Revamped!
[This is one of the longest chapters in the story and I had to retype it because I accidentally deleted it]. [2019: This has happened to me so many times and it's the worst].
Chapter Nine: The Attack
About a week after, the atmosphere in the palace shifts dramatically.
I whip my head around, suddenly seeing three members of the Dora Milaje run some of our staff through the hallways. I follow them, trying to get some information on what's happening but the moment I open my mouth is when the most blaring siren fills my ears. I stop in my tracks, covering my ears to block the sound as I continue running.
I never get scared but this siren is a sound that nobody ever wants to hear. It means we're under attack.
I sprint over to my suitors' wing and begin pounding on all their doors. Hopefully, they can hear me over the alarm. But even if they don't, they should come out due to the alarm.
When they all open their doors, they're worried. I ignore their questions because I can't hear them and we have more important things to do. I order them to follow me and they listen.
"We need to hurry," I warn them, taking the lead. "I don't know what's going on, who are attacking which is the likely care nor how close they might be."
All my suitors nod. I know they're petrified and are doing a marvellous job of hiding it which is incredibly helpful. I can feel the adrenaline pulsing through me, overpowering my blood. Because they're my responsibility. I try not to allow it to take over me because fighting with that mindset and power never succeeds. I speak from experience.
Once we reach a wall, I look both ways to make sure nobody else is around before I push aside a statue of a Panther on top of a pillar. I open a secret door and push them all inside to go down the staircase in there. It's a safe room that we would use during attacks. When I was a child who didn't know how to fight, I would be sent in there. There are so many all around the palace, just inside various walls and corners. You won't see it on a casual stroll through the hallways.
Once my suitors are all inside, I close the door but someone stops me.
"Princess," I hear Zuberi call from the other side. "There's a chance that you're what they came here for. It will be safer if you're with us."
"There is a greater chance that you are their targets," I admit. "You're here because of me. This is my country and this castle is my home. I will protect it till my dying breath."
Which I really hope doesn't come…
Zuberi hesitates for a moment, but he understands. As much as I want him to join me, I'm not taking that risk. With that, he nods and closes the door. I push the pillar back into place and continue walking to find someone to fight. I need to get away from there as possible and draw the attention somewhere else.
They must be safe at all costs.
-o-
Hearing the familiar sound of shots being fired makes me realize that I currently have no armour nor weapon with me. I have a version of the Black Panther suit like my father's but it's under development. The lab is working on incorporating my elemental abilities and the vibranium mesh. They're working on having the kinetic energy be absorbed from the winds or lightning and the usual explosions, stabs, and shots.
I have no time to run down and change into the prototype. My dresses can't survive wine stains, but at least I'm wearing a jumpsuit with heels.
Good thing that I have been trained for any and every situation.
I run down the hall, towards the main stairwell. I kneel at the corner of the wall, watching the curve of the steps, waiting like a panther stalking its prey. I feel the railway vibrate rapidly which means that someone is running up the stairs. It takes me less than a second for me to identify the man as an intruder. I pounce on him, like a panther, forcing him to the ground. With a grunt, he falls back.
Before he can get back up, I take off one of my shoes and use it as a weapon to hurl at him. One of my guards passes by me and captures him. I try and piece together the intruder's uniform but it's foreign.
"Where are my parents?" I ask the guard. I see Mother's storm clouds in the sky, grumbling with rage and ready to burst.
"Outside," he replies. "There are strong forces against us, Princess."
"I understand."
"As much as your father wants you to fight, he and your mother want you to get to safety."
"Don't tell them that I'm disobeying their order. And that's an order for you."
He nods as he walks off with the intruder. I turn around and continue trekking down the hallway. I have ditched my shoes just so it's easier for me to travel on foot. Although they make a wonderful weapon I will make do without them. Ditching them may lead someone in the other direction or have them think that I've been taken care of.
"If you find the King, Queen or any of the suitors, kill them!" I hear an intruder yell.
