I finally watched Black Panther and I have never been happier to watch a movie. I love how humble and determined T'Challa is. Chadwick is an amazing actor, so I will be dedicating this book to him and Erik Killmonger/ Michael B. Jordan. Unless a req...
I pull my hair out of my braid and watch my curly, dark brown hair unravel to the length of my shoulder blades.
I huff as I look at myself in my full body mirror. I turn from side to side to see how my clothes hug my body.
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I put on the slightest amount of make up: nude eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and burgundy lip stain. I take my small purse and give myself a final look in the mirror. I rub my lips together to give them more color and roll my eyes when I think of how this night will end.
I pull on my thick, bear skin jacket as I walk out of my room and sneak my way out of the Jabari mountains.
The ride from the Jabari Mountains to Central Wakanda was about twenty minutes. I park my hover car in the grass before walking towards the Royal Palace.
"Reina? Is that you?" Okoye asks as she spots me.
"Yep, that's me." I say, approaching her.
"What are you doing here? You look beautiful by the way." She says.
"Thanks.. And I'm here because King Killmonger invited me to dinner." I explain.
Her eyebrows furrow with concern.
"Invited you to dinner to discuss what exactly?" She asks.
"I don't know..Yesterday he came to the Jabari Mountains to ask me. You didn't know about this?" I ask.
"No, not at all... well tell me how it goes, yeah?" She says.
"natuurlik, suster." I say. (Of course, sister)
We give each other the salute before she tends to her errands and I walk up the steps towards the conference room. I release a long breath before moving to open the doors. One of the Dora's posted outside of the door stops me and says:
"Who are you and what are you doing here without an appointment?"
Her tone triggers my defensiveness and I say:
"Look, I respect you Doras. You're extraordinary fighters but you really have to work on your attitude towards other people."
"Or else what?" The other Dora says, stepping my toward me.
"Do you really want to know?" I say, sizing her up.
"You have some nerve to come into the Royal Palace and disrespect the Dora- not to mention, the way you spoke to Your King yesterday. Lord M'Baku should re-teach you your manners." She says.
I lunge towards her but before I could throw a punch, the door opens to reveal Erik. He looks at me from head to toe and I do the same to him.
He is wearing black pants, a white tank top, a thin, dark blue button up and red Nike's.
"Hey princess," He says.
"My King," I say.
"You givin' my Doras some trouble?" He asks.
"I would say that it is the other way around," I say.
"It's okay ladies, I'll take it from here." Erik says as he opens the door wide enough for me to fit through.
As I walk passed him his light cologne teases my nose, just as my perfume did to him.
"I didn't know which one to choose so I asked one of the Doras and they said that Jabari's are vegetarians. So I asked the chefs to make vegetarian lasagna.. is that cool with you?" He explains.
"Sure," I say as I scan the spacious room.
"So what's your story?" He asks.
"There's no story.." I state.
"Everyone has a story." He says.
"How about this.. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." I negotiate.
He chuckles lightly before saying:
"Touché."
The scent of heated tomato sauces laced with Parmesan teased my nose. I walk up to the silver, rectangular platter and open it.
"Ahh, eager to eat, are we?" He teases.
"Well we don't exactly get this every night in the mountains." I say.
"So... you're saying that I'm better than Lord M'Baku?" He says.
"Watch it." I state whilst looking at him.
"I'm just stating the facts here," He says.
I cut myself a slice of lasagna and put it on a plate. I sit down at the table and wait for Erik to sit down in front of me with his plate.
"It's been so long since I've been in this room," I say, taking a bite of my lasagna.
"Oh yeah?" He asks.
"Yeah, the last time I was in here, T'Challa united the Jabari and the Royal tribes. I remember M'Baku being so proud." I say.
Erik huffs in annoyance and I say:
"What?"
"Nothing," He says, looking down at his plate.
"Killmonger, what is wrong?" I repeat.
"I said nothing!" He snaps.
"You huff like some teenager undergoing some mood swing you want to tell me that there's nothing wrong with you?" I snap back.
He releases a long breath of hair before saying in a low voice:
"It's just.. you're on a date with me and you bring up T'Challa and M'Baku like they are the ones taking you out on a date."
"Like I said.. it's nothing, just finish eating your food." He adds.
My mouth gapes open with disbelief. I stand from my chair and say:
"Are.. are you jealous? How are you jealous? You barely even got to know me. You have know room to talk."
"Sit your pretty ass down." He says in a low and threatening tone.
"No," I say as I cross my arms.
"Excuse me?" He says, standing from his chair with a fiery look in his eyes.
"Look.. I'm not sure what the women are like where you're from. But Wakandan women don't put up with men who use verbal abuse-or any kind of abuse- to get what they want. And we sure as tell don't have the time for it." I say.
"I said 'sit down'!" He says.
"I heard you, I'm just not complying!" I say I'm a fed up tone.
His chest rises and falls with heavy breathes and looks at me with gritted teeth.
"I'm assuming most women fear that fiery look in your eye that makes me feel like you're going to kill me. But you know what? That doesn't scare me. You wanna know why?... because you're a petty excuse for a man." I say.
This made him snap, leading to him throwing the table off of the side and wrapping his fingers around my throat. He squeezes my throat with anger and pulls me closer.
"When I tell you something, I mean that shit." He threatens.
"The same rule applies to me.." I say with a strained voice.
"You're.. a-a coward.." I squeak out.
He squeezes it again and my brain starts pounding against the inside of my skull. I feel my face turn red and my neck muscles twitch under Erik's pressure. He lifts me off of the ground and I say one last thing:
"Go ahead, kill one of the most important people of Wakanda.. see how well that will bode for you."
