Lol, it's been a long time. But school is back, and guess what? I'm having tests next week (again). And I thought I had too much homework last year. I promise I'll try to update sooner next time. Little cliffhanger in the end of this chapter.
Note: there are a few P.O.V. switches in this chapter. But very few. In fact, only one.
I don't own The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.
Reviews and contructive critcism are much appreciated.
"And now you may kiss the bride" the Archdeacon said.
Esmeralda had never smiled as brightly as in that moment, nor had Phoebus been as relieved as he was in the instant he gently kissed Esmeralda's lips. Until she was safely beside him in front of the altar, he had been dripping on sweat, thinking, without any reason at all, that at any second someone would enter the room and inform that Esmeralda didn't want him anymore (the fact that Clopin kept telling him stories about grooms who had been abandoned in the altar by their stunningly beautiful brides – "like Esmeralda", Clopin had added – , didn't help much).
"Finally, I thought this would never end" Adele commented, losing a great chance to remain quiet. Lynna and Anita wanted to reprimand Adele for her bad manners (Lynna would have done anything to start a discussion with Adele), but they were too tired from standing in the middle of lots of people for so long, so they just rolled their eyes.
Esmeralda and Phoebus left the church smiling, Djali walking behind them looking very proud of herself without any reason at all, and soon the rest of the people did the same (leave the church, not look proud for no reason).
"What happens now?" Lynna asked.
"Giselle told me that we must go back to the Court. In one hour or so, there will be a party there. Only gypsies, of course" Adele informed.
"And what about Phoebus? Will he be allowed to see the entrance of the Court of the Miracles?" Anita asked.
"Giselle said she had already planned that. Though what she's going to do to bring Phoebus to the Court is beyond me. Anyway, let's just go and leave the hard work for her; my feet are killing me."
The three girls went to Adele's tent, but soon her mother came in and the girls wanted some privacy, so they went to Anita's tent.
"Goodness, my feet hurt" Adele complained. "And I don't wear any shoes. Don't you feel pain with these things, Anita? Esmeralda seemed to be very uncomfortable with them."
"Well, I am used to wear shoes" Anita replied. "But sometimes they do hurt my feet a little." With that, she took off her shoes and showed her friends some blisters and injuries on her feet.
"Ouch! This makes me feel pain only by looking!" Lynna said, caressing her own feet. She wore shoes made of pieces of cloth, that didn't hurt her feet a single bit. She only wore them because she didn't like having her feet dirty.
"How did your feet get so hurt?" Adele asked.
"It's from dancing. And I wear the same pair of shoes since I was… ten, I guess."
Their conversation soon changed to another subject. They discussed about Esmeralda's dress, about dresses, about the colors they liked… After half an hour, Adele started fighting with Lynna and Anita just watched them. She thought about everything they had just talked about, and was surprised that they had kept talking so long about those silly things without even getting bored. She was a person who hadn't experienced female friendship in her life – all the children the same age as her in the gypsy group she and her father travelled with were boys. She wasn't used to chat about girlish things with girls about her age, and doing that made her feel at the same time foolish and happy.
"And I think you should go and tell her how annoying she is!" Adele shouted to Lynna – not that she intended to shout, she just couldn't control the volume of her voice sometimes.
Anita sighed. One thing she really envied in Adele was her facility to show her feelings. If she thought something was wrong, she said what she thought. If she didn't like something or someone, she didn't find any trouble to say that out loud. Sometimes, Anita wished she was a bit like Adele. She was always so confident…
"Don't you agree, Anita?" Adele's voice interrupted her thoughts.
Anita blinked twice, trying to find something intelligent to say to escape that situation, but she found nothing.
"I'm sorry, Adele. What were you saying?"
"You are too distracted, girl" Adele said, rolling her eyes. "Lynna and I were talking about that girl Hélène; she keeps asking Lynna to help her with all sorts of things all day long, and Lynna is annoyed!"
"Yes, I am, but I don't want to be rude with her" Lynna explained.
They argued about that and about other silly things, when Adele's mother came in and announced that the party was about to begin.
When they stepped out of the tent, there were lots of people everywhere.
"I think this is going to be good" Lynna commented, before entering Anita's tent to check herself in the mirror one more time. She ran her fingers through her hair and joined Adele and Anita.
"But I can't see Phoebus or Esmeralda" Adele said.
Meanwhile…
"This is ridiculous. Why do I have to walk around blindfolded?"
"Merely precaution."
Phoebus was walking in an empty street and Giselle was leading him. He couldn't see anything through the piece of cloth tied around his head. Had anyone passed in that street that day, they would have seen a hilarious scene: the captain of the guard, all dressed in his uniform, walking blindfolded like a child playing blind man's bluff.
"You know, I have already been in the Court of the Miracles. I mean no danger for anyone."
