Chapter Eight Talk with Rafiki and Sarafina and Plans for the Wedding
Two days later Nala was asked to attend a meeting with Rafiki at his tree. Nala wondered what the meeting was about. He rarely summoned members of the royal family unless he had a vision or wanted to solve a crisis. Nala had an idea what it had to be about Mufasa kissing her. Mufasa's stitches were taken out by Rafiki. He was slowly getting better. She planned to see Mufasa again this afternoon.
When she came to the tree, Rafiki was there with her mother. Sarafina had a very stern look on her meeting was not going to be easy.
Rafiki started the meeting. "Queen Nala, " the mandrill said."Your mother and I are concerned about you relationship with King Mufasa. What is exactly your relationship with the old king?"
"He is my mentor and my father-in-law. Nothing more."
"That is not true and you know it, Nala, " Sarafina said. "Rafiki saw the two of you kissing."
"Mufasa was just comforting me mother. It was totally innocent."
"Queen Nala, I sense turmoil in you regarding your relationship with King I think you are turning too much to Mufasa for comfort. It will make things worse for the Pride if you do not nurture your relationship with your betrothed. And if you cannot do that then maybe someone else should be queen."Rafiki stated gently.
"I am trying my best to make a relationship with Simba. And Mufasa is my friend and adviser. He is giving me lessons about being a queen." Nala snapped at Rafiki.
"And, you are seeing too much of him, "Sarafina stated. "You take lessons with him everyday. You sleep with him at night on the savannah. And you took him on a hunt that injured him. And you would not let the Chief Medic or Rafiki treat him. You performed surgery on him yourself."
"Mother, Kanya is an incompetent Chief Medic. She does not know how to perform surgery. Mufasa was bleeding to death. I had no time to summon Rafiki. I am a good healer, mother. I did the right thing. Mufasa would have died if I had not performed the surgery. In fact why aren't the two of you meeting with Kanya? She should be terminated for her incompetence."
"King Simba and I met with Kanya this morning, " Rafiki stated. "Simba and I feel we can use her skills and the king likes her. She will spend some time with me learning surgical techniques and how to use the latest medicines. Until she learns, then I will perform any surgeries. I will also help with some of the patients."
Sarafina continued the discussion. "Kanya's conduct is none f your concern. But your conduct is hurting the pride, Nala. Everyone is talking about how you and Simba do not seem to get along. There seems to be barely a truce between you. You and Simba are just polite to each other. There is no substance to this leaders of the pride provide stability. Otherwise the pride splits apart. For the sake of the Pride, and since you are queen, you need to improve your relationship with Simba. And one way you can do that is to see less of his father."
"Mufasa is the only one I can turn to for advice. I need his guidance, mother. Please do not make me give him up."
"Nala, at least reduce your time with Mufasa. Don't sleep outside on the savannah when he is there. In fact, why don't you meet with him just twice a week? You can take the rest of your queen lessons from Zazu. And arrange to spend more time with Simba. The pride is gossiping about your relationship with Mufasa. And even Simba is beginning to notice. If you aren't willing to put some time into your relationship with Simba, then maybe you should step down as queen."
"Maybe, I should step down as queen. I am tired of my obligations. I would rather be a healer. " Nala said.
"Stop that kind of nonsense. Rafiki and I think you can be queen. It is your destiny. You just have to show some respect for Simba. Now all you have to do is try to see less of Mufasa and concentrate on Simba. I am sure the two of you will start developing a better relationship. Do it for the sake of the pride. Please Nala. We are all counting on you. You do not have to give up seeing Mufasa just spend more time with Simba. Now I have got to go hunting for zebra." Sarafina hugged her daughter and left.
"What about you, Rafiki? Should I continue to try to be Queen?"
Rafiki looked at her. " All leaders must do what is best for their subjects. You must decide if you can truly be the Queen of the Pridelands, Nala. Your first allegiance is to Simba. If you cannot be his loyal mate, then you should not be queen. I feel that your future is uncertain. Already, I feel that Simba may turn to another. If that happens, I do feel that you will have a comfortable future with a mate you care about. All I can tell you is that you must weigh these matters carefully and follow your conscience. Do what is best for the Pride. Do what is best for everyone, including yourself."
"All right. I will weigh these matters carefully. Does Simba know about this meeting?"
"No, he does not. The King has enough on his mind especially regarding Kanya. I thought I would just meet with you and your mother to make you aware that the pride is gossiping about you and Mufasa. I wanted to spare Simba and you embarassment"
"Thank you Rafiki." Nala then left. She had a lot to ponder.
When she returned to Pride Rock, Simba was waiting for her.
"Where were you? How can I protect you if I do not know where you are going, Nala? We discussed this before!"The young king said as he greeted her. They were in front of the sounded like he was saying what he was supposed to say. It was without warmth or regard for her.
"Quit pretending you are concerned about me Simba! You are only doing this to make me a groupie who agrees with your every move so you can feel good about yourself as king and give yourself a pat on the back! Stop all the pretense. I am sick of it! "
She tried to walk past the regal lion into the den. Simba grabbed her and turned her around to face him. "I have had enough of your insolence and disrespect, Nala. You will start treating me with the respect and honor I deserve as your mate and king or you will be exiled from the Pridelands!"
"I am sorry, Your Majesty. I will try to treat you with the respect you deserve. I will go with you on patrol if you wish.!
