Born into the lap of luxury and a time of turmoil, Duchesse Eleonore Vigneron experiences her coming of age in the Court of Louis XVI . Embroiled in the chaos that surrounds Versailles, Eleni uses her unique blend of wit, charm, and beauty to ensure...
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"But hers was a strange heart, sad in its very nature, and she could never weep and ease it as other women do, for her tears never brought her comfort." -- Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth
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Keegan Draesia was an odd young man, almost as odd as his name implied. Like so many in Aubrey Parish, he had been born there and didn't know much about life outside of the small town aside from what he'd seen on the TV. While some young people from Aubrey decided to head for the big city, college, or the military as soon as they turned eighteen, Keegan Draesia had absolutely no desire to leave.
What he wanted, more than anything, was to become a chef.
It was a dream that was evident at a relatively early age. Keegan was always a thin, spindly sort of boy, pale, and relatively unskilled at athletics. He was the kind of kid who preferred the company of a few friends doing the things he enjoyed the most, rather than hanging out and pretending to have spirit for whatever the majority of kids his age were into.
Keegan's family wasn't a wealthy one by any means, but they weren't poor and struggling to put food on the table like the families of so many of his classmates. They lived in a nice house not far from the library, not out towards the forest and the swamplands where land was plentiful and shacks were cheap and multiplied. Some didn't even have so much as electricity or running water. Keegan could always tell the kids who lived in those houses. They came to school with dirt on their faces and dried brown mud caked on the bottom of worn boots. He felt sorry for them, but didn't know what to do to make it better.
Mia and Ambrose Draesia were good parents, the kind where one was always home so Keegan didn't have too many hours unattended. Mia was a stay-at-home mom; aside from Keegan, she had 3 boys and two girls to keep an eye on. The television was often on in the kitchen behind the constant hum of activity, and it was the cooking shows that caught his eye. Keegan would methodically copy down the recipes, some using exotic ingredients hard to get in a small town in Louisiana. He didn't mind. One day, he promised himself, he'd have a beautiful kitchen with rare and special ingredients and a woman like his mother who enjoyed keeping an immaculate home that the neighbours envied.
