Prologue
Miri's eyes began to flutter open as she felt someone continuously nudge her in the shoulder. "Wh..wh..what?" Miri groaned. "Miri, love, get up. It's time to go." A voice called to her. Miri sighed. "I don't want to go anywhere." Miri groaned. "Mon Chéri, you promised!" The person whispered in her ear. "But I'm tired." Miri groaned with a smile when she realized who it was. "You promised." The person said back as they began to nudge Miri again. "Okay, okay. I'm coming. Just, give me a minute to get up." Miri said as she fully opened her eyes and met the gaze of Nicholae."
"How about thirty seconds." Nicholae said back as he knelt down next to Miri's bed. "Nikki, do we really have to go now? I'm tired." Miri asked as she propped her self up by her elbows. Nicholae smiled and leaned in closer to Miri. "Yes! We do!" Nicholae answered. "Well can you at least tell me where we're going?" Miri questioned. "No. If I did, it wouldn't be a surprise. Just come on before we miss it! You can sleep later!" Nicholae answered. Miri giggled and placed a hand to Nicholae's cheek. Nikki smiled and leaned in closer to Miri's face. "Hopefully this one will earn me a kiss." Nicholae then said. Miri smiled and gasped. "Nope. Not until I get married." Miri said back as she playfully slapped Nicholae's cheek. "So difficult." Nicholae mumbled under his breath. Miri raise an eye brow and pinched Nicholae's side. "What was that? Do you have something to say?" Miri asked. "No, all I said was that it would be nice if you would get up already!" Nicholae answered as he picked Miri up in his arms bridal style. "Nikki put me down!" Miri fussed as she began to hit the man. "Well this wouldn't have happened if you had just gotten up!" Nicholae answered. "But I am up! Dammit Nikki! Put me down!" Miri screamed. "Fine." Nicholae said back with a smile as he threw Miri down onto the bed and ran out the room. Miri smiled deviously. "You think this is a game huh?" She said to herself as she got up and ran out the room.
Miri chased Nicholae to the steps before the two both decided to stop running. "I take it you're ready to go then?" Nicholae asked as he began to climb the stairs. "Wait. Nikki, are you sure it's okay to leave the Court of Miracles right now?" Miri asked with a worried expression. "But of course, I'll be with you dearest. I won't let anything happen to you." Nicholae responded as he held out his hand for Miri to take. "But there are guards everywhere. And..and they're capturing any gypsy that they see!" Miri said back. "Then we'll just have to be extra careful." Nicholae said back. Miri began to fiddle with the hip scarf of her dress. "Miri, you'll be fine. I won't let anyone hurt you. Come on, before you miss the surprise." Nicholae said back. Miri nodded and began to climb the stairs with Nicholae.
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Once outside, Nicholae grabbed Miri by the hand. "Come, we have to do this quickly if we don't want to get caught." Nicholae said in a quiet voice. The two walked to the other side of the building above their hiding place and grabbed some cloaks from the door way of the old building. "Let's go." Nicholae instructed as he helped Miri put on her cloak and then put on his own.
The two stayed close as they began to walk through the streets of Paris. "This way." Nicholae instructed as he turned right and began to walk down an alley way. Miri followed close behind him. At the end of the alley way, Nicholae turned to his right, only to see a group of guards stationed at the end of the street. "Nope other way." Nicholae said as he grabbed Miri's hand and pulled her the other way. "Nicholae, are you sure you know where you're going?" Miri asked. Nicholae snorted. "As many times as I've walked these streets, and you think I don't know my way? You underestimate me." Nicholae said back. "God, if Esme knew what we were doing, she'd have both our heads." Miri said back. "Oh please. She snuck out this morning and still hasn't come back." Nicholae said back. The two finally stopped at an old crumbly tower. "After you." Nicholae said as he motioned for Miri to go in first.
