ACT ONE.  CHAPTER V:
IN DEATH WE TRUST

VIENNA, AUSTRIA.
2016, MARCH 28.

Mourning was a foreign concept for Sade. She thought it was only a task that everyone would have to complete sooner or later, some more than others. But the more she felt her heart give way to grief, the more she realised that her pain would surely never go away, that it would remain embedded in her. It was as if it had become an integral part of her person, altering her permanently.

T'Challa had made her return to the hotel they were staying in, encountering no protest from his sister. She was still seeing their father's body every time she closed her eyes, the blood on her hands staining her with guilt despite the fact that she had washed them many times. Like a stain that hung over her skin, remorse had enveloped her in its heavy, suffocating blanket.

The reasons for the attack soon surfaced, perhaps a little too quickly, she thought. The CCTV footage had made headlines, pointing to the Winter Soldier as responsible for the attack. Everything linked back to him, his past in Hydra, his terrorist attacks ― almost everything. There was something wrong with the face of the famous assassin, nearly as if it wasn't him.

Sade looked at her phone again before lifting her head to look up at the sky. It looked very different to her now that she had someone she loved there. T'Chaka may have prepared them for his death, but to be honest, one could never be too prepared. No one had prepared her for her father to be killed in a terrorist attack, and for her to be there and not be able to save him. Perhaps that was why her grief would not abate.

"Princess."

The young woman turned to see Okoye's frame standing in the middle of her room, her expression serious.

"It's about T'Challa." she added without adding a word.

Sade didn't need to hear more to know that her brother was close to doing something stupid, blinded unlike her by hatred. She wasn't a hundred percent sure that Bucky Barnes wasn't behind the attack, but she wasn't going to leave him at the mercy of T'Challa either, who would keep her from getting to the bottom of the situation.

Closing the bay window behind her, she walked over to her Kimoyo bracelet before facing Okoye. "I guess Velvet Paw is back on duty."

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA.
2016, MARCH 28.

She had been sneaking around among the passers-by for a while now, watching the man with the cap stroll by without an ounce of tension in his step. A man with the armed forces on his tail would never have reacted like that, let alone find himself in Bucharest so quickly.

Something was definitely wrong.

Sade moved slightly closer, watching Bucky's visual exchange with a vendor who seemed to have recognised him. The latter took off running when he saw him approaching, leaving his stall abandoned to the crowd. The Winter soldier picked up one of the newspapers where a capture of the video from the surveillance cameras was displayed on the front page. The young princess was close enough to see the incomprehension on his face, even a certain fear that he had returned to duty without being aware of it. But then again, there was no way he could have made the trip from Austria to Romania so quickly.

"Captain Rogers is in his apartment." Ayo's voice rang out in her earpiece.

"Are we in agreement that T'Challa has the wrong guy?"

A long silence followed her question before the Dora Milaje sighed. "Follow him. I doubt he can hold his own against your brother."

The young woman ran towards the building Ayo had sent her the location of, breathlessly realising that the German special forces were already there. Raising her head to the roof, she waited for the operation to start before venturing into an adjacent alley, not losing sight of the roof of the other building she was sure Bucky Barnes would escape to. Pressing one of her Kimoyo beads, Sade looked around before climbing the wall, seeing the one she was looking for pass above her.

No sooner had she arrived than a black mass slammed into Bucky from behind, taking them both rolling to the ground.

By Bast, I'm really not in the mood to kick his ass.

The Winter soldier stood up quickly, looking at the two panthers that surrounded him on either side. Sade didn't really know what she could do other than just fight her brother. He wouldn't hear reason right now, and Bucky would see her as much of an enemy as T'Challa.

"T'Challa stop it."

The Black Panther took a slight step back as he felt the intrusion in his mind, bringing out his claws nonetheless. Sade knew he couldn't technically respond to her telepathically, but she understood clearly that he wanted her to go away.

"It's not him."

T'Chaka's eldest son ignored her as he lunged at Bucky, attacking him with sweeping kicks and slashes. Groaning into her mask, the young woman violently pushed T'Challa to the ground, giving the Winter Soldier time to get up. The latter looked at her with incomprehension before starting to run again.

"What the fuck don't you understand about 'it's not him'?" she said as she clutched his shoulders, putting all her weight on him in the faint hope that he would stop.

"Ngaphandle kwam." (Out of my way.)

