With crushing heartbreak, Gur’mekh watched as Demrath and Lenti pledged to each other in a public ceremony. Sildresh watched her only son take the vows, deeply stirred. Gur’mekh was also deeply stirred, but to bitterness.
The other hyenas, who all liked Demrath, felt they had just witnessed a beautiful event. Gur’mekh only saw that his chosen one--the one he would have made Grand Empress of Pride Rock--was marrying his most hated enemy! Clearly she did not deserve him or the empire, but it was too much for Gur’mekh to put behind him. He determined that one way or the other, he would take his share of happiness.
On the evening of their wedding, Gur'mekh followed the newlyweds to their private sanctuary. What he planned would have made Demrath to fight him to the death. For hiding out nearby where he could hear them, Gur’mekh laid down in the grass. Gur’mekh closed his eyes and quietly mouthed, "Lend me your thoughts, Demrath. Lend me your feelings, Demrath. Let me see through your eyes, Demrath. Let us be one, you and I."
He concentrated until he went into a deep trance. Though his eyes were closed, he could see Lenti’s face through Demrath’s eyes. She was gazing on her husband with mixed joy and shyness.
“Lenti!” Gur’mekh uttered. After a few moments, a smile came to his face. "Oh yes, Lenti!" He took in a deep breath and let it slowly out. With a grunt of pleasure, he rolled over on his back, shedding his own identity to feel more clearly the intoxication of the moment. He chuckled and said, "I bet your boyfriend Gur’mekh is biting his leg over this!"
“Shame on you!” she said. “I really feel a little sorry for him.”
“Sorry? For him?”
“Sure. He’s always wanted the one bak’ret he can’t have. There are a dozen others who’d give their whiskers to get him behind the bushes.”
A fleeting smile came to Gur’mekh’s face. “But not you?” he mouthed.
“No. I said I felt sorry for him, not that I loved him. I only want you. I’ve always wanted you. Now don’t stand there on your wedding night and talk about Gur’mekh! Come to me, darling! You’re my husband--make love to me!”
Gur’mekh pushed anger to the back of his mind as Demrath rubbed full length down Lenti’s side. He gasped, abandoning himself to a passion that made him drunk with joy. The corners of Gur’mekh’s mouth began to twitch, and his paws trembled. "I love you, Lenti!” he murmured.
“Beloved,” she sighed, swept away by a passion Gur’mekh had only dreamed of, a passion that he could sense but not possess.
“Oh gods, can you feel me tremble!” Gur’mekh shuddered and stifled a cry of passionate fulfillment. The episode felt like an eternity, but in moments it was over. Suddenly his eyes opened and he looked around, expecting to see her beautiful face and feel her lithe body next to his. But he was alone, terribly alone, looking up into the cold sky. He found himself mired in a deep abiding emptiness and, for the first time in his life, very ashamed of himself.
"Never again!” he hissed. “Someday I will have her to myself, but not this way! Oh Gods, I feel so awful!"
Gur’mekh slinked home, more determined than ever to settle his score with Demrath. “Bite my leg indeed! Pfah!! At least Lenti had the decency to pity me!”
But the more he thought about her pity, the more angry he became. “When I’m Emperor of Pride Rock and the world bows before me, she’ll BEG me to make love to her! She’ll beg me just to NOTICE her!” He sniffed in contempt. “And as for YOU, Demrath, we have an appointment to keep.”