Members of the Court | Saint-Cyr staff | Louise and her entourage | Charlotte and her entourage | Hortense and her entourage | Isabeau and her entourage | Éléonore and her entourage | Henriette and her entourage | Gertrude and her entourage | Olympe and her entourage | Adélaïde and her entourage | Jeanne and her entourage | Victoire and her entourage | Gabrielle and her entourage | Diane and her entourage
The characters who appear in Book 10, Adélaïde et le prince noirnote .
Adélaïde de Pélissier
- Ascended Extra: In Book 1, she was there mostly to serve Hortense's narrative: she too became involved with a man during the representations of Esther, and was expelled from Saint-Cyr for it, which would be Hortense's worst nightmare. Book 10 is explores her side of the story.
- Fiery Redhead: Averted. Like most of the doves, her education encouraged her to be quiet and discreet, and even when she leaves St-Cyr, the gentlemen of the court consider her cold, and "harder to take than a Vauban citadel".
- Foreshadowing: During her first meeting with Gabriel when she is ten, she childishly tries to get his attention by showing the tip of her foot under her skirt, even though her mother made a point to tell her that it was unladylike to let her stockings show. A few years later, the same sort of innocent indecency is what gets her expelled from Saint-Cyr.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Depicted with red hair and green eyes on her cover; her father considers them her greatest assets, and Aniaba, who has never seen a redhead before, is smitten by them.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: She develops a Precocious Crush on Gabriel the second she meets him for their betrothal, and keeps these feelings in the years that follow.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her expulsion is one of the events that push Madame de Maintenon to turn up the religious severity of Saint-Cyr.
Gabriel Ruault de la Bonnerie
Adélaïde's fiancé since childhood.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He actually appears and speaks in the first book, though the reader doesn't realize it until they get Adélaïde's point of view of the scene.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Was initially nonplussed about his betrothal, but started seeing it this way when he met again Adéläide a few years later.
- Politically Correct Hero: One of the few French people Aniaba meets who treat him with friendship and respect from the start.
Marie-Cécile de Pélissier
Adélaïde's younger sister.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: The most likeable version of this trope.
- The Determinator: She is determined to become a master lacemaker, even if she needs to go behind her parents' back for it.
- The Pollyanna: She is constantly enthusiastic and optimistic, even when her dream is fleeting out of her reach.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Since childhood, she has dreamed of becoming a master lacemaker and managing a perfect workshop where her young employees would be able to enjoy healthy working conditions, lots of free time and good wages. It becomes clear over the years that such a perfect place demands investments that her family can't afford, and she eventually accepts that she must start from the bottom.
François Michel de Pélissier
Barthélémy, Adélaïde and Marie-Cécile's father.
- Break the Haughty: Downplayed. He is severely against his younger daughter working for a living, but cannot afford to give her a dowry. Madame de La Ferté needs to remind him that her ancestors reached their current status thanks to the very trade Marie-Cécile wants to pursue; and he eventually gives in.
- Doting Parent: He loves his children and makes it clear that he thinks the world of Barthélémy and Adélaïde when the latter is eavesdropping on him.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Subverted. The fantasy he's forbidding Marie-Cécile is "working for a living".
- Happily Married: Compared to other couples among the Doves' parents, he and his wife seem to be very fond of each other.
- Nobility Marries Money: He brings the honor and lineage, but his wife was the one to bring the money they lived on for many years.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Was an illustrious commander in war, but lost most of his money in it as unlike other officers, he refused to Rape, Pillage, and Burn.
Suzanne de Pélissier, née Joubert
Barthélémy, Adélaïde and Marie-Cécile's mother.
- Boring, but Practical: She needs to be careful with money, and doesn't understand the point of buying her daughters embroidered stockings when it is unacceptable for a woman to show even her feet.
- Childhood Friends: Grew up very close to her cousin Madame de La Ferté.
- Happily Married: Compared to other couples among the Doves' parents, she and her husband seem to be very fond of each other.
- Nobility Marries Money: While of noble birth, her family initially made their fortune in lacemaking, and her dowry made up most of her family's treasury for a mong time. Her husband, belonging to the military nobility, is of higher standing than her.
Barthélémy de Pélissier
Adélaïde's older brother.
- Aloof Big Brother: Adélaïde recalls that he became this when he entered his teens, preferring spending time with the adults than with his little sisters.
- The Ghost: He is mentioned but never appears. He is significantly older than his sisters, and is off making a name for himself on the battlefield for most of Adélaïde's childhood.
Émétine de la Ferté
Suzanne's cousin, who takes Adélaïde under her wing.
- Childhood Friends: Grew up very close to her cousin Madame de Pélissier.
- Deus ex Machina: She is so bold when a problem needs to be confronted that she appears like this to Adélaïde.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: She is Adélaïde's first cousin once removed, but tells her to call her "aunt" to simplify things.
- Happily Married: Barely ever sees her Workaholic husband and enjoys his wealth and status.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Speaks like this at 35, though she knows that she still is a very attractive woman.
- Nephewism: After Adélaïde leaves Saint-Cyr, she takes her under her wing and acts as a Parental Substitute, treating her like the daughter she never had.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: She initially thinks that Aniaba made up his story because all Africans are uneducated liars, calls him a "savage beauty" and later considers that his skin color is no obstacle to him marrying Adélaïde because "exotism is fashionable". She keeps those thoughts to herself, however, and is nothing but pleasant with him.
- Shipper on Deck: She is eager to help Adélaïde live her love story with Gabriel. Later, as soon as Aniaba comes into his princely status, she wants to marry Adélaïde to him.