Scratching down her arm, T'Challa sent his feet into her stomach before getting up, going after Bucky again. Sade stayed on the ground for a moment, looking up at the sky, not finding the energy to get up. She already had to deal with her own grief that might engulf her, she didn't want to have to stop her brother from killing an innocent man too.

"Princess Imani?"

"It's alright Ayo."

"And T'Challa?"

"Sorry but Velvet Paw is taking the day off. Let him get caught by the police."

"But-"

The young princess cut the call before looking down, seeing a Special Forces vehicle chasing her brother, Bucky as well as Captain America. She sighed before jumping over the edge of the building, landing on a motorbike whose rider was lying on the ground. She dialed Raïssa Salah's number before heading for the airport, knowing full well that the CIA would get involved in some way.

BERLIN, GERMANY.
2016, MARCH 28.

"Imani?"

The young woman looked back at T'Challa who had popped into the office she was in before turning her attention back to Raïssa.

"I hope next time you won't hang up on me," the CIA agent told her with a slight smile.

"I can't promise you that."

Returning her smile, Sade thanked Raïssa one last time as the latter nodded towards the new king of Wakanda, closing the door behind her.

"May I ask what got into you?" T'Challa finally asked coldly, following her with his eyes.

"He didn't-"

"You already told me that. Everyone's seen the security camera footage." he cut her off dryly, making her frown. "If this is another one of your ways of getting attention-"

The young princess widened her eyes at the insinuation, her brother's words coming abruptly to catch her by the throat. "Do you even hear yourself talking?"

"Then give me a reason to believe you!"

"Don't you think it's odd that just after apparently setting bombs he ended up in Bucharest in such a short time when his face is all over the press?"

T'Challa opened his mouth a few times before shaking his head and bursting into hysterical laughter. "That's your evidence? This isn't one of your spy missions. Baba is dead, because of him." he spat at her, emphasising his last words, vengeance stifling all sense. "How can you be so naive? He's an assassin, he's been trained to be one. Because of little things like that you wanted to stop me from getting justice?" he continued to shout, catching the eyes of a few people walking by the glass office. "Maybe that's why Baba didn't believe in the idea that you-"

"Don't finish your sentence."

Sade knew what the Elders thought of her. She knew that everyone considered her irresponsible, and that no one expected her to take the throne one day. That she had accepted. But to have her brother spit in her face what she had always feared, to still be considered a child in the eyes of her parents; that she would not accept. This day had to go well ― she had to follow her father and brother to a UN summit, return to Wakanda to celebrate her 21st birthday, and meet Namor when everyone else had gone to bed. Everything was supposed to go well, but it all turned into a nightmare. And T'Challa's words didn't help her at all.

The young princess pursed her lips and blinked quickly, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. Raising her head, she walked over to the table to retrieve her things, ignoring her brother's apologetic look.

"Imani, I'm so sorry. I-" he tried to grab her arm, which she immediately pulled away.

"You can't be sorry for something you blurted out so easily." she replied with a smile. "And don't worry, I'm not going to stop you from doing anything. After all, I'm far too naive and not responsible enough to have my opinion taken into account."

Sade opened the door before turning around one last time. "I called Thema, she should be here any minute. I hope she'll be better company than me."

Not giving T'Challa time to add anything, she slammed the door behind her, heading outside the building. She was going to go home and stay in her place as she had been taught, because Imani may have meant "faith" ― but nobody actually believed in her.

RIVER VILLAGE, WAKANDA.
2016, MARCH 28.

It was already twenty-two o'clock when Sade threw her notebook to the floor, unable to think of anything else but the conversation she had had with her brother. It was already five hours since she had returned from Berlin, having expressly asked that no one visit her. The young woman knew that she would have no restraint in getting angry if anyone asked her what had happened.

She glanced at her suit, which she was trying to improve as best she could, before her gaze lingered on the conch she had brought with her. As much as Sade didn't want to talk to anyone, she wanted to spend the few hours of her birthday with someone who could listen to her without judgment. Picking up a blanket that was lying around, along with the shell, she walked out of her cabin to the farthest corner of the beach from the village.

The moon's rays reflected beautifully in the water as they would on the polished face of a diamond. Sade blew lightly into the object before placing it in the water, nonchalantly returning to sit on the sand. The light breeze made her pull the blanket tighter around her as she continued to stare at the horizon, awaiting the arrival of the Talokanil king.

