The carriage stops in front of a run-down apartment building with children playing outside. Emmanuella jumps out rushing into the building. She runs up at least twelve flights of stairs skipping steps, slides down the hall, and throws her body through a door. A gorgeous Eva with long kinky hair stands in an apron placing a plate of food on the table.
“Emmanuella, the Cocotte Ball commences at sunset, and you’re not even ready. You know you have to make a good impression on the king.” Her mother sighs then pulls out the chair in front of the fully loaded plate of food, “Eat quickly. I’ll get your bath ready.”
Eva kisses her daughter’s forehead then walks to the bathroom. A man darker than Emmanuella’s mother walks through the door, kicks off his mud-covered boots, kisses Emmanuella on her forehead and sits in front of his extra loaded plate of food.
“How was your day CakePop?” The man asks Emmanuella. Emmanuella smiles. No matter what, everything will be fine. Daddy will take care of it.
“Daddy, I took the ship around the city!”
“I saw. Nobody can stop talking about it.” Dad usually walks her to and from the lab, and he always walked her to and from school. No matter what, Emmanuella is protected when Dad is around. Even if the king sentences her to death, Dad will find a way to save her.
Emmanuella bathes in oat milk and flowers as her mother does her hair. At the end of it all, Emmanuella finds herself in a red dress with layers of ruffles just below her hips, and off the shoulder sleeves made of flowers. Barefoot sandals decorate her feet with beads. Red beads dangle from her ears as red paint covers her thick lips.
Eva gently guides Emmanuella to the mirror. For the first time, Emmanuella could see that her father was right. She is just as beautiful as her mother, but Emmanuella is the color of ebony wood instead of milk chocolate like her mother. Hopefully, the king will see past Emmanuella’s coloring.
Emmanuella holds onto her mother’s hand tightly as they stand in a long line leading to the palace. Many girls who are in their twenty-ninth year or have already turned thirty earlier in the year. All of the girls are in line with their mothers.
Many of the girls with bright honey skin and looser curls smile in comfort knowing that they can at least be cocottes, mistresses. The darker girls like Emmanuella and her mother hold on tightly to their mothers or constantly look at the ground. Many of the girls with darker skin hope to lose their tongues and become solteronas at the very least.
The line makes its way down to the royal kitchen, palace halls, and finally to the throne room where the king waits to decide on each girl’s fate. The double doors open for Emmanuella and her mother. The two walk slowly through the packed ballroom on the empty path led by a red carpet in the center of the mass of men leering at Emmanuella. Emmanuella’s mother smiles and nods her head at those she passes.
Emmanuella tells herself that everything will be okay no matter what. She stands beside her mother in front of the king squeezing her mother’s relaxed hand. Squeezing her eyes shut tightly while holding her breath, Emmanuella tries to ignore the thousands of men staring at her body. She looks up at the king as he stares at her for a long time. A fair amount of that time, his eyes rest on her breasts and hips.
“Turn around,” The king demands. Emmanuella spins around slowly several times until the king says stop. She can feel him piercing her butt until he tells her to face him.
“Your daughter is clearly from good stock,” The king says to mother, “You are stunning, and if you had given your daughter a lighter skin color, she’d be stunning.”
“My daughter shares our queen’s coloring. Is our queen not stunning?” Mother challenges. Just as King William looks to Queen Monica, Queen Monica smiles proudly at Emmanuella’s mother. General Violet Monatare provides a wicked smile complimenting her dark skin. The king purses his lips.
“Your majesty,” Commander Ferrari says, steps in making Emmanuella step back, “If I may, this is the hooligan who assists the GreenBean man with his mayhem. It would be wise to rid our country of her now before she does too much damage.”
“You invent things?” Queen Monica inspects curiously. Emmanuella nods nervously with wide eyes.
“She built the very ship the king would like to use for his expedition,” Eva defends.
“She assists a menace who has blown up buildings, destroyed crops, and disrupted peace on countless occasions.” The commander snaps.
“Emmanuella had nothing to do with those incidents. Ever since she started working with the GreenBean man, those incidents have occurred less frequently.” Eva stands as a lawyer determined to win her case.
“Madame Eva makes a good point. The dragon burning crops is the first problem we’ve had with the GreenBean man all year.” General Violet Monatare notions. Even the king’s eyebrows rise and head tilts in agreement.
“Your majesty, please consider that this girl, a woman, is inventing things. Women inventing is against the law. On top of that, her coloring makes her an eye sore. If she bears children, they will be eyesores. Her mother of terrible skin bore her. Neither are much to look at.” The commander declares.
“My daughter’s coloring is what makes her beautiful. And why is it illegal for women to have brains? Or look as though we’ve been blessed by the sun? You want to use her invention to find the new world. You should want the inventor to be alive to help you understand the mechanics.” Eva stands firm.
“Men can learn to understand the flying ship.” The Commander debates.
“Yet, it took a woman to build the ship.” Eva reminds the Commander. Though they were no where near each other, they felt as though they were toe to toe.
“Alright, hush, the both of you,” King William nearly laughs, “Madam, your daughter is beautiful, intelligent, and of good stock. But as Commander Ferrari points out, your daughter is dangerous and woman inventing is illegal.”
“She’s illegal because she thinks?” Queen Monica asks.
“Because, it only takes one mistake to create a disaster, and we already have GreenBean.” The king turns from his wife and looks to Emmanuella’s mother, “If you don’t find a husband to keep her under control by the end of the year, she will be at the bottom of the sea.”
Both Emmanuella and her mother’s eyes widen. Emmanuella’s heart pounds her entire body like a mallet. Commander Ferrari sneers as he slowly backs away. Terrible man.