I freeze for a second. Why wasn't on that list? And why is the dialect slightly different than mine? I recognize it but can't put my tongue on it.
I move as quietly as I can towards the sounds of the intruders, ducking wherever I can and constantly checking around me. I'm alone in this hall and there's definitely more than I can handle at the end. And that's saying something.
I make it up to the next floor, finding it destroyed. Everything is in several pieces all over the floor. The home I have grown up in is dishevelled and all I can do now is walk past it all.
But it will be fixed. That's what matters most.
I look up and see an intruder patrolling the area but he has yet to see me. I pick up a leg from a broken side table and quickly smack him in the back of the head. He drops and I check him for weapons. Lucky for me, I've obtained a shard of vibranium that I hope wasn't stolen from us. If they have access to our labs, then we're finished.
In any situation like this, the labs and the mines are always first to lockdown.
I get up and see some more intruders approaching me. I stretch out my arms and summon the winds to assist me. Nearby windows shatter and gigantic gusts of wind knock over the oncoming force like dust.
A Panther bust is about to fall from a pillar but I stretch a hand in that direction to catch it with the wind. I know my god is meant to protect me but that doesn't mean I can't keep it safe.
Using my other hands to add more wind to my grip, I hurl the bust down the hall on a current right into an intruder.
"Thank you…" I mutter to my god.
I hear someone attempt to sneak up on me from behind but the sound of a loading weapon causes me to turn around and stab him right in the chest. As he screams, I leap up and kick him over. He falls to his knees and I hold his neck against the wall with my foot.
"Who are you with?!" I demand.
As I try to get an answer out of him, glass smashes into my face, cutting my forehead and my cheeks. I stumble back, bending over to hold my face. My head spins from sudden dizziness and blood begins leaking into my eyes, making it harder for me to see.
IA sudden shrill of panic from my temporary blindness runs through my body as someone grabs a hold of me from behind. And that's when my training returns to me. I crouch and use my leverage to flip him over my shoulders. Though he's much bigger and stronger than me, he crashes onto the debris-covered floor. I wipe the blood from my eyes and suddenly get pinned to the ground by another. The man holds down my arms and straddles my stomach.
"Take me to your suitors," he orders. His voice reminds me of the machines in the mines: mechanical.
I shake my head. He releases my arms and I immediately punch him in the face with my bloody fist. He slams my head into the floor. My head feels like an exploded bomb and I can no longer breathe. The man takes my head and forces me to face him.
"Where are your suitors?" He repeats.
"I can't tell you if you kill me," I tease, gasping for air and ignoring the burning pain in my head.
"Come on, Princess…" he provokes, tracing the blood that streams down my temple with his finger. "We weren't going to kill you. We need you."
He laughs menacingly.
"You underestimate me…" I mutter through gritted teeth.
I spit into his face which he didn't expect from someone as feminine and princess-like as me. I buck up all my strength to push him off me with my hips. One of his arms that holds me down loses its grip so I roll right through it, knocking him down and worsening my dizziness. I quickly get up and point my arm to fire lightning bolts at him.
Now that I'm alone, I try and restore my breathing. My head is foggy and I'm failing to find any oxygen. I try to walk, but stumble and fall forwards onto some debris. Crawling, or dragging, my body is my only means of transport but even that causes pain because of all the debris on the floor mixed with open wounds on my body and carpet burns.
Through the haze, I hear a gun go off and I wince, not knowing who fired the shot and at what. I freeze, hoping whoever is there will think I'm dead and move past me. I feel myself being turned over and someone holding the upper half of my body up. Everything I see is blurry and what I see in front of me is this big blur of black. I tense but feel my face in someone's hands. It doesn't feel like skin but a vibranium mesh.
Is that my father or my god before my eyes?
I'm Princess Iqadi and I made a promise with myself to protect Wakanda till my dying breath. The problem is that I'm not ready to go. Not yet, at least…
The blackness is saying my name, softly, and lifting me as I finally pass out.
[Princess Iqadi is a badass that's for sure].