Desert of Vanished Souls SEASON 2-Episode 14 – Mother of the Oasis

Inspired by @Diane-de-la-Cheneraye

Inspired by

That night, as stars burned above their hidden oasis, women sang songs from Spain, from Hausa lands, from the Niger bend. Anna lay awake listening, tears slipping silent onto her pillow.

> She thought: If I must die here, let it be as the woman they needed, not the queen men wanted.

When Amastan emerged, he found Anna surrounded by these women, laughing softly as a baby grasped her finger. For the first time since their escape from Algiers, he saw her not as queen, nor slave, nor warrior – but as something older than all titles: a mother.

“You lead them,” he said quietly. “Without ever raising your voice.”

She looked up at him, sunlight in her dark eyes.

“I do not lead them,” she replied. “They follow hope. I am only its vessel.”

Morning light poured like gold across the dunes. Anna awoke to find women gathered around her tent – freed captives with woven baskets of dates and bowls of camel milk. A girl from Timbuktu braided her hair with indigo thread. An older Morisca woman kissed her hands in silent blessing.