Hey new fanfic! First of all, it's a pain to think up all the names and stuff… Because well, they all have English names and it plays in France, so I came up with a couple solutions, some of them have a French counterpart like Maggie's full name can be Marguerite, Shawn becomes Jean etc. Annette was already a French name so that was easy. And others can be immigrants who came to France before the Revolution. Egh, I'm still working this whole thing out. Some of the street names and de Billancourt come from a book called The Guillotine by Simone van der Vlugt, which will be my reference for this.

Full summary: It's 1789 and the people of Paris are stirring up tension. The poor beg for food and start up insurrection in the streets of Paris. Bethany Marie de Billancourt grows up as nobility and has a good life. After an attack on their summer house in the end of July, Beth her life has been turned upside down at the hands of the revolution. Then in 1792, la Garde nationale storm into aristocrats houses and arrest the inhabitants. Her mother and brother got taken as her chambermaid Amy hides Beth in the closet under the staircase. Scared at the aftermath of the raiding, Beth is alone and scared. She ends up in the Rue des Francs-Bourgeuois and finds shelter in the house of the Family Grimes, who gives her a chance to rebuild her life. Soon enough, la Garde nationale hunts down all the aristocrats down to send them to the Guillotine and Rick calls in his good friend Daryl to smuggle the girl out of the country.

Chapter 1

Uprising in the Marais

Paris, June 1789

Bethany Marie de Billancourt sat in her carriage while her best friend and chambermaid Amélie talks excitedly towards her. She looks outside small window of the carriage and into Rue Faubourg St. Antoine in the Marais. It was a nice summer day at the end of June, the sun shone brightly down and the chatter of the people filled the streets.

Suddenly Amy gasps and tugs on her arm. "Oh no," she breathed. "An uprising!"

Beth looked out her window and looked back at the streets. At least a hundred people blocked the way of the carriage and unlike as usual, they didn't go out of the way. Worried, Beth stuck her head out of her window and ordered the coachman to turn around and go back to find another way, away from the uproar on the streets. The carriage turns around, slowly.

"Oh why can't he go faster," Amy frets, looking as she saw the peasants nearing the carriage.

"You know he can't turn around the carriage in one go, Amy," Beth bit her lip, she felt a nervous shiver run down her spine, she didn't dare to look the people in the eye.

"I know, mademoiselle," Amy sighs.

As the carriage fully turned around but halted again. "Oh dear, they are behind us as well!"

Once again, Beth gave orders to the coachman. They went into an alley, the street is narrow and how more they went into it, the narrower it became. The coachmen stopped the carriage, he could not go any further.

"What now?" fretted Amy as she looked through the back window, pushing the silk curtains open a little. "The yelling is getting louder."

Beth looks at her friend and bites her lip in concentration. "We have to go out, we have to walk back."

Amy's eyes widened. "Mademoiselle, that's dangerous! These people will tear at you like an animal!"

"Give me hand here, Amy." Beth quickly undressed herself to her underdress with the help of her friend and shook her hair loose from the tie, the blond locks fall over her shoulders and she pushed a ringlet of hair away from her forehead.

"Mademoiselle, you still don't look anything like them. Here," Amy pushed her dark cloak towards the transformed blonde. Beth took the cloak and placed it over her shoulder.

"Now come one," Amy grabbed her lady's hand tightly and led her through the alley back towards the large crowd.

It was chaotic, people begged for food. Oh, what are they thin! Beth thinks as she looked at a woman in front of her whose bones poked through under her skin. Beth swallowed the gasp that formed into her throat. A loud scream broke her thoughts and she and Amy looked at the carriage in the narrow alley, numerous gamins jumped on top the carriage.

A sudden push send her to the muddy floor, she was sure she scraped her knee through the fabric of her skirts. Hastily she pulled herself up before she got trampled and pushed a fallen lock of hair out her face, smearing the muddy substance on her forehead and nose.

Beth hastily tried to tighten her grip on Amy's hand, but the hand was missing! Where's Amy, she panicked. She felt another bony hand push her in the back making her fall over. This time she fell on her elbows and she groaned in pain. She opened her eyes and stared at the wild, dark eyes of a woman that lay in front of her. She reeked of onions and garlic, everyone did. Beth panicked as she saw the woman look at her with suspicion. The blonde scrambled back on her feet before the woman could do something.

"Hey!" she heard the woman call back to her

She was pushed and pulled back, people were wild but were too much caught up in their own actions to suspect her. Beth saw a white fabric on the floor and grabbed it before she could get trampled on by the large crowd. It was a small, dirty bonnet that women wore. Grimacing she put the bonnet on her head, nearly gagging at the stench that emitted from the filthy piece of cloth. She pulled it far over her head and tightened the cloak around her shoulders, looking down, scared of looking those crazy people in the eye.

"We want food!"

"Give us bread!"

Through the crowd she was pushed in front of a bakery. People were yelling. Young man with large stones in their hands pushed passed her and old dirt hags carried axes and long pointy stick in their fists. They were yelling and screaming all kinds of vulgar things. Beth wanted to cover her ears. She wanted to cover her eyes. The people were so scrawny! She wanted to curl down and cry. She wanted to go home!

