Chapter 27: The General

Edward turned to stare out the window of the Land Cruiser, but the landscape outside did not garner much interest. Mile after mile of empty grasslands, dotted with the occasional hut and boys herding flocks of goats. The landscape morphed as they bumped along, turning from grassy plains into lush forest, from golden yellow to deep emerald, and from dry heat to oppressively humid.

"Tumefika," said the woman in the red and gold uniform driving the car. She pulled up in front of a series of huts and opened her car door. She stopped to stare at the brilliant purple flowers of the jacaranda tree in full bloom, raining purple flowers on the tan paint of the car. Her mouth seemed caught between a smile and a grimace.

It was only the second time he had heard her speak. Their entire three hour car ride he remained bathed in a mental and physical silence. None of his unwilling companions so much as whispered under their breath.

He found the car of warrior women waiting for him on the border of Wakanda, just as dawn broke over the horizon. He could not tell which disturbed him more-their knowledge of his exact location, their ordered command to come with them, or his lack of insight into where or why he was to follow.

Three other woman in red and silver uniforms exited from the back doors of the car. They opened the trunk and unloaded a series of bags and suitcases. They stacked these inside the nearest hut.

A crackling, smoking fire lay in the center of the compound of huts. A pot smelling of ginger and cloves boiled over it, balanced on three stones around the fire. Near the fire, stirring the pot, crouched the soldier, wearing a grey t-shirt and ripped khaki cargo pants.

"Karibuni, Dora Milaje," the soldier said. "Chakula iko tayari."

He stood and shook hands with each woman. Then he came to each with a basin of warm water and soap to wash their hands in preparation for their breakfast.

"Asante, bwana," one woman responded. She dished out mugs of steaming broth and banana leaf wrapped bundles of a steaming root-like vegetable to each of the others. Edward sat on a tree stump in silence and watched as they picked at the food with their fingers. His patience felt like a frayed rope on the point of snapping and he barely quenched his urge to jump up and pace. When he could bear the suspense no longer, he turned himself to address the soldier, the one he felt most likely to answer his questions.

"Why am I here?" Edward said, with more accusation than curiosity in his voice.

"We need to ask you some questions and this is a safe, protected space to do it in," the soldier said with an expressionless face.

"It's hardly necessary to force me into such an isolated location. I can assure you I am well in control of myself and am not a danger to any of your countrymen," Edward retorted, feeling defensive. "Even when starving and insane, I resisted human blood and maintained control. This hardly seems necessary."

"The Dora Milaje are not here to restrain you. They are here to protect you," Bucky said, solemnly, wringing his hands over his forehead.

Edward gave him an incredulous look. "Protect me? From what?"

"The Volturi want you back," Bucky said, his statement crashing into Edward like the lid of a piano in a silent room. "They sent the King a message requesting an exchange and that we bring you to the borderlands to fetch you."

"So I am here to be handed back over to them?"

"No! No! You are here so you can give us information so we can plan how to protect ourselves when we refuse to hand you over to them."

Edward sank onto the ground. The tall, stately woman in a red and gold uniform came and sat beside them on a three-legged stool, golden spear in her hand as if an extension of her limb.

"Edward, I assume you've met General Okoye?" Bucky said, nodding his head in the woman's direction.

"We have spent a long car ride together, though I cannot exactly say we have been introduced."

Okoye rolled her eyes and disregarded any pretense of politeness.

"Zimwi, the King is at this moment arguing with the council over his decision to grant you asylum," Okoye said, leaning forward, her dark eyes flashing with passionate energy. "The council was not happy when King T'Chaka, our former King, chose to grant Lieutenant Barnes not only her life, but sanctuary in Wakanda. They grew even more uneasy when King T'Challa gave the same gifts to Sergeant Barnes. The arrival of the Watu Wa Wanyama made them angry. Your presence amongst us made them livid.

"The King will not speak of Volterra's threats until he must because that may be enough to tip the scale against the King and I fear how the council will respond. People who act out of fear are blind to the damage their actions may cause."

"Who are the Watu…the Watuwi…that word you said?" Edward asked.

