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Contents ( 101)
  1. THE COURT OF MIRACLES
  2. Kester Grant
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Map
  6. THE LAW OF THE MIRACLE COURT
  7. PART ONE
  8. How Fear Came
  9. 1823
  10. 1
  11. Le Début de l’Histoire
  12. 2
  13. The Keepers of the Gates
  14. 3
  15. The Lord of Thieves
  16. 4
  17. She Who Sleeps
  18. 5
  19. The Claws of the Hawk
  20. PART TWO
  21. The Dead Wolf
  22. 1829
  23. 6
  24. The Tiger
  25. 7
  26. The Black Cat’s Choice
  27. 8
  28. The Dealers of Death
  29. 9
  30. The Dead
  31. 10
  32. La Vallée de Misère
  33. 11
  34. The Dead Lord
  35. 12
  36. Les Oubliettes
  37. 13
  38. The Miracle Court
  39. 14
  40. The Master’s Hand
  41. PART THREE
  42. The Bread Price
  43. 15
  44. The Fountain
  45. 16
  46. The Dead Trial
  47. 17
  48. The Pont Neuf
  49. 18
  50. Of Drownings
  51. 19
  52. The Dauphin of France
  53. 20
  54. Ettie’s Tale
  55. 21
  56. The Sisters
  57. 22
  58. The Mesmerist
  59. 23
  60. Les Diamants de la Couronne
  61. 24
  62. The Bread Price
  63. 25
  64. The Stripes of the Cat
  65. PART FOUR
  66. The Black Cat’s Hunting
  67. 1832
  68. 26
  69. The Société des Droits de l’Homme
  70. 27
  71. Gray Brother
  72. 28
  73. Master of Knives
  74. 29
  75. Of Paper and Rats
  76. 30
  77. What the Lords Said
  78. 31
  79. The Dead Lord’s Word
  80. 32
  81. She Who Was Lost
  82. 33
  83. The Ruined Flesh
  84. 34
  85. The Truth
  86. 35
  87. Inspector Javert
  88. 36
  89. A Little Fall of Rain
  90. 37
  91. The Courier
  92. 38
  93. The Tiger’s Lair
  94. 39
  95. The Black Cat’s Father
  96. 40
  97. The Death Song
  98. 41
  99. The End of the Tale
  100. Les milles remerciements—en ordre chronologique
  101. About the Publisher
Details and symbols of the nine guilds

THE LAW OF THE MIRACLE COURT

Now these are the laws of the Miracle Court,

as old and as true as the sky;

the Wretched that keep them may prosper,

but the Wretched that break them must die.

All the Wretched are equal before the Miracle Court; neither blood nor race, religion, rank, or name is recognized.

All the Wretched are free; slavery is forbidden in the Miracle Court.

The Lord or Lady of a Guild is its Father/Mother.

Their word is law to the Guild.

Keep to your Guild for protection and strength.

Let Guild leaders parley before risking the welfare of their Guild or the Miracle Court.

Physical attack on a member of another Guild is considered an act of war.

If your activities put the livelihood of the Miracle Court at risk, your Guild Lord will deal with you appropriately for the protection of the Court.

Children of the Miracle Court are protected by their Guild Lords first, and the Court second.

Daytime is the time of the Court’s enemies: Those Who Walk by Day, police, and nobility. Children of the Miracle Court work best at night.

You must have permission to enter other Guild Houses.

Commit crime for survival and prosperity and the benefit of the Guilds, but never for pleasure.

Each person may divide their spoils only after first sharing with their Guild Lord.

Don’t forget the weakest among you. The Guild must provide for all its children.

Keep the laws, or punishment will be swift and certain.

PART ONE

How Fear Came

1823

He heard a cry that had never been heard since the bad days … A hideous kind of shriek … A mixture of hate, triumph, fear, and despair … that rose and sank and wavered and quavered far away.

—The Jungle Book

THE FOUNDING OF THE MIRACLE COURT

FROM L’HISTOIRE DE PARIS, BY THE DEAD LORD

In 1160, Ysengrim the Boar was appointed grand prévôt. His commission was to keep order in the streets of Paris, which was a dark and lawless place. He led violent assaults on the city’s poorest spaces and its hives of beggars, thieves, and outcasts, killing or imprisoning all in his path. Those who survived the purges knew of no one who could be trusted, as Ysengrim’s men had a legion of spies alongside their corrupt officers.

To protect themselves, the city’s Wretched formed nine guilds: Thieves, Beggars, Assassins, Gamblers, Mercenaries, Smugglers, Prostitutes, Opium Eaters, and Men of Letters. The Lords of each guild sat together to form the Miracle Court, bound as brethren by laws that they had written.

Among the outcasts of the city were Lombards, Corsicans, Moors, Africans, Maghrebi, Mughal, Romani, Qing, Jews, Ottomans, Edo, alongside the leprous, the maimed, the sick, the elderly, and those accused of witchcraft. They were despised and rejected by prévôt, king, and country. But all were welcomed into the shelter of the Miracle Court, beneath whose roof all are equal and free.