"Keep on walkin', girl!" she felt another push on her back, sending her forward. She grasped the cloth of a man's back, tearing the fabric. But the man didn't seem to care, too much caught up with his won business. She pulled herself up and dropped the fabric she had clutched in her hand.

The sound of glass shattering broke her thoughts. People were throwing stone at the window of the bakery! Kids, elder woman, men, everyone! A woman with dirty, greasy hair that hung down in ratty strings gave her a suspicious look, her bushy, unkempt eyebrows shot up in confusion. With shaking fingers Beth grabbed a stone that lay in front of her feet and threw it at the bakery. She closed her eyes, not wanted to see where the stone landed.

When she opened her eyes she saw the people barge into the store, not caring that the cut open their skin on the broken glass. They took banquettes and more kinds of bread from the store and dragged heavy sacks of flour outside. People flung on the sacks, tearing the apart. The streets were showered in the white substance. She was two dirty woman fight over one sack, clawing at each other's eyes and face. In the corner of her eye she saw an elder man getting trampled on. Beth gasped at the horror that played in front of her. She saw kids and woman drop on the floor to collect the flour from the ground, not caring that there was dirt in it. Beth dropped shakily on the floor, following their lead to prevent raising suspicion. She collected as much as she could in her skirt and whipped her dirty hand on her face and cloak.

A little further in the street she saw people barging in a weapon store and steal the guns and swords. Screaming, they run through Rue Faubourg St. Antoine, coated in white of the flour and weapons in their hand. Then she heard galloping horses, a little away from them she saw the guardsmen of the king waiting for the mad people. The insurgents greet them with their screaming and a rain of stones. A shot rang through the air, loud over the people. A soldier fell from his horse, hit dead on. A panic spread through the people, soldier and the insurgents, who started retreating from the guardsmen. They pulled their sabres from their sheath and raised them in the air, storming towards the insurgents. A loud screech came from the crowd, who started to scramble away from the guardsmen, everyone tried to get away. Fighting and pressing they fall over each other. Beth falls on the floor with a thud and scrambled back on her feet, only to trip over the corpse of a woman. A little blood drenched the white of her skirt as she got back up on her feet.

She crossed the street and an arm wraps her waist, pulling her into an alley. The alley was clear, the people kept fighting on the street. She turned around to see Amy who worriedly embraced her lady and Beth let her, she needed to comfort.

"Oh mademoiselle! I was so worried!" Amy cried and pulled back from the blonde.

Beth looked up to see who pulled her into the alley. It was a tall man with dark, slightly greasy hair that stopped above his shoulders, he was dressed suitably, although the fabric had seen better days. She whispered a merci to him and he nodded in return, his dark blue eyes staring into hers with a distrustful spark.

"Oh mademoiselle, you are bleeding!"

"Not mine," Beth rasped out, finally finding her voice.

Relief flooded over the older girl's face. "Oh thank God!"

"I hate to interrupt, but we have to go," the man spoke in broken French as he looked at the entrance of the alley, people started to fall into it.

Amy nodded and followed the man and pulled Beth with her, who still was shocked at today's events. Pulling herself together she walked a little faster to catch up with Amy.

"Who is he?" she whispered to her chambermaid.

Amy smiled. "Daryl's a friend of mine. He's from the United States."

That explained his accent, Beth frowned, she already thought something like that as she remembers her father's accent back when she was a child. They walked through the dark alleys, the sun hadn't gone down yet, but didn't provide the narrow space any of its last rays. Amy started talking to her, but Beth droned her out. She was so tired! Suddenly she spotted a figure laying on the ground.

"Wait," she called out and frowned as she walked towards the figure. She heard Amy hum and Daryl's heavy footsteps stopped.

She heard Amy's small feet walk over to her. "Mademoiselle, what are you doing?" she grasped Beth her arms who startled by the hand almost tripped over her feet.

"There is someone laying there," she huffed out.

Amy let out a louder gasp. "It's a little girl!"

The child's sleeve was drenched in red and her leg was laying limp near her in a weird angle. When Beth touched the leg gently, the little girl cried out in pain and started sobbing.

"I know her," she heard Amy whisper to herself.

Daryl too had walked over to the girls and knelt down to the little girl that lay on the floor. With gentle care he lifted the small child in his arms. She looked so tiny in the large man's arms, Beth noted. Amy pulled herself up from the ground and shushed the little girl.

"Judith, they won't hurt you," she heard the man speak to the child, his voice soft and gentle. A different tone than when he spoke to her, which was a little hostile as well.

"Judith?" Amy frowned. "Judith Grimes?"

The little girl nodded and sobbed, crying for her mother. She lay limply in Daryl's arms as the man spoke gentle words to the child, trying to calm her down.

Beth stared at the poor child, her heart ached to help. "Where does she live?" she asked.

"Rue Bourgeois," Daryl answered and started walking in big steps through the alley.

"Where's that?" Beth whispered to Amy.

"Close by," Amy sounded calm.

At the end of the alley, the light of a lantern was a blessing. They hurried through the streets and stopped in front of a little shop and Amy hastily knocked on the wooden door with her fist. Fast footsteps from inside hurried towards the door. "Who's there?"

