I don't own The Hunchback of Notre Dame or the characters, just their names (except for Frollo). WARNING: this is a very dark fic containing mentions of rape (offscreen), resulting pregnancy, and murder. It does not have a happy ending. Another note: I am aware that the word "gypsy" is increasingly seen as a slur. I am only using it to reflect the time period and the culture this story takes place in. I mean no disrespect to the Romani people.
Clang! "Oops!" whispered Ceci. She really needed to be more careful if she didn't want to raise an alarm. Not that searching the alleyways for scraps of food and fuel was dangerous, but she preferred that no one see her. Her brother Arnaud had constantly warned her of the dangers of being alone at night, but now that she was nineteen, she had insisted that she could help gather things for them to scrape by. "I should be doing my share. After all, it's just the two of us." He had finally relented, but he only let her go foraging a couple times a month.
It was hard to be gypsies living on the streets of France. Ceci and Arnaud lived in a shack Arnaud had built himself. It looked flimsy, but it was still standing after almost two years. Ceci's only complaint was that it was always scorching hot in the summer and freezing in the winter. At least they could build a small fire outside to warm their tattered blankets before they went to bed.
Ceci carefully righted the metal bucket she had knocked over. This alley is the best for finding food scraps. Who throws away a turkey leg with most of the meat still on it? Ceci wondered. Probably someone who's rich enough that they don't have to worry about food. She looked in the window of the house that made one end of the alley. She looked in this window every time she went there. Whoever lived there was well-to-do indeed. The room, presumably a parlor, was richly carpeted and had intricately detailed mahogany wood furniture. Ceci imagined what it would be like if she and Arnaud could live in a house like this.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the light of a candle in the window. Had someone heard her from inside? When the light continued to move closer, she ducked under the windowsill. She thought her heart was beating loud enough to be heard from a mile away. After a long time, she chanced a glance in the window. The candle was sitting on a table, and there was no one in sight.
Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she was grabbed from behind and a hand clapped over her mouth. She was jerked around to face her assailant—-a Gadje man, a non-gypsy, still in nightclothes with a dressing gown over them. "Thieving gypsy!" he hissed.
Ceci bit down as hard as she could on the man's hand. He jerked it back and cursed. He was still holding her tightly by the waist, so Ceci opened her mouth to scream. Before she could do so, the man gripped her chin and rocked her head back. "Not a peep from you, gypsy girl, or it won't end well for you!" Ceci stomped on his foot, but he jerked her head back farther. "Now, now, don't fight me." His words were like slick oil. "You're a pretty girl. It's chilly tonight; you must be cold. I have a warm bed. We can share." He leaned in closer to Ceci. She tried to step back, but this man had her in a tight grip. His arm snaked up her waist, closer and closer to her breasts. Ceci tried to push it away, but suddenly he wrapped his arm tightly around her throat. Ceci fought for air as she feebly tried to peel his hand away. Now she was seeing black spots. She went limp. She had no strength left to fight. Ceci's world went completely dark.
###
Arnaud was getting anxious. Ceci normally didn't take this long to come back from her foraging trips. He had just made up his mind to go out and look for her when the quilt that was the makeshift door to the shack was pushed aside and Ceci came in.
"Cecile-Marie!" Arnaud used her full name. Even though he was a little angry, he was more relieved than anything. He hugged her. "Where were you?!"
To his surprise, she pushed him away. Arnaud was bewildered to see tears in her eyes. She plopped down and pulled a blanket over herself.
Arnaud now noticed that Ceci had returned empty-handed. "Why didn't you bring any scraps?" There was no response. Instead Ceci pulled the blanket over her head. "Why did you come back so late?"
The blanket trembled, and Arnaud heard stifled sobs. "Ceci?!" He tried to think why his sister was acting like this. Had someone insulted her because of her being a Gypsy? "Did anybody give you trouble? Call you a name, maybe?"
Her answer was so quiet, Arnaud barely heard it. "I can't tell you. I don't want to tell you."
Arnaud sighed. "Alright, you don't have to tell me tonight. You can let me know when you're ready. But, Ceci, I don't want you to feel like you need to hide things from me. You can always trust your big brother."
He put his arm around her shoulder. Ceci gasped and swatted him away. Arnaud was shocked. He managed to suppress his anger, though. "We should turn in for the night. It's late and we're both getting cranky. Goodnight, Ceci."
No reply.
###
Ceci moaned and turned over. She counted on her fingers for the tenth time this morning. It had been about two months since-that night in the Frenchman's house. His bedroom, to be more precise. Try as she might, she couldn't stop his advances. Ceci couldn't deny that she might be carrying the consequence of that night. The evidence was all there: she felt tired, nauseous, and she hadn't bled when she was last supposed to.
Arnaud entered the shack just then. "I got some tuna from the fisherman in return for cleaning up his market stall. This will be enough to last us for at least two days!"
The smell of the fresh fish was too much for Ceci's roiling stomach. She pushed past Arnaud and barely made it out of their shack before she threw up.
