SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 39: Declarations of War
Eric Stevens strode confidently through a long, brightly lit corridor. His steps marked the way of a warrior, a king, a man used to commanding those in his presence. His gaze did not fall upon the walls covered with paintings and symbols of former kings and queens and he would not have recognized them if he had. Ancient drums painted with elephants, crowns of brightly colored feathers and shells, long robes of animal skins, and life-sized ebony carvings of faces lined his steps on either side of the hall. The two King's Guards stationed on either side of a large set of heavy wooden doors inlaid with different colors of wood opened the doors before him. He entered into the council chamber with storm clouds brewing on his brow.
"Who dared to let that alien into Wakanda? Get him out of here! It ain't right," Eric sternly shouted as all eyes of the council chamber fell upon him. The General and the gathering of elders fell silent and let their attention fall upon their new and very unpredictable king. Anger shone brightly on his handsome face. He clasped a ceremonial machete to his side in such a way that none present doubted his ability to use the weapon for more than ceremonial purposes.
The General stepped forward to meet him with her shoulders tense and her own spear clutched tightly in her hand. She gave him a cross-armed salute in deferential welcome.
"My King, Prince Loki of Asgard is son of one of Wakanda's oldest allies. He has requested an audience with…," the General began before she was cut off by the loud litany of curses falling from the mouth of the new king.
"Wakanda has no need for treaties with aliens. We are meant to rule and we will rule Earth. We will not be bowing no knees to no extra terrestrial kings….and no way in hell will I play diplomat with some alien asshole who tried to conquer my planet already."
The General cleared her throat and waited till the king fell silent again. She watched him carefully with an expressionless face. As Eric's firm steps paced one edge of the council chamber to the other, the General tried again.
"Has conquered, my King. To the best of my knowledge, the Prince is, unofficially at least, ruling all the nations of the Earth except for Wakanda," she said.
"Exactly. Who the hell gave him permission to set himself up as king on my planet and why would I let him into the one country that stands between him and world domination? We should end him now while we have him and free the planet. We should show this Ass-gard just who they've messed with and make sure they never come stomping on our turf again."
"And risk an interstellar war with an alien entity with biological and technological powers beyond that of all the peoples of Earth?" the General responded. "While simultaneously waging a war of conquest upon the rest of the nations of Earth? Wakanda cannot possibly fight so many fronts at once. Upon your succession to the throne, your stated goal was your wish to expand Wakanda's role in world politics, yes?"
"Of course. It's our time to shine. It's up to Wakanda to show the world what we can do and bring freedom to the downtrodden and oppressed. We will bring in a new world order and change the balance of power everywhere."
"A greater change of the world order than the Fall already accomplished?"
"The systems have fallen, now is the time for us to rebuild and bring lasting change."
"As you wish. My King, as your chief military strategist, allow me to speak plainly. You cannot possibly hope to defeat all the armies of earth while relying on the support of only Wakandan forces. Even with our superior technology, our strength is in defense and not offense and our numbers are few in comparison with combined global assets. With the weapons shipments you are sending across the globe and the Wakandans we already have set up as emissaries, we simply will not have the military equipment or personnel necessary to wage a frontal assault on the combined strength of the rest of the armies of the world simultaneously.
"In addition, we are a landlocked nation. We would be bound to organize the majority of our invasions by air and it would prove a simple feat for a small handful of nations to shut down our airspace and cut off our supply routes. We cannot place our hope in the element of surprise because our opponents will be organized by their shadow puppet king who, need I remind you, is already informed of what you plan to accomplish."
"Shut it. You are General and not King," Eric spat back angrily. "The rest of the nations of the Earth do not have the strength to fight back! They are in chaos. This is our time! The world has never been so ready for our people to rise! We will finally get the honor and respect and opportunities that have been denied us for so long."
"Even so, your most strategic move would be to speak with Prince Loki and attempt diplomacy, even if only as a ruse. Then instead of an open declaration of war, you spare your numbers for further offensive, strategic, guerilla style attacks - similar to what started The Fall in the first place," Okoye responded, as calmly as she could muster.
