Unchaining Alice

Prologue

I thought I'd just give you all a little background on what's going on in this chapter. The French Revolution of 1832 was not the revolution where Louis XVI was killed, this was 30 years are that. Basically another king was on the throne and the republicans (Alice and the revolutionaries) aren't happy with it. People were dying from cholera (about 18,000 had died at the time) and the cost of living was so high that people were starving. When General Lamarque died (a supporter of the lower classes) the republicans used it to stage their fight. They were defeated by the French soldiers who hugely outnumbered them and all survivors were executed.

If anyone has seen Les Miserables, the scene where Marius and Enjolras climb atop the carriage and wave the red flags while singing 'Do You Hear The People Sing?' is where I got the inspiration from. That scene is set at General Lamarque's funeral.

Hope you like it :)

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Prologue

Paris

June, 1832

Alice could hear her heart beat faster as she ran. She could feel her blood pumping and her breathing increasing. She could feel each individual sweat bead on her forehead. She could feel death closing in, ready to take another victim.

"Hurry, Jacques," she hissed at her elder brother in a hushed tone. She knew the French soldiers would be upon them soon if they were not quick and silent.

Alice Devereaux knew fighting at the barricades was a bad idea. She knew it would only end in bloodshed. She believed in the cause most heartily but France was not ready for what the revolutionaries wished for. Those in power did not concern themselves with the needs of the people of France. People were dying and starving and nothing was being done.

But once there she could no longer deny her part in it. A pistol was thrust into her hands and before she knew it, she had fired it. Her fifteen year old self was naïve. She was naïve to think that firing a pistol would not hurt anyone. She'd hit a soldier in the arm, and the fright of it all had made her drop the weapon instantly. She didn't know what to do. Men were falling all around her. Blood was spilling as their barricade was destroyed. The soldiers had won and the survivors were being shot.

She found Jacques unconscious behind the body of their friend, Luc. She thanked God he was still breathing. He'd been caught in the debris of a cannon fire. She dragged him away from the battle until he regained consciousness, and together they climbed buildings and scaled walls until they reached the French harbour. They knew France was not safe anymore, no matter how much they wished they could stay.

Docked on the harbour was a trade ship bound for England. As day broke they watched as all sorts of goods were being loaded. They both knew they had to climb aboard somehow.

It would be near impossible though. Soldiers swarmed the area making sure revolutionaries like themselves didn't escape.

"This is cowardly, Alice," Jacques whispered in her ear as they hid behind a pile of wooden crates. She had no idea what was in them, but she was sure that if they got inside they would be packed onto the ship. "We should be back at the barricades."

"And what?" Alice snapped, turning around to glare at her brother. His sharp, blue eyes that so mirrored her own were stern. "Die? Be left to rot? We go back, we die, Jacques."

"I'd rather die a hero than live a coward, Alice," Jacques said under his breath.

Alice ignored his comment. It wasn't the time to fight, not yet anyway. She didn't know when her people, the lower classes, would be free to live the lives they wanted, but if it had to end in what could only be called genocide, then she would have no part in it.