Nawi looked at the older woman, seeing the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders. Dahomey was at a crossroads. To the west, the Oyo Empire threatened their borders; from the sea, Europeans traded in human lives, offering guns for the very people Nanisca called kin. King Ghezo looked to Nanisca for a way out of the blood-soaked cycle of the slave trade, but the path to freedom was paved with steel.
"In this place, you are not a daughter, a wife, or a slave," Nanisca said, her voice like grinding stone. "You are a blade." Nawi looked at the older woman, seeing the
They were the shield of the kingdom. They were the mothers of the future. They were the Agojie, and as long as they breathed, Dahomey would never fall. King Ghezo looked to Nanisca for a way
Nanisca, the General of the all-female military regiment, stood at the edge of the training grounds. Her body was a map of scars—each one a lesson, each one a testament to survival. Beside her stood Nawi, a headstrong recruit who had been cast out by her family for refusing a marriage that would have silenced her spirit. They were the mothers of the future