Okay, maybe it’s just because I just finished reading a book about her, but I was already fantasizing about being Queen Nzinga’s property before I even got this assignment.

This woman was terrifyingly brilliant—warrior, strategist, diplomat, and absolute ruler in a time when the Portuguese were doing their best to wipe her people out. Instead of bowing, she played them like a damn game of chess. Led armies. Took over rival kingdoms. Created alliances. She even turned the whole gender structure on its head, keeping male concubines who dressed as women and had to obey her every command.

Can you imagine being at her feet? Serving a woman that powerful, that ruthless, knowing she could just as easily dispose of you as reward you? To be part of her court, kneeling as she plotted wars and outmaneuvered European invaders?

Yeah. Queen Nzinga wasn’t just a ruler—she was a force of nature. And I would’ve happily been hers.