A few days later the Nkosi holds a council meeting. Mmeli arrives at the Royal Kraal a bit late, but the Nkosi Madoda welcomes the general.
“Just in time.” Mmeli grabs a stool to sit at the back, not wanting to cause a scene.
“Come closer,” orders the Nkosi.
The shy Mmeli weaves through the crowd and sits next to Manqoba. Mmeli whispers in Manqoba’s ear asking him what he has missed out on.
“Not much,” replies Manqoba softly. “Just this boring, stiff speech of Ndaba.”
Manqoba starts describing things that Mmeli missed out on during the festivities. “Not now Manqoba,” Mmeli reprimands Manqoba. The Nkosi has cleared his throat as he sees the two talking.
Ndaba kaPhinga continues.
“Children who were at the beach say that there was another sighting of the Sun-dwellers trading along the coast. What is confusing is that the Royal Messengers from the capital, Nongoma, came to me, saying that the King of the Zulus is busy talking with the Sun-dweller’s army at the capital. And they say the Sun-dwellers will not fight the Zulus or have any unknown trading in the Kingdom.”
Madoda responds, “Maybe the Sun-dwellers at the capital do not know about their brothers’ activities that we have seen. So how do we deal with this situation?”
The Councillors sit quietly. Then Manqoba stands up. He has an idea.
“Your Majesty, I believe I have a solution.” Manqoba looks round at everyone. “What we know of the Sun-dwellers is they have a strong desire to trade.”
“So Manqoba, what is your solution?” the Nkosi says, encouraging Manqoba to continue.
“Thank you your Majesty. We know that they like to trade at the seashore and they are armed. We don’t know how many there are. So we need to spy on them. After we know what they are up to, we will report it to the capital.”
The Nkosi is pleased with Manqoba. “In the next two days a selected few will venture to retrieve information, others will stay and maintain the welfare of the community.”
“Who will be the few, your Majesty?” asks Ndaba kaPhinga.
“Manqoba and whom he selects. Mmeli will stay behind.”
“I will do well, your Majesty,” Manqoba gloats.
The meeting is adjourned and every member goes his own way. Manqoba stops Mmeli as he is leaving, and jokes about what happened on the night of the festivities. Mmeli doesn’t mind. “But I wish you were there. It was fun but it would have been better if you were there.” Manqoba looks like he really cares.
“No – I had to see my wife,” Mmeli says, returning Manqoba’s warm smile.
“So how is Mbali?”
“She’s fine. I think in a short while she will give birth,” answers Mmeli.
“Oh, rejoicings! This deserves a quenching drink of umqombothi. Let’s go and celebrate,” says Manqoba.
“I have to check on Mbali,” Mmeli says, declining Manqoba’s invitation, and bids him farewell.
***
Tell us: Do you trust Manqoba at this point? Why or why not?