"You think I'd trust your advice? Y'all a bunch of snakes in the grass. I know you wish to see me off the throne as soon as yesterday and so are giving me bad advice," he said. He stopped pacing long enough to glare at the General.
"My allegiance is to the throne, no matter who is on it or what they wish to accomplish," Okoye said as she grit her teeth and measured her tone to keep her voice calm.
"Who made him king over all of us any way? How can he be king if no one knows about it?"
"From what our intelligence agencies have informed us, he seeks to protect the Earth from an impending alien invasion. There are rumors that an even more hostile force threatens to attack us at any time."
"Convenient," Eric responded. "Too convenient. He's got someone else to blame and he's making us all afraid and shaking in our boots so we will readily accept our loss of freedom in exchange for his protection. I don't buy it. That's a classic method of stealing a country right out from under the noses of its citizens by a colonial power."
"Be that as it may, you will have to face the prince at some point and I highly recommend the meeting occurs sooner, and in our own territory, than later and outside the borders of Wakanda when he has access to his powers."
"Fine. Why not? I'll meet him in that ugly ass office that my uncle used to use."
"As you wish, my King," Okoye said and she saluted him again before leaving the council chamber.
ooooo
Eric Stevens sat in the carved ebony chair with his combat boots on the sprawling desk in front of him. He stared at the painting over the desk in irritation. A mother elephant wrapped her trunk around a small calf in muted shades of greens and greys. He immediately decided it would be the first change he'd make in this room. It spoke too strongly of the uncle he had deposed and the lies Wakanda so aptly wove about its false benevolence. He was about to stand to remove the painting himself when foot steps approached and the General, four King's Guards, and four Dora Milaje entered the office with a tall, long-haired man behind them. The man was deceptively thin for as strong as the General made him out to be. A green cape trailed down to his ankles and hid what appeared to be an orange cat in its folds. Eric bit back his surprise that the would-be conqueror of Earth attended military meetings with a pet cat.
Of course. All the best villains have an animal sidekick, he thought to himself.
"King N'Jadaka, allow me to present Prince Loki of Asgard, self-declared interim ruler of Midgard," Okoye said with a tap of her spear. All present saluted the king. The company of guards moved in synchronistic precision to encircle the room and allow the two monarchs to face off in the center. Eric didn't stand and he didn't answer. He sized up the man who appeared surprisingly more human than he had expected. The man failed to have so much as a tail or an antenna or something to mark him as a relative of E.T., yet by the way his skin prickled under the man's gaze, Eric knew he was decidedly not human.
After a tense silence, the man gave a cross-armed salute as was the custom addressing Wakandan royalty, though he accompanied the motion with such a smug expression that the motion could hardly be described as a show of respect. Eric raised one eyebrow and stared at the man with the glare that had made many a lesser man weak at the knees.
"What do you want?" Eric said. He didn't waste time with small talk or motion for the man to sit. The man sat in the chair across from him anyway. The cat immediately jumped onto the prince's lap and purred loudly.
"I wish to introduce myself to the new King of Wakanda. I admit I was a bit surprised to find a shift of leadership had occurred so quickly during my absence."
"That doesn't concern you."
"I'm sure it doesn't."
"So why are you here?" Eric said. He dropped his feet from the desk and leaned his elbows onto the glass surface. His uncle's papers were still stacked in the corners and spilling from the many drawers. He pushed aside one pile to make space for him to lean forward with his face upheld by his palms.
"I will not waste our time with pleasantries. I am here because I have heard you wish to exert leadership beyond the borders of Wakanda and to all Midgard…Earth…is this true?"
"I don't answer to you. I don't need to tell you my plans and you won't stop me from getting what I want."
The alien prince clicked his tongue disapprovingly and dropped his eyes to those of his cat.
"Do not play the diplomat. It suits you poorly. You are a warrior, but not a ruler. I have seen your type often enough…," the prince began and Eric jumped to his feet in anger. He slammed his fists against the desk to interrupt him.
"How dare you…," he shouted, but the prince held up one hand and failed to react with so much as a twitch of a brow.
