Starting Life From Zero: Far From Home

Chapter Fifty-Three

An eerie silence held the entry foyer to the manor as Peter, Emilia, Ram, and Petra enter through the front door. The rain had become a hard driving force that pounded at the windows and roof filling the interior with a low roar. Peter strolled out in front of the others, feeling a weight in the air. "I guess everyone already left?"

Ram nodded. "Otto is transporting the other children to the Sanctuary, the village needs to be searched to make sure there isn't anyone lying in wait. Most of the others were taken back to their respective camps, though I think your Aunt might have opted to stay behind to see to the children."

"What of Miss Beatrice?" asked Emilia.

"Your guess of which door she's using is as good as mine," Ram said.

They idled in the front area of the house, looking at one another for a moment. "Can we bring some of my stuff from home here?" Petra asked.

"We had better let the search continue before doing that, one the people return from the Sanctuary and Lord Roswaal is back I—"

Peter's Spider-Sense exploded, but it was almost too late. Something long and narrow whistled through the room, piercing and splitting the air on an intercept course. It wasn't meant for him. As he reached out, lunging to stop the attack, he saw Emilia catch a spear out of the air. The weapon iced over, starting at the point where her hand had grasped it. She let it fall to her side as they all cast their eyes upward to the walkway that ran right to left at the top of the grand staircase.

A dark-skinned man with medium length locs and a shadow fade that darkened to blend into the hair atop his head stood at the ready, glaring down at them with a wry grin on his lips. He spread his hands out to his sides, shrugging in a challenging, domineering manner. "Nice little place y'all got here. A brother could get real used to this."

Something thick and heavy swooshed through the air, passing from the side of the room and swinging in an arc. Peter recognized it the second he saw it, one of Emilia's Unseen Hands. It smacked the man, slapping him flipping across the walkway and into the hall as Emilia created pillars of ice to lift herself up and skipped over them to reach the floor above.

Peter followed her, leaping up to meet the challenger. He landed on the ceiling, upside down above Emilia, ready to back her up.

"Just who do you think you are?" Emilia demanded. "You violated Lord Roswaal's home and attacked me without provocation, identify yourself now!"

The man climbed to his feet, steadying himself against the floor as he rose up. The tips of his locs were aimed in different directions now, jostled by the shock of the hit. "You're the one who put them pillars of ice in the middle of the man's floor like that and trudged all through the place soaking wet."

"You threw a spear at her!" Peter hollered.

When he was fully upright again, he looked more shocked than injured. "That's right, I did that. A Queen who can't protect herself ain't the kind I plan on following."

Ram reached the top of the stairs, jogging up behind Peter and Emilia. "You're going to need to explain yourself," she said through gritted teeth.

A trickle of blood marked the corner of the man's mouth, staining one side of his immaculately trimmed goatee. "I'm N'Jadaka, son of the Wakandan Prince N'Jobu."

Wakanda. Peter thought that he had sounded a little too much like an Earthling, but not one of the ones from Wakanda. Really, Peter had only seen most of the Wakandans he'd come across on the television. And all of them had accents, including the only one he'd met in person. "Wait." Peter dropped from the ceiling to flip down onto his feet, grasping Emilia at the shoulder. "You're from Wakanda?"