A good ten minutes passed, and no sign of his presence entered her field of vision. The young princess laughed bitterly as she rested her forehead against her legs. He was a king, surely he had other things to do than to come and comfort an irresponsible princess who was constantly questioning her place among her own people.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. I was-"

Namor, who had quietly approached her, frowned at the tears that had rolled down the curves of her cheeks. Smiling faintly as he stood before her, Sade sniffed slightly as she wiped her cheeks.

"Did you get stuck in traffic on the way here?" she asked in an attempt to hide her more than visible sadness.

Putting the conch shell at her feet, he sat down beside her on the sand, not taking his eyes off her once. Seeing her beautiful, constantly smiling face drowned in tears made him feel sick to his stomach. He felt helpless that he had been unable to prevent this from happening, and even more guilty that it had taken so long for him to arrive.

"What's going on?" he finally asked her as she continued to wipe away her tears that seemed to never dry up, reinforcing his ache.

Attempting another smile, she simply shook her head. "Nothing. I just wanted to see you."

Under different circumstances, he would surely have teased her. But despite the fact that his heart had twitched in his chest at her sentence, he knew she wasn't telling the truth. Not all of it anyway.

"Sade." he called to her when he saw that she had turned her head again, probably to hide the new tears that had begun to fall.

Seeing that she had deliberately ignored him, he moved closer to her, placing his fingers under her chin to turn her face to his. Namor couldn't help but run his thumb over her cheek, cutting off the flow of an invading tear. "What happened?"

"Do you actually believe in me? Or do you fake it like everyone else?" she asked weakly, finding some comfort in the warmth of his hand.

At the incomprehension on his face, she reluctantly told him the events of the last few hours, trying not to let the lump in her throat get the better of her. Until she found herself on that beach, draining her body of all water, Sade hadn't thought that T'Challa's words would hurt her so much. She knew he'd said it out of anger, but there's always some truth in what an angry person says, and her insecurities have been brought to the surface.

Namor listened to the end of her story without cutting her off even once, hiding his rage so as not to worsen her state. She may have said that T'Challa had said those words in anger, but the result was the same ― he had hurt her. And this, family or not, was something he couldn't tolerate.

"Maybe I-"

"Your feelings are valid." he cut her off, knowing full well what would follow if she had continued her sentence. "Do you understand?"

Sade closed her mouth before nodding meekly, playing with her fingers. After a moment, she finally looked up at him, smiling slightly.

"You're not that bad for a mermaid." she told him, making him laugh slightly. "I mean... you didn't have to listen to me, but you did. I'm just a human-"

"You're not just a human, Sade." he cut her off again, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

She was far more than just a human. They'd known each other for about three months now, he'd come to accept the fact that she was a much bigger part of his life than he'd imagined. Namor still hated humans, but he knew he could never give her the same treatment. Sade was the exception to the rule, the natural sun whose warmth he came to witness above the waves.

Yes, she was more than a ray of sunshine. She was the sun itself.

"Can I give you a hug? I didn't ask you this morning."

The Talokanil king looked at her for a moment before nodding, unable to stop the small laugh that escaped his throat, causing their hilarity. Her arms wrapped around him as her head rested in the crook of his neck, spreading a familiar warmth throughout his body. He took a long breath, the scent of vanilla and jasmine wafting from her into his mind with a sweet smell. They stayed like that for long minutes, breaking the silence only by their breaths, which too were meant to be inaudible.

"And yes, I do believe in you, in k'iino'." (my sun)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

sorry for the late (late by one day as someone kindly reminded me), i'm not feeling really well since i have the flu and i have to work for my finals so yeah :/ i don't know what to write here except that sade is tired of her brother's shenanigans 💀 t'challa kinda fucked up here (a lot) baby sade already has some self-esteem issue :/ i really like how she's going to handle her loved ones' death like culpability, culpability and BOOM ANGER (more because she'll consider the third death like a treason from her fav fishman 🤠) namor being worried about her and asking who hurt her, i can't wait to destroy this 🥰 (don't come at me, i'm following the story 🏃🏾‍♀️) after raïssa, here's thema my other beloved oc 🥰 it's an akan name (ghana and ivory coast) that means "queen" (i love choosing names with meaning), and she's t'challa's s/o in another book of the theatrum mundi series.

the most awaited part of this author's note

here are some ship dynamics spoilers for thella (t'challa x thema)

t'challa is definitely a and thema b

my other babies 🥰

but now onto the star(s) of this book

namor listening to sade talking about her experiments 😭

namor after hearing what happened in vienna

sade really said "nope, i'm not helping him."

&& don't forget to vote, comment and share 🫶🏾

© ADONYSIAC ― IZIA™