"You're Mine!"
That's what he said as the guards threw her in the cart to lead her to this, a fate that she thought she would never see. Here she was, trapped in 4 stone walls awaiting what she knew, was the end of her time on this earth.
Djali had been taken from her when she arrived at the jail, Quasi had been taken back to the bell tower, and who knows what Frollo would have done to him –and Phoebus had been taken to a completely separate area –he had just managed to grab her as she kicked and punched the guards to try and get free. He had said "Stay strong, have courage."
Courage.
Strength.
She had that in bundles; she had had to survive the streets of Paris as a gypsy for 15 years, ever since her parents died in a pit of flames that she had just managed to escape. However, she was now struggling to see a way out of this situation. She began pacing around the room, not quite knowing what to do with herself. She had no idea how long she had been in this room, but it was long enough for her. It was dark outside, but she had no thoughts of sleeping – she was afraid that every time she closed her eyes she would see that sneering face, the face of evil that was that monster Frollo. Oh how she despised him!
She would not let him win. She would never be his!
...
...A laugh grew louder and louder out of the smoke and flames, Esmeralda tried to see where it was coming from but her eyes burned at the intensity of the flames. Suddenly the smoke subsided enough for her to see the face of evil itself, the master of the gates of hell; Frollo.
"You're Mine, Witch!"
"No, No, No..."
Esmeralda woke with a start. It was just a dream, just a dream. She realised it was light and that she must have fallen asleep. She straightened her hair with her hands and sat up. She tried to imagine it was all a dream, but it wasn't, and she was still trapped in this miserable place. She heard rustling from outside the cell door and she started getting up and going towards the furthest end of the room. Two guards came in, followed by Frollo. He had a sick, twisted smile on his face – it looked like he had just won the lottery.
"Leave us" he commanded. The guards bowed and left at once, shutting the cell door behind them. Now Esmeralda was trapped in this room with this monster.
"You have no idea how...pleased I am that you are finally in my grasp." His took his time with his words, clearing enjoying the power that he possessed over her.
"Believe me, the pleasure is not reciprocated." Her face was full of anger and contempt, her body tense. She was ready to fight him off if she had to, and as if Frollo could sense this he held his hands up.
"I'm not here to harm you. Just simply to offer...a proposition, if you will." He casually took a few steps back allowing Esmeralda to move from her position in the back of the room until they were both circling each other in the cramped cell room. "I wish to offer you a way out. Like I once told you, gypsy's don't do well inside stone walls, and yet here you stand-in a cramped, confined cell room. I don't want that as much as you do. So I wish to offer you...safe passage if you will. Tonight, you are destined to be the main centrepiece of a bonfire in the square outside Notre Dame. If you do not wish to die in a apparition of flames, in front of your beloved Bell Ringer and traitorous Captain, I suggest you take my offer –be mine, or die!"
"NEVER! You will never have me!" He suddenly flew towards her, pinning her against the wall, her arms above her head. She stared him down, trying desperately not to show the intense fear she had in her eyes. Her fear was strong but her moral and her determination was like a fire in her belly. "Oh...but you will gypsy. You will." he snarled. "If I can't have you, then believe ME no one will!" He held her there for what seemed like a lifetime, and with one last smell of her hair and scent, he left her stood there, sweeping out of the cell like a bat from hell.
...
Esmeralda's resolve was set. No matter what fate lay before her she was not going to succumb to Frollo's wishes and become his; she would rather die than suffer that fate. The guards came back hours later holding a white ragged dress, ordering her to put it on. As she slowly undressed, taking off her prized head band, bangles and gypsy clothing, she began to think about the things she had never done, had never said. She had never thanked Clopin enough for taking her in when she was younger, she had never thanked the old woman who had given her Djali, thanked her for giving her the opportunity to know the most loyal companion of them all, she had never told Phoebus properly-told him that she loved him with all her heart. Her eyes stung back tears as she heard more movement outside her cell. She heard shouts of other gypsy's –she so hoped that they were not to suffer the same fate she was. Finally, she heard the guards unlock her door, she was glad to finally be out of that room, to breathe different air again. The Paris night was just beginning and Esmeralda realised it would be the last she would ever see.
...
