~The Problematic Party~
"What kind of thing?" He stretched his neck a little, his dreads following his movements.
Ven opened her mouth but right before she could say anything someone called for her and she smiled, deciding to keep it a secret. "I have to go.... take the elevator to the second floor and you'll find the man, your highness."
~~~
Venery didn't have any time left to help the king around since her whole afternoon was filled with tasks and so she had ordered the guards to help him instead. In the meantime she was busy organizing a formal party for the whole country. She had decorated the ballroom with the colours gold, black and dark green, sent invitations to every tribe in Wakanda, including the Jabari tribe, and ordered the royal tailors to make three outfits for Erik and send it to his room for him to choose from.
It was a long and exhausting day and then 10 PM was shown on her watch.
Venery had her straight white hair up in a formal bun with few strands pulled out in front of her face and she was wearing a short black bodycon dress with a deep v-neck and a thin golden belt wrapped around her waist. To finish her outfit she also wore two golden hoop earrings, a golden chest body chain that perfectly outlined the valley between her breasts and black laced heels.
She checked herself out in the mirror and smiled for the first time in a pretty long time.
It had been tough for her to accept herself after the accident, but finally after years of being self conscious, she started to accept who she was and actually started to love how she and her body looked.
She was unique and she started to love it....
"Miss Gold!" One of the royal guards knocked on her door loudly and she snapped out of her thoughts, opening the door after fixing her make up a bit.
"Yes?" She tilted her head a little, waiting for the man to tell her what was going on.
"The first guests have arrived, they are asking for you." Ven nodded and dismissed him again before rushing downstairs herself. She took the elevator to the main floor, waiting a few minutes before getting out again. She then hurriedly walked past the lab and then took a turn to her right before finally finding herself in the gorgeous decorated ballroom, shocked by how many people were already there.
'The first guests have arrived'.
The royal guard probably meant more than half of them.
She waved at Erik who was already there, wearing a full black outfit that included a simple black turtleneck, black harajuku sweatpants with multiple pockets and a long black coat that ended around his knees. His dreads were pulled back in a small bun too again.
He really looked handsome in everything.
The king waved back at her with a friendly smile and continued his conversation with W'Kabi.... a man who now trusted Erik with his life. She hated the fact he did because before all this he was such close friends with T'Challa, but she couldn't blame him either. Erik had a kind of charming thing to the way he spoke that could make anyone trust him just like she slowly but surely began to trust him as well.
"Beautiful, stop staring at your king before everyone might believe you two are having an affair." A deep voice whispered into her ear and she was so startled she lost her balance. Luckily the unfamiliar man had already caught her before she could even begin to trip over her heels and he helped her stand steady again, her noticing he wasn't unfamiliar to her at all.
"M'Baku?" She smiled a little, trying to suppress the urge to cry into his chest because it had been so long since she last saw him. So long. Even now he was standing before her, she simply couldn't believe he was really there at the moment.
"Hey love." He responded and slowly spread his arms, the woman automatically burying her face in his chest while he wrapped his strong arms around her tightly. "I heard about what happened so I wanted to check on you as soon as possible.... and I thought this would be the perfect occasion to not draw any attention to us." He mumbled against the top of her head, his right hand spreading wide and resting on her lower back while his other hand rubbed her hip in a soothing way to calm her.
Ven knew M'Baku was right.
This was the best occasion to talk to each other without him looking extremely suspicious because he normally never leaves the mountains, but they weren't really thinking about the biggest problem.... the king who was now jealousy staring at M'Baku embracing the woman he wanted to be his so badly.
M'Baku didn't have the best reputation when it came to obeying Wakanda's kings and he wasn't planning to be on his knees for Erik either, which both of them already knew.
He had already noticed their king staring at the scene silently, but he didn't worry about it at all and even casually smiled at Erik to greet him before slowly letting go of Ven.
"We could catch up talking somewhere else? Perhaps the gardens?" He smiled a bit at her and held out his hand which she took without hesitation.
She always loved the gardens.
"Sounds like a perfect idea.... the music is too loud in here to really talk anyway." She nodded and gave him permission to guide her to the royal gardens.
After a small walk beneath the dark bright sky, they both sat down on a bench that had a beautiful view of the golden city in front of them, her head resting on his shoulder.
"He treats you well?" He suddenly blurred out when the silence became too much for him, disturbing the peace she felt. "Be honest with me."
"He can be a bit intimidating and demanding.... but he does treat me well and I believe he has good intentions for Wakanda and our people." She answered honestly, not taking her eyes off of the pretty full moon that made the golden lines in her face and body shine brighter.
"But do our people think the same way about that?" He raised his brow at her and she finally made eye contact with him.
"Most of them already grew a liking towards him and the others follow me so as long as I stick with him, no war will break loose." She shrugged and the man next to her sighed, shaking his head a little.
"But is that what you want? Keeping yourself quiet and letting him ruin what once was Wakanda."
"What once was Wakanda? What's that supposed to mean?" She felt a bit offended and pointed at his chest. "I'm trying my best here to keep it the same, even with him around now, and you know that."
"Look at it and tell me it's the same without king T'Challa? Without the Heart Shaped Herbs that this motherfucker burned? Without the once happy adviser that was always ready to help every single person around here?"
"I'm still happy." She protested and crossed her arms.
"Are you really, Ven?" He growled at her and she backed off instantly, shocked. "Because all I can see is a woman who's worn out and lonely and is still grieving, but yet is forced to focus on her job and how to please her king because she knows once she does something wrong or she goes against him she's dead just like T'Challa, or Zuri."
"He isn't as bad as you think."
"You're starting to trust him already." He scoffed and leaned his elbows on his knees while he stared at the stars and the lit up city ahead of him, ignoring her. "Let me tell you this~.... men like that fuck with your head, love."
"I'm not stupid." She bit back and got up, feeling more and more upset. "I know what kind of man he is and of course I haven't forgotten what he did, but he genuinely wants the best for Wakanda and that's all I care about." She didn't mean to snap at him like that and besides the sadness she already felt, she also felt ashamed now.
Without another word she walked away from him, suddenly feeling his hand wrap around her wrist to stop her from entering the palace again.
"Ven, I'm sorry." He lowered his head a little to show her he meant it. "I didn't mean the things I said.... I just care a lot about you and the things that have been going on weren't exactly something positive happening in your life."
"I know you care about me." She smiled weakly and turned around to face him. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you too. I'm way too stressed and confused about everything that happened and even though he is the cause of all of it-.... I can't exactly snap at our king to do things differently now, can I?" She chuckled a little, her mood slowly clearing up.
"Doesn't sound like a good idea, no." He smiled back and stared at her full lips for a second when they both went silent again, his hand still around her wrist.
"You know what? Let's make it up to each other." She bit her lip just to mess with him, knowing from their past flings he liked that.
"And how do you want to do that?" He lowered his voice in a hot way and pulled her closer.
"You know how."