T'Challa will one day be the King of Wakanda, but for now, he is The Young Prince in Black Panther: Spellbound, Ronald L. Smith's followup to his 2018 Middle Grade novel.
Black Panther: Spellbound picks up following the events of The Young Prince, with young T'Challa visiting his friends Sheila and Zeke in Alabama for their summer break. However, their summer fun is interrupted by the machinations of a politician named Achebe. T'Challa, Sheila and Zeke soon find themselves in a race to stop Achebe from acquiring a spell book filled with dark magic and break his spell over their small town.
In the followup to The Young Prince, T'Challa is "a year older, for one," Smith told CBR. "A bit more confident in his skin and his destiny. He faced a supernatural threat on his last trip, so he's not so easily cowed anymore."
Asked about his decision to set the story in Alabama, he explained, "I still wanted T'Challa to come to America again and I knew we couldn't have him in the same place as the first book. I know Alabama well, and thought it would be interesting to put T'Challa there. There's so much that would be new for him: food, slang, civil rights history. The Alabama sun is just as strong as Wakanda's in the summertime, so there's a bit of familiarity. But it's still an alien world in a sense, so he has to be on his best footing."
A CBR-exclusive excerpt from Black Panther: Spellbound appears in full below:
T'Challa shook himself awake. His head was muddled. He looked at the bedside clock: 9:30 a.m. How did I sleep so late?
Slowly, an image of the dream he had last night came back to him: Bob's leering face, grinning at him. And the voice, calling his name. We will meet where the sand runs like blood.
Bob isn't really talking to me in a dream, is he? T'Challa wondered. That would make him some kind of supernatural being, and that was something he did not want to consider, not after his last adventure in America.
But still, it had happened.
What does it mean?
He released a heavy sigh, then dressed and headed downstairs.
To his surprise, the kitchen was quiet, even though Sheila, Zeke, and Miss Rose were all around the table. Miss Rose rested her forehead on a closed fist and shook her head. Sheila and Zeke wore glum faces.
"What happened?" T'Challa asked in a soft breath.
Sheila nudged her tablet in front of him, and T'Challa looked at it:
LOCAL PASTOR/ANTIQUE
SHOP OWNER MISSING
Beaumont Police have begun a search for Charles McGuire, the respected and admired pastor and owner of McGuire's Antique Emporium. The store was not vandalized, but police suspect burglary. McGuire was last seen at a rally coordinated by a new organization called Rising Souls, headed by a man who goes by the moniker Bob, the Good Doctor. A small riot broke out after the event where the landmark statue to General Clifford Beaumont was destroyed. Local police are also investigating that disturbance. Anyone with any information on Mr. McGuire's disappearance is urged to call Beaumont Police.
T'Challa finished reading. He looked at Sheila. "This is the man we just met? The one at the rally?"
"Yes," Sheila said. "I can't believe it. We just saw him."
Miss Rose lifted her head. T'Challa saw that her eyes were wet. "Charles is a dear friend and a good man," she said, sniffing. "I've known him twenty-five years! Who in the world would want to harm him?"
"I don't know, Gramma," Sheila consoled her, reaching out for her hand. "The police will find out. I'm sure of it."
"They called it a riot," Zeke complained. "Far from it."
"What do you think they were looking for?" T'Challa asked. "The people who broke in?" Sheila shrugged. "He has all kinds of valuable stuff in there: old books, coins, stamps, little odds and ends."
"What is this world coming to?" Miss Rose said in an exhausted tone. "Right here in Beaumont!" She shook her head again and studied all three of them with a careful eye.
"I want y'all to stay close. Understand me, Sheila?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sheila said contritely.
T'Challa sank down into his chair.
His trip to Alabama was beginning to feel very strange.
~*~
The next few days passed uneventfully, and the trio stayed close to home at Miss Rose's insistence. T'Challa thought she was being overly cautious—it was awful what had happened to Mr. McGuire, but that wasn't proof of some kind of mass kidnapping scheme. T'Challa was still troubled by the dream of Bob's face.
Where the sand runs like blood.
What could such an odd message mean?
Today was quiet, and the trio played a game in the backyard called croquet, which T'Challa had never heard of. He wasn't very good at it, but Zeke was and won every round they played.
Afterward, they all sat down and cooled off with lemonade. There was a long moment where they didn't speak at all, as if they were all lost in their own thoughts. Finally, T'Challa broke the ice.
"I had a dream," he said.
"Congratulations," Zeke replied.
Sheila looked up from her tablet. "What kind of dream?"
T'Challa shifted in his chair. He took another swig of lemonade and set the glass down. "Bob was in it. It was his face, staring at me."
