At the Palace of Justice, Frollo stood in the dungeon, where a guard in the next room is whipping a prisoner - his former Captain of the guard. As Frollo listened to the man's screams, his lips curling with pleasure at the sounds, Phoebus entered the room.

Frollo sneered.

Perfect timing this one had.
"Guard!" Frollo called out.
"Sir?"
"Ease up. Wait between lashes. Otherwise the older sting will dull him to the new." Why make his punishment easier on him? Let him suffer.
"Yes, sir."
Frollo turned to Phoebus as the guard disappeared again.
Frollo smiled with false warmth. "Ah, so this is the gallant Captain Phoebus, home from the wars."
If Phoebus had been bothered by the man's screams or Frollo's words, he didn't show it. The man was stone faced and ready for action. "Reporting for duty, as ordered, sir."
"Your service record precedes you, Phoebus. I expect nothing but the best from a war hero of your calibre."
"And you shall have it, sir. I guarantee it."
"Yes. You know, my last captain of the guard was, um, a bit of a disappointment to me…"
A whip cracked just then and a scream interrupted Frollo, who looked at Phoebus knowingly. Phoebus appeared startled at the crack and the double meaning behind Frollo's look. The warning came across loud and clear and all the Captain could do was stare.
Frollo moved on after a moment and began leading him back to the upper floors of the Palace. "Well, no matter. I'm sure you'll whip my men into shape."
"Uh, thank you, sir, uh, very, uh, trem-uh, a tremendous honour, sir."

The two did not speak again until they were in a private room on the most upper floor. Phoebus walked alongside his new boss, as silent as a ghost as he looked around curiously. He assumed that this was where Frollo made his home. Together, they walked to the balcony to look over the city as Frollo began speaking again.
"You come to Paris in her darkest hour, Captain. It will take a firm hand to save the weak-minded from being so easily misled.
"Misled, sir?"
"Look, Captain-gypsies."

Phoebus followed his pointed finger back down to the city street below. He was easily able to make out the gorgeous form of that puzzling gypsy girl from before. Phobos watched as she danced, moving her body in time with the music, a small smile on his face as her hair whipped around her body.

Frollo's voice pulled him back from his starring and brought him to focus again. "The gypsies live outside the normal order. Their heathen ways inflame the peoples' lowest instincts, and they must be stopped."
Phoebus was a bit surprised by this. "I was summoned from the wars to capture fortune tellers and palm readers?"
He had been told that the issue here was urgent, more urgent than what was going on in the wars. And to be quite honest, he saw no problems with the gypsy race. They were strange yes and their ways were different from most. But he found them to be about as dangerous as a fly.
Frollo was oblivious to his thoughts.

"Oh, the real war, Captain, is what you see before you. For twenty years, I have been taking care of the gypsies, one...by...one."
On each of the last three words, Frollo crushed one of three ants on a tile with his long slender finger. He then flipped the tile over, revealing scores of ants scurrying around underneath.
"And yet, for all of my success, they have thrived. I believe they have a safe haven, within the walls of this very city. A nest, if you will. They call it the Court of Miracles."

He said the name with distaste and a roll of his beady eyes.
Phoebus was hesitant, unsure of where this was going. "What are we going to do about it, sir?"
Frollo smiled nastily and slammed the tile back down upside down, and turned it, crushing the
remainder of the ants.
Phoebus shook off his unease at this. "You make your point quite vividly, Sir."
"You know, I like you Captain. Shall we?"
He began to leave, when the crowd below suddenly began to cheer loudly.
Frollo's enthusiasm immediately melted and he groaned. "Oh, duty calls. Have you ever attended a peasant festival, Captain?"
"Not recently, sir."
"Then this should be quite an education for you. Come along."