With a cut on his muzzle and still panting, Taka crept up the side of Pride Rock and stalked into the cave, the badger dangling from his jaws. Elanna looked up expectantly. She saw the gift and knew at once what it meant.

With the excitement of a puppy about to be fondled, Taka closed the remaining distance with ears erect and tail twitching. He dropped the gift at her feet and smiled. “Happy anniversary, my darling Lannie!”

“Oh look, a badger!” She rose at once and rubbed him sinuously full length. Then she raised on her hind legs and put her arms around his neck, rubbing his face with hers and bearing him lovingly to the ground where she panted in soft leonine laughter. “You didn’t forget!”

“You’d better eat it while it’s still warm.”

“Forget the meat, my husband. Have I told you lately that I love you?”

“Every day. It’s what wakes me up every morning and it’s my lullaby every night.” He touched her with his gentle pink tongue and reached up with a paw to fondle her cheek. “Oh gods, I love you more than life itself!”

In the midst of their intimate moment, Isha came in. “Sire, there’s a strange lioness that wants to see you.”

“A strange lioness?? What does she want?”

“She won’t tell us.”

He nuzzled Elanna. “I’ll be right back. Remember where we left off.”

Taka headed to the mouth of the cave. A miserable creature was slowly trudging up the side of Pride Rock. “Who is that?”

“Her name is Kako,” Isha said. “She came from the east.”

He could tell that she was expecting cubs, but her face lacked the radiance lions called the “light in the eyes.” She slowly strode before the Pride Sisters, and each one dropped her eyes in turn. She was beautiful and noble in her suffering. Taka felt that he could relate to her somehow. He had known suffering intimately, and realized with a shock that he could almost read her thoughts.