Milk and honey have different colors,
but they share the same house
peacefully.
~ African proverb
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"This is where you will be staying." I mumbled and opened the doors to the large room, moving to the side allowing him to see where he'd be living from now on. "And this is the sparring room." I walked down the hall and pointed to the other room.
I've showed him the meeting room, and other rooms that would be of use to him before feeling his presence at the side of me. "So where's your room, sweetheart?" I didn't have to look at him to tell that he was smirking.
"None of your business. If you need me, you will know how to get in touch with me. And my name is not 'sweetheart'. Its Mbali." I rolled my eyes.
"Well, sweetheart. Since I'm the person that you will be taking orders from, I order you to tell me where your room is." N'Jadaka smiled, but it was a sinister one.
"W-what? You can't do that—"
"Actually, I can do whatever I want since I'm over this tribe. So answer me, Mbali." He crossed his arms and looked at me. Odd enough, I enjoyed the way my name sounded as it rolled off of his tongue so easily
I glared at him and bit my lip. "The border tribe headquarters are made of of five I levels." I sighed. "Seeing as though I'm first in command, I stay on the fourth level, while you are here; on the fifth. If I'm needed, you use your Komoye beads to get in contact with me. Now, if you excuse me, I have a friend who is coming by. I'll be heading out now, N'Jadaka." I rolled my eyes and made my way down the opposite end of the hall to my floor.
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I quickly changed out of my clothes and into something more loose and airy as I waited for Sanaa to finally come over after she was away for so long.
As soon as I finished adjusting my hair, my communicator went off, letting me know it was her. "Look who's alive. I haven't heard from you in weeks!" I laughed and sat on my bed, taking in her appearance.
"Whatever," she laughed. "You know this is a busy time of the year for my tribe, things are coming in and going out like crazy, we could hardly keep up!" Sanaa was the granddaughter of Menzi, the merchant tribe leader, and daughter to Naomi and Mandla. They were in charge of any and everything that had to deal with commerce and trade in Wakanda. "How are things? You don't look to happy." She chuckled.
Mbali rolled her eyes and fell back on her bed. "You will find out when you get here. It's... interesting."
"Well, I'm already here. So, come to the entrance." She hang up the call on her communicator as I pushed myself from off of the bed that I was on.
I opened the door and poked my head out, hoping that N'Jadaka wouldn't be wandering around the halls, and thankfully he wasn't. As soon as I reached the door Sanaa stood there with a smile and a arm full of bags. "What is all of this?" I laughed and helped her with some of the bags.
"I figured I'd make up for being away for so long, and bring you a few things while we catch up." She smiled as we walked down the halls to her favorite spot: the kitchen. "Wakanda's best clothing and jewelry; for you and for me." She smiled.
"Thank you, Sanaa. You didn't have to do this. You've missed a lot while you were away; just so you know." I sighed and placed the bags on the island in the middle of the kitchen.
"Did I? Like what?"
"T'Challa's cousin? He's still alive." I mumbled, hoping that he wouldn't be able to hear me.
Her eyes instantly lit up and a laugh escaped from her lips. "You can't be serious. I thought he was dead!"
"Apparently T'Challa enjoys giving second chances, and helped heal his cousin. And he's over my tribe now." I groaned.
"You've got to be shitting me." Her jaw dropped.
"You've enjoyed picking up on American slang, I see." I laughed "but, I'm not. He's in his headquarters as we speak."
"M'Baku did not tell me any of this." She mumbled to herself, making me smirk.
"M'Baku, eh? So what's going on with that?" I wiggles my brows at me, making her smile and shake her head.
Everyone knew M'Baku and the Jabari tribe to be quite...loner-ish. But, Sanaa somehow found a way to warm his frozen heart one day after sitting in her grandmothers place at a tribal meeting due to her being sick and her parents having to tend to her.
"M'Baku is M'Baku," she laughed lightly "Very hard and stern to his men, but when he's with me, he's soft and gentle." She smiled at the thought of him. "I'm hoping that one day you can relate to this amazing feeling as well." She urged, making me leave from the island and walk to the fruit basket that was near the sink.
"I don't have time to look for suitors, Sanaa. I have a lot of work to do."
"You don't have time to, or you don't want to?" She pointed at me.
"I don't want to—"
"Who's this?"
Sanaa and I both turned to see N'Jadaka leaning on the door with his brows pushed together. I sighed and rubbed my temples.
"This is my best friend, Sanaa. Granddaughter and daughter of the Merchant Tribe Leader. Sanaa, this is the prince, N'Jadaka—"
"Erik."
"What?" I frowned.
"You keep calling me N'Jadaka. That's not the name I go by, sweetheart. I go by Erik. So I expect you to call me that." He corrected me.
"Interesting." I mumbled and washed off the apple I was going to eat, returning to my seat by Sanaa.
"If I'm being honest, I can't really say that it's a pleasure to meet you, seeing as though... well, you know." She gave him a sarcastic smile.
N'Jada— Erik, smirked and scratched behind his ear. "You and your friend have a lot in common. The mouth on you two will get you two into a lot of trouble." He threatened her.
She remained un-phased as she picked at her nails. "Your threats don't make me uneasy. I could say one word and my lover would kill you if you weren't royalty and if his loyalty didn't now lie with the king."
I looked between the two and laughed softly, noticing how Erik's jaw clenched a little before it returned back to its normal relaxed state.
