00054. Meeting a king.

00054. Meeting a king. AnnouncementHello everyone! Here is the chapter for the week and I hope you have a great freedom day tomorrow. Just make sure you are safe and don't mess around with fireworks, I don't want anyone to lose a finger.

The king lowered his head and everyone except for N'Jadaka and Bear followed suit. N'Jadaka gritted his teeth a little, but said nothing while he waited for everyone to finish. The whole room was quiet for a few minutes before the king started to raise his head as he said, “N'Jadaka, I am sorry for not bringing you home sooner, if I knew my brother had a son. Then I would have gone to find you myself years ago.”

The tribal leaders and the queen nodded their heads in agreement with the king's statement, N'Jadaka only tightened his fists more, as his fingernails started to dig into his palms. Bear seemed to be the only person who noticed N'Jadaka's reactions to the king's words.

The king smiled as he said, “N'Jadaka you have also done the country of your fathers birth a great service by bringing us the criminal Ulysses Klaue. Someone who has escaped our grasp for years and was a master at evading us. For that you have mine and the rest of the country's thanks.”

King frowned slightly as he continued, “Unfortunately you have also broken a taboo, you have told an outsider our secrets. Although we normally imprison people who break this taboo, we will overlook this issue since you weren’t raised here. We will of course need to make sure Mr. Medvedev is the only person you told about Wakanda. After we are finished here, you will join Owibiah so she can ascertain if more people need to be detained."

The king turned to look at Bear as he said, "Unfortunately for you Mr. Medvedev, you will now have to be a permanent guest of Wakanda. You will be given a place to live and we will assign you a job according to your skill set. You will also not be allowed to contact anyone outside of Wakanda."

N'Jadaka frowned as he asked, “So he is now a prisoner of Wakanda?”

The king glanced at Owibiah and she shot a glare at N'Jadaka from next to the king as she said, “You will only address the king if he asks you a question directly, know your place N’Jadaka.”

N'Jadaka shook his head as he said, “Naw, I don’t think so. I am already tired of all this bullshit, I am gonna say my piece and then we are gonna dip.” N'Jadaka glared at Owibiah and said, “And for the record, my name is Erik Stevens.”

All of the Dora Milaje looked like they wanted to attack Erik for his disrespect, before T'Chaka raised his right hand in the air as a calming signal. T’Chaka glowered at Erik as he said, “It seems you are just like your father. I had hoped you would be different, but it seems the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

T’Chaka watched Erik and he let out a sigh. Erik glared back at T’Chaka, until T’Chaka said, “You and your companion Bear are ordered to stay in Wakanda. You can never leave and you will be watched at all times. If you try to leave you will be forcefully detained and restrained. I am being lenient because you are my nephew, but I can treat you like anyone else if you test my patience, boy.”

As T’Chaka looked towards Owibiah, Erik started to laugh. T’Chaka instantly looked back at Erik with an angry glare as he said, “Stop laughing boy, or you will regret it.”

Erik laughed more before he glared back at the king as he said, “What are you gonna do if I don’t? Kill me like you did my father?”

The whole room went quiet, as everyone looked at the king who hadn’t reacted to the accusation. As they did, Bear unclipped his mask and slipped it onto his face. Some of the Dora Milaje and T’Chaka noticed his actions. Since Bear was already restrained and had no weapons, they paid him no mind.

T’Chaka frowned at the young man in front of him and saw so much of his younger brother in the boy. Erik glared back at T’Chaka, his fists clenched so tight that his nails started to draw blood.

T’Chaka finally spoke and there was some heat in his voice as he said, “Your father was a traitor to Wakanda and he was killed for it. I left you in Oakland because I knew you were going to be tainted by your fathers ideals. You should have stayed away, there is nothing here for you.”

When she was finished she kneeled in front of the king who was holding his wife as she said, “My king, this was my fault. I take full responsibility for what happened.”

T’Chaka looked down at Owibiah and said, “Stand up, this isn’t your fault, whoever he had with him had technology on par with us. We need to figure out who they are and find out how they acquired that level of technology.”

The queen touched her husband's face with her hand that was shaking slightly as she asked, “Is that really the best idea? They could have killed us easily, but they didn’t because N’Jada... Erik. I understand the need to keep us safe, but let's count our blessings and not provoke them for now. We first need to understand how they bypassed our security.”

T’Chaka was quiet for a few moments before he said, “I will heed your wisdom love, we will focus on figuring out how they were able to get inside here and leave so easily.”

Owibiah looked around the room as she said, “I will talk with the research division and have them check over everything, we will figure out what happened and find a solution my king.”

T’Chaka nodded his head and then let out a sigh as he said, “I guess I owe all of you the truth now. Go back to your positions and I will tell you what happened with my brother.”

vvvvv

Erik, Ezekiel and the others watched as T’Chaka started to tell everyone what really happened with his brother N’Jobu. Erik looked at Ezekiel who had changed back into his normal looking self and said, “That didn’t go the way I thought it would.”

Ezekiel patted Erik on the shoulder as he said, “Me either, but it’s fine. I never expected to make friends with Wakanda this early.”

Ezekiel glanced at Erik as he asked, “Feel better after your rant?”

Erik shrugged as he said, “Not really, but I will get over it. Now what?”

Ezekiel looked at Tao as he said, “Mind going to the storage facility? I want more vibranium.”

Tao let out a sigh before she said, “From a chauffeur to a getaway driver and now a thief... I feel like my life has taken a turn for the worse since I met you.”

“Are you saying you don’t want any Vibranium?”

Tao opened a portal as she said, “No, I’ll take some. It’s a great conduit for making runic items.”

AnnouncementI currently have 15 draft chapters ahead on my patreon with more coming this month.