She took one last look at the man that saved her life. She knew where she belonged, and she turned away. Without looking back, she slinked away toward the border of her old home.

Fabana had walked for two hours in the hot sun. She was used to pacing a short distance from side to side. The distance to cover seemed almost impossibly vast, and she was weakened by her wound. Her grinding thirst pulled her to the side of the small watering hole she found. Without caution, without even looking around, she stumbled to the bank. Looking down into the water to take a drink, she saw something horrible looking back at her--a face delicate and fresh on one side and hideously scarred on the other.

She was in the middle of her first season, but she knew no male would ever want her. She howled pitifully. “Why, Roh’kash! Why me! I’ve never known the company of a male, and now I’m so horrible!” She collapsed by the bank and sobbed brokenly.

A small group of hyenas heard her and came out of the brush. They wondered who the stranger was. Fabana looked at them apprehensively. “Who are you?” she asked in common speech. “I don’t want trouble. I used to live here, and I’m trying to find my family. Do you know my okash La’kuneh?”

She smelled human and spoke common speech. They wondered if she was truly one of theirs.

“I remember La’khuneh,” the large male said in common speech.

“Jalkort?” She looked at him closely. “Jalkort, is that you?”

“I’m Jalkort. Should I know you?”

She broke into tears. With almost painful reluctance, she said, “Bih hyannicha! Moh keth Fabana!” Gaining strength, she almost shouted, “Bih hyannicha, Jalkort! Moh keth Fabana!”

“My gods!” Jalkort’s tail wagged so hard, his whole back carriage swayed. “Fay! Fay!” He ran forward and kissed her face on the good side. “Barkhal, Roh’kash!” He nuzzled her and rubbed her full length. Seeing the scar, he said, “I’ll rip the devil that did that to you! I’ll rip him alive! Where is he??”

“He’s already dead. I had him in a death choke when the man got his bang stick and put him out.” She tensed up and asked, “How’s Mom?”

Jalkort looked down. “Oh, Fay!”

“What is it, Jal? Is she....?”

“The fire. I’m so sorry.”

“How about my brother and sister?”

Jalkort nuzzled her sadly. He didn’t have to say a word.

She nuzzled him back, a tear running down her cheek. “Then you’re all I have left. Oh Jal, please lean on me!” When he sat by her, she rested her cheek against his and wept bitterly. “I smell like a human and a dog. I want to be rid of that scent.” Bitterness began to well up inside her and she added, “I want to forget that life, to blot it out forever. The man took my freedom, and that dog tried to take my pride. Look what he did to me!”

Jalkort looked at her good side in profile. "Actually, you’re a rather handsome female. Your children will only take your good looks, not your wound."

“What children? I will die forsaken, and you know it!”

“Our children,” Jalkort said. “Bal dareth, Fabana?”

“You can’t possibly mean it!”

“I do.”

“But look at me!”

“I am looking at you. I’m hunting, and I never take my eyes off my prey. No matter what anyone else thinks, you’re beautiful to me. I always knew you would be my bak’ret.”

Tears began to stream down her face. “There is a God,” she sobbed. “There really is!” She kissed him and said, “Dareth koh, Jalkort! Dareth koh!”

Fielder’s brutal advances had prejudiced Fabana against her own natural inclinations. She was afraid that Jalkort would come to her in the night with dull glowing eyes the way Fielder did to have his way with her. But she would endure it for the sake of her love for him and to bear his pups.

Jalkort drew up almost timidly to her. “How bright the stars are tonight.”

“Yes,” she said stiffly. Her muscles tensed. “They are bright, aren’t they.”

“We’re alone now,” Jalkort whispered. “Safe from the eyes of night, this small part of the world is our private kingdom, and you are my queen.”

“Come on. Get it over with,” Fabana said tensely.

“Get what over with?” Jalkort said with a gentle laugh. “You’re such a timid creature. That’s what I love about you.” He pawed her, then came down on his front legs and wagged his tail. “Hey, I bet you can’t catch me!” He tapped her on the shoulder and ran a short distance, then said, “You’re it! Come on, Fay! Work off that fat, honey bunch!”

“Fat??” She ran after him. “I’ll fat you!”

He bounded over a row of bushes like a gazelle. She followed, just skimming the top.

She looked around for him, but didn’t see him anywhere. Then she looked back and saw him hiding at the base of the bushes with a rakish grin on his face. “Gotcha!”

Fabana laughed. “You little fakir! You never change!”

“That’s right,” Jalkort said. “I’m still your friend. See, I’m not so scary am I?”

“Well, no....” She looked into his warm hazel eyes. “Well, yes. You’re the most scary and wonderful thing I’ve ever seen.”

He drew close to her face and nuzzled her gently. “I can be patient, as patient as you need me to be.”

She smiled and rubbed his cheek gently with hers. “You’re my best friend, and against all hope you’re my husband. Whatever you want to do is fine by me.” She pawed the ground uneasily. “Will it hurt?”

He chuckled. “No, my darling.” He pawed her face and smiled. “You’ll feel loved, very loved.”

She looked into his eyes and saw the honesty and openness that liberated her love for him. “I’m ready. Make me feel loved.”

“Are you sure?”

Trembling with mixed fear and desire, she whispered, “Yes. I’m sure.”

Fireflies like tiny shooting stars brought the splendor of the heavens close enough to touch. In the distance, a lion sang an ancient song of the joys of owning territory. Another lion roared back in eerie antiphony. The acacia leaves whispered wordless messages of peace and love. Fabana felt very happy, safe, and loved as he said she would. With Jalkort, no one would stare at her. With Jalkort, no one would shake their head in pity.

Jalkort and Fabana went to a place where fear and shame could not follow them, a place found only in the heart where scars do not make ugliness and the boundary between two hopes is removed. They were one love and one spirit burning brighter than the sun, and everything the light touched was made pure and holy. Fabana felt her old sadness washed away in the tide. With it washed away the clinging traces of Spotty. She was Fabana, daughter of Kelvar and wife of Jalkort!