Chapter Five Arrival in the Pridelands.
Nala decided to do patrol duty today. Simba needed others besides himself to go on patrol. She wanted to guide Mufasa into the Pridelands. He was going to surprise his son. She got up early and stood at pride rock and looked out over the plains. She wandered around. the Pridelands. Then she saw two lions in the distance. One of them was a large golden lion with a red mane. The other was a dark brown lioness. Nala went out to meet them. She was disappointed to see that the brown lioness was Kanya.
Nala ran and hugged Mufasa. "It is so go to have you home. Your Majesty. What are you doing here, Kanya? Are you just trying to see Mufasa, home?"
"King Simba did not let you know? I have decided to take a position here as chief medic. I gave up my position as Dean. I just want to be a regular healer again. When this position became open, I applied for it."
Nala was really angry at Simba. She was going to be Chief Medic for the Pridelands. That was why Nala had been sent to Medical School in the first place. And he had not shared this with her. She was hoping that her and Mufasa could work together. Of course she had her duties as queen, but she felt she could be Chief Medic as well.
Nala's thought s were interrupted by the voice of Mufasa. "Nala, I am no longer, King and you do not have to call me Your Majesty. I am just Mufasa, remember."
"Of course, Mufasa. Listen, since this is a surprise, I will just slip in and let Simba know you are here. You can quietly meet Simba and then we can take you to see the rest of the lionesses."
Kanya stepped in."This is no surprise, Nala I sent a message to Simba that his father was alive when I was accepted for the job as Chief Medic. Simba definitely knows. Mufasa is coming. In fact Simba and I agreed that it was better to have Mufasa meet everyone then spend time with his son. After all, the lionesses have been missing Mufasa for years."
"Did you let Mufasa or me in on this, Kanya? Or just as usual plan everyone's lives?" Nala snapped.
"Well, no. After all, Simba is the final authority on everything here. I just thought it was not necessary. Why are you so upset? Mufasa does not care one way or the other, don't you Mufasa?"
"I would have like to have been informed. I wanted to see my son privately before meeting the rest of the pride, but we will go along with your plan."Mufasa stated.
"Kanya, I am queen here and one of your duties as Chief Medic is to answer to me. In the future, if you plan to discuss anything with the King, you will notify me first and I will tell him."
"As Chief Medic, I only have to answer to the king. I could even have you declared unfit for rule if I wanted to. So I can discuss anything with the King without your interference. However, your majesty I will inform you if I plan to discuss anything with the king. I will at least keep you in the loop. That is the only responsibility, I have towards you."
"Very well. But if you ignore my authority in the future, I will have you removed from your post. You will not keep anything from me again. Is that understood, Kanya?" Nala firmly stated. Her voice held a note of coldness that increased with every word she uttered. How dare this lioness go to Simba behind her back.! And what was worse, Simba allowed it.
The small party went to Pride Rock. Simba stood at the top, his mane shining in the Sun, the lionesses were gathered on the rocks below and animals surrounded everyone. When the three lions walked through the crowd of animals everyone cheered. Simba walked down Pride Rock and embraced his father. "Welcome, home Dad!" the young king said. Then he presented Mufasa to the animals. "Everyone, please welcome my father and former King Mufasa back to the Pridelands! He has come back from the dead. And now he is before us , alive and healthy!" Simba roared then Mufasa roared. The lionesses roared. The animals cheered. Then Simba turned to Kanya. "Welcome to Pride Rock, Chief Medic Kanya! Rafiki has told me about your skill as a medic. I am sure you will serve us well! Thank you for bringing my father, home!" Kanya smiled at Simba and bowed to him. "It is a pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty. I am looking forward to serving you as I served your father, Mufasa.!" Simba smiled at her. "The lionesses will show you to your quarters!"
Simba spoke again to Mufasa."Father, you and I will have a private dinner." Then the King turned to Nala. " Queen Nala will you make sure that My father and I have the zebra. Can you get some of the lionesses to bring it to us?"
"Of course, Simba," Nala said.
"And Queen Nala, in front of others you will address me as King Simba or your Majesty or Sire. Among family members in private, you can address me by my name. We have spoken of this before so please remember this from now on. I do not like repeating myself.", Simba spoke sharply to the Queen.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will get the zebra for you and Mufasa." Nala bowed to King Simba and left. I will have to talk to him about this later., Nala thought. Mufasa looked at his son with a sigh. His son was a different King indeed. He wanted to speak to him but it was really too soon to interfere.