Chapter 5
The pearls on his neck piece rattled together as he swam behind the throne and towards his private chambers. Ceremonial garb, as important as it was that he wore it, was uncomfortable to be in for very long. It wasn’t the familiar weight around his collarbones he was used to, and his waist felt hindered by the cloth and beads that hung from it. The head piece was another issue entirely.
Mali and Toxhi were kind enough to remove the sparkling gear without any questions about the address he’d just given, and he appreciated the quiet as they worked. As King, he had no need to actually get the approval of his council for the terms of a surrender only he had made, but he did it anyway in a show of good faith. The councilmen were unprepared and squabbling over one another for a few days as usual before the arrangements were made to meet Wakanda’s terms and address the public.
They apparently did not approve of his meeting with the princess without them having drafted a formal document, but he did not care for their semantics. Eventually, Namora was the one to step forward and demand compliance with the surprisingly lenient terms, arguing that it would do the people good to have positive interactions with the only other nation that has posed a threat to them. “We have the Sun, and the Feathered Serpent, at our sides. Do you truly wish the people of Talokan to live in the darkness of fear once more?” He’d thanked every deity of his people when her words seemed to quiet the incessant arguing of the councilmen long enough for him to clarify that he had in fact already accepted the terms and they had little say in any real negotiations moving forward.
Addressing his people was another issue entirely. He loved sitting before them on his throne, showing his power and glory that his subjects trusted so much, but they were all there. And of course, all his mind noticed was that she was not. Thankfully, his sixth sense when it came to the Panther had calmed down since interacting with her by her river, but it still left a nagging empty slot in the back of his mind whenever he was in the water. Which was especially irritating when trying to stay focused on the speech he was meant to be giving. His people had taken the news of the new alliance surprisingly well. He supposed that himself being in visibly good health and the passage of time had helped with their trepidations.
Credit where it was due, the council had actually pulled together a cultural committee and communications office in the short span of time that he had given them. Personally, he did not see a need for such groups, but Namora had pointed out that her observations of the princess had led her to believe that a more rigid structure of interaction would be preferred. All of the preparations were in order and the training domes on the outskirts of his nation were already halfway complete. Now it was just a waiting game for her summons.
He did not appreciate feeling like a dog at her beck and call, but it could not be helped until they figured out a way to get her strange signals under the water to his people. He frowned and made his way out of his chambers and towards the library above his palace. The swim to the ceiling was always brilliant, what with the sun being so near and full, and yet again he saw the look on the princess’ face as she had stared at it with wonder.
The library was a spiral structure much like that of the shells that were used by his border scouts, and every square inch was filled with shelves containing information of all kinds after their five hundred years. He swam to the center, where the vibranium-glass screens became just glass and eventually turned into carved stone. Picking up the oldest engraved record in the library, he began his search for when exactly Wakanda had appeared on his radar. He knew it had been sometime after his mother had died, but his people had only truly started keeping written records around four hundred years ago. Their memories were good enough to recall nearly any story or information they may need, but in his many years some of the details had begun to blur together.
Was there not some kind of pulse that matched the frequency of vibranium? He could remember feeling it faintly every few decades, sometimes sooner and sometimes later. The record-keepers gestured to him in respect as he moved along the spiral, and he did his best to acknowledge them as he searched for anything relating to the Panther’s country. When is she going to call? Shrugging off the thought, he continued leisurely refreshing his memory on every instance of the vibranium pulse and eventually remembered that Li’ika’lani had begun keeping surface world records at some point in the last fifty years. Though the woman was old now, her mind was as sharp as ever, and he wondered if she had gathered any stories from Wakanda after they had revealed themselves to the surface.
His mind made up, he set off towards the crotchety woman’s house on the far reaches of the palace grounds, just before the city proper. Smiling groundskeepers met him at the gate and let him in without a word. Gods give me strength. He steeled his nerves and pressed the indicator by her doorway. Li’ika’lani emerged in a rush of water that nearly swept him up and above her house entirely.
“What? What do you want? Go away!” Her speech was mostly grumbling; the sort that had taken a lifetime to decipher. He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders, gesturing to get her attention.
“Greetings Li’ika’lani. It has been too long since I have been graced with your presence.” Her eyes snapped to him and raked over his figure with an eerie judgment that would always manage to put him on edge. The most charming smile he could muster spread across his face as he stared at the younger woman. He was met with a glare and a folded fan in his face.
