Selin Hizli

The other was a French noble who reacted badly after discovering the brand I am forced to carry.

Seared into my skin is the fleur-de-lis.

The eternal mark of shame.

Such was the embarrassment at discovering his bride had once been a convict that twice he tried to kill me.

Both attempts failed.

First, I was saved from hanging by the intervention of fate.

The rotten branch the fool strung me from snapped just before my spirit departed.

Then, my intended beheading was prevented.

Thanks to an intervention by the most brilliant mind in France.

Who will?

His eminence Cardinal Richelieu, my creator, my mentor, my nemesis.

Only God wields more power.

Only God sees more than his network of spies and informers.

It would probably be easier to count those who do not work for him ahead of those who do.

Although if you were to ask him, he would deny anyone works for him at all.

Those who choose to do my bidding are in service not to me, but to the nation.

There is only one purpose to all our endeavors.

The glorification of France.

I was born in a pigsty, but I refuse to accept that I belonged there.

All the injustices and cruelties I endured have only served to sharpen the blade of my will.