Revamped!
[MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!]
[Copyright - Mulan (Make a Man Out of You)]
Chapter Six: The Training
One attribute the leader of Wakanda must have is the ability to defend and protect the country with combat. Sadly, not everyone is born a great warrior so one must train to fulfill such an important role and duty. Even I had to.
Centuries ago, it became a law that all children must be raised with combat training. It started becoming instilled in homes before being shifted to the school curriculums. They're not detailed to the extent that I, my parents, and our warriors have, but they're good enough to defend their homes.
As for my suitors, they all have that basic training. Except for Sir Zuberi who came from Wakanda's military program. He has an advantage. But today, my father will be giving them a lesson. I wanted to join them but Mother ordered me to stay to the side with her and observe.
No fun.
All my suitors stand in a straight line, wearing the same training jumpsuit. Father walks in front of them, making his way over to the equipment. He uses both his hands and grabs many vibranium batons in one hand. He throws one at each of my suitors. Some catch theirs and some don't. I cringe a little, hoping nobody sees, but Mother does and she scowls.
"Don't make that face," she scolds. "It's unladylike."
"I apologize," I reply, returning my expression to its neutral state. Be pleasant, proud, charming yet amused. Never show a thing you feel inside. The basics of being a princess, according to what my mother's been told when they had to train her.
Father sighs at the current response with his hands squared at his waist. He looks up at the ceiling, takes a deep breath, and says a quick prayer to help with the task set in front of him. I can hear Mother smiling beside me.
"We have a long way to go…" Father mutters, eyeing each of them.
He stretches his arms before walking towards my father. He stands in the front and centre of them, looking as dominant as ever. All my suitors face him, standing as tall and straight as the line they're all in. Their facial expressions vary from confident to cowardly. I can understand why.
From a distance, my father is intimidating. He's their King, The Black Panther, their possible future father-in-law. And now they're in a life-or-death situation.
If I had no training and faced my father, well, I would be scared as well.
"Let's begin," Father orders, turning his baton.
-o-
As an example, Father stands before my suitors with a pile of books balanced on his head. He holds his baton straight out, horizontally, and each suitor throws vibranium shards directly at him. All at once. Father shields himself cleverly by spinning the baton precisely and batting them away accurately, all while keeping the books piled on his head.
The drill shows balance along with strategy and agility. I can do this in my sleep. My suitors can't do so even though they're wide awake.
Then, it's their turn.
It takes a moment for some of them to get the books on their heads. I look at Mother who's intrigued in watching. Father looks unamused, meeting my eye for a second. I don't know what he wants me to do or say so I look back at the suitors.
They take turns, being thrown spheres of dirt instead of vibranium. Some showed more anxiousness than others.
"This is new," I mutter.
"What is?" Mother asks.
"Seeing fear in the palace."
It's so unusual that it's interesting.
My suitors aren't warriors nor are some even close to the title. With each one, either the books are falling from their head, they get hit with dirt, they cower and drop the baton or all of the above.
I smirk a little, mostly at my father and his reaction. He's far from proud of the suitors. If there is one thing he asks for in his successor, it's a warrior. I'm a warrior, but he would want both to be one.
Nevertheless, this is quite entertaining.
"He stands out in the bunch." Mother leans in to whisper.
I watch her bright blue eyes as they look towards one of my suitors. Zuberi, to be exact. I remember him being the top of his class in the school for our armed forces. It's no surprise that he's succeeding out of all of them. He has been in situations like this before, real or training. Abioye and Chike, from the Tiger and Gorilla tribe, are also worth noting as well. Since they grew up in a position almost like mine, they're not new to this kind of regimen (although they aren't that good at it). Femi does decent for someone who learned in school but Imanu shielded himself with the books that fell from his head. Not my technique but it's a smart move if I say so myself.
Zuberi catches my eye and smiles at me. I find myself smiling back, impressed.
-o-
After the training sessions, my suitors are beyond exhausted. Some of them sit on the floor against the wall, panting for air and the others lie on the floor, breathing heavily as well. The only one who still has energy is my father. I don't know if that is because of his experience or, despite his age, it's definitely the experience.
"We will continue this tomorrow," Father announces to my suitors.
They're much too exhausted to respond, not even with a hand motion or sound of some sort. Judging by how they are, I think they would need a week or two off. Maybe even a month. Mother decides to approach my father and she does so ever so gracefully by either walking around suitors or stepping over their tired bodies. I follow her but keep my distance. She puts a hand on the chest of my father and looks up at him lovingly.
"Darling, how about I handle the training for tomorrow?" Mother suggests. The tone she uses is more for a command rather than an idea.
"Ororo," Father replies, "this was exactly the way my father trained me, his father before him, his father before him, and I for Iqadi. Look at how valiant we all are as warriors. They all just need time to adapt and master it."
I smile proudly at my father and he does the same in return. In a way, he sees me as his equal. It's the best compliment one could ever give me.
"I understand, my King, I truly do," Mother replies.
"It's barely been one day," Father argues.
"But if you continue to train the suitors like your father did and his father before him daily, there will be no more choices for our daughter."
I bite down on my tongue when my father opens his mouth to say something but has no further objection. He huffs in defeat as Mother leans on him. Only his wife can leave him with nothing else to say.
I turn around to face my suitors and they look relieved.