It was a warm summers day when everything started to go wrong.
Money was always good in summer, with larger crowds and tourists from all corners of France making their way to Paris for a short break. They tended to pay generously for a bit of entertainment.
With his younger siblings sleeping peacefully in the shade of a large tree, with Rosella and Jehan's… unusual looking child, Tomas, by their side, Clopin was free to run his little puppet shows.
Each gypsy had a certain skill that they used to their advantage, and Clopin's was puppets, all homemade and resembling different people he'd met during their travels. People loved it, and it brought in quite a few gold coins.
Today, he was telling the children the story of the brother of a Judge, who had been pushed into the boring life of a priest, only to search for freedom and finally achieve it. All based on Jehan's story of course.
"What happened to the man?" one of the children eagerly asked, leaning forwards in excitement, "Did his brother ever find him?"
"Never!" Clopin boldly stated, "He got married and had little babies of his own."
The children all cheered, clapping and whooping in glee at the happy ending.
As he prepared for the next show, Clopin quickly checked on his siblings, smiling as the 6-month-olds beamed at him, both reaching up their arms to be picked up and hugged (which he was happy to do). Of course, he made sure to give little Tomas some attention as well, fingers running through red hair.
The baby was deformed, no on could argue that, but he was still an innocent baby.
Everyone else might flinch away from him, but not the gypsies. They knew what it was like to be outcasts.
And then everything went wrong.
Jehan suddenly came rushing over to Clopin and his Father (who was waiting on the side-lines, overlooking everything), "We need to get out of here… now!"
Saber frowned at the demand, "What are you- "
"- He's here! He followed me here!"
"Who?" Clopin asked in confusion, "Who are you talking about?"
Before Jehan could answer, a smaller group of Gypsies suddenly came rushing into the area, one of them clutching a clearly broken arm.
"The new justice minister!" The man gasped, "H-He's got guards with him. He's pushing us off the main streets and- "
Suddenly, they all heard the heavy footsteps of a large horse, clearly one bred for war and violence.
Jehan immediately went to grab his son as Clopin did the same for his siblings, trying to shush them as they cried out in protest.
Within a couple of minutes, the group were out of the streets and running back to their home, just as a large horse, its rider a stern, older man, appeared around the corner.
…..
"Alright…" Saber growled after doing a quick head-count (and making sure that any injured were with the healers), turning to Jehan, "… who was that?"
Jehan was silent for a few moments, before he hung his head. "Claude… my brother."
Silence.
"He-" Jehan took a deep breath, "- Someone must have seen me and reported back to him. I think he's here looking for me, and if he can punish gypsies in the process, then he will."
There was a brief moment of silence as everyone absorbed this news, before Jehan continued, bouncing his son up and down in his arms. "We need to get out of here… " he turned to his wife, "… all of us. As soon as possible."
"Tomas is too young!" Rosa immediately protested, "We can't leave right now."
"She's right…" Saber spoke up, "… the nights are short. It'll be better to wait until the colder months. The night comes a lot sooner then. The guard activity won't be as prevalent."
Jehan clearly didn't like this, opening his mouth to protest, only for Saber to hold up his hand in a silent order for him to be quiet.
"I won't hear anymore about this Jehan. You will remain out of sight, until it's safe to move you."
….
Winter swept in quickly, and soon, every gypsy was struggling to wrap up against the freezing wind and snow.
With Tomas almost six months old, Rosa could no longer deny that they needed to go. Over the course of the morning and afternoon, they packed up their belongings.
The atmosphere was subdued.
Judge Claude Frollo was cruel, often giving gypsies some of the harshest sentences for the tiniest of crimes, just to get them off the streets. He spread horrific stories around, telling the people of Paris that gypsies were nothing more than thieves and murderers, with many of them practicing witchcraft in order to seduce to good Christians of Paris.
Business had been hard, and food supplies were starting to get low.
"Hopefully I'll be able to get him away from Paris…" Jehan cautiously spoke up in the silence, "… He's followed me this far. I doubt he'll be able to resist."
