Chapter Ten

Nala knew what she had to do. She called a private meeting with Simba, Kanya, Mufasa, Rafiki, and her mother Sarafina in attendance. The meeting took place near the Medicine Cave on the morning of her wedding to Simba. Simba was perplexed. Why was this meeting being called?

Sarafina was also upset. "What is going on, Nala? You should be getting ready for your wedding."

Simba was also angry. "Why are we wasting time, here?"

Kanya said she had a medical schedule to keep and this meeting did not concern her. "Why am I here?" she asked.

"This meeting does concern you, Kanya. It concerns both you and Simba."Nala replied.

Mufasa was alarmed. "Kanya, why are you interfering with my son's coming marriage?"

Rafiki looked at the assembled group. He had them meet in one of the medical office caves. "We might as well get started. Why are you calling this meeting, Nala?"

Nala took a deep breath and looked at Simba and Kanya. "Simba and Kanya, you two are in a relationship. Please do not deny it.I saw you both last night on the grass."

Both Simba and Kanya looked embarassed. Simba recovered quickly. "Yes, we are in a relationship, but you are still going to be my queen, Nala. Kanya has agreed to become my concubine. Our children will still inherit the throne if you are concerned."

"Simba, I want to call off the wedding. I would rather not marry you."

Simba grew angry. "What is wrong with you? Kings sometimes have concubines. You can't

call off the wedding. I AM THE KING. We are betrothed. Only I can call off the wedding.!"

Nala looked at her wimp of a fiance. "I studied the laws of our pride and I consulted the Great Kings. I am allowed to call off the wedding. You cannot force me into a marriage, Simba."

Simba turned to Mufasa. "Father, can Nala do this?"

"Yes, Simba she can. We do not have forced marriages in this pride. Lionesses consent to marriage and choose their mates." Mufasa answered.

Simba began to pace back and forth.'' What am I going to do? You have embarassed me, Nala. This is the final humiliation. I have always stood by our betrothal and respected you. You are throwing away years of tradition. This has never happened before. Are you sure I cannot change your mind? If you refuse to marry me, you will not be queen. You will just be an ordinary pride lioness. And I could exile you. Have you thought about that? What will you do? "

"Simba, being queen does not mean anything to me. I would rather be a healer. Simba, I do not love you. I love someone else. I am sorry. Make Kanya your queen. She is much more suitable. In fact, you can make today's wedding your engagement party."

"Now you leave me no choice. " Simba said. "Kanya, come over here please. " Kanya came and stood in front of Simba. "Kanya, will you marry me and be my queen? I believe I love you and you are good at diplomacy and administration. You can help me rule."

"Yes, Simba, I would love to be your queen. I love you, too." Kanya replied. The two nuzzled.

"That does not mean we are finished, Nala." Simba said. "I really do not want you around me right now. I am going to reserve my judgement of you until after my engagement party. And I would prefer that you stay away from that party, Nala. Sarafina , you are welcome to come.

. And by the way, I know who you love Nala. You embarassed me in front of everyone here, so now I will return the favor. Father, come over here please."

"Yes, Simba" Mufasa said. "What is it?"

"Father, this trollop jilted me because I believe she is in love with you. Do with her what you wish. I wash my hands of her. Rafiki, Kanya, we have an engagement party to prepare."

"We are done here, " Rafiki said. " we will announce the betrothal tonight." Simba, Kanya, and Rafiki left the room.

Nala, Sarafina, and Mufasa were stunned. Sarafina reacted first. "I believe you two have things to work out. Nala, I will talk to you later. " Sarafina stated. "You will have to find some way to win Simba's favor again if you want to continue living here."

Mufasa and Nala looked at each other. Mufasa was still in shock. Nala decided to speak first.

.

She declared, "Mufasa, I love you. I have loved you from the first moment you came here. I do not want to be queen. I am sorry I could not break up with your son earlier. It was too impossible to leave this situation.!"

