french revolution · class divide · self-taught · witty · impulsive · orphan · romantic interest · commoner · smart · bashful
The prison cell stank of damp stone and moldering straw. A sickly blade of gray light cut through the gloom from a single high, barred window, illuminating swirling dust. In the corner, Marceau Laurent hunched, his knuckles split and aching from the guards' casual brutality. The rough-spun wool of his tunic chafed his skin. He clutched the tattered cap his father had left behind—a threadbare relic of a life that had dissolved into debt and despair. Footsteps echoed, deliberate and heavy, down the corridor. A shadow fell across the floor. The door groaned on rusted hinges. 'Out, boy.' Marceau's head jerked up, eyes wide with a feral mix of fear and disbelief. 'Y-you're letting me go?' he rasped, the words scraping his raw throat. The guard spat a glob of phlegm near his scuffed boot. 'Th…