"What will he do if he finds you?" Clopin nervously asked.
"… I don't know. But I'm trying not to think about that too much."
With everything packed, the pair and the nearly sobbing baby moved over to Saber, who had his own small bag packed and dagger at his side. The King turned to Clopin, "I will see them out of Paris. Look after your siblings and our people in the meantime, okay?"
Clopin nodded, a serious expression on his young face. It was a big responsibility for him, and he knew it.
Never did he imagine that he wouldn't see his Father ever again.
…..
"Can't you make him be quiet?" Saber hissed as the boat lazily floated down the River Seine, their breath creating clouds in the air, "We'll be spotted!"
Rosa nodded, gently hushing Tomas in a vain attempt to quiet him down. "Hush little one."
But the cold air was just too much for him.
As the boat came to a stop, just on the outskirts of Paris, the man who had been steering the rowboat climbed out and held out his hand. "Four gold pieces your Highness… as was our agreement."
Before Saber could hand them over, an arrow came out of nowhere and pierced the ferryman's staff, causing him to yelp in alarm, especially when armed guards suddenly appeared from the shadows, surrounding them immediately.
Saber tried to knock the spears away, arms outstretched in an effort to protect Jehan and his family.
But it was too late.
From a nearby alleyway, the sound of a large horse echoed throughout it, as the creature came into view, a stern-looking man riding it.
"Claude…" Saber heard Jehan practically whimper behind him, "… oh God, this was all a trap."
"Bring these gypsies to the Palace of Justice!" The Judge ordered, before turning a sly smirk onto his brother, "Except that one. Lock him in my office. We need to have a little chat I think."
"You there!" One of the guards tried to grab at the bundle in Rosa's arm (Tomas seemed to have fallen silent almost as soon as the boat came to a stop… not that it helped), "What are you hiding?!"
"Stolen goods no doubt. Take them from her!" Judge Frollo ordered.
Rosa ran.
As Frollo chased after her, the others were dragged away.
It was the last time Jehan saw his wife.
…
Rosa ran as fast as she could, leaping over gates and other obstacles in order to get away from the large horse and its terrifying rider.
Tomas squirmed in her arms but remained silent as Rosa raced up the stairs of Notre Dame, her fist banging on the door, desperation in her voice as she called out "SANCTUARY! PLEASE GIVE US SANCTUARY!"
The door remained closed.
Seeing that Judge Frollo was almost on top of her, Rosa set off running again, crying out when Frollo grabbed the blankets keeping her baby warm. She clung onto Tomas with all of her strength, only for a heavy foot to kick her in the stomach, sending her flying to the ground, her head striking the stone stairs with a resounding CRACK!
She knew nothing more after that.
…
It was late afternoon.
Clopin paced the small tent back and forth, trying not to trip over the twins and their toys as he did.
Their Father should have been back by now. He should have been back hours ago actually.
"Clopin! Clopin!"
Quickly, he rushed out of the tent, only to see a small group of men, who usually went undercover as blind men, rushing towards him, fear written all over their faces.
"What is it?" The teen asked, glancing at all of them one by one, not liking what he was seeing, "What happened?"
The men all glanced at one another, before the largest of the group stepped forwards, all removing their hats in a show of grief and mourning, "Your Father, he- "he stopped, as though the words had been caught in his throat, "- he was caught by Judge Frollo…. They all were."
Clopin felt faint, forcing himself to remain upright as his fists clenched in anger, "Tomas, Rosa, Jehan… all of them?"
The man nodded, "All of them…. And- "Another pause.
"- And what?!"
"… Your Father must have been hung in the early hours of the morning." One of the other men managed to force out, "We're sorry but… there's nothing we can do."
Hung.
His Father was dead.
Clopin felt his knees buckle out from under him, hearing the alarmed cries of the men as he fell to the ground.
His Father was dead… which made him and the twins orphans.
His Father was dead… which made him the leader of the gypsies.
Mon Dieu.