"Daryl," he hoisted Judith up into a better position. "Open the door, Lori! I got Judy, she's hurt."

A loud cry from inside was heard as the woman opened the door.

"Oh Judy!" she grasped the little girl from Daryl's arms and cried into the girl's light brown hair. The dark haired woman looked up and saw the blond girls standing behind the large posture of Daryl. She looked at them in confusion.

"Bonsior, Lori," Amy greeted with a tiny trace of a smile.

"Amélie!"

Amy nodded. "We found Judith. This is mademoiselle de Billancourt."

Lori her eyes widened and tried to bow a little with her daughter in her arms. Beth feels a little out of place now and gives Lori a reassuring smile. Behind Lori a man with a light stubble appeared. He, too, looked at Amy and Daryl with surprise in his eyes.

"Amélie and Daryl found Judith, Rick," she tells her husband. "And… eh…. mademoiselle de Brancourt as well."

"De Billancourt," corrected Amy with a smile.

"Oh…"

"It's okay," Beth brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm glad we found you're daughter, I hope she isn't too much hurt."

"Merci, for finding her" Rick thanked as he gave a curt bow towards the noble. Beth nodded in return.

Lori walked further into the little house and beckoned them to follow her. "Please, come in."

Beth followed Amy silently. She felt unwelcome and unwanted. They stopped into the small living room joined by a smaller kitchen. Lori placed the small girl onto a battered sofa, one that has seen better days. The little girl cried to her mother, begging her to make the pain stop. Beth bit her lip as she looked at the unfortunate child.

Lori offered Beth one of the worn fauteuil that stood next to the hearth. Beth sat down, straight up and proper. Oh she was so tired, she looked at Amy who was helping the mother who dressed the little girl's wound on her shoulder. Poor thing lost too much blood, she thinks sombrely. Rick and Daryl stood in the entrance of the living room talking to each other. They spoke in English, both of them fluently. She understood them, her father thought her the language as well. She heard Daryl tell what happened in Rue Faubourg St. Antoine and in the corners of her eyes she saw Rick's face pale into a white shade.

Then the wooden front door opened with a creak and closed with a bang and a boy, no older than twelve entered the full living room. He looked confused at his mother who fretted over the child on the sofa. Then his eyes widened. "Judy!" He ran towards the little girl and plopped down next to his mother.

"What happened, Judy?"

"People were mad and fought," the child sobbed. "There were men on horses with swords, suddenly my arm hurt a lot and I fell."

Tears run down the girl's face and hysterically sobbed in her mother's chest, telling that a horse stepped on her leg and everything hurt so much. She couldn't walk, so she crawled towards the alley Beth found her.

"Wait, mademoiselle de Billancourt found her?" Lori asked, turning towards the young woman that sat awkwardly in the fauteuil.

"Oui, Madam," Amy piped up with a huge smile on her face. "She spotted Judith in the dark!"

Lori looked at Daryl, who gave her a blunt nod in return, confirming what Amy told her. She looked at Beth and smiled. "Merci beaucoup."

A couple moments later, Lori managed to calm down Judith and placed a small blanket over the little girl. She turned around to her husband. "She needs a doctor."

Rick nodded. "I'll try to find one."

"That's going to be hard, everyone needs a doctor at the moment," Daryl grunted in frustration.

"Judith needs one!" the boy piped up from his spot. "I'll help looking!"

"I'll search for one too," Daryl spoke. "But I have to escort mademoiselle de Billancourt and Amélie home first."

Lori looked at the tall man next to her husband and smiled gratefully while she stroked Judith's thin light ash brown hair. The little girl fell asleep, she had passed out after losing too much blood.

Rick guided them back from the door and bowed slightly as they left. Daryl guided them with Amy's instructions towards Rue de Varenne, where the residence of de Billancourt was located.

"How old is Judith?" Beth dared to ask, she wanted to know.

"Five," muttered Daryl when Amy didn't answer.

"What was she doing out there in the Marais?" Beth asked herself.

"Probably playing with her friends," reassured Amy who grasped Beth her hand in comfort.

They kept walking and it's now darkness swept completely over the sleeping city. It must be very late, Beth guessed. Oh mama and papa must be so worried. Beth hitched a breath to prevent sobbing. Fatigue and her sore muscles stressed her out. Amy halted Daryl, telling they were home. Daryl nodded and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Beth called out and Daryl froze at her words but obeyed her, she was nobility after all. "Give me a minute."

Beth hurried inside to face her parents. Despite her own situation she was ready to ask her father if he could tend the poor little girl on Rue des Francs-Bourgeois.

I wasn't going to include Daryl until around a couple chapter later but I wanted him to meet Beth already. Originally I was going to introduce him in 1792, three years after this chapter.

Uhm, for Beth her last name not being Greene has a reason, Hershel is an immigrant from Ireland who married Annette and to keep it sophisticated Annette her parents insisted in using de Billancourt as surname instead of Greene. Eh, doesn't make much sense, but it works.

Thank you so much for reading! Tell me what you think, I would love to hear your thoughts about it.