Page 22 of The Darkest Oath

Louis considered Rollant’s words with lips tightly pressed. “But why not through an Estates-General?”

“Because, Your Majesty,” Rollant said, resisting the urge to shake his head. “You bypass the nobility by going directly to the people. You present the crown untainted by the nobility’s greed. Show the people you are their king and are working for them. Bypass the Parlements and enforce your land tax. Save your people, and they will save your crown.”

Louis sighed. “You have been away for too long. I have tried to bypass the Parlements with Minister Brienne, but the reforms are rejected and not upheld.”

“Then enforce it with the military.” Rollant made a fist. “To show the power of the king.”

“Oh, Chevalier, we are past the Crusades.” Louis leaned back with weary eyes. “We are not kings of the medieval ages anymore. We are an advanced people of diplomacy and democratic approaches.”

Rollant suppressed the urge to yell and kept his voice steady, though his fist rested on the hilt of his rapier. “If I may, Your Majesty, throughout the centuries, I have seen hunger drive the most docile man to violence. Already, your people speak of acting where you fail to provide relief.”

“I have not failed. I have prevented further tax raises!” Louis said, slamming his hands on the table.

Rollant bit back a sigh, wishing his immortality came with the ability to rewind time. He had chosen the wrong words to say, and they were back at the beginning of their cyclical conversation.

“You have indeed, my King, and done so mightily!” Rollant said, resigning himself to be just a guard. He took place at the edge of the room, hands by his side, back straight, stare unfocused with a steady breath.

The world of present problems would be gone in a hundred years. It didn’t matter.

Louis dropped his head back, his shoulders sagging. “Oh, Father, thou art in Heaven,” he prayed. “Show me what I must do.”

Rollant closed his eyes as he waited for the king to finish, knowing the path he needed to take was right before him. He only had to decide and proceed on the road to the crown’s salvation.

He thought of Élise, and for her sake, he stepped forward once more with softer words and reframed his advice. “Your Majesty, the solution is not simple, and no one has all the answers. But your people, the hungry, the poor, are not enemies. Listen to them without the Parlements’ interference and the nobles’ interests skewing their needs. Let them see you as their protector. Your willingness to show you understand their plight will prevent far worse.”

Rollant paused, holding Louis’s gaze with an intensity softened with humility.

Louis’s fingers drummed against the table; his gaze drifted below Rollant’s shoulder and filled with heavy thought. “I want to be the people’s king, Rollant, yet every day, I feel that dream slipping away.”

Rollant leaned forward. “Then let it not slip, Sire. With a single decision, you can reclaim it. Engage with the people’s leaders sincerely and directly. This is not ceding power—it is ruling in a way they will respect.”

Louis bounced his hand on his thigh before folding his hands behind his back. “I will . . . consider it further.”

CHAPTER10

A Time to Break

PALACE OF VERSAILLES, AUGUST 1788

Nearly six monthspassed in slow decay.

August came after a bitter stalemate between the Parlements and the crown, and Minister of Finance Étienne Brienne fell. Not from violence but exhaustion.

He had failed to sway the Parlements.

Failed to impose reform.

Failed to revive a dying economy.

The crown’s failures were no longer whispered behind fans or muttered in cafés. They were shouted from the street corners.

Then came the Parlement of Paris, which declared in bold defiance that the king’s will alone could not make law. They demanded the Estates-General—though they had always accepted taxation without it.

And in a panic, Louis reached for absolutism’s last dagger. At Minister Lamoignon’s urging, he tried to dissolve the Parlements and replace them with a Plenary Court—a new body loyal only to the crown. Louis took Rollant’s advice—six months too late and only half of it.

Rollant had stood in silence as the orders were given, knowing what would come. What might have steadied the crown years ago would instead sharpen its collapse.

Soldiers were sent to enforce the new court. But barricades rose in the streets, and stones rained from windows.

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