Chapter Text
Paris, 1835.
After days upon days spent on the road the crowded stagecoach was drawing close to its destination. A young man - more of a boy, really - pressed into one of the corners, anxiously peered out of the window.
A half an hour more, and he would be tossed out into the wild unknown, cut from everything and everyone he cared about. His father encouraged him to think of it as an adventure. Then again, his father was a cheerful, popular man, well-loved among his old friends and quick to make new ones. The boy was not.
His agitation mounted with each rattling mile. Finally, inevitably, the coach jerked to a halt and the boy was swept out of it on a tidal wave of passengers. Shakily he gathered his belongings and fished out an address from his pocket.
With one last heavy sigh René Giraud stepped out onto the crowded streets of Paris.