"Commander?"
Oscar looked up from her files.
"Yes, what's up?"
Alain had stepped into her barracks office.
"Commander, have you heard that the king has again ordered a foreign Flemish regiment to Versailles, whose officers crushed the blue-white-red cockade under their boots at a royal banquet on October 1st."
"What?"
Oscar dropped his pen in shock.
"Your Majesty, how can you deal with the feelings of the people like that?"
"How do you know that, Alain?"
"Bernard just told me."
He eyed his captain with concern.
'She still seems to have a lot of feelings for the royal family. I think she was genuinely shocked by the king's act. And yet she fights for the people with such devotion. How does she have to suffer from the situation? "'
Louis XVI , whose signature was needed so that the decrees of the National Assembly could come into effect, asserted all sorts of legal reservations and tried to get as strong a veto position as possible in the future constitution in return for his approval.The events of the Flemish regiment became known in Paris and fueled an atmosphere that was already charged with persistently high bread prices and insufficient supplies.
Alain put a newspaper on Oscar's table.
"Jean Paul Maurat, you know, who founded his newspaper" Der Volksfreund "in September 1789, works with others to keep Parisians up to date."
Oscar pushed her aside.
"Yes, but with his warnings about the" conspiracy of the aristocrats "against the people, he keeps the citizens in a bad revolutionary tension.
Sighing, she got up and went to the door.
"Come on, Alain, we have a mission."

As the National Guard troops rode through Paris three days later, Oscar's company passed Bernard and Rosalie's house. Rosalie saw her through the window and stormed out.
"Oscar, wait!"
This reined in their mold.
"Rosalie! We haven't seen each other in a long time."
Oscar's joy made Rosalie happy.'It is even more beautiful than it used to be in the guards regiment. She fights body and soul for her conviction. Oh, how pretty she looks in that uniform. '
"Oscar, have you heard that the women of Paris are gathering in front of the town hall. There are supposed to be hundreds. They want to move to Paris and emphasize their demands for gender equality and bread and other food locally."
"How, Her Majesty, I hope you won't do anything to her ..."
Oscar turned her horse.
"Men, we're going to ride to Versailles and make sure everything stays calm. There's no shooting. I don't want anyone to be hurt. Not even the royal family."
At that moment Bernard and André came over.
"What do I hear? The National Guard commander rushes to the Queen's aid?"
Desperate Oscar looked at Bernard.
"You know that in spite of everything, I was always loyal to her."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I just want to prevent something bad from happening."Bernard turned to André.
"So we will also accompany you."
André nodded.
The women left Paris to the ringing of the storm bells; They were later followed by 15,000 national guardsmen and two representatives of the city administration with the task of bringing the king to Paris.
Louis XVI received the women from the balcony.
"Dear citizens of Paris! I, the King of France and my wife Marie-Antoinette promise you food deliveries in the following days. Please be patient! I will arrange everything!"
Suddenly a bodyguard came to the king and whispered something in his ear. Then he held out a document, which the king read through.
"As a token of my commitment and as proof of my credibility, I am signing the decrees of the National Assembly. Here in front of the people and my bodyguard."
Oscar stood apart from the crowd and watched Marie-Antoinette.
"Just look André. Although she has lost to the people and is only fighting for her bare survival, she exudes a dignity and grace that still casts me under its spell."André had to agree with her.
The queen had not lost any of her beauty.
The situation seemed to be easing.
Oscar rounded up their soldiers.
"Well, I think it will remain calm here. Companies two and three can return to Paris. However, company one, under my leadership, would like to remain here until the women leave Versailles."
Girodelle took command of the retreating companies.
"We'll meet tomorrow at twelve at the parade ground of the barracks."
The men of the two other companies rode off while Oscar told the rest of the soldiers to dismount.
"Make yourself comfortable. Keep the reins in hand, keep an eye on the women and find a place in the sun."
Surprised by the generosity of the service, the men hesitated.
But their commander did the same and sat near a gate.
So the soldiers followed suit.
"Hopefully it won't be long here and we can go back as well."Alain leaned against a tree next to Oscar.
She nodded and let the sun shine on her face.
But contrary to what was expected, the women stayed overnight, guarding the castle and also attacking the National Assembly with their demands for bread and heckling.
Oscar finally fell asleep exhausted and only woke up from a commotion that had ensued.
"Commander! The women ...! They are advancing into the castle!"
Oscar was instantly wide awake.
"Shit, I slept soundly and didn't notice anything."
She turned to Alain angrily.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
The latter raised his hands apologetically.
"You were so exhausted yesterday and I was worried that you would need more rest than the rest of us after your serious injury."
He pointed to the soldiers.
"We kept watch until the women tried to storm the castle at that moment."
Oscar gave in.
"You were right. I'm not fully operational yet.I thank you for your courtesy and your consideration towards me. "
Oscar looked at the castle.
"We have no choice but to wait for the crowd to come out again."
Alain was surprised.
"Don't you want to intervene and prevent the women from getting into the castle?"
Oscar shook his head.
"No, I am no longer in Her Majesty's service. She has her own bodyguard to protect her. I fight on the side of the people. And as long as everything remains peaceful, I see no reason to intervene."
She turned to the soldiers.
"However, I want you to ride through the crowd and be present. There is no shooting. Just make sure that everything stays calm."
"Your Majesty! The women are invading the castle!"
Marie-Antoinette's ladies-in-waiting were in an uproar.
"Please you must flee!"
The queen stood by the window and looked out.
"No, I'm staying. I will not flee. My mother said suddenly that a queen does not flee from her people.""But your Majesty ...!"
The ladies-in-waiting fled. Madame de Jarjaye was also among them.
But Marie-Antoinette stayed.
'National Guard troops ... Is Oscar among them? She is supposed to be the new commanding officer. '
She closed her eyes sadly.
Memories of wonderful times with the former commander of the royal guard regiment crossed her mind.
'Will she come and protect me?'
Tears ran down her cheeks.
'No, she's fighting me now.'
"Oscar will never protect me again."
Weeping she sank on her knees.
The women penetrated the Palace of Versailles and, together with city officials and national guardsmen, forced the king to conclude that he would move to Paris. The National Assembly followed suit. "In the early afternoon the endless procession made its noisy way to Paris. Units of the National Guard marched in the lead; each bayonet had a loaf of bread. Then the women followed, armed with pikes and rifles or swinging poplar branches; they accompanied the grain wagons and the cannons.Behind the disarmed royal soldiers with the tricolor cockades of the Life Guard, the Flemish Regiment and the Swiss Guard, the body with the royal family rolled slowly like a hearse. This was followed by the deputies' wagons. The end of the day was formed by the huge crowd with the main body of the National Guard. As if the symbolic power of this train was not yet clear enough, the people shouted: 'We are bringing the baker, the baker's wife and the baker's boy! 'The monarch and the National Assembly would henceforth be exposed to popular pressures in the Paris capital.