Raphael had followed one corridor after the next to get to a back exit of the Bastille. It wasn't difficult to find, as this passage was rarely guarded. Except today. A guard seemed to have lost his way down the aisle and saw him about to carry a prisoner out. This was of course suspicious and the guard rushed towards him. Raphael had no choice but to depose the woman he was carrying through the Bastille in pain. They were so close to their goal. The ever-increasing draft that came towards them betrayed it. After setting her down, he drew his sword. Raphael actually wanted to leave the Bastille without causing a stir, but he could forget that now. The guard charged at him and crossed swords with him. After they dealt a few smacks, the guard seemed to recognize him: "Raphael?" the guard asked.

"Christophe?" asked Raphael, lowering his sword.

"What are you doing here?" asked Christophe.

"This woman is in pain. She needs a doctor and not a prison," said Raphael, pointing miserably at the heap crouching against the wall behind him, writhing in pain. Christophe stepped closer to her and recognized her serious condition.

"Hurry up!" Christophe then whispered, "I won't report it."

Raphael nodded gratefully to Christophe. When he was still in the Royal Guard, Christophe had been his best friend and drinking buddies. They had experienced a lot together until Raphael turned away from his duties and became a mercenary. He picked up the poor woman again, she wasn't exactly a featherweight, and rushed her out of the Bastille while Christophe tried to explain the brief commotion to his colleagues by saying that a dog had gotten lost in the Bastille from outside.

When Raphael stepped outside, he noticed that Christophe had kept his word, because no one followed him. He disappeared into the dark streets of Paris and first brought her to the inn where he spent the night. It was in an almost even darker alley that didn't yet have a name because Paris was constantly being rebuilt. The city grew faster than one could find names for all the streets and alleys. The inn was called: Maison de Lune. It was a well-kept inn in this alley where one would expect a nasty dive bar. Raphael carried the freed breathless up the stairs to his room. There he laid her on his bed. It was only when he did so that he noticed that his left arm was covered in blood. The blood seemed to come from her abdomen. When Raphael saw this, he rushed to the landlady and asked for help. In the Middle Ages, men had nothing to do with pregnant women. They did get her pregnant, but then she was often ignored for 9 months or treated as if she were not pregnant. Until the child was born and weaned so that the men could sire more heirs.

The landlady followed Raphael to his room and already saw the presents, because a bloodstain had already formed under the woman's body. She asked the mercenary to get the doctor who lived 2 blocks away. While the landlady was already making preparations. She boiled water and put some willow bark in it. The remedy has been tried and tested for pain since ancient times.

She handed the brew to the woman, who swallowed it reluctantly.

"Everything will be fine my dear.", said the landlady and did her best to calm the suffering woman.

Half an hour later the doctor came and after the woman confirmed that she was pregnant, the doctor realized that a birth was in progress here. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't end well...

I gasped and groaned in pain. They got worse and worse... how I hoped now that Quasimodo would be with me. I was scared of being in the hands of all these unknown people. When the doctor came I was at the end of my strength and lost consciousness.

When I woke up later, I was lying on the bed in my new clothes, and the mercenary was sitting on a chair by the bed. He must have fallen asleep there. I tried to get up but I was too weak. I looked around the room and then my thought slid to my child for the first time. I put my hand on my stomach.

"Hello, are you still there?" I said, although I knew I probably wouldn't get an answer. My voice seemed to have woken the mercenary and he looked at me, then hung his head.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," said the mercenary. "I'm probably to blame for all of this. If I hadn't accepted this assignment from that mad monk..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The doctor said all the excitement was too much for you and the child.", Raphael said and remembered the past scenes with horror. Poor thing in her blood, moaning, panting, then she fainted and the doctor decided to use various, sometimes eerie, tools to remove the child.

I sat and stared at Raphael in shock. Suddenly I realized what had happened. I had lost our child. Of course, I was aware that infant mortality was very high in the Middle Ages and that I would not be spared. But I was so hoping it wouldn't happen because I was from the future. I was sturdier and well fed, unlike most women of this age. Reality then hit me like a slap. Tears welled up in my face.

"No... Quasimodo... I thought... he could finally be happy now..." I said and sobbed. Raphael sighed and rose from his chair. He sat down next to me on the bed and took my hand: "I am also partly to blame for your fate. Therefore, allow me to serve you until I have paid my debt.",I looked at Raphael in silence for a long time, until I let my head fall on his shoulder: "Thank you." I found it difficult to get out because the pain was still too great.