"The People of the Animals…some would call them shapeshifters who can change from animal to human form. They are immortal and are children of the marriage between the spirits and the earth, as you are," the General said. "A few years ago, our shared enemy, this mchawi, or sorceress, began her attacks of both of our kinds of peoples. The Watu Wa Wanyama knew of Bella's origins and came to her seeking her protection. Lieutenant Barnes has served as their commander ever since, as she is yours for the duration of your stay in Wakanda."

Edward nodded.

"Where is Bella now?" he asked.

"Lieutenant Barnes needed to hunt and to fulfill her duties to the Watu Wa Wanyama in the Impenetrable Forest. She is preparing for her departure," Okoye said.

"Who is this enemy?" Edward asked.

"This mchawi, we suspect she has been formulating plans to infiltrate Wakanda for some few decades and we have been growing suspicious of her desires to conquer our nation. It is only recently that we have begun to suspect she has ties with the Volturi."

"You mean you think she is a vampire?" Edward asked, puzzled.

"No. She is not. Thus far, she only appears as spirit of the water. She has yet to manifest herself in a physical body. In other worlds, she has appeared in what seems to be a physical human form, but embodied in a form that is both physically and spiritually more powerful than a mortal."

"Other worlds?"

"Yes. She does not find her origins on Earth. She has conquered at least two other worlds that we know of. Those worlds have ceased to exist and we suspect she desires a new throne."

"Planets? Worlds? This sounds crazy!" Edward exclaimed. "You expect me to believe all this?"

"Zimwi, I do not care if you believe it or not. I am telling you the facts and I expect you to listen and then answer my questions," Okoye said with a grim, piercing stare at Edward.

"What are your questions?" he responded quietly.

"First, why does the Volturi want you back?"

"Easy. Aro has always wanted to add me to his guard because of my gift."

"Hapana, Zimwi. Aro is dead," Okoye said. She pushed a single button on what appeared to be a beaded bracelet and a translucent image projected into the air between them.

Edward's mouth fell agape in shock, even more so as he took in the image on display-Aro's decapitated head. Okoye pushed her beads again. The image vanished.

"His head was sent in exchange for your return. Now, tell us, why are you more valuable to the Volturi than Aro?"

"I…uh…I do not know," Edward stuttered. He began to feel as if he woke to discover the ocean in the sky and the sky beneath his feet.

"Hmph. Do you wish to return to Volterra and use your gift for their purposes?"

"No! I'd rather you kill me here and now than return to that pit of hell! " Edward said, jumping to his feet as he shouted his answer.

Okoye motioned for him to return to his seat on the tree stump. He obeyed.

"It is as I thought. The reason they want you back is not to utilize your gift. What good is an unwilling slave? Unless they can force you to do their bidding, which has not worked in the past, than they do not want you for your gift. Think, Zimwi, why would they want you besides reading minds? What can you give them that they wish for?"

Edward sighed. "It's possible…I didn't know until last night…They may want me back so they can use me as leverage to force my sister to work for them."

"Speak, Zimwi."

"She…uh...my sister, Alice, she came to see me last night…and told me that the reason Aro kept me alive was because she agreed to work for them from time-to-time," Edward said, uncharacteristically tripping over his words. "She, uh, she is able to see the future…or parts of it. But it is possible that they want me back so they can force her to continue working for them."

The General pursed her lips and her bare forehead wrinkled deep thought. "It is possible…but no, I am not convinced. It may have been a convenient ploy in the past, and one which brought Aro nothing but benefit, but I see no benefit to the mchawi. If she truly desired to utilize your soothsayer, she would not have found Aro so dispensable…Possibly with you and your sister working in tandem you could be useful to her, but I still feel in my heart that is not the real motivation."

"You think the second option is more likely?" Bucky said.

"Yes. It strategically more sound with more long-range implications for Wakanda."

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

"I mean that the mchawi does not care about you or your gift at all. She simply desires to remove possible threats and you will provide a convenient excuse to attack us. Someone wishes to conquer Wakanda. We believe it is this mchawi. But she lacks the means to defeat us in direct warfare and she will need to employ indirect tactics to gain entry. When we refuse to turn you over to the Volturi, she will use that as a façade to provide legitimacy to her attempts at conquest, in whatever form she dispenses them."

"I don't understand. If she controls the Volturi, that should be enough for a frontal attack," Edward said.