"Yes, I was about to go on patrol. You can go with me, today. But where were you?"
"I was meeting with Rafiki."
"Nala, you need to tell me where you are going. Or let one of the guards know. And one more thing, Nala, you are spending way too much time with my father. In fact It would be wise if you stopped seeing him completely."
"Mufasa is family Simba and about the only friend I have around here. YOU WILL NOT STOP ME FROM SEEING HIM! I will reduce the time I spend with him out of respect for your wishes but that is it. If you want to exile me for that then so be it.!"
"No, Nala. I am willing to compromise. You can see Mufasa twice a week when you have your queen lessons. Rafiki saw me this morning and suggested this after I told him my concern about you seeing too much of Mufasa."
"You talked to Rafiki behind my back! I thought you with him were meeting about Kanya. And you should have let me handle that meeting. I am a healer. I think she should have been fired and sent packing. Mufasa almost died because she would not perform surgery."
"I am sorry Nala. Kanya is a great healer and I like her. She justs need to learn some new techniques. She is also a great adviser. She was giving me ideas on more physical activity for the lionesses and recruiting more animals for the Pridelander Guards. She has become a friend and I do not want to lose her. And I think she would make a great mate for my father. She has feelings for him. I am after all the King and I make the final decisions. I though having her train with Rafiki was a good solution. Anyway, after we go on patrol, could you help Rafiki out with some of the patients until Kanya has finished her training? I am also taking Kanya to meet with some of the elephants today about joining the Pridelander Guard. Kanya has a head for diplomacy."
"I will help Rafiki out with the patients. I hope you did not express your concern for me and Mufasa to Rafiki in front of Kanya.
"Of course I did. She is still Chief Medic. She is entitled to know everything. She knows you have some strong feelings for Mufasa. They are not exactly a secret. In fact she suggested that I try to get you to stop seeing Mufasa completely but I told her that I would discuss it with you first. Now let's get started on the patrol. This discussion is finished, Nala."
Nala was livid but kept silent on patrol. This wimp of a king had no respect for her feelings. And she really did not like the King's affection for Kanya. She should be discussing the Pridelander Guard with Simba and the elephants instead of Kanya. How was she ever going to marry Simba? No matter what happened the two of them could barely tolerate each other. Maybe she would have to take this problem to the Great Kings of the Past.
A week passed and Mufasa got well. Nala tried to avoid the old king to look good in the eyes of the left most his care to Rafiki and was alarmed. He wondered what happened and what caused the rift between his daughter-in-law and him. He really and truly cared for her.
When Mufasa was better he sought her out. He told her he wanted to resume his kingship lessons with her. But he also told her that they would be finished soon and she and Simba would have to plan the could not contain the fluttering in her heart when he came to see her.
"There is something else I need to speak to you about, Nala.I have really missed you. Why have you been avoiding me all week? You are always honest with me. What has been going on?"
"Kanya and Simba think I am spending too much time with you. They wanted me to cut back on spending time with you. Kanya loves you Mufasa. And Simba wants you to marry her. As queen, I have to honor their Rafiki and my mother were concerned about this too."
"I am not going to marry Kanya. She has always just been a colleague.I find her quite annoying and I do not want any relationship with her. She is totally obsessed with me. I do not like such devotion in a lioness. It is not healthy. I feel like I cannot breathe around her. She is very immature. I even told her not to apply for the job as Chief Medic but she went behind my back and presented herself to Simba and got the job. I have made it clear that she should leave me alone. I was also angry at her for not performing the surgery. I am surprised Simba wants her to stay on. He seems to like her. In fact I an thinking of telling both of them to back off. They have no right telling you to restrict our time together. The two of them should trust us."
"Simba thinks Kanya is good at diplomacy Mufasa. Anyway I want to finish our lessons but I have to restrict our visits once I become Simba's wife.I will be busy as queen. I have missed you too. And I will still see you after I am queen as my father and friend." She touched Mufasa's cheek with her paw. Then she did something totally unexpected. She nuzzled him. After nuzzling Mufasa, she drew back. "I am sorry, Mufasa. I did not mean to do that. It just happened. It will not happen again." Mufasa looked at her gently.
"It is okay, Nala. Please do not do it again. You owe your loyalty to my son. And yes I think it is important that we both honor his wishes. We will restrict our visits. At least you are willing to consider the wishes of others, Nala.I love that about you." Mufasa put a paw around her shoulder and hugged her and she hugged him back." Kanya is just selfish. I hate her preoccupation with me. If I had Sarabi with me I would not have this problem with Kanya. I miss my Sarabi so much." Nala looked into Mufasa's eyes. He was not thinking about her at all. She saw an image of Sarabi reflected there. Sarabi lived in Mufasa.
Nala knew that her love for Mufasa was wrong. She knew she was being selfish and putting her own interests above her pride. She had disrespected her mate because she loved his father , a man she could never have. She had behaved poorly towards Kanya because of her jealousy. She had made a complete and utter disgrace of herself before her pride. She had to do what was right. She had to do what Rafiki told her to do. She had to put the interest of her pride first.
That night she gathered Rafiki and the Pride lionesses around her as well as Simba and Mufasa. "I have an announcement to make" she said. "Simba and I will get married in two days. I am ready to assume my responsibilities as queen." Simba roared and the lionesses roared but Nala did not roar. Her heart was filled with sadness. What had she gotten herself into?