21. Bounce

"MA-ma!"

Esihle was only a few months away from becoming a one-year-old, but she chattered away as if she had a talk show. Only her cute cries for her mama broke the serenity in Namor's room. The baby was situated in the Wakandan baby rocker Shuri had imported and was trying to wiggle out.

With his acute hearing, Namor awoke first. Shuri was knocked out. His queen was so tired. She lay with him in their hammock, peacefully sleeping next to him.

"Mama! Mama!" Esihle whimpered again. She somehow managed to slide out of the belt strapping her to the machine and unto the floor. The machine stilled before a mechanic arm scooped her into the crib next to it.

Namor rubbed at his eyes, looking for his robe. Esishle always calmed down from the feel of the fabric and his arms around her. Of course, that was only if her mother wasn't an option.

At first, Esihle angrily bounced, holding onto the crib railing, then she pummeled headfirst into Namor's stomach. It wasn't as if the softness of a developing baby could wound him, but he was truly surprised. He tried to get her upright, smoothing out her little dress when he noticed the small tufts on her chubby ankles.

Their baby was growing wings! And she had bounced and toppled over the crib until she dove right into their hammock. Her flight patterns would need to be corrected for sure, but he was proud.

A happy Esihle cooed, "Mama! Mama!"

"All right, all right child here's your reward." Namor shifted in the hammock a bit to fit Esihle snugly between them. "Your mother gets very tired after feeding your brother."

Until now Esihle had taken after her mother with her skin, hair, and inquisitive nature aside from his eyes and slightly pointed ears. Perhaps, she just hadn't grown into all of her father's attributes. He hoped she would later come to share more from him like his ideology.

There was calm now, but he could only imagine his love's reaction. She would be complaining about how would they ever enroll Esihle into a Wakandan school now.

Namor sighed, basking in his family.

22. Fatal Attraction

Namor and his warriors Attuma and Namora sat at the large, round table. The close quarters were supposed to breed intimacy and trust among the council. Shuri thought it was just some failed designer's logic. Because the closeness only brought discomfort. She felt like she'd elbow elder Zanawari if she twisted the wrong way. And, of course, she had been seated directly in front of Namor himself. She was the obvious and only choice as the elders said they would rather not directly gaze upon the terror of Talokan, as he had soon been nicknamed. Shuri didn't care though she wasn't afraid of him.

"Why do you reject my proposal?" he asked her. She hadn't dreamed of him bringing it up in front of EVERYONE during their meeting. She had quietly rejected his proposal and sent Attuma back with a waterproof letter detailing her refusal.

"Because I don't love you!" Shuri spat, calmy behind a clenched smile. "Next question, please. We have a busy meeting ahead of us."

His eyes were wild, but he didn't change his relaxed posture. The picture of grace, Namor sat in his chair with his hands folded.

"Try again, princess. Many alliances are built upon more than love and yearning," he said softly though it may have been her perception.

Namora shifted in her chair uncomfortably, and Attuma only sharpened the end of his spear, bored. The Dora Milaje eyed the two warily.

Shuri paused for a moment. "Because I love another. I'm to be married to him soon." She willed the council not to gasp and blow her ruse.

Namor shook his head. "I don't believe you? Who?"

She couldn't stop the snark from emerging. "Oh, is that mind of yours a rolodex for all of Wakanda? Surely, you, a man who lives underwater, know every citizen on land?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Royalty?" Namor's eyes darted in M'Baku's direction. "Or commoner?"

M'Baku to his credit showed no difference on his face, but she could tell he was amused.

Shuri choked on her words. She needed that brilliant mind of hers to stall. "It doesn't matter for I've already promised myself to him. "Mind, body..." Namor froze."...and soul. We—We've already eloped. I'm sorry, council members that you had to find out in this way."

One of the Wakandan elders made his surprise known. "Oye, princess, surely not! There are procedures for this. If we had been aware, there were a number of worthy candidates from the Ikati tribe we could've recommended." The man slapped his knee under the table. "The winged-man is correct in that marriage strengthens alliances. The queen mother—Bast rest her soul was very adamant in keeping you away from marital obligations. But if you've changed that mind of yours—"

"I will not ask again. Who is he?" Namor demanded, interrupting.

Shuri rubbed her head, willing her dull headache not to bloom further. Already she could feel an ache behind her eyes.

"What's it to you? None of this affects our present alliance, Namor." The dangerous balance of letting out her fury and staying somewhat polite was a teetering seesaw. She had no idea how rulers managed the skill. Sometimes, she just wanted to kick everyone out of the throne room.

"But it matters to me!" He bellowed. No shame in the royal courtroom. Shuri's eyes widened, and the Dora gathered into formation.

"I'm not yours. Do not think I need your permission," Shuri said, folding and then unfolding her hands atop the table. Then, placing them in her lap. Her hands were jittery, but her face was calm. Serious.

