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Chapter 1:- A Day in the Life of Marie Antoinette
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I watch as France falls. The enormous palace feels small and enclosed, like there is no space to breathe. I hug my two children tight to my breast, they sob quietly. I watch the savage French rampage the streets of the once beautiful Paris. My husband paces the marble paved floor.
‘Click, click, click.’ His heels tap against the floor, resonating through the empty halls. The sound plays at my tightly strung nerves. I weep silently into my children's hair.
“Your majesty!” two courtiers come scurrying towards us.
“We have news. We have arranged an escape for your majesty and his family.” Louis turns; his eyes alight with hope.
“Yes?” he urges the courtiers on.
“Prussia has agreed to help with your escape...,” the courtiers continue with the details, but I am not longer listening. What if we are caught? What will become of my family? What will become of me?
The days drag on. Finally when the night dawns we dress in black. My children whimper at my side, I shush them and tell them to be as silent as the grave. We creep our way through the palace and emerge out the door. We see the carriage awaiting us in the inky blackness of night. My heart pounds, every noise sounds like an approaching enemy, false shadows dart through the darkness, my blood pumps wildly though my veins. Will this plan succeed? We climb into the warm cabin of the carriage; the door shuts silently behind us. No lights are gleaming for us. To dangerous, we must be silent, we must be invisible. We feel the carriage begin to move beneath us, our eyes gleaming in the darkness. I can almost feel freedom on my tongue. Hope fills me. This is going to work! We shall escape and live under the protection of Prussia's royalty. A smile flits to my lips, we shall be free from this terror, be free from the countless deaths, the madness of power. We ride all night, flying past countless villages. I drift in and out of sleep, my children stare wide-eyed out the windows. Morning dawns and with it comes new hope, more excitement. We are nearly there! Freedom! We pass through a small village people look up as the carriage passes; we hide our faces from view. We are nearly at the border; we are nearly safe, nearly free. As we approach, we see lines of people blocking the road. My heart falls. We have failed. The people charge towards the carriage, shouting curses and insults. The doors are flung open and we are dragged violently out of the carriage. A group of men seize Louis and my children. I do not struggle, I know it is over, there is no hope left.
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“I was a queen, and you took away my crown;
a wife, and you killed my husband;
a mother, and you deprived me of my children.
My blood alone remains:
take it, but do not make me suffer long.”
-Marie Antoinette
I watch as France falls. The enormous palace feels small and enclosed, like there is no space to breathe. I hug my two children tight to my breast, they sob quietly. I watch the savage French rampage the streets of the once beautiful Paris. My husband paces the marble paved floor.
‘Click, click, click.’ His heels tap against the floor, resonating through the empty halls. The sound plays at my tightly strung nerves. I weep silently into my children's hair.
“Your majesty!” two courtiers come scurrying towards us.
“We have news. We have arranged an escape for your majesty and his family.” Louis turns; his eyes alight with hope.
“Yes?” he urges the courtiers on.
“Prussia has agreed to help with your escape...,” the courtiers continue with the details, but I am not longer listening. What if we are caught? What will become of my family? What will become of me?
The days drag on. Finally when the night dawns we dress in black. My children whimper at my side, I shush them and tell them to be as silent as the grave. We creep our way through the palace and emerge out the door. We see the carriage awaiting us in the inky blackness of night. My heart pounds, every noise sounds like an approaching enemy, false shadows dart through the darkness, my blood pumps wildly though my veins. Will this plan succeed? We climb into the warm cabin of the carriage; the door shuts silently behind us. No lights are gleaming for us. To dangerous, we must be silent, we must be invisible. We feel the carriage begin to move beneath us, our eyes gleaming in the darkness. I can almost feel freedom on my tongue. Hope fills me. This is going to work! We shall escape and live under the protection of Prussia's royalty. A smile flits to my lips, we shall be free from this terror, be free from the countless deaths, the madness of power. We ride all night, flying past countless villages. I drift in and out of sleep, my children stare wide-eyed out the windows. Morning dawns and with it comes new hope, more excitement. We are nearly there! Freedom! We pass through a small village people look up as the carriage passes; we hide our faces from view. We are nearly at the border; we are nearly safe, nearly free. As we approach, we see lines of people blocking the road. My heart falls. We have failed. The people charge towards the carriage, shouting curses and insults. The doors are flung open and we are dragged violently out of the carriage. A group of men seize Louis and my children. I do not struggle, I know it is over, there is no hope left.
