The Death of Joan of Arc Read online

  In the last moments before unconsciousness claimed him, he watched Joan of Arc and the red-haired warrior escape on the black horse.

  Joan of Arc escaped—but that is the story you have never heard.

  History records that Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, died in Rouen on that last day of May in the Year of Our Lord 1431.

  A girl died that day, but it was not Joan.

  Sick with pain, I watched as a girl who bore but the slightest resemblance to the Maid of Orléans was dragged out of the dungeons and hauled to the place of execution. Knights moved through the crowd, warning the people that if they spoke about what had just happened, they would be condemned as heretics and suffer the same fate.

  I could not bear to stand and watch an innocent girl die. I walked away from Rouen, abandoning everything I owned, and began the long journey back to England. After that day I never fought in another war. My left arm withered and I was never able to hold a bow again.

  I have often wondered what happened to the Maid of Orléans and Scathach, the red-haired, green-eyed warrior who rescued her. Where had they gone? Had Joan survived the wound I gave her? I hoped she had. And what of Scathach? Did she still live? I was guessing she did: I imagined that killing her would be almost impossible.

  —from the Last Will and Testament of William of York,

  This day, the 13th day of October 1481

  Look for the books that inspired “The Death of Joan of Arc.”

  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series includes:

  The Alchemyst

  The Magician

  The Sorceress

  The Necromancer

  All available from Delacorte Press

  An authority on mythology and folklore, Michael Scott is one of Ireland’s most successful authors. A master of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and folklore, he has been hailed by the Irish Times as “the King of Fantasy in these isles.” “The Death of Joan of Arc” is the first short story based on Scott’s bestselling series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Look for book one, The Alchemyst; book two, The Magician; book three, The Sorceress; and book four, The Necromancer, all available from Delacorte Press.

  You can visit Michael Scott at dillonscott.com .

  This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2010 by Michael Scott

  Cover art © 2010 by Michael Wagner. Design by Delacorte Press.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

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  eISBN: 978-0-375-89992-8

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  v3.0

  a cognizant original v5 release october 26 2010