"That's not too strange," Zeke said. "I mean, we have been talking about him a lot. It must be your subconscious. I was reading this graphic novel about this alien race that feeds on our minds when we sleep. . . ."
"Interesting," Sheila said, which made Zeke sit up and smile.
"There was something else, though," T'Challa said.
"Something really weird."
Zeke and Sheila leaned in.
"He said, ‘Young Prince. We will meet where the sand runs like blood.' "
No one spoke. A bird landed on the table and quickly fluttered away.
"He said ‘Young Prince'?" Zeke asked. "That is strange."
"You said his accent sounded familiar," Sheila said. "Are you sure he doesn't know who you are? It just seems really strange that he would say that, even in a dream."
"I know," T'Challa said.
"Where the sand runs like blood," Sheila murmured. T'Challa frowned. "In my culture, dreams are always omens. They tell us what we need to know, and we take them seriously. Sometimes they're messages from the ancestors, warning us of danger."
"How can Bob speak to you in dreams?" Sheila asked.
"Like I said," Zeke persisted. "The subconscious. I've heard of stuff like this in comics. Bad guys can always invade your dreams."
"This isn't a comic," Sheila scolded him.
"Well," Zeke shot back, "do you have any explanations?"
Sheila looked down at her tablet and started typing. Zeke shared a glance with T'Challa. A minute later, Sheila said, "I don't see any references to where the sand runs like blood. There's something about Normandy and World War Two, but that's about it."
"We'll have to keep searching, then," T'Challa said. "It has to mean something."
"Sounds supernatural," Zeke said softly, as if he didn't really want his friends to hear.
But T'Challa did. And it worried him.
Sheila's face was grim. "Let's hope not," she said.
The water sprinkler suddenly clicked on, startling all of them.
T'Challa inhaled, then looked to Sheila and Zeke.
"We need to look for him," he said.
"Who?" Zeke asked.
"Mr. McGuire," T'Challa answered.
Sheila studied T'Challa.
"Well, he is a friend of your grandmother's, right?" T'Challa pointed out. "And you, too, Sheila."
Sheila remained quiet for a moment. She rapped her knuckles on the table. "T'Challa's right. Gramma's known him forever. We have to at least try."
"It's settled, then," Zeke said, leaning back. "The Black Panther Crew rides again!"
T'Challa released a breath. After everything he had told himself about getting embroiled in another adventure, here he was about to do exactly that. He had no choice, though, he argued with himself. Sure, the police would be looking for Mr. McGuire, but couldn't he and his friends do the same? The more people looking, the better chance of him being found.
T'Challa took another long drink and set down the glass. "So," he said. "Where do we start?"
For the sequel, Smith promised, "Fun! Danger! Thrills! And a more mature T'Challa preparing to one day take the throne!"
Of course, a big part of that is due to T'Challa's new nemesis Achebe. "Be afraid. Be very afraid," Smith warned. "If you're a Marvel fan, you know that name and what it means. He may not be a supernatural being himself, but he runs in some strange circles. He is a beguiling, deceptive, hypnotic character and he always has a back-up plan to achieve his goals. Our heroes need to be on their toes and fully awake to stop him!"
He also teased even more mystical mayhem ahead for T'Challa. "That’s my favorite part of Wakanda and the Black Panther world -- the mystical aspects. Bast the Panther goddess is real to them, a vital part of their life. Without giving anything away, Spellbound delves further into the supernatural than the previous book," he teased. "Readers can expect some unexpected surprises!"
According to the official description of Black Panther: Spellbound,
Thirteen-year-old T’Challa can't wait to go back to America to visit his friends Sheila and Zeke, who are staying with Sheila's grandmother in Beaumont, a small Alabama town, over their summer break. He's thrilled to be on vacation away from his duties as the Prince of Wakanda for a few weeks, and he's taking full advantage of his access to the amazing food and the South's rich history.
But as T'Challa continues to explore the town, he finds that a man who goes by the ordinary name of Bob happens to be everywhere he is -- and T'Challa begins to think it’s no coincidence.
When residents of the town begin flocking to Bob's strange message, and a prominent citizen disappears, the Young Prince has no choice but to intervene. T'Challa and his friends start to do their own sleuthing, and before long, the three teens find themselves caught in a plot involving a rare ancient book and man who’s not as he seems. Swept up in a fight against an unexpected and evil villain, T'Challa, Sheila, and Zeke must band together to save the people of Beaumont . . . before it's too late.
Black Panther: Spellbound goes on sale Feb. 1 from Disney Books and is now available for pre-order.