful idea, sir."
His teeth glinted in the shadows. "Of course."
Nala's mind was in overdrive. I've only just bore him a son not an hour ago, and he's already talking of more? Before, he had simply said one, to begin a line. Now he wants to have another?
As if he could read her thoughts, Scar slunk up to her and put his face three inches from her own. "You do not think it is a 'wonderful idea', do you? No, I can see you don't. This is the ultimate torture for you, isn't it, Nala? Well, it shall continue. This thing you swore to me would not come to pass has, and you can do nothing about it. Nothing. You are mine."
His gaze shifted to little Taka, who had finally had his fill and was curled against her belly, asleep; Scar's eyes hardened and he moved to the raised stone in the middle of the cave. There he sat, watching Nala with those nightmarish green eyes until she fell into an uneasy sleep.
