My Life As The Dauphin

Jour Des Damnés

I DO NOT OWN REIGN.

French Court, Kingdom of France. Later that day.

After securing Remy's membership in the Varden, I was summoned to the main hall where I was greeted with the sight of a disheveled Bash who looked like he had just gotten out of a fist fight.

"Bash, what the Hell happened to you?" I asked with concern.

"I'm back for the castle's resources, its armed men and horses, to seek out and destroy the Darkness in the woods." Bash explained as he reached for a goblet of wine to quench his thirst.

"What threat?" Mary asked as she came up on us.

"You've seen the sacrifices in the Blood Wood. These pagans endanger every man, woman and child in the realm." Bash answered as I took Mary's hand in mine. "They even tried to sacrifice you; and they do it all in service to a monster they call the Darkness.

"Bash..." Mary sighed as it was clear that she didn't really believe him.

"I know how it sounds, but there is a monster in the woods. I saw it, in the shadows, myself." Bash insisted desperately. "It took a girl, a girl I cared for. Her name was Rowan, and now she is certainly dead."

"I'm sorry brother." I said awkwardly as I had honestly forgot that Rowan existed. I can't remember every single detail immediately!

"This creature is the cause of all the horrors in those woods. If you want to protect your realm from these devils, you must kill the monster they serve." Bash cautioned me as Mary waited to see what answer I would give.

"I'm not sure if I believe in monsters...but I do believe in fear." I clarified with my hand in my sword hilt. "And whatever this Darkness is, the pagans fear it enough to terrorize and slaughter my people."

"Then let us kill it, once and for all." Bash declared with anger.

"I shall send for some guards to aid us." I said as I felt better about our chances of success in this altered timeline. Since Bash and I weren't at each other's throats, I wasn't worried about Henry trying to kill him; madness or not.

Blood wood near the castle. Later that day.

I had managed to convince Henry to send a armed group of guards with us and we set off to catch the Darkness. There was still a foot of snow on the ground; which limited how fast we could track. Bash led us to a meadow where he had last seen Rowan; because in this timeline Olivia was gone and Bash had discovered the tracks on his own.

"All right, let's split up men, the lair of the Darkness could be anywhere." I declared as i unsheathed my sword and began walking in the direction of the lake. I knew that I had to be careful not to touch the thin ice because I had no desire to experience an impromptu ice water bath. After a couple minutes of slow trudging, my ears were assaulted by the sound of clanging steel. I ran back and saw Bash being circled by our guards. They struck at him and he was trying desperately to fight them off.

"Francis, help me!" Bash cried out as he saw me run over to him. I struck at the guards and slew 2 of them. As I fought them, I saw that they weren't trying to hurt me, they were only after Bash. After 10 minutes of intense fighting, we stood victorious.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing, as soon as your back was turned, they drew their swords on me." Bash answered, out of breath.

"Henry commanded those guards to come with us, I think we need to have a talk with our father." I told Bash as the look of shock and betrayal on his face grew large as he caught on to what I was saying.