Chapter 153 - Beneath the Canopy of Deceit
The forest pressed in like a secret, heavy with heat and silence.
Their boots sank into damp soil, thick with decay and fallen leaves. Mist coiled low along the ground like breath held too long. The jungle pulsed with life—chirping cicadas, rustling lizards, and the occasional screech of a hornbill.
Faizah halted, raising a clenched fist. The others stopped at once, weapons ready but relaxed.
They were deep in Kongo now—alone, unwatched, but never truly unseen.
Behind her, Kiprop knelt beside a broken twig, scanning the faint disturbance in the dirt. Zara stood back, near the young operatives: Mwinyi, Sarai, and Taban—the newest shadows, still learning the dance of survival.
Their lead was a name: Lumingu Mbemba. A noble. A ghost. A whisper behind the storm that had nearly consumed Buganda.
Only Khisa and Kabaka Nakibinge knew the truth—that Mbemba had been the architect behind the plague intended to cripple Buganda, to pave the way for conquest. But the full shape of the plan remained murky. Why a Kongo noble would conspire with Bugandan traitors and foreign slavers puzzled even the prince. There had to be someone backing him. Someone with reach.
The shadows had come only to investigate. To gather whispers before the storm returned.
They hiked in silence for another hour before setting up a concealed perimeter near a shaded spring. The canopy above was so dense it turned twilight into night. The team moved like second skins—swift, noiseless, deliberate.
As darkness settled, Sarai broke the quiet.
"Why him? Why is Lumingu Mbemba important enough to send us?"