For what seemed like forever, the two climbed the stairs within the tower. Finally, after about twenty minutes or so, Miri began to see a light at the top. Quickly, Miri climbed to the top of the stairwell and walked outside, with Nicholae not far behind her. Once outside, Miri smiled. "Oh my God. Nikki, this is beautiful!" Miri said back as she began to scan the view in front of her. She could see everything from Notre Dame to the Palace of Justice. "And just look at the sunset!" Miri said with excitement in her voice. "How did you find this place?" Miri asked. "On one of my adventures." Nicholae answered as he hugged Miri from behind. "Miri, actually I have another surprise for you." Nicholae said with a shaky voice. "Oh really?" Miri said with a smile. Nicholae smiled and nodded his head as he turned Miri around to face him. He then got down on one Knee. "Miri will you please marry me?"Nicholae asked. "Wha..wha..what?" Miri asked with a excited expression. "Marry me. Please. I can't live without you Miri. Even if all of Paris is burned down, as long as I have you, I can live with that." Miri began to giggle. "Yes..I..I would love to marry you Nicholae." Miri said as she bent down and hugged Nicholae. Nicholae hugged her back. "I love you Miri." Nicholae whispered. "I love you too." Miri whispered back."
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When nightfall had finally set in, the two decided to head back home. As they began to walk home, Miri couldn't help but smile the whole way there. "So, when are we going to tell everyone?" Miri asked. "When we get back!" Nicholae answered. "But we just have to tell them that you said yes." Nicholae continued. "Wait what do you mean?" Miri asked in confusion. Nicholae laughed. "Everyone already knew I was going to ask you for your hand in marriage." Nicholae said back. "They did!? Well that't the first time I've seen them all keep a secret." Miri said through fits of laughter. "It's possible, if you bribe Clopin." Nicholae said back. "You had to bribe him?" Miri asked with a smile. Nicholae nodded. "You have no idea." Nicholae said back. All of a sudden, the two heard the noise of horses.
They looked up ahead at the old building that covered the Court of Miracles and watched as groups of gypsies were escorted from under ground by guards. "Lock them up! All of them!" A guard shouted. Nicholae pulled Miri and the two hid behind a tree. "What's going on?" Miri whispered to Nicholae. "I..I think they found our hiding spot." Nicholae said back. Miri's eyes widened with astonishment. "No. no no no no no. What are we going to do?! Frollo's going to kill them." Miri said back. "Shhhh don't be too loud. They'll hear us." Nicholae said back.
"Nicholae what do we do?!" Miri asked in frustration. "Well first, we have to get out of here before we get caught. If we get caught, there will be slim to no chance of rescuing everyone." Nicholae said back. "Then we can think of a plan." Nicholae continued. Miri nodded. "C'mon. We need to leave, now." Nicholae said as he pulled Miri away from the sight. All of a sudden, someone screamed "let go of me," and Miri froze. Miri turned to the sight of her sister, Esmerelda, being locked up. "Esme." Miri said to herself as tear glided down her cheek. "Miri we need to go." Nicholae said. "Nikki, I thought you said she was gone all day!" Miri said. "She was, I guess she came back. Miri we have to go! They'll see us!" Nicholae demanded. "Nikki we can't! My sister! I can't let them hurt her." Miri said as she began to pull away from Nicholae's grasp.
"No! Miri, we have to go! We can't save her right now!" Nicholae said back as he wrapped a hand around Miri's waist and pulled her away from the sight. "Nicholae, please! If anything we need to try to save her!" Miri pleaded. "No!" Nicholae screamed. "Who's there?" A guard then shouted. Miri's eyes widened. "Miri run!" Nicholae screamed as he pushed Miri in the other direction. Miri began to run with Nicholae following behind her. As they began to run towards the town, they could hear a guard coming after them on a horse. "Keep running Miri! Don't slow down!" Nicholae instructed.
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Once the two had come to an alley way, they slipped inside it and hid. Luckily the guard rode by and had not seen them. Miri let out a breath that she didn't know she had even been holding. "Miri, look, we can hide there." Nicholae said as he pointed to a little crux in the wall where they could hide. "Okay." Miri said. The two walked over and sat down in the corner of the wall. "Plus there's a gate so we can see if anyone is coming." Nicholae said back. All of a sudden, Nichoale started to feel something jittery on his leg. He looked over and realized that Miri was shivering. "Miri, everything will be okay. I promise." Nicholae said back. Miri looked up at Nicholae with a sadden expression. "You don't have to lie to me. I know it won't." Miri said back. Nicholae sighed and hugged Miri. "Don't think like that. It'll be okay. I know it will. This too shall pass." Miri pulled away. "It will. And when it's over, everyone will be dead." Miri answered.