"And that's another reason to blindfold you; this way, you will continue to mean no danger for anyone. Now stay quiet and wait a minute."
Phoebus heard a noise that sounded like a stone being pressed against another, and one moment later he was pushed forward.
And the floor disappeared beneath his feet.
Back to Anita's P.O.V.
In the square near the stage where the hangings happen, there was a bonfire, and some gypsy women were dancing while men played music.
The three girls sat and watched for a while, but soon the music stopped. They looked around to see what was happening, and soon they saw it: Esmeralda was entering the Court, with all the splendor of a queen. Her red dress floated around her as she walked, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled.
Some people started to greet Esmeralda, when Phoebus appeared, looking very annoyed and somewhat confused. He walked to Esmeralda, but then lost his balance and had to put a hand on Esmeralda's shoulder to avoid falling.
Adele laughed quietly at the sight, and Anita and Lynna just smiled. Esmeralda made a weird face as she talked to Phoebus, and he answered looking VERY annoyed, pointing to Giselle, who made an innocent face and walked away.
Esmeralda shook her head about something Phoebus had said, and approached the bonfire.
"Now, ladies, if you would be so kind, now it's my turn." In a quick movement, she took off the golden tiara that held her veil and threw it to Marise (who was watching the other dancers all the time). The older woman grabbed it, a bit surprised. Esmeralda got a tambourine out of nowhere, and started dancing.
Soon, everyone who had an instrument started playing it, as Esmeralda danced around the fire. The flames seemed to dance with her as she made gracious movements, lifting her legs and moving her arms around her head.
After ten minutes, almost the whole Court was watching, clapping, playing instruments and singing. Some gypsy girls started to dance shyly around Esmeralda, and she gave them an encouraging smile.
More than one hour passed this way (of course Esmeralda had to stop dancing once in a while to rest a little and eat something), until Esmeralda got too tired and decided to sit with her husband and rest. The rest of the gypsy girls, the ones who were dancing and the ones who were just watching, started to dance together around the fire.
Anita danced with Adele for a long time, and Lynna joined them reluctantly after playing flute (which she returned to do ten minutes later). All the Court was celebrating together (after all, it was not everyday that a gypsy married a soldier, especially one as loved between the gypsies as Esmeralda). Anita had never seen so many cheerful people in one place, and she thought it was amazing.
After dancing without stopping for so long, Anita started to feel and show signs of a great tiredness; her face and neck were sweaty and red, her hair was releasing itself from the purple ribbon, her fingers ached from playing the castanets, and her throat was dry, and though she tried to swallow saliva to bear that feeling of unending thirsty, it only made her throat ache and feel drier, making her feel like she had a sore throat. She glanced at Lynna, trying not to get distracted from her dance, and saw that her face was red, and noticed she was starting to play some notes out of tune.
On the other hand, Adele didn't look tired at all; her face was red and covered with sweat (much more than Anita – in fact, it was as though she had just washed her face and not dried it), but she still was able to dance lively.
Anita felt it was about time to end their dance and, winking at Adele (it was their sign to stop the dance), she played the castanets one last time before sitting on the floor, one of her legs bended and the other one stretched, one of her arms upon her head and the other one resting on her lap. Adele twirled one more time before tapping her tambourine and kneeling down beside Anita.
The people who were watching them clapped and started to watch the other dancing girls. Anita immediately went to the well in an empty square next to where the party was happening and got some water with the bucket. She used her hands as a ladle to drink, and soon Adele and Lynna reached her and started doing the same thing. There was another bonfire beside the well, a smaller one, and the heat of the fire made them sweat, and drink even faster.
"Look at that, Audrey. Drinking like a bunch of savages", a voice behind them said.
Anita instinctively recognized the voice, although she hadn't heard it in many weeks. It was obviously Camille with Audrey.
"What do you want, Camille?" Lynna asked, crossing her arms on her chest, annoyed.
"And these castanets, huh, Anita?" Camille said, ignoring Lynna and approaching the scared girl. "Would you mind if… We took a look at them?"
With that, fast as lightning, Camille took the castanets from Anita's unprepared hands, and threw them at Audrey. The red headed grinned maliciously as she got the wooden shells and tried to play them, making an annoying sound, imitating Anita in a ridiculous way.
"Hey! Give it back!" Anita shouted, trying to get the castanets from Audrey. The girl just laughed and threw the instrument to her friend.
"Stop it! It's mine!" Anita was jumping around the two girls and shouting very pathetically, and so were Lynna and Adele, all three trying to get the castanets back.
It was useless. Audrey and Camille were too good in that game. But no as good as they thought, because when Camille threw the castanets to Audrey one more time, laughing a rather forced laughter, Audrey clasped her hands in the air, but missed the wooden shells.
And, accidentally, Camille had sent the precious object towards the fire.