“Does it matter?” The lioness lay next to her. “What a hot day. And you trying to find snakes and lizards under rocks. Have you ever killed big prey?”

“Well—uh—no.” This visitor was nothing if not impertinent. “How about you?”

“Big prey, small prey, you name it. And what’s more, I know where you can find what you are looking for. I know all the good spots to hunt. You can be the salvation of the Pride Lands with my help.”

“Not until you tell me who you are.”

The lioness pawed her gently. “Why honey, you know who I am—you just refuse to believe it. Take a close look.”

Nala trembled a little. “Oh my gods—Beesa! ”

“I’ve never heard it put quite that way before.” She laughed pleasantly. “What makes you think I’ve turned mean and ugly just because I died?”

“But you’re not mean and you’re not ugly.”

“So what are you afraid of, Hon?” Beesa touched her with her warm, moist tongue. “Tell me you’re glad to see me. Where are your manners?”

Nala pawed her and nuzzled her. “Good old Beesa! I’ve missed you.”

“That’s more like it.” She nuzzled her back. “Follow me, child. I’ll take you to the jungle where your destiny lies.”

“The jungle? But Uzuri said I have to....”

“Don’t worry about her. She can’t see me and she won’t see you.”

Beesa got up, stretched, and headed out into the sun. Nala followed her across the savanna and into the shade of the trees.

After two years as King of the Pride Lands, Taka had earned many enemies. But his oldest enemy was the one he dreaded most. In the night, caught in the suffocating embrace of his recurring dream, Taka began to jerk and moan. Even in sleep, the suffering mirrored clearly in his face as his teeth bared. Elanna stirred and rolled over. His whimpering caught her attention and she shook him. “Taka?”

He awoke in icy terror, almost biting her.

“It’s me. Elanna. You’re safe. Calm yourself, dear.”

“The hyenas, ” he stammered. “It’s always the same. Oh but that the gods would let me roam the earth by day and night, never needing sleep! I try to tell myself it’s just a dream, but I can’t wake up, and I am torn apart, torn apart alive.”

He looks piercingly into her eyes, something that always made her uncomfortable. “What does it feel like to sleep? To just lay down and sleep without fear?”

She yawned. “It’s wonderful. I’d like to try it myself.” She kissed him indulgently. “Tomorrow you must go to Rafiki and ask him what the dream means.”

“Rafiki hates me, ” Taka said. “He would lie just to get me killed. He’d really like to see me ripped apart by hyenas. Poetic justice, he’d call it. He started the problem. I’m not fool enough to trust that ape a second time.”

“Then why don’t you kill him?”

“The gods protect him. His power is too strong. That Makhpil is too close to Shenzi. I don’t trust her either.”

“If everyone is against you, why do you stay here? I’d follow you anywhere—you know that. We could start over, just the two of us.”

“We’d be no safer anywhere else. The true seer had spoken, and I believe her.” He nuzzled her. “Elanna, you must live forever. You’re all I have left. Swear you’ll never leave me.”

She nuzzled him again, rubbing his tense body with her paw. “You’re all I have. I gave up everything for you. I can’t bear your child. You won’t even let me hunt anymore, not that the others can stand me. Taka, leave your doubts at the mouth of this cave. Don’t you know I would never leave you?”

“I know.” He kissed her. “I have to trust you. If you betrayed me, I’d kill myself. You’re the only reason I cling to this miserable existence.”

“Don’t say that, Taka. You know how it tortures me. I wish everyone could see you the way I do.” She touched him with her tongue. “Stop this foolish cub talk and go back to sleep. I’ll put my arm around you and keep it there all night long. At the first sign of trouble, I’ll wake you.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Taka laid his head down and she placed her arm protectively around him, stroking his mane. In a few moments, his calm, slow breaths showed that he was peacefully asleep.

Two hyena eyes shined softly in the darkness as silent feet padded out of the cave.

Skulk headed to a special clan meeting about Scar. Shenzi greeted him affectionately and called for silence. “Our ears have returned. What have they heard?”

“It is no folly that my mother named me Skulk. I was silent, I was unseen and I heard it all.” Pleased with the expectant hush, he continued. “It seems our King has dreams, nasty dreams about being torn apart by hyenas. Not once or twice, but night after night, and always the same. Now I ask you, is a dream dangerous?”

They looked back at him not knowing what to say. “It IS dangerous, ” Skulk thundered. “Especially when he thinks it is a vision, a sign! ”

“He should have been an actor, ” Banzai whispered. Shenzi hushed him.

“I tell you Scar cannot be trusted. He will turn on us the first time he feels threatened.”

“What are we going to do about it?” Banzai asked.

“We could strike when the advantage is with us.”

“Even if we could gang up on him and win, if we attacked him the lionesses might side with him just to get rid of us.”

“Fair enough, Banzai. But do you think I’m a hot-headed fool?” His frown discouraged Banzai from answering. “He is a hollow shell, a dried husk. His very life hangs in the balance.”

“Your speeches are murder, ” a heckler called out.

“Say that to my face, and I will show you a murder! ”

There was deadly silence. Skulk was a well-sculpted fighting machine.

“As I was saying, I heard with my own ears Scar telling Elanna if he lost her he would kill himself.”

The remark was followed by some gasps of surprise. “With him gone, we could figure out something more creative. Maybe the lionesses would be in a position to bargain with us. We know of a male cub, an adolescent, that would be much more likely to need and want our help. He would be the next king. He would owe us his very soul, but unlike Taka, he’s a level-headed chap that knows which end of the carcass to chew.”

Bree said, “If we hurt Elanna, he’d try to get revenge on us, THEN kill himself. We can’t rely on that.”

“No, but if it looked like an accident, or like she’d left him for another lion, it just might work.”

“An accident?” Shenzi said. “He won’t let her hardly breathe, much less get involved in an accident.”

“Let me see to that, ” Skulk said

“But isn’t this treason?” Bree asked.