"Ceci! You should have told me you weren't feeling well! I'll get Solène to look at you."
"No! I'll be alright!" The last thing Ceci wanted was for a healer to examine her.
But Arnaud would not be dissuaded. So Ceci had to bear with the older gypsy woman's questions about her symptoms. Solène's expression grew more worried with each answer Ceci gave. Finally Ceci sighed and said, "Solène, I think I already know why I'm feeling this way. I think I'm with child."
"That's what I was suspecting, dear," Solène nodded. "But when did this happen?"
"When did what happen?" Arnaud now joined them.
Ceci sighed. She couldn't keep her brother in the dark about that fearful night any longer. "You remember that night about two months ago when I came home scared and didn't want you to touch me? I was searching for food scraps in an alley when a Gadje man came out of his house and discovered me. He…" Ceci shuddered at the memory. "He forced me into bed with him. I tried to stop him, I really did, but he was too strong. I didn't want you to find out because you would think that I was a dirty-"
"Ceci," Arnaud interrupted. "I would never think bad of you because of something that happened to you. You couldn't do anything to stop it. The only one in the wrong is the man who raped you. It is not your fault. You have no guilt."
After two months of keeping her emotions bottled up inside, Ceci finally let herself cry. Arnaud cautiously put his arms around her, and Ceci didn't push him away this time. She gave him a fierce hug back.
"Let me know what I can do to support you however you need," Arnaud told her. "I'll always be here for you, little sister."
###
Ceci was due to have her baby any day now. She often tried to imagine whether her baby would be a boy or girl and what it would look like. She was only worried about one thing-her and Arnaud's current living conditions were not ideal for raising a child. For Ceci had decided she would keep the baby. No matter the circumstances it was conceived in, she still already felt love for her unborn baby. But a paper-thin shack would not be a suitable home. Solène had often visited Ceci to check on her and give her advice. Whenever she came, she would tell Ceci of a place in Paris called the Court of Miracles-a safe haven for gypsies. "It's so well-hidden, no Gadje has been able to find it," she had said. "Our people there are safe from persecution." Ceci thought that sounded wonderful. She was sure Arnaud would think so, too.
When she presented the idea of moving to him, though, skepticism was evident in his voice. "We'd have to cross the Seine River, and it wouldn't be easy. I could convince someone to smuggle us over, but it would cost a lot of money. And besides, you're due to have the baby soon. I won't think about it anymore until the baby's born."
Ceci was about to speak when Arnaud said, "What I'm most concerned about is Paris' Minister of Justice. Dom Claude Frollo is a cruel man. He hates gypsies. If we were to run into him or his guards…" He shook his head. "Just getting to the Court of Miracles is incredibly dangerous."
Ceci realized it would take some persuasion to get Arnaud to reconsider.
###
It was a dark winter night. Snow was starting to fall on the tiny shack. The three people inside shivered. No, now there were four. Ceci had given birth, with Solène assisting. She wished she could feel more joy over her new son, but a dark cloud hung over the cramped space. The baby was deformed. His spine was twisted, and his face resembled that of a gargoyle's.
"A monster!" Arnaud had gasped when he saw his nephew for the first time. Ceci had burst into tears. "It's not his fault! What did I do, what did any of us do to deserve this?" Ceci's wails turned into a prayer to the God she wondered even existed. "Why, God? If you're good, why was I raped? Why was my baby born deformed?" She hugged her baby close.
"Ceci, that creature is not worth keeping," Arnaud snapped. "I would dispose of it quickly, if I were you."
"NO!" Ceci yelled. The baby began to cry. Ceci immediately regretted her outburst. She cuddled her son close. "Sh, little one, I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm sorry, Ceci," Arnaud said, gently this time. "I'm just startled at…this…" he gestured to Ceci's baby, "and I don't know how to express my feelings. If you insist on raising the creature, you can, but keep it hidden. Make sure it stays out of everyone else's sight."
Solène bid the both of them goodnight and congratulations. Ceci was thankful that she wasn't bothered by the baby's grotesque appearance. She kissed her son on the nose. "You're not a creature," she whispered lovingly. "You're my baby, and I love you."
###
As it turned out, Ceci did not have to convince Arnaud to find the Court of Miracles. Eventually, he realized how desperate their situation was. "It's cramped in this tiny shack. To be honest, I never liked it, but we had no other options before. If you insist on keeping the child, something will have to change. Thankfully, Solène said she could help us."
The gypsy healer stepped into the shack at that moment. She greeted Arnaud, Ceci, and the baby. Then she said, "I have been planning for a long time to flee to the Court of Miracles myself. I saved the necessary bribe money for a long time. But I see your little family is in more need than I am, so I'm giving it to you. This should be enough for safe passage into Paris." Solène held out a handful of coins. "Be at the docks at midnight tomorrow night. There will be a man there to row you across the Seine."
Ceci's eyes filled with grateful tears. "Merci beaucoup, Solène. How can we ever repay you?"
Solène shook her head. "Don't bother. I wish you all luck."
