by Kevin Berry
He signals the two Guards at the door. They advance and each grips one of your arms tightly before escorting you from the room.
I’m sorry, this part of your story is over. You’ve had a rather short career as a Lieutenant cadet in the Cardinal’s Guards. You were given a task of delivering the king’s hot chocolates, but you became suspicious of the cardinal’s motives and accused him of treason in front of the king. Though the king seemed amused, Cardinal Richelieu was not, and his Guards escorted you to the Bastille.
Once he receives his instructions, the grim-faced jailer places you in a small stone cell in the dungeons. He fits you with an iron mask so that no one can see your face, and locks it shut behind your head so you cannot remove it. A little light filters into your dungeon room through a narrow grille from a lantern in the corridor outside. Dry bread and water is delivered twice a day through a small opening at the bottom of the door. You have to be quick to get it before the mice do. And no one ever speaks to you again for the rest of your life.
What a grim ending. How terrible. Maybe you’d like to make a different choice and see how that goes. Or perhaps sign up as a King’s Musketeer instead.
It’s time to make a decision. You have three choices. Would you like to:
Return to the previous section and choose again?
Or
Go to the list of choices and start reading from another part of the story?
Or
Go back to the beginning of the story and try another path?
Navigation Tips
At the end of each chapter you’ll find two or more hyperlinked choices.
All reading devices can activate the hyperlinks. Here are the most common ways:
On an older reading device with a cursor press UP to begin choosing, then use UP and DOWN to pick an option and the main button to select your choice. On other models press SELECT to highlight a choice and then SELECT again to activate it.
On a PC use control+click.
On a touch screen device, just touch on your selection.
After you’ve read a few stories all the way through, you might like to explore the Big List of Choices to find other story threads you may have missed.
If at the end of a chapter you only see ONE choice, check the next page for a second choice.
Are you ready to go?
Yes! Take me back to the story.
Back at the beginning
You’re standing in the training ground at the Academy with your two best friends, Tempeste and Hubert. Behind you are dozens of other cadets. It’s graduation day, and you stand up straight and proud. During your time at L’Academie, you’ve learned how to fight with a sword, fire a musket, and ride a horse, all worthy skills for a soldier. In your spare time, you’ve learned the arts of fancy dressing, card playing, good etiquette, (mostly) adequate manners, forgery, brawling in inns, and romantically charming anyone who takes your fancy, all worthy skills for a young gentleman or gentlewoman.
Today is an important day for all of the cadets who have finished their training. But more so for you and your two friends, as the three of you have graduated top of the class.
A strong, muscled woman strides out of the training headquarters. She swaggers across the sandy ground towards you and the other cadets. A sheathed rapier hangs from her left hip. She wears her usual practical padded jacket, breeches and black brimmed hat. Madame de Villequier has been your class’s instructor for the year.
“Attention!” she calls. “I will say this only once.”
Quiet descends upon the training ground as the chattering amongst the cadets ceases.
Madame de Villequier looks around you all and finally smiles. “You thirty, the surviving members of the class, have all passed, and you three”—she indicates you, Hubert and Tempeste—“have passed with honors. Congratulations.”
The cadets murmur happily. Tempeste elbows you in the side and grins. Hubert whoops with joy. You beam, grabbing your friends around the shoulders for a joint hug.
When you again turn your attention to Madame de Villequier, she is standing, legs astride in a pose of command, a piece of parchment in one hand.
“I will call your name and the regiment to which you’ve been assigned. When you’ve heard your assignment, you are free to collect your things and make your way to your regimental commander. Clear?”
A wave of nods wobbles through the assembled cadets.
“Pierre Godier: the 13th Fusiliers. Louise De Lenoncourt: the Crown Prince Cuirassiers …”
A few minutes later, only you, Hubert and Tempeste remain on the training ground. A little apprehensive now, you shuffle your boots in the sand. Where will you be assigned? Will you be with your friends?
Madame de Villequier approaches you all and speaks quietly. “For your outstanding achievements during training, you three deserve the pick of the regiments: the King’s Musketeers, and”—she seems to hesitate slightly—“the Cardinal’s Guards. Normally, it is impossible to enlist in those regiments straight from the Academy, but for you three, exceptions have been made.”
Hubert bows his thanks. Tempeste clenches a victorious fist, then bows. Following another elbow in the ribs from Tempeste, you bow also.
“Hubert, you have come to the attention of the First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu. You will join the Cardinal’s Guards as a subaltern.”
