A/N: I'm copying my answer to a few PMs here. I try in my story to show that Frollo has come to see Esmeralda not only as a sexual object but as a person, and that Esmeralda is seeing Frollo in a new light and has also become attracted to him. Frollo at this point however is still a misguided person who doesn't understand why he is wrong. Not yet anyway. Without spoiling the story, this chapter and the next 3 chapters will be hard on both Frollo and Esmeralda. But things will improve after that. In the meantime, thank you all for the reviews, which I always appreciate. Moar is good. :-) Now on with the story. (ChristineFrollophile, aw man, I like your take better, why did I go with this development instead...)

Chapter 14

That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish.

Esmeralda stared at the man lying beneath her, his face incongruously young and peaceful in a way that she had not seen before.

It was morning, and Esmeralda found herself in Frollo's room, with Frollo, in his bed, naked.

Esmeralda's mind reeled. What happened? She was on her way to see Frollo, but there was something in the food that made her drowsy. In all likelihood, it was a sleeping draught. Frollo found her as she lost consciousness. The next thing she knew was… this.

She could not think, only react.

Moving as fast as she could, Esmeralda lifted herself off Frollo and slid out of the bed. She rushed to the pile of clothes on the floor, and pulled her clothes away from his, numbly registering the blood-stained sheets. She bit her lower lip and forced herself not to tremble as she put on her clothes. She needed to get out of this room.

"Esmeralda…" Esmeralda's heart skipped a beat. Looking up in fear, she saw that his eyes were closed.

Even in his sleep, Frollo was calling out for her.

Tears which Esmeralda did not realize were welling up in her eyes flowed freely down her cheeks.

What had Frollo destroyed between them?

-0-

God only knew the icy dismay which Frollo felt when he woke up to find that Esmeralda had disappeared with the night. It seemed to him that God had dropped him into perdition after He realized that to give Esmeralda to Frollo was to give heaven itself.

As Frollo searched the cathedral for Esmeralda in solitude, sweeping past each empty room, he cursed himself repeatedly for not locking his room and hiding the key so that Esmeralda could not escape. Or not waking up in time to stop her from doing so, for she could not have been long gone. His doublet, which he had picked up from the floor while dressing himself, had been wet with what he could only conjecture were her tears.

Fool! Frollo berated himself and wondered why Esmeralda was crying. The only reason he could think of was that she was regretting it because she thought he may be one of the many men who visited places like Le Val D'amour to have their way with whores and forget about them the next day. Did she not know him at all? He needed to find her, to explain to her, to assure her that… That what? Beyond wanting Esmeralda, Frollo had not dared speculate on the future before.

But now, what then? It was not unusual for a man of his station to marry a woman considerably younger than him, albeit the man would already be a widower who was marrying for a second, or third, time. People would be surprised if he of all people married. It would not daunt him; he did not care what others thought. What would raise eyebrows was that he was marrying a gypsy. But if Esmeralda would agree to renounce her ways and adopt his religion, it could work. It had to.

"Ah, Minister, you would be pleased to hear that the snow has stopped."

Seeing Myriel, Frollo halted and was brought back to earth. He blinked at seeing another person other than Esmeralda. It occurred to him that he did not once wonder whether Esmeralda had told anyone about them.

Myriel said cheerfully, "I believe we need only two days for the snow to clear and you can take your leave."

"Oh. I am glad to hear it." Frollo said distractedly and hurried off.

"Minister, are you still unwell?"

"No, I am well. I must… I have a matter to attend to."

Frollo turned away. He refrained from asking Myriel whether he had seen Esmeralda. Myriel would find it strange that he should ask about her.

But the cathedral was a tremendous place, and he could spend a whole day and still not find her. He had to ask for help, and he formed a plan.

Frollo went to the nave and found the children. It was not difficult to convince the children that Esmeralda was playing hide-and-seek, and that he was recruiting their help.

"But you must not tell Esmeralda and anyone else that I have asked you to help," he said, "It is to be a secret."

