Frollo pulled Esmeralda away from the cart, glaring at Clopin, before turning his icey stare towards Esmeralda. "Esmeralda, how many times must I tell you not to socialize with that brute? We wouldn't want you to slip back into your heathen ways, now would we? And the thought of my child growing up with that... thing as an influence is appalling." They were back at the Palace, and one of the guards held the door open for them.
"Claude, Clopin is a fine man. He's good around people, entertaining, and he's abiding by your rules."
Frollo sat down in front of the fireplace, offering Esmeralda a seat, which she gladly accepted. "I'm almost certain I've seen him perform witchcraft, though he does it only when he thinks that I'm not watching. But don't worry, my dear. The moment that I can make sure that he's breaking the rules, he will be taken care of."
Esmeralda's heart skipped a beat as she froze in fear. "You... you can't do that!"
"On the contrary, Esmeralda. It is my sad duty to punish those who go against my rule."
"Claude, it says in the Bible that it's a sin to murder! Haven't you listened to the archdeacon's sermons on compassion and mercy?"
"Esmeralda, they have been warned for years about what will happen if they are seen performing acts of witchcraft."
"You murder everyday. I'm sure that you'll want a second chance when the Lord is judging you," she mumbled under her breath.
Frollo tensed up, never having felt that he had lost an argument. Esmeralda saw him raise his hand to give her a horrible, lasting sting that she had felt a few other times. Instead his hand dropped, and expression softened. "I'm glad that you're finally starting to memorize the word of our Lord, Esmeralda, but perhaps you should read a little more on what it says about government." With that, he stood up and walked away, leaving Esmeralda alone to stare at the flickering fireplace.
Esmeralda really loved being alone in this room. The fire was always so calming. The way it moved and flickered freely reminded her of what she had been, and what she always would be. A free, fiery spirit. It also was an image of her burning hatred of Frollo. How many times he had hurt and abused her, blackmailed her, for cornering her into marrying him, for turning her into him.
She hated to admit it, but it was true. Frollo was slowly transforming her into the person she hated the most. The way she talked and acted towards him sometimes was the same exact way he acted towards the gypsies.
Her main priority, though, like any good mother, was their child. What would Frollo do if it were a girl, or had birth defects? Would he or she be treated like Quasi was?
Esmeralda sat back and stroked her stomach as if to comfort the baby, letting it know that she was sorry that it would have to be born into such a horrible life.
Frollo paced around upstairs in the one room that Esmeralda, or anybody else, was forbidden to enter. His parent's old room. Everything in it was exactly the way that they had kept when they were still alive. The bed, the pictures, his and Jehan's crib, everything was how he felt they would have liked it. Ever since he could remember, this was the room that he would run to when he had a problem, and needed a warm embrace and advice from his mother.
Frollo laid down on the bed, staring angrily up at the ceiling. "Why can't she understand that it is my duty to punish those who go against my will?" He asked himself. "If I give favor to Clopin simply because they were friends, it would only be fair to do so for the rest, and I will be looked upon as weak."
He stopped for a second to rub his brow. "Why she chose to make a living performing witchcraft and numb the crowds into believing that it was alright, I'll never know. Surely she must have felt horrible, knowing what she was doing was wrong, and dragging innocent people down with her. Why would she want her own child to live the same way?"