Hubert’s grin vanishes at the speed of lightning. “Must I?”
Madame de Villequier steps closer. Her hat brushes the feathers of your own wide-brimmed hat as she leans in to whisper to Hubert. “It’s always wise not to anger the cardinal.”
Hubert looks crestfallen. He stares at his boots and shoves his hands in the pockets of his breeches.
“It’s not so bad. You’ll get a free uniform, the best pay, and you won’t have to go to war. It’s the safest regiment there is.”
Hubert says nothing. You feel sorry for him. You know he wanted adventure.
The instructor comes even closer, and the stiff brim of her hat pushes underneath yours, almost lifting your hat off. Tempeste scurries in from the other side to listen.
“Beware, Hubert,” whispers Madame de Villequier. “It’s rumored that the cardinal is a practitioner in the Dark Arts.”
“Accounting?” Hubert asks uncertainly.
Tempeste draws breath sharply.
“Sorcery?” you ask, unsure if you heard right.
The instructor withdraws a couple of paces and composes herself without commenting further. Did she shake her head slightly?
“Tempeste, for excellence in musketry, you have earned a commission to the King’s Musketeers as a subaltern.”
“Yes!” She fist-pumps. “I mean, I am most grateful, Madame de Villequier.”
Hubert groans quietly. The King’s Musketeers is the most prestigious regiment. He probably wanted that one.
“Of course,” the instructor continued, “the pay is not as good as that of the Cardinal’s Guards, you’ll have to buy your own horse and uniform, and you’ll go wherever the king goes, including to war.”
Tempeste smiles widely. Her wealthy family will probably pay her expenses anyway.
“And now it is your turn,” Madame de Villequier says to you. “You were top of the class in horsemanship, and also in swordsmanship. As a result, you’ve come to the attention of the king, and His Majesty wishes to reward your efforts by offering you the rank of lieutenant in either His Majesty’s Musketeers or in the Cardinal’s Guards, whichever you choose.”
You gasp. Tempeste and Hubert turn to you expectantly, waiting for you to make your choice of career. Where will you go?
If you join the Cardinal’s Guards, you’ll earn more, stay in Paris, have Hubert for company and maybe have a chance to find out if the cardinal really is a sorcerer, or has some other secret.
If you join the King’s Musketeers, you’ll have the prestige of being close to the king, have Tempeste for company, and have a chance of adventure.
It’s
time to make a decision. Do you:
Join the King’s Musketeers?
Or
Join the Cardinal’s Guards?
About the Author
Kevin Berry’s love of writing began when he handed in a 50,000 word murder mystery for an English assignment to his stunned teacher. More recently, his fiction has received independent writing awards and glowing reviews. He lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with two sons, and is most definitely a night owl, writing into the early hours.
Big List of Choices
French words and their meaning
Plea for reviews!
More You Say Which Way Adventures
Pirate Island
Creepy House
Dragons Realm
Volcano of Fire
Dinosaur Canyon
Deadline Delivery
Between The Stars
Lost in Lion Country
Once Upon an Island
In the Magician’s House
Danger on Dolphin Island
Secrets of Glass Mountain
The Sorcerer’s Maze Jungle Trek
The Sorcerer’s Maze Time Machine
The Sorcerer’s Maze Adventure Quiz
French words and their meanings, and other definitions
Apothecary: a herbalist and early pharmacist, supplying medicines and cures.
Bastille: the prison in Paris, especially for political prisoners.
Boulangerie: bakery (yum!)
Cardinal: one of the top ranks of the Catholic Church. Only the pope is higher.
Cardinal’s Guards: a company of musketeers reporting directly to the cardinal, who paid them himself.
Compte: count (as in nobility)
Croissant: a tasty pastry often served at breakfast.
De / des: of
Duchesse: duchess
Duel: the accepted way for the nobility to settle disagreements in the early 1600s, either by fighting with swords or, more rarely, with pistols. Duels could be to first blood (minor wound), second blood (more serious wound) or to the death. Dueling was outlawed by royal edict in 1626 but this new law was widely ignored, and dueling remained commonplace for some time.
Excusez moi: excuse me.
Fiacre: a small four-wheeled carriage for public hire, introduced in the early 1600s. Early taxi.
Jeu de paume: an early form of tennis, now known as ‘real tennis’, which was played in an indoor court with high walls and a net that dropped substantially in the middle. Players were allowed to play the ball off any of the walls. This was a popular pastime in 16th century France, with many pubic courts, but very few remain today (the most famous of which is at Hampton Court palace outside of London, England).