"Are you cheating, Minister Frollo?" Amélie asked in a serious tone.

Martin was a quick learner, "Esmeralda did not say you cannot ask for help, did she, monsieur?"

"Yes," Frollo ran his hand through his hair. Could he have foreseen the day he would be asking street urchins to help him? "You will need to be in pairs. When the pair finds Esmeralda, one of you will stay with her to make sure that she does not leave, and the other will bring me to her. Do you understand?"

"What will we get for helping you, Minister?" another boy asked slyly.

Frollo took out his pouch and gave them each a piece of silver, and gave them more incentive when he said that the pair who found her would get two more pieces of silver. The children were visibly pleased. Toys were one thing, but silver was quite another. The children scuttled off in pairs, leaving Frollo in wretched suspense.

-0-

Esmeralda was trying not to make any noise.

She was sitting under the great table in Quasimodo's bell tower, draped as it was by a large cloth. She did not know where else to hide. Her room, she knew, was not safe. Any room would not be safe. He would look for her there. The ground floor of Notre Dame was full of activity. Djali, who was probably still with the children as she had left him last night, was too frisky and may find her and pull her out to play with the others, and she did not want to see anyone.

With nothing but inaction and an overwrought frame of mind, reality came crashing down.

Frollo had raped her.

Esmeralda hugged herself as she choked back tears. She did not want to think about him and what he did. But she could not ignore the soreness between her legs.

Esmeralda did not put much importance on virtue. It was just that she never found a man she wanted to give it to and she did not realize how much she… liked Frollo until now, when it pained her so much to know that he should be the one to have forcibly taken what was not given.

What was going to happen? What was she going to do? She had comforted other women who had been raped or abused and had always urged them to denounce their attackers and see justice done. Now that she was a victim, she did not know what to do. Why could she not bring herself to expose him and see that he was punished? Would she feel so lost if her rapist was any other man and not Frollo?

"Esmeralda! You're here!"

Charlotte's head popped under the tablecloth and she crawled towards her.

"We looked everywhere. Amélie and I were thinking about all kinds of places to hide, and we came here! Amélie, I got her!" A patter of footsteps and Amélie peeked under the table too. She squealed happily and ran off. In her sorrow, Esmeralda did not ask where Amélie was going.

Charlotte sat beside Esmeralda, and prattled away about breakfast and the latest news regarding the snow and how the archdeacon promised that they could still visit Notre Dame and Quasimodo any time they wanted even after the snow cleared.

"Charlotte, I'm sorry. But I really don't wish to talk right now…"

"You don't have to talk. I can talk and you can listen!"

"Oh Charlotte…"

"Esmeralda, why are you crying?"

Esmeralda did not answer, but tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

Charlotte hugged Esmeralda, "Esmeralda, don't cry. You've been hiding too long, that's why you got scared. I guess the Minister isn't a very good seeker."

Esmeralda froze, "What do you mean?"

Before Charlotte answered, Esmeralda heard more footsteps. But they were not those of a child.

"Thank you Charlotte," Frollo was kneeling beside the table, staring at Esmeralda, "Here is your silver. You can go. Your friend Amélie is with the others. Captain Phoebus is letting all of you take turns to ride his horse."

Charlotte quickly crawled out and ran away, not wanting to miss anything. As for Esmeralda, she crawled out from the other side of table and tried to follow Charlotte, but Frollo blocked her path. He moved towards her and Esmeralda quickly stepped back.

"Esmeralda…"

"Don't come any closer," Esmeralda said, "Don't say my name."

Frollo looked wounded, and his next words held a mocking tone.

"Would you prefer that I call you a witch? Or a sorceress? Would that suit you better?"

Esmeralda shook her head, "Don't…"

She shrieked when Frollo caught her in his arms, and struggled with all her might, but Frollo's clutches were iron. With her in his arms, Frollo appeared more assured. His voice took on a wicked playfulness, which frightened her more than his anger and broodiness. "Why did you leave, my dear?"