“And whose fault is that, king? What do you want, why are you bothering me? Unless you’re hiding that beauty Attuma behind you, I want nothing to do with your mischief.” Displeasure was written clearly across her expression, and he warily avoided the fan that was held threateningly to his neck. Chuckling nervously, he tried to remain jovial as he spoke. Remember, she can smell fear better than any shark or crab could ever dream of.
“My apologies, Li’ika’lani. It appears I have forgotten how needy you are.” A sharp, loud laugh rang from her mouth at that, and he grinned. “May I come in? I fear the groundskeepers would testify against you if I were killed in your courtyard.” The fan finally moved from his neck, and with a huff she turned around, swimming unevenly through her door and gesturing for him to follow. Biting his tongue, he followed her and tried not to groan. I remember playing games with her when she was just a child, now she bosses me around more than my mother ever did. Somehow, the woman had lived to nearly a century, despite partaking in every dangerous activity he could think of when she was younger, and now she spent her time terrorizing the school children with stories of monsters and the surface.
To this day, she was the only person that had ever successfully made him yield in battle besides the Panther. And with nothing but a fan, too. The thought made him shudder as he eyed its place on her hip while she led him to her sitting room. Once upon a time, she had been in love with him, but she’d grown bored of his attention and instead shifted to being a royal pain in his side ever since. Or at least, that was how she had worded it. But she had his respect, and he cared for her almost as deeply as he did Namora, if only through sheer perseverance and the passage of time. Clearing her throat, she pointed at a chair for him and began speaking.
“Don’t waste my time, what are you here for?” He rolled his eyes.
“Wakanda. I assume you heard my address earlier. I’d like to know any information you have on them.” Her eyes narrowed and she nodded once, touching her chin in thought. She did not speak for a long while, but he was used to it. Any of his other subjects would have rushed themselves to tell him everything, but she had always been good at filtering out the noise and telling him what he actually needed to hear and nothing more.
As the silence stretched on, his mind reached out to the sea and felt for any sign of change. He suppressed a sigh as he felt no feline presence in his waters. She did seem unsure of the terms she was setting. Perhaps her council was less obliged to follow orders? A warm feeling shifted in him as he recalled the sour note her face had taken on when mentioning a science guild of some kind. It had been amusing, like watching a dolphin eat fermented fish for the first time. Her face had scrunched up in distaste and the words held an acidic note in her tone as she spoke. Clearly, they held no favor with her. He made a mental note to look into them first when the cultural notes came through.
Suddenly, a loud snap resounded in the water and the fan was pointed at him once more. His eyes widened and darted to Li’ika’lani, who was now staring at him with the shrewdness of an otter. He swallowed.
“So that’s why you want to know.” Her words left him bewildered. Did I say something out loud? No, he most certainly had not. What was she on about this time? A smug look overtook her features as she snapped the fan closed and smacked it against her wrinkled hand. “It’s the vibranium pulses that drew you to me, yes? You want to know if they line up with anything Wakanda has released to the surface.” Suspicious of her roundabout speech, he slowly nodded his head. She let out a clicking noise and waved her hand in the water in front of her.
“That’s obvious. They do that every time a new king comes to power. Now, stop lying and tell me what actually brought you here.” What? That is why I am here, woman! This time, he could not hold back his groan of annoyance as he pinched the space between his eyes. He searched his mind for whatever information he could give her that would satisfy her. Had she noticed me lost in thought? Most likely. Might as well go with the truth when it came to this demon of a woman.
“I have been… distracted lately. Wakanda has been the source of many changes for our people. I would like to know any information I can use to better our standing with them. Any kind of common ground.” He’d barely finished speaking before the smack of the fan hit him atop his head, and he cursed, ducking to avoid more attacks. Her eyes pierced into his very soul.
“As if I couldn’t figure that out. What kind of idiot do you take me for? You’re more distracted than you’ve been in decades, and that usually means one of four things. War, the surface, both, or on the extremely rare occasion, a woman. So, which is it that drives you to my doorstep with questions that could easily wait until the cultural exchange?” He froze at her words. Curse this woman and her supernatural perception. I should’ve taken her into battle with me. He was not lying to her, none of his words so far had been untrue. Yet clearly, she had seen some of his unsettled nerves regarding the princess.
