Lafayette reaches his home, brushing some soil off his uniform and putting his weapons away before entering the house, where a pleasantly warm and delicious aroma greets him.
He hasn't been inside even a moment when he hears a pair of running feet and a soft body collides with him.
"Ah, mon fils!" Lafayette laughs happily, picking up his son.
His wife comes out of the kitchen, and he kisses her, to the mock disgust of his son.
Lafayette smiles. He hopes that he can have this forever.
X
Lafayette smiles as he returns home. He cannot wait to see his wife and son.
However, upon opening the door, he sees the most horrifying sight that he has ever seen.
His son is bleeding and lying on the floor, his chest is no longer rising and falling.
His wife is being bent over the table with a knife at her throat by a figure clad entirely in black.
As he lurches forward, the figure stabs his wife. Her eyes widen, and then she falls back lifelessly.
Anger courses through his body. It feels like he loses control of himself.
Before he can think, he has grabbed the cloaked figure by the neck, pulling it backwards.
As he does, the dagger that the figure used to stab his wife falls out of the person's hand.
Grasping for a weapon, Lafayette grabs the dagger without thinking and forces it into the taut skin of the figure.
The figure makes no sound at all when the dagger punctures its skin.
Calming down slightly, Lafayette drops the body. Before the figure closes its eyes forever, it murmurs one phrase.
"At long last. Good luck." And then the light drains out of its eyes.
Lafayette stands up and rushes over to his wife and son. It quickly becomes clear that nothing can be done to save either of them.
Heartbroken, Lafayette's attention returns to that last phrase. What does "at last" mean?
Lafayette washes the dagger under the tap outside.
He pulls the bodies out of the house to bury them, wanting them to have a proper funeral.
After he has put the soil back over his wife and son, Lafayette decides that he might as well bury the cloaked figure.
As he lowers the body into the ground, a sudden giddy sensation takes over his body and Lafayette falls over in distress at the pain. He feels very bleary, and suddenly he is vomiting desperately, and then the nausea simply disappears as though it was never there.
Concerned and confused, Lafayette finishes burying the body and goes inside to clean up.
He tucks the dagger into his jacket, unease settling in his stomach.
X
Lafayette bolts up straight, thinking that he heard a noise in the parlor of his home.
He lies back down, trying to fall asleep again.
"Ah, damn it!" A voice with a pronounced southern drawl curses quietly.
Lafayette sits up again, now absolutely certain that there is someone in the parlor.
He gets up, grabbing the lampshade from the lamp on his bedside table before carefully opening the door.
As he gets to the parlor, he sees the front door open and a soft cloak flitters around the corner before disappearing from sight. The color of the cloak is difficult to tell given the lack of light present.
He looks around the room, nothing seems disturbed, not that he would necessarily mind if it was. He turns to go back to his room when his eyes alight on the case where he usually keeps the dagger. It is gone.
Lafayette looks around in panic. The edges of his vision blur slightly as he turns around and around in increasing franticness.
Before he knows it, he has collapsed onto the floor and the room fades into darkness.
X
Lafayette didn't understand when it happened the first time.
He didn't choose to go and kill that woman. It was like his limbs were taken over by an outside force.
The lady had been extremely confused because the entire time that Lafayette was tying her into a noose, he was apologizing profusely as though he had no clue why he was making preparations to murder her. And he didn't.
It is the second time, likely because Thomas is within sight, that Lafayette understands the circumstances of the Dark One and being the keeper of the dagger.
He almost regrets killing the previous Dark One in his anger, but then he remembers his beautiful wife and son and decides that he does not regret anything.
X
"Sir! We need your help!" The knight raps insistently on the door.
Lafayette glances cursorily at the clock on his bedside table. It is five in the morning.
Sighing, he pulls his dressing gown around himself and climbs out of bed.
"What?" He asks impatiently.
"Ogres are attacking the Enchanted Forest! All of our soldiers are down! We need your help."
Lafayette rubs the sleep out of his eyes.
"Tell Jefferson I want to negotiate." He says sternly.
The knight salutes respectfully and rushes back down the path to his horse.
X
Within a couple of hours, Lafayette is seated in front of Jefferson. It is an extremely tense meeting, as neither knows who has the upper hand. Lafayette has incredible power, but Thomas holds the dagger.
"I need help." Jefferson says desperately. "I don't particularly want to use the dagger. Is there anything I can offer you?"
Lafayette thinks it over carefully. "The princess of the kingdom."
Thomas raises his eyebrows in question. "What about her?"
"I will save your kingdom if Princess Adrienne agrees to be my servant forever." Lafayette announces.
"Ah. Fetch her, guards." Thomas instructs the soldiers standing behind him. They disappear for a moment and then return quickly, escorting the princess.
Her eyes land on him.
"You are to be my servant for however long I determine." Lafayette instructs.
For a reason that he learns later, Adrienne consents to this arrangement.
X
"Ah, mon amour…." Lafayette endears Adrienne, who is lying next to him. "Je t'aime."
"Je t'aime." Adrienne replies, giving him a kiss.
Lafayette sighs contentedly. Over the past several years, he and Adrienne have fallen deeper and deeper in love with one another. She completes him.
X
Lafayette thought his life was complete. Thomas controlled the Enchanted Forest and now Washington Heights, he must be content, right?
Wrong.
"Lafayette, I command you to scout the town for anyone looking suspicious." Thomas randomly orders one day.
"No. Why would I do that?" Lafayette asks.
Thomas must be in an extremely poor mood to begin with, because he then commands, without warning, "Guards, lock up Princess Adrienne."
"No!" Lafayette exclaims. "Why?"
Thomas shrugs nonchalantly. "You did not obey."
Lafayette wisely keeps his emotions under control, lest he get Adrienne in further trouble.
Lafayette visits Adrienne in prison every week. The first few times, the guards report it to Thomas, but they eventually become lazy and Lafayette gathers that his actions are no longer being reported directly to Thomas Jefferson.
Nonetheless, Lafayette keeps himself aware of any newcomers to the town or any circumstance that might lead to the release of Adrienne and her return to him.
When he hears of one Alexander Hamilton, who is allegedly "the savior," the opportunity seems perfect.
Alexander is almost too guarded on their first meeting, except when he recognizes his parents. So instead, Lafayette turns his sights on his friendlier, if slightly temperamental, husband John Laurens.
Let the challenge begin.
A/N: Reviews are appreciated! There are only a few chapters left.