“I tracked you.” Hanzel said. “First, it was your sister. Then, Earl Beaumount. Next, you came to me but you didn’t kill me. Later, it was Mrs. Lefebvre. Now, it is Prince Eugène.”
“What on earth do you think you’re doing?” Margorie said angrily. “I thought I have told you to mind your own business.”
“Margorie, are you taking revenge on everyone who once caused you pain?”
“It’s not revenge, Hanzel.” Margorie said. “It’s justice. The justice of life. These people are meant to die. I received the list with their names.”
“What list?” Hanzel bent over to the rails.
“You don’t have to know that.” Margorie sighed. “Just…mind your own business. Don’t get into trouble on purpose.”
“You know I wanted to get caught.” Hanzel said. “I knew one day you would come to take Prince Eugène’s life, so, I insulted him on public and got thrown into the cell on purpose. I did so to see you. Or more precisely, to die.”
“Stop saying you want to end your life!” Margorie shouted. “Life is never that simple! It’s more complicated that you can ever imagine. When the time has not come, you’re not to die! Not to die!”
“Then, why must your time come so early?” Hanzel whined as tears trickled down his face. “I missed you. I wished I had said something when they executed you. Then, I would be imprisoned and die along with you.”
“The past is the past, Hanzel.” Margorie said. “Nothing can be changed. It’s my fate.”
“Then, I shall share it with you.”
“Hanzel,” Before Margorie could continue, footsteps could be heard from the stairs.
“Margorie?”
Margorie stared at Hanzel and with one clap of hands, he fell down unconscious.
“I’m sorry, Hanzel.” Margorie murmured. “But I’ve some unfinished business to handle first.”
Prince Eugène walked into the prison. He peeked into the cell through the rails and grinned at Margorie.
“Hey, lady, time to face your doom.” He said.
Margorie did not say a word. Instead, she gazed down at the ground.
Two knights held her up. Each of her hands was taken and grabbed. He was pulled out of the cell and dragged up stairs.
The platform was ready. The execution in the morning had not left traces of blood as all the stains had been washed away and cleared. Margorie was brought to the centre of the platform. Two headsmen went up to set up the stake.
“This girl,” Prince Eugène announced as people gathered around. “Is condemned. She bears the crime of practicing witchcraft and should, by all means, be burnt to death!”
“People who know best of all,” Margorie declared. “I am not a witch. I am falsely accused by a baronet, who has taken my sister away from me. I never did what was harmful to the society!”
“Silence!” Prince Eugène shouted. “Guilty is what you are! You committed a deadly sin and you should be punished! Let this be another reminder for the rest of people. Practicing witchcraft is strictly prohibited. The offenders are to be destroyed immediately!”
“So, this is your so-called judgment.” Margorie laughed.
“What’s there to laugh about?” Prince Eugène bawled indignantly.
“You knew well what your father did was incorrigible and intolerable, yet you chose to drown yourself in never-ending mistakes and fantasy. You adore someone as evil as a devil. Still, you treat him like a hero. You pay respect to someone who kills the innocents and releases the guilty. You prefer to follow your own father’s path than to correct this entire despoiled system.” Margorie made a faint smile. “Honestly, I think you’re pathetic.”
By now, Prince Eugène was completely enraged. No one had ever spoken o him in such offensive and irritating way. The affront had driven to limits. The girl had to be executed!
“Burn her!” Prince Eugène commanded.
“Do you still not remember when you have heard the exact same criticism?” Margorie asked. She was dragged to the stake.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, maybe it’s better for you to forget than to remember.” Margorie smiled. “On the exact same day two years ago, you executed an innocent girl and burnt her to death.”
Prince Eugène stood up right away. He glanced at Margorie with his eyes wide open.
“Mar…Margorie?” He murmured under his breath. He did hear that recently there had been peculiar happenings in the town. Some people even claimed they had come across Margorie, a girl who was supposed to have died two year ago, wrongly accused and burnt to death.
“Sir, it’s my pleasure to meet you again.” Margorie grinned once more as the hay surrounding her went on fire.
Suddenly, dizziness stroke Prince Eugène. Things started swirling and turning around him. Images grew more indistinct and vague as he landed back on his chair. A temporary darkness enclosed him. When he opened his eyes again, he felt his heart racing and his body burning.
He was being tied to the stake! Hay around him was burning vigorously. Flame stretched from bottom to top. His legs were burning. Heat was accumulating at each point of his limbs. Smoke was filling up the air. He could hardly breathe. He tried to scream but no words came out of his mouth. In the distance, he saw a figure smiling. It was himself! He was now trapped inside Margorie’s body and standing in front of him was Margorie in his body. He saw his own face grinning with cruelty and elation. His own eyes were fixed on the burning stake, sparkling with delight.
And then, it was the end. Prince Eugène probably had never thought there would come a day when he was being the victim held to the stake. For the past ten years, he had been slaughtering plenty of people, leading them to hell. Today, he was the one being watched to death. The feeling of disgrace was not long. Yet, the pain seemed to last forever.