Lazare Minoungou

1759, Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean. The island is controlled by French settlers and the deported slave population live in fear while toiling in the sugar cane plantations. Unlike her disillusioned father Massamba, 16-year-old Mati refuses to keep her head down and accept her fate.

In 17th-century Europe, Alejandro, a young Spanish nobleman, is tasked with delivering the portrait of the Infanta of Spain to Louis XIV, still a child. It is intended to seal the alliance between the two crowns. Fascinated by the promises of the New World, lands to be conquered and new trade routes to be opened, Alejandro is escorted by two French soldiers. As the portrait advances, the trio descend deeper into a Europe ravaged by wars and uprisings. The journey to the French court is long and arduous, and the path back to civilization and the modern world emerging remains uncertain.

After a brutal attack, a young nomad named Sira refuses to surrender to her fate without a fight and instead takes a stand against Islamist terror. A feminist counterpoint to current reporting from the Sahel region.

Zico has a thirst for elsewhere. He embarks on a cargo shop in Le Havre. Soon, tensions with the rest of the crew and repeated damages undermine his dreams of adventures.

After foiling a plot against the crown, Katanga is named head of the army. Seeking reassurance, he consults a soothsayer who foretells a stark destiny: he will either ascend to the throne as king, or die in the next coup.