The Wanderer - 249 (Patreon)

Chapter 249 – Greeting

[2009 – November – Sunday]

Thanks to the high-speed elevator, it took only a few short minutes for John to escort the Wakandans up to the penthouse and the moment Emma heard the quiet 'ping' of their arrival coming from down the corridor, she took up her phone and adjusted her seating position.

With perfection, she instantly displayed the posture of someone who involuntarily leaned back into her seat because their focus was drawn somewhere else, without going too far so that one would think that she was lazing around.

It was a bit strange to observe but I also couldn't help but marvel at the sheer skill of her acting.

A few seconds later, John turned the corner and I could see the familiar face of T'Challa, as well as four dark-skinned women by his side. One of them was an older woman who walked by T'Challa's side, her traditional hair dress and clothing giving away her identity as Queen Ramonda of Wakanda.

T'Challa himself wore a blue business suit with a white shirt and a black tie, looking formally dressed according to Western standards.

The other three women, of which two walked in front while one trailed behind, were undoubtedly members of the Dora Milaje, the all-female special forces that also served as the bodyguards for the Black Panther.

They wore pantsuits and not their usual battle gear. They carried only hidden weapons and didn't seem to be warriors at first glance. Still, I could sense what they truly were, their movements, the looks in their eyes, and their general presence giving them away fairly easily.

Emma had also chosen to rise from her seat to greet her guest just after the Wakandans had gotten a good look at her to give the impression that she was indeed busy. Placing her phone back on the table, she approached T'Challa while I silently looked on.

“Prince T'Challa.”, she greeted with a professional smile as John silently moved to her side, positioning himself so that he could shield her from sudden attacks without it being obvious, “I had not expected Your Highness to come in person. Please, forgive my manners. I should have received you personally.”

Emma's tone carried just the right amount of deference without lowering herself, and the same went for her posture.

Many would think that manipulation required a certain dominance and assertiveness but Emma was a master when it came to wielding power through submission. But in fact, submission was just the veil behind which she hid the knife of her ruthlessness.

And given her history with the Hellfire Club, this strategy of hers was no surprise.

Still, there were also different forms and levels of submission and her ability to navigate them was as flawless as her beauty.

But there was more to her words than just the way she said them. Her greeting only the prince and glossing over his mother was to signal that she saw T'Challa as the one with the authority, which automatically devalued the Queen's presence and subtly took away her authority.

Others might not think much of this but I knew Emma and my instincts and senses as a higher being were telling me that the 'battle' had already begun.

The Wakandan Prince, on the other hand, accepted her words with a polite nod, his eyes flickering from John to myself and I could see his pupils constrict for the shortest instant when his gaze passed over me before he replied, his heartbeat accelerating greatly.

“There is no need for such courtesy, Ms. Frost. My father is very grateful for the information that you provided and the help that you offered.”, T'Challa said with a thick accent before he turned half-way and gestured to the older woman beside him, “And may I introduce my mother, Queen Ramonda.”

Nodding her head in what could be seen as the smallest of bows but wasn't really one, Emma acknowledged the woman's presence with a polite greeting: "Your Majesty."

Obviously, at no time was there any direct contact like a handshake or the like as that required a level of trust from both parties that didn't exist at this point in time.

“Ms. Frost.”, the Queen greeted back courteously with a nod of her own before Emma spoke up again.

Smiling faintly, Emma turned and gestured at me as she said: "And may I introduce my younger brother, Elijah Frost."

And as if on cue, the tension in the room increased several-fold as T'Challa and his entourage turned their whole attention to me and I finally moved from my position in front of the window at the end of the table.

I had no doubt that they knew who I was, whatI was.

With their technology, they would have to intentionally sabotage their own equipment and intelligence channels to not be aware of the commotion that I caused when obliterating the Facility's underground base. Not to mention my 'little' plunge into the Atlantic from outer space a few days ago, or the phoenix-shaped marks that I had left on Earth and the Moon.

I wasn't too sure about the extent of their gathered intelligence but it didn't matter either way.

This was the beauty of my overwhelming strength, people were afraid to recognizeme because they did not understand or were able to control me. They knew what I was but most wouldn't dare to speak of it.

Naturally, this also had some effects on Frost International given that the company had contracts not only with the American government but also with others. There were also some very powerful corporations that might have gotten access to such intel on me through different means.

Now, most of those parties were very willing to enter a contract or expand on their already existing cooperation with Frost International as a way to plant seeds of goodwill and for the chance to gather more information on me.

And while there was also a minority that had reacted much more restrained and hesitant when it came to continued collaborations, there had been no outright rejections from those in the known.

Emma had told me about this, unsure how I would react. But I had already known that something like this would happen eventually and while I did not wish to involve myself in her business with the Hellfire Club, I had no problem with acting as the guardian patron of my family's legitimate business. I just saw this as another part of my contribution to the Frost fortune.

As I walked up to the Wakandans slowly, I sensed the gaze of somethinggreater than a mortal, and my eyes were drawn to the void behind T'Challa, to a layer of reality that was isolated from the perceptions of those around me.

And what I saw was the apparition of a black panther that turned into a gorgeous caramel-skinned woman, who wore midnight-blue silken clothes with silver ornaments that one would expect an oriental belly dancer to wear.

Her eyes though were stark blue yet slitted like a cat's, full ebony locks framing her soft yet enticing features.

Still, I chose to ignore the Ennead's will projection for the moment as I did what the others had avoided thus far after moving past Emma and arriving in front of T'Challa, which caused him and his guards to visibly tense up.

I extended my hand in greeting, my eyes calm as I addressed him: “It is my pleasure, Prince T'Challa.”