Chapter 4 - The Black Panther
Okaya and Nike both stood vigilant outside the double-doors that led to King T'Challa's private quarters, spears in hand. Both were clad similarly, if not precisely alike; while there was no official uniform for the members of their order, the tradition was that members dressed with an eye towards practicality; none of them wore clothing that was in any way restrictive of swift movement, in case they were called upon to fight in defense of their king. Both carried knives and spears that appeared to be of traditional tribal manufacture, but in fact also were built inculcating the unique vibranium-based technology of their homeland.
Both women were members of the Dora Milaje, an order of female attendants taken from the rival eighteen tribes of Wakanda, representing the smartest and most athletic flower of Wakandan femininity. Those who passed the tests and were accepted for training were the best and the brightest Wakanda had to offer; they were educated as far as they themselves desired, and highly-trained combatants. The Dora Milaje translated as "Adored Ones", and the order served the king as bodyguards and attendants, and often were chosen as wives for the reigning monarch as well.
Okaya and Nike in particular were eager to regain some of the ground they had felt they had lost when the usurper M'Baku had slain the old king, T'Chaka, in single combat and taken the throne. According to the ancient ways, M'Baku had ruled by right of victorious combat; nobody but the exiled Prince T'Challa had known that M'Baku had cheated. Many of the Dora Milaje had treated M'Baku with the same loyalty and obedience that they had given T'Chaka, as their oaths of fealty was to the monarch as an institution, not personally sworn. Those who didn't feel that they could fulfill their oath to M'Baku as king had chosen exile.
Both Okaya and Nike had chosen to remain, both when M'Baku had taken the throne and when T'Challa had taken it from M'Baku. T'Challa had seemed to understand where their loyalties lay when he had regained the throne, going so far as to choosing them to accompany him to the United States, where he assigned them to the staff of the Wakandan Embassy.
Or perhaps he wanted them close so that he could keep a wary eye on them. Perhaps both; T'Challa appeared to be a master of the subtle stratagem.
Both of the women heard the noise from the chambers behind them at the same time. "Okaya Control. Unidentified noise in the Royal Apartments; we are entering to investigate," Okaya reported via the communications link in her traditional-appearing bracers as the two women electronically overrode the locks to T'challa's chambers.
To their surprise and disappointment, the noise had bee made T'Challa himself.
"My apologies," he began, seeing the looks on their faces. "I should be less secretive about my own comings and goings, but even a king should know how to enter and leave his private chambers undetected - one never knows when one will need to make a secret and untraceable exit." T'Challa smiled at the guards.
"With respect, my King... while it may be useful for a ruler upon occasion, it reflects poorly the ruler's guards, who are sworn to protect and defend him," commented Nike, with only a tinge of surliness in her voice. King T'Challa had already gained notoriety among those who served as difficult and willful. It was a difficult and thankless job, being a guard to a king who insisted on putting himself in danger by joining a group of super-powered adventurers like the Avengers.