###
Ceci was a little scared. It was so cold and so dark tonight. She carefully stepped into the boat, not daring to think what would happen if she slipped and fell in the icy Seine. Arnaud handed her baby to her, and she wrapped him inside her shawl. She still had not given him a name, partially because Arnaud still saw him as a monster. He almost never talked about him, and when he did, he referred to the baby as "it." This broke Ceci's heart more than Arnaud could ever know.
They would be traveling with another man, someone they had never met before tonight. The man introduced himself as Mathias. The journey started out well enough, but soon, to Ceci's horror, the baby began crying.
"Shut it up, will you?" Arnaud whispered hoarsely.
"We'll be spotted!" Mathias chimed in.
Ceci didn't want the group to be caught just because she couldn't keep her baby quiet. "Hush, little one," she urgently tried to calm him down.
They made it to the other side of the river. The boatman held out his hand for the payment, but before anyone knew what was happening, they were surrounded by guards dressed in black armor! They pointed their spears menacingly at the group. Arnaud stepped in front of Ceci and placed a protective hand around her.
He heard heavy breathing and steps behind him. He turned around to see a black horse carrying an imposing figure coming towards them. The man was dressed in long robes and wore a very distinctive hat. Arnaud was dumbstruck. "Judge Claude Frollo!" Exactly the man he had hoped to avoid. They would all meet their end tonight, for sure. Arnaud clung tighter to Ceci as if to shield her from the judge's penetrating, steely gaze, but he was yanked away from her by one of the guards.
"Bring these gypsy vermin to the Palace of Justice," Frollo ordered his guards. Chains were put on the wrists of every man in the group, and they were led away. Ceci could only look on in horror.
She was brought out of her reverie by the harsh voice of one of the guards. "You there, what are you hiding?"
"Stolen goods, no doubt," Frollo said. "Take them from her," his baritone rang in Ceci's ears.
Ceci was not about to let the guards see her child, even to convince them she was not carrying stolen goods. If they saw his deformity, they might kill him. The guard grabbed her arm, but she twisted out of his grip. In a panic, she did the only thing she could do to protect her son. She ran!
Through alleys, and past shops she dashed, keeping a firm hold on her baby. Her lungs were burning, and her heart was pounding. She had to lose the wrathful judge somehow. She was desperate. She vaulted over a fence, slid down a mound of snow on the other side, and saw her only chance. A cathedral loomed just a few yards away. Surely, the people of the church wouldn't turn her away!
Ceci put on an extra burst of speed, and made it to the cathedral. She banged desperately on the doors. "Sanctuary! Please give us sanctuary!" She looked behind her and saw Frollo coming fast on his horse.
Ceci was stuck. There was nowhere else to run, but she had to run! She dashed toward the other entry of the cathedral. Suddenly, she felt a pull on the baby in her arms. She stopped, tugging with all her might to keep her child out of the hands of this corrupt man. Frollo would not let go, however. Ceci frantically prayed in her head, "God, if you're out there, please protect my baby! Don't let this man hurt him!"
Frollo resorted to giving Ceci a rough kick to make her release her bundle. Ceci went down, her head cracking on the stone steps of Notre Dame.
###
Arnaud, Mathias, and the boatman were in the dungeons of the Palace of Justice, awaiting their execution. Arnaud was anxious about Ceci. She hadn't come to the dungeons with them, or been sent there later.
After three days of agonizing worry, Arnaud finally got up the nerve to ask Edouard, the Captain of the Guard, about his sister. He had looked upon the three men with sympathy when he led them to their cells, and Arnaud thought he could trust him. When Edouard was making his rounds, Arnaud reached through the bars of his cell and touched his arm. "Please," he whispered, "the woman who was with us that night at the docks, she's my sister. What happened to her and her baby?"
Edouard didn't answer for a long time. He finally took a deep breath and said, "Frollo pursued her to the Notre Dame cathedral. He was so insistent on taking her bundle that he kicked her back onto the steps. She was killed instantly. I'm sorry."
Arnaud dropped to his knees. He could barely breathe for disbelief. His sister had so badly wanted to live at the Court of Miracles. Instead, she had been mercilessly killed by a remorseless judge before she had a chance for a new life. Silent sobs racked his body and tears streamed down his face, but he made no effort to wipe them away.
Arnaud felt Edouard's gentle hand on his shoulder. That made him manage to calm down enough to ask, "What about her baby?" Arnaud had struggled to see Ceci's baby as human because of his deformity, but now that he might be in danger, Arnaud was genuinely concerned for his nephew's safety.
"Frollo was about to drown the child," Edouard said, "but the Archdeacon of Notre Dame stopped him and told him to raise the baby to atone for his sins."
Arnaud closed his eyes. His sister's son would be taken care of by the same man who murdered his mother? "God have mercy on him." His sister had died without knowing if her child was safe. "God have mercy on her." Arnaud himself was sentenced to death in just one more day. "God have mercy on me."
translations
Gadje: a non-Romani
merci beaucoup: thank you so much
Please R&R!