"It ... It doesn't matter, princess." He looked down for a moment before meeting her eyes again. "You and I are destined. Maybe not in the romantic sense, but you're the only one for me. I won't stand docile and let you take another."

Shuri pushed away from the table. The elders followed her form, ready to leave if necessary. Tension was starting to buzz in the air enough that M'Baku was starting to raise his hand to bring order.

She asked him, "So, so ... I'm held hostage to your desire?"

"No, you're free to go to whomever. But I'm free to stake my claim. Any man who comes for your heart, I'll kill him. Doubly so if he's of colonizer origins."

Shuri swallowed, suddenly feeling both warm and disgusted.

M'Baku clapped his hands, restoring order. "Well now, let's talk about the economy now, and leave things of a more sensitive nature behind us, aye. We have an influx of Wakandan piranha fish and it's affecting the ecosystem and the selling of other fishes, namely their prey..."

23. Fight

Shuri looked beautiful draped in the Talokan finery, but she felt more like a prized doll. The sheer gall and ridiculousness of it all had her acting feral.

Namor was unamused and simply gestured for her to sit on the bed with him. When had he added the additional bedding to his room, she didn't know nor did she care.

His presence had been suffocating all day, his compliments, and his jeers had set her off more than once. His ease in ignoring all that had transpired between them made her burn with anger. She was trying, she really was to stifle the emotions. Playing nice to his whims to prevent him from flooding the United States. Talokan had eyes and ears everywhere and had detected a patent for a new vibranium detector within the U.S. Government Patent office. If one person patented it, how is the whole country liable? she had cried to him to no avail. He had only considered stopping his assault if she spent the week with him in Talokan.

Leave it to Shuri, to break the peace on the final day.

"Sleep with me," he had said as uninhibited as asking her favorite color or song.

In a burst of adrenaline and indignation, Shuri tackled him to the bed, but the wind was almost knocked out of her when one of his mighty arms pinned her down onto her back. His arm was across her stomach while she tried to wiggle out of his hold. She scratched at him wildly, but he gently batted her hands away, pressing his free hand over her eyes. A sleeping mask, he was not.

"Calm yourself, princess. I only wish to sleep nothing more," Namor said. The tiredness under his eyes signaled this was true, but it only upset her all the more. Using her agility, she used her legs to push backward, propelling herself behind him. With the right angle, she could probably snap his neck off. She was actively trying to choke him.

"My, aren't you a wild one, but it's time for bed," Namor said mildly, throwing her off his shoulder.

Her mind ever-working realized she couldn't get much leverage, trying to fight him on the bed. So, she jumped to the floor. Quick reflexes were her strength.

As if resigned to his fate Namor finally frowned, irritation covering his features.

"Enough!"

"You don't get to tell me enough anything!" She screeched. When Namor had told his warriors, he wanted the two of them to be left alone, they had taken the command to heart. Hopefully, that would be his downfall. No one was around to help him counter her attacks.

"What!" Shuri yelled and flipped the nearby nightstand. Whatever books Namor had read tumbled onto the floor.

"What more do you want from me?" She jabbed a finger into his bare chest. Hoping the nail punctured his skin, she pressed harder.

Jab. "You have your flimsy alliance!"

Jab. "You have my m—mother's life!"

Jab. "You have your secrecy!"

"You even have your worthless life! What more do you want from me?" She snarled.

Namor gave only a few words. He grabbed her hand. "You, Princess. I want only you by my side as a ruler, an equal, and a bride."

First, Shuri was shocked. Then, she threw the vase from his toppled nightstand at his head.

He hadn't flinched or moved, so the sight of broken porcelain bits scattered throughout his dark locks, water draining down in rivers down the path from his eyes to his chin, and weepy flowers lumped atop of his head was an interesting sight.

Alt Ending

Namor grabbed her arm and then pinned her hands against the wall with one hand. His other stroked her bottom lip.

"Just stop fighting ... Let it happen." He told her in her ear.

She breathed heavily and stared at him for the longest. Finally, her eyes drifted shut, eyebrows furrowed. Her dark, thick eyelashes twitched with emotion. He could only imagine the thoughts flowing through her.

His lips just ghosted over hers. Her body trembled, a shiver going down her spine.

But then he was abruptly thrown into a wall. Her strength didn't quite rival his, but the Talokan structure couldn't put up as good a defense as he. Cracks spread throughout the wall. His paintings shook and trembled and water rippled.

"No! No, I'll never stop fighting! I'm the Black Panther!" She declared before slashing him across the face.

He gingerly touched the claw marks on his cheek. Beads of blood already dripping from the slits.

Namor had to smile throughout the pain.

He hoped that fight, that will of hers would never leave her.

I love Nashuri even if it's just one-sided pining from Namor. he seems like a fatal attraction, those lovers/exes you can never get rid of.

The baby rocker machine really exists. there's one called a Babocush.