"Please, I must request you hold back your commentary until I have finished speaking."
Eric inhaled deeply to swallow his burst of anger and began to pace the small space behind the desk. He motioned for the prince to continue.
"As I was saying…You wish to use your newly acquired throne not as an end in itself but as a stepping stone to bring the rest of this planet under your reign. No, do not bother to deny it. I have played this game of politics for more years and across more planets than you can even begin to comprehend, little Midgardian. Speak plainly. As ruler of Wakanda will you take the leadership of Midgard upon yourself?"
"I will fight you if I have to. I will use all the soldiers and weapons in Wakanda. You won't stand in my way, alien."
The prince rolled his eyes. "Pathetic, but convenient. If you wish to waste precious manpower and weaponry over petty squabbles and inept attempts to prove yourself as a warrior, then I have no use for you. We can bypass over all threats for battle or posturing. You are ruthless and short-sighted, Midgardian, and your rule would doubtless be ill for Wakanda, but Wakanda is of but little importance at the moment. Your arrival is fortuitous. Your battle is not the conquest of Earth but its defense. Do you wish the destruction of your planet?"
"What kinda stupid question is that? Are you threatening to destroy our planet? Is that what New York was about? Hold your horses, space cowboy. I won't let you have this planet."
The prince scoffed. "If the combined efforts of all of your 'Mightiest Heroes,' an atomic bomb, the Mad Titan, and the Void failed to end me, I doubt you will have better success. Though if you did wish to try, my Flerkin would surely avenge me and prove an even more formidable opponent than myself."
"Your what?"
"This is trite and meaningless. As I was saying, if you perchance would choose to be useful, we can dispense with all this blather and you can set yourself to making yourself useful instead of irritating. First of all, we have the task of completing the weapon and shielding schematics I have left with Director Fury. Next, you must ensure each polity on this planet has updated systems of communications by a fortnight from now. I will communicate with you daily and ensure you are stewarding Midgard well as I leave the planet to seek to ensure its long term survival."
"Wait- what?"
"Your eloquence astounds. What rousing speeches your citizenry will no doubt experience during your rule. Allow me to explain in smaller words. You wish to rule your planet. Your wish is granted as I am inclined to be a benevolent god this day and give you what you wish. In exchange, you will refrain from internal warfare and conquest and turn your attention to preparing your home planet for defense against annihilation."
"No way in hell are you turning me into your puppet! You think you can show up here and tell me what to do and expect me to bow to your demands? I am king here, not you!"
The prince gave an overly dramatic sigh. "I see. You prefer to fight me in single-combat to prove yourself king or do I need to conjure an army to fight yours? Should I provide you with a signed treaty or a public coronation for all Midgard to see? I would greatly enjoy all of the above if time was not of the essence and your planet was not in such mortal peril. If you survive this, I will happily fight you in whatever gloriously arrogant and shortsightedly extravagant way you wish and you can spill however many barrels of Midgardian blood are necessary to prove your head is worthy to hold its flimsy crown. Until that day when our shared enemy is vanquished, we are reluctant allies. I am in need of a puppet king and you are in need of a kingdom. Can we not set aside our differences for some months and come to a mutually beneficial arrangement?"
Eric sat loudly back into the desk chair and stared - not at the prince but at his General.
She nodded.
Oooooo
The fire blazed nearly as hot as the anger in Shuri's voice. In the guesthouse of M'Baku, chief of the Jabari, Shuri threw pillows and basins and eating utensils with equal vigor onto the wooden floor.
"Traitor! How could you do that?" Shuri shouted. "He killed my father and nearly killed my brother. He stole our kingdom and wishes to break all our most sacred Pillars and you not only let him stay on the throne of Wakanda but hand him the entire planet on a silver platter."
"Yes," Loki answered, his face masked by a shield of perfectly practiced indifference. "What is it you expected of me? That I would come in shining glory to restore all to what it was before and avenge your small grievances?"
By Shuri's grief-stricken face, it was more than apparent this was true. She could not meet his gaze. Her mother and Jane Foster stayed in the shadows of the room, both failing to eat their meal or keep their eyes away from the furious pair.