"No, not a legitimate one," Okoye said. "She is playing a game…one she has been planning for decades. She is not in a hurry. If the Volturi guard came and attacked us directly, she would give away the secrets of both of our armies on the world stage, which neither of us wishes for. We both gain and maintain power through secrecy. So, she will find a way to attack and conquer from the shadows, using human armies as puppets, in a proxy war controlled by her immortal legions."

"So, what do you need from me?" Edward asked.

"I need you to tell me everything you can about the Volturi…and I mean everything. Every guard, every gift, every quirk, every side entrance, and every crack in their castle that you can think of. In exchange, we will keep you safe here on this homestead until we decide what our next step will be."

Edward nodded. "I will do everything I can to help."

"Good," Okoye said. She pushed another button on her beads and nodded towards him. "Speak."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Okoye sat on a tree branch, running her spear back and forth along its bark, listen to the screeching sound of the metal against the wood. She let her foot hang loose off the branch and watched out over the waving branches of the jacaranda and banana trees.

She could see Bucky climbing a papaya tree nearby. He swung his panga to cut off ripe fruits for Ayo to catch in her lesso below him. Ayo laughed as she nearly missed one, catching the green and yellow fruit on her foot.

The zimwi emerged from one of the huts in a brand new light blue polo shirt and khaki pants. He still wore thunder clouds behind his brows and carried within him a jerrican of grief so full it caused his strong shoulders to slouch inwards. He wandered aimlessly across the compound, then froze in midstep and placed his hands over his ears. His eyes flickered around the occupants of the compound and he brought his hands back to his side. He did not resume his movements.

"Ona," Okoye whispered to Bucky, nodding her head towards the pale man. "Bella ameenda saa hii. Zimwi anawezi kusikia tena."

Bucky followed her hand and watched as the zimwi stood motionless, cocking his head as if listening. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before he met their eyes with his own.

"What do you mean I'm out of range of Bella's shield?" the zimwi said to Bucky, narrowing his eyes. Bucky turned to Okoye and nodded. "You are right."

"Of course I am right," she said. "Now what?"

"Now, we learn to be careful what we think until Bella comes back in range."

Edward turned his fierce golden eyes on Bucky again and Bucky shrugged. "Bella has been shielding you since you arrived. I'm guessing when you are out of range of her shield, you can hear again."

"Her shield?"

"Yeah. She's got some crazy skills. She can shield supernatural and mental attacks with it over a few hundred people across a range of about two miles" Bucky said. "None of the mazimwi in Volterra could breach it."

The relief poured off of Edward like waves of water. "I thought something was wrong with me….that my time in Volterra caused it."

"Nah, that's just Bella's job-to protect us all," Bucky said. The General waited for him to elaborate. He didn't. In typical Bucky fashion, he used his words sparingly.

"We are shielding our secrets from your mind for your own sake as much as for ours. In case the Volturi do manage to recapture you, it will be of benefit to both parties if you know as little of our secrets as possible. You cannot be forced to share what you do not know. We would prefer to keep it that way," Okoye said.

The zimwi kept quiet again and Okoye's discomfort grew as the reality of her permeable brain grew in her consciousness.

Bucky pulled a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of oil. He threw it towards the zimwi who caught it easily and lifted an eyebrow in question.

"Rub that on your exposed skin," Bucky replied. "You are starting to, you know…" and he wiggled the fingers of both arms in the air.

"He is trying to tell you that your skin is beginning to sparkle again and you need to reapply," Okoye said.

Bucky gave her a sideways glance and threw up his hands. "You can't tell a man he sparkles."

"I didn't. I told a zimwi."

Bucky's sigh gave the silent apology that Okoye would never make.

The zimwi cautiously sniffed the vial before he acquiesced. Then he sat staring at the vial as if it, too, were capable of communicating to him.

"The Princess designed it so Bella would be free to travel during the daylight hours without drawing attention," Okoye said, answering his unasked question.

He turned towards her, his scowl momentarily replaced with a look almost approaching awe, as a convicted criminal looks upon a judge who has granted him full pardon. He held it up into the sunlight, gazing into the white, translucent oil and he whispered one word to himself.

