We made it home, victorious. (But only just--a good story for another time.) Absalom laughed. "I could sleep for ten days!"  He embraced me and purred in fun, and then sprawled across his bedding. I believed I would sleep well as I took my station nearby in our shelter, to serve as his last shield if the worst befell the lion pride.

But rest did not come easily. I woke after recurring dreams of rising water, driving me to climb higher and higher to escape being swept away before there was nowhere else to go, letting the cold lick and embrace me. After being startled awake several times, I realized it was just after dawn. The sounds of retainers and younger family members in the distance, preparing for the day's chores, meant more rest would not be mine. A soft mew and then a long snore told me that the heir was still fast asleep, somehow. I took my leave.

It was warm in the shelter, but it would be warmer directly in the sun, especially on the Archivist's Rock of Recitation. Lesser servants stopped and moved themselves from my path, while I did the same for the members of the family no matter what their age. It was mostly lionesses of the side branches; only a few of the boys were awake. After the males made their way past me, I slapped the ground with my thick scaly tail to remind them that later today, I would easily defeat them in sparring lessons. This earned me smiles from the youngest, which pleased me; and narrowed eyes from the older, which was exciting.

I climbed onto the rock and hugged it against my belly, letting the sun strike as much of me as I could arrange. It helped with the sluggishness that I felt.

The sun had not climbed much when the Matriarch came to me. She was the true head of the family, steering it as she saw fit, so I began to slide from the rock to adopt a more respectful posture before her. I was in no hurry, however. Absalom's father, and our Master of Battles, was openly contemptuous of her authority and if she was the head of the pride, he was the heart. I knew better than to let too much of his attitude rub off onto me, as I was only a servant. But then again, I was not a normal servant! 

"Stay up there," she said. "Gather the sun's strength as your kind does, Walther."  I remembered younger days where she was the only source of information about my kind; how when she and her sister found me and pitted against her cubs to teach them to fight; how I became almost one of the family and learned the ways of the Master of Battles. "Where were you and my son last night?"

I regretted the slowness of my attempts to show her respect and gazed at her face. "In danger, as you well know, Great Mother. We were visiting the oasis as usual."

She nodded. "It is fitting that he craves this jeopardy, and the thrill of danger. It speaks well for his future, standing for us against the other families. But songs of your fights come to my ears." She looked back into my face.

I suddenly could not meet her gaze. "It should not surprise me that you know much more of all that goes on, especially about your family, but as always I am astonished by the length of your reach. Is it your desire that I use what influence I have on the master to avoid such brawls in public places?"

"Be at ease, Walther. I think you know what I have heard about your reputations at the oasis:  that Absalom recklessly attracts and encourages violence, and you and he finish it."  She sprawled out, facing away from me, which helped me to relax. She had not spoken to me in such familiar ways in such a long time, and I remembered when the change in her attitude fell between us:  when her daughters revealed to me the truth of my position in the family, as a plaything that Absalom should have dispatched long ago as part of his training. "What has begun to trouble me is something that has happened closer to home."

I was truly shocked to hear this, and rather rudely asked "What?!"

"I heard hints that during your training, you defeat all of the youngsters except for Absalom. Is that so? When you play at fighting with all but him, you bring all your powers to bear. But against him, you hold back to the point that he wins. I wish you to stop this."

"I..."  There was a silence that stretched on until it became unbearable. "I cannot do this, Great Mother. My love to your son, my master, and my commitment to him! I cannot allow him to fail."

"You are failing him even now, saying this to me. His strength is great, but his overconfidence is greater. It is my wish that you teach him that his head is not the reason for the sun to shine on us, and his roaring voice does not call the moon to follow the hunt. I ask that you not injure him unduly, but I must convince you to defeat him."

"It goes against my nature, Great Mother. It tears at my heart."

"Failing to obey me in this will result in your heart being torn in other ways."

Despite the warmth of the rock, I shivered. She spoke of no small confrontation; her mighty daughters would be quick about their work. Once again, I marveled at the wisdom of the pride and their ways and divisions of the walks of life between the sons and daughters. My own scaly flesh testified that as closely as she was speaking to me now, I was not a cub of the Great Mother; I was no true member of the family. If she could not turn me to her new purpose, she would put me to my original purpose as a tool for her true heirs to learn their brutal lessons.

"He will be beaten."  

"Good," she said with a yawn, and a stretch. "I'll be sure we catch an antelope today, Walther. I remember that of all flesh, you savored them the most."