A/N: Here we have the ugly side of Jehan Frollo's personality continuing to emerge. Possible trigger warning: violence against a woman, hence the T rating...
It was well into the early hours of the morning, it had to be at least one in the morning, and Madellaine couldn't sleep. She'd spent the last hour restlessly pacing her cloister cell, and when that didn't work, she wandered the empty corridors of Notre Dame, still wearing her mother's green dress. She didn't want to change.
The only thing she could focus on was Quasi, his beautiful eyes, his vibrant tuft of red how, how he had looked at her, the way his lips moved in a kiss, passionate but gentle. Her mind was reeling. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his eyes, well his one good eye, rather. A deep rich brown the color of dark oak. His eyes were the color of the earth kissed by spring rains, the hue that promised to stir life from the dormant seeds. His eyes shone like new growth on the boughs of the trees, free of moss, bright and youthful. His gaze was cool water on flames, the sky lightening after a storm, soft rain on petals. She was lost in his gaze, drowning happily.
A low menacing chuckle reached her ears. She froze. Oh, no, damn it, not now, she swore under her breath and whirled around, only to find herself face-to-face with Jehan. Why now? Why me? Just go away, Jehan...Just go...The younger Frollo brother was looking handsome this evening in a brown linen shirt and pants, his boots muddy but still showing signs of having been well cared for. His dark hair was disheveled slightly, and his eyes were blazing. He's angry with me, she thought fearfully. Oh, God.
"I take it by the look in your eyes, girl, you have him right where I want him," he commended, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. The handsome Frollo gave her figure an appreciative glance in her green dress. "I've not seen this one on you, pet, is it new?" he asked.
"Like you care!" she spat venomously, doing her best to keep her voice low so as to not wake the other caretakers.
"As a matter of fact, I do, love," Jehan purred, coming up behind and snaking his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Has he fucked you yet?"
She whirled around, wrenching away from his touch. "Mind your tongue! Why the hell would you ask me that?" she demanded furiously, spitting at his feet. "That's none of your business!"
"Oh, but it is my business, love, when you make it mine," he growled, losing any semblance of warmth in his eyes. "His—and your life depends on him falling in love with you. If he doesn't, well…it won't end well for you."
Madellaine groaned. "Why?" she shouted, momentarily forgetting to keep her voice down. She cringed and looked behind her, hoping nobody had heard it. "Why do you—"
"You're mine, Madellaine, he growled, forcefully pressing his lips against hers for a demanding kiss. She stiffened immediately, her facial muscles tense, not returning his kiss. "I'll have plenty of time for you, my love," he hissed into her ear, kissing her neck. "Don't worry. You've always been my favorite."
A muscle in her jaw twitched as she refused to look at him. "What do you want, Jehan?" she snapped, moving away from him, but he grabbed her by her shoulders and shoved her back against the wall.
"You're not going to bore me, are you, Madellaine?" he asked, biting her earlobe, feeling his voice go dangerously soft and quiet. "Hmm? You know what happens to women who bore me, don't you, pet? Of course, you do, I see it in your eyes." She glowered at him, a wildfire igniting in her eyes.
Madellaine flinched as Jehan buried his face in her hair, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the harvest season. "Get off of me!" she hissed through clenched teeth, violently shoving him backward. "You're sick, Jehan! I want nothing more to do with you, I WILL NEVER MARRY YOU!" she shouted, not caring who heard anymore. "I want nothing more to do with your thefts, your murders, your damn schemes! I am done!" Let them come, she thought wildly. Let me make a scene here; get Jehan out of my life forever. Please, someone, Darius, anyone, get out here now. Hurry out here and kill this man, I don't care if it's on Holy Ground or not. This man is a monster, and he needs to be killed!
"I'm not here to take you. Yet," he growled darkly, one hand groping her breast and enjoying it immensely as he watched the briefest flickers of fear pass through Madellaine's gray eyes. "Although you're mine, girl, don't forget that. I'm here to see you to make sure you follow through with my plan. You and I, my love, we're going to do such wonderful things together. We already are, pet."
"What makes you think I will?" she demanded, letting out a startled cry of pain as he wrenched her arm behind her back and gripped it tight, threatening to break it. She struggled against his hold, but his grip only tightened.
Jehan leaned in close and whispered into her ear. "Because if you don't fucking do this for me, I will destroy your pretty little face and make you one ugly whore, and top it off, after that, I'm going to kill you if you refuse to marry me. I'll burn you, sorceress, just like my brother did to that Romani woman that tormented his mind. You're just like her, you know, Lena. You tempt me with your beauty, and yet you refuse my advances. What the hell is wrong with you? I can give you a much better life than he can. He certainly can't satisfy you in bed as I can," he laughed cruelly. "You refuse me, and then I'll make sure no one will have you. I'm killing your gallant love, anyways, so why are you putting up such a fuss?" Jehan studied Madellaine's face, and then it hit him. A wicked grin crept over his features and he laughed. "Oh, this is—this is precious! Don't tell me you've actually fallen in love with the man, have you? If this is true, this makes it all that much sweeter for me," he crooned.
"Jehan, do whatever you want with me, but don't hurt him!" she pleaded, biting her lip and cursing herself for showing her weakness. "Please. I—I'm begging you, don't hurt him, please. I'll go with you, I'll even marry you if that's what you want, but leave the bell ringer alone! What's he done to you?"