When Loki returned from his meeting with the newly crowned King of Wakanda, he was welcomed with all the enthusiastic optimism that only Shuri could truly muster. Her warm welcome quickly melted away into a volatile explosion hotter than the black lava of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano when she heard the results of his time in Birnin Zana. None present could fully hide their disappointment or their surprise at Loki's indifference to the trials his asylum country had undergone in his absence.
"Princess, do you have evidence that your cousin killed your father?" Loki asked.
"It's obvious...the bomb in the wing of his holding cell and the timing and...," at Loki's face, she stopped and shook her head. "It's only a matter of time till there is proof."
"And your cousin challenged your brother and ascended to the throne according to your kingdom's rules of succession, did he not?"
She nodded slowly. "But he is terrible...," she began.
"Forgive me if my interpretation of your laws is inept, but I do not believe 'terrible' or 'lack of adherence to your pillars' exclude him from his rightful succession."
"His rightful succession?" Shuri nearly screamed in her frustration. "We gave you a home when no one else would! We promised your father we would look after you and assist you in your mission and this is how you repay us?"
Loki's mask of indifference melted away like snow in spring and he openly gaped in surprise.
"My father...what are you referring to?"
Shuri opened and closed her mouth before continuing in a more subdued tone.
"We only took you in because Odin, All-Father of Asgard, came and pleaded with my father on your behalf. He invoked our old treaty and told us to keep it secret from everyone, even you."
"Odin came here-in person?"
"Yes. When you first arrived. He brought your transponder."
Loki stood aghast. Odin could have reaped his vengeance upon him for the death of Thor, torn him back to Asgard for his well-deserved punishment. Instead he had not only permitted Loki to remain on Midgard, but he looked to Loki's aid. It was more than he could believe.
Loki jumped across the room, picked up the furious princess, kissed her on each cheek as he swung her in a circle. She fell into silent shock as he placed her back on her own feet on the floor.
"Princess, I wish you had informed me of this months ago. This is good news indeed."
"How is this good?"
"I must return to Asgard. Immediately. Princess, you must assist your King N'Jadaka with the weapons, shield, and communication system I have outlined for him to distribute across Midgard."
"But he..."
"Princess, at this time Wakanda's options are limited. You can challenge his legal right to rule based on evidence of regicide or claims to throne or misuse of power. These take time, which Midgard is sorely lacking in at the moment. Or you can directly fight his ascent via an armed struggle. Your most efficient route would either be direct assassination - which would take time you do not have to plan properly and, if linked to your family, would negate your own claims to the throne. This leaves the options of an internal overthrow via a coup d'état or a full declaration of war- both options have the potential to be bloody and time consuming which, need I remind you, are less than ideal in our current circumstances."
Shuri opened her mouth to begin to protest again but he interrupted her again with a grin.
"Princess, you may challenge him to battle yourself in a matter of weeks if your planet survives. At this moment, I am more concerned with preventing Thanos from destroying all life on earth than I am with the sacred Pillars of Wakanda. We may quibble over the ethics of my decisions when a Titan is not intent on wreaking vengeance upon me by destroying earth. And I may even concede a few of your points as valid and grant you all the justification of your noble cause."
"But my brother..."
"Will recover. Keep him safe and out of sight. Let the refugees remain here where they are safe. Task the Soldier with the protection of your brother and mother. King N'Jadaka will be required elsewhere and will remain much occupied and your skills will be required in Birnin Zana. I would rather benefit from his single-minded ambition than waste valuable time and resources thwarting him."
"So, you are just letting the regicidal maniac take over Wakanda?"
"No. I'm letting him take over the whole planet."
"And that is so much better."
"For the longevity of all, I believe it is..."
Shuri's face fell and Loki softened his posture. He placed one hand on her shoulder and his expression grew earnest. "You have my deepest condolences over the loss of your father. He was an admirable man and king. But, princess, the time for grief is later. Let us strive to preserve all your father died for by our quick actions now."
She nodded and struggled to fight back the tears that freely fell down her cheeks.