But the Black Panther does not have anything to do with why I came here. Unless… had Li’ika’lani become telepathic in the years since he had last visited her? He was only looking in the library as a way to kill time while waiting for the princess to call, after all, so perhaps that was what the shrewd woman was catching on to? Amazement filled his mind as he stared at the frowning face in front of him.
“You never cease to surprise me, Li’ika’lani.” She grumbled some more at his words and gestured for him to hurry it up or get out. It was one of her classic hand motions that he had learned to obey long ago. “Fine. I am waiting for the Princess of Wakanda to contact me so that we can begin our alliance in full. But she has yet to set foot in the water, so my mind is stuck listening for her while I roam Talokan with little to do.” Beads swished in front of his vision as Li’ika’lani adjusted herself and stared him down once more.
“Set foot in the water? You mean you do not need a shell to hear her?”
Clearing his throat, he pushed away his discomfort at the topic. “Yes. It appears that after our battle I have become… attuned to her whereabouts whenever she is in ocean water. It is distracting to say the least.” He had yet to mention this fact to anyone else as directly as he did now, but part of him did seek advice on how to calm his mind.
For a moment, they sat there in a stalemate of discomfort and stares. It was broken when Li’ika’lani laughed. She continued her booming laughter until her gills were flexing with the effort. “Oh K’uk’ulkan, you are a wonder to behold. Despite your godhood, your human roots show more than you realize.” Frowning, he moved to ask her what she meant but she stopped him with a flick of her fan and her still-laughing voice. “Don’t. This will pass with time. I am merely taking my enjoyment of the situation while it lasts. If you would like an answer to tide you over, take this and leave: Wakanda and Talokan were born of the same mother, and as our protector you have never had so much in common with another until now. Stop thinking, K’uk’ulkan. This is not a matter to fret about. Accept it for what it is and rule as you always have.”
Before he knew it, he was being ushered out of her house with no time to get a final word in until he was at her door and forcibly holding on to the frame to keep her from pushing him out. He spun around in her grasp to speak, and promptly received a fan to the forehead. “If you are about to say something stupid, don’t. It does not suit you, king. Now tell me goodbye and go to the surface and sleep.” Puzzled and irritated, he sighed. I give up with her. But he still took hold of her neck with one hand and pressed their foreheads together in the gesture of trust and goodwill of his people.
When he let go, the sliding door was slammed in his face, and he was once more left alone with his thoughts. A tight smile adorned his face as he bid goodbye to the groundskeepers and made his way to the caverns above Talokan. Why do I go to her for anything anymore?
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Her call came a few days later. He was in his office in the Palace when a tingling fire shot up his spine and he stopped mid-word with Attuma and Namora. Still Wakanda, but a different spot on the river. He registered the concern of the Hammerhead warrior and forced himself to focus back on the two individuals in front of him.
“I think it means the Wakandan Princess is contacting him,” Namora was saying.
“Did he give her a shell?”, questioned Attuma.
He cleared his throat and their eyes snapped to him once more. “Apologies. You are correct, cousin. The Panther is calling me right now. I will take my leave and hopefully return with a way to connect our two nations better through communication systems.” He eyed his spear in the corner of the room and considered if he should bring it or not. Best not to for now. Attuma seemed to read his mind and spoke up.
“I will accompany you, K’uk’ulkan. It is best for your safety if you do not go alone.” The king merely raised his hand to halt the warrior.
“That is not necessary, Attuma, though I thank you for your loyalty.” The warrior looked between him and Namora as though they had lost their minds.
“But my king, she defeated you and tore your wings from your legs. It is only right-” Once more, he stopped the warrior and interjected.
“Attuma, Li’ika’lani wishes to know how you are doing. Shall I tell her where you train so that she may ask you directly?” He had to bite back a malicious grin as all the color drained from the Hammerhead’s face and the stern expression was replaced with one of mild fear and dread. Namora snickered at his side, and he did his best to stay serious.
The Hammerhead shook his head in a vigorous show of refusal. “You’re right, my king. You can handle the Black Panther on your own.” Now, he let the grin take his face as he clapped the soldier on the back. A nod to a still-smiling Namora, and he was out of the room.
