The Broken Bards of Paris

By Aaron Hollingsworth

When the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte is kidnapped by the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask, whom can he trust to get her back? The Broken Bards of Paris! What three men, despite deformity and unrequited love, will unite to become a trio of heroic troubadours? The Broken Bards of Paris! When France is in peril, who will sing the songs, fight the throngs, and right the wrongs? The Broken Bards of Paris! Join Cyrano De Bergerac, Quasimodo the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Erik the Opera Ghost in their first daring ensemble adventure! With special appearances by Voltaire, Joan of Arc, and Napoleon himself!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aaron Hollingsworth
• Release date: Aug 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310214714

Aaron Hollingsworth

Aaron Hollingsworth is an anomalous mass of molecules conspiring to describe the impossible in the best way possible. His weird fiction works include The Bone Brick City, The Geohex of Wraith County, The Broken Bards of Paris, and The Apothecary of Mantua. He also develops RPG content compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. He lives in Kansas City. Learn more at aaronhollingsworth.com

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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

~ Cyrano ~

In the darkened confines of a dank prison cell, a man sits reclined with his eyes closed. In his mind some tune is being played, a perfect record of a memory, each note preserved impeccably in a grand sequence of music. As a former patron of the arts, he had taken in many a play, opera, and concert. Those were the days when he displayed his white plume and bravery with equal panache. Those were the days when he could wear a sword as keen as his own wit. Those were the days he shall never see again. Or so he thinks.

He hears the