Chapter 12- True Colours?

The day had just sunk into the night when the announcement for dinner filled the camp as did the delicious smell of the food itself.

Jocelyna had spent the entire afternoon sitting on those steps, talking with Daryn. He had told her all about their venture to the Court of Miracles, his children... and his wife, Almeria. Talking about his wife made Daryn feel very sick; all the memories came running back to him like a wildlife stampede. He'd told her about how she'd died giving birth to Souver, the emptiness in the house that followed and the excruciating hurt and pain he'd felt ever since.

"Elise looks a lot like her, you know," he'd told Jocelyna whilst sitting on those wagon steps with her. "Her expressions...her mannerisms...and her eyes especially; deep hazel."

Jocelyna gave him a sad smile and went to put her hand on his like she'd done earlier. He tightly held onto her's as if he never wanted to let go...

The two trotted down to the camp where the long, wooden tables stood. The area was packed as it usually was around meal times- particularly dinner. Daryn seemed a little in shock when he, too, laid eyes on just how many people there were. He stopped abruptly. The gypsy noticed this, as well as his shocked expression, and merely laughed.

"You'll get used to this, don't worry!" she assured him, taking his stiff hand and leading him towards the long que to the food. This action reminded her briefly of doing the exact same thing to Quasimodo when she had led him out into the open and towards the citizens of Paris as their hero.

After receiving their portions, the two sat down at what seemed to be one of the, if not only, spaces left. Jocelyna immediately spotted Esmeralda sitting diagonally from her, seemingly uninterested in engaging conversation with a rather drunk middle-aged man who was slumped in the chair opposite, mumbling things to her through large mouthfuls of food.

"Esmeralda," announced Jocelyna cheerily, waving to get her attention. The gypsy girl swivelled her head instantly to the sound, thrilled that she didn't have to listen to this drunken man any longer.

"Hey!" she replied, genuinely happy to see Jocelyna. "I haven't seen you for a while!"

"I could say the exact same thing!" Jocelyna happily replied as Esmeralda shuffled along her bench to sit opposite them. There were a few narked gypsies but with one dazzling smile from the young woman, no one could keep hold of their grudge.

Once the gypsy girl settled into her new seat, she cast a look at the man sitting awkwardly beside Jocelyna.

"Oh, sorry," spoke Jocelyna, darting her head between the two, "this is Daryn, our newest member at the camp, Daryn this is Esmeralda, one of my closest friends." She patted the man on his bony back fondly.

"Nice to meet you, Daryn," Esmeralda said as she extended one slender hand in greeting. Daryn took it shyly.

"So, when did you get here?"

"...A few weeks ago...I think," the man replied simply, clearly lost for words by the gypsy girl's exotic beauty.

Jocelyna looked at him, baffled.

"I think it may have been today you arrived," Jocelyna quietly corrected, using her infamous motherly tone.

"Really?! You must be starving what with all the travelling! Where was it you travelled from?" Esmeralda asked the shy man through her piercing green eyes. Once again, Daryn found himself too lost in those emerald beauties to give her a straight answer.

"France somewhere...I think," he absently replied again, subconsciously jabbing at his food with his fork.

Jocelyna and Esmeralda chuckled at the man.

"It's ok, you must be exhausted," the gypsy girl kindly spoke as she went back to her own food.

"Where's Clopin?" asked Jocelyna, skimming the dinner area briefly for any sign of the eccentric, colourful gypsy. One quick skim was really all it took to confirm whether or not the colourful gypsy was nearby.

"Out and about' is all he said to me yesterday so I guess he's just...out and about!" laughed the gypsy girl.

"Is that where you've been as well? I just haven't seen you around at the camp for a while."

"Yeah, well, sort of. I've been living out for a few days. Exploring and visiting places, that sort of thing. Now we're free to do that, I just want to get the best out of it."

"Well, I'm really pleased you can do that now. Heck, I'm pleased we can all do that now!" Jocelyna announced.

They both laughed before settling into a comfortable silence.

"You haven't seen Rhayeder near here have you?" Jocelyna asked Esmeralda after a few minutes of noticing Daryn sneaking shy glances towards the beautiful gypsy opposite.

"No, I haven't actually, I'm sure-"

Daryn suddenly cleared his throat loudly. Loud enough to seem rude.

Both gypsies stopped and turned to look at him with creased eyebrows.

"Is everything ok, Daryn?" Jocelyna asked in as kind a voice as she could manage.

"Uhuh." He tersely replied as he bowed his head towards his food as a guilty child would do when they didn't want to be told off. This short answer did nothing to convince both women.

Jocelyna exhaled and bit the inside of her lip when she remembered the last time Daryn had behaved like this and the reason for it.

"I thought you were ok with this now," she quietly spoke. There was a touch of hurt in her voice which Esmeralda instantly picked up on.

Daryn abruptly dropped his fork onto his plate and turned on the bench to face the hurt gypsy woman directly.

"No, in all honest opinion, I am not ok with this," he firmly announced, banging his fist once on the wooden table for emphasis.

Esmeralda looked on, confused.

"Yes, I accept the fact that that fiend exists and lives in this camp with the normal people but do not expect me to be ok with him constantly being near my one and only daughter! Just imagine what he could do to her! I am sorry Jocelyna but I cannot have him near her one more second; she's too ill to fight off whatever curses he's putting on her. You heard Souver earlier, he doesn't want him near her...and neither do I." He breathed in impatiently. "You're going to have to find someone else to help my daughter recover because I am not allowing him near her, or my son for that matter, ever again!"

Jocelyna just stared, incredulous, at the man as he shot up from the bench, making the table and plates jerk with his sudden movements, and storm off.

"B-but...you were so accepting of him earlier!" she yelled through her tear-filled eyes as she got up from the bench too. Many gypsies began to catch onto the argument and, one by one, stopped their conversations to listen. The dinner area lay almost silent as Jocelyna, hurt more than ever, watched Daryn continue to storm pass the tables and disappear into the crowd.

When Daryn's silhouette was completely swallowed by the crowd in the distance, Jocelyna slowly sat down on the bench again, one hand clutching her stomach as though in pain and the other clutching the edge of the table as though to stop herself from fainting.

"He was so accepting of him," she whispered to the floor.

Esmeralda placed a hand gently on Jocelyna's hand that was clutching the table. The previous stillness of the area had now been demolished by the laughter and chatter from the many other gypsies that gradually rose around them.

"Jocelyna..." Esmeralda soothingly spoke.

"I just want everything to be ok. For everyone." Jocelyna simply replied, still looking down at the floor. "Why can't it just be ok?" she proclaimed to the saddened gypsy girl opposite her. Her voice was strained and damaged.

"All his life he's had to deal with people like Daryn. Cruel, unkind, heartless, prejudiced people. He's had enough."

"I am so sorry, Jocelyna," Esmeralda spoke.

"You know, I was the one who accepted Daryn. When no one else would, I accepted him. He came here seeking help for his injured daughter as well as shelter. I don't know why but no one looked like they were going to help him...but I did! So, he knows how important acceptance is! It saved his life. So, then why can't he be accepting of others?"

"You know, he's probably just tired. You heard how vague he was when I asked him those questions; he's just exhausted from the travelling and the emotion of his daughter being injured," she gently told the distraught gypsy woman. "Don't worry; I know once he's settled in and the energy has come back to him, he'll be himself again."

Jocelyna sighed weakly and bowed her head again, dejectedly, not at all convinced that it was just lack of energy and the emotion that made him say those horrible things. "I just thought he was different. I'll never make that mistake again."