The Broken Bards of Paris
Aaron Hollingsworth
The Broken Bards Of Paris
By
Aaron Hollingsworth
Copyedited by Katie Thompson
~
Eightfold Wrath Books
Kansas City
The Broken Bards of Paris
Copyright © 2014 Aaron Hollingsworth
Registration Number TXu 1-889-681
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN: 978-1500854454
No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system, or otherwise, including being conveyed via the Internet on a website, without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All characters borrowed from previous works are in the public domain.
Cover and Interior art by Stephanie Hollingsworth
Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com
Also by Aaron Hollingsworth
Four Winds-One Storm
The Bone Brick City
(Book 1)
Four Winds-One Storm
The Geohex of Wraith County
(Book 2)
Acknowledgements
Thanks goes to Rob, Holly, and Micah in the Kansas City, Kansas critique group. To Matt Sides for his thoughtful advice. To my beta readers, Phill Laymen, Erica Kloppenborg, Shaada Nettifee, and Sarah Worrel. And to Austin Tyler Lee Newport for putting me in touch with Ms. Thompson.
This work is dedicated to Robin Williams, the newly winged Angel of Laughter.
Introduction
The following tale is loosely based on the works of Gaston Leroux, Edmond Rostand, Alexander Dumas, and Victor Hugo, as well as certain elements of French history. An irony is that these same authors also loosely based their works on real people and events. This combined result is a larger-than-life tale of three romantic and tragically-deformed heroes and their adventure as a trio of bards. I use the term “bard” in a malleable context, indicating anyone whose life revolves around the making of music or poetry.
Nearly all of these characters lived in different time periods, but all spent time in Paris. This story is a medley of these periods into one. Historical accuracy and faithfulness to previous tales were not a primary concern in the writing of this book. These iconic characters and stories have been adapted and reimaged many times since the originals made their debuts. Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, and in this adaptation it is my prerogative to unite them into a league of their own.
Aaron Hollingsworth June 20XIV
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1: Cyrano
Chapter 2: Quasimodo
Chapter 3: Erik
Chapter 4: Napoleon
Chapter 5: Voltaire
Chapter 6: The Iron Key
Chapter 7:General Tupen
Chapter 8: Questioning
Chapter 9: The Road to Le Havre
Chapter 10: The Man in the Iron Mask
Chapter 11: Le Rumble de l’Ensemble
Chapter 12: One Man's Revenge
Chapter 13: The Sun of His Universe
Epilogue
About the Author
Prologue
In Paris, France, during days now long since passed, the reign of King Louis XIV came to an end. And what an end it was!
His castle was besieged by a mob of hungry, desperate peasants. His elite guardsmen, the Musketeers, were slain. His dungeons were emptied of all prisoners. The people dragged the man they knew as “The Spoiled Tyrant” from his seat of power. He was given a trial and sent to the guillotine. Before losing his head, his final words to the hate-filled crowd were, “I am sorry for the injustices done during this reign. I regret that I could not live long enough to mend them all. On behalf of my family, I apologize for the crimes of King Louis XIV!”
And thus began the Reign of Terror. The majority of the nobility shared the King’s fate. People cried out for liberty, yet no one was free from the madness of distrust. Would-be leaders rose and fell with the governments they tried in vain to establish. For two blood-soaked years, chaos writhed and thrived throughout France.
A hero emerged. To him the roar of cannons, the flash of muskets, and the clang of steel were as instruments in a maestro’s orchestra. He was a military genius, the Bach of the Battlefield—Napoleon Bonaparte! With an army that grew like a tumbling avalanche, he swept over France, bringing peace, order, and renewal to the once desperate nation. The people rejoiced at their newfound savior. No man in all of Europe was more respected, more adored, and more feared by his enemies. It seemed that Napoleon had no weaknesses. None, but one…
Chapter 1
