There was a dark creature called a Hinkypunk. It was not as powerful as dragons or other creatures, capable of causing enormous harm. It even gave off light, luring passersby astray and drawing them into swamps and bogs.
Pomona looked at the back before her, black robes billowing, and thought again of that French novel. It had also been in the dead of night when Viscount Valmont carried a lamp and silently entered the little bride's room.
She had been sleeping soundly and did not wake even when Valmont reached her bedside. Afraid she would cry out, Valmont carefully woke "Sleeping Beauty" and tried to keep her from making "the cry he feared."
The convent might have taught the little bride many things, but it had not taught her how to resist in such a situation. With his glib tongue, he threatened her: if she dared cry out, he would shift all the blame onto her. It would indeed be easy, since she had provided the key to the room. It was through that key that Viscount Valmont had opened the locked door.
The greatest tragedy of the story was that both Madame Dewey and the little bride's mother had let down their guard around him. After all, the little bride's mother was Valmont's aunt. They both believed there was still something good in him, that he was not as terrible as people outside said. Sadly, he betrayed their expectations.
He already possessed Madame Dewey's love, yet still sought "amusement" everywhere, reclaiming that unrestrained masculine power and relying on authority to conquer.
Like the Red Dragon, he did not care what harm he inflicted upon the woman of light, nor did he heed her pleas for pity. A woman's tears would not make him stop; they only made him more