Coming Down From The Mountain

J'Zaki and the two chiefs of the Jabari tribe returned to the fort, followed by the chieftains under him. Under the gazes of the many members of the Jabari, the trio did not look like they had any hard feelings for one another. Instead, they were like proud teachers because their student had surpassed their expectations and them.

J'Zaki walked up to the top of the fort where his family was waiting for him. He gave them the bow befitting a fellow ruler meeting another royal family instead of the bow of a son to his parents. This silently told his parents his thoughts.

'I have accepted that T'Challa shall be king of Wakanda but I shall be the king of these mountains.'

"Son."

"Babu. I am sorry if my leaving has caused you any issues with your physical or mental health."

T'Chaka smiled. "Only your mother beating me for not dragging you back sooner and keeping me up at night due to her kicking me."

"Hmm. Then that is good," J'Zaki turned to his mother. "I apologize that my sudden absence made you distressed."

Ramonda caught the meaning of his words. He was not sorry that he had left but instead apologized that his leaving had caused her to be worried. He did not feel like he had done anything wrong.

'And I thought T'Challa was the diplomat. This boy has the tongue of a serpent,' but this is only what she thought in her mind. Instead, she smiled at her. "It is alright. We, as parents, desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings. I just did not expect your wings to grow so large, so fast."

"Do not cover for him, Mother," T'Challa did not allow his mother to defend his actions. "This boy had left our home in the middle of the night like a thief trying to sneak off with their loot. If not for Linoh, we would have been worried about his location for even longer."

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense. J'Zaki knew that the one who opposed his actions the most was his brother. The two brothers were so similar that the small differences in them made them seem like complete opposites in each other's eyes.

"He's right, Mother. I say you let me experiment on him as punishment," Shuri tried to ease the atmosphere.

"It's fine, Shuri. Let Brother throw his temper tantrum. It does not matter to me."

"What did you just say? Do not think because you have come to rule these mountains, that you do not need to respect me as the crown prince of Wakanda."

If it was before his trip, he would have been afraid of his brother. Afraid of letting him down. Afraid of his future king. But not anymore. Instead, he was subconsciously judgemental about his brother. His brother was given his blessing and position because he was their father's son. Although J'Zaki also had a headstart above most others, he had earned his blessing and position on his own merits.

But his brother was his idol since young. Since he still loved and respected his brother, he would not figure out these feelings for a long time. So instead of continuing the conversation, J'Zaki shrugged his shoulders before turning to Princess N'Dare, Ororo, and David.

"I apologize for leaving right after we met. I was originally going to leave the day of your arrival but did not want to seem rude."

"It is fine. We understand that you wanted to go on a training journey. Has it been fruitful?" Ororo didn't give her parents a chance to express their feelings about it individually.

Seeing their daughter speak on their behalf, the parents shared a look.

"Thank you, Ororo. It has been better than I expected. I shall inform you about some of the more specific details later," J'Zaki flashed his fiancee a small smile. "First, I need to handle the matters of the mountains."

J'Zaki didn't wait for his parents' permission before he turned around and walked away with the various chieftains. They walked to the fort chief's tent where J'Zaki sat in the main seat while the others stood around him.

"I need to join my family down the mountain for a bit but do not think this means that I will not know what is going on up here. There shall be no more war between the tribes. Anyone who breaks this rule shall feel my wrath.

Besides this, you all are able to act independently. All I require of you is that you gather for me and my cause when I call you. Any questions?"

The Librarian raised his hand. J'Zaki motioned for him to speak.

"Even if you are saying that we are independent, I believe that some form of a council is required. To make sure that the others follow a set standard of rules as well as contact you when needed."

J'Zaki thought his words were reasonable so he quickly decided on the members of the council.

"Fine. All of the chieftains will communicate with one another. You all are adults so you can handle it. As for the ones who shall make rulings on my behalf while I'm gone, we will let the Librarian, the shaman from the Bird Peak Tribe, and the former chieftess from the Misty Stone tribe. Each of them has the experience, wisdom, and my trust to handle matters properly."

The tribes accepted his terms without complaint. They were already under him, so how he chose to oversee them was his choice. And even if they did have complaints, none of them dared to express them to his face. Before he was the King of the Mountains, he was the Lord of Death.

With that matter settled, J'Zaki returned to his family and boarded the jet with them. As much as he wanted to stay in the mountains, there were far too many things he needed to do that required him to return to the Golden City.