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Chapters (43)
  1. Cover
  2. Epigraph
  3. CAST OF CHARACTERS
  4. Map
  5. Part One
  6. I
  7. II
  8. III
  9. IV
  10. V
  11. VI
  12. VII
  13. Part Two
  14. I
  15. II
  16. III
  17. IV
  18. V
  19. VI
  20. VII
  21. VIII
  22. IX
  23. X
  24. Part Three
  25. I
  26. II
  27. III
  28. IV
  29. V
  30. Part Four
  31. I
  32. II
  33. III
  34. IV
  35. V
  36. VI
  37. EPILOGUE
  38. afterword
  39. Dedication
  40. acknowledgments
  41. By Katherine J. Chen
  42. about the author
  43. What’s next onyour reading list?

“Now that defeat is so close, now there is so much to lose, I am sent here by God to aid you. I am the stone you must cast at your enemy. I ask you again: Send me to Orléans. Give me your burdens, your nightmares, your fears. Give me, too, your hopes as you would put them in your prayers to God alone. I will shoulder them all.”

It is like coaxing a small child to be happy again. He cannot help himself. At the corner of his lips, a smile tugs. He likes the idea of wishes, of prayers being granted. “And what shoulders you have,” the Dauphin says softly. He turns to bestow upon her the royal gaze. “What gifts you have been given. These are impossible to deny. The boy you mentioned, I am sorry for his death. And for your sister.”

A moment of silence, perhaps it is to remember the dead. Then: “Go.” The command is a whisper, spoken like a secret. “Go with our blessing, and we shall see if you are truly as you say: an instrument of God. Go and free Orléans. Though God help you, Joan, if you fail.”

It is the first time he says her name. She bows her head, kneels.

What you see and how you see it can change your life. A sleight of hand. A shift of perspective, and one can suddenly become an instrument of the Divine.

Three weeks ago she had come to this place. As she rode into Chinon, the church bells had rung the hour of Prime. But there are some today—and both at court and in town, they are a growing number—who would say the bells had rung for her.

Part Three

For nearly two weeks, Joan is tested by clergymen in Poitiers. At the end of these sessions, they agree that the outcome of Orléans—victory or otherwise—will be taken as a sign of whether she was truly sent byGod.

Joan then travels to Orléans by way of Tours and Blois, in order to collect men and supplies. At the end of April, she enters the city with an army and provisions, including cattle and grain. Song accompanies her arrival; a procession of priests sing “Veni Creator Spiritus.”

Now the heart of the conflict has moved to Orléans, which has been under siege for almost seven months. It will be no simple task to liberate the city and drive out the well-entrenched English forces.

I

ORLÉANS, EARLY MAY 1429

This morning is mild, the light gentle. The shutters of Joan’s room are flung open to let in fresh air and a warm wind. It does not feel like a morning when men should die.

Two women are dressing her from foot to head. Around her ankles, they lace greaves, the armor that will protect her shins, and tie together the leather thongs that will secure the plates to her legs.