"Miri no, please don't think like that." Nicholae said with a frown. "No, please do. Cause you'll all be dead soon." A voice then said. Miri and Nicholae turned to face a man cloaked in black on a stallion. "Well, well, well. I guess two little ants got away. But that's okay, I will exterminate all of you." The man said. "Miri, run!" Nicholae screamed. Miri began to sprint in the other direction down the other side of the alley way behind all the houses. Nicholae hurried behind her. But unfortunately, the man on the horse was able to catch up to Nicholae. Miri watched from behind a building as Nicholae fought him off and began to take off running again.
Nicholae ran towards Miri and once he reached her, pulled her behind a bakery shop next to a pile of waste. Nicholae then gripped Miri by the shoulders and looked her in they eyes. "Okay Miri, I'm going to be brutally honest with you. This man is way too fast for both of us to get away. So one of us is going to get caught." Nicholae said. Miri shook her head in disagreement. "Miri, this isn't a fairytale, this is real life. And in real life, things don't turn out the way we want them to. Miri I need you to run. I need you to run and find help, or at least get away. "Nikki no! If you get caught, I'm coming with you!" Miri screamed back. "Miri no! Someone needs to survive, our people and our heritage can't be forgotten. I need you to run as fast as possible and get away from here. Leave Paris! It's not safe here." Nicholae said back with a serious expression. Tears began to stream down Miri's face. She couldn't leave him. She had already lost her sister and all her friends. And now she had to lose the one man that meant the most to her.
Miri was suddenly snapped out of her thought by Nicholae snapping his fingers in front of Miri's face. "Miri get out of here. For the sake of your family and our love, get out of Paris." Nicholae said back. Miri looked up at Nicholae and sighed. "Fine. But please be careful. An..an...and come back to me Nikki. I can't lose you." Miri said back as she hugged Nicholae tight. "I'll try my best." Nicholae said. All of a sudden, the two began to hear the sound of a horse galloping. "Run! I'll distract him for you to get away." Nicholae instructed as he pushed Miri in the other direction.
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Miri ran off, unable to see what was happening to Nicholae. She wanted to look back so bad, but she knew if she did it would slow her down. She ran until she came to a side door of a row of houses. "Where am I suppose to go?" Miri said to herself with tears in her eyes. "Who's there?" Miri heard someone call. She wasn't sure if it was a commoner or a guard so she took off running again. She ran until her feet gave from under her.
"Damn that man." Miri said to herself as she stopped to catch her breath. If he hadn't come after them, Miri would still at least be with Nicholae. All of a sudden, Miri began to hear the sound of a horse trotting. "God, no. He's here." Miri said to herself. She looked to each side in an attempt to find a place to hide. The only thing Miri could find was an old graveyard, so she mad a run for it. She hopped the fence and hid behind a large split tomb stone.
Please don't let him find me
Miri thought to herself. And luckily, after a few moments, the horse trotting started to grow more and more distant.
Miri waited for about two hours before she slid from behind the tomb stone. Slowly she began to walk towards the entrance of the graveyard. As she exited the cemetery, Miri stayed vigilant and alert. She didn't know if there were guards still out looking for her or Judge Frollo had called off the search. Luckily, it was late at night, so all the street lights had been blown out. As Miri walked the cold dark streets alone, she began to the tears that she was holding back swell up in her eyes and run down her face. "What am I going to do? I've lost all of them." Miri said to herself.
As she continued to search for shelter, tears began to stain Miri's cheeks and the steps that she took. "I..I can't just leave. I..I don't know where to go. Who do I ask for help?" Miri muttered to herself. "I ..I need to save them. I can't leave Paris alone." Miri said as she slipped inside an abandoned run down mill. Once inside Miri dropped to her knees and began to cry. "Wh..wha..what do I do? If there even is a God, please, help me!" Miri screamed in frustration. "Help me." Miri said in a quieter voice.