Aqua Queen

Part 10

Our moment of happiness doesn't last long, as we're ripped from each other's arms.

I'm dragged backward and forced to come to my feet. A vibranium knife shoved in my face dares me to fight back.

Three of the Dora Milaje have Namor surrounded. His captor's swiftly immobilized, as Namor has her pinned to him.

"Namor, don't!" I advise.

He would have slit her throat if I hadn't intervened.

"Release my queen." He demands.

"You're in no position to make demands." It's the queen. Her voice over the Kimoyo beads is filled with rage.

"You'll let us go, and we'll leave you in peace if you do the same for us."

"Maybe I would have If your queen hadn't killed my daughter!"

Namor's gaze meets mine.

"Yes. It was an accident." I say, nodding my head in confirmation of his silent inquiry.

"In the time of war, there will be casualties." He responds, taking my side and making no excuses for it.

"A royal life for a false royal's life." The Queen says.

"What is she talking about?" He questions me.

"Your Queen isn't a royal by birth." The queen explains.

"Something that I care nothing about." He replies with his hard gaze on me.

"Your love is a fraud, a ruse strategically plotted out by her and me."

I shake my head in denial of the queen's claims.

"I love you," I tell him.

"Her task was to make you fall in love with her, bed her, and then she was to put a knife in your heart after."

"A betrayal of the highest kind." He mutters.

"I couldn't do it, Namor."

"Did you... did you..."

"I never seduced you. I was just myself. Your heart did the rest."

"I will let you have your whore. But I will take your firstborn since she has taken mine. They will be cared for as my own but will not inherit my throne and kingdom. They will not be one of us as their mother is no longer one of us." Queen Ramonda proposes.

The mild irritation in Namor's eyes turns to pure outrage at the queen's offer.

I dare not interfere. I let it happen as it should.

The blade slices through the warrior's neck, and her lifeless body falls.

A battle cry erupting from the others come too late as Namor takes down the other two.

The one holding me maintains her position. I touch the arm that's gripping my neck, and her body goes limp.

The blade drops, and then she drops.

"When did you learn to do that?" Namor questions, closing the distance between us.

"Just now."

"Is there anything else that you want to tell me?"

Is there?

"I love you. But I'm not living underwater. I mean, how do y'all sleep without floating away?"

"In pods, and we have homes also. You have to spend more time in the water for your body to adjust. If it can adjust."

"We'll see."

"We will." He says, taking my hand in his.