"Your lover is no competition to me. Do you see these marks?" He rolled up his sleeve, displaying the circular scars on his skin. "This isn't even half of the people I've killed, Sanaa. I could easily add your precious M'Baku to my skin. Trust, I have enough space left." He spat back at her.
A new fire was growing inside of her. He didn't know Sanaa at all like I did. She could take threats towards herself. But any threat towards someone she loved could easily send her into kill mode.
"You need to be lucky that it is Mbali's job to protect the border and well as yourself. Because the second I would be able to catch you off guard, I wouldn't hesitate killing you, N'Jadaka. In cold blood." She looked him up and down before turning to look at me with sympathetic eyes.
"I'm sorry we couldn't catch up more, but I think it's best that I leave for the day before I leave this kitchen with blood on my hands." She smiled at me, but I could tell anger was still boiling inside of her.
"I understand. I'll stop by to see you next time so this won't be a problem for you." I hugged her tighter. "Send you family my best wishes." I sighed and watched as she left, bumping shoulder with Erik harshly.
I glared at him from across the island and picked up my bags, heading back to my room. "Meet me in the sparring room." His voice stopped me.
"For what?"
"I'd like to see what my first in command has to offer." He smirked that annoying smirk.
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As I walked in, I pulled my braids into a knot above my head and adjusted my shoes.
Erik was there throwing jabs at the air before turning to face me; smirking as usual. I wish I could wipe it off his face.
"Armor looks nice on you, sweetheart. I'd love to see how you look in noth—"
I held up my hand, cutting his sentence short.
"Do not disrespect me. You didn't call me down here to comment on my looks, you called me to train. So let's get to it." I rolled my eyes and tossed him a pair of blades.
"Whatever you say. I'm not gonna go easy on you though, sweetheart." He said and dropped the blades, sliding out of his shirt revealing his marked up torso. This is clearly what he meant when he was talking to Sanaa about his kills. However he managed to do them, they were in neat rows across his chest; looking almost smooth to the touch.
"You're looking too hard, sweetheart." He bit his lip and chucked, tossing his shirt to the side. "Whenever you're ready." He stretches and cleared his throat.
We paced around each other slowly, taking in each other's moves as his eyes stayed glued on mine. Every time I would place my foot down and try to move, he was ready, and I was ready for him.
"Anytime time," I taunted him. "Unless you're scared to hit a woman. I don't bite."
"Babygirl, you're the least bit of my worries."
"Then take the first swing, you rejected king." I purposely pushed him over the edge so he'd charge at me.
And he did exactly that.
His blade swung to connect with my chest only for me to block it with my own. I kicked him in the chest only for him to stumble back slightly and send a punch flying towards my gut, allowing it to connect. I groaned and quickly gathered myself again, going back into my fighting stance.
"You talk a lot of shit for someone who can't take a punch." He growled and cracked his neck.
This time, I charged at him, and swung my blade against his cheek, leaving a slight gash against it. Not bad enough to leave a giant scar, but enough to let him know I meant business. "Don't test me." I smirked and went behind him as he hissed, wrapping my legs around his waist from behind as I pressed the blade to his neck. "I've trained with the finest in Wakanda."
His breathing became erratic as he grunted, pulling me from behind him, slamming my back to the ground. He grabbed a spear and tried to jam its head into my shoulder, but I stopped it with the vibranium filled cloak that Shuri made for the tribe.
As the head of the sphere bounced off of the force field that was coming from the cloak, I kicked him in the groin, making him fall over with a huff. Kicking the sphere from his hand I hovered over him and placed my blade back against his throat.
"Know what you're dealing with now?"
He caught his breath and rested his hand on his chest. "You're good, sweetheart."
"Mbali." I corrected him, pushing my blade closer to his neck. A chuckle left his lips as my hand pressed down against his chest and my knee was against the ground. What was so funny?
"Okay, Mbali, you're good... fuck, I can give you that. But you're lacking in one thing, babygirl." He cooed me, making me frown.
"And what is that, Erik? Seeing as though you're the one on the ground with a blade to your neck."
"Your opponent can always have tricks up their sleeves." He smirked.
What?
Grabbing the blade from my hand, he kicks me in my stomach as I get up and pushing me against the wall, brushing my face against the cold metal. He pins my hands behind my back and presses his chest against my back, a knife in his free hand and lightly gashes it against my shoulder.
"Fuck!" I groaned feeling it sting a little, but I didn't want to make a big fuss and look weak.
I sent my head back, colliding with his, while he hissed in pain I put space in between the both of us as I tried to regulate my breathing.
He bounced back and forth on his feet like a professional fighter before chuckling and stopping his movements. "Looks like we're even." He motioned to my shoulder, comparing it to his cheek. "You're good, I'll give you that. But you can still learn a few things."
"I can say the same about you." I exhaled and leaned my head against the wall before pushing myself off of it and grabbing the cloak from the ground, handing it to him.
"If you're going to defend the border, you need one of these. Hold it across you, and it blocks anything coming your way. More of them together creates a bigger force field and an even stronger one. Princess Shuri infused the cloth with vibranium. Get comfortable with it." I pulled my arm across my chest to stretch it out, hissing at the sting from the cut on my shoulder.
"That's not the only thing I'm trying to get comfortable with." He murmured to himself, but I could easily hear, and I rolled my eyes, leaving the room.
"Aye! Where you going? Who said we were done?" He called as I walked down the hall.
"I did." I yelled back, and I knew that same smirk was going to be plastered on his face as I walked away.
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EDITED CHAPTER
What do you think about Mbali and Erik so far?