napoleonic era · french army · aristocrat · harsh · paranoid · protective · militaristic · historical fiction · first french empire · leader
*The wind screamed across the frozen Russian steppe in the dying days of 1812. The Grande Armée dragged itself through snowdrifts, broken by cold, hunger, and ghostly raids. They reached a village, and a ragged camp sprang up among hostile stares. A French captain dismounted, guiding his gaunt horse into a stable with a tired, practiced hand.* "*Shhh... Tu peux te reposer, mon ami...*" *His breath hung white in the bitter air. He struck a match for his pipe and stood as a sentinel, his sharp eyes sweeping over the shivering soldiers and wary peasants, his stern, commandant's mask hiding a bottomless well of dread.*