Chapter Ten: An Unexpected Visitor

Steaming hot flesh writhed beneath his touch. Sweat beaded his brow as Frollo rose in and out of the gypsy girl almost in time with the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He leaned forward and tasted her moist lips, sucking on them, as her hot tongue slipped into his mouth and made his throat burn. He watched as her fingers grasped the white sheets of the bed, which were white no longer, stained with bright virginal blood like the great dark stain that was slowly beginning to overshadow his own immortal soul…

"My lord," she whispered into his ear. He didn't hear her, his mind was caught up in a haze. "My lord," she repeated, a bit louder. He plunged straight down into her, and his mouth closed over her neck. "MY LORD!" she screamed.

Frollo bolted upright, his breathing erratic, drenched in what he could only assume was his own perspiration. The dream had been … far too real, for his tastes. Yet it was just another in a long stream of not altogether unpleasant nightmares that he had been having for a number of weeks now. He mopped his brow with the sleeve of his linen shirt and glanced towards the doorway, where a servant stood, rigid and waiting.

"What is it?" Frollo asked, after a moment to gather his composure.

"Forgive me for waking you, my lord." The servant replied, no trace of emotion in his voice. "But you have a guest waiting for you downstairs."

"What does he want?" Frollo hated to snap, but he had no patience for idiots who just flounced in expecting an audience with the Minister of Justice. He was, after all, a busy man.

"Well, my lord, he claims that he's your brother."

Frollo collapsed against the multitude of pillows, rolling his eyes towards the Heavens in a silent plea to the Madonna. It had been a while since he and Jehan had last spoken, and he supposed that it was only too good to last. "I suppose there's no getting rid of him, then. What time is it?"

"It's nearly noon, my lord."

What? How could he have slept that long? How could they have let him sleep that long?

"You would not arouse, my lord. You slept as soundly as a dead man, in fact we would have thought of you as such, if you hadn't been breathing so hard, and sweating. We were truly worried about you, my lord."

"Well, I am glad to know that my life is in caring hands." Frollo's words were laced with sarcasm. Were he to have a seizure, the morons would have watched him die.

The sarcasm was lost on the servant, who merely bowed. Thoroughly exasperated, Frollo slid his legs over the side of the bed and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Well, if you are just going to stand there, make use of yourself and get me my robe. I'll need a bath, of course, before I go down."

"Very good, Minister." The servant bowed again. "And what shall I tell the young Master?"

"Tell him I shall be down soon, and not to touch anything, if he can help it."

~*~*~*~*~

Jehan wandered idly about the small and decidedly dull room as he waited on his brother to receive him. The servant said that Claude would be down there 'momentarily' which of course, translated into one to two hours, if you were lucky. Unfortunately, as was clearly stated by Jehan's most recent visit, his luck had been running something of thin lately.

Pursing his lips, he reached out and ran his finger over the wide mouth of a vase. It came back dusty, he clucked his tongue. The maids were getting lazy, it would appear.

"Don't touch anything," Frollo's cold voice clipped from the doorway.

"Brother!" Jehan whirled around, narrowly avoiding knocking the vase from its precarious perch. "How lovely to see you, as always of course, it's been far too long."

His words withered and died in the presence of Frollo's frown.

"Jehan, I'm a very busy man." He said stiffly. "What is it you've come for?"

"Now really, Claude, such unpleasant matters we must discuss. Don't you think a little food is in order for us beforehand?"

"No, I do not. I think you should explain yourself, and then we shall see about lunch." Never mind that his own stomach was growling. Frollo sat down in a chair, and motioned for Jehan to do the same.

"Thanks, I've been sitting all day." Jehan sighed. "The truth is, Claude, I'm here because I'm in a need of a little funding."

"That comes as no great surprise to me. How much do you need?"

Jehan hesitated, then replied, "Five hundred."

"Five hundred?" Frollo's eyes burned. "And what did you do to rack up such a sum?"

"That's not important, is it?"

"It is quite," Frollo's voice became very dark. "Because if you do not tell me I fear, brother, that I will be unable to help you."

Jehan groaned. "It's a complicated story. Long, involved…I'm certain that it would bore you."

"Try me."

"I managed to get tangled up in a bet with a couple of camarades, and you know me, brother, how competitive I can be!" he flinched at Frollo's expression at the mention of the word 'bet'. He knew very well his brother's feelings on gambling.

"Do I need to remind you of Ecclesiastes?" Frollo's rubbed the tips of his fingers together, and his frown deepened.

"I don't see why," Jehan replied wearily. "You've repeated it to me often enough."

"'He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver'-" Frollo began.

"'Nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity'." Jehan finished, his impatience growing.

"Precisely. You would do well to live by that, you might find yourself on my doorstep less often."

"Claude…" Jehan wheedled. "Come now, would you deny your brother, your only sibling who has loved you and been loyal to you all these years… the satisfaction of a full and happy life?"

"I would not, If I remember correctly, that's why I sent you to school."

"Without a broken neck?" Jehan badgered. "They will kill me if I don't return the money! Snap my neck and leave me in a ditch. And then you'd have to pay for the funeral. Now which is the less of two evils, I ask you?"

"The greatest evil, I am sure, is aiding a gambler in his addiction."

"Please, Claude!" Jehan begged. "I'm far too young to die a gruesome death!"

Frollo let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Give me time to reflect on the proper course of action. How long do you have?"

"The end of the week…"

Frollo rubbed his forehead. "Very well, give me until tonight, when I have had time to think and get things done."

"I knew you couldn't stand to watch me die," Jehan grinned broadly. "Now, about lunch…"

**Author's Note: I do not, I repeat, NOT know what prompted this chapter! I mean, I love Jehan and everything, but I'm afraid I don't do him justice. He just appeared and very petulantly demanded to be written about so, against Frollo's protests, we added him in. I know how it will all entwine, eventually, but please don't kill me for butchering this character :D**