Black Panther: a Kane Chronicles au

Chapter 7

Carter strode down the hallway, his mind whirling.
"Carter!" Zia called after him. "What-"

"I can't right now! I- I'll talk to you later." Carter couldn't handle how Zia would look at him once she learned the truth.

He stopped outside of the room. "Open the door," he ordered. The guards nodded and unlocked the room, closing the door behind Carter.

"I wondered how long it would be before you came to see me," Sadie said, stretched out on the bed. "I was starting to get worried."

"I don't even know where to start."

"I take it Bast caught you up to speed? I knew I could always count on her."

"That makes one of us. How long..." Carter trailed off. "How long have you known?"

"Well, I had this cat Muffin growing up. She was a stray we took in, a really nice cat actually."

Carter smiled thinly. "I bet she was."

"Give me a minute, brother. You're so impatient." Sadie paused to squint her eyes at him. "After 18 years when Muffin still seemed the same age, I figured something was up. She would also leave for long periods of time. When I was younger I would think she ran away, but she always came back. Then one day I walked out the door just as Bast turned from Muffin into herself, and there was really nothing she could say to explain that one."

"So you've known for at least ten years. Why show up now?"

Sadie examined her nails. "Oh, you know. I got busy doing stuff. A woman has to make money when she doesn't know she's been born into a royal family." Her smile didn't have an inch of warmth in it.

"What do you want?"

"Oh! Sorry if you're under the impression I'm here to... I don't know, bond or something. No," Sadie jumped to her feet, "I'm here for the throne. And for the life you stole from me."

Carter shook his head. "I didn't steal anything from you. I didn't even know you existed!"

"Mmm. Do you what it was like? To find out your father is the king of an incredibly advanced nation? And you're living with your racist grandparents in London, knowing your father gave you up without a fight?" Sadie shook her head. "That wasn't you, Carter, but it was our father. And it was because he was living in fear of the world finding out what Wakanda really is." Sadie walked over to her window and stared out it for a moment. "But once I'm in charge, everyone will know."

Carter frowned. "You won't beat me, Sadie. But we don't have to fight! You're my sister and I-I want to get to know you. Make up for lost time."

"You're so confident. I envy that. But you know nothing about me," Sadie said, stepping closer. "And I'm not interested in getting to know you, Carter dear. If I was I would have reached out a long time ago."

"So I ask again, why now?"

"Mmm. I reached out to Sarah Jacobi a couple months ago, and asked if she wanted to make some money stealing vibranium. She of course said yes, and after I got the vibranium and made sure you knew who she was, I killed her and brought her here. Insurance to make sure your warriors didn't kill me on sight."

Carter felt like his brain was going to overload from the information he'd processed in the last hour. "So," he rubbed the side of his face, "this was your plan all along? Use Sarah to get to Wakanda to make your claim to throne to... what? Spill Wakanda's secrets?"

Sadie snorted. "Of course not. I don't particularly care about Wakanda, but there's technology here that could do wonders, or help win wars, technology that could've saved our mother if Wakanda had shared. But you didn't."