Mufasa became angry. It was too much to process all at once. "Nala, what do you expect me to say? That I love you? You just jilted my son, Nala. My concern for him comes first. I am not sure he would want his former betrothed to have a relationship with his father. I am really disappointed in you, Nala. You could have handled this better. I am not sure how I want to deal with this." Mufasa paced back and forth.

"Mufasa, please I love you. I do not want to lose you."

"Nala, I am too old for you. And I want to have a good relationship with Simba. I want to see my grandchildren."

"Don't you care about me at all, Mufasa? Do you want to send me into exile too? I will leave right now if you wish." She started to walk away.

"Dont't turn your back on me, Nala. " Mufasa roared and jumped in front of her."We need to talk, Nala. I am very disappointed in you. You could have called the wedding off earlier. There was no need to embarrass my son—"

Nala's eyes filled with tears She pushed past Mufasa and ran away in the direction of the Upendi Falls.

Mufasa could have kicked himself. He realized he did love Nala. He wanted to comfort her. And his son had taken up with Kanya. He would find Nala and spend time with her.

He would have to tell Simba first. He found his son with Kanya and Rafiki and they were meeting with the lionesses. He walked over the group. First he greeted Kanya. "Let me be the first to welcome you into the family, Kanya," Mufasa stated. He hugged her.

Kanya was shy around her prospective father-in-law. "Do you mind my marrying your son, Mufasa?"

"No,as long as you treat my son well. You do love him, Kanya?"

"Yes, I do Mufasa. And I am the daughter of a queen. I am good at administration. I look forward to taking lessons with you."

"Other than learning the history of our family, you will not need much training. Zazu can give that to you. You will make a fine queen, Kanya." Mufasa realized he really meant this. Kanya would help his son rule the kingdom. She was intelligent and had a lot of good ideas.

Mufasa looked at Simba. "Simba, I love Nala. Do you mind if I marry her? We could go away quietly and get married if you wish."

Simba looked at his father. "Dad I think you should marry Nala. I am really not that mad anymore. I think Kanya is going to be a great queen and I really love her. We talk about everything. I really have a great relationship with her. She is like my other half and she really completes me. I can understand now what you had with Dad you and Nala have the same kind of connection. You are happy when you are around her! She adores you!"

"I am going to Upendi Falls to find Nala, son. I am going to take her to the honeymoon cave. And I may have to miss your betrothal celebration. '

"That's okay Dad. When you and Nala come back, we can have a private one celebrating both of our betrothals. And Nala can come back Dad. I am not going to exile her."

'"I am going to go now, Simba."

"Dad. Don't go alone. There are hyena attacks up there at Upendi falls. I want Pumbaa and Timon to go with you.

"Timon! Pumbaa! Go with my father and look out for him and Nala! I want them both back here safe!" Simba told the meerkat and warthog who were his best friends.

"Aw , gee Simba we were looking forward to your engagement party! "Timon moaned. "Come on, Timon," Pumbaa said cheerfully. "Simba is our friend and we have to look after his father and Nala!" The meerkat and warthog accompanied Mufasa to Upendi Falls.

Simba looked at his beautifulffiance."Now, Kanya," Simba said to the young lioness. " I never thanked your ideas for the Pridelander Guard. You are great at diplomacy. "

"Thank you, your Majesty," Kanya told Simba.

"You don't have to call me your majesty, Kanya! " Simba said. "I am glad you are going to be my Queen. We have so much in are good at administration. I know you could help me rule the Pridelands. And I think I love you. I enjoyed being with you last night. I am glad that I did not have to make you my concubine and that I can make you my queen. I should be grateful to Nala for calling off the wedding."

"Of course, Simba. I know I will love being your Queen. I have always been good at administration. I really did not like being a healer. And I am really attracted to you and I think I love you too" They kissed. Simba and Kanya finished the preparations for the betrothal party. Everybody who went that night had a great time.