Finally, she calls. The swim was faster this time, having found the best route to travel for speed in his last trip to Wakanda’s shores. He reached for her location like second nature and followed it like a beacon. Slowing down once more as he crossed the border, he found he had to travel much farther upstream than the last time he had come here. There she stood, a few feet into the water and fiddling with a bag at her waist.
He let his body cause ripples in the water to warn her before slowly rising up and landing in front of her. The last thing he wanted to do was startle her into attacking. The garb she wore today was brown and orange, and appeared traditional in nature, if the beading and animal bones adorning it were anything to go by. Once again, his eyes traced her form looking for injuries and he was pleased to find none. No added complications, good. To his surprise, he found his mother’s bracelet resting on her right wrist where it crossed over her left.
Wide, nervous eyes found his own when he’d finished his assessment of her. Was she fearful? Why? Her throat cleared and she spoke. “Welcome back, Namor.” He inclined his head but narrowed his eyes. This did not seem like the pantheress he’d come to know through their previous interactions. Even when she was deliberately trying to be formal with him last time, she was not this stiff.
“Princess. You seem anxious. Is there something I should be aware of?” Her brown eyes darted to the side, and she shook her head. She was not telling him something. His hackles raised at the prospect of danger, and he scanned the surrounding riverbank with suspicion. Tension seemed to rise in her shoulders, and he found himself tensing in response, wishing for his spear.
Her voice came out quickly, almost frustrated. “There’s no danger here, if that’s what you’re wondering.” His head tilted and he examined her more closely. Her face was flushed with color, and her hands kept twitching in front of her. He took a step closer to her but found her hastily taking a step backwards herself. He frowned.
“Panther. What are you not telling me?”, his voice was a low growl. Frustration took her face from blank to expressive as she groaned.
“It’s nothing, will you drop it already? Look, I have a way that should work to link our nations to each other, but I have to show you how it works first. I tried translating everything to Mayan but just in case-” She began to ramble while gesturing to the bag at her waist, but the color did not fade from her cheeks.
He interrupted her. “I do not care, write me instructions if you must. Why do you seem disturbed?” He did not like how anxious she seemed. It put him on edge to see her so tense and uncomfortable. Are we not allies? He reached a hand up to touch her, but found it smacked away with a growl of her own.
“Do not touch me. I said it was nothing, so drop it. Are you going to take the communicators or not?” Ah, there was the fire he was familiar with. To avoid re-igniting their war, he backed away in surrender. If she did not want to say, then he would not push her further. Her anger, it seemed, was still very present under the surface of her skin, and he knew that if she unleashed it on him that his own would rise to meet it.
“Very well, princess. I will drop it. My apologies for offending you.” Her nostrils flared in a cute imitation of a raging orca, and he forced himself to remain cordial and not tease her for it. This alliance was a sensitive matter as is, there was no need to start causing trouble before it had even started. Crossing his arms behind his back, he asked her “Did your council agree with the terms we set?”
Her eyes closed for a moment as she breathed, and he was given the opportunity to see the details of her face without feeling the burn of her gaze on him. She looks healthy, but sleepless, he noted. Yet another thing that he could understand from her. Her eyelids raised slowly, and the fire had been tamped down. She turned around and walked out of the water and onto dry land. The moment her feet left the river, he felt her absence in his bones again. The feeling was faint, but present, and he found himself pausing to try and understand the sensation. She stands right in front of me, what purpose is there for the sense going off now?
Shaking his head, he followed behind her, walking a short length to an alcove in the brush that he had not seen yet. In it, he watched her step on to two devices on the ground that then formed shoes around her feet in the blink of an eye. He stood there blinking for a moment as he processed just how fast her technology functioned. Then, she was turning around, and he straightened up again, trying to remain diplomatic.
“The Elders accepted all terms with no conditions. Frankly, I think they only cared about the first two points, but either way they agreed in full. We’ve already begun compiling our resources in order to send Talokan a most comprehensive understanding of our science and culture. The training grounds are being built as we speak and should be complete and ready for testing within the week.” Her tone was detached, rattling off details from memory and looking at him with an expectant glance when she finished.
