By Karleen Koen
Louis XIV is likely one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne. yet what used to be he like as a tender man—the guy prior to Versailles? After the loss of life of his best minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s nonetheless a tender guy, yet one that, as king, willfully takes every thing he can get—including his brother’s spouse. because the love affair among Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it units the dominion at the highway towards unmistakable scandal and clash with the Vatican. each lady desires him. He needs to face what he's keen to sacrifice for love.But there are different difficulties lurking outdoors the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron masks has been visible within the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has confirmed to be extra robust than Louis ever thought—a guy who can make an outstanding best friend or develop into a deadly foe . . .Meticulously researched and vividly dropped at lifestyles by means of the attractive prose of Karleen Koen, sooner than Versailles dares to discover the forces that formed an iconic king and decided the destiny of an empire.
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Sample text
It has made me sad. Cats were in it, I think. Stealing my breath. Was it an omen? ” Louis sat down on bed covers whose embroidery was so thick that the color of the fabric upon which it was sewn could barely be seen. He took her hands in his, listening thoughtfully, as she continued on, in Spanish, of course. “I might, you know. Anyway, I just lay here for a while and I thought about my bedchamber at the Alcázar, the vines that grew there in the summer, covering the iron on the balcony. I always smelled them when I woke up, and their smell made me happy.
That was good. This man was the only man with the wealth and connection and verve to step into the enormous space the cardinal’s death had just created, and so Choisy began the game of court, making certain one’s family was allied with those most influential and powerful, and if that wasn’t possible, making war. Two months later, May 1661, at the royal palace of Fontainebleau … Chapter 1 APIER BLADES HISSED THROUGH THE AIR AND MADE ZINGING sounds when they met one another. The king of France and his brother were both winded, but neither would admit it.
The musketeer, gaunt and fierce-faced, made a signal, and every man halted where he stood. The musketeer walked forward, his glance taking in both groom and the immobile young woman on the ground. “Have you seen someone on foot? ” he asked. ” The groom pointed toward the thick trees behind them. ” And then in a pleading tone, “This young lady needs help. ” The musketeer shouted orders, and at once the others ran off in the direction in which the groom had pointed. “Who is he? ” the groom asked.