"For gods’ sake! " He blinked at her, surprised. “Of course I promise! He’s my brother! ” He shook his head. “What AM I going to do with him, Sassie?”

"Tell him. He needs to hear it from you more than anyone else."

Nodding, he started away.

Poor Mufasa wanted to ask his parents for help, but the whole thing embarrased him too badly. He resigned himself to handling Taka “the usual way, ” which meant humoring his moods, no matter how ridiculous they are, and being careful to remind him that he’s loved.

He finally got his chance later that day.

Taka was resting on the end of the promontory. It was his favorite place to sulk when he felt like the whole world was out to get him. The scale of the view helped put his problems into perspective in the great pagent of life.

“Taka?”

“What?” Taka didn’t bother to turn around.

“I just saw Sassie.”

Taka turned around that time. “What did she say??”

“Not much.” Muffy tried to keep his tail from twitching. Apparently he was successful. “She was upset. She looked a little depressed, so I asked her what was up.”

“Oh gods, here it comes.” Taka drooped.

“She was watching us fight, and she thought about the prophesy. You know, the part about the first one that touched you would begat your doom.”

“Oh?” Taka gave him his undivided attention. “And what did you tell her?”

Mufasa smiled, but a tear rolled down his cheek. “I told her you’re my brother. I’m sorry I hit you so hard. You bit me, and I went crazy. You know we both love you, Sassie and I. She worries about you. In fact, she's always telling me how she’s going to marry you when you get older." Mufasa swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "You don’t know how lucky you are, Taka. I got the kingdom, but you got Sassie."

Taka smiled at him, a real smile, now. "Yeah, I guess I am. She's really beautiful, isn't she?"

Unable to reply, Mufasa merely nodded.

Taka looked at him closely. “Why Muffy, you’re jealous….”

“Come off it.”

“No, you really are.” Taka smiled an amused smile. “Gods! You’re jealous of me! And all this time….” He rose briskly, stretched his legs, and came running over to Muffy. He nuzzled him and put his forearm around Mufasa’s shoulder. “You must think I’m crazy.”

“No. Well, not much.”

“Sometimes I feel crazy. Dad always has it all together. He always knows the score.” A tear ran down Taka’s face. “Help me fight this thing, Muffy. If the three of us work hard, we can beat the prophesy. We can. You’re good inside; so is Sassie. We’ve got to be good to beat it.”

Muffy swallowed hard, then said, “Don’t worry. We’ll be really good.”

Rafiki awoke with stiffness in his lower back. At his age, he was frequently sore in the mornings and had to take an herbal preparation to get himself back in the thick of things. Because the medicine had to be fresh and moist to work, he had to make up individual doses as needed. That meant working while tired and sore. Still, Rafiki did not complain. For one thing he lived alone, with no one to complain to, and for another, he was a shaman and accepted what life brought him as gracefully as he could.

Soaking in a water-filled gourd, some bonewort would loosen the tightness in his spine. He carefully removed just enough to do the job. It was followed by Senophalix bark and roots from Psamnophis gelleri for pain. But the final ingredient was a powder made from Alba, a red flower. It did not grow nearby, and he had to trade to get it. The small cache of this drug was nearly exhausted, and he put in a little less than was his custom. He had requested some from the apes that lived in the forest near his baobab.

The other mandrills thought Rafiki a bit strange. They didn't understand his need for the flower, but they happily raised the fee to what they thought he could afford. For that reason, precious time that could be spent serving others was spent collecting large bundles of herbs and other notions for payment.

Mixing the ingredients into a paste with his bowl and antelope bone, he downed the bitter mixture with a frown, and quickly took some water and honey to purge his mouth. Perhaps the medicine did not work immediately. Yet he felt better at once, knowing that help was on the way.

While he waited for relief, he settled down for his morning prayers, which always began with thanksgiving, then ran through the name of every lion on the Pride Lands whether they were ill or well, and ended with a modest request to "Remember old Rafiki who trusts in you."

Breakfast was a simple affair. Mango was his favorite, followed shortly by ripe Kannabia australoafricanus, which he called by an equally unpronounceable Mandrill name. Honey was not easy to come by, since he'd grown old enough to make climbing a problem. Besides, even at the best of times, there was an element of luck involved. So he put only a few drops of honey on the fruit to season it, and ate his breakfast. Perhaps in the next life, there would be honey enough for his sweet tooth, which only grew stronger with age. He felt he would know sooner rather than later, a fact brought home by the silver hair that reflected in his scrying bowl.

Only after breakfast was over and he'd rubbed his teeth with the chewed end of an acacia twig did he start out on the day's business. Alba was waiting for him--the apes said it would be waiting for him in three days, and the time was up. They were robbers, but they were never late. One, two, three hard-won bundles of roots and leaves were sprinkled with water, wrapped in Rattasia leaves, and secured with long acacia thorn pins. The barter was gathered up with the care it deserved to ransom the modest stash of tiny red blossoms that waited for him in the forest.

He was about to leave when Mufasa came in. Muffy was a year and a half old, and the beginning of some ruff around his ears and neck showed that he was coming along on schedule.

“I had almost forgotten our appointment.” Rafiki put his bundles of herbs aside. “Trouble sleeping, I believe? Loss of appetite?”

“Yeah.”

“Difficulty concentrating.”

“And don’t forget depression. I’ve been down before, but now I’m really down for the count.”

“I see.” Rafiki put his ear to Muffy’s chest. “Breathe in. Good. Now let it out slowly.” He tapped Muffy’s chest a couple of times with his knuckles. “Once more.” The breathing seemed to agree with him. He felt the radial pulse alongside his neck and winked. “Soon enough, I’ll have to use the arm. This old mane will be in the way.” Mufasa smiled proudly. “So tell me, how is Taka?”