King’s Musketeers: a prestigious company. It was not normally possible to join without at least two years’ experience in a lesser regiment. The musketeers would accompany the king everywhere, and formed his guard outside of the royal residences.
L’Academie: the academy at which young people would learn military skills; an alternative to
school for those wanting a career in the military.
La Cour des Miracles: literally The Courtyard of Miracles, a home to hundreds of beggars and thieves, ruled by their own king, with their own rules and language. It was so-called because beggars would leave there looking crippled or horribly diseased, yet their ailments would be gone when they returned home (after begging). This courtyard was one of several in the city, none of which now exist.
La Cours de la Reine: the walking and riding promenade by La Seine
La Seine: the large river running through Paris.
Le: the
Le Louvre: at the time of this story, the Louvre was the royal palace. Eventually, the royal palace moved to Versailles. The Louvre is now a world-famous art gallery exhibiting the Mona Lisa and many other treasures.
Le Mouton Blanc: literally The White Sheep, one of the oldest restaurants in Paris
Madame: Mrs / Ms (the title of a woman who is not young).
Mademoiselle: Miss (the title of a young woman).
Marquis: marquis
Merci: thank you.
Military ranks: the officer ranks in the story are subaltern (the lowest officer rank), lieutenant, and captain. Above those would be major. Wealthy individuals may be able to purchase one of these ranks.
Money: the monetary system was complicated. The livre (also called franc) was equivalent to a pound of silver, and was subdivided into twenty sous (also called sols), each of which was divided into twelve deniers. There were also gold louis, named by the kings after themselves, where twenty livres equalled one louis. And I won’t even discuss how they started trading with beaver skins.
Monsieur: nowadays it simply means ‘Mr’, but in the 1600s it conveyed respect. The king’s brother, Gaston d’Orleans, was simply known as ‘Monsieur’.
Mortdieu!: an expression of surprise.
Piquet: a popular card game between two players in 16th century France.
Pont: bridge.
Pont Neuf: literally New Bridge, so-called because it was built between older bridges. Construction was completed in 1607. All of the older bridges are now gone, so it is now the oldest bridge in Paris, but it’s still called Pont Neuf, the New Bridge.
Pont Royal: the Royal Bridge.
Rapier: the classic dueling weapon and dress sword of the 17th century, long, sharpened at the tip and the edges, and with an elaborate guard to protect the hand.
Rue: street.
Social ranks: 17th century France was a hierarchical society in which social position was highly important. The nobility ranking in this order (highest first): the king, the queen, duke / duchesse, marquis, compte, vicompte, baron. Cardinal Richelieu’s position made him the most powerful person in France after the king.
Big List of Choices
How These Books Work
At the Academy
Join the King’s Musketeers
Go and celebrate
Don’t pick up the gauntlet
Pick up the gauntlet
Choose to fire first
Aim to hit (firing first)
Aim to miss (firing first)
Choose to fire second
Aim to miss (firing second)
Aim to hit (firing second)
Fight on, regardless of Tempeste
Yield, to save Tempeste
Go to the Courtyard of Miracles
Enter the courtyard
Chase the thief
Give up pursuing the thief
Draw your swords and charge
Try to talk your way out of the situation
Have a quiet walk along the river
Keep the secret and return to the barracks
Follow Gaston
Give yourself up to the conspirators
Escape through the window
Go along with the conspirators
Tell Monsieur de Tréville about the conspiracy
Tell Cardinal Richelieu about the conspiracy
Join the Cardinal’s Guards
Investigate the palace official
Tell the cardinal what you found
Keep the money
Hand the money in to the cardinal
Blackmail the chancellor
Hold out for more money
Accept the lower offer
Duel the compte de Bouteville
Attack with a quick lunge
Feint, and then attack
Undertake the discreet special duty regarding His Majesty
Put the vial’s contents in the king’s drink
Ask an apothecary to analyze the vial’s contents
Tell the queen about the vial
Accuse the cardinal of wanting to poison the king
Navigation Tips
Back at the beginning
About the Author
More You Say Which Way Adventures
French words and their meanings, and other definitions
Please leave a review o
f this book on Amazon
Please leave a review of this book on Amazon
Reviews help others know if this book is right for them. It only takes a moment.
Thanks from the You Say Which Way team.
YouSayWhichWay.com