"Are you going to pretend you don't know? You raped me!"

Frollo looked genuinely surprised. "I… raped you? You came to me, did you not? Why else would you return last night?"

"To talk!"

"To talk!" Frollo laughed, "Oh my adorable witch, did you expect that I only wished to talk to you after feeling your lips, your body against mine? Was that truly what you thought? Did you feel nothing when we kissed? Or do you deny that there is something between us?"

Esmeralda was stumped. "I…" How could he turn the tables on her? "Just yesterday, you said you didn't love me!"

Frollo softened, "I see. I have upset you, and now you are confused. You think I consummated our love when I denied loving you. I am not a cad, Esmeralda, and I know you are not a whore. It was God's plan that you should have taken the sleeping draught. Oh my dear, if I could tell you what last night was like…"

"You are the one who's confused! There is no 'our love' and I didn't give you my virginity! You raped me!"

"You are angry, Esmeralda, but you will not be angry for long. We will marry, I promise you."

Esmeralda was momentarily stunned, "What?"

Frollo was radiating with exuberance. "We will not spend another moment without each other. As soon as we leave Notre Dame, I will make arrangements for our marriage. I will give you a life of luxury. You will never want of food or a roof over your head."

"Marriage? With you? On the foundation of rape!"

"Stop saying that!" Frollo beseeched her, "I did not rape you. I loved you. As God is my witness, I loved you. What we had together, it was far from rape. If only you knew."

"It was rape! It was… Stop! Let me go!"

Frollo had placed Esmeralda on the table, and, with one hand, had pinned her arms over her head.

"I saw you when you were dancing here, did you know what torture it was for me not to be able to touch you and kiss you? You like it when I kiss you, don't you, my little witch?" Frollo's eyes gleamed with dark affection. "I will show you how much more I have to offer."

Frollo began kissing her fervently, and his free hand moved up and down her body. Esmeralda squirmed underneath. It was not lost on Esmeralda that Frollo meant all that he said, but he was undoubtedly dangerous and she was frightened. She bucked involuntarily when he reached under her skirt.

"Brute! Rapist! Your kisses are bites. They are nothing like the real kisses I had with other men!"

Her words were a slap to Frollo, and he loosened his grip. Esmeralda took advantage of his hesitation and shoved him away.

"Esmeralda…" he stared at her in disbelief.

"Did you expect me to love a man who's bent on annihilating my people? How could you have done this? You are selfish and hateful, and you are the last man I'll ever marry!"

Esmeralda ran away from Frollo for the second time in as many days. She sped down the stairs, tripping and stumbling through blurry eyes. She did not care where she was headed, only that she was running.

She crashed into Quasimodo.

"Esmeralda!" Quasimodo saw her face, "What's wrong?"

Esmeralda knew she was a wreck. "Quasi…I can't… stay here one more minute. I need to leave Notre Dame."

"Esmeralda, what happened?"

"Quasimodo, please don't ask me. I can't… Please help me."

"The archdeacon said it would be safe to leave after two days."

"Now, Quasimodo. I want to leave now!" Esmeralda cried vehemently.

Quasimodo did not know what happened, and he was distressed to see Esmeralda in this state. But he did not want to leave Esmeralda in such dire straits, when she had helped him at the festival. Taking her hand, he led her through Notre Dame, and Esmeralda followed him blindly. He brought her to the balcony. Carrying her, he swung her from column to column until he landed on a clearing.

"Djali! I forgot Djali!"

Quasimodo returned to Notre Dame and came back as soon as humanly possible, bringing with him not only Djali but also warm clothes and a pair of old boots. Djali bleated happily when he saw his owner, who hugged him in apology. In the open frosty air, away from Frollo, Esmeralda grew calmer.

"Quasimodo, thank you."

"It may have stopped snowing but the snow is very thick. Be careful." Quasimodo said and asked tentatively. "Will I ever see you again, Esmeralda?"

Esmeralda's reply was filled with sadness, "I wish I could say yes. But I don't know… Goodbye Quasi."