CHAPTER 153: 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?"

Faizah, seated by a moss-covered root, tightened the strap on her gauntlet. "We don’t know yet. That’s why we’re here."

Mwinyi added, "He’s a noble. He’ll have protection. Soldiers. Influence."

"Power invites enemies," Zara said, leaning against a tree, arms crossed. "But this one... he’s looking for more. Buganda wasn’t just a target. It was supposed to be the start."

Taban frowned. "Start of what?"

Faizah looked at him, voice soft and cold. "An empire built on the dead. I have seen men killed for far less. Since we disrupted his plans Nuri will be his next target. We need to gather whatever information we can to protect our people."

That silenced them.

Kiprop spoke next, eyes still scanning the trees. "We know he met the traitor clan heads in Buganda. The plague failed and he was furious. Furious that Nuri intervened. He wanted to swoop in as a savior—then take the land and its people for himself."

Sarai whispered, "That’s madness."

"No," Faizah replied. "It’s greed. He’s already working with Portuguese slavers. They call it trade. We know better. Without us Buganda would have been forced to seek his help, we know that would have come at a cost far greater than what Buganda could pay."

Taban’s jaw clenched. "And now he sends spies to our land."

Kiprop nodded. "Which means this mission is no longer just recon. It’s a hunt. I am sure Prince Khisa is already working on a plan to make sure Nuri is safe. We will not worry about potential spies only our part of the mission."

"I have a theory," Kiprop said. " We’ve seen what the foreigners are capable, since we’ve fought them in Abyssinia. What if Lumingu is just a pawn in a much bigger game? If he was just a pawn, this changes everything, we might even go to war over this."

"Can Nuri handle a war right now?" Mwingi asked.

"Prince Khisa wants to avoid it for as long as possible to give us time to grow our strength. But if they bare their fangs at Nuri, we will not back down." Zara said.

Silence stretched again. A distant owl called. Water trickled through stones nearby.

Sarai looked toward Faizah, hesitant. "Can I ask something?"

Faizah tilted her head.

"In Abyssinia... what was it like? You were there before us, right? During the liberation?"

Zara glanced over but didn’t speak. Kiprop turned away.

Faizah’s fingers paused mid-motion. Her eyes drifted to the fireless ashes of an old camp. Her voice, when it came, was quieter than before.

"I wasn’t a soldier back then."

Sarai blinked. "But—"

"I was a slave."

Her words fell like a blade.

Faizah didn’t look at them. "I was taken when I was sixteen. The slavers came through Harar. My village was razed to the ground, my family killed. I spent months inside the Adal slave camp begging for death." Her laugh was bitter. "Night after night, I prayed and cried for it to end."

Zara looked away. Kiprop closed his eyes.

"They broke me," Faizah continued, now staring into the jungle. "And then Khisa came. Not with speeches or promises. Just silence. Precision. He moved like death and left nothing alive behind. The men I feared, those who brought me nightmares were so easily slaughtered."

A breath.

"Prince Khisa gave me a chance to live. But I didn’t want to just live. I wanted to become strong. I wanted to be the hand that breaks the chains. I wanted to save those like me, to be a beacon of strength and slay their nightmares. "

She drew her blade. It gleamed faintly in the moonlight like a silent vow.

"So I asked him to train me. And he did. Every scar I gave back to the world was one they’d left on me. If I had stayed there for even one more day, I would have killed myself but that was not meant to be. God had a grander goal for me, so I will not shy away from my destiny."

The jungle held its breath.

Sarai stepped forward and touched her arm. "We’ll follow you."

Faizah’s eyes softened. For a second.

"Then remember this," she said. "We are not just fighting slavers or nobles. We’re fighting ideas. Greed. Power. Control. This Lumingu Mbemba believes he can bend the world to his will. We are here to prove him wrong."

Later That Night

Zara kept first watch. Her blades were silent at her side, but her thoughts were loud.

Lumingu Mbemba.

She’d seen his kind before. Men who smile with one hand and choke with the other. Kings who sell their own to feel like gods.

This time, they would not wait for the blade to fall.

They would move first.