Aniaba
- The Ace: Masters the art of being a French courtier incredibly fast, learning to speak French fluently in a matter of months. He is also an amazing shot, rider, and billiard player. His courtesies are as polished as they come, and he slips from footman to prince with ease.
- Age Lift: The real princes Aniaba and Banga were sent to the court of Versailles as wards when they were around ten; in the book they are in their late teens.
- Cunning Linguist: As one of the two people who speak any French in Assinia, he initially undermined D’Amon’s negotiations with King Zena out of dislike for him, by removing most praise and politeness from their exchanges.
- Deuteragonist: To an even greater extent than Anne in Book 9; he is the titular Black Prince, is actually introduced before Adélaïde, and has more agency than she does in the plot.
- Doomed by Canon: The book ends when he sets sail back to Assinia. Unfortunately, the real prince Aniaba never ruled in Assinia, and died shortly after returning to his country.
- Historical Domain Character
- King Incogito: Against his will. He spends months working at a jeweler's shop waiting to be introduced to King Louis.
- Last of His Kind: His tribe, the Etiholé, were massacred by the Essouma when he was a little boy, and he was only saved because the new king's favorite adopted him.
- Meaningful Rename: Upon being baptized, he is given the name Louis-Aniaba, highlighting his new deference to Christianity, France and King Louis.
- Missing Mom: His mother was exiled after the Essouma coup, and he never saw her again, though he hopes to someday.
- The One Guy: The only man in all the POV characters of the series.
- The Teetotaler: Made a sacred vow to his fetish never to drink alcohol so it would keep him safe.
- There Is a God!: He did not care for christianity when he was taught about it as a child by missionaries, because the Christian god never appeared to them, while in his own would manifest in nature. However, once in France, he makes a genuine conversion to Christianity after being struck by the splendor of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
Banga
Aniaba's closest friend and adoptive brother.
- Age Lift: The real princes Aniaba and Banga were sent to the court of Versailles as wards when they were around ten; in the book they are in their late teens.
- Historical Domain Character: In name only. Their stories are very different.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After having a falling out with Aniaba and living in misery for months, he decides to take the first ship back to Assinia.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: He was initially as hopeful as Aniaba about their journey to France, but the difficulties of life on the ship and in France, the racism they experienced and the constant swindling from D'Amon and other French people desillusioned him.
Bama-Li
- Made a Slave: She was sold to the French slavers by the rulers of her home country, and sold again as a housemaid when she reached France, as even though slavery is technically illegal on French soil, wealthy French people loved to show their worldliness by having African servants.
- Rags to Riches: She starts the story as a slave, and finishes it as a princess.
- Sattelite Love Interest: Only reappears in Aniaba's last couple of chapters, as he sort of forgot her while climbing up in the world, and had to be reminded of her by Banga. He is ashamed of this.
- Spirited Young Lady: She doesn’t take kindly to the slavers, or to Aniaba, whom she initially considers a traitor to his race. While she describes her masters in France as “kind”, she is somewhat cowered by her months in slavery, though she remains proud.
Brother Joseph and Brother François-Xavier
French missionaries settled in Assinia.
- Going Native: Apart from their unsuccessful proselytism, they were quickly embraced by the locals, as they were hardworking, humble and knowledgeable men, as eager to learn the ways of the Assinians as to teach theirs; they were also appreciated for their storytelling skills. When they died, they were mourned as members of the community.
- Killed Off for Real: Both died of a fever a few months after their arrival, despite the Assinian’s attempts to cure them. They refused to bathe, claiming that it was the surest way to rot their organs, despite Aniaba telling them that such fevers had been cured that way before.
- The Missionary: They remained in Assinia after Ducasse’s ship left, to instruct young Assianians in the French language and the Catholic faith. They were more successful with the former than with the latter.
King Zena
The Essouma king of Assinia
- The Good King: The Assinians like him, and even Aniaba takes pride in having him as a king.
- Parental Substitute: Deconstructed. Aniaba technically has to call him "Father", since he adopted him, but he loathes it. Zena doesn't seem to care about him much more than about his biological children.
Yamoké
Zena’s brother
- 0% Approval Rating: He takes power in Assinia when Zena dies, but is so unpopular that D’Amon, King Louis and Aniaba all consider that there would never be a better time for a French-backed coup.
- Evil Uncle: He wants to inherit the throne of Assinia; thus, while he doesn’t see Banga as a threat as the king’s biological sons cannot inherit, he does his best at every turn to thwart Aniaba, who is only Zena’s adoptive son and therefore heir presumptive, notably trying to get him killed during a hunt.
Chiki
One of King Zena’s wives
- Parental Substitute: Subverted. While she very much wanted to be this to Aniaba, not having children of her own, he was never able to consider her as such, hoping to find his birth mother again someday, and kept a distance between them. However, he does have affection for her and is conflicted about this.
- Royal Favorite: Zena’s favorite among his wives.
D’Amon
The captain of the second French expedition to Assinia.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: A proud, disdainful, lecherous conman, obviously a massive racist, and of course, a slave trader.
Jeannot
A ship boy.
- Children Are Innocent: Played with. He is first introduced teaching Aniaba how to cheat at cards, but he is also one of the few amongst the crew to care about the slaves in the hull, offering to save his food rations for the three children among them.
Master and Mistress Hyon
Parisian jewelers specialized in high-quality pearls. They take in Aniaba and Banga as tenants.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Their only son Henri died recently.
- Parental Substitute: As they lost their son, they quickly take to Banga and especially Aniaba as Replacement Goldfish.
