Disclaimer: I asked Lady Van Tassel what I would have to do to own the characters. After she expressed her amusement (Ok, I admit it: she laughed at me for about half an hour) she gave me a look that clearly said 'If you weren't that daft I'd have the Horseman behead you for even thinking of it.' I took this as 'You never did, and you never will own us!' And we all now better than to disobey her …
She smiled in satisfaction as she watched the Horseman go after them, chasing them after they had finally got out of their stupor to run for their lives – for the second time that evening, and this time it would be fruitless. Her smile deepened when she saw the Hessian catch up with them, capturing them with a rope that had been tied to his saddle, and then leading them back to her like sacrificial lambs on their way to the altar.
She
breathed deeply, sensing their fear, their terror, going into
raptures over it. When they had finally reached her, she could not
help but to laugh out loud. Their puzzled faces made her laugh even
harder. "Look at you!", she gasped between a fit of laughter.
"You are looking at me as though I was going to behead you right
away. But don't worry."
Here, she eventually managed to calm
down, only her characteristic, sardonic smirk remaining on her face.
"Don't worry. You won't die. At least not before I revealed my
evil, sinister plan to you. We can't have you die without a decent
villain-reveals-his-plan-to-hero-scene, can we?" She shook her
head. "Of course not." She began pacing up and own in front of
the tied up group that followed her every move with their eyes, like
a trapped animal waiting for the hunter to cut its throat. To her,
the fear that emerged from them felt as maddening as wine. She
decided to play around with them a little longer than she had
intended, wanting to indulge further into the feeling of power their
terror gave her. After all, she had all the time in the world … no
one knew where they were …
"You know, my dear young friends, I think this whole plan-revealing thing has always been looked upon from a pretty one-sided point of view. They always say the villain only reveals his plan to his victim because he likes to hear himself talk, and because it gives him the opportunity to marvel at his own brilliance, in one word: out of pure vanity."
She turned
around to face them. The young Constable seemed to grow impatient.
She approached him and placed one long, gloved finger onto his
jawbone, tracing it lightly, enjoying the hatred that shot through
the brat's eyes. She smiled smugly.
"Is there something you
would like to tell me, dear?" she addressed the girl with mock
concern.
"If your rambling has a point, get to it, and soon!",
the Constable spat. She chuckled.
"Such impatience! But if you insist … Well, have you ever considered how the victim must feel in such a situation?" She ignored the pointed glares. "Imagine yourselves, being beheaded without even knowing how it came that far." She silently laughed at their expressions, a mixture of hatred and pure, unspoilt terror. This was surely the time of her life!
"That would not be very nice, would it? Quite dissatisfying, I daresay.
"Now that we got that clear, listen closely and learn why it is that you are where you are now… Listen and learn how it came that you are now going to die …"
