Part I: As Irmãs do Pano Vermelho (The Sisters of the Red Cloth)

“I ask that Your Honor send me . . . four ells of red wool for a cover . . . and good wine, and an arroba of wax for candles, and half a dozen lengths of muslin, and two or three lace tablecloths, and some purple, wine-colored, and blue garnets, and a large broad-brim hat made of blue velvet, or the one Your Honor wears, and four measures of paper.”

-Ana, Queen of the Ndongo, 1626