Isha looked at Kako and her heart sank. Kako had always been so friendly to her and smiled so beautifully. The beauty was still there, but she looked like she was at a funeral, not a mantlement. Deep inside, that’s how she felt too. Mabatu looked very small, pitiful, and frightened. The proud lion of last night shrank down like a disciplined cub, pacing about, lost in the whirlpool of his inner turmoil.
Taka stalked into the meadow with slumped shoulders and dragging tail. He looked like the weight of the world was on him, and indeed he looked back as if to see what sat on his back. He was really watching Elanna who filed silently behind him.
Only Shenzi seemed to be upbeat. She had never seen a mantlement before, and she sought to satisfy her idle curiosity with a little pageantry and culture.
There would be little pageantry. It was a very private ceremony and very somber. Standing in the midst of the blossoms where the night before Baba and Isha had first made love, Kako put on her best smile and looked at her hapless son. “Where has my little cub gone? All I see is this lion.” She shuddered to say it.
“I’ll always be your son,” Baba replied, and nuzzled her.
“Remember me,” she said. “When you are a great king, do not forget that I gave you milk.”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “When you are gone to be with your fathers,” he stammered, “pray for me.”
“I will pray for you.” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. She looked at Taka with desperation and cried, “Oh gods, my son, my little son!”
“Don’t cry, mother.” Mabatu kissed away her tears. “You must be strong for me. I will carry this moment with me for the rest of my life.”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffed back her bitter tears and managed a smile. “Besides, we will meet again among the stars, and nothing will separate us. May the Lord Aiheu smile upon you. May the grass be soft beneath you. May the great kings enfold you. May you find love and safety wherever you go.”
“I’ll be safe. The gods are with me.”
Isha trembled and tears flooded her eyes. Mabatu noticed and went to her, kissing away her tears. He whispered, “I’ll come back for you. If Aiheu lets me live, I’ll make a place for us. Will you wait for me?”
“I will. I swear.”
“I will always love you. If I die, look in the stars. I will be watching over you.”
“Don’t die. Promise me you won’t die!”
“I promise you I’ll try not to. You are everything to me--wife, lover and friend. I will fight to hold on for your sake, and someday I’ll make a life for us and for our children.”
Isha turned from him and began to sob. Mabatu quietly walked back to his mother and nuzzled her. He wanted to remember how she felt, smelled, and sounded. He peered into her sad eyes and said, “Mother.”
“My son.” She touched him with her tongue for the last time and stroked his cheek with her paw. “I release you to God.”
Silently, he turned to the north and walked away without looking back, as custom dictated. He reached the edge of the forest and drew close to the border of the Pride Lands. One more small meadow caressed his feet in fond farewell. One last clump of reeds stroked him as he stopped for a moment at the far side of the meadow. “I’ll come back for you,” he murmured quietly. “Isha, my dearest Isha, I must leave you now.” He stepped across the threshold of The Big World and immersed himself in uncertainty.