He felt himself relax at the news that her people were working as fast as his were. He expected nothing less of her nation, but it still eased his nerves that his nation’s pace could be met by her own. Moving past his thoughts, he spoke. “Talokan is in a similar position. The council has approved all terms, though they complained quite a bit about them at first. Our training domes are constructed and currently being stocked and tested. As for the cultural exchange, we have gathered a council that will work in tandem with the communications center that has been established. All that is left for is the communicators you hold at your belt.” The princess scoffed, a distinctly un-royal expression on her face as she gave him a look he could not quite decipher.
“Are you going to actually listen this time? Or should I just hand them to you and wish you good luck?” There was a bite to her voice that wasn’t matched by the look in her eyes as she spoke. He shrugged, but said nothing, figuring the princess would fill the silence one way or another. He looked down to examine the bag at her hip. It appeared to be made of vibranium that shifted in the sunlight as she unclipped it from her belt and raised it in the space between them.
Her arm disappeared into the bag and came out with some strange, bulbous cube. “As I said before, I did my best to translate the interface to Mayan, but Griot is only familiar with the modern Mayan spoken in Central America, so there’s bound to be some inaccuracies.” He nodded his head, understanding that those of his people that did not receive the gift of the blue flower had either died out or assimilated, taking much of their language and culture and changing it with time. She gestured to the box in her hands.
“These communicators function much like my kimoyo beads, meaning you can take parts from one and add them to another if you need more functions or computing power. Currently, they are only capable of communicating with their counterparts here in Wakanda, though they have instructions inside on how to broaden the frequencies to access above-ground radio signals if that is what you wish. They’ve been tested to pressures, temperatures, and saturations equivalent to more than 30,000 feet, so as long as you don’t take them to the bottom of the Pacific, they should be able to function in Talokan.” His nose and ears twitched at the idea of swimming in the Pacific. It was magnificent and beautiful, but much harsher and less lively than the part of the ocean that he called home.
“And how exactly do these communicators work?” He doubted he would understand her answer, but he asked anyway in the hopes that something would click. Despite both being gifted with vibranium, their kingdoms had developed vastly different technology that was almost unrecognizable to the other. It was the most perplexing part of their nation’s differences. She handed him the strange box and pointed where to place his hands in order to make it come to life. He tried to focus on her words, but as she spoke about her invention, her eyes lit with a proud shine and her voice quickened to an excited chatter the longer she talked. He followed her motions automatically, but only snippets of the words she spoke were actually making it through to his brain. He didn’t understand them, but it was nice to see the tension gone from the mighty panther even if only for a while.
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His scientists clamored over one another trying to get at the communicators in the bag he held. Vaguely overwhelmed, he quickly opened the pack and started handing out the devices, listing off the most important functions that the panther had shown him. His mind lingered on her last words to him as he robotically handed out the roughly twenty devices among the communications specialists.
Once the princess had finished her demonstration, she had withdrawn within herself somewhat, and suggested that he return to Talokan so that the memory of her instruction would not fade. Not wanting to push the matter, he had agreed and turned around, sensing that any sort of physical gestures of goodbye would be unwelcome. Just before he’d dove into the water, however, her voice had stopped him in his tracks. “Namor, wait.”, she’d called out. When he’d turned to look at her, he found her only paces away and was taken off guard when she reached out and grabbed his hand with her own. She did not move to connect their heads, but instead gripped his hand tightly and jerked it up and down as she spoke.
“I am no god. And I cannot give you my friendship. But for the sake of my people, I thank you for your allegiance. I will be in touch, Feathered Serpent.”
In the moment, he’d merely nodded, more confused by the odd motions of their joined hands than her words, but now he frowned. Had she ever called him that before? He could not recall. It felt… odd. He took no offense at the first part of her statement, understanding that she suffered a great deal more losses than he had in their brief war, and as such she would be much slower to forgive than he. But it felt unnatural for her to call him anything besides Namor. Calling her the Black Panther was second nature to him, but to have her call him by his godly title felt strange.
His hands mindlessly finished the task of handing out the princess’ devices, and he looked around the room to find all of his people excitedly exploring the technology. It seemed her detailed instructions were unnecessary. Folding the almost cloth-like bag in his hands, he began the trek back to his cavern, hoping to finally get some food for the first time all day. His hopes were dashed however, when his general appeared beside him as he swam.
Holding back a sigh, he asked, "What is it, Attuma?” He looked over to find the warrior staring straight ahead, spear in hand as he swam. Without fanfare, the man spoke.
“I have a request to make.”