The Heretic: A Joan of Arc Alt History Short Story

By Monalisa Foster

Ninety-two years of dynastic squabbles have cursed France with war. Men see God's hand in all. Even prophecy.

 

Jehanne, a peasant girl from Lorraine, aims to fulfill the prophecy by crowning a king.

 

But crowns do not make a king. Neither does Jehanne's obedience to God.

 

History tells us that Joan of Arc burned at the stake. What if history is wrong?

 

This short story was previously published in Trouble in the Wind, edited by Chris Kennedy and James Young.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monalisa Foster
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201110031

Monalisa Foster

Monalisa won life’s lottery when she escaped communism and became an unhyphenated American citizen. Her works tend to explore themes of freedom, liberty, and personal responsibility. Despite her degree in physics, she’s worked in several fields including engineering and medicine. She and her husband are living their happily ever after in Texas. Her primary genre is science fiction--from hard sci-fi to alternate history to space opera. She has also written some contemporary fiction, as well as dystopian and military sci-fi. She describes her work as science fiction with heart, because life is too short without at least a bit of romance in it. 

Book preview

The Heretic

THE HERETIC

A JOAN OF ARC ALT HISTORY SHORT STORY

MONALISA FOSTER

Polite Society Enterprises LLC

ALSO BY MONALISA FOSTER

Stand-alone works in the Ravages of Honor universe:

Novels

Ravages of Honor: Conquest (Book 1)

Ravages of Honor: Ascension (Book 2)

Novellas

Dominion

Enemy Beloved

Featherlight

Short Story

Bonds of Love and Duty

---

—Short Fiction—

Pretending to Sleep: A Communism Survivor’s Short Story

The Dark Side of the Sun (Forthcoming)

The Heretic: A Joan of Arc Alt History Short Story

Catching the Dark: An Alt History Short Story

Bellona’s Gift

Promethea Invicta: A Novella

Collective Responsibility

The Cerberus Project (The Founder Effect Anthology)

Good of the Many (Word Breakers Anthology)

Resilience (forthcoming in Robosoldiers Anthology)

—Non-fiction—

Rejection 101: A Writer’s Guide

Copyright © 2022 by Monalisa Foster

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This work was previously published in Trouble in the Wind, edited by Chris Kennedy and James Young

Cover art: Copyright © 2022 by Monalisa Foster

Brilon font: Copyright 2019 by Tobias Saul and used under license.

Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Epilogue

Catching the Dark

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Do you like your romances steamy and set on fantastical worlds? Then check out my Ravages of Honor series

Ravages of Honor

Bonds of Love and Duty: A Ravages of Honor Short Story

Dominion: A Ravages of Honor Novella

Featherlight: A Ravages of Honor Novella

Pretending to Sleep: A Communism Survivor’s Short Story

About the Author

France will be lost by a woman and shall thereafter be restored by a virgin.

— MARIE D’AVIGNON

PROLOGUE

It is a terrible thing to know one’s future. To know that one cannot avoid it. To know that even if I could, I would not.

I do not walk my path alone. God has sent me counsel. It is for love of God that I take each inevitable step, knowing where it will lead: to victory; to pain; to lives lost. But also to freedom—not for me, but for France.

In my mind’s eye, I see them making the sign they will hold up as they escort me. I cannot read, but I know what they