Her brother drew back his hand and slapped her, and immediately Madellaine began to feel blood pool in her mouth. She turned away sharply and spat, disgusted.
"He took everything from me!" he shouted, his eye twitching involuntarily. "He killed our brother. Claude didn't deserve to die that way!"
Wincing, she turned back to Jehan, rubbing her cheek. "Hit me all you want," she snarled, her tone ice. "It won't change the fact that I will never marry you, Jehan."
"I beg to differ," he responded coldly, glowering at her. He held out an envelope. "I'm sure as you know, I've inherited our father's estate. I've decided to host a…a little party, shall we say, to commemorate your twenty-eighth name day, my lovely. I've always wanted to do this for you. Let me."
Madellaine stared, waiting for him to elaborate.
When he didn't, she grew angered. "And?" she demanded. "What does that have to do with me?"
"You're going to invite that—that monster to the event. A big lavish affair, huge crowd, you two will blend right in."
"He's not the monster here, Jehan, you are!" she shouted. "He'll never agree to go," she growled, crossing her arms and glowering at Jehan. "He hates crowds. He's not...he doesn't like people," she spat, although her eyes clouded over with just the briefest hints of affection that made Jehan want to fly into a rage.
Not now, he thought to himself. Our time is coming soon, brother, I promise you. This bastard will pay. Jehan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Something tells me he'll do it for you. I saw the look in his eyes earlier tonight."
The dawning realization hit Madellaine like ice water in her veins. "Oh, God," she moaned, running a hand through her blonde tresses. "You've been—you were spying on us?"
"Yes," he answered patiently, relishing in the blonde's growing discomfort. "I told you, I'd be keeping an eye on you. He seemed quite taken with you by the river Seine," he chuckled darkly, absentmindedly picking at his nails. "Didn't I tell you you were the perfect girl for a job like this?" he teased.
"You foul, loathsome evil son of a b—"
"Mind your tongue!" Jehan mocked. "You're in a church, after all, Madellaine. Mustn't offend God with your language," he teased. "No, you'll be inviting him to my party, and if I don't see him there, or you, I'll be coming after you, and you don't want that, do you?" he threatened, cupping her chin in his hand, tilting her head to the side.
When she found her voice, it was trembling. "No," she whispered furiously. "No, I don't," she spoke up, her voice coming out in a hoarse. "Jehan…"
Scoffing, he let go of Madellaine and violently shoved her to her knees. "You'll do this for me. Remember what happens to you if you don't, love. Say it," he snarled.
Madellaine raised her head to look at him, beams of the moonlight streaming through one of the stained glass windows, illuminating half of her face. "No."
He stared, certain he'd misheard her. "What?"
"I SAID NO!" she shouted, rising to her feet and standing straight to her full height, her eyes blazing as she glared at Jehan, her facial muscles tensing as she braced herself for whatever punishment he decided to inflict. "Get out of here, Jehan!" she roared. "I never want to see you again!"
He didn't know what possessed her to grow a backbone during her time here in Notre Dame, but he liked it. It made his loins ache and burn. This witch, he thought wildly. She's testing me. Don't let her get the upper hand. Without a word, Jehan grabbed her wrist in his hand and Madellaine bit her tongue hard enough that she drew blood as he broke her forefinger and she stifled a scream, tears streaming down her face as he popped the bone back into place. "Don't test me," he warned darkly. "You're doing this, pet. If you don't, I'll kill you both. Slowly. Do I have your attention? Meet me in the marketplace tomorrow morning," he growled. "I have something for you. A—a gift, you might say," he crooned, his voice smooth and silky.
Madellaine nodded, silently crying from the pain in her finger. Satisfied, Jehan smirked and released her. The last of her strength gave out and she collapsed to her knees in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary. She's judging me. I deserve to go to Hell after all of this. I'll burn for what I've done.
Unable to resist one last taunt before he left her alone, Jehan leaned down and kissed Madellaine gently, his teeth gently biting her bottom lip, reminding her who was in charge. Laughing at her broken expression, his haunting laughter echoed in her ears long after he'd left.
Her shoulders shook with silent sobs as she cradled her hand, biting her lip as she fought back the urge to scream. The pain had unpleasant warmth to it, eating her up from the inside. Madellaine reached for the back of a nearby chair to steady herself, her knuckles white with the effort as she stood. A wave of nausea washed over, and she fought back the urge to vomit. I can't do this anymore. She prided herself on her ability to ignore her pain most of the time, but it wasn't possible now. The pain she felt owned her, dominated her every thought, controlled her every move until she lost herself. Notre Dame's nave around her went black as Madellaine lost consciousness, falling out of her chair with a hard thud, already out of it as her head hit the floor, the wound in her hand reopening and soaking through the bandages, leaving a small puddle of blood by her limp hand. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was swarming visions in her head of Jehan, and of Quasi. A woman was screaming, pleading for someone to stop. Is it me? Madellaine thought wildly, desperately trying to open her mouth to scream, but nothing came out when she tried. She was alone. God couldn't save her from Jehan. No help was coming for her.
I have to do this on my own. Or die. God help me. If I have no way out, I'll kill myself. God forgive me, but I don't see any other way. Help me…
Her eyesight blurred, but not because tears were welling up. Everything became fuzzy; then she saw nothing at all. Her consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static. Throughout the inky space my heartbeats pounded loudly, echoing in her ears, alongside fading pleas for help. Feeling in her body drained away until finally all was black.