Justice - Hogan, Marcus

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Résumé :

Before Romeo met Juliet, their families met in Verona. It wasn't love at first sight.

Welcome to the CAPULET series - a sprawling six-part prequel - an epic tale of ambition, passion, sacrifice and the brutal cost of revenge. Long before the tale of tragic love that defined a generation, the Capulet name was forged in the powder keg of 1434 France. Their ancestral saga is not merely a romance, but a high-stakes chronicle of loyalty, heroism, seductions and betrayals that will launch a blood-soaked feud that consumes more than one generation. Two children in Lyon, Armand de Capulet and Ilaria Marchand, are promised at birth. But in a world of shifting power, their union becomes the flashpoint for a conflict that will force them to abandon innocence for the cold, calculated necessities of survival.

Their story is told through the eyes of Marcel Poquelin, a sharp-tongued roguish musician who finds himself the unlikely chronicler of their remarkable rise. Through Marcel's irreverent lens-whose favored exclamations are Cupid's Balls! and Bite my bare ass!-you'll witness the sometimes elegant, sometimes bawdy, yet often dangerous climb of two innocents, learning to navigate a ruthless elite world of excess. But as the Capulets rise, that world darkens. From the war-torn citadels of France to the hidden, hedonistic depths of Italy, Armand and Ilaria are drawn into a volatile web of faction rivalry, dooming curses and religious fanaticism. And the moment they enter the walls of fair Verona, the might of two mercenary houses (Montecchi and Paris) await them. Both bristle with arrogance, appetites for power and pleasure, and a contempt for any but those of their factions. Both will stop at nothing to have their way in everything. Both see the na?ve, newlywed Capulets as easy prey.

Yet, Armand and Ilaria's greatest enemy may be fate itself. Gifted with terrifying, accurate premonitions, Ilaria finds herself guided along their path by a succession of mystics, offering windows and warnings to what lies ahead. Every vision is heeded, every disaster confronted - until the warning of a final, catastrophic vision becomes lost in a swirl of erupting events. As the series evolves, from the vibrant ambitions of their youth, into the haunting sacrifices of their adulthood together, Ilaria and Armand (with their irreverent shadow Marcel) must confront a brutal truth which emerges: the harder they fight to change their future, the tighter the grip of destiny becomes.

CAPULET is the genesis of a time-honored tale told for the modern reader: elegant and poetic at times but also filled with grit and humour, through encounters that are often raw, provocative and relentlessly human. 1 fated pair. 3 mighty factions. 1 burning question: How did Romeo and Juliet's families come to be at each other's throats? But who among them will pay the ultimate sacrifice to make it so? As the seductions mount and body counts rise, every dark question is answered.

Book 3 - Justice. Armand & Ilaria de Capulet are completing a marriage tour and arrived outside Verona to greet Armand's sister Aurelie and her husband. But before arriving at their estate, taken completely by surprise, the Capulets clashed with Aurelie's closest neighbors, Onorato and Esmeralda Montecchi, known to all as the primo don and donna of Verona's most powerful faction. Before sunset on that first day, Onorato issued a challenge to Armand to meet him in a duel to the death. At the start of this installment Armand rises before dawn to depart in the darkness with a grim entourage to meet his fate. It will be the first time a Capulet enters the gates of Verona and the conditions of his entry are clear. Once ...

Sommaire:

The epic series prequel to Romeo & Juliet continues. Two houses will clash. One patriarch will fall.

The year is 1451. French newlyweds Armand & Ilaria de Capulet (recently announced young leaders of their powerful faction in Lyon) are completing a marriage tour and arrived in the outskirts of Verona to finally greet his sister Aurelie and her husband Sabatino Cortellani. But before arriving at their sprawling estate in the northern hills, taken completely by surprise, Armand and Ilaria clashed with the Cortellani's closest neighbor. His name is Onorato Montecchi (Romeo's uncle), a mercenary warlord known as the Black Wolf of Verona. And with his fiery wife Esmeralda, both are known to all as the primo Don and prima Donna of the citadel's most powerful faction.

Before sunset on that first day, Onorato's brother (Romeo's father) arrived at the Cortellani estate to issue a challenge to Armand to meet the Black Wolf in a winner-takes-all, duel to the death. With no chance to avoid it, the young French Chevalier accepted the challenge, nominating to meet at sunrise the next day in Verona's ancient arena. Book 3 in our gripping series opens upon that fateful morning.

Armand departs in the pre-dawn darkness with a grim entourage to meet his fate. It will be the first time he enters through the gates of Verona and the terms of his engagement seem clear. Once the combat begins, no quarter may be asked, none will be given. The grim appointment must leave just one of two alive. The premiere Sieur of Capulet will face the primo Don of Montecchi and the lives of all in both factions will be altered forever. Within just one chapter a result is revealed. Yet what follows the encounter unleashes a riot as bedlam greets chaos on the streets of Verona. The clash between the factions expands as screams for vengeance and cries for justice ring out through the citadel.