"Freedom."

ooooo

T'Challa walked the halls of the palace with his head held low. He could still hear the shouts of the elders in the council chamber ringing in his tired ears. The only solace he could find at the moment would be with his sister. Her laughter and enthusiasm never failed to lift his spirits. She had the innate ability to remind him there was always a way to make something work, whether a gadget, computer program, crazy dream, or a relationship. She never lost her belief in a solution being possible, even if not currently discovered.

He found Shuri in her own little kingdom-her lab where she ruled as both empress and subject. He saw her cornrows first, covered in headphones. He walked to her lab table and placed his hands on both her shoulders. He laughed as he felt her jump in surprise. His laughter quickly disintegrated as he saw the tears cascading down her brown cheeks and splashing onto her lab coat.

She pulled the headphones off her ears and sank into his chest.

"Brother," she said, nuzzling deeper.

"Shuri, why are you crying? What is troubling you?" he said, his heart sinking within him.

She threw her face into his shirt and sobbed, soaking his shirt through. He ran his fingers over the fine braids in her brown and gold hair. She choked and inhaled, struggling to right herself. She used the back of her lab coat to wipe away her tears, leaving wet trails along the edge.

"It's Mrs. Ellis," she said.

"The mzee you met in London? What has happened?"

"She's….she's dead," Shuri said.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"She sent me a message," she responded and unplugged her headphones. "I found an email this morning that contained a voice message. Listen."

She pushed a button and T'Challa could hear heavy breathing and a few bumps before the hazy voice of an old woman came on.

"Princess Shuri, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance and that of your companions. I wish we were able to meet again someday, but I do not think we will be meeting on this side of heaven. I have reason to believe my time on this earth will be shortened and so I wanted to take this opportunity to make sure I contacted you with my recent discovery.

"After our conversation, I opened up my old case files on Professor Kirke's financial affairs and the railway accident. The company that acquired Professor Kirke's properties has undergone quite a number of name changes, however their most current reincarnation is a joint American-Italian company that goes by the name of Ketterly, Inc. I do not believe it is a coincidence that Professor Kirke's uncle, you remember, dearie? The one I told you invented the magic rings? That is the one and he went by the name of Andrew Ketterly.

"I do believe my nosiness has gained me a bit of unwanted attention, but I am an old woman now and I have lived my life so I do not mourn it being shortened. I only hope and pray this information can help save lives other than mine.

"Sending you all my love and best wishes. Mrs. Ellis."

Shuri turned to T'Challa, tears spurting once again. "The recording came in yesterday but one. The London papers this morning said Susan Pevensie Ellis died in an explosion from a gas leak in her flat. The entire place burned with her in it." Shuri said.

T'Challa took her in her arms and let her cry, inwardly churning with fear and confusion.

"….she….she looked lovely in her red hat and she was much too lovely to go in that way."

"No, sister. You are right. She was once a queen and should have been buried in honor."

Shuri sniffed and rubbed at her eyes again.

"Can we bury her here next to Bella? We can hold a proper royal funeral for her spirit, even if her body is already gone."

"Of course," T'Challa said. He held his small sister in his arms and silently pushed a button to fetch the General to him as quickly as possible.

Ooooooooooo

Thank you all so very much for reading and for your comments!

Translations:

Tumefika: we have arrived.

Karibuni: welcome

Chakula iko tayari: Food is ready.

Zimwi/mazimwi: vampire/vampires

Mchawi: sorcerer/sorceress-someone who intentionally practices harmful and evil magic…different from a witch. In many different cultures in subSaharan Africa, people differentiate between witchcraft and sorcery. Witchcraft is unintentional. Someone doesn't know they are inflicting harm on someone else but their bitterness or jealously or unforgiveness in their hearts manifests itself externally in harm towards their object. Sorcery, on the other hand, is intentionally using supernatural means to cause harm. This is also different than mganga, or the Kiswahili word for someone who uses natural and supernatural means to cure or heal. So, I'm going to use the term mchawi here for our old friend, the White Witch.

Panga: machete

Lesso: colorful piece of fabric, usually with a Kiswahili proverb printed on it.

Bella ameenda saa hii: Bella has left right now.

Zimwi anawezi kusikia tena: The vampire is able to hear again.

Hapana: no

Bwana: term of respect

Mzee: old person, also a term of respect.