Frankenstein's Legions (51 page)
He had them then—just as soon he would have many, many more. A whole dead
Grande Armée
’s worth. Wild cheering scattered wild animals in the forest for miles around.
Wearied, Napoleon slumped back onto his folding seat, but he was smiling. As was—almost—all his army.
The exceptions to that were Napoleon’s children. They were glad but did not exult. It was not in their nature.
The neither living nor dead Imperial offspring looked upon the (possibly
their
) world with fresh hope. And fresh hunger.
One day all this might be theirs.
THE END
John Whitbourn has had nine novels published in the UK, USA and Russia after winning the BBC & Victor Gollancz First Fantasy Novel prize with
A Dangerous Energy
in 1991.
Most recently, his published novels include the
Downs-Lord
trilogy concerning the establishment of empire in an alternative, monster-ridden England. Whitbourn's works have received favourable reviews in
The Times
,
Telegraph
, and
Guardian
, among others. A complete collection of his acclaimed
Binscombe Tales
series is forthcoming from The Spark Furnace in autumn 2011, in both print and ebook editions.
A former archaeologist and British civil servant, he lives in South East England.
Published 2011 by Fabled Lands Publishing, an imprint of Fabled Lands LLP
Copyright © 2011 John Whitbourn
The right of John Whitbourn to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the United Kingdom Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This is a work of fiction, and any supposed resemblance to persons living, dead or in-between is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy, adaptation or transmission of this work may be made in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Any person who violates the Copyright Act in regard to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.