The Lion Queen

Chapter 6

Things only got worse. I endured a year of Scar's insinuations and barely-hidden leers. Sometimes he was busy pretending to run the kingdom or fending off unrest, and I did my best to be out hunting whenever he came around. It was getting harder to keep up that excuse, though. There just wasn't any prey left. Anything that had the strength left for greener pastures, and we slowly began to starve. Of course, Scar always had plenty. He tempted me with his ill-gotten bounty and told me all the splendor I'd have with him. My only shield was his shreds of self-righteous propriety. He couldn't force anything or even explicity suggest it yet. I was still underage, but I wouldn't be for long. I found myself dreading my upcoming birthday. I should have looked forward to my first day as an adult lion, but to me it was nothing but a nightmare.

Sarafina tried to get me to leave. She said there was no sense in me staying here and that I should go back to my first pride. She said it would look bad if I died and it might start a war. I knew she just wanted the best for her daughter, and I could tell she never wanted me to leave her. And of course I couldn't. This pride was my home, and I couldn't leave when things went bad. Even if I'd wanted to, Scar had the hyenas patrolling the Prideland borders day and night. I hadn't seen my mother since the day Simba died.

One day we managed to bring down a pathetically thin zebra. We gathered around the meat ravenously, and Scar pushed his way to the front. He seated himself by the choicest selection- the rump- and I took my place at the head, as far away as I could get. It was no use, since he tore off a hunk of meat and moved up next to me. The meat soured in my mouth as he settled beside me. Some of the other lionesses noticed and glanced our way. I wondered if they were judging me, but they just seemed interested. I felt like the meat he'd claimed as his own. I ate as quickly as I could and excused myself early.

I wandered to the watering hole and took a drink to clear the smell of Scar from my mouth. Mwali followed me and sat next to the water.

"What's with Scar? He's always staring at you," she said. I folded my tail beside me.

"You know about that?" I asked.

"Nala, everyone knows about that. They're saying he wants you as a mate," she said.

"Yeah, he does. He's been bothering me for ages," I admitted. I was worried she'd tell me I was bad for being so tempting when I wasn't even old enough for that stuff. She did get mad, but it wasn't what I expected.

"What? How long?" she asked. She jumped up and flicked her tail back and forth. She looked over her shoulder and glared at him in the distance.

"About three months, maybe. It seems like forever," I said. "I wish he'd leave me alone."

"That's disgusting! You were just a cub and he's old! Dirty pervert," she said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I did something wrong," I said. I hadn't planned to ever tell anyone, but now that I had, it felt amazing. I felt free as a bird.

"He's the one leering at cubs. You didn't do anything wrong," Mwali said. As soon as she said it I realized how obvious it all was. I'd always known something was wrong about Scar. He drove our Pride into the ground and lorded over us like he was the greatest thing on Earth. I should have known I wasn't the bad guy. I smiled like I was a carefree cub again.

"You are so right. He's just nasty. I'm glad I told you," I said. Mwali paced and sent dirty looks at Scar.

"We should gather up all the lionesses and run him off," she said. I gasped and looked around to see if anyone could hear.

"Shh! We'll get in trouble!" I said. I was glad she was willing, but I didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

"So what? Things can't get any worse," she said. It was hard to argue with that. "I won't let him give you any more trouble."

"All right," I said. "I'll talk to him and tell him to knock it off. He knows he can have any lioness he wants, and all of them if that's how he wants it. He'll think I'm an ungrateful cub and he'll stop 'favoring' me to teach me a lesson," I said.

Mwali was unconvinced. She furrowed her face. "What if he tries something?" she asked.

"He's too proper. Besides, he can't make me choose him for a mate. He could have his hyenas trap me, but that would look terrible. He has enough trouble keeping the Pride in check," I said.

"I'll come with you," Mwali said.

"No!" I said. Mwali jumped. "I can go alone. I mean..." I looked down and embarrassment washed over me. "I don't want you to hear the way he talks to me." Mwali wrapped her tail over my back and pressed close to me.

"Okay. But I'll be waiting. Remember, he's the bad guy. Not you," she said. I knew she'd always be there for me, and that alone made things better.

Part of me wanted to wait until the other lionesses were in their dens to talk to Scar. I wanted to be alone, but then, I didn't want to be too alone. Scar was unpredictable and drunk with power. Anything could happen, even if I assured Mwali it couldn't. Most of all, I wanted it to be over with.