From dust we came. Nothing comes free.
I am Aissatou - the Maad a Sinig.
He came to Sine past the borders of his home,
Thunder in his blood, but he came alone.
Amadioha. War Eze.
The one I loved before the crown.
But I still call him Oha.
Only me.
Only me.
He came with speeches. I had heard them all before.
Blood for justice. Lightning and war.
Green crown on my head, green stones at my throat,
I saw the storm in him before he even spoke.
He said, “I need your—”
I said, “I wrote this war for you long ago.
I funded rebels. Their leaders paid.
I worked in shadows. Your victories made.
I distracted Loas. I split their eyes.
I gave your thunder room to rise.
He interrupted. Our plan has changed.
No Oha. YOUR plan has changed.
He said, “There can be no Niri while Vodun draws breath.”
I closed my eyes. “Action and Reaction. Life and Death.”
From dust we came, and to dust we shall return.
That is what I told him while his ambition burned.
If he takes the capital, he will find pain, and death.
But nothing stops the Thunder — not even his last breath.
He acts only on what stands before him.
At least the blind man knows he can't see.
This drive to set his people free
keeps bringing him back to me.
I took him where the grass bent low,
where we were young and wild.
Before I wore the green-stone crown,
before I buried that girl-child.
“They promised me to Gori’s house. Then you made me unclean.
He took another bride instead— fifteen, soft, unseen.
He beat her till the walls went still,
then dressed the truth in bloom.
You ruined the life they planned for me,
but saved me from that tomb.
I saw old want move in his eyes—
jealousy, guilt, or sin.
But the Niri Eze stood still
and swallowed it within.
But I didn’t bring him here for ghosts.
"Get on your knees! Dig!”
"Dig?" His eyes confused "I am War Eze." —
I cut him off. "I am MAAD A SINIG.
The crown does not outrank the earth.
Get on your knees!
And Dig!"
From dust we came, and to dust we shall return.
That is what I told him while his ambition burned.
If he takes the capital, he will find pain, and death.
But nothing stops the Thunder — not even his last breath.
He acts only on what stands before him.
At least the blind man knows he can't see.
This drive to set his people free
keeps bringing him back to me.
He broke the locks with lightning.
Underground, the dark was full of stars —
Diamonds in the walls like a million glowing scars.
He whispered, “What is this place?”
I said, “The wound behind my father’s grace.
Sine was losing our rebellion. Vodun had the field.
So we bought the kind of power no prayer would wield.”
He said, “Mercenaries?”
I said, “No. Hell.
We sold them stones. Secret none should tell.
They gave us Weapons. Spies as well."
“You bargained with demons?” he asked
"Wetin demons buy and sell?”
I trembled. I shook because I was afraid.
"I don't know, Oha. It was a debt unpaid."
Nothing in this world comes free, Oha.
Nothing worth having.”
I stepped close. Not as queen, but as the woman he once knew.
“The price of freedom may be too high even for you.
You are a stubborn man. You burn every bridge to win.
But what happens when the fire turns within?”
He said, “Vodun killed my brother. They must surely pay.”
I said, “And your brother here in Sine?”
His face became a closed door.
The kind no crown can open anymore.
The firstborn son of Kama Kamanu is dead to him I see.
That one is not the drive for him to set his people free.
From dust we came, and to dust we shall return.
That is what I told him while his ambition burned.
If he takes the capital, he will find pain, and death.
But nothing stops the Thunder — not even his last breath.
He acts only on what stands before him.
At least the blind man knows he can't see.
This drive to set his people free
keeps bringing him back to me.
From dust we came.
From dust we came.
From dust we came…
And to dust we shall return.
You see He is not the first born son.
That one ran away to my Kingdom when their younger brother died.