Chapter 7
Romance Under The Stars
The weather was perfect that night; clear skies illuminated by millions upon millions of bright shining stars. Within Dornaus' compound, there was a romantic atmosphere. A table had been set up just on an artificially raised portion of land near the shooting range. On the table was a vase with a red rose, a lit candle, and a bottle of wine imported from Bern, Switzerland. Earlier Lena had gone for a walk with Kiara to give her advice on romance, and her male counterpart wanted to surprise her.
Joining Dornaus in preparation was Kovu. Just a few hours ago he had secretly met up with the king's bodyguard to arrange for this rather awkward and unusual double date and surprisingly, the human was quite enthusiastic about it. They chose the compound for two main reasons. The first was that the artificially raised section gave one an amazing view of the Pridelands. The other reason was due to the unique political climate of the compound.
An agreement which has existed since the time when Mufasa hired Dornaus as a bodyguard has specifically excluded the compound from all forms of control by the monarchy. In a way it was an "autonomous region" where the king had no right to touch, not even during defensive action. In fact, if the compound were to be attacked, a security unit which answered to Dornaus would be called into action.
Thanks to the so called "exclusion zone", Kovu and Kiara could meet without Simba interrupting them since they were, by law, in neutral territory outside his control. With the table set up and area cleaned, Dornaus returns to his dome where he applies man fragrance and puts on his Navy Dress Blues. Worn on his side was a USN Officer's Sword and he had a dark leather holster attached to his belt.
Inside the holster was his prized M15 General Officer's Pistol, a birthday gift from Lt. Col. Patterson; a former Army officer who served in Desert Storm and was a good friend of his. The Navy never issued such a gun to him and it was an honor to be given something which belonged to a general officer. Chatter could be heard outside the dome, signaling the return of Kiara and Lena.
Dornaus emerges from the dome and surprises his female counterpart as she walks past the structure while walking towards the candle lit table.
"Look at you, handsome." She giggles. "Something to do with the candle lit table?"
"Precisely." Dornaus holds the hand of his female counterpart. "Shall we?"
"Of course."
The humans sit down at the table while Kovu and Kiara lay nearby, star gazing. In the center of the table was a covered tray. Dornaus removes the cover and reveals two servings of medium Sirloin Steak, topped off with herbs, chips, and pepper sauce, all of it kept warm by the insulating cover. Topping off the meal were two glasses of Swiss Wine, which the male human poured into Lena's glass first before his own.
"You've taken cooking courses haven't you?" Lena asks. She was impressed after taking the first bite. "Because this is seriously good."
"Koenig taught me." Dornaus answers. "We were friends long before I joined the Navy and when I joined the service I would visit him in Bern when my unit was rotated out."
"And now?"
"We've drifted a bit, and when we do talk, it's either on the phone or social media."
"Why is that?"
"DEVGRU."
"Right, busy work schedule."
"Precisely. By the way, how old are you again?"
"Twenty one. Don't worry, you're not that much older."
"I'm thirty seven for Christ sakes! You know it yourself."
"That's your age based on date of birth; you're really just twenty seven. Remember the potion you and Rafiki perfected?"
"Yeah."
Behind the two humans, Kovu and Kiara continue to stargaze. They were amazed by the constellations and shapes in the night sky. Leo was present, along with the Southern Cross and Scorpio. Kiara also notices a rabbit shape formed by the star while her male sees another which looks like two lions fighting each other over something. Dornaus was quick to notice their actions and he points a long range spotting scope into the night sky.
"Leo… Southern Cross… Scorpio…" the male human names. "Sky tonight is surprisingly clear."
"Let me see." Lena grabs the scope from her boyfriend. "Yeah, I see em. And a black object."
"Black object?" Dornaus takes his scope back and scans the night sky. "Ah, just a night patrol drone."
"They do night patrols now?"
"After the last intrusion? Better safe than sorry."
"Do they mind me here?" Kovu asks.
"They'll only mind you if I say so, those drones answer to me and me only." The human pauses for a second as he takes a sip of wine. "You're okay, Kovu. Sure you might've been a bit hostile at first but hey, we can all change."
"I'm not sure Simba thinks the same way."
"Ah don't mind him. He's having a bad case of paranoia."
While the four continued to stargaze, Simba stands on top of Pride Rock. He could see the compound from here and was at a loss. Kovu and Lena were once part of the exiled pride and now they were getting all warm and fuzzy with two of the most important members of the ruling monarchy; Kiara was his daughter while Dornaus was the chief of security and defense advisor.
He seeks council from his father but the late king does not respond or even present himself. Seeing that Mufasa wasn't going to talk any time soon, Nala approaches her mate and gives him advice. While not obvious, the queen was a very wise individual, able to look through the blinds and see the truth when others could not. She explains to the king that while Kovu might've been born and raised to hate the current monarchy, there was a good chance that he saw the light and switched sides.
Besides, the time he spent with Kiara seemed to lean towards this fact and he was clearly not nervous or on edge while around Dornaus, who was known to be capable of taking on lions in a pinch. Before she left, Nala reminds her husband that everyone changes with the environment. Kovu might've been a killer at one point but Kiara could've softened him to the point where he switched sides.
Simba looks at the four for a few moments before returning to the den after his wife.