The young man panicked, under the heavy rain. He had just seen his own parents get executed. Other people in the surrounding shouted in happiness, declaring that liberty was given. The young man was Louis the 17th, and his parents were Louis the 16th and Marie Angtounitee. Louis the 17th has always been judged smart, athletic and mannered, and overall fit for king. But no matter how gifted he was, Louis the 17th couldn’t manage to not be a victim of the violent French revolution. He stood in the crowd, with a piece of cloth over his head. He stood between people cheering for his parent’s death. He knew that if he didn’t cheer along, he would be executed. So he put his hands up in the air, and shouted along. And then he quietly escaped the scene and ran towards the port.
Louis the 17th had an elaborate plan. Louis had engaged to his 2 year girlfriend in Spain, who also happened to be the princess of Spain. Louis was supposed to get to the port by 12 'o'clock at night the and there would be a Spanish boat for him to hop on. The location was Royan. Walking past borders had more risks of being intercepted while the escape. Once you are on the boat, there wouldn’t be much danger of being chased by angry revolutionary dudes. Louis was now in Sanites. Not too far from Royan. The time was 9 ‘o'clock at night. Louis still had 3 hours left. He needed a place to stay. It was raining so much that Louis’s cloth had become a sunken rat. So Louis went to the nearest cottage. It was simple. Not fancy or way too poor looking. The owner was a tall, huge man with a beard that was a bush. His house had a huge table in the middle, one wooden chair, one green sofa, and kitchen furniture pushed up on the left wall. The second floor had one clean white bed. The man greeted Louis in. He dried Louis’s clothes and offered some porridge.
“My name is Mark. I am one of those revolutionaries. These days I am one of the 500 people to find King Louis the 17th. Too bad though. The young prince was quite a goodie.”
Louis made a poker face. He was really good at it. “Hope so. You know, the revolution wouldn’t survive without all the monarch family dead.”
Mark nodded along as he lit a cigarette. “You are a finely educated man. What’s your name again? I am afraid I didn’t hear it.”
Louis turned on his head quickly. “The name is Jack. I was a revolutionary, but my mother in Spain is having critical health problems. I have to get to the port by midnight.”
“Wow.” Mark said. “Getting on a boat in this weather is probably a really big bummer. Well, I guess it would be better than crossing the border.”
Mark then lended a cigarette to Louis. Louis politely refused it. Mark nodded and continued to puff on his own cigarette. Gray smoke filled the room. “There is a big protest next week. When will you come back? Hoping to see you in that one. We are gonna go crazy there.”
Louis shook his head. “Sorry. I will be there if I can. But you probably know how lung cancer works.”
Mark nodded. Then he looked out the window. “Bad weather, eh? I think this is God’s blessing for killing the monarchs. You know, there have been droughts for quite a while. But you know, some people say that it is God mourning for the monarch’s death. Weird, eh?”
Jack nodded along. Mark pushed the porridge towards Louis